A soft song fills her head. She doesn’t recognize it at first, and she soon feels soft linen surrounding most of her body. The sickly clean scent of Elven chemicals fill her nose, and she sees a bright light behind her closed eyelids. Her head hurts ferociously, feeling as if it would explode any minute. Her brain takes a second to process all of the sudden stimuli, and she winces and groans softly. Without sitting up, Lillina Rae opens her eyes to a Illusik Hospital room. She turns her head slowly, taking in the room around her. The walls are the natural brown colour of wood, while the floor is tiled with the light green colour of river grass. The chemical smell continues to pummel her nose while she sits up and pulls her arms out from beneath the grey linen sheets on her bed. Her ears twitch quickly as she notes that her arms are incredibly thin, with a needle stuck into the inside of her elbow of her left arm. 

. . . Strange.

She feels. . . off. She doesn’t let it bother her. Her keen ears pick up the sound of a door opening to her left, and she turns her head to see a young man with large black bat ears upon his head of red hair enter the room. He is wearing the brown scrubs of a Floor doctor.

“You’re finally awake,” he exclaims, rushing but not quite running towards her. He begins to mess with the beeping machines at the head of her bed. “We weren’t sure if you ever would. How do you feel, young Rae?”

The words register strangely in her head. They seem to echo before she hears them. She looks at the man's dark face, and says, “I. . . What happened? Why am I here?”

The man finishes his work with the machines; they become silent. He turns and looks her in the eye, kneeling next to her bed. 

“First, let's see how much of you is working, ok? What’s your name?”

She hesitates. “I am Rae, youngest heir to the throne, daughter-niece to Queen Morfeith.” 

The doctor continues after a small pause. “How old are you?”

“Eighty six turns.” 

“Ok, now follow my finger with your eyes.”

Back and forth, up and down. Side to side, corner to corner, in and out of sight. He retracts his hand, and manages a satisfactory sound. He takes some notes on a small crystal, and then it disappears as suddenly as it had appeared. Rae repeats her questions when he finishes.

“You were shot, little kit. Right here,” he says calmly, softly poking the middle of her forehead. She realizes there are bandages loosely wrapping her head as she feels his finger poke them onto her skin. He continues.

“You, and your parents. They. . .,” he looks down, and swallows. Rae watches him with an intense gaze. “They didn’t make it. I’m sorry.” he reaches up and takes her left hand, covering it with his hands, as he looks up into her eyes again. 

She stares at him. Dead. She continues to look at him for a minute, until she realizes the feeling of wrongness from earlier.

“I’m not feeling. I’m. . . not crying. My parents are dead, and I can’t feel anything. Wh-what’s happened to me?” Rae retracts her hand from his and clutches her head, her knees curling up to make herself smaller. “I’m not even scared that I can’t feel. What’s happened to me!?” Her hands grow tighter on her hair with each word. 

The young doctor stops for a moment before quickly stopping her hands. She can smell his confusion and distress over the chemicals. “Hey, hey. Calm down. Please, calm down.” He stretches the last words out slowly. “I will tell you everything but you must. . .” he trails off as he notices that Rae's arms went limp in his hands. She’s staring at him, not a tear on her face. 

“I am calm,” she says. The lack of emotion in her voice makes him shiver. He quickly nods and begins to speak.

“Three weeks ago, a loud gunshot rang out near the Andevesora. It sounded human in nature, so a nearby specialist team teleported to the site as fast as they could. Unfortunately,” he breathes, “your parents were both dead already. You were shot in the head, and dying. The Sacred on the team managed to keep your body working. I was summoned when they brought you here, and I put as much of you back together as I dared. It was. . .” he paused, out of breath. “It was hard. You had lost much of your brain matter in the cracks of stone that layered the ground there. It appears I did not get as much of the limbic system as I had hoped.” He looks at her levelly now, back in his element. “You did pay attention to your Medi-lessons, right?”

Rae nods, not a trace of fear, sadness, or sickness touching her face. She smells a large spike of fear from the man before it is quickly stifled. He opens his mouth to continue but she interrupts him.

“The humans,” she says. He looks into her eyes, startled. She can see her own eyes in his, and she sees no emotions behind them. “What happened to the humans?”

He nods his head solemnly, accepting her change of subject. “They had gone from the scene when the team got there. Remarkable, especially for humans, since the team took only 30 seconds to Phase there.” He nods, lost in his own thoughts.

Rae takes herself from his hands. They stay there a moment before he realizes that he spaced out. He gets back on his feet and checks the machines once more. As he leaves the room, he assures Rae that she will be fine, someone will come to take care of her, a nurse will come in with food, but she turns away and tunes him out as he closes the door behind him. Dead, he said. They’re not Spirits. They. . . died. 

She sits there and thinks as the world continues to move around her.

Three Years Later. . .

The Queen looks down at him imperiously, hawkish nose a prominent feature on her face. He sighs again for what seems to be the millionth time. Bloody Queens and their flaming messes.

“You will obey my orders, Shadow,” Queen Morfeith says. “Your days of stubbornness and endless loner-complex is ending today.” She narrows her golden eyes. I’m the stubborn one?

“Well, excuse me your Majesty, but personally this entire. . . journey will be pointless. You know Alice will complain that another Champion hails from us instead of her folk.” 

“Forget that child. She’s too busy playing with her family to complain about raising a new Champion. So you will find one,” she leans forward, eyes ablaze, “before she finds out. Yes?” Shadow Vloxx sighs once again. 

“Fine,” he mutters, and he bows before spinning around and disappearing into the shadows of the ornate throne room of the Schleier Palace. His final curses echo quietly to the Queen's ears. She laughs to herself, thunder rumbling from deep in her stomach.

Shadow steps out from behind his bedroom door, still cursing the Queen. A new flaming Champion! He shakes his head ruefully, remembering the days where he taught that little minx about the world, and its people. How she always looked up to him then; not now! He changes out of the gilded suit he always wore to the Palace into the ragged tuxedo he feels comfortable in, cursing to himself all the while. It’s not enough for her to bully me into being a Champion myself: she wants me to train others! Bloody T’sol! Dressed, he steps back behind his door and Sneaks away.

The woman sweeping the steps off of the orphanage is startled as Vloxx Sneaks out of her own shadow. She nearly shrieks, but manages to control herself. Barely, by the look on her face, Shadow thinks. He allows her to gather herself before speaking.

“I’m here to pick up a kid,” he says dryly, “Queens orders.” The woman starts again at his voice, but controls herself easily now. 

“Of course, milord. If you would just follow me.” Her Aura disappears as she turns around and walks up the steps, leaving the leaves scattered upon the stairs. Shadow follows, keeping pace with her enough that he stays a step or two behind. The inside of the orphanage matches the outside, a dull grey of old gravel-sand mix that is lit with natural lighting from the numerous windows. Departing from the main hall, they turn to the right, and walk down a smaller corridor until they reach a wood panelled door that reads in Common Formal, “Headmistress Ko.” The woman knocks politely twice, then backs away a step before the door opens. The grey-haired woman who walks out looks nothing as her name suggests, having many wrinkles upon her face that don’t detract from the stern air around her. The Headmistress waves the other woman away; she bows before leaving. Shadow is gestured to and he walks into the office behind the Headmistress. The door closes behind him by itself.

“So,” Ko begins, sitting down behind her table. “What purpose do you have here, Lord of the Night?” Shadow sighs as he sits across from her. Must she be so flaming formal? “Morfeith told me to train a new Champion, since Electra died the other week.” Ko’s mouth thins as she hears him speak so casually. Flaming woman and her flaming formality. 

“Well,” she says. “As I am sure you are aware, many of the children here have certain. . . disabilities, things that put them at odds with other children. Surely, you could find a trainee among the Moon’s children.” He shakes his head as soon as she mentions the Moon. The nobles would be of no use to him if he would be their trainer. 

“A kid who isn’t spoiled rotten and has dreams of following Passions has no place with me,” he says. “You keep a tight ship here, and the kids here are probably malleable enough for me to train them without too much whining.” He looks her in the eyes and leans back comfortably. “Thus, I appear. I would appreciate your help though, because going through every child seems like a pain.” Ko nods, accepting his words.

“Many of the children here are above one hundred and eighty turns, so they won’t be of use to you for quick training. However, many of the younger ones haven’t manifested their Auras yet, which I’m guessing you want done already.” Shadow nods, appreciating her detail.

“That leaves us with. . . six children,” she says, pulling files from beneath her desk. “Four male, two female, all who have had their Auras for around three months now, all between 90 and 140 turns. Of the males, they have a Fire, a Cultivation, an Ice, and a StormFather.” She pauses there, noticing Shadow’s raised eyebrow. “The StormFather is Jaxen. Common born, 93 turns old, Lesser Oxen tribe. He was on a trip with his parents to Tsari when they were kidnapped by the Ryugu, his parents disappearing in the process. He has Shock Syndrome, and often gets seizures because of it.” Shadow shakes his head, disappointed. StormFather would’ve been nice, but you can’t be freezing up in a fight.

“As for the females,” Ko remarks, “neither are ones that you’ll want. One of them is an Enchanter, and we don’t quite understand the second one’s Aura. We just know she has one.” Shadow sits up in interest. An Enchanter could be useful, if he taught her right. “Neither is above 130 turns, and both are from the Greater Fox tribe,” she adds. “Hiro is the Enchanter, but she has defect X. Rae is noble born, but she was hurt a while back and lost parts of her brain.” Ko grimaces. “The poor kit has no emotions anymore. Several people have tried adopting her, but they all returned within the month, if not the week. So that leaves th-”

Shadow shakes his head, interrupting her. “Both of the girls are actually the better option here,” he explains. No emotions could be incredibly useful if she’s not exaggerating. But defect X would throw off Morfeith. . . Choices, choices. Continuing his train of thought, he asks, “May I see them? The two girls.” 

Ko nods and stands up, gesturing for Shadow to stand and follow.

Lillina Rae draws aimlessly, letting her hand free on the paper while she thinks. The graphite in her hand makes small scritching sounds that comfort her ears. She stares out of the window in front of her, but she doesn’t see the view of the city from the second floor of the orphanage. Lost in her thoughts, she still hears the other kids around the library, laughing and talking softly in various areas. Behind it all, Forever flows softly through her head. She focuses on the song, letting it fill her head. The melody of the song is peaceful, but righteous, and it lets her take her mind off of. . .

“Whatcha drawin’, Lily?” A boy's voice next to her gives her a scare. She didn’t hear him approach her. She turns her head to look at Jaxen, bright blue eyes sparkling mischievously. “Well?”

She shakes herself out of the trance and looks at her paper. “I do not know myself,” she answers. A mess of lines and shading, it almost looks like. . .

“An opera house! Wow! ‘Ave you ever been to one before, Lily? I have, and they’re really cool! This one time, I went with some other kids and Harletta, and. . .” She tunes him out as he embellishes a story about a field trip to an opera theatre. She stares at her paper, wondering why her mind drew this.

“We even got to meet all the songsters and songstresses! My favourite was Lorothea, the Mythical Songstress!”

Rae gasps as memories fill her head. A trip to the Nine Moons Theatre, she and her parents watch excitedly as the Mythical Songstress, Lorothea Tsunchan, walks onto the stage. Her mother whispered in her ear, saying one day that Rae could be like Lorothea, a famous songstress of her own right. Countless lessons on singing, and the rules of the opera. Her mother and fathers final smiles before their faces turned to red. Red like roses, petals covering her eyes as she dies.

“Hey. Hey! Lily, you okay?” Jaxen’s voice seems to echo all around her, as if she was in a deep cave. “Maighdin, Missus Maighdin! Lily’s collapsed over here!”

The voice grows louder as she comes back to her senses. She sits up on the ground, and moves away from the fallen chair next to her. Several kids are looking around bookshelf corners, and she hears an adult's feet running, coming closer. She shakes her head to clear it, and stands up wobbly as Maighdin comes rushing over to her. 

“Are you okay, Lillina?” She nods, not attempting to move away as the woman hugs her. Maighdin crouches down and looks into her eyes, concern all over her face and scent. “What happened?”

Rae hesitates for a heartbeat before answering, “Nothing. I don’t know. I guess I got dizzy somehow. Sorry.”

“No, no no no, don’t be sorry, kit.” Maighdin looks at all the other kids. “Go on, then,” she shouts, and the other kids rush back to where they were. Jaxen stays, though, hovering a few paces away. “You too, calfling. Go and play.” Her calm voice holds an edge of steel in it, and he leaves after waving to Lillina. She waves back as he goes. Her eyes return to Maighdin. “You’re sure you’re okay, sweetling?” Rae nods again. “I don’t know what happened,” she restates. The woman looks at her in disbelief, but stands up to her full height.

“Well, if you’re fine, why don’t you come with me. The Headmistress will want to see you, just in case.” Rae nods solemnly and follows the older woman out of the Library. She hears the whispers and feels the stares of the other kids as she walks away. 

The pair stroll down the long hallways of the orphanage, footsteps echoing around them. The long, grey hallways radiate coldness, even in the middle of the day. Despite the cold, the hallways are naturally lit by large windows every ten or so paces. Rae stares ahead of her, into Maighdin’s back, never looking at the scenery outside. They near the end of the hallway, which leads into a flight of stairs leading down to the dining room on the first floor. The library, now on the opposite end of the hallway to them, is the only room on the second floor in the left wing. As she walks down the stairs behind the woman, she quickly glances behind her and notices Jaxen tip-toeing down the hallway. As she sees him, his eyes widen and he stops in his tracks. Lillina stares him in the eyes for a second, but shrugs and continues down the stairs. His excited whisper echoes down the hallway to her ears. 

The dining room is loud as ever, as it is near supper time, but Maighdin simply walks through the room, weaving around tables to check on certain children who are eating. Rae takes a more direct approach, skirting the edges of the room to the door located in the direct middle of the wall to her right. She leans by the door when she reaches it, waiting for the adult to escort her into the waiting room. Maighdin eventually reaches Rae, and smiles at the girl gratefully. She opens the door, which creaks loudly upon opening, and Rae walks with her into the large waiting room, their footsteps now muffled thanks to the change from hard marble to greyed carpet. They both stop as they notice Headmistress Ko already in the room, talking to another young girl and a strange, dark skinned man. The man gives off a slight glow, as if he swallowed the sun and it was still shining faintly through him. A Spirit, Rae thinks. How unusual.

Ko turns to face the two newcomers, and her other guests face them as well. The man’s face is incredibly sleek in shape, naming him one of the Elders. 

“Well, just who I wanted next,” Ko says brightly. “Hiro, why don’t you go with Maighdin and grab some food, ok?” The young girl between the two adults nods and takes off, grabbing Maighdins hand and dragging her out of the room. Maighdin gives a quick courtesy to the Headmistress before allowing herself to be brought away by Hiro, the door groaning loudly as they exit. Rae turns away from the leaving pair back to the other adults. The man is staring at her carefully; she could practically smell his curiosity, even if he was a Spirit.

“Well, Lillina,” Ko says, “I hadn’t even called you here before Maighdin brought you. Did something happen?”

Rae shakes her head slowly, her eyes never leaving the Spirit’s face. “I just grew dizzy and fell. She wanted to make sure you knew about it, though.”

She sees that Ko recognizes the lie for what it is, but surprisingly the Headmistress lets it go, gesturing to the Spirit. “Quite the happy coincidence, then. Well, Rae, this is Shadow Vloxx. He’s here to adopt someone to follow in his footsteps.”

So that’s why he was staring at her so intently. “That makes no sense, Headmistress. You know that everyone’s scared of me. I’ll just end up coming back in a week.” Her voice relays the sad news without a hint of a tremble.

Ko clucks loudly. “Child, no need to be so pessimistic. Everything changes eventually, and this young man,” Shadow’s eyebrow raises, an amused look on his face. “Has asked for a very specific criteria. You happen to fit it almost exactly.”

“Indeed,” Shadow voices, his deep voice booming from his chest. The sound of his voice echoes in her head, and a tingling sensation sets into her brain. “Tell me, do you have a dream to become something, young kit? A doctor, perhaps, or an official of some status?” He walks towards her, his feet making no impressions upon the soft carpet. He crouches in front of her when she doesn’t answer immediately. “Well?”

Rae begins to shake her head, but hesitates. The memory of her mothers face, watching the opera show with obvious excitement, fills her mind. “I. . . I promised my mother I would be a songstress.” She takes a hold of her temples and rubs them, attempting to alleviate her sudden headache. “I took lessons, too. It’s just. . . I can’t anymore. Not since. . . I can’t,” she finishes. Her head fills with pain. Why couldn’t that part of her feeling be taken, instead? She would do anything to feel something other than pain. “Even though I promised her.”

She opens her clenched eyes and looks up at the adults. Headmistress Ko looks surprised behind Shadow, concern lighting her eyes. However, Shadow himself looks unsurprised. 

“It’d be a little hard to sing a song when you can’t fill it with emotions, though,” he says seriously. Ko stifles a gasp at his words. “So let me give you something else to live for.”

He raises his hand to her head and presses it against her forehead. His touch feels like a slight breeze, and the glow seems to be even brighter up close. She takes her own hands from her head, noticing that her headache is gone. Not even a dull throb remained.

As Shadow removes his hand, Rae stares at his face. “How did you do that,” she asks, “and what do you mean, something else?” He smiles fully at her, and it seems to take up her whole vision. “A simple trick,” he responds. “But the simplest solution is often the best one. As for what I mean to give you. . .” He trails off, standing up and turns around to look at the Headmistress. Rae quickly shakes her head to clear the slowness. Where did that come from? I’m not tired.

Ko stands there with her hands on her hips, sternness on her face. She gives Shadow a glare, but her scent smells pleased. “You may, if she accepts.” He nods solemnly.

Turning back to Rae, he asks her, “Would you let me adopt you? I would teach you how to live like me, and I. . .” He pauses. “And I would get the Queen off my back. A win-win situation, if I’ve ever seen any.” He nods thoughtfully, but Ko lets out a quiet huff at the casual disrespect of the Queen.

Rae stares at him, considering the situation. He seemed to already know about her condition, and he still wanted her. He also talked of the Queen, which meant he was some sort of noble. There would be no disadvantage to staying with him, even if it was only for a while. She opens her mouth to speak when the door behind her creaks loudly. Everyone quickly moves their attention to it.

Jaxen falls out from behind the door, landing with an audible “Oof,” on his chest. He quickly gets up and dusts himself off, face red with embarrassment. He clears his throat before speaking.

“Wait, Lily,” he exclaims, rushing over to her. “What about us?” He gestures around him and back to the dining hall. “We’re your friends, right? You wouldn’t. . .” He takes a deep breath. “You wouldn’t leave us, right?”

Rae stares him in the eyes, and tilts her head to the left. What a strange question. “Of course I would leave you,” she states calmly. She hears Ko gasp and Shadow chuckle behind her. Jaxen’s eyes bulge nearly out of their sockets. “We would still be friends, as you say, but I would be living somewhere else. Simple as that.” She tilts her head back to a normal position. “Besides, I could always come visit, like Maxillae does. Why would me leaving affect us being. . . friends?” Her voice rings out in a monotone. 

Jaxen closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. After a pause, he responds. “Right. Of course. . . Right. Still friends.” He smiles at her, but she can smell a sadness about him. “Well, I’ll just go then.” He turns around and walks through the door. As he’s closing it, he waves at Rae. “See you round?” She makes the motion back and nods, and the door groans shut after him. She turns back around to look at the adults, and sees another sad smile from Ko. Shadow, on the other hand, is slightly smiling in an amused way. He smells content.

“I’ll go grab my belongings,” Rae reasons, “so we can leave sooner. I’ll be back quickly. Thank you, Headmistress, and you as well. . . what should I call you now?” She looks at Shadow, mimicking his raised eyebrow from earlier. The expression smelled like a question, and she might as well copy his mannerisms if she was to live with him. Plus it felt. . . strangely correct on her face. 

“You can just call me Shadow, or Sensei, if you must be formal.” He waves towards the door behind her. “Go grab your stuff, and I’ll finish things up over here.” Rae nods, and as she leaves she hears Ko and Shadow launch into a deep conversation.

“It makes sense now, what you said about her Aura,” Shadow says as Rae leaves the room, the door groaning upon opening and closing. “It is incredibly rare, especially among our race. We have had only one other person in our entire race with that Aura.”

“Oh?” She motions for him to continue. “Do tell, please. It distraught her greatly when she had another thing different from all the other kids.”

Shadow nods. Understandable, especially since every family she had made such a big deal about her emotions. Bloody religion. “Her Aura colour is Black.”

Ko starts, and then stares at Shadow in amazement. “Truly,” she asks. “I’ve never heard of a Black Aura before. What does it mean?”

“She has anti-magic magic.” Shadow states. Ko’s jaw practically hits the floor. “She has the opposite of every magic. She’s pretty much a piece of walking Tamaiyum. And no,” he stops Ko from speaking by raising a finger. “I do not know if it cancels the human magic. It most likely won’t, seeing as the humans use an ancient Providence, while the rest of us use a more modern magic.” Ko nods, closing her mouth softly. “Now, is there anything else I need to finalize before I take her?”

Ko nods, and they talk of more mundane things, waiting for the girl. He signs various papers, and hands over some shen to cover miscellaneous costs that come with adoption. Eventually, they finish their transactions and stand there in silence for a small while. Luckily, Rae enters back into the room before the silence can stretch into awkwardness. She holds a small black bag, made of wyvernleather. Shadow motions her forward, and takes her hand.

“Shall we be on our way?”