A chilly breeze brushed by the traveling children in the dead of the night. The horse was huffing and slowly trotting along the path. Aurora was already fast asleep and using the sack of food as a pillow.

Xander was barely awake as he held onto the reins. Looking up at the twinkling stars, the clouds were barely visible as they blended with the dark sky. In an attempt to keep himself warm, he hugged himself, but it was no use. Whenever the winds howled, every bit of warmth he had would be stripped away. He couldn’t stop himself from shivering or his teeth from chattering. Xander could feel whatever energy he had left slowly slip away from his fingertips.

With the full moon and a silent world as his witnesses, Xander’s eyelids became too heavy to keep open and he fell off to the side. He didn’t land on the dirt path below nor feel any sort of impact. He landed on nothingness and it took over.

“It’s about time you left behind such an odious place,” echoed a strange, constantly shifting stream of voices. Each word was said in a different voice. From feminine to childlike and to even deep and broad, it never settled on one and never seemed to end. “Arise, Xander Lucis.”

Xander’s eyes snapped open. He was out of breath and gasped for air. He had a bad feeling in every ounce of his body and it was as though danger surrounded him at every turn. Looking around, he couldn’t shake off that something was wrong. No, rather than something, everything was wrong. There wasn’t a howling wind or a cold sensation around his body. He didn’t feel tired or energized either.

Every step he took created ripples below as if he was standing on the surface of water. The starry, night sky he saw before closing his eyes were below him on the rippling surface. The bright glow of the full moon resonated from underneath.

“Do you not yet recognize it?” asked the stream of voices. “Your home? Your world?”

Xander looked up and saw the ground above him. The horse and Aurora were still on the dirt path, yet not even a sliver of movement took place.

Time was frozen and the world’s reflection was before him.

Xander thought he was upside down or maybe the entire world was instead.

Trails of silver smoke slid across the surface of the sky from many directions. The trails met and spiraled into one mass. It turned and turned in circles, creating a powerful wind that blew in the direction it spun. Two glowing, orange semicircles appeared near the top of the smokey mass as it focused its gaze on the boy.

Carefully, Xander took a step back as he retained eye contact.

It edged closer.

He took another step.

Again, it edged closer.

Xander turned around and tried to run, but in one quick swoop, it manifested in front of him as several strings of smoke surrounded him. Face-to-face with the strange creature, Xander closed his eyes and quietly hoped it would leave him alone.

“You still cannot comprehend my form?” it asked as every voice it used creeped him out.

Xander didn’t answer. His eyes were still closed as he was trembling with fear.

“You have nothing to be afraid of, boy.” The strings of smoke receded back into the body of smoke. “I cannot bring harm to my host nor would I ever have the desire to.”

Xander slightly opened his eyes and looked up at it as it slowly floated away. “Wait!” he suddenly called out.

“Finally mustered up the courage to speak, I see,” it said.

“What are you?”

It shook what seemed to be its head. “Wouldn’t the proper question be ‘who are you’?”

Xander still couldn’t believe what he’s seeing or hearing. Rather, he became speechless for a second time.

The strange creature let out a sigh. “Ever since you were born into this world, I was always with you.”

He snapped out of it. “What? I’m just having a bad dream, right?”

“Oh, my cute host,” it circled around him as a trail of smoke followed it. “If only it were that simple.” It stopped in front of him. “You are stuck with me, just as I’m stuck with you.”

Xander steeled himself, trying not to look scared in front of it anymore. “Fine, it’s not like I have a choice.”

Surprised, the creature backed away. “What a strange child.”

“That’s—”

“I know,” it said. “A new one.” It crept closer. “I am connected to your soul and you are quite different from your predecessors. There’s something… unique about you.”

The sky beneath Xander began to ripple more and more until he was slowly sinking. He tried tor each up to the creature, but his hand passed through it as it stared down at him.

“If you ever need my assistance,” it loomed over him. “Just yell my name.”

“How would I know it?!” Xander yelled as he squirmed, but the ripples of the sky were slowly overpowering him.

“You’ll know it by heart,” said the creature.

“What’s that supposed to mean?!” Xander was consumed by the sky. He stared up at the strange entity as the view before him became blurred. At first, he felt surrounded by slime and the slippery texture made him feel queasy. Shortly after, a sudden dryness overcame him, and a natural warmth took over.

                                                               ***

Night turned to day as the sky slowly changed from the shadows of the night to the light of day. The rays of the sun were beating down on a sandy landscape with a warm breeze from the east. Many buildings were scattered across the sand. While most were partially buried and in ruins, others seemed to be standing tall.

The two children and their horse were resting in the shade of a building buried halfway in sand.

Aurora was the first to wake. She yawned and stretched her arms. She peeked over at Xander and the stallion, who were sleeping peacefully. She lightly poked Xander’s cheek, but he woke up screaming and stood up. She jumped back out of shock.

Xander checked all his limbs and patted down his entire body. He looked between Aurora and the horse, who were worriedly staring at him. “Oh, it was just a dream,” he said relieved.

Wide-eyed and concerned with a furrowed brow, Aurora took a second to let the moment sink in. “Okay? I’m sure whatever you dreamt of wasn’t real.”

The horse huffed in agreement.

Xander stared off in the distance and noticed a smokey mass in the distance. He rubbed his eyes and squinted. He realized it was the same creature from his dream and it stared back. He pointed at it, “Look, look! It was that thing!”

Aurora rolled her eyes and looked in its direction. She shook her head, “Unless you’re pointing at more sand, there’s nothing there.”

Xander was puzzled by her reaction. “What?” He quickly glanced between Aurora and the smokey mass. “You really don’t see that… thing?”

The unknown creature tilted what seemed to be its head as if it took offense to what the boy said.

“Maybe you should go back to sleep,” Aurora suggested and kept her nervous laugh to herself.

“I’m fine,” he assured and walked away.

“Wait, Xander—”

He stormed off without another word.

Aurora let out a deep sigh and turned toward the horse as it stared back. “Now, what do we name you?”

The horse neighed.

Exploring the ghost town, Xander was quietly mumbling as the creature from his dream followed him. The towering buildings appeared as if they’d scrape the sky. While some were lopsided and nearly on the verge of collapse, few held their ground and remained upright. Old lampposts had their glass broken and their metal rusted with time. Whenever the warm, dry wind would pick up, a hill’s worth of sand would seep out from the buried structures.

Xander couldn’t take it anymore. He turned to face the creature and glared up at it. “Why can’t she see you?!”

“Pardon?” It seemed confused.

“It was already bad enough you scared me in a dream, but why are you out here too?!” he asked angrily. “I pointed where you were and she couldn’t see you at all!”

“Of course, the girl couldn’t see me,” it said. “I am attached to your soul. You’re the only one in this forsaken world who could see and hear me.”

Xander kicked an old window out of frustration, but a pile of sand fell from the overhang above. He patted off the sand from his torn clothes. “Can I have some time alone?”

“Very well,” it lowered its head as if it tried to bow. “You know what to do if you need my assistance.” The strange mass of smoke faded from sight.

Xander let out a sigh and stared at his reflection in the glass. He took a step back, but he heard a light click as his foot slightly sunk into the ground. He glanced down at it as the floor opened. He screamed as he fell into the abyss and he watched it close above.

                                                                ***

Aurora paced back and forth as the horse fell asleep. She was lost in her thoughts, but a sudden tumble from a nearby sand mound broke her concentration. Curiosity overcame her as she jogged over to the cause. Much to her surprise, she saw a young girl face-planted on the sand and helped her up. Aurora carried her back to their resting spot.

Upon a closer look, the strange girl was no older than Aurora herself. Her white dress with a floral, sky-blue pattern was dirtied by the desert sands. Her auburn hair barely reached past her shoulder and her eyes were as blue as the sky itself. She snapped out of her dizziness and noticed Aurora was staring down at her. She stood up, but she stumbled as she moved too quickly. She patted the dust off her clothes and curtsied out of habit but straightened her posture afterwards.

Aurora couldn’t hold back her laughter. “You’re a weird one, aren’t you?” She wiped away a tear.

Flushed with embarrassment, the blue-eyed girl seemed to be on the verge of crying.

“My name is Aurora Noel,” she said with a smile. “And you are?”

“Yumelie Aefre,” the blue-eyed girl answered. “I’m just a simple—”

Aurora instantly figured her out. “You’re the Bell Kingdom’s princess, aren’t you?”

Something broke within Yumelie as a look of panic overcame her. Looking down and fidgeting with her hands, she let out a nervous sigh. “I was found out already…” she said dejectedly.

“More importantly,” Aurora carefully looked at her, much to Yumelie’s discomfort. “What’s a princess like you doing here? Isn’t the kingdom on the other side of the world?”

Yumelie nodded. “I didn’t come here alone—”

“Well, that much is obvious.” Aurora crossed her arms.

The ditzy princess pouted. “My partner and I are here to find something.”

“And that would be?”

“I don’t know what it is, but Ren said they’re Rularian Artifacts.”

“Rularian?” Aurora scoffed. “They’re myths and that’s all they are.”

Yumelie shook her head. “No, they’re just as real as us.” She took a deep breath. “Once you see a person with rings in their eyes that are as bright as the sun, that person is a Rularian.”

“And this partner of yours?”

Yumelie smiled. “The crown prince of Rularis, Reginald Aeterna or well, ‘Ren’ is his nickname.”

                                                                ***

Xander slid down the sand, leaving behind a cloud of dust. He came to a sudden halt as soon he felt a rocky texture. Nearly letting out a yelp from the pain, he shakingly stood up. He tried to look around, but all he could see in dim light were some dusty vases and broken old pots.

He tried to climb up the hill of sand, but it crumbled easily beneath his feet.

“Hey!” he yelled up from where he fell. “Aurora!”

There was no response.

Xander’s eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness that surrounded him. He noticed the iridescent walls of a cave and they sparkled when the light reached them. With no way back out, he could only proceed deeper and deeper. However, he immediately stopped in his tracks as a pair of small, beady red eyes peered out from the dark corners.

“Nice… whatever you are?” he said cautiously as the silhouette of wings flapped rapidly toward him and he closed his eyes as he shielded himself with his arms. He fell back, thinking something would hurt him.

Xander slowly opened his eyes and saw a tiny bat staring at him. He wondered why he was worried over nothing. However, in the corner of his vision, just beyond the tiny, curious bat, he noticed many more pairs of beady, red eyes open in the shadows of the iridescent cave. Xander protected himself and shut his eyes once more as a large swarm of bats flew at him.

“Stay down and don’t move!” yelled a voice from behind as a golden beam was shot out from over his shoulder. The bright light dissipated just as quickly as it came, and the stranger stood next to Xander.

The bats dropped to the ground with steam coming off their bodies. While some remained still and lifeless, others were twitching as their lives came to an end.

Shaken and wide-eyed, Xander was contemplating what happened as he tried to catch his breath. He looked up at the person next to him, only to see a boy with slightly messy, black hair and wearing a tattered, gray cloak. Despite his appearance and their similar age, what stood out the most was the radiant, golden rings along the edges of his irises.