Chapter 2: Welcome

I was dazzled by sunlight the moment I opened my eyes. The sun, huh? How long has it been since I last felt its warmth? I rubbed my eyes and felt like my body was recharged. Where am I? The window is open and the walls are made up of wood. This is not my room, I thought.

Dame. Oh my God, where is my son? 

I sat up straight and got out of bed in panic. "Ouch!" My foot hit the leg of the bed and it hurts! I swung the door open and almost stumbled when my eyes landed on the crib. I walked towards the crib and I beamed in happiness when I saw my baby smiling at someone. A cute little boy with blond, messy hair, is looking over my son. Wait? A child? He looks around seven.

"Hi!" I greeted him and he jumped out of surprise. I must have startled him, my bad. He blinked a few times and his mouth gaped. He looked like he wanted to say something but he pursed his lips in the end. 

"My son must have liked you! I am relieved to see my son smiling. Thank you for taking care of Dame. May I know your name?" I asked excitedly.

"T-tori. My name is Tori," the boy lowered his head and pouted. My heart really feels warm whenever I interact with children. They are just so pure and they deserve to feel the sunshine and be showered with love. Maybe his parents are out since he is the only one I see aside from Dame. 

"You are so cute, Tori! By the way, I am Rae; you can call me sis Rae, okay? I am so glad to meet you," I smiled and patted his head. I want to pinch his cheeks but I am afraid that he may find me annoying. "Do you want ice cream? I'll treat you!" I beamed but my smile immediately faded when I realized that I don't know where I am. "Umm, do you know what this place is, Tori?"

"Null Town," he timidly answered. 

"Null Town? Hmm," I try to remember where Null Town is but I don't think I have heard of it before. I don't remember anything except the recurring dream of the shadows. I remember a cat... or was it a tiger? Was that a dream also? My head started to hurt as I tried to remember what happened to me. How did I even get here?

"Excuse me, I'll call the doctor." Tori jumped from the chair and ran to the door on the other side of the room. I almost got a heart attack! I was startled by his swift move and I feared that he might trip and hurt himself. 

"Hello, Dame. Mommy missed you," I carried my son and kissed him on the cheeks. Being with Dame really gives me a comforting feeling, and my heart feels like fluttering in warmth and adoration. 

"You really have awakened! I felt relieved but you waking up after two weeks is kind of disturbing," a low hoarse voice echoed in the room. I saw a man who has white hair, wrinkles are visible on his face as a sign of old age but he still looks full of vigor. His smile is soft and his eyes look teary… or maybe it's just my imagination. Beside him is the little Tori who is looking on the wooden floor. I assume he is the doctor whom Tori was pertaining to.

"Eh? Two weeks? I slept that long?" I exclaimed when the man's words sank in. Two weeks is too long! I felt nervous suddenly when I thought about Dame. He is a newborn and his mother became unconscious, leaving him alone! I feel bad. What the hell did I do?

"You were unconscious when you came here. I am surprised that you woke up in just two weeks. I thought the shading would take months. You are impressive to recover that fast. I feel proud. I am Rigorius, a community doctor here," the man offered his hand and I reached it. He is not wearing a doctor's coat and I don't think we are in a hospital either. I assume that this is his house and he took us in. 

"Esmeray Iverson. Pleased to meet you, Doctor. Thank you for taking us in. May I ask if I have a chronic illness, Doc Rigorius?" I nervously asked since he said that it was impressive of me to wake up after two weeks. I thought that that span is already unsettling.

"Why did you ask?" Mr. Rigorius looked confused.

"It seems to me that two weeks of me being unconscious was supposed to take months long. Am I ill?"

"I want to ask you some questions to confirm my inquiry. You may place your baby in the crib and please take a seat. Tori, guard the baby."

I smiled at Tori and muttered a thank you before I faced Doctor Rigorius. 

Do you remember anything that happened before you woke up?"

"I remember talking with my stepmother and then leaving the hospital. After that… umm, I am not sure. I had a dream and it just repeats over and over again, there is a haze, then shadows, then a yellow cat? I think I remember a yellow tiger appearing in my dream also. I'm sorry. What I am saying is incomprehensible. I just feel like I'm trapped in a series of nightmares before I wake up."

"How are you feeling now?"

"I regained my energy and I feel healthy, in fact, I feel so much stronger now. I am truly grateful to you for taking care of Dame for the past two weeks. I don't have any money as of the moment, Doctor, but I will work and find a place to stay and repay you before I go back to—" my words were left midair when I remembered that I have no place to go back to. My father will not like it if he sees me. Right. This is my chance to begin anew. 

"Is there a problem?" 

"I just remembered that I have no place to go back. Is this place past the border already?" I asked. "I think I have to process immigration if this is too far from my homeland."

The man had his brows furrowed but he also looked amused. "I suggest you stay here a little longer. I have to monitor you. You have to realize something yourself first and after that, I'll tell you what you have gone through including your dreams and those shadows. You have no place to go as you said and this house welcomes you," the doctor said with a smile and walked away. "It's not that you can go back to that world anyway." He whispered something but I was not able to hear it. 

I was left speechless and after some moment of silence, I felt grateful that I do not have to leave this house immediately. It's not easy to find a place to stay without money, anyway. I need to find a job first, preferably online since I can't leave Dame. He's too young. 

Doctor Rigorius offered me to manage his house, go to the market, clean, prepare food, and things like those, and he'll pay me. It was convenient to me and I feel lucky that he is helpful even if I am a mere stranger. 

"Do you often go to the plaza on your own, Tori?" Tori, who was walking beside me to give directions going to our destination, nodded. I am the housekeeper of the doctor and this is my first time going to the marketplace. Dame is in the care of Doctor Rigorius and my son was sleeping when we left. It has been five days since I woke up and we used up all the ingredients in the house which are mostly perishable. It is embarrassing for me to not know what those ingredients are and how to cook them. I had a hard time familiarizing myself with the name of the goods I only saw for the first time but I realized that they look somewhat the same as the vegetables and fruits I know of. I think the crops here are genetically modified or maybe from the same family of species I know of.

I also got accustomed to our neighbors and I could say that their culture here is different, the money that the doctor gave is also not familiar to me. I have been here in less than a week and there are more things to learn because this is my new home, Null Town, a place somewhere remote, less civilized, yet more peaceful.

"Aren't you too young to be on your own? Come here, you might get lost." I held Tori's hand and he stopped walking. He looked at me with innocent eyes and I gave him a smile. These past few days, I noticed that he is a shy little child. He also loves to sleep. The doctor said that Tori has no family and I felt sad upon knowing that so I decided to be his family and give him the love that he deserves. 

It was a sunny and bright morning. Being under the sunshine already boosted my mood. It was a refreshing feeling and with the sun's light, my heart feels radiant and yellow—blissful and content. The plaza has a vibe that reminded me of home. 

"You like nato, right? Let's buy them!" Nato is like a potato but its color is the same as a beetroot. For the past few days, Tori has been eating boiled nato. I thought of giving him something like french fries or hash browns out of nato, I think he'll enjoy his favorite food like that… or maybe not but I still want to give it a try. I want to learn how to cook their dishes here and the good thing is that there is a cookbook back in the bungalow. 

"Eh? This part of town has electricity?" I stopped on my trail and looked around. The houses in this part of town are now made up of stones and bricks that reach the second floor, not unlike the wooden bungalow we are living in. There was no electricity in the doctor's house and its neighbors a hundred meters away. This place must be central considering the crowd and upgraded facility. Somehow, the simple lifestyle here makes me happy. I felt like I belonged here compared to the city. The Null Town plaza is so lively and busy and peaceful that I couldn't take my smile off. 

"I'm starting to love this place," I whispered to myself.

Tori released my hand and ran to the people forming a crowd. "Wait, Tori," I shouted and caught up. The people were in a circular formation and they seemed to be watching someone in the middle of the crowd. I looked at Tori who was pouting because the legs of the people are what he could see with his height. I found him cute so I lifted him and carried him in my arms to let him see the show. I also got curious so I forced myself into the group, bumping with people until I reached the front of the circle while protecting Tori. There, I found a masked man wearing a black trench coat standing in the center. 

Was it magic? I was amazed at the flickers of red coming from the palm of the man. Suddenly the flickers turned into a bright orange fire and the audience let out their cheer. I stood frozen when I witnessed the fire getting bigger while the man had his hands bare. How could he do that? Did it not hurt him? 

The man raised his arm above his head and his finger pointed in the sky; a second later, flickers showered the crowd, and the man performing burned! I mean, his whole body was literally on fire and the people seemed to cheer him. Is that even normal? I think not, oh my God! What is wrong with these people? 

"Water, oh my God. Water! He's going to die!" I panicked but the people near me looked at me as if I said something weird. When I looked at the man again, his body started to turn into ashes from his foot on its way above. The masked man pointed his hand at me, his palm facing my direction. A ball of fire was released from his hand and it was rushing at me! I stepped back, turned around, and covered Tori out of fear as I closed my eyes, anticipating the fire to reach my back. The fireball generated from the man shocked me but what shocked me more was that it was directed at me at high speed! How could he produce something like that? I am scared as hell! Everything is not normal here.

Seconds have passed and yet I felt no contact with fire. What happened? I opened my eyes and turned around only to see the ball of fire turning black as it collided with an orb of smoke. Was it smoke… or a shadow? It looked like those black clots from my dream. The fire was engulfed with black and then what was left was the smoke, slowly disappearing, until there were no traces at all. 

The man who had his lower body turned to ash lifted his mask until his lips were revealed. He was facing my direction and his lips curved as he muttered something inaudible. Nevertheless, the movement of his mouth seemed to be saying this: Welcome, Goddess—. Then, he just vanished, the ashes were blown away.

"Hey, Tori, was that thing earlier normal in this town? Do you often see someone like that man with a fireball? You saw it too, right? I am not dreaming again, am I?" My mind could not believe what I just witnessed. I feel like my remaining brain cells vanished and I could not comprehend the present. Maybe I could not accept the truth about that man. Everything is just so impossible! I saw it with my own eyes, the fireball from nothing which I could not admit. 

"You haven't seen someone like him before? That man does not live in this town but mystics are normal here. I have one too! You are cooler than him, though," Tori said. We already bought stocks for the house and we are on our way home. He is holding my hand as he walks beside me. I am glad that he has become more comfortable as we spend time together.

"Mystic? Is that something like magic?"

"Yes! Don't you have one? I saw it earlier," he innocently said but I did not get a thing. Based on everything that happened, possessing a magic power or something like that is not that peculiar here. I did not know that superpowers are true and from what Tori said, they call it Mystic here! Just what kind of place is this? I am sure that this could be all over the news but I think this town is just too detached. But still! Magic is just so amazing and if the masked man did not threaten me with a fireball earlier, I would have been impressed and I would have clapped for something fascinating. I got scared instead! That was just dangerous, I thought that people who possess superpowers are heroes but I just remembered that there are villains too. He even disappeared, is he even alive? What if the shadows did not appear to absorb the fire? Wait, where did that clump of black come from anyway? I almost forgot about it. 

"You took longer than expected. Did you run into something?" Doctor Rigorius asked when we got home. Tori was constantly yawning so he entered his room to probably sleep.

"We encountered a magician, Doctor. I would like to ask since I got curious and surprised with what I witnessed in the plaza. At first, I thought there was some sort of trick but it seems to me that everything that the man did is natural. He produced a fireball, just how? How could that happen? Another weird thing is that the people watched him, fascinated but not shocked at all. Where am I? Just what kind of place is this? I really want to know. I am so confused."

"You realized it now, huh? Just as I anticipated, Esmeray." The doctor's back is against me and he is shuffling the utensils in the sink. 

"What—," my words were left in the air when a knife came flying in my direction. What the hell? I have not yet recovered from the shock when kitchen knives and forks flew towards me all at once. I could not even cover myself with the speed of the Doctor's throwing. 

Shadows appeared in bands and in solid black that deflected the silverware. The utensils hit the ground and I heard a series of clanks. My mouth gaped open when the mysterious shadows appeared to save me again. Just where did those bands of black come from? They are not from me, right? I am not the one producing the shadows, I convinced myself. That is impossible, I am not capable of something supernatural. My dreams were just dreams, they could not be true. I did not stop the fireball earlier either.

"You saw those shadows, right? Those are from you. You are supernatural, just like the man you encountered earlier in the marketplace." 

"No. I must be dreaming, right? I am still trapped in that dream with the shadows. I just need to wake up completely—"

"Ah, right, the dream. Everything you saw there is the reality, everything really happened. It is proof that your ability has been activated. Those shadows were your eyes. What you underwent during those two weeks of unconsciousness is the process called shading. The shading usually lasts for months but your record shocked us. The shading allows your body to completely integrate your ability called Nyx and for you to overcome it in less than a month makes you more special than you are as the chosen one. You can manipulate the shadows and the darkness, Esmeray." The doctor approached the wooden desk and he sat on his chair while murmuring, "I genuinely wish it would not be the other way around later on, child."

I didn't hear the last sentence of Doctor Rigorius, nevertheless, I heard about ability and being special. "Huh? What? No. I mean, why me? How? When?" I shook my head in denial. 

"You have had that ability since birth, Esmeray. You just didn't know because it was sealed not until you gave birth. The seal that repressed your ability was broken when you delivered Dame. You started seeing the shadows after your labor, am I right?"

Now that he said it, I realized that there have been peculiar changes in my life since then. 

"Why is my ability sealed? Why didn't I know someone having special abilities in my homeland when you implied that it is completely normal here?" I need to know what I really am.

"You possess the ability, Nyx, which has only one wielder for some decades not unlike other abilities. For the reason it was sealed… you witnessed your ability, right? Do you realize how powerful Nyx is? All the attacks directed at you will be repelled by those shadows, no matter how powerful other mystics are, yours is the most dangerous. It was sealed to protect you, and soon, I predict in a few days, you'll understand how the seal was made for your safety."

Nyx. I have witnessed it all and I was foolish to think that everything was a dream when it was not. This is the reality that I could not accept so easily. This is not a movie but everything that has happened to me was like a plot in a film. 

"My life will never be the same again," I know that. With my situation now, all I could do is to step forward. I want to start anew anyway but I did not expect my life to turn upside down. I still could not believe that I have such ability. What will I do from now as I take the unexpected circumstances head on?

"Your life is here now, Esmeray. This is where you truly belong. Didn't you feel like an outcast for the past years of your life?"

When I think about it, it is for the love and care of my parents that I was able to live and cope in the past. My parents introduced me with sunshine and warmth and kindness but outside our house was cloudy and at times stormy because I felt like I was different, I felt like someone of no identity. I was always ignored when I was a kid and then my mother died. My father remarried my stepmother who was only nice to me when my father was around. Things got awry in school when people talked ill of me and avoided me, and then Ciel came into my life… to remind me of the love my parents always upheld that drives kindness. For once, I felt like I belonged again… with Ciel, I felt like home. But of course, life will always have its way to make it rain on my sunny days. We parted ways and I felt like a stray again… but Dame saved me. Now that my father is gone in my life too, Dame is the only one I have now so I will do everything for my son. Somehow, I feel sad about my situation; I want to see my father and Ciel again.

"You were able to live in the place you came from because your ability has not yet awakened but things are different now. You cannot go back there with your ability as it is now. Mysticuria balances the mystic and the outside world can't do that. You realized it too, didn't you? That this place is peculiar? You are in Mysticuria, a mystical place hidden on earth. Well, this town is part of Mysticuria and is just a little different from your "home" because the people dwelling here do not possess special abilities called mystics but they are aware of the existence of mystic wielders. More than half of the Mysticuria population possess mystical abilities after all."

"Do you possess an ability too, Doctor?"

"Who knows? Would you please check on Tori? I'll prepare our food," the Doctor dismissed me and I was left wondering if he was hiding something. He avoided the topic and it seems that he worked behind the scenes to let me discover the truth by myself. He is mysterious but I don't want to doubt him. He helped me until now so I am grateful.

I slowly opened the door to Tori's room but to my surprise, there was no trace of Tori there. There was no other exit aside from the door I entered, there were no windows and no vents either. I checked under the bed but there was no one. There was a small lump under the blanket but that was smaller than a pillow. Just where could he possibly go? I did not notice him going outside since I was talking with the doctor the whole time and I was so sure that he never left. 

Tori. Does he possess a mystic also? Could it be invisibility? 

"Tori? Are you here?" I called softly. No one answered but I noticed a movement from the lump under the blanket. Eh? What could be there? I slowly lifted the blanket to take a peek at the lump out of curiosity but I was amazed when I found a blond furry cat sleeping cozily on Tori's bed. Tori owns a cat? 

The cat looked so fluffy so I caressed its head. It was cute just like Tori. The cat seemed so familiar that I tried to think if I had seen such an expensive cat before. Wait, the dream! I saw the cat in my dream with the shadows. Doctor Rigorius said earlier that everything in my dream is the reality and seeing this cat now proves him right. But if the cat is real, what about the tiger I saw? How could a tiger be present there? It does not make sense but with the peculiarity of this place, what seems to be impossible is possible. 

"Sis Rae?" I heard Tori's voice and was startled. I looked around the room but he was not present. 

"Tori? Where are you?" I asked.

"I am here, Sis. I am on the bed," said the small voice of the child. I looked at the bed and noticed that the cat is now looking at me. 

"Eh?" Did the cat just speak? 

"Do you need something, Sis?" The cat spoke in front of my eyes.

"Eh? Oh my God!" I was shocked as hell! The cat spoke! I witnessed it. Wait… don't tell me—

"Tori?" I asked the cat with hesitation in my voice.