[Jaykobell]

"Is this the right way? I think they said to follow the path, but it's getting hard to follow anything."

Within the foggy forest, a voice echoed with a bit of worry. They had been sent out to this forest to deliver a package; a job that was not theirs, usually, but due to circumstances, it had been assigned to them. Only one voice spoke, but a second was accompanying the first. Rustling of leaves could be heard, and soft footsteps against the forest path could be heard. The fog was dense at parts, but almost invisible at others. It was a sunny day, but you could barely tell; the trees were so dense and fluffed with leaves that they blocked nearly every ray of sunlight. It was a rather unreal effect to see sunlight piercing through the thick fog, as if the forest itself was always within its own timezone. According to the information they'd been given, there was supposed to be a client living within the depths of the forest.

After some more shuffling of bushes and leaves, a tall man came into view.



He almost tripped as he got free from the bushes, holding the package tightly in his arms. He had no clue what was inside, but he knew he had to be careful not to break or damage the package. It had been going fine thus far, but the deeper they got, the more obstacles stood in their way. "That was close!" he sighed, relieved, but still a bit shaken. He was a relatively tall man, maybe in his mid or late twenties. Short dirty blond hair, tied in a long, thin ponytail, and the bottom half of his hair dyed a lush green. A scarf was tied around his neck, and he was dressed with a long brown coat, with a few belts here and there, mostly on the shoulders. The rest of his attire was a simple sleeve shirt, along with some jeans and generic boots.

He stared at the package for a bit, until he turned his hazel eyes and looked over his shoulder, where he'd came from. "Atarxe? Are you coming?"

[Jaykobell]

As if his call had roused him from his daydream, the second traveler appeared from within the fog, walking slowly towards the older man. "Yes. I was following you, Koen," Atarxe replied calmly and slowly, looking up at his companion. The child was much younger than Koen, maybe around his teenager years; Koen looked almost old enough to be his father. His hair was also a dirty blond, although it was much lighter than Koen's hair. His eyes were small and displayed very little emotion, brown eyes staring almost menacingly. He wore a simple t-shirt, with pants that ended in puffy rims around his ankles. He had some sneakers for shoes, a pair of fingerless gloves, and finally, a circlet hanging over his forehead. The last accessory was for appearances only, however.

"Ah, there you are!" Koen exclaimed when the younger boy stepped out from the thick fog. He picked up a piece of paper from his pocket and skimmed it once again, for the nth time today. "The note says we should eventually see a house, two floors, relatively expensive-looking..." Koen described as he skimmed only the important parts of the note. Some of them included directions to the forest, which they didn't need anymore. "We've been exploring for a while, so we've got to be close to our destination," he assumed as he shuffled the note back into his pocket, and turned around to take a look at Atarxe. "Well, let's get going, okay?" he asked, smiling at the child.

Atarxe nodded calmly before following Koen deeper into the forest. He felt at peace with Koen, right now, even though this forest looked rather terrifying. It was a nice thing, to be able to filter Koen's feelings; this allowed Atarxe to feel at peace almost all the time. It also kept his malicious personality under control, and allowed him to enjoy life a bit more; this included going on explorations with Koen, as well. However, deep within him, he could sense something else. Something was coming from the forest, and it felt unnatural. "Koen... I feel something is wrong."

[Jaykobell]

At the mention of feeling something was wrong, Koen turned around, but didn't stop in his tracks. "Huh? What is that, Atarxe?" he asked, pressing the child for more information. Just as it was relaxing for Atarxe to be with him, Koen felt equally relieved when he was accompanied by the child. With his psychic powers, Atarxe was always aware of threats before the threats became aware of them. This prevented the group from running straight into a Spider nest or into an ambush. "What are you feeling?"

The boy didn't reply right away, and neither did he stop in his tracks. He let go of Koen's heart so he could filter further along their path. The switch was like opening a freezer and sticking your heart into it, making it freeze over slowly. It tightened in his chest as Atarxe tried to find a target, but came back with nothing. As the uncomfortable feeling continued to get worse, Atarxe immediately went back to filtering Koen's emotions; which were a mix of curiosity, anxiety, and a tiny bit of excitement, as well as relief. "I cannot reach it from here," Atarxe replied quietly, staring ahead and past Koen. "I can feel something unusual ahead of us, Koen," Atarxe repeated, insisting that there was something ahead, but that he couldn't decipher what it was. "It does not feel threatening, but it is abnormal."

"Abnormal?" Koen echoed, looking back ahead, and he started to mull over the information. Atarxe's powers were still very unstable and weak. The child didn't know the extent of his powers, and neither did Koen — or anyone, for that matter. Atarxe had perfect control of the powers he possessed, but many more were still locked inside him. He could sometimes link with approaching enemies, if they were close enough, so the fact Atarxe hadn't found any host meant humans couldn't be ahead. While Koen felt relieved, he was also wondering just where that house was supposed to be. If Atarxe couldn't detect anyone, this meant they still had some more walking ahead of them.

[Jaykobell]

The two travelers continued on their way through the forest. Koen kept his ears open for Atarxe, in case the child felt anything else. He held the package close to his body, as he felt Atarxe filtering his emotions. When Atarxe so chose, he could link his heart directly to someone else's. The power allowed the child to share emotions with the host, adopting the person's feelings as his own. Switching hosts was not painful, but it could become greatly unpleasant for Atarxe.

On the other hand, filtering someone's feelings could also become unpleasant to the host. Koen was used to the feeling, and Atarxe was particularly gentle towards him, but back when the child was only a toddler, the feeling had been much stronger. It felt a bit like a heartache, or perhaps a heartburn; it was very hard to explain. It felt like your chest was warming up, but the longer it last, the hotter your heart became. Back then, the feeling was bad enough to make Koen vomit or sometimes feel exhausted. Nowadays, Koen's heart had become resistant to Atarxe's filtering, and it could recover when Koen slept. However, Atarxe could control the burning feeling to his will, and some enemies had fallen without striking back simply because of the spontaneous intense pain they simply could not describe.

"Koen, it is getting much stronger," Atarxe suddenly said, still in the same quiet, slow voice; Koen looked over his shoulder again. "Can you find anybody at this distance? We've been walking for a little while." The conversation ended, and Koen felt his heart growing a bit colder as Atarxe left his heart and aimed for another. It took a few more footsteps for Atarxe to finally reply. "I have found someone else," he announced as he pointed straight ahead. "They are nearby."

[Jaykobell]

"You found someone?" Koen echoed after Atarxe pointed straight ahead. If he had found a new host, this meant their client was most likely nearby. "That's amazing, Atarxe," Koen praised, looking over his shoulder to grin happily at the child. "That means our mission is almost done," he deduced, sighing with relief. He had to admit he could understand the storks a little more now. While they had wings and could fly to their destinations with ease, delivering packages was their entire job. Koen had a few classes, some missions, and a few official explorations, but the storks only had deliveries on their to-do lists. He felt good helping them out a little bit by delivering this specific package.

As they continued through the forest, the two companions eventually squeezed through another patch of trees and bushes before reaching a small clearing. It was rather small, but within the clearing was a house: it looked relatively expensive, with two floors. While it was a rather questionable area for a house, Koen was glad that they had finally found their client. The mission was only a few steps away from completion! "Koen, I feel something else," Atarxe suddenly said as Koen was daydreaming about accomplishing the mission. "I can sense many, many people nearby. There might be a village."

"A village?" Koen echoed once again, blinking. "In the middle of this forest?" It wasn't the first time Koen had heard of a village hidden within a forest, but this particular forest simply looked very uninviting. Perhaps, if there really were a village, the villagers had certain reasons for picking this particular forest. "That's good to know, in any case," Koen assured Atarxe as he started walking towards the house. "Are you coming? This is most likely the house we were looking for."

Atarxe nodded and followed Koen quietly, and the two companions walked down the path that lead to the house. When they finally reached their destination, Koen pushed on the appropriate button and heard the bell ringing in the house.

[Jaykobell]

"I've got it!" the voice screamed as the young adult ran down the stairs of the house. His pitch-black hair was spiky, with multiple locks of hair colored with neon hues. His eyes were an unusual orange, most likely due to special colored contacts. He was wearing typical black clothes, but he was covered in accessories, ranging from bracelets to chains hanging from his pants to gloves. He was so heavy on accessories that it was hard to look at one place when looking at him. "It's got to be my package!" Without adding anything else, he grabbed the door handle and opened the door in a flash. "Hey!"

At the sudden and loud greeting, Koen couldn't help but jump slightly. "O-oh! H-hello," he greeted with a sheepish smile as he tried to regain his composure. "I believe this package is addressed to this house," Koen added, stretching his hands closer to the boy to show the package.

"Yeah! Awesome, I was just waiting for that!" the guy replied excitedly as he snatched the package from Koen's hands. "Thanks a lot, man!" he thanked with a huge grin on his face, before taking a good look at Koen. "Hey, wait. You a stork? I thought they were the only ones who delivered stuff," he asked, tilting his head to the side slightly. Storks looked just like any human, but they had the wings — which was why they were called "storks." Last he had heard, the delivery didn't accept employees that couldn't fly to their destination.

[Jaykobell]

While Koen was surprised at the excited and sudden reactions, he tried to remain calm. Sudden actions sometimes made him jump. "Oh, no, we're... We're Academy students," Koen corrected, scratching the back of his head. "I think the stork who was supposed to do your delivery got sick, so they picked someone last minute." Apparently, no stork was available when the news had come in. They had turned to the Academy for help, and since Koen had been hanging nearby, he had been picked to follow through with the delivery.

"Oh, huh, that's weird," the client replied, shrugging a little. It didn't matter, right? The package had gotten to him safe and sound, so all is well that ends well. He had heard about the Academy, since they were fairly popular out there. The gossip had reached even this hidden place, so the guys had to be reliable, right? "Well, thanks a bunch, man! I was worried the thing wouldn't get here on time. Who are you guys, huh?" He put the package under his arm so he could present a hand with the other. "The name's Malte."

The gesture surprised Koen, but he replied to the friendly gesture with a handshake nonetheless. "I'm Koen. This is Atarxe," Koen introduced, pointing at Atarxe when he mentioned the child's name. "I'm glad to know the package was for you. I have to say flying would've made this mission a lot easier," he said with a sheepish chuckle, trying to make small conversation. "Anyway. The storks should be the ones doing your deliveries again, so it should all go back to the regular waiting time," Koen assured as he put a hand on Atarxe's shoulder. "Well, we'll be going back. Right, Atarxe?" But as he looked down at the child, Koen immediately noticed that Atarxe was preoccupied. He was staring at Malte with calm, distant eyes, which seemingly refused to look anywhere else. "Atarxe?" Koen inquired again, wondering why Atarxe would such a great interest in their client.

"Are you a Schatten Child?"

[Jaykobell]

After Atarxe had asked his question, the three men fell silent. Atarxe remained perfectly calm and simply stared at Malte. To counter, Malte also turned his attention from Koen to Atarxe. Something flashed in his eyes, but the neon-hued boy quickly regained his cheery composure. "Heh, I've no clue what you're on about, kid... Uh, Atarxe, yeah?" he replied, scratching the back of his head and displaying a happy grin.

Despite the answer, Koen had to question it. Why did he hesitate? the man wondered curiously, looking at the happy boy who stood before him. And why didn't he ask who Schatten is...? This ordeal now bothered Koen greatly. Although he didn't know the full story behind his father, Koen was aware that Schatten had had countless children. If Atarxe had asked Malte something like that, then...

As if on cue, Malte quickly changed the subject. "Well, in any case, thanks again, you guys!" he thanked again, waving a hand. "Since it's a pre-order, the payment's in the hands of the storks, so you can ask them for your reward." He quickly slipped inside the house for a moment before reappearing, this time without the package, but with a small slip of paper to replace it. "Here, you can show them this," he said as he handed the slip over to Koen. "That'll prove you delivered the package safe and sound, and they'll pay you." He nodded with a big grin, as if the small awkward moment had never happened. "Well, I'll see you guys sometime, then?"

Although Koen was still doubtful, he acted as if nothing was wrong. He folded the paper carefully and put it in his pocket before shaking Malte's hand. "All right, thanks to you, too! I'm glad we could deliver your package." He then turned to Atarxe, who still didn't look convinced. However, Koen had to get his attention. "Come on, Atarxe. Let's go back so we can tell them it went well." The young child replied nothing, but he eventually nodded and followed Koen as the two left to go back to the Academy.

As they left, Malte watched them leave in silence. Atarxe's question echoed in his mind, and after he lost sight of the two, he walked back inside the house and closed the door.

[Jaykobell]

As soon as he was back inside, Malte entered the living room and quickly took a peak out the window. He pushed the curtains aside just enough so he could check the forest surrounding the house. Of course, he knew he couldn't see the two guys from this window. Still, if only to assure they had turned back the way they'd come. He sighed with relief after a while, only to jump a few feet off the ground when a voice suddenly talked to him.

"What are you looking for?"



It was only when Malte turned around that he realized his twin sister was in the living room. Sitting comfortably in the couch, with a book in hand, she was looking at him with a questioning look. He sighed and put a hand to his chest. "Good lord, Malka. Don't scare me like that." He turned around again to check out the window again. "Say, do you remember that psychic kid they had back at the labs? The one they had to send back?"

"He's looking for a psychic kid," Malka mused, sighing and rolling her eyes. "I remember enough of that facility. I'd appreciate if you didn't have to remind me," she voiced, giving him a look. They had both escaped from the same laboratories, and both had very painful memories from that place. Any mention of it was enough to send them all flying right back to those days. Even though Malte never really let on how scarred he'd been, Malka truly hated being reminded of those days.

Looking at them, it was hard to imagine the two were twins. Malka had short blond hair and clear blue eyes, while Malte's hair and eyes were anything but natural. Personality-wise, they were even more different, with the brother being a lot more optimistic than his grouchy sister. "I know, sorry," he apologized, turning back to her. "It's just... The guy who delivered my package—"

"I already told you you need to stop ordering things," Malka cut him off abruptly, narrowing her eyes and frowning. How many times would she need to repeat it to him until Malte stopped? It was extremely dangerous, as many people could learn of their location. "You'll get us all captured if you keep revealing where we are."

Malte rolled his eyes and sighed. His attitude let out a, "Yeah, whatever" air to him. "Look, I know, but it's something I couldn't buy myself. I had to order it," he explained as he made his way to the couch sitting in front of the one Malka was sitting on. "It's not about that. The guy who delivered it wasn't a stork, and he had a kid with him. He looked weird, but then he got even weirder when he asked me if I were a Schatten Child." When Malka didn't reply and simply stared at him with a, "what's your point?" look, Malte rolled his eyes. "How would he even guess? It's not like it's written on my forehead, y'know. I bet he's that psychic kid that destroyed the labs all those years ago."

[Jaykobell]

"So what? You're assuming he's one of us?" Malka asked after Malte exposed his theory. "You look like a weirdo; it's not surprising he asked," she told him, and even though the comment could come off as insulting, there was a certain edge to Malka's voice. It was an edge Malte knew well, and the brother knew his sister was kidding. ... For the most part.

Malte grinned and then made himself comfortable on the couch by crossing his legs, leaning against the back of the couch, and putting his hands behind his head. "My dear sister, it's called style," he replied with a mischievous grin. No matter how grouchy or snappy Malka was, Malte couldn't ever feel insulted by her comments. He knew his sister much better than that. "But seriously; what do you think?"

"I think you have an overactive imagination," Malka replied without even thinking twice about her answer. "Malte, the kid asked you if you were a Schatten Child. So what? Maybe he's a fan, or something twisted like that." It was a bit alarming that the child had mentioned the possibility at all, but Malka was more intrigued than alarmed. Schatten was known in this world as being a rather strange — but also fearful — individual. Everyone had heard about his countless children, so maybe someone was going around trying to them all. Who knows.

Malte sighed when Malka pretty much made fun of his theory. "Exactly, it'd just be twisted, like you said. He had a weird look to him, and his eyes were really eerie," Malte explained, trying to make his point more believable. "Dirty-blond hair and brown eyes." The two had been in that facility together, and both had heard of that one particular child who'd destroyed a big part of the laboratories. If he described the child, maybe that would ring a few bells.

However, the effect backlashed. Malka simply rolled her eyes again, and figuring Malte wasn't going to drop it to begin with, she closed her book. "Malte, do you know how many people have dirty-blond hair with brown eyes? It's like if you were looking for me and asked for a young girl with blond hair and blue eyes." She noticed Malte sighing again, and then something came to her. "Why do you even want to know if he's the same kid? Just what are you thinking?" Malka knew her brother just as well as the back of her hand. He had something in mind, and knowing him, she would disagree with whatever it was.