Auren's night was restless. He had taken the books to try and read yet his mind drifted back to the game. He took the headset from the drawer once more and even though he knew , he still tried. Sadly when he logged in the Game AI blinked a red announcement. 24 hours until respawn. No matter how many times Auren refreshed, the timer remained merciless.
His character was gone, the game was silent, and there was nothing more he could do. Frustration should have been his companion tonight. Most players in his place would have cursed Zevaros's name and thrown the device across the room.
But the strange thrill still lingered in Auren's chest, a sharp heat that refused to settle. He had been caught....no, he had been hunted. And though he hated losing, the excitement gnawed at him in a way even victory rarely did. Placing the headset back in the drawer Auren just sighed.
He lay there in his bed, staring at the ceiling of the dorm, sleep did not come. His mind was restless, buzzing with the game's shadows and the man behind them. His body ached for rest, but his heart beat too loud in his ears.
With a quiet sigh, Auren rose. He slid his boots on, fastened his cloak loosely around his shoulders, and slipped out of the dormitory hall without disturbing Gray, who could be heard snoring faintly in his room. The corridors of Nexus Academy were hushed this late, most of the students were fast asleep. High tech lamps burned low, and only the distant echo of patrolling guards' boots could be heard.
He walked without aim, his kind still reeling in the fact that he died. He walked and walked until instinct guided him to the one place that had always calmed him, his glass garden. This was the first time he'd come here at night.
The moment he pushed the crystalline gate open, his breath caught.
Twin moons hung above Caethiria tonight, their light a silver, blue, and faintly violet ray the clouds giving space to the radiance 0f the moon. Each ray fractured as it touched the glass, scattering into shards that painted the garden with living stars.
The flowers, already strange in daylight, seemed ethereal now. The petals were gleaming like spun glass, vines shimmering like rivers of pearl. The air was cool and still, perfumed with the mingled scent of lilies and moon-blooms.
For the first time since Zevaros's ruthless ambush and his untimely death, Auren felt his heartbeat ease. The thrill drained away, replaced with a gentler weight. Here, in this sanctuary of his own making, the world did not demand victory, nor survival, nor masks. The garden did not judge him. It simply listened.
Auren walked between the rows, trailing fingers across the petals.
"One full year," he murmured, voice low, as though the flowers were confidants. "One year of games and riddles with him. From the day I first logged in, too stubborn to admit I was lonely… until now. I'm almost seventeen and there's less than 2 months till I see him."
His hand clenched but the flowers did not flinch, only swayed with the wind.
"I've changed."
The words slipped out heavier than he expected. He sank to the ground among the crystal roses, knees folding beneath him, his warm cotton cloak pooling around his body.
It was true. He had changed.
He thought of Eiran, the fox who had barged into his life with laughter and fire. A true friend, perhaps the first genuine one he'd ever known. Auren owed him so much, more than he'd admit aloud. And yet…
"I want him to be mine," Auren whispered to the flowers. His voice trembled, though no one was there to hear. "My friend. My only confidant. I don't want him laughing with others, giving his loyalty to anyone else. I want all of it. All of him."
The desire coiled darkly in his chest.
Then came the thought of Zevaros. The lion who refused to be ignored, who stalked the shadows of his life like a predator that had already chosen its prey. Zevaros, who knew too much, who killed without hesitation, who had grown in fire and bled in silence. Auren knew the man's cruelty, the merciless way he built an empire from nothing. And still....
"I want him too," Auren admitted, teeth gritting. His hand pressed against the warm soil, knuckles white. "I want his eyes only on me. I want to be the only one he spares, the only one he reaches for. The only one who can catch him when he falls."
It wasn't just Zevaros or Eiran.
His family's faces surfaced. His parents, his siblings, their love and their burdens. "Even them," Auren whispered, the confession tearing at his throat. "I want them to care for me alone. No one else. I want all their warmth, their pride, their love to be just mine, only mine."
The words poured from him like poison, heavy and unrelenting. He buried his face into his palms, ashamed. Because he knew. He knew what it felt like to be controlled, bound by something greater than himself, forced to obey. And yet his desires mirrored that same hunger...to bind, to own, to never let go.
He hated it and yet....He wanted it.
So he kept the desires buried, locked deep in the soil of his heart. They would remain whispers among flowers, never spoken aloud to those who mattered. Because if he acted on them, if he gave in, then he would become the very chain he loathed.
The garden shimmered around him, patient and silent.
Auren leaned back among the flowers, exhaustion finally pulling at his bones. He exhaled long and slow, as though emptying all the poison from his chest. Little by little, the weight dulled. His eyelids grew heavy, the silver shards of moonlight blurring.
When at last sleep claimed him, it was deep, dreamless, and far gentler than the restless nights before.
Morning broke harsh and bright. The first class of the day rang its final bell, and students filed from lecture halls into the sunlit courtyards. Among them, Eiran stretched lazily, his tail flicking as he glanced around.
His sharp fox eyes narrowed. Auren hadn't shown up. Skipping class wasn't like him. Being late, maybe. Silent, often. But missing entirely? No. [Something must've happened during the night.]
Eiran excused himself quickly, ignoring a classmate's question, and bounded across the campus with purposeful strides. After missing Auren at the dorm, Eiran didn't have to think further on where to look. His memory carried him straight to the glass garden.
And there, sprawled among the crystal blooms, was Auren.
The boy was curled on his side, cloak drawn loosely over him, one hand still buried in the soil as though clinging to the earth itself. His chest rose and fell in even rhythm, face calm in a way Eiran rarely saw. The shards of moonlight were gone, replaced now by shafts of morning sun, but it didn't lessen the quiet beauty of the scene.
Eiran sighed softly. "You reckless idiot."
He stepped closer, kneeling to shake his friend awake. "You missed class. You know they'll deduct points for that, right? Ten points. You've made more work for yourself."
Auren stirred slowly, lashes lifting to reveal those cerulean eyes. He blinked, dazed, then pushed himself up with stiff movements. "…Ten points?"
"Yes." Eiran crossed his arms, tail flicking with both irritation and relief. "A whole day's worth of grinding, gone just like that. You'll need to double your effort now."
Auren rubbed his temples, still heavy with sleep. But then he smirked faintly, as if the punishment barely mattered.
Eiran caught the smirk and huffed. "Don't give me that look. You think I won't drag you through every quest today? You'll recover those points even if I have to chain you to me."
"Chains, hm?" Auren's voice was dry, amused.
The fox flushed, ears twitching. "Don't twist my words!"
Auren only gave a low chuckle, one that faded into silence as he turned back to his flowers. His expression was unreadable now, calm as still water. Whatever he had confessed to the garden last night remained locked within him.
But Eiran, watching closely, felt a shift. He couldn't name it, but he knew his friend had changed. And though Auren had lost two points, what he had gained in the garden was something far heavier.