United (Magics AU - Part 1)

Chapter 26 - Kai

He was a little boy again, gazing up into the starry sky without a care in the world. He was content again, just watching the beautiful, almost unreal scene above him. He was innocent again, just a young child caught in the awe of the beauty of space. He was without a care in the world again, just him and the sky...

And his father. 

He nestled himself deeper into his father's arms, burying his shoulders in the flaps of his father's coat. His father wrapped his arms around him gently, but neither of them looked away from the night sky above them. They were both too caught in its beauty to speak, nor to feel the chill of the autumn breeze. 

"You know," his father said thoughtfully, slowly, "there are some stories that say there is a whole race of people that live in space." 

"Really?" the boy asked curiously, opening his eyes a bit wider and scanning the stars above them, as if looking for a human floating in the sky. 

"Really," his father said with a small chuckle. "The stories said that their home was on the moon, where they ruled by kings and queens, much like our planet. Some people believe that the stars are the silent guardians of the heavens, watching over the moon and the Earth." 

"Wow," the boy breathed, blinking up at the vast sky.

"The legends say that whenever you see a shooting star..." 

And a streak of white slashed across the sky above them, painting a long line of brilliant shine. 

"You're seeing a guardian travel across space to rescue someone in need." 

The boy twisted in his father's arms with an awed expression. "Really?" he said again, but when he looked up into his father's face- 

There was nothing there. 

~

Kai opened his eyes slowly, the dream fading into the back of his mind. He was laying on his back, facing a crusty ceiling splashed with sunlight that reminded him that he couldn't go back to the peace of sleep, even if he wanted to. But he didn't entirely want to either - he guessed that the dream was about to turn into a nightmare, like they always did whenever Kai dreamed about the family that he never knew. 

Reluctantly, Kai lifted his right arm and rubbed his eyes to wake himself up. His thick, dark, shoulder-length hair was covering one half of his face, and he pushed it away with a flick of his fingers. Gritting his teeth against the ache of his sore shoulders and back, he pushed himself up and rolled his shoulders. 

The small, empty room welcomed him with dull colors. There was a single window behind him, wide enough for the sun of the morning to peek through. The walls were a rusty brown, but they were cracked and even crumbling in some places. The ceiling was crusty and splintered, but thankfully it hadn't fallen on Kai yet. The closed door, the one that he was not allowed to touch until he was fetched by his doyen, was painted a dull white, but the wood was splintered and revealing dark brown underneath it. There wasn't a bed or even a shelf in the room, simply a blanket for Kai to cover himself with when he got cold during the night. 

Crossing his legs, Kai began absently picking at the strings at the bottoms of the long-sleeved, white over-shirt that he had been given. The long black pants he'd been lent were, too, flaying at the bottoms and knees, with strings ripping apart into holes. After he'd torn off all the extra strings, he ran his hands through his hair to clear out as many knots as he could. 

Normally, Kai's mind would have been content just as silent as it was; but of course, since he'd had another dream about the family that he couldn't remember, it was running rampant in questioning circles that Kai had never been able to provide a satisfying answer to.