Book 1: The Chaos Keys

Chapter Eleven: Ethan☄️

The boy sat patiently on the floor of the small house, holding his bag. He kept looking in it to make sure his book was still there, as if it was going to disappear once he took his eyes off of it. For once, his pendant was around his neck, and he was not staring into it. The mystery of the gemstone could not match the mystical feeling that shrouded his new book.

The house was peaceful, the only noise being the sounds of Marshmallow, the cat, eating his breakfast. Alexis was dressed for school already, but she had fallen asleep on the couch while Ethan was eating cereal. Ethan was pretty sure she hadn't slept much, if at all. Although he had finished his cereal 10 minutes ago, he still had not bothered to wake her up.

Mina was sitting on the floor of the kitchen, intently watching
Marshie eat from the bowl. She had been eating her own cereal on the floor with the cat. Ethan never tried to question her. He would've happily eaten on the floor with the cat too, but Mina did not seem to really like being around him.

At last, the child picked up her pink backpack, carefully putting it on her back. She walked over to Alexis, and poked their cheek rather sharply, causing them to jump up.

"I'm awake, I'm awake." They groaned, rubbing their eyes. They pulled the hood of their black hoodie over their head, and grabbed their own bag, dragging herself to the door.

Ethan noticed they didn't bother to take the cat with them today, and she didn't really check after him and Mina as they often did. They generally just seemed a little... off. Most likely because they were so sleepy. She had just locked the door, grabbed Mina's hand and started walking

As they walked in the rather dismal cold of the early morning, he watched Alexi almost walk into a wall, and turn down the wrong street... twice. Even Mina looked a bit concerned, but she didn't say anything.

After quite a while of getting lost, they reached the only other school building in the city. It didn't have the same prestigious feel as their campus, but the singular large building and expansive park was more than enough for the few younger children the city had.

Mina looked between Alexis and Ethan, and scrunched her nose a bit. She walked up to Ethan and whispered, just loudly enough for him to hear.

"Keep an eye on him," Referencing Lexi, then walked into her school without as much as a goodbye.

~~••~~

"Lilith!" Ethan exclaimed in excitement as he spotted the girl standing in the hall. She wasn't in his Physics class, she had ASL. So this was the first time he was seeing her for the day.

When he got closer, he realised she was standing with Melody, maybe talking to her. Although he had yet to ever hear Lilith speak, she definitely hadn't been signing or writing.

Lilith gave him a smile when she turned towards him, which quickly left her face as she stared at him. When he followed her line of vision, he realised her eyes were again on his pendant.

He immediately took it off, rather impulsively, a bit saddened that her smile had disappeared so quickly. His quick action however, triggered a look on her face. His action seemed to make her even more wary. It felt like she was watching him rather closely, which unnerved him almost as much as his actions seemed to unnerve her.

Noticing Melody had not said hello, he looked over to her. She was staring at him too, but not with the same unsettled intensity as Lilith. Instead, she seemed a little confused.

She walked slowly over to Ethan, and took his hand somewhat gently in two of hers. Immediately, his fingers tingled, just like they had when he touched the book. However, the overwhelming intensity was not there. In fact, he felt set at ease. It was a really, really familiar feeling... But he couldn't quite remember why.