Chapter 24 - Late Night

Later that night, unable to fall asleep, Ian stealthily exited the twins' room. He tiptoed across the hall, squinting his eyes, straining to see ahead in the dim lighting all the while gliding his hand across the wall for guidance. Only when he felt the bump of a door frame did he stop, relieved that he had finally reached his destination.

He knocked on the door.

"Come in." Albert's voice rang from inside.

Ian flinched in surprise. He had knocked from habit but hadn't expected a response. The doll-like boy slowly pushed open the door, peeking his head into the room.

Albert smiled, sitting up, "Ian? What are you doing up so late?"

"Couldn't sleep? Here, sit beside me." Albert pat the empty spot next to him. It was where Ian would have been sleeping had Albert not been sick.

Ian climbed onto the bed, making himself comfortable under the warm blankets.

"…"

"Hm? Yeah, I'm feeling a bit better now. I think I'll be fine in a few days."

"…"

"You spoke today? And Father is letting everyone go on a mission?…Hah-, why wasn't I awake for such an important moment today?"

"…"

"It's not like I don't understand why're you're frustrated but rather than being angry because you couldn't speak again, shouldn't you be proud that you said something instead?"

Ian held his head down, not making eye contact with Albert.

"If you didn't say anything, Father might not have agreed. You've shown him how much you guys wanted this. Victoria implied that, didn't she?"

Hesitating, Ian nodded.

Albert roughly pat his head. "You know, I used to really hate using my ability."

"?" Ian finally lifted his head and looked at Albert with eyes that looked like they were saying 'really?', in disbelief.

"Well, it wasn't really that I hated using my ability. In fact, I loved using it. I mean, I grew the whole garden with my ability. However, when people at school found out about my ability and asked me to grow things for them, for some reason, I felt weird. As I grew more and more flowers and whatnot, I realised that I really really hated growing things for other people. I was fine growing things for myself and Victoria and all but for them, it was a different story.

Do you know Victoria said to me at that time? She told me that it was fine if I didn't use my ability for other people. I only had to use it for myself. So I did. I used my ability because I wanted pretty flowers in the garden. I used my ability because I wanted to give my family fruits to eat. I used my ability because I wanted to, not because someone else told me to."

Ian was confused as to why Albert was telling him this but he felt that he must've been saying something important, he was just taking a long time to get to the point.

"Anyways, what I'm trying to say is, don't speak because people tell you to. Speak because you want to say something. Just like today. Understood?"

Ian nodded.

Albert smiled. "Now, why don't we go to sleep? It's been a while since we've slept together."

Ian nodded, laying his head down on the pillow. Still smiling, Albert pat his head and sooner or later, both of their breaths slowed as they fell into deep slumber.

—

Albert slowly opened his eyes. Instinctively, he knew where he was. He could hear the flickering of the orange flames and the peculiar smell of burnt nothingness. However, it was different form usual. The refreshing smell of grass and a river reached his nose. As a wind blew, the sound of leaves rustling and water splashing reached his ears. The sound of raging fires was drowned out by the soothing nature around him.

His eyes finally open, Albert saw a small island surrounded by a bubble of freshwater. In the distance, the fires burnt but was obstructed by the barrier of water. The whole island was but a tiny lawn with a single tree in the middle of which Albert was leaning on. Albert didn't think it even exceeded a ten metre radius.

"…I'm here again." Albert sighed. He looked up at the familiar water bubble and hugged his knees. Since a few days ago, the world of his dreams had changed from a scorching hell to this peaceful wonderland. The fires still existed in the distance but it was mostly a cool, quiet place.

Sighing once more, Albert stood up, stretching his arms. He walked forward, feeling the soft grass beneath his feet. Strolling in a straight line all the way to the edge of the island, he reached out his hand. It went through the bubble-like barrier and instantly, Albert's hand was engulfed by a cool sensation that was warm at the same time.

Breaking out into a grin, the boy walked forward, sticking his head into the outer layer of this world.

"As expected." Bubbled erupted from his speaking underwater but sound still traveled with ease and his breathing was not obstructed at all. Albert took yet another step forward, his entire body surrounded by the magic water. Giggling gleefully, Albert swam around, enjoying the sense of freedom that existed within this world as he waited for him to wake up.

"———!" Suddenly, a foreign sound disrupted this tranquil silence of the dream.

Albert turned to the source of the sound and found a figure falling from above. It fell through the flames and plopped down into the water. Continuing on like a torpedo, the figure exited the water and crashed onto the soft grass below. Only then was Albert able to identify the outsider.

"…Ian?"