(Alex, 16)

After dinner, everyone split up to do their own thing for a little while, such as taking showers or just preparing for the evening festivities. When I returned to the cafeteria, I found a puppet theater set up. I used to watch the street entertainers do these when I was little, and took some of the little ones to watch during my time as Leviathan Alex.

The streets are usually the only places we'd find such things, it ain't normal for them to be anywhere else. This one seems to have been crafted expertly, with polished wood and fine curtains, golden stenciling bordering the front and the posts connecting the top board to the bottom on the front and the sides. The curtains are a rich, dark purple, and I bet they'd cost at least a few thousand varru to buy.

Probably made by Jason or one of the Sages.

"Do ya know what's going on?" I ask Niko.

If anyone here knew, it would be him.

"No," Niko answers. "Jason has not mentioned this to me at all."

"Have ya talked to him?" I ask. "He didn't answer when I knocked on his door after dinner."

"I attempted to speak with him," Niko informs me. "But he did not respond either through his door or his comm plate."

"Yeah, his comm plate just kept going for me," I say. "It was clear he was ignoring me, so I ended the call after about ten minutes."

"You let it run for ten minutes?" Niko asks.

"Yeah," I approach a table at the side of the room, where refreshments were set out. The tables on the other side of the room mirror this one. "I was sharpening my knives, and figured I'd just let it run until he answered. He didn't, though, so I canceled the call."

"He may have still been sleeping," Niko says.

"Yeah," I say. "I pounded on his door pretty hard, too, but he didn't answer, so either he's got soundproofing on it that negates even that, which I'm doubting, or he's sleeping pretty heavily."

We fill up plates with snacks, then take our seats at a table. Since other things are not set out yet, it's probably safe to assume the puppet show will be the first event of the evening. Now that I'm paying more attention to it, it's sitting in front of the gap to enter the kitchen, blocking entry. The puppet theater's too wide to actually see the gap at all, which is why I didn't notice it at first.

Why did they stick it there, rather than center it to the room?

The room fills up with trainees and the Sages, and it seems Miralandis and Jarenidis ain't going to participate tonight. They're likely back at the Dragon Clans, celebrating in whatever way they celebrate there.

As we chat and eat, I notice something at the puppet theater. When I turn to actually look at it, however, the curtain is just moving, disturbed by something. I turn my attention back to my conversation with Barry about university and what he can look forward to this coming term if he makes it into the Royal Knight University like he wants. It only takes around thirty seconds for the disturbance at the puppet theater to happen again.

When I look, though, it's just the curtain moving. What's going on?

I angle myself so that I can see the theater a little bit better while still sustaining the conversation. It means Niko isn't quite in my view anymore, but I think he's noticed something going on there as well.

Another thirty seconds or so pass, and I get to see what's going on. A puppet that looks like a light brown bear slowly starts to poke its head up to look at us, looks around for a moment, then ducks back down. That quick movement is what had caught my attention, no doubt. Whoever they are is only raising the head up above the 'stage' just enough for the eyes to look at us, so we only get to see a few inches of the bear before it drops back down.

Either these are stuffie golems, or Jason is back there having fun.

"Did you see that, too?" Niko asks me in a low voice.

"I did," I answer.

"See what?" Barry looks at the theater, but there's no sign of the bear yet, it only just ducked back down.

"Just watch," I say. "Ya will see it."

The group of us here watch the theater, and the bear repeats its actions. It only takes a couple more minutes before everyone is watching the theater. The bear does that twice more, and on the third time, it doesn't drop back down.

This time, it turns and tilts down a little.

"Everyone's watching," a squeaky, high-pitched voice says.

"They are?" A deeper voice asks, and then a wolf puppet rises into view and looks around. "So it seems they are. Hello, everyone!"

The way it waves, these are definitely puppets and not stuffies, the way the puppet folds inward a little at that proves it. There's some confused greetings in response.

"Wow, they aren't very enthusiastic," the wolf says.

"They're just tired, that's all," a squeaky female voice says, and a rabbit puppet lifts up, a pink bow on its ears. "Hi, everyone!"

We greet it again, and the wolf looks down as the bear looks around some more.

"Do you want to say 'hi', too?"

It's then that I realize what's going on. Jason is probably the wolf, with the deeper voice, while the other puppets are being held by his adoptive siblings. The positioning of the theater is so that they can exit without us seeing them, as the children are still nervous and scared of people. This is Jason's way of getting them involved in the New Year's celebrations without traumatizing them.

The fact that the boy holding the bear can tell we're looking means that they can probably see through the wood. An enchantment of some sort, maybe? Or is it actually clear glass enchanted to look as if it's wood from this side?

A tiger puppet lifts up, squeaks a 'hi', then drops back down.

"Are you still upset that they get food and you do?" The bear asks.

"Yes!" The tiger responds from out of view.

"Well," the bunny says. "Please don't eat me. Remember, I'm a friend."

"I won't eat you," the tiger slowly lifts back up and looks at us, then ducks back down. "They're all staring!"

"They're probably admiring your fine coat," the wolf tells him. "Though I'll admit, I'm a bit hungry, myself. Hrm. You know, there's a delicious looking bunny over there."

"No!" The bunny squeals, and the wolf turns to look at it. "Eeek!"

"Maybe I could eat the bunny, too?" The tiger lifts back up.

"EEK!" The bunny squeals.

Jason and his new siblings continue talking, with some moving around, including a brief period where the wolf chases the tiger, then gets chased in return. Some of what they say is pretty amusing, but otherwise, it's rather cute. It's obvious he's doing his best to work with children for this, and I look at Sage Alyssa, who's sitting at the table behind me.

She leans over.

"We made this when Jason was little," she whispers. "We would do the puppets to entertain him, and he got the idea to do it with the kids because they were feeling upset at themselves."

"They were upset at themselves?" I whisper.

"Yes," she responds. "They wanted to participate in the festivities, but are too scared to interact with all of you, and got upset with themselves over that. I think they're making this up on the spot for the most part."

"Some of it's funny," I tell her.

"Yeah," she smiles. "Jason's doing his best work with them on this."

"You're in his head, aren't you?"

"It's guarded," she shakes her head. "But I know the face he was making when they were talking about what they wanted to do."

I chuckle, then return to watching the show. The face Jason was making was probably amusing, especially with the things the kids are saying. When the show ends, the four puppets wish us a happy New Year, then bow and lower out of sight.

"Now that the show is over," Sage Elena stands up. "We'll have around fifteen minutes before the next part of the festivities will begin, for those who wish to participate. Thanks for watching the show put on by our children, then little ones wanted to provide you some entertainment tonight.

"The next thing we're doing," she says. "Is watching the meteor shower which will occur shortly. If you wish to do so, make sure to dress warmly, as we'll be heading outside to view it."

Meteor showers during the New Year celebrations are rare, and considered a sign of good luck and fortune to come. Wishes made during them are more likely to come true. The closer we are to the turning of the year when it happens, the greater the chance of the wish made coming true.

This is the first one in my life here, and I think only fourteen happened while I was Quinn. They occur maybe once every fifty years, so a twice-in-a-lifetime event for a mage or powerful warrior.

Thinking back, I try to remember if I ever made a wish under them as Quinn. I know I didn't as Kris, as we had no such 'superstition' on Earth. I'm not sure if it's a superstition or not, but I know that if I were still Kris, I'd probably call it that. Much of what we believe in would be considered one. Here, though I do believe in it.

It takes me a few minutes, but I do remember that I did make a wish under them once – the last time it occurred while I was Quinn. I smile a little at the memory of it, because it's come true. My wish was that I'd finally be able to tell Nolan how I felt about him.

I look at Niko, and find him smiling a little as well.

"What's got ya smiling?" I ask.

"I was reflecting upon the past," he tells me. "As is custom for this time of year, and realized that despite knowing what I knew about us Magi, I made a wish under the last meteor shower to occur on New Year's Even as Benjamin. The wish has come true, too."

Knowing what he knew about us? What does that mean? Does it have to do with us having met the Sacred Beasts and whatever it is we really are? Here and now isn't the place to ask that, though.

It's time to head out, so I pull on my coat as others do the same, and we make our way outside Benches are already set up for us to sit on to watch, and we're told to look to the west, not the east. Jason is out here, and he looks rather sick.

"Is everything alright?" I sit by him, Niko sitting on his other side, Lina sitting on his other side.

"I'm fine, thanks," Jason smiles.

"Jason," I say. "I know how ya get with phenomena like this. Are the meteors affecting ya like the solstices and equinoxes do?"

Too late, I realize I said that in front of others. I open my mouth to apologize, but Jason raises a hand to stop me.

"They'd find out eventually," he tells me. "And yeah, it's affecting me, and the way they are tells me that at least some of them have star iron in them, too."

"Didn't ya say that makes it worse?" I ask.

"I did," he nods, then gives me a pretty weak smile. "I'll manage, though. I promise."

He takes my hand into his and rests it on his thigh, looking up to the sky. I place my other hand on top of his, and he gives me a smile before looking back to the night sky, to the stars above us. I pick out our constellations while waiting for the meteors.

The meteor shower starts with a single streak across the sky, then another, then another, and it quickly builds up into many, at least five streaks still in the sky at any moment, reaching more than ten a few times.

As the meteor shower continues, I decide to make a wish.

Oh stars above, I offer up my wish and prayer. Allow Jason to heal sooner than expected, for his pain to be alleviated soon and without issue. And let Niko's injury bother him no more.

My wish made, I continue to watch the meteor shower. It goes on for more than twenty minutes before it ends, hundreds of meteors streaking above us. Jason's hand feels cold from within, not just from the air, and he seems to be shaking.

With the storm finished, I look at Jason, and realize he's turned pale and is breathing shallowly, his eyes glazed over.

"Niko," I whisper past Jason, who barely seems to notice. "Help me get the dolt inside."

Niko nods, then we help Jason up and into the building. We know he wants to participate in the festivities, so we take him to the cafeteria and help him onto one of the benches at a table.

"Thanks," he smiles. "I'll be fine once enough time has passed. Before I went out there, Niko, I put something in your room. Fael Mira gave it to me, she said it might help with your leg's issue."

Niko gives me a nervous look.

"We all know ya have some sort of injury," I tell him. "We figured it got hurt by the god before the gargoyles managed to intercept him."

"Y-yes," Niko stumbles over the word for a moment. "Just a minor injury that aggravates me from time to time. It is nothing which hinders me, nothing like Jason's."

There is something off about his tone. I would suspect the injury of being rather bad, but if it were, he wouldn't be as functional as he is. More likely than not, the god had probably injured his knee, which would explain his limp all the time.

"Tell your grandmama 'thank you' for me, would you" Niko asks Jason.

"Already did," Jason offers a weak smile to him. "Alex, could you get me something to eat and drink?"

"Will ya be able to keep them down?" I ask.

"As long as it's not alcohol," he answers. "I should be fine."

"Alright," I say. "I'll get that for ya. Niko, stay with him."

"I was planning on doing so," Niko sits beside Jason, and Lina sits to his other side.

I make my way to the refreshments and fill a plate with foods I know Jason will like, then I fill a glass with water and return to him. It's so weird for me, being able to have fresh, clean water whenever I want. On the streets, that was a luxury item we couldn't afford, and so we had to stick with rum and ale and other alcohols.

Heck, it wasn't until Jason and the Sages created the current plumbing network that clean water stopped being a luxury, and I'm betting it was something Jason come up with on a whim after remembering stuff from our lives on Earth.

I sit beside Jason, putting the food in front of him, and he slowly starts eating. With how slowly he's eating some of his favorite foods, it's doubtful he's doing all that well.

This time, I send a prayer to the Queen of the Gods. She's on our side, it seems, so this should be safe. Hopefully, it comes true.

Please let Jason heal swiftly, I pray to her. He ain't deserving this suffering.

"Alex," Collin sits across from me, Mikey on his left, Peter on his right. "Want to play cards and dice?"

"Sure," I say, and he looks at Jason and Niko.

"Sorry," Jason told him. "I'll just watch."

"I do not know how to play," Niko says. "And will watch as well."

As she is a lady, it would be inappropriate to ask Lina to join us unprompted. I told my crew about this when I was learning some of the rules to dealing with nobles. If she expresses interest in playing, then we may invite her, but only if she expresses interest. Such a weird rule for nobility, but it is a sign of their refinement. On the streets, there ain't such a thing as 'refinement of a lady'. All ladies are women, and all women are ladies. They're one and the same, so we ain't gonna make a distinction between them.

The four of us play the game as the three nobles watch, and I get progressively drunker as the night goes on. Most everyone is having drinks of some sort, though, so it ain't a special case or abnormal. Actually, it seems Jason's the only one who ain't drinking alcohol, probably because of his current condition.

Others are playing other games, or just chatting about stuff and their plans for the next year, and that gets me to thinking. What do I want to do for next year? Every year so far, my goal at the start of the year was to protect my crew.

Now, though, there's a lot more going on. I'm courting a noble – a royal – I'm studying at university, I'm training to be a warrior, I'm recovering my memories as Quinn and Kris, and I'm a secret agent for the king of Varil. There's also the fact that my current legal state is uncertain due to all the weirdness with the laws dealing with that claim my blood papa made.

When it's time to head back outside, we do. Every changing of the year has an astrological event. Jason said he loves watching it, too, so I suppose it doesn't impact him as much as just this period of time does. That, or it's the reason he has issues right now, but either way, it's not as bad as other events.

Outside, we all look up at the sky, still talking a little. It was this event which our ancestors used to mark the start of each year, because it only happens once, for exactly twelve minutes. However, it is said to never be the exact same twice. Naturally, only a god would really know if that's true or not, with how long 'ever' can be, but the idea is that no one has ever seen the same pattern twice.

In theory. I have a few memories from when I was Quinn that seem to show the same patterns occurring as what I've seen in this life.

Six minutes to midnight, it begins. The entire night sky turns completely dark, not a trace of the stars or moon around. This part always begins it, as does the next part. The constellations for the King Beasts reappear. From here is where the divergence always begins.

This year, the Leviathan shimmers, streaks of blue-green light connecting its stars and shaping into the form of a leviathan. The other King Beasts begin to glow as well, taking on forms as the Leviathan begins to spin in a circle. The Dragon pulls away from the Leviathan and begins to fly, circling everyone. The other eight Sacred Beasts begin to appear one after another, coming out of the ring of the Leviathan, then taking up a different position within the circling of the Dragon, who flies to each one once they have taken up their spot.

Once all twelve Sacred Beasts are in the sky, the Leviathan stops his spinning, then the Dragon performs one more loop, visits each Sacred Beast once more, then returns to his position. The Dragon then lifts his head up and stretches his wings, as if roaring, then the sky fills with an aurora of blue and green light. That lasts for a full minute, then fades away, leaving behind just the Sacred Beasts. All but the King Beasts fade away, and the King Beasts return to their constellation forms. At the exact twelve-minute mark, the sky returns to a normal night sky, as if nothing had happened at all.

Ah, crap. The damn event sobered me up. Why does my magic automatically do the sobering at the turn of the year?

Everyone heads back inside, this time to do the next set of festivities. Even nobility does stuff like this.

We're doing the wax divination stuff again. Unlike with the one during the Festival of Spirits, we roll a four-sided die to determine how many wax cubes we melt into the water.

Jason is eager to go first at our table, which amuses the rest of us because of how tired he obviously is and how slow he's moving around. He rolls the die, which lands on the four. He reaches into the bag which has ten cubes of wax, one for each color, and pulls out a pink one, a white one, a dark blue one, and a violet one. Romance and love, life, knowledge, and magic.

Lucky boy. Because of the spirit of this, I'm betting he's not using his magic to force things, either. Jason sets all four of the small cubes on the spoon, then we heat it up, and he quickly pours the mix of waxes into the water.

Jason retrieves the cooled wax and inspects it. The dark blue has partially melted into the white, creating some swirls, but it's also partially melted into the violet as well. The pink seems to have melted into all three of the other colors, and it looks pretty nice.

"If I am not mistaken," Niko has his head tilted at an angle. "That is the ancient rune for 'past', is it not?"

"Hm?" Jason turns the wax around. "Oh, that is the ancient rune for 'past'."

My mind immediately goes to the time he mentioned he dated one of my sons. He never did elaborate what he meant by that, but it's making me wonder if I had a tryst at some point in my life as Quinn. If so, I ain't got the memories of it back yet.

"You know what that reminds me of?" Mikey indicates a part where the dark blue meets the white and had lightened a little. "The ocean."

Looking at it, I do think of the pictures of the oceans I've seen. Mosaics in various places which depict the waters so far from us. Jason seems to understand something none of us do when he sees that.

"Indeed," he murmurs.

Whatever he does next, it's too fast for me to see, but the wax disappears. Not before I notice the rune for "Magi" in the figure, though. Jason knows what his divination means. At least, he knows what part of it means, and it has to do with the ocean. The Shattered Isle, maybe? That's connected to the Magi, the past, and the ocean.

"You should take your turn next," Niko tells me. "It is custom for those courting to act one after another for this."

"Did Lina tell ya that?" I ask, and his face flushes. My crew laughs, and Jason chuckles. "It's alright, Niko, and yeah, that's the custom. Come on, let's put the replacements in."

Collin puts into the bag wax cubes to replace the four Jason removed, then I roll the die. A three. I reach into the bag and pull out three pieces. Light blue, dark blue, and gold. Happiness, knowledge, and wealth.

I set the three wax cubes onto the spoon, then melt them and pour them into the bowl. As soon as it is entirely in there, I pull the formed figure out and inspect it. The dark blue and gold merged together halfway, while the light blue has merged into both, wrapping partially up the sides and back of the formed figure. Or sides and front, depending on how ya look at it.

This could be read as me getting wealthy and becoming happy and acquiring knowledge related to both events, but it could also be read that some knowledge related to that which makes me happy will bring me wealth. Or in any number of ways. I try to look for runes in the formation, tilting it this way and that. There's usually at least one ancient rune.

"I see the rune for 'journey'," Lina says, and I look at her, then look at the wax formation.

I turn the part she can see so that I can see it, and confirm that the rune is there. It's formed when held at just the right angle, and uses all three colors. So something relating to travel connects those three? Interesting.

"That reminds me," Jason stands up. "Niko, can you help me to my room? Alex, you come, too."

"Are you doing okay?" Lina asks Jason.

"Yeah," he smiles. "I just remembered that it's Alex's birthday now that we're on the first of the year, and his present's in my room. Since Alex and I are courting, I can't just take him to my room."

"Oh, that is correct," Niko looks at me. "Happy birthday, Alex."

"Thank you, Niko," I smile.

Lina and the members of my crew at this table wish me a happy birthday, then Jason, Niko, and I head to Jason's room. There are about fifty stuffies in here, and I can tell Niko is trying not to laugh by the tight smile and the way he's shaking.

Jason opens up his chest and rummages through it, pulling out even more stuffies.

"The grey dragon stuffie was originally meant to be your present," Jason tells me. "But since you were feeling down while I was unavailable due to my injuries, I gave it to you then. I got you a new present."

"Another stuffie?" I ask. "Not going to complain about that, as I rather like the dragon stuffie."

"No," Jason finds what he's looking for, then pulls it out. It's small, and wrapped in cloth, but I can tell it's a box of some sort. He presents it to me. "Ta-dah!"

I accept the package and unwrap the cloth. It's a polished, reddish-brown wood box. I pull off the lid, then pull out the knife. Based on the white-gold of the hilt, it's mithril. The knife was resting on the cushioned bottom, to keep it from wiggling around.

"I didn't actually make this one," he tells me. "Because of my condition, but I had Papa Jared do it. I did pick the design and perform some of the enchanting on it, though."

I unsheathe the knife from the leather sheath and examine it. It's lightweight, as mithril as, and beautiful.

"I did make the box, though," Jason tells me. "You can keep it, too."

"Thank you," Jason," I sheathe the knife, then set it back in the box, which I close. "I know this ain't exactly protocol, but I ain't exactly a born noble."

I tackle him in a hug, and he hugs me back. After we kiss, I send him and Niko back as I head to my room to put the knife away. When I return, Mikey is doing his wax divination, and Niko and Lina are kissing each other briefly while the wax is poured into the bowl.

Lovebirds.