"If it wasn't for time, the brain could learn an infinite amount of things. But without time, we would be in complete chaos." - Shizuka Aizawa Regiis Angelus

After three days of chatting and sailing, we could see the coast from really far away. It was North Greenterra.

“Wow, you mean to tell me that both of these continents were once connected?” I asked.

“Yup, but I never visited it so I wouldn’t know,” said Jinn.

“Luckily we didn’t have much trouble with storms on the way here.”

“With Nightshade literally singing the storms away, it couldn’t have been easier to sail.” I looked closer to the coast, I noticed that there wasn’t a port anywhere on sight.

“Where are we docking?” Asked Nightshade flying in, “I looked around the whole coast, it doesn’t seem to be a port around here.”

“After the apocalypse, many docks, if not all, were destroyed. This side of the continent shouldn’t have docks yet.” Said Jinn.

“Then we will have to leave the ship in the open,” I said.

“Anybody could steal it while we are away,” said Jinn, “Are you really going to take that risk? It’s not going to be easy finding another ship.”

“It’s fine. If we do lose the ship, I’ll find a way to get a new one.”

“Alright man, I hope you do.” Nightshade walked up to me while talking to Jinn and said,

“Hey, big brother, I have to tell you something.”

“Hm? What is it?”

“I think… my singularity developed.” She said while looking at her harp.

“Developed? What do you mean?”

“Pixies are the only creatures that develop with their singularity naturally, so now I think that no matter which musical instrument I play, my singularity will work.”

“Great, even better!”

“Hopefully we don’t run into more people that hate pixies.” Said Jinn.

“Was it always like this?” I asked.

“No. while the apocalypse was happening, many pixies mislead humans into dangerous places, which caused many casualties, so now the whole human society is against pixies.”

“Yeah… that’s why I hate my sisters,” said Nightshade.

“But on the other hand, the king is trying his best to be understanding so we will see how the laws will end up being, but for now, whoever is caught killing or hurting a pixie will still go to jail, but most people won’t report it since they all hate pixies.”

“Stay close to me, Nightshade,” I said. She flew up and softly wrapped her arms across my neck.

“D-don’t worry, I won’t let go.” She doesn’t weight anything so I didn’t really mind if she clung onto me, but it did attract a lot of attention.

“Hmmm, we are going to go through a city, this would attract too much attention.”

“Alright, I’ll just walk by myse-” I grabbed her hand and said,

“Just hold onto my hand, and we should be fine.”

“Ok…” She said while looking down. I couldn’t see her facial expression so I don’t know if she felt uncomfortable or not.

“How far is the Academy?” Jinn asked me.

“Uuh, I think it shouldn’t be that far from here,” I said pulling out a map, “If we hurry up, we should be there before sunset.” While half of the way there, Nightshade looked at me and said,

“Ru… big brother, can you please let go of my hand? I’m not a kid anymore…” I didn’t understand what she meant, but I did as she said and let go of her hand.

“Just stay close to me then-” Right after I finished saying that, she grabbed my hand again, but this time she interlocked fingers with me and mumbled,

“I feel better like this…” Man, girls sure are weird… what the difference? I guess she has missed me a lot, it’s been a year. I looked over to Jinn and just saw gazing off into the sky.

“What are you looking at?” I asked.

“Huh? Just scanning for Sirius.”

“Sirius?”

“Yes, that’s the first star that usually appears at night, not counting Kaliner 14.”

“Kaliner 14?” Asked Nightshade.

“Yes, that’s another planet close to us. It’s the only planet that has never been conquered by either angels or devils since it has a strong acid gas cloud that kills anything that tries to land on it.”

“Hmm… interesting. Thanks for the information, Jinn.”

“No problem. If you want any more, I’ll be here.”

“It’s alright, I won’t use you as a human wiki… at least not now.” A couple of minutes later we finally reached our destination. We were overlooking onto a big campus with many people walking outside with books. It was evening, the sun was about to set.

“My legs are killing me.” Said Jinn.

“Aw come on, it’s not that bad.” Said Nightshade.

“You are a pixie! You don’t get fatigued except by being away from your tree.”

“Are you calling me a tree?” I asked.

“Kaiser, the tree… what an amazing title,” Said Jinn. Nightshade hugged me and said,

“Yes… he’s my tree, only mine.”

“Hey! I did not approve of this! I shall not be remembered as a tree of a pixie.” I said.

“Well, she exactly feels towards you as if you were her tree. She even says the little ‘I love you’ thing while she is sleeping.” Nightshade instantly covered her face and said,

“I s-said that?!” Is she blushing? I can’t tell.

“This is no time for chatter, we arrived at our destination; let’s get to the office and ask for Aizawa,” I said. A couple of minutes later…

“What do you mean I can’t make a meeting with Ms. Aizawa?” I said.

“Our condolences, but her schedule is filled with meetings and interviews for 3 months.” Jinn walked up and said,

“You don’t understand… this is very important for me!”

“Sorry sir, but you will have to wait. She is the strongest being on this planet as of the time being, she has amazing spells and magic, and she is the most popular woman around Greenterra.”

“Are you serious?! I really need her help!” Yelled Jinn.

“Sir, I need you to calm down; she also has her own goals, as of right now, she is trying to find a person that she once knew before the apocalypse happened.”

“Is there not another way we could meet her?” I asked.

“Hmm… luckily, in two days there is the monthly singularity showdown. Classes with different singularity types combat each other to see who is best, afterward, they all get their singularities upgraded by Shizuka Aizawa herself.”

“Huh, alright. Can we sign up into the Academy then?” I asked.

“You can, but it’s going to take a while. We have to unlock your singularities and-” As she was saying that, Jinn took out his pistol and turned on his accelerant, I used my glove to make it seem like it was my singularity and took off my hood to change my robe into a normal hoodie. “Oh… well, follow me this way.”

“Nightshade, we will be right back, wait for us here,” I told her.

“Ok, big brother.” Jinn and I walked down a hall, turned right at the third door and sat down in front of someone that seemed important.

“Who are they?” He asked. He seemed to be around our age. I looked at his nameplate on the desk and it said, ‘Mr. Blake.’

“They already unlocked their singularities. They were wondering if they could join the academy for the contest.” Said the woman before walking away.

“So… you two want to win the contest?” He asked us.

“We just want to meet Aizawa, that’s the only reason why we are interested in joining this contest,” I said.

“Hmm? Lady Aizawa?”

“Yes, Shizuka Aizawa.” Said Jinn.

“I’m actually her secretary. What do you two boys want from her? I’d let you two know that she is not interested in meeting any kind of random people that have no experience in the academy.”

“We just need her help for something,” I said.

“Well I’m sorry but she currently isn’t available, and since you have no experience or education with us, I highly doubt you will be able to win the contest.” I sighed. I figured that with Shizuka Aizawa being this popular she might have some bootlickers, and this is probably one of the many. I realized that it was futile trying to convince him into letting us in now that he knows that our only goal is to talk with Aizawa.

I got up and decided to use the restroom to get some time to think without seeming suspicious.

“Excuse me, where is the restroom?”

“Go outside, turn right, go all the way at the end of the hall and make a left.”

“Thank you.” I decided to make my way to the bathroom, but before that, I left a note on Jinn’s lap that read, ‘Call me on your phone and leave it there so I can hear the conversation, I will come back with something in mind.’ I got to the bathroom, locked the stall and started hearing the conversation between Jinn and Blake.

“Well, just let us join the academy.”

“I can do that, but you won’t be able to attend this month’s contest, you will have to wait for one more.”

“But I can’t do that.”

“Well sorry, that’s all I can offer.” Hmmm… maybe if I tell him that I will pay him… but that’s illegal, if the room is recorded then I could go to jail for illegal trading. Suddenly, I heard a knock coming from the phone, someone must be knocking on the room. The door open and then I hear Blake saying,

“Oh! Lady Shizuka Aizawa!” Then, I heard a smooth calming voice responding,

“Hi, Blake. Are you in the middle of something?”

“No! No! Nothing is more important than you. By the way, you look astonishing today.”

“Uhh… thanks. Can I get those Results from the investigation of South Greenterra?”

“Yeah, yeah! As you please!” I then heard Jinn moving. I’m guessing he stood up.

“Hello, Ms. Aizawa. My name is Jinn Dalton, and I-”

“I said no!” Said Blake, “She is too busy-”

“Oh, Hi Jinn. I apologize for not introducing myself, I almost didn’t notice you were here.”

“Oh, it’s no problem. I was just wondering if you could help me with something…” I heard Aizawa sighing and said,

“Depends on how important it is.”

“My little brother… he has a virus that no-one in my country has been able to cure. I was just wondering if you could maybe…”

“Jinn, I understand where you’re coming from. But you have to realize that you’re not the only person that has asked me to heal said family member, most of my schedule is filled with meetings with families so I can help them.”

“Oh… I see.”

“If you want me to help, then sure, I can, but you will have to wait just like the other families are.”

“A-alright.”

“Have you tried asking my healing class? They should be able to help you even though they still are not that skilled.”

“Yes, I’ve tried calling many students from this academy to heal my brother, but none of them could get the job done… and I’m getting desperate at this point.”

“Ooh, so you were that client! I heard that no one was able to heal this person, I was going to go myself but I heard some news about the person I was searching for.”

“S-so can you come now? It would mean the world to me.”

“I… I don’t know, Jinn. The contest is in two days, and I have to be here to congratulate the winner and upgrade hers or his singularity, and the upgrade takes three days to develop, anything might go wrong so I need to be here. Can’t you wait till then?”

“What if… I win the contest. Will you instantly come to Tokiri Islands?”

“If you win? Of course.”

“So can I join the contest without past experience for this deal of ours?”

“Uhm… yeah. Blake, allow him to enter the contest.”

“But, Shizuka-”

“I said to not call me by my first name!” She said with an annoyed tone.

“Yes, ma’am!”

“One more thing, I also have another friend that wants to talk to you.” Said Jinn.

“Sorry, but I have to go. I’m in the middle of a search for someone. I just got the results of the latest search, and I have to go through them.” I was going to leave the bathroom and talk to her, but I didn’t want to interrupt her busy day, plus if she really is as strong as everyone says she is, she might recognize me as the person who caused the apocalypse even under all of this disguise; I’ll avoid her as much as I can until Jinn wins the contest so I can talk to her on the way to Tokiri Islands. For now, I’m just glad that I met Nightshade. I’m usually not a patient man, but I don’t mind spending more days with my little sister.

“Alright, I’ll let him know.” I heard someone walking away with high heels, so I got out of the restroom and walked back into the office. Blake sighed and said,

“Ok, I’ll sign both of you up. Come tomorrow for your first class, then, after tomorrow the contest will start after the academy.”

“Alright, thank you.” Said Jinn. We walked out of the office, and I managed to get a glimpse of Aizawa walking away, she really seemed like a beautiful woman.

“So, what do you think of her?” I asked to Jinn.

“She is gorgeous. She also gives off a wise vibe.” As we were walking back outside, I notice a group of people surrounding Nightshade. I’m guessing Aizawa didn’t see her since she is in the middle of the group of people.

“Hey, little pixie, what are you doing here all alone?”

“We got some for you… do you have any idea of what your kind has done to my mother?!”

“L-leave me alone. I got nothing to do with that.” She said while her eyes were frightened. I instantly started feeling my chest get warmer and warmer as my blood pressure raised. I was about to use the gauntlet without noticing that I wasn’t wearing the robe, but Jinn quickly grabbed my arm.

“Kaiser, no need for violence.” I clicked my tongue in anger and walked through all of them and stood between them and Nightshade.

“You guys better back off from her,” I said.

“And who are you?”

“The man that will bash your face in if you don’t leave her alone.”

“Oh reeeaally? You think you can take all of us on?” There were around six people, I couldn’t battle since my PTSD would kick in, but I would do anything to protect Nightshade from these stupid thugs; I hate seeing people taking advantage on the weak.

“Big brother… t-thanks a lot for defending me, but…” She took out her singularity and started playing the harp, Jinn and I instantly covered our ears while everyone around us fell asleep. “There is no need for violence just to protect me.” I looked back at her and she was blushing.

“Let’s go before somebody notices this.” Said Jinn. We all walked away in search of an Inn where we could stay. The sun was almost gone, the city outside the academy was very busy and crowdy, but we still managed to find a way around.

“Hey, Nightshade, has there really been not a single pixie that has fallen in love with a human?” I asked out of sheer curiosity.

“W-why are you asking?” She asked.

“Well, I was just thinking that it could be possible, I’m surprised it has never actually happened.”

“It has, just that pixies are prohibited to talk about it.”

“Really? When? And who?” Asked Jinn.

“Romeo and Juliet, have you heard of that story?”

“Yes, but I thought they were humans.”

“No. Juliet was a pixie, while Romeo was a human. That’s why in most books it says that Juliet was 13 since she was a pixie and looked really young.”

“Ooh, I get it. They were prohibited to be with each other, but they still remained with each other till death.”

“Mhm, isn’t it romantic?” She asked me.

“Romance?” I chuckled, “What do you know about romance?” I asked.

“Yeah, I thought pixies were unable to feel that way for someone.”

“Well…. Uhm…” She started blushing and looked away while playing with her hair, “I’ve actually recently started to-” I soon noticed an Inn and said,

“Oh! There it is! Don’t worry, I can pay all of it, I have lots and lots of crystalis.” We walked in and said, “Good evening. Could we get three separate rooms?” I looked down to Nightshade and noticed that she was sad. That’s right, she can’t sleep without me.

“Three?”

“Sorry, make that two.” She got happy and looked at me while smiling. We all went upstairs and entered our rooms, I was going to sleep again with Nightshade, which I didn’t mind. I actually prefer sleeping with her than to sleep alone. I have trouble sleeping sometimes, but staying close to her puts my soul at ease.

“Are we going to call room service to eat?” Asked Nightshade.

“I’m not that hungry, devils can go years without eating.”

“But you’re half human.”

“That is true.” She really is this caring for me? I really appreciate that; I should probably show her that I do too through actions. Wait, is she ticklish? I slowly started walking up to her.

“Uhm, big brother? What’s wrong?” I quickly jumped on top of her and started tickling her. She started laughing and crying from it.

“You’re so damn cute, you know that?” I said while laughing with her.

“Stop it! P-please!” I decided to stop and start walking away towards the bed so I can remove my hoodie, but before I know it, Nightshade jumped on top of me, making me fall onto the bed by the force of her wings and started tickling me back while sitting on my stomach.

“How does this feel, huh?!” I started chuckling and laughing while she was tickling my sides. She suddenly stopped, gazed into my eyes, took a deep breath and said while hugging me,

“I haven’t had a good laugh in a long time. Where were you all this time?” She said with an emotional tone, almost as if she was about to cry. She had her head on my chest so I couldn’t see her facial expression. Those words made my stomach warm; I don’t really know why. Every time she touches me the slightest way my emotions start feeling more sensitive.

“I…” I didn’t know what to say, all I could think of was, “I will be at your side from now on.”

“You’re so warm… it feels so nice hugging you…” She said with a soft tone.

“So are you. You smell way better compared to my usual pillow.” I said letting out a slight chuckle. She quickly fell asleep and then I heard,

“I love you…” I smiled and said, “I love you too, my little pixie.” A couple of seconds later I also heard,

“You really are her tree, huh?” Jinn was standing around the corner looking at us the whole time.

“How long were you planning on being there?” I asked. He chuckled and said,

“Sorry, you two are just so cute together.”

“She is the cute one here, not me.”

“You know that she-”

“That she loves me? Yes, I had an idea…”

“So? What are you going to do about it?”

“I’m not sure, Jinn. The path that I’m taking is very risky and dangerous… I don’t want her to be in any kind of danger.”

“Hmm… I understand.”

“Plus, I don’t know much about love… I’m sure there’s something between me and her, but maybe I think it’s better if I keep it as a sibling type of love. At least until I’m sure of my future.”

“That will hurt her a lot, she is bound to confess, and you have to give her an answer.”

“I… I’ll think about it. I love her and all, but… I need to recover my memories first, I feel like there is something missing, something important.”

“She is a good girl, Rukito. You probably shouldn’t take this lightly.”

“I’m not. I’m just saying that-”

“Follow your heart, not your brain. Love is not about logic or critical thinking; it’s about how you feel deep inside.” I suddenly got a flashback of someone with green hair and black eyes with glasses and a headband giving me lessons about love.

“I’ll think about it… Jinn. As for now, it’s prohibited for us to be together that way.” He started walking away while saying,

“Don’t be silly, we both know that doesn’t matter.” He’s probably right.

In the middle of the night, I decided to go for a cup of milk, while coming back I heard Nightshade groaning.

“Ah… no… oh.” She was moving left and right on the bed. My poor little pixie… she must be having a nightmare without me being close to her.

“R-Rukito, please… not so rough! Ah!” … goddammit…