A short three days had passed since the strange nightmare had taken Rae on an unsolicited vacation through a surreal and terrifying amusement park. And even though it had long since passed, its memory still lingered with him. He had trouble sleeping every night for those three days, even more than usual, as he had been involuntarily mulling over the bizarre details in his mind, morning, day, and night. Surely such a fantastical sight had been just a creation of his overactive imagination? Yet, somehow, Rae had a strange feeling nagging at him from the back of his mind that it was something important, even though he did not know what it was or how it might be significant. Thus, on the fourth morning following the nightmare, it was not a surprise that Rae would awake still pondering the bizarre happening and questioning its implications, even in a half-awake stupor.

The familiar kaleidoscope of life slowly shifted within the spherical casing of Rae’s eyes, and filled the vision of a reluctant, groggy, blonde-headed boy, as they were forced open by the sound of his alarm.

“Coffee…” the zombified Cat groaned, ears twitching and mouth muttering, as he smashed the infernal ringing torture contraption.

“You don’t look so good bro…” Jamie said, as he fled from their bathroom, shoving his soon to be late feet into his shoes. The red-headed thunder-ball looked up at Rae with a small hint of concern even during his hastened maneuvers to start the day’s activities.

The boy spoke as he shoved piles of disorganized papers, books, and of course comics into his overfilled backpack. “That study group you’ve been going to, it’s taking a toll on you, man. Do they really need to meet so often? You’ve barely been here lately…” The venerating boy inquired, in what was assuredly a half-self-interested, half-concerned tone.

“Heheh—” Rae gave a nervous laugh. He hated lying to his family; not to mention, he was not very good at lying in general, but he didn’t see much of a choice in the matter. “It’s fine, Squirt, besides I made some new friends there.” Rae’s tail wagged instinctively at the thought, as he wobbled to his feet.

Jamie noted Rae’s unusually warm and joyous smile as his beloved hero replied, as if a typically dull flame within his brother’s heart was burning a bit brighter that day. He knew that for Rae to look so uncharacteristically and exceptionally happy as he spoke that particular part, his words must have been true. And of course he was not wrong, that particular part was technically true, even if the means by which the Cat had made these new Alien friends was radically different than what was claimed.

“Ok… well maybe you should bring them over some time? —Heehee.” Jamie gave his older brother a rather mischievous grin, through closed eyelids. He opened one eye barely as if to taunt Rae. “Unless you’re ashamed of us? —Hmmmm???”

“I’ll think about it…” The Cat replied, though he knew he would do no such thing.

Both boys quickly finished readying themselves, and before long Jamie and the younger kids were all headed out the door to their soon to be arriving buses. Rae on the other hand had a few more minutes, which would be quickly eaten up, as he was cornered by a maternal figure in need of some assistance.

The Cat’s tall foster mother looked up from the oven where she had just taken out a batch of freshly baked biscuits. This was a rare weekday morning, where Elva had not yet departed for work, even though she was self-employed; Rae wondered why, but he would never have thought to ask.

“Rae, baby, I need you to watch your brothers and sisters tonight.” Elva leaned across the kitchen table, as she looked her half-asleep, coffee-drinking, cat-eared son in the eye.

“Can’t Elissa do it? I thought the next babysitting session was hers?” The boy inquired.

“It was, but your sister told me you owed her a favor…” She smiled, and then popped a warm biscuit with black-berry jam into Rae’s warbley mouth. “It’s bad to drink coffee on an empty stomach.”

“—MMmmffff!” Ears standing on end, the startled boy gave a soft muffled exclamation that flowed around the delicious warm treat.

“You need to eat more; you’re too skinny.” His playful Mother poked at his arm, as she leaned over the table, waiting for Rae’s response, watching him choke down the homemade breakfast.

“Can’t you just hand it to me on a plate?” He asked, wiping the jam from his mouth, and washing it down with more coffee. “And why are you so chipper today? Are you taking the day off?”

“Mhmm, that’s right, baby, your Momma’s got a date tonight. And I’m going out to get dolled up, plus I’ve been meaning to get a new dress anyways.” She looked back over her shoulder, winking at her slightly more alert son, as she placed a towel over the baked goods. “You remember Melvin don’t you? Well that sweet sweet man has more courage than twenty, he decided to ask your Maa’ out for dinner tonight.”

This was a rare occurrence, indeed. Over the course of Rae’s tenure as Elva’s son, he had seldom seen her go on dates, and they almost never spanned concurrently. Though Elva was by any standard an attractive, curvaceous woman at 39 years of age, Rae had always thought his mother, whom sometimes seemed to possess the strength of 10 men or more, was maybe a bit intimidating to most potential suitors. And he figured that was probably why she had trouble capturing the attention of men for longer periods of time, even though it was obviously not her fault.

Elva had a fit and thick, slightly-hourglass-like figure, but was also simultaneously quite tall and muscular; to be precise, she was 6 foot 3 inches (190.5 cm) without heels on, and her strength was very impressive. For example, Rae had once seen her lift an engine block without assistance when she was repairing an old station wagon several years ago. Another testament to her exceptional strength was shown in her service as a front-line combat soldier, the physical standards for which few women met, during her first tour in the Legion fighting terrorists, before she became a mechanic. One might have compared her to an amazonian, had they not known she was a human prior.

So knowing this, it did make sense that, perhaps, the intensity of her strength was too much for most potential suitors, and thus the cat-eared boy was elated to hear of this chance from his mother. It was a great surprise, and the boy was very determined to help her, as best he could, with this opportunity of finding a bit of romantic happiness.

“That’s awesome! Of course, I’ll make sure I’m here on time, don’t worry.” The starry-eyed Cat promised.

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And then the wheels of the bus turned, with only occasional bumps in the road of reality interrupting a ride Rae had ridden along many times before. The swift and soft rhythmic sounds from a light morning rain shower tap-danced along the glass windows.

The Cat’s hood-covered, fluffy ears twitched repeatedly as he heard even the lightest drop of rain collide with the glass and run down its slickened surface. Rae was present but his mind was elsewhere. Perhaps, it was back there floating in the black void, or running through the bright dessert, or scrambling in that dark cave. But more than any of those he often walked along the cheeks of a crying Prince’s solemn face.

He was finding it impossible to concentrate; it was almost like, the more time that passed from the nightmare, the more often the images from it returned to plague his thoughts. When the curious overwhelmed Cat dwelled on the dream, his actual presence in life became a myopic blend of auto-pilot like motions, carried out from Rae’s preoccupied body, and occasional pre-recorded messages, replayed from Rae’s distant mind.

“True Men Discern; Feckless Men Dwell.”

A separate and equally confusing memory flooded Rae’s mind, and for some reason the boy blushed as he thought of it. Dasnir’s voice tickled his sensitive ears, but why remember this now of all times? He hadn’t even fully understood the crazy uncouth Alien when he was standing in front of him nude and saying such weird things in his shower. But somehow those words came back to him, as if they were specifically said to guide him towards an answer for a question he hadn’t even known to ask.

◈═══════════↡↡═══════════◈

And so Rae must have been feckless, as he did dwell endlessly for the majority of yet another day; after all, it had been nearly a week since his fight in the hall with his friend. Rae had only been to the 30th floor Roan Maxis Presidential Suite two nights since, and only to fulfill his training with Fulbrik and help Dasnir with his homework. The Prince had barely looked at him or said anything to him since. Rae had only known the Aliens a little over 4 and half weeks by that point, but he already felt it so much, the slightest separation from them —it hurt him so badly.

Yet another day of the Prince seemingly avoiding him, barely looking him in the eye, and not speaking to him. He had asked Fulbrik why Dasnir was reacting so harshly, but the Giant’s answer was vague, at least Rae thought so.

“The Young Master is concerned about growing too close to you, that is all. I do not believe he is still angry from your fight before. Perhaps, you should talk to him directly instead of asking me? Surely you can broach the subject the next time you are tutoring him in Math?” The Guardian’s explanation for the Prince’s behavior and suggestions for how to fix it, were about as vague and about as helpful as his explanation of how to use Eniris.

“Sure does feel like he’s punishing me. And how am I just supposed to ask him why he’s punishing me? What if he just gets angry again? It’s not even worth it… forget it...”

But just as Rae found himself deep in his self-excoriation for possibly destroying his first, real, male friendship, a nerdy girl with dark hair and pink highlights held up a frog heart, nearly touching his nose, and ended his feckless dwelling, if only for a brief while.

“Rae isn’t it great?! Just look at it! The organs of this majestic little guy are going to help us learn anatomy. Hey look! You should be thanking him, not looking like you’re about vomit.” Abigail nudged her nauseous Biology dissection partner, as they sat at a long table in the back of lab room 457 in the east wing of West Roan.

“Please Abi…” the slightly squeamish Cat begged, “do I have to?” His ears sulked in the powder-blue hoodie he was wearing that day. “I thought, you know… you wanted to do them for me? —Hehe”

“Yes, but you at least need to look and take notes, dumbo. How else are you going to be able to pass the amphibian anatomy test?”

“I can get it from books… please just let me close my eyes, and can you not hold that heart so close to me. I keep imagining it beating.” The boy’s pleading eyes narrowed in contempt at his overactive imagination. “Also it smells so fucking nasty.” He pinched his nose.

“That’s just preservatives; don’t be such a wuss.” The dark-haired girl wobbled the frog heart, like a gelatinous treasure, between her tweezers just slightly in front of Rae’s face, as she nudged him before returning to their assignment. “Sooo... tell me how the A’s are? I haven’t seen you guys in almost a week outside of class. And Das looked like he couldn’t get out of the movie theater fast enough. What is with that guy, he has the patience of a wasp.”

“He was annoyed that you bought him a seat directly next to me, I think.” Rae sulked onto the cold high-top dissection table as he reminisced about the argument in the hallway several days ago. “And now he’s even more pissed at me. He’s barely said anything to me in days, even when I was helping him with his Math homework. I’ve been skipping going to their place for the last few days, so I don’t really know how they’re doing. It fucking sucks...”

Rae’s head tilted slightly as he peered around his hood to take a peek at Dasnir and Fulbrik, a few tables over. He got a quick glimpse of Margie Hoffstedder, staring dreamily, almost drooling, over at the two muscular Alien boys. Then readjusting a bit more to look past her, he could see Fulbrik holding up a frog intestine towards the light, peering up at it through safety goggles that were about two sizes too small for his Chad-like cranium. Dasnir was apparently the one tasked with taking notes, and he had a befuddled look on his face as he furiously scribbled onto their assignment sheet.

“It’s so weird… I had that dream, and the next day he got a haircut. It’s almost exactly like the Mohawk, but without the grey frosted highlights. It looks... good…” The Cat sighed and smiled as he gazed from afar. But then his daydreaming, about how cute he thought the Prince’s new hair style looked, again turned to the actual dream that had accosted him. Seeing Dasnir with that black Mohawk only intensified his curiosity, and begged so many questions, questions he wondered if he’d ever get the answer to.

“RAE!” Abigail yell-whispered at the Cat, jerking him out of his far away world named Dasnir. “You have to at least take notes. When I started asking you about them, it wasn’t a cue for you to leave the arena. My hands are a little busy here, sweetie, so pull your weight.” She dangled a frog lung close to Rae's slouching ear. “Unless you’d rather…?”

“NO! I’ll be good.” The pensive lab partner nearly jumped from his seat, producing a slight screeching noise along the tile floor.

“Also, I can’t believe him. That Prince is such a jerk. All you did was poke fun at him. That’s no reason to give someone the cold shoulder for a week.”

“Abi it was my fault. I told you; I shouldn’t have pushed him. They just aren’t able to be like that with friends. It doesn’t mean they are bad.”

“Different culture or not, that isn’t any excuse to be mean to your friend, especially for so long. I’m gonna kill that boy if he makes you cry.” The angular glasses tilted as she too looked over briefly through the corner of her eye at the frantically scribbling Prince.

Then her gaze softened like melting butter as she saw Fulbrik’s massive biceps glimmering under the fluorescent ceiling lights. He had hunched over the dissection table in an awkward posture, holding the intestine just centimetres from his goggles, to get as close a look at it as possible from eye level.

With Biology being Rae’s last class for the day, it was not long after the awkward nauseating dissection that the besties found themselves chatting next to Rae’s locker, as the boy grabbed the things he needed for homework that afternoon.

“He showed you his Alien powers!?” Abigail asked in a whisper that was almost too loud. Luckily, the bustling sound of two thousand seniors stampeding through the north wing of West Roan drowned it out.

“Shhhh, keep it down Abi. But yes… it was so fucking cool. He shot fire out of a sword. It really makes me wonder what else they can do...” Rae said as quietly as possible, his mind drifting back to Dasnir cutting the giant pink worm to shreds in his dream.

“Rae, do you know what this means?”

“What?”

“It means you have to learn it. No one will be able to touch you if you can see attacks coming before they even happen!”

“I’m aware of that…” Rae’s brow lowered in slight frustration. “Easier said than done Abi. Although, I did light up Fuly’s bracer thingy. Ugh— I finally have something I could maybe be good at, but I don’t even have the slightest idea how to do it.”

“What do you mean? You’re smart; you’re the shoo-in for valedictorian. There are plenty of things you’re good at already. Why are you always putting yourself down?” Abigail, chided.

“It’s not the same. You know what I meant.” Rae closed the locker a bit roughly; his frustration seeping into his mind, as it typically did when conversing about his own perceived weaknesses. “Besides, I want… I want to help them find what they’re looking for. If I could use Eniris then maybe I could help them find it.”

“Have you thought about using your head instead? Why don’t you do research for them, you know, online? Or even, there is that archaeology museum, downtown, didn’t you say they called it an ‘ancient’ weapon?” Abigail, suggested.

“Well, I don’t know exactly what this weapon they are looking for is supposed to be…” Rae trailed off, as he considered it further. “Actually, that’s a good idea Abi; I’ll ask Fuly for more details. Maybe I can help them through online research.”

“See, it’s not impossible for you to have a bit of confidence. I just wish you’d show it by yourself instead of making me drag it out of you.” Abigail patted Rae’s golden locks in an almost patronizing way, eliciting a small blush and warbley grimace from the boy.

“Stop it, we aren’t 12 anymore.”

◈═══════════↡↡═══════════◈

That evening, Rae made good on his promise to his mother; he even arrived early enough to see her depart with her date.

Melvin was a lanky man in his late 30s, with a dark complexion, though it was somewhat lighter than Elva’s skin tone, and he boasted a thin well trimmed mustache which he kept styled in a slight curl. He was a frequent customer of Elva’s electrician services from Dosmrella’s (so called after the 3 partner’s last names Dosri, Moore, and Gabella), as he was an architect that contracted to build new suburbs in the ever growing metropolitan area of Roan.

So while this was not the first time Rae had seen Melvin, it was the first time he had seen him in this capacity. The gracile man was wearing a beige jacket over-top of stylish suspenders and a plaid flannel shirt; atop his closely trimmed hair sat a light-grey flat cap. Elva, on the other hand, had donned a velvet, rose-red, knee-high slit dress with a strapped V-cut neckline, which showed off her curves in a way she hoped would please her date’s eyes. His mother had curled her luscious black hair, put on her best pair of golden hoop earrings, and smacked her lips with a soft neutral-pink lipstick. And between the two courters there was quite a contrast; It was hard for Elva to find a man who could match her height, and though Melvin was one such man, his thin frame made him look like a sturdy branch standing next to a beautiful tree.

Nevertheless, as the frequent customer came looking to offer his own kind of service, Rae thought they looked sweet together. So he was happy to oblige the babysitting of his younger siblings, as he watched the man kiss his mother on the cheek and usher them both out the door.

“I’m ordering Pizza for dinner.” Rae’s addressed his 5 youngest siblings as his mouth watered slightly at the thought of his favorite evening meal. “And I picked up a movie for you guys to watch on the way home!” The doting older boy said with a smile, as he jumped over the couch and began tapping his phone to order food. He glanced back over at the movie before handing it to an excited Brent.

Rae’s brow lowered slightly in amusement. “It’s about aliens. I really have a certain subject stuck in my head lately… didn’t even realize I picked this one.”

As the evening proceeded into night, lit only by the dim glow of the Dosris’ living room television displaying fanciful images of cheesy aliens, Rae’s mind wandered aimlessly, in mental fatigue, through the events of a persistent nightmare. But a little over an hour into Rae’s babysitting job, he was suddenly jerked back to reality by the sound of a dinging doorbell, relaying the message that a coveted food had arrived.

Mouth watering, and tail wagging, the Cat jumped up from his slumped position, and went to answer it. He peered through the peephole of the foster home’s front door. Sure enough, there stood an older teen clad in the uniform of Benzino’s Pizzeria, his preferred patron pizzeria.

Rae whisked open the door in hungry anticipation. “Hi! That for me?” The Cat grinned, through closed eyes, as he held out an appropriate exchange of Denarius. There was a rather unexpected, awkward pause as the boy dangled the money there and grasped the box. Rae opened his right eye and peeked at the boy, who had yet to say anything.

“Uhum— yes, sorry. That will do. Enjoy your food.” The boy said in a rather awkward manner and released the box. “Could I come in? I seem to have forgotten my phone, and I need to make a call.”

Rae blinked as he heard the unusual request; his keen eyes and ears began to observe a bit closer, noticing that not only was the boy speaking in an uncanny tone of voice, but also that there were some subtly odd things about his apparel. Specifically, there appeared to be small rips around the fabric of the delivery-boy’s shirt sleeves and a few too many haphazardly strewn about wrinkles. Rae couldn’t quite put his finger on it, but there was something slightly suspicious about the boy, and so he knew that there was no way he was going to grant the stranger’s request.

“Uh… sorry, you see, I have kids inside. I’m watching. I can’t let you in… sorry.” The excuse the Cat gave was both true and plausible, as he scratched nervously behind his fluffy ears. The delivery-boy didn’t respond, but Rae was not about to wait for a response as he was starting to get creeped out; the Cat shut the door. He peeped back through the hole, briefly, and after a small pause he sighed in relief as he watched the uniformed teen walk back down their front-yard’s short walkway.

“Hmmm— maybe I’m just imagining things. I’m a bit on edge... Still I couldn’t have let him in anyways, not with the kids here.”

After a night full of movie watching, pizza eating, and even a board game playing, Rae relaxed his shoulders as he finished tucking in Carly, the last of his siblings to be put to bed.

“Goodnight, Rae.” The sleepy eyed, pig-tailed, little girl beamed at her eldest brother.

“Goodnight, sleep tight, both of you.” Rae said softly, as he flipped off the light and shut the door.

“Mom’s still not back yet. I guess I should hang with Jamie for at least a little while before I pass out. I feel bad not having been around for him much over the past few weeks.”

And as Rae pivoted the doorknob which led to another potential distraction from nightmarish thoughts, he stopped, for the room was unexpectedly empty.

“Wha—?” Rae asked slowly, thoroughly confused. The Cat’s eyes went wide with fear, as he saw slight trickles of blood along the frame of his fully flung open bedroom window. He ran to it. “Jamie?!” Rae exclaimed in his panic, a high level of panic even for him. And what he saw as he peered out the window nearly made his 18-year-old heart stop. There in the middle of his back yard was his 12-year-old, red-headed, little brother clutched, mouth covered, by the strange pizza delivery-boy.

Rae leapt through the window.

He landed on his feet in an adrenaline fueled fury.

“WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU?!” The Cat screamed as he quickly closed the distance between them. He grasped the arm of the taller uniformed teen, yanking it loose from the kicking struggling Jamie.

“Rae!” Jamie exclaimed through watery eyes and his newly freed mouth.

Rae kicked and punched at this unknown captor, as he cursed at him in a low threatening tone. “LET GO OF HIM YOU BAST—”

The Cat’s protest was interrupted by an elbow smacking between his shoulder blades, but he was not deterred and he leapt yet again at this person, who then dodged out of the way.

A twisted smile snaked onto the delivery-boy’s face as he retorted. “Why would I do that? Only fools fight Ishtari one-on-one.”

Rae’s panic increased upon hearing this statement, as he realized this was one of the worst possible motives someone might have for threatening his little brother. His eyes beaded in desperation, and he grappled the assailant wrapping his entire body around him, tail included, biting down into the delivery-boy’s arm until he was tearing into the flesh.

There was no audible scream of pain, as someone might expect to hear from a person receiving such a deep gashing bite, but perhaps even more curiously, nor was there any blood. There was, however, a stench of sulfur mixed with what could be described as moldy, musty pond water, which flowed from the flesh clasped between Rae’s teeth. Though he did not let go, Rae looked on in horror and disbelief, as the delivery-boy’s clamped arm morphed into a dull yellowish-green hue, and its texture changed to that of scales rather than skin. —There had been no blood, because Rae had not bitten into the actual hide of whatever this was.

Quickly following this realization came slithery, creaky, crunchy noises emanating from the fake pizza delivery-boy’s body, as more and more of this creature’s form began to displace, stretch, and grow into a larger, scalier, more reptilian likeness. The Cat’s eyes shifted up and saw the pleading face of his scared younger brother was overshadowed, not by a human head, but rather by the skull of what could only be compared to a monitor-lizard, though its size was closer to that of a crocodile’s.

“Rae…?” Jamie whimpered, shedding a few small anxious tears, as he seemed to have also noticed the startling transformation of his abductor.

And Rae knew, he had never felt as helpless as he did at that moment...