The dining room smells faintly of rosemary and garlic. Something’s roasting. It’s a warm, lived-in space. Family pictures line the hallway walls just beyond the archway, most of them black and white or tinged with yellowing age. The Leoni home is one of the oldest in Mellgreen, and it feels it: cozy and full of memories.
Aaron sits at the long dining table, arms folded, glancing now and then toward the kitchen where Carmen’s parents were hard at work on dinner. The two giggle as they move around each other, madly in love. Hanging on tight to her father’s pants is little Lyla Leoni. Today was her first day of kindergarten, and Aaron had forgotten to ask how it went. Despite being alone for the moment, there’s no space for quiet.
Elias’s music roars upstairs, while the clatter of pots, pans, and plates echoes from the kitchen. The smell of the roast could lull Aaron to sleep after a normal day and today was far from that. After all his freaky dreams and odd encounters? He’s officially exhausted.
The creak of the front door opening is enough to jostle the young boy awake again. He turns his head to see Carmen standing in the doorway with a bright smile.
“I’m home~!” Carmen calls out in a melodic voice as she kicks off her shoes and throws her bag in the seat across from Aaron.
“Welcome back! Food is almost ready!” Mrs. Leoni shouts from the kitchen. Carmen shrugs and locks onto Aaron, who sits silently.
Carmen flops into the seat next to him.
“Okay,” She says, tapping the table twice and drawing Aaron’s attention away from counting sheep. “We need to kill time before dinner. I’m declaring this a no-silence zone.”
Aaron raises an eyebrow. “That a Leoni rule or a Carmen special?”
“Both,” She says with a grin. “Now talk to me. How was your first day, sleepy-head?”
Aaron shrugs. “Not much happened. I still haven’t picked a club to join this year. How was Student Government?”
“Boring. As always.” Carmen rolls her eyes. “Nobody wants to focus on the real issues. It’s all just a bunch of stuff we’ll never get approved by Principal De Santis. Today, someone genuinely thought we could make our summers two weeks longer by petitioning for it. Ridiculous.”
Aaron gets a small smile. “Did it work?”
“Nope. Nobody could decide which two weeks they wanted, so it never even made it past the approval stage.” Carmen chuckles a bit at the absurdity of the past couple of hours.
The moment hovers comfortably until it’s broken by the unmistakable sound of a door opening upstairs, followed by the heavy thump of someone descending the staircase with the kind of stomp that implies headphones and no regard for volume.
Elias appears around the corner, his earbuds slung lazily around his neck now. He pauses when he sees them, like he hadn’t expected the dining room to already be occupied.
“Speak of the devil and he shall arrive,” Carmen says. “I was starting to think you’d fallen into the shower and drowned in your own brooding,”
Elias grunts. “You’re hilarious,”
“I try. So?” She raises her eyebrows. “How’d your little conversation with Kriss go?”
Elias freezes mid-step, caught somewhere between brushing it off and pretending it never happened.
Aaron glances over to Carmen, curious. “Kriss? As in Krystal Kinsley? As in our Krystal Kinsley?” He looks back to Elias whose cheeks were already flushed with emotion. “Elias, you dog.”
“It’s not like that,” Elias growls before shooting a glare toward Carmen. She rolls her eyes and sighs.
“Sure, sure.” Carmen drones on. “She was the one who found him after he fell down the stairs,” Carmen’s disappointment in finding their cover story for the day’s earlier events can still be felt by Elias who tries to avoid her gaze.
“Oh- well, I’m glad you two are talking again.” Aaron says, dropping the conversation as he can tell Elias looks uncomfortable. “It’s weird to think we’ve all known each other for so long. You, me, Elias, Dante, and Kriss.”
“The more things change, the more stays the same. Supposedly.” Carmen says with a small shrug.
In Aaron’s opinion, not enough stays the same. Things are already drifting towards another major change in his life, and he can barely keep his head above water.
“Aaron?” Carmen curtly pulls the boy out of his thoughts. He shakes his head and refocuses on her. “You okay?”
“Yeah, I was just… thinking.”
“About your dreams?” Carmen asks. Aaron quickly shoots a glare to Elias who stiffens. “Was I not supposed to know about that?”
Aaron’s look turns into a pierced arrow. “You told her?”
“I didn’t know what else to do,” Elias says, not quite meeting his brother’s eyes. “You were hardcore spacing out this morning. I couldn’t tell if you were absolutely freaked or not.”
Aaron exhales. “I wasn’t freaking out. I just…” Aaron rubs the back of his neck. “It feels like something’s coming, and I’m the only one feeling it. Like the whole world is about to change.”
Carmen leans forward without a quip in hand, “Just your world, or does your feeling tell you more than that is going to change?”
“Mine-… yours? All of ours? I don’t know. I can’t explain the feeling. It’s like a dread that doesn’t even exactly mean something bad. It can’t be anticipation because it feels like I’m supposed to not be excited for it. Instead, everything just feels so empty.” Aaron does his best to explain while Carmen and Elias exchange glances. He looks up and sees their faces. “Stop it,”
“What?” Carmen asks innocently.
“You both. Stop looking at me like that.” Elias and Carmen were staring at him with pity. They weren’t sure how to help him, and with everything he had gone through, maybe this was his mind telling him it was about to break.
Elias doesn’t respond. Carmen shifts in her seat, the silence growing a little too thick. From the kitchen, the sizzle of something hitting hot oil crackles in the air, followed by a burst of laughter from their father and Lyla yelling about “too many onions!”
Aaron breaks the silence, “Forget I said anything.”
Carmen finally lifts her gaze, “I don’t think you’re crazy. If that helps.”
“You’re more confident than I am,” Elias says.
Ignoring his brother’s comment, Aaron pauses to look at Carmen. “It does. Thank you.”
Carmen takes a second to look at both of the Jay brothers. Somehow they had both gone through something so terrible together and yet neither can find the comfort they need in each other. She frowns at the thought and silently hopes her and Lyla never end up this way. Footsteps approach from the kitchen, and Mr. Leoni pokes his head through the doorway, apron still tied over his dress shirt.
“Dinner’s ready, ragazzi. You three set the table yet, or are you still solving the mysteries of the universe?”
“We’re multi-tasking,” Carmen replies, springing up to her feet. Mr. Leoni chuckles and disappears again. The sounds of dishes being arranged continue just behind the wall.
Aaron and Elias rise slowly, still avoiding each other’s gaze, both out of shame for their own situations.
Dinner follows, and a night of restless sleep hits Aaron once more.
The same dream. Aaron Jay has been met with the same dream for eight months. Even now he’s stuck in the same paralysis of thought. He can feel his own body recoil from every strike, from every wound, and every shocking sight. Even after nearly a year, Aaron looks to the dead around him and mourns their sacrifice.
Waking in a cold sweat, Aaron’s eyes are met with the bright light of a new day. Some things are immune to change, like the need for a new day to dawn with every rotation of the Earth. This small comfort lifts Aaron’s spirits as he gets ready for school. There’s enough change in the world. Maybe his dreams can comfort him one day, but he sincerely doubts it. Very little can be said about his dreams aside from them making him want to recoil in pain.
“A new day…” The thought crosses Aaron’s mind. “I wonder if I’ll see Suijin again. He looked younger. Maybe I should ask Elias if he saw him?” Aaron’s face contorts a bit. Why did he want to find Suijin? That vision he had… there’s no way the two were connected. The kid was just weird. That’s all.
The thought of the vision itself is enough to make Aaron’s world spin. It felt so random, yet intimate, between him and the pilot of the crash. Her eyes pierced past his body. The whole experience made him feel like he was just a passenger in someone else’s body, but the one thing that felt real and aimed towards him was her look. She had seen him, right?
“Shut up,” Aaron quiets his thoughts. “Don’t be ridiculous. It was just a dream and nothing more.”
The boy makes his way downstairs to see another beautiful spread of food laid out for him. Aaron didn’t feel particularly hungry, but that hunger was replaced with gratefulness.
“Good morning!” Mrs. Leoni smiles brightly, and again Aaron can’t help but match her expression.
“Good morning,” Aaron replies before taking his seat. He says a quick prayer, although he’s not sure to whom. It’s a habit he picked up since living with Carmen’s family. Maybe if someone is listening, they’ll understand that he wants his life to be more relaxed.
A distinct quiet fills the room for a moment, letting Aaron look up from his meal and realize Elias is nowhere to be seen.
“Um, Mrs. Leoni, where’s Elias?” Aaron asks.
“Oh! Carmen took him and Lyla to school today. I think she wanted to show him Student Government.” Mrs. Leoni replies from the kitchen with a hopeful tone. Aaron can’t help but smile. Laughter begins to form at the mere thought of Elias being in the Student Government club.
It wasn’t the idea of Elias being responsible that was comical to Aaron. It was the idea that he could actually sit there long enough to listen to all of the arguing.
Despite its comical nature, Aaron’s face only takes on a slightly reserved smile. “If Elias can move on, maybe I should try too.” He thinks to himself for a moment before hearing the noise of the kitchen begin to die down.
Mrs. Leoni exits the kitchen and goes to sit across from Aaron. Her smile wanes a little as she looks up at Aaron. “I know this week is a lot for you boys. We- Vito and I, were hoping to stop by for the parent-teacher conference tonight. We’ll be there for Carmen and Lyla, but I wanted to know if… maybe… you would want us to be there for you and Elias as well?”
A cold shot of adrenaline rushes through Aaron’s spine. He pauses for a second longer than what’s comfortable for Mrs. Leoni.
“Well, don’t worry. I understand this is a tough decision. We wouldn’t want to do anything that’s uncomfortable for you.” Her smile returns, but with a faded light.
Aaron searches for words to respond before hearing the bus honking outside. He quickly scoops up his backpack, but hesitates before fully leaving. His gaze harkens back to Mrs. Leoni, who continues to sit at the dining table in a daze.
“Mrs. Leoni… I would be happy if you represented me. I can’t speak for Elias.” Aaron’s voice cuts through the tension at the table. As he turns to leave, he sees Mrs. Leoni’s posture lighten, and her smile return to meet him.
Aaron rushes out the door and boards the bus. Once inside, he quickly scans the bus. No sign of Suijin. He takes the seat closest to the front before the bus pulls away.
The bus ride is quiet. Aaron leans against the chilly window, letting the engine’s hum carry his thoughts away from the parent-teacher conference and toward the looming day ahead. As the school inches into view, his stomach turns. He wasn’t sure if he was ready for another gauntlet of club sign-ups crowding the front lawn.
When the bus lurches to the front gates, he gets off with the other kids and is funneled straight to the sign-up sheets. More students are signing up now that they’d had a chance to hear from the club leaders on the first day. They barely notice as Aaron slips behind the crowd. Even then, he can still see the large, colorful banners flowing in the wind. They declare: ‘Join the Photography Club! Chess Club Needs You! Track & Field Tryouts Today!’
And then he sees it.
Off to the right, beneath a white canopy strung with navy ribbons, stands the Kendo Club table. The name is printed in clean, black brushstroke letters across a wooden sign that someone clearly spent hours making. Practice swords, tournament photos, and neatly folded uniforms line the table. Aaron’s steps falter.
It’s not the presentation itself, it’s everything it stirs up. He remembers the smell of the dojo mats, the sharp snap of a strike connecting, the steady rhythm of drills that once gave him focus. And alongside that, broken memories of the past. In the middle of a competition, he’d be looking into the audience, and his thoughts flood with seeing a subtle smile and a nod of approval that meant the world to him. It wouldn’t be there anymore. That weight settles in his chest, making it hard to breathe.
He turns slightly, ready to melt into the crowd and keep walking.
“Well, if it isn’t Aaron Jay!”
Her voice cuts through the noise, and it’s impossible to pretend he didn’t hear it. Before he can even fully face her, Sarah Ryder is already striding toward him, long blond ponytail swaying behind her. She’s wearing the Kendo club jacket, navy with the club crest embroidered over the heart, and there’s a spark in her gray-blue eyes that could light a fuse.
“Unbelievable,” She says, stopping just close enough that he feels the heat of her presence. “You were really going to walk right past me? Past us?” She gestures back to the table, where a couple of underclassmen are pretending not to watch.
Aaron rubs the back of his neck, “I didn’t want to-”
“-be roped into it? Too bad. I was looking all over for you yesterday.” She grins, but there’s an unmistakable edge of challenge in her tone. “You’re not gonna hide forever, Aaron, and I’ve got openings to fill.”
He lets out a broken breath, “Sarah… I’m not sure if I’m in the right space to be able to do this again.”
Sarah tilts her head, that grin of hers deepening like she just heard the start of a challenge rather than a refusal.
“Not in the right space?” She repeats, as if testing the words for weakness. “Come on, Aaron. You’re the guy who trained through a broken arm, remember? The one who convinced us all to stay after hours to work on our footwork. I may be the maniac now, but I learnt it from watching you. I need you there.”
Her voice is teasing, but the look in her eyes is all focus. Her sharp gaze keeps searching, the way she always measures people before a match.
He glances toward the table again. The shinai, the uniforms, the photos, they feel like ghosts in broad daylight. His fingers twitch, half out of muscle memory, half from the urge to shove them into his pockets and turn away.
“Things are… different now.” Aaron says quietly. “I’m not the same person I was,”
Her gaze softens for the first time in the conversation. Sarah’s hand reaches up and lands just below Aaron’s right shoulder. “I know that. I’m sorry if I’m being pushy, but we lost a couple of seniors last year. Even if you’re not sure, you should still come by our first practice. We could spar!” She lets go of Aaron’s arm, and a grin filled with challenge appears. “I might even let you beat me,”
The sudden comment causes Aaron’s chest to ease into a laugh, “That’s a very generous offer, but I never needed you to ‘let’ me win.”
“That you know of,” She replies in an innocent tone, but with the same devilish grin.
“I’ll think about it,” Aaron’s eyes roll, but is pulled into a shock as Sarah wraps her arms around him in a hug.
“I’m glad you’re doing better,” She whispers before letting go and walking back over to the tent.
Aaron stands frozen for a moment, the warmth of her arms still lingering on his shoulders. The crowd sounds distant now, muffled by the sudden heaviness in his chest. He forces a small smile, but it feels fragile, like it could crack if someone looked too closely.
His hands slide into his pockets, more to keep them from trembling than anything else. For a heartbeat, he’s back in his dream, fighting for his life against a threat he knows is his own end. Every night, the same reality awaits him when he wakes up.
He blinks hard, willing it away.
Sarah’s voice carries faintly from the tent, laughing with someone else now, her attention squarely pointed away from him. He exhales through his nose and turns away from the Kendo table, putting one foot in front of the other until the familiar sounds and smells fade behind him.
But even as he moves, the hug clings to him. Not the comfort of it, but the reminder of everything he’s been avoiding. What he’s been avoiding…
Aaron begins to walk away from the Clubs, tracing a familiar path to the back of the school. Avoiding… if there was any place in Mellgreen he was avoiding more than anywhere else, it was this spot. It starts to come into view, and his face flushes with heat.
Standing firm just behind the baseball field is a colorful wooden shack, decorated in Liberty High School memorabilia. Why did his mind bring him here? If he wanted a chance to clear his thoughts, this wasn’t the place to do it. Despite this, Aaron moves closer to the shack and finds a concrete slab with three distinct handprints molded into it.
Hot tears begin to run down Aaron’s face as he drops to his knees next to the slab. Just below the handprints, he can just barely make out the words.
“Aaron, Elias, and Kevin. The Jay Family.”
“Dad…” Aaron’s throat croaks. His hand reaches down and traces the edges of his father’s handprint in the concrete. “It’s not gotten any easier without you. I miss you.”
A memory plays through Aaron’s mind: his father helping build the shack. It was sunny, beautiful, and filled with camaraderie among the families of Liberty High. His father felt so impossibly strong, lifting wooden boards above him and Elias; it was like watching a superhero work. That memory now feels corrupted. Another memory keeps clawing its way to the front of his mind no matter how hard he tries to keep it back.
It’s a dark night. Snow pounds against the windshield. A broken windshield. Tears stream down Aaron’s face, but he barely feels it amongst the terror of another liquid coating his hands. Blood. That iron-rich smell hasn’t left his memory since, and it doesn’t feel like it ever will. If he can’t escape it in his memories, it’s ever-present in his dreams. His hand grips the superhero who raised him as his life slips from this world and into the next. He’s alone now, and it’s all his fault. He made his brother an orphan.
CRACK
The sudden snapping of a stick causes Aaron’s head to whip around. The slightest hint of metal shines in his eye causing the boy to wince for a moment. His vision clears, but Aaron has a hard time understanding what it is he’s looking at. The shed he’s found himself at is sandwiched between the walls of the baseball field and football stadium. A large tree hangs over the area and creates a perfect shadow that melds with the ones cast by the walls surrounding it.
Nobody should be here besides him right now.
“Who are you?” Aaron’s voice trembles. No one responds, but Aaron can see it. Someone stands just barely behind the tree, glints of dark purple dancing around metal chains that seem to cover the person from head-to-toe. Aaron stands back up to his feet, keeping his eye on the figure. “Whoever you are, I’m not in the mood. Get out of here. Please.”
A low grumble follows Aaron’s request as the figure fully stands into view. It’s just like Aaron thought. The person standing before him had the build of a full adult and was covered in silver chains. But now in clear view, something a bit more ominous falls into place. The dark purple light was more like smoke, emanating off the chains with a bitter smell of sulphur carried behind it. A yellow glow emanates from where Aaron thinks it’s eyes should be.
“It”… Aaron realizes his thoughts have already gone somewhere dark and begins to take a step back.
With a step back, the figure moves a step forward. As it does, another chained figure steps out from behind the tree.
“This isn’t funny!” Aaron shouts now at the two before a third appears from the same point. His eyes dart around before falling to a half-decent stick on the ground that he quickly arms himself with. “I’m serious! You get close and I’ll-”
WHAM
One of them suddenly charges forward, and Aaron cracks his new stick on the side of it’s head!
It staggers to the side of the blow, it’s legs shuffling underneath it. Aaron looks to his weapon, now broken in two. The other two figures begin to close in, but not as quickly. Aaron thinks to turn and run, but he doesn’t get the chance. The one he hit snaps back towards him and grabs both his arms!
A searing pain flashes through his body! Something is burning, crying for help inside him, but he can’t answer. He’s paralyzed by the figure’s grip. The smoke begins to form more distinctly around the figure’s hands as it pours into Aaron. He screams in pain, but he knows no one can hear him. Between the clubs at the front of the school and the first period about to begin, it was hopeless.
His thoughts loosen, and he starts to think of Elias. What would he do now? Aaron thinks for a moment of the opposite situation. If Elias was gone, could he keep on living? The answer was grim, so he had to hope that Elias didn’t feel the same. He’d have to go on without him. He could do it. The Leonis wouldn’t let him hurt himself. They’re good people.
Aaron can feel his grip on reality break as he looks past the figures, now certainly monsters from the deepest pits of evil, and sees Suijin calmly approaching. This is clearly a figment of his imagination, Aaron thinks to himself. Why would he be here? Why would he be so calm?
Suijin stops about 10 feet behind the monsters attacking before suddenly a bright green light emanates from the fictional boy that blinds whatever vision Aaron had remaining. This was his end, and he couldn’t even understand it.
Muffled noises make it’s way into his ears before sudden clarity. His back falls against the ground. “The pain…” Aaron thinks to himself, not daring to hope. “…it’s gone?”
His eyes flutter open, and he realizes this must be a trick his mind is playing on him because none of what he’s seeing makes sense.
The monsters were no longer focused on him. They had completely turned their attention towards a figure standing in Suijin’s place. Draped in a powerful-looking overcoat with a striking green helmet, the figure looked like a decked-out biker. He has a set of larger goggles on the top of his helmet with a striking black visor running across it to counter the overwhelming amount of green on the rest of it. The figure reaches up to grab the goggles and lowers them just over where his eyes would be.
“Sorry I’m late,” The figure echoes in a shrouded voice. The monsters growl before charging at the figure! It’s as if his sudden appearance has sparked a liveliness in them, and the figure moves quickly to counter it. As the first one reaches him, he spins to the side and pulls something out from his side. Aaron only has a moment to recognize it’s shape, his stance, and the situation before the figure fires his gun at the monster.
A spark of lightning bounces from the gun, striking through the first monster! Aaron covers his body and backs away as the figure ducks down under a second monster’s attack, pointing his gun upward and casually firing into it’s chained chest. As the third lunges forward, the figure rolls under the attack, putting himself squarely between Aaron and the monsters.
The figure looks back, “Keep your head down.” He remarks before holding his gun up. Aaron gets a better look at it and can confirm that just like everything else today, it’s nothing like he’s ever seen. Gears and wires interchange around the chamber with what looks to be a lightbulb on the end.
“I guess that would explain the lightning…” Aaron thinks to himself, but then immediately rebukes that thought. Does it make sense? Who is this person?
The figure begins to twist the gears and dials back and forth on his weapon before pointing it forward to the three recovering monsters. “Configuration: Arc. Set to… One-Thousand Volts. Fire!” He throws his arm forward in a semi-circle, with the blast stretching forward and arcing to pierce through each monster!
“GRAH!” The monsters scream before writhing to the ground, disappearing in a blast of purple smoke.
For a moment, a startling peaceful wind blows through, and Aaron feels a slight chill down his arms. The figure turns back to look at him, and Aaron remains frozen on the ground. Another flash of green light causes Aaron to wince, but this time he doesn’t look away. He stares into the light, and his eyes can hardly believe what he’s seeing.
A scrawny kid stands in the place of the warrior who just conquered nightmarish monsters. He smiles big and pushes up his glasses, “Well, I’m sure you have questions.”
Their second meeting. Suijin Tema. Who are you?
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