UNITY

Chase stepped outside of the school house, and was quickly greeted by the bright and vibrant sun. 

Covering his eyes, Chase spotted two silhouettes out of the corner of his hazy vision.

Cloudy and Kade waved at the golden haired boy from beside a small tree, that stood on the small hill that the rustic school resided on.

Chase waited about ten minutes to leave the classroom, and gather his things, so that he could avoid the large crowd of anxious students leaving.

He also notified Cloudy and Kade and told them to meet him at the tree before they got to the schoolhouse that morning.

"Hey, over here!" Kade shouted, waving frantically.

Chase tiredly strolled over to his friends while yawning, "How did you guys do?" Chase rubbed his eyes, suppressing a yawn.

Cloudy just shrugged, which led Kade to speak first, "My parents said it'd be easier than it was."

Chase looked at Cloudy next, expecting him to go next.

"I think I did okay, I didn't do good on the Elemental Energy paper though..."

Chase just shrugged and commented casually, "Yeah, it was a pretty dumb test, but it wasn't too hard."

"Ugh, I just want to go home now." Kade whined while rubbing the sides of his face.

With that, Chase and Cloudy quickly followed Kade as they stepped onto the path that led home. 

...

The trio stopped at a small intersection of paths, this was where they would be seeing off Kade for the day.

Their friend just began to fade off into the distance on the path that led to his family's manor and spoke exhaustedly, "I'm going to just head home now, See you guys tomorrow." 

Kade waved with his back to his friends and groaned to himself, "I need a nap!"

Chase turned to cloudy, shrugging and then began to walk on the path that led towards their homes.

"I need to go to the shop to buy my Mom some medicine, so I can't walk home with you today, sorry" Cloudy announced scratching the back of his head.

He turned to face Cloudy, and gave him a tired smile, "It's fine, I wanted to stop somewhere on the way home anyway." 

"Okay, sorry again, I'll see you tomorrow though." Cloudy yelled while waving back to his friend with a smile as he already began to wander away.

Chase gave him a small wave and began to Proceed on his path home, as the trio officially parted ways.

...

A golden haired boy stood on a small gravel path, in the garden in front of his house.

He had just met with his teacher, Mr. Dane who had given Chase much more compact versions of the books, that Chase had "borrowed" from the ancient library.

He now stood on the gravel pathway, admiring the autumn leaves as the sun finally began to set.

The sun reflected off the small pond near the fence that separated the house from the tree line. The garden was full of beautiful Chrysanthemums, with other flowers mixed into them.

A tiny patch of fire poppies stood next to the front door, and on the edge of the path of Chase's house as he slowly pushed the door open. 

Chase stepped into the large open space of his house, with the only light coming from a small fireplace that stood in the far wall of the living room. 

On the large couch to his right, sat an braided orange haired man who faced the far end of the living room. 

Chase's father was sitting silently while watching the fire dance on the chopped logs.

"Hey Dad." Chase muttered loud enough for his father to hear, as he walked toward his closet.

"How did you do on the exam?" Blaze asked with a hint of nervousness. 

"I did fine, I think," Chase responded while pulling the door of the closet open.

"That's good." Followed his father after letting out a sigh of relief. 

Chase nodded setting his bag down next to the closet.

"Hey, can you take your bag upstairs tonight, "I'm cleaning out the closet tonight." Blaze asked his son while looking over his shoulder.

The boy then took his bag and threw it over his shoulders lazily, and began to walk upstairs while letting out a quiet yawn. 

However, before Chase could pass the halfway mark he heard his father mutter something, and then hesitated before quieting again.

Chase was nearly halfway up the stairs when Blaze quickly blurted out, "Her name was Lilith." 

The golden haired boy froze as he was about to take another step.

Chase froze mid-step. His mother's name echoed in his mind—'Lilith.' He turned his gaze to the wall, avoiding his father's eyes.

His head swirled violently as he finally learned the name of his own mother.

It was an odd experience to have, Chase wanted to kneel down and cry, but he also wanted to ask other questions, and learn more about who she was.

He stood there for what felt like forever before anyone spoke again.

"I will tell you more tomorrow, you look tired and should get some sleep now." Blaze said while getting up, and walking to the front door with his face away from his son.

"Goodnight..." Spoke Chase, now looking down at his feet. Then the boy quickly rushed up the creaky wooden stairs.

...

Chase was in his bed, staring at the ceiling around an hour after he got home. He looked over at his window to see the sun nearly, fully submerged under the horizon.

'I wonder what's going to happen now.' Chase thought to himself as he wiped away a tear crawling down the left side of his face.

He rapidly blinked his eyes as he rolled to his other side and looked at the small table that stood to the right of Chase's bed.

He sighed as he closed his eyes attempting to sleep, and after what felt like an eternity his conscious finally drifted away...

...

Something was wrong... 

A loud woman's scream could be heard in the distance from Chase's open window.

Chase quickly opened his eyes to see the small table against the wall that was shrouded in darkness. 

A faint crackle reached his ears, barely audible, as the acrid scent grew stronger. Chase's chest tightened, panic creeping into his veins.

'That smell...' Chase felt a strange sense of Deja vu, feeling his heart rate increase rapidly.

The smell was burning the inside of his nose,

The smell of smoke...