The Perfect Knight and the Illusionist (BL)
Chapter 32: A Glimpse

Chapter 32: A Glimpse

LEO

Everything was dark. So dark that I couldn’t even tell where the ground ended and the air began. It was as if I was floating, except that I could actually walk in this space.

I saw a light in this darkness, first a small dot. I started to walk toward it and it got bigger, making me think that perhaps that was the exit.

When I arrived, there stood a single mirror, but instead of reflecting anything, it showed a scene, which I instantly recognized as Erdville.

First it showed me the river, which was mostly gentle throughout the year except for the times the weather decided to throw tantrums during summer. I saw Davi and Abe throwing small pebbles, trying to see who could make pebbles skip on the water more times. There were also Blabber Becky and Misha, with Misha mostly just listening to what Becky was saying (she wasn’t Blabber Becky for no reason).

I called out to them, but they couldn’t hear me. I felt silly trying to talk to people that were inside a mirror, but it was strange that a mirror was showing me this in the first place. Then the surface of the mirror rippled once, and the scene changed to my house. I was looking in from the outside through a window. Mom and Dad were having dinner, with lots of broccoli and cauliflower. It made me laugh a little because Mom always complained that she didn’t get to eat many vegetables because neither Dad nor I liked them. So she was always kind enough to cook some other things for us to eat, but now that I wasn’t there, I saw that she was cooking a lot of vegetable dishes and making Dad eat them.

As I watched them inside the mirror through a window, I came to notice that the window glass wasn’t reflecting me, but a bird. I couldn’t quite tell what kind of bird it was, but it didn’t seem like the ones I normally saw in Erdville.

Without knowing why, I felt a sudden chill run down my back. I just felt something was wrong and I should warn Mom and Dad. But before I could, the mirror rippled one more time, and soon it was showing the village square seen from above. Judging by the view, it felt like I was seeing it from the top of the clock tower, which we were not supposed to climb but we did (only a few times). The view was great, and I saw many villagers going about their usual daily routine.

Then the whole mirror flickered once. I blinked too, and when I opened my eyes, I was staring at the ceiling of my dormitory room with the thunderous sound of Dimitri’s snoring ringing in the air.

"Leo."

I heard a whisper in my ear—the unmistakable voice of Mom.

"Mom?!"

But when I turned, Mom wasn’t there.

"Leo."

Then from the other side of the bed, I heard Dad’s voice reach out to me.

I turned again, but only saw the blank wall.

I bolted up from the bed, not sure whether I was still in my dream. The voices were so real and they were right next to me, but I saw neither Mom nor Dad (and obviously it couldn’t be possible for them to be here.)

"Leo."

I heard another voice. I thought it was Abe, but it might have as well been Davi.

"Leo."

That was Blabber Becky, or even Misha, or it could have been Mom.

I felt nauseous, as if there was a storm brewing inside my head. I quickly climbed out of bed, ran down the hallway, and threw up in the toilet.

All the good food I ate at Marius’s house came out. It made me sad, but the voices stopped.

I washed my face at the sink, but as my eyes caught a glimpse of my own reflection in the mirror, I had this strange feeling that it wasn’t moving exactly the way I was moving. I waved my hand, and it also waved back, but it didn’t quite feel perfectly in time.

’I... just had a bad dream... I should be okay if I sleep through it,’ I told myself and headed back to bed, when suddenly, I heard a voice from behind.

"I heard you had quite an adventure tonight."

"Yeek!"

I jumped in shock, and when I turned, I saw that it was Dorian.

"Where—where did you hear that?" I asked him.

"Valenkraft and Thomas were talking about it," he said calmly.

"Ye—yes... I’m so glad it turned out okay."

"It must have been quite a fight. Valenkraft had a big bruise on his shoulder."

Then I remembered Marius getting hit by a stone as I watched helplessly from the carriage.

"That wasn’t my fault!" I yelled on reflex.

"Who said it was?" Dorian asked as his face bloomed with a grin.

"I... I don’t know what you are talking about."

"Now, I’m curious," Dorian said, stepping to my side and starting to circle me slowly.

"How does a village boy who can’t control his magic get into the Royal Knights Academy?"

"I don’t know."

"And why does the ’gentleman’ appear in the middle of the class to help you out?"

"I... really don’t know. Do you—?"

"Tsk. I wouldn’t be asking if I knew," Dorian said with a frown, but after that, he chuckled once and stopped just behind me.

"And why has Valenkraft taken such an interest in you?"

I turned instantly, as if I wasn’t myself, and was just about to slap him**,** but my hand stopped about a thumb’s length away from his face.

"A lion shouldn’t hold back," he said, looking into my eyes.

I didn’t know what to say. Neither did I understand why I was about to hit him.

"Or are you—just a bird?"

"I’m sorry..."

"No, Skylark. I feel sorry for you," he said with a surprising tone of regret, and walked away into the darkness of the hallway.