When I was aroused from my philosophical pondering in an odd sort of purgatory, I found myself in a dark room constructed from black rock and crystal. “Ah, I’m probably inside one of the city buildings,” I thought as I stretched my stiff body and yawned. Apparently, I had been unconscious for several days after fainting at the entrance to the Clan building. At least, that’s what I later found out from Teival after a bout of weeping over my awakening.

 

From what I gathered through the blubbering sobs of my master, it seems that upon my fainting Anders had ordered for medical personnel to examine me. The results showed I had fallen into a coma, however they weren’t sure what the cause of it was, nor how long it would be before I came out of it. As such, Anders just went ahead in introducing Teival, Tabitha and Dinara to the Clan before arranging accommodation for us.

 

Thankfully, Teival and I didn’t have to share a room with those yammering parrots, which was a small consolation for being brought to this place. As for the room I found myself residing in, it was dark and gloomy with a small window at one end that looked out to a vast courtyard filled with many black-clad humans training. Finished with my mini-investigation of my surroundings, I caught a glimpse of something on my master’s wrist that wasn’t previously there.

 

Padding over to have a more detailed examination, I saw it was a grey wristband of some kind bearing the black symbol synonymous with the Schwarzerberg Clan. Utilising my superior sense of smell, I sniffed at it and discovered it to bear a metallic scent reminiscent of Anders. “Urgh.” It seemed that Teival noticed my curiosity over the accessory as I watched him lift his wrist up and slowly shake it with a smile on his face.

 

“It’s to show I’m an inductee of the Clan. I don’t really know how it works but if you put it against a symbol on a door, it’ll open. Ah…but it won’t open every door…and we can’t move around without a full Clan member escorting us, so it’s kind of useless at the moment.”

 

“Oh, so kind of like a device that gets scanned which activates the lock on specific doors, then…I’m not even going to bother wondering why I know that.”

 

Since my master was going to be wearing that wristband for quite a while, I imagined, then I determined I should practice getting used to suffering a constant headache. Thus, I stared at it intently in a bid to anaesthetise myself to the pain through becoming accustomed to it. Of course, within a few seconds of inspecting it, I was assaulted by anger and rage that was not my own.

 

“Kia? Do you like it? Want me to get one for you? Hahaha!”

 

“Absolutely not!”

 

I was brought out of my contest of endurance only to realise that the agonising migraine I usually was engulfed by was negligible compared to the levels I had learned to fear. I licked at Teival’s face in retaliation to his suggestion – which served to make him laugh even more. “Well…at least someone’s happy…” As I allowed my master to have his moment of amusement, I began to wonder about why I wasn’t suffering from seeing the symbol.

 

Eventually, I concluded that my not-so-deep philosophical debate with myself must have caused me to venture closer to an understanding over what exactly was happening to me. With such a revelation, I became ever more determined to do some research into the enigma of people within my dreams. With my intentions cemented more clearly than previously, I decided it was high time to groom myself after several days of poor neglect – although I could tell Teival had at least attempted to do it, bless his soul.

 

After an hour of meticulous licking and smoothing of fur, my ears pricked up at the sound of heavy footsteps heading towards the door of our room. Tilting my head in the direction of whoever it was, the person knocked just as I discovered the terrible stench of Anders. I instinctively growled and barked in protest to letting him in, since I definitely did not want to see him ever again!

 

Of course, Teival being the kind and polite boy he was went to the door and opened it, revealing my sworn enemy: Anders. Can you believe it, he had the confidence to smile at me and laugh before looking at my master:

 

“Good to see the little princess is awake. How’s she doing, Teival?”

 

“Of course, I’m fine! I’d be even better if you disappeared and never showed your face ever again! Preferably by throwing yourself off a cliff!”

 

I watched as my master allowed that ingrate into our home before he responded with a warm smile: “She seems to be doing fine. If anything, she’s even more energetic after seeing you.”

 

“Hahaha! Good to hear. It wouldn’t be normal Kia if she didn’t have a visceral reaction towards me.”

 

I saw Anders sit on a chair next to our bed and growled even more at his lack of manners in not waiting to be offered a seat! “Do you not understand the common courtesy of being patient and allowing the host the chance to offer their hospitality?! Then again, I’d rather Teival not show you such politeness! Go away! Out! You’re encroaching on mine and Teival’s happy moments!”

 

As if he were completely ignoring my words, Anders leaned into his seat and glanced at me, “It’s still strange how she fainted like that, though. Any idea why?”

 

“…She was just over-emotional, I imagine…”

 

“Hmm. Well, I can certainly see how much of a firecracker she is, so it’s understandable if the excitement of the city got too much for her, hahaha!”

 

Anders then reached out and ruffled my newly groomed fur! “My pristine appearance! My beauty! You’ve ruined it, you heathen! May your soul be tortured in the fires of Halhol for your transgressions upon my fair maiden self!” I moved to bite at his incriminating hand, only for the annoying man to swiftly draw back and laugh at me again.

 

“So feisty! I love it!” He erected himself from the seat before heading back to the door, “Well, I’ll inform the instructors of her being awake now. See you later, Teival.”

 

“AH! Sorry for causing so many problems when we’ve just arrived!” My master hurriedly announced while lowering his head.

 

“Hahaha, think nothing of it. A change of pace from normality is what makes things fun and less boring! I look forward to Kia’s future antics!”

 

The monster then nonchalantly left while laughing. After closing the door, Teival came over and began softly smoothing my messed up fur. “Ah, master is so loving and kind. Make sure you remove all evidence of that man touching me. Give me a snack, too, since I’m feeling peckish!” Once my fur was suitably fixed, I found myself being hugged by Teival.

 

“Before…why did you feel so angry…? To the point of fainting…”

 

I tilted my head in surprise at Teival’s question, wondering how he knew I had been engulfed by rage. “I’d love to know why, too, master! Any chance of helping me do some research into the Clans?” Eventually, Teival released me with a sigh before scratching behind my ears as he knew I relished it.

 

“As if Kia would be able to answer me. She’s just a crystal beast. I must have imagined it earlier…”

 

I nuzzled my master’s hand in protest at not answering, since I had been talking to him the whole time. “Why won’t master ever listen to me…?” Seeing Teival pick up a book to read, I jumped off the bed and began thoroughly exploring our new room. With an initial look, it seemed to be twice as large as our humble abode in the village – though that wasn’t much to brag about due to how our previous home could barely fit myself, Teival and another person comfortably inside.

 

Doing a once over of the room, I discovered: a desk with a chair on one side; a piece of furniture made from black rock that had small doors going into it, “A wardrobe,” I thought; a wash basin carved into the wall with a blue crystal and a red crystal laid beside a device; something that looked similar to the cold storage box in the kitchen back in the main house of the village, but smaller and black; a bookcase carved into the wall that was filled with the many books Teival brought with him. If I had to sum up the room in one word: black.

 

Everything was black, except for a few items we brought with us from the village and ourselves. Oh, the crystals lighting up the room weren’t black, but they couldn’t mask the dingy murkiness that such a dense colour created. Sighing at the dismal appearance of the room, I returned to the bed and stared at the door – wondering what the rest of the building would look like once I was allowed to venture out.

 

After a while of lounging around, Teival put his book down and called me over. “Is it time for treats? Grooming? Unabashed praises over how pretty I am?” I wagged my fluffy tail in anticipation of what my master wanted. Although it wasn’t what I had been expecting, I still appreciated the end result:

 

“Let’s do some more crystal development, since we can’t leave here for a while.”

 

We then spent the rest of the day facing each other with Teival channelling his mana through me while singing. I welcomed the soothing sensations of energy circling around my body as I was offered tasty treats every now and then. Over time, I closed my eyes as I enjoyed the peacefulness of the situation before drifting off to sleep.