"Aren't you useless?" His lips twitched as he stared at his proud and haughty stepsister who looked back with undisguised disdain on her face, but he shrugged and looked at his parents.

"Zackery! If you could be sensible like your sister for once and not cause problems, would it kill you?" His dad shouted at Zackery while his sister smirked without hiding it.

"It might." Zackery nodded and received a sharp stare from his stepmother. When his mom died, his dad remarried in a hurry and the outcome was this.

"Give me your phone." His stepmother, a woman in her early thirties said and extended her hand and received Zackery's dumbfounded stare.

"You heard your mother!" His dad echoed and Zackery wanted to tell him that he was simply a simp. Who else would follow a woman's every direction while being treated like a stand in?

Zackery shook his head and handed the phone over and left the living room, sighing when Olivia's voice full of ridicule spoke, badmouthing him before he made it to the door.

Outside was cold, but he didn't mind it and kept walking. The moon was out and shone brightly, gently illuminating a forest path as he wandered aimlessly.

"It's so pointless. So what if I have better grades? I wasn't praised once, and when I stopped caring and Olivia's grades became better than mine, she was praised to no end."

To say Zackery was jealous wasn't entirely false. To him, he didn't care, he grew used to it. Since he couldn't make his cheap father proud, he just ignored him.

"Well, I guess this is life. And now I can't even bury my head in a book since my phone's gone." Zackery trudged through a small bush and came to a small bubbling stream.

He opened his mouth a few times, but closed it in the end. He was only one person who didn't have any apparent worth in the eyes of others, so his treatment was understandable.

Something soft brushed his ankle, so with a cautious step away, he saw a fluffy black cat next to him, looking up at him with warm amber eyes.

"Hey kitty." As it walked so close to him, he judged the cat was used to people, so he held out a hand and waited for the cat to come closer.

After it was satisfied and nudged his hand with it's head, he gently picked it up and sat down on a small stump, stroking the cat gently.

"Why are you out here all alone?" He found himself smiling when the cat purred in satisfaction. Of course, he didn't get an answer, but he kept speaking.

"Well, you can go wherever you want. I on the other hand can only be called useless by everyone." He shrugged. When he joined his school after his father moved in with his stepmother, Olivia his stepsister gradually had everyone alienate him.

"What would you do, hm?" He stroked the cat's chin and saw it look up, so he followed it's gaze and saw a streak falling across the skies.

"Make a wish?" He smiled when he saw it and shrugged. Since he was out here, he didn't mind entertaining his hopes and took a deep breath.

"I wish I could enjoy life more." He said with a sigh and watched as the streak vanished. He patted the cat's soft head and was about to stand when a voice startled him.

"Why do you have Her?" Turning back, he saw a frail looking woman with forest green eyes and a thin dress staring at him with disbelief.

"Is this your cat?" Zackery asked and saw the woman's head shake like a rattledrum. Although the disbelief in the woman's expression still confused him.

"I was just standing here and she came over?" Zackery said looking at the obedient cat in his arms and then back at the woman who stared in shock.

"Oh, then I should get going." Zackery went to place the black cat on the ground, when the cat actually started struggling, and only stopped when he held it in his arms again.

"You-" The woman stared at him like he was some unknown creature and then looked at the cat who glanced at her and then curled into Zackery's embrace.

"Do you live around here?" The woman recovered and asked and saw Zackery nod. Although he was unpopular, the woman was quite beautiful, so not remembering seeing her was odd.

"Are you visiting?" Zackery asked while gently tracing circles on the cat's stomach, enjoying the soft feel of it's fur on his fingers, but he didn't notice the woman's fade turning abnormally pale.

"Yes. I just arrived not long ago." The woman went on to explain she often traveled to which Zackery replied how cool it must be enviously.

The cat's golden eyes in his arms turned to look at the woman and the golden color faded, replaced by a dazzling silver. The woman saw the cat's eyes and wanted to kneel, but a voice cut her off.

"I'll be going now." Zackery wanted to put the cat down, but when he didn't stop, the cat clung to his arm and bit his sleeve, not letting him go.

"I can't hang out all night, I'll visit again soon." He patted the cat with his other hand and felt relieved when the cat calmed down and watched him walk back along the path until he couldn't be seen.

"Your Majesty?" The woman shakily knelt and watched the cat's eyes turn away from the direction the human boy left in. A flash of golden light illuminated the stream briefly and then faded.

"What is it Yavia?" When the light vanished, a woman who seemed to be the absolute meaning of beauty stood where the cat once did with a cold expression.

Both her hair and eyes were bright silver and her clothes were a simple dress with arm sleeves and gloves. Like the woman she called Yavia, her feet was also bare, something Zackery didn't notice before.

Her face was impossible to describe because any thoughts would become muddled looking at her visage. Even with her reducing her presence to the lowest, she was still beyond all.

"The Summer Court sent an envoy." Yavia saw the woman nod and then gestured for her to rise. Yavia wasn't surprised when she was spoken to again, this time in a warmer voice.

"Call me Alexi. You've been with me for a while after all." While Alexi smiled, Yavia almost shook her head and then nodded. Seeing Yavia agree, Alexi looked back in the direction the human boy had left in.

"You let him hold you?" Yavia didn't intone anything and watched Alexi nod with a smile. It was a rare real one that caused the trees leaves to gain more vibrant colors while the stream became clearer.

"I don't know why, but he makes me feel happy. I just want to play with him forever." Alexi mumbled with a smile that could only be considered angelic.

"Is that so?" Yavia asked, but had no intentions of prying further. If her Queen wished to play, all she could do was wait for her to address her again.

"How amusing, I will definitely have fun." Alexi smiled as the world around them turned misty, and when the mist cleared, they were gone.