Miyano said goodbye to Sasaki. They had spent the day together. Once classes ended, they had gone to the library. After a few hours, Sasaki invited Miyano to dinner with him in the wizard dorm. Kuresawa was there. They had eaten in a happy glow of friendship.

After spending dinner, the pair spent some time in Sasaki’s room listening to music, talking or just relaxing. Sasaki had walked Miyano back to the familiar dorms. Leaning against a tree, he watched the smaller boy walk up to the building. When Miyano turned, Sasaki waved. They both saw Hirano march up looking grumpy. He grabbed Miyano’s arm, yelled to Sasaki that lights out were in five minutes. Sasaki ran off toward his dorm.

“I wasn’t lying earlier, there is still the possibility…” Hirano offered.

“I know, but I don’t want to get my hopes up.” Miyano entered the building first.

“He would treat you well.” Hirano huffed.

Suddenly, the blond spun around, he gripped Miyano’s shoulders tightly. Giving them a little shake, he growled.

“No matter what, if you need me, just, just tell me!” He lowered his head to rest on one of his hands.

“You deserve the best, Miyano.” With that, he vanished off to his own room.

Miyano walked up to his small cubby space. He curled up on the bed. Not wanting to deal with all his human emotions, he switched to the cat. Lazily closing his eyes, he slept. In the morning, he woke later than usual. He was back in his human form as he showered and dressed for the day. Hirano was on cooking duty. They glanced at each other.

“Eat, I’m almost done here. We can do something together.” Hirano offered, sliding a plate toward the smaller boy.

Miyano found a place to sit. He pulled his phone out as he dug into his breakfast. Sasaki had texted him. Miyano smiled as he read the words.

‘So bored, what am I supposed to do all day?’ Sasaki had sent.

‘Rest! I’ll see you tonight.’ Miyano responded.

‘What are you going to be doing today?’ Sasaki asked.

‘Hirano offered for us to do something once he is out of kitchen duty.’ Miyano responded.

‘Good luck. We are locked in here.’ Came Sasaki’s response.

Miyano dropped his spoon. He looked up to the doors. Were they locked in? He wondered. Getting up, Miyano crossed the dining room. Out in the hall, the dining room doors faced the front door. Miyano walked toward it. About halfway there, he felt something pushing back. He was able to walk a few more steps closer, but he could feel the strain on his body.

“Hey, look, Miyano’s gotten further!” someone called out.

Miyano felt like he was walking in jello. Something was definitely pushing on all sides of him. It was getting hard to breathe. He forced his hand out. He was still too far away from the doors to reach them. One door opened. Miyano gaped at it. Had he done something? He wondered.

Kuresawa stepped around the door. He saw Miyano frozen in the hallway. He snorted as he closed the door. Walking, unhindered, he caught his friends arm. Turning Miyano around, he guided him back to the dining room.

“No unclaimed familiar is allowed outside until tonight.” He admonished the small cat familiar.

“Who set the barrier?” Miyano asked.

“Teachers.” Kuresawa shrugged. He left Miyano to finish his breakfast.

‘We can’t get out, either.’ Miyano responded to Sasaki.

‘Ugh, my sister arrived. She’s making me catch up on all my assignments! Help!’ Sasaki complained.

Hirano snatched Miyano’s phone from him. ‘Good, it’s nice to have someone, other than I, to get your lazy butt to do something productive!’ he huffed after he hit send.

‘I’m texting Miyano, not you!’ Sasaki replied.

‘Don’t make me tell your sister you are on the phone.’ The crow familiar warned.

‘Mean!’ Was the last text Sasaki sent.

“So you discovered our imprisonment?” Hirano said, eyeing the door.

He leaned down to brush his cheek against Miyano’s hair. “I was sorta hoping you would be able to break through.” He whispered.

Taking a seat, he waited for the other to finish up. Once Miyano cleaned up his dishes, they looked at each other.

“So, what did you want to do?” Miyano asked.

Hirano waved toward the front door. “See how deep this goes?” he smirked. Miyano’s mouth fell open.

“You don’t think…?” he shut his mouth as Hirano nodded.

Together, the two skirted around the barrier. They headed to the stairs. Instead of going up toward either of their rooms, they found the way down. Everyone knew about the cellar, few dared to go down into it. It was dark, dank, while smelling like expired garbage. Miyano wrinkled his nose a few steps down.

“Why does it smell like rotting feet?” he complained.

“Maybe this is where they put the discarded feet.” Hirano shrugged.

Miyano chuckled. “Just where do you purpose they get the discarded feet?” he asked, knowing Hirano was just trying to keep his mind away from Sasaki or the event of tonight.

“Familiar’s who fail to fully transform, of course.” Hirano waved eerily.

Hirano looked back, seeing Miyano having a hard time with the smell. He offered a handkerchief.

“Hold this over your mouth and nose. Try to breathe through your mouth, it gets easier.”

Miyano glanced behind them. The door was closed. No one else had followed them down here. He closed his eyes. When he opened them again, they were a ghostly white.

“Why would I do that?” he asked, stirring the air just in front of their faces. He swished the bad air away, bringing in fresh air.

“Oh, that’s wonderful, but how do you porpoise we see?” Hirano gestured to the stairs disappearing into utter darkness.

“I can see just fine.” Miyano offered.

“Because you’re a cat! I can’t see anything!” Hirano huffed.

They paused on the steps. Miyano reached up to pull down a touch he saw in a bracket. He wondered how long it had been there. Switching to his fire element, he lit it. Surprisingly, it took the flame easily. He scowled.

“I think these are fresh.” He held the flaming wood out to his friend.

“Someone’s keeping this place taken care of.” Hirano offered accepting the light.

It grew trickery for Miyano to keep the air fresh around their faces while not blowing out the torch. The steps were moist, musty things the farther down they got. After a time, the air began to grow cold. They could almost see their breath before Hirano stepped off of the bottom step. He looked back to Miyano.

“Left or tight?” he asked.

It looked like they were in the middle of a large room. The darkness coiled around them. The torch wasn’t showing much but a blank cement wall that stretched to either side. Miyano peered into the dark, trying to see a bit more. Really, all he could take was an empty room.

“Let’s just follow the wall.” He gestured toward his right.

Hirano nodded, raising the light a bit higher. They moved. Each one kept a hand on the wall as they walked. The darkness, stubbornly, kept its secret as they moved. After a time, they reached another wall. Hirano turned right, again, to follow it. They headed out as Hirano waved the light around.

“Wait, what’s that?” Miyano pointed into the gloom.

Hirano lowered the torch. The darkness wasn’t so dark. He frowned, inching away from the wall. They walked out into the room. Just a few feet away from the wall seat a door. Just a door. It looked like it was attached to a wall, but they could walk around it. It sat in the darkness with nothing else near it. Hirano circled it a few times.

“Hmm, a gateway to something…” He muttered.

His hand reached out toward the handle. It paused just before touching it. “Um, there’s no handle.” He muttered.

Where the handle should be was just a blank strip of metal, a few inches wide, approximately a foot long. He frowned at it. Going back around the door, he looked at the other side. No handle. Miyano reached for the door.

He cried out as his fingers brushed the metal plate. His hand was suddenly lying sucked against. Light began to emanate from around the edges of the door. Miyano fought to pull his hand away. He felt Hirano’s grip on his wrist. They couldn’t get the boy’s hand off of the door.

There was a click. Miyano felt the door begin to open. They were blinded for a moment as sunlight spilled out around them. They saw a clear meadow. Tall grass blowing in a mid afternoon sun. A bunny hopped past the door. It reared up on its hind legs to sniff the air before darting away from them.

Miyano was still holding the door. Hirano was keeping the small familiar from being sucked into the meadow. Where the rabbit had vanished, off into the grass, they saw a rustling. The grass was being pushed aside. They could hear feet, and heavy breathing was coming closer to them. Hirano tried to pull Miyano back.

The door wouldn’t close. A man appeared. Well, a sort of man. His top half was that of a man. His legs were covered in brown fur that went all the way down to his hooves. He ran a hand over his stumbled beard. He couldn’t be much older than they were.

“So it has come to be. The lost shakra still lives. I'm so glad I was the one to find you…” The man reached for Miyano.

Without warning, the door flee closed. Miyano was forced back. Hirano held onto him as they were flung across the room. They hit the far wall. It took them a moment to clear their heads. The first thing Miyano noticed was that the dark appeared thicker now.

“The light went out.” Hirano hissed.

Miyano looked over his shoulder. The door wasn’t there any longer. In its place was a misty swirling mass. He shivered at seeing it there. It felt ominous to him.

“I think we messed up.” He muttered.

Hirano pulled him to his feet. “Yeah, I think we just told the wrong people where you are.”

They looked at each other, feeling the weight of what had just happened.

“You need to find your wizard tonight. You are going to need their strength to overcome this.” Hirano vowed.

They followed the wall back around to the steps. Neither noticed that the air no longer smelled of rotting flesh.