Probably an entire hour had passed.

  I kept running my fingers through his hair. It was... strange. Every time my fingers touched the strands, they instantly turned white, like fresh snow. As soon as I pulled my hand away, they turned black again.

  Greg had fallen fast asleep. As I stroked his head, everything inside me settled into a quiet hush. It wasn't just tranquility; it was liberation.

  I took a risk. Slowly, holding my breath, I touched his cheek with my palm.

  Warm skin. Soft. Alive.

  And nothing happened. He didn't crumble to dust, didn't burn up, didn't vanish.

  So this is what it is—human warmth. I smiled involuntarily. It was the best gift I had received in all my fifteen years.

  Tears flowed from my eyes all on their own. I quickly wiped them away, returning to his hair. It became so quiet and pleasant that I almost fell asleep right there on the roof next to him.

  I glanced at the clock and jumped. "Oh... class is starting."

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  I started shaking his shoulder. "Greg. Gre-e-eg! GREG! Wake up!"

  "Huh? What?" he bolted upright, blinking rapidly.

  "Time for class. Get up, sleepyhead."

  "Damn it..." he reluctantly stood up, rubbing the back of his head. Greg pulled out his new map. "Alright... first class is in the Fourth Building. Hmm. That means the mirror on the second floor currently leads exactly there. This map is a very useful thing."

  We reached the right mirror, stepped into the ripples of the glass, and a second later we were standing in front of the classroom door. I walked in first and happily plopped down in my seat next to Kael.

  My brother looked like he hadn't slept all night trying to find me. "I was starting to worry, Alastia. You haven't been in your room since dawn. Where did you disappear to? What were you doing?"

  I didn't answer. I didn't even have the energy for a sarcastic joke. I simply laid my head on the desk and began to drift off to sleep. The night had been far too eventful, after all.

  "Sister, what happened?" Kael wouldn't let up, shaking my elbow. "Just look... Why is Greg without his mask?"

  I lazily cracked one eye open. Greg walked to his row, completely unbothered by the attention. A buzz instantly swept through the classroom. Whispers crawled across the desks.

  "His eyes..." I heard from all sides. "Did you see? One is darkness, the other a ruby..." "Just like in the fairy tales..."

  I saw Kael boring into me with a heavy, suspicious gaze. He clearly felt that something had changed over the course of this night. That I... had changed. But sleep was stronger than his suspicions.

  "Yeah... his eyes are really something," I thought, finally closing my eyelids. "But the top of his head is much better."