The Sage's Vow

4.2 || Weekend Surprises

Josh stepped out into a ghost room.

This room out of all the others in the house should have felt the mostfamiliar to him. Since this was his for when he visited, he'd gotten to fillit in. It was cleaner than his other rooms had ever been, but smallbelongings showed his mark: a game station and video games by the television,manga stashed in a nook below the bedside table, a dragon pillowcase, and a fewscattered bobbleheads of anime and game characters.

There were small amounts of personality to be found in the room because of this, but something felt off. Suffocating. Uninviting. The light trickling through the thick curtains didn't improve it, instead extending the reach of the shadows.

This was his space, his bedroom, yet he felt like some invader in another person's life.

He didn't realize he'd stopped breathing until Mateo stepped around him and poked one of the anime character's gigantic heads. "That sword is far too big to be useful," he mused before turning the clock. He let out a low whistle at the seven, zero, and three staring up at him. "Two more hours back. I haven't even adjusted to the Sanctuary time yet."

He paused, finger tapping the top of the clock. Josh said nothing, just continued to take in the room, but he still couldn't pinpoint what was wrong with it.

"Red dragons, huh?"

Josh blinked, then did so again a few times in quick succession as if that would clear his head. "What?"

Mateo gestured at his pillowcase. "Red dragons." He grinned. "I'm sure Boomer enjoyed that decision."

It was a really horrible choice, Boomer chimed in.

Josh laughed. "Yeah, he was arguing with me every step to the cash register. It was the only option they had with dragons, but he was sure I could find blue ones at another store or get one custom made by a personal weaver or something."

You say the internet has everything, his dragon argued.

Mateo opened his mouth, but before he could respond, another voice cut him off.

"Is someone there?" A small pause, then a hopeful, "Josh?"

Mom. Josh started for the door, but he stopped to glance at the room oncemore. It no longer felt as foreboding as moments before. He shiftedhis focus to Mateo. The other boy had an easy, relaxed smile that almostlooked very pleased, but he tried to make it friendly instead when he noticedJosh's attention.

"Follow me. I'll introduce you to my parents before you go do..." Josh didn't know what, so he filled in the empty space with a wave of his hand. He could figure out more after he got downstairs.

It wasn't until he'd left the room that he realized this was the second time Mateo had nudged him out of his unease. Before he could think much about that, though, he instantly faced another moment of adjustment.

The bedroom hadn't been exactly like his old one, but he'd done his best to replicate its set up. The upstairs hallway was much wider and windier than the old house, and even if the layout wasn't difficult, it took him a moment to process the differences and move for the stairs.

He found his mother already a few steps on her way up. She stopped when he appeared, her face alight.

"Micah, I was right. He's here."

A chair scuffed against the floor, but it didn't overpower the sound of Mateo clicking Josh's door shut.

Eyebrows furrowed, Josh's mom tried to look around his shoulder. "Did we wake up Eli?"