…
“You sure you’ll be fine going home alone?” Chester asked casually. Matthew laughed as honkingly loud as he could.
“While I may have defeated the monster, thus, saving all of you in the process, there is no need for us to cling to one another anymore, my good friend.” Matthew raised his swaying head higher, nose pointing to the sky. “It is a very intimate feeling of accomplishment, that I believe, have finally set us both down our path towards glorious destiny! In fact, I feel as though for tomorrow, we shall be gifted with a gift of a brand new life. No more being seen as geeks, as undesirable of society! Oh hark, imagine the possibilities that we have opened up today! Oh, Chester, I think I have become alive.”
Without a prompt, Matthew ran forward. Chester watched as the goose climbed up a short snowy hill. Then, all the air that was inside his lungs, he shouted,
“I AM ALIVE!” 
The young goose then laughed, as loud as he possibly could, riddling it with honks. Few people from the residential area they were in who heard of him, yelled at him to shut up. Matthew’s smile barely broke throughout it.
Chester smirked. He only went out on the insistence of the rest of the orphans, but he thought for sure that this walking trumpet would’ve had some sort of trauma after this. But hey, being happy to be alive can’t be a bad thing, can it? Matthew then ran down from the hill and into the streets, flapping his wings as if he was about to fly. He thought about calming the guy down, but then decided to let him shout some more.
“Hey…guys..!” 
Chester turned back, and immediately raised his eyebrows. A cat and a bear. That was definitely not an image you’d see everyday. Not at least without having the latter try to shove the former into the locker or demand some lunch money. But here they were, Tom, looking as nervous as a shaking, furry orange, and Russell, who had already put on his best “gonna beat you up” look for the hedgehog. Chester folded his arms coolly.
“Well, look who we have here!” Chester announced.
He felt then how Matthew stumbled right into his arm, nearly knocking him off his feet. The goose whispered in his ear, “Whatever you do, do not!”
Chester side-eyed the goose, and then sneered.
“You killed a monster, but a middle school bully still scares you?” he whispered back. Matthew didn’t say anything. So much for that new life.
Russell was first to move out of his spot. The hedgehog watched him get closer, up until both of them could see the insides of each other’s nostrils. Since the bear had height advantage, Chester managed to notice a few boogers in his nose. At least that meant that oxygen wasn’t going enough in his brain, so that was an advantage. Then again, when did that bear ever used his brain?
Chester chuckled at his own joke, confusing the bear.
“What do you want, musclehead?”
Russell’s expression did not change, but Chester’s attention wasn’t drawn to that. The guy had no clue how to use his head at all. Instead, he was waiting for the arms to start swinging. He didn’t know that they wouldn’t do so once until the end of the night.
“You still here?” Russell asked. “Cool. Congratulations on getting into that bot fight thingie.”
Chester raised one eyebrow.
“Ooookay?”
“The fatso told me everything,” Russell then pointed at Tom behind him, who in his anxiety been trying to bury his head in his own neck fur. “My brother is a big fan.”
“Technically speaking, you as a bear are far fat-“ Matthew shut himself up when the bear looked at him. He turned away and then whistled through his nose, as if to ask to not mind him.
“You got a few more days left until you get your ass out of here,” Russell continued, staring down on Chester, who defiantly kept his chin up. “Got any plans before that?”
“None,” Chester answered. “Why?”
“Just asking.” 
Then, without hint or announcement, the bear just up and walked away from them. The three exchanged looks, while watching the brute of a bear cub trudge his way through the snowy streets. That boy didn’t even tell them goodbyes or anything, not that they needed. All of them, sans Chester, who couldn’t care less, were very fine with being told nothing. 
The hedgehog boy furrowed his brows, and then scratched his head. The last time he had talked with that blockhead like that was during their stay after school, under the watchful eye of the teachers. He tried to gleam some answers from Tom, but the latter was still hiding in his neck.
“My good friend…” 
Matthew lightly tapped Tom’s shoulder. His head popped up like a spring from couch cushion. Chester noticed how he was looking if Russell was still there. 
“How could I ever ask for forgiveness from you,” Matthew declared dramatically, getting the cat’s attention, “after what I did? I have made so much trouble for you. I have accused you of falsehoods! I have told everyone that you were nothing but inconsiderate larker! I have personally ruined your reputation and made your life a living hell to which my actions have ultimately-“
Tom wrapped his hand around Matthew’s beak.
“Matt, just use less words.” Tom then let him go. 
The goose looked down, his head dangling by his long neck. “I’m sorry. Is there, any chance, that you could ever forgive me?”
“Sure!” Tom pulled the goose closer and gave two pats on the back. “All is forgiven.”
Matthew looked at both Tom and then Chester. “Are you sure? I mean, doubtlessly, I have done much to-“
“It was a misunderstanding,” Tom cut him off. “Water under the bridge.”
“But I-“
“Jumped to conclusions. That’s okay,” said Tom and placed his hand on Matthew’s shoulders. It looked awkward due to how much taller the lanky goose was. “You do that sometimes, I’m not too mad.”
Matthew looked down guiltily. Before long, he embraced the pudgy cat again and the two friends fell into laughter. Just like that, it was as if there never was a rift between them. Or perhaps there never was, it all depended on who you asked.
Chester watched it all without a comment. Then he turned around and casually walked back home. Something told him he shouldn’t bother the two.
“Chester!” He halted and half-way looked at them. “I understand it might not be exactly…um,” spoke Matthew, fumbling a bit, “up to you…so to speak…basically, but would you consider, ‘hang out’ with us tonight?”
Chester’s eyebrows were raised. Tom was smiling enthusiastically through it.
“I have a full cabinet of boardgames we could play, and even have bought a full tabletop set for role-playing. I shall even ask my mother to make us some treats! She makes the best, most delicious brownies,” said Matthew. He tried really hard to keep himself brief, Chester noted.
“Oooh! They are!” Tom admitted. “My mom even said I should try not to eat them too much. You wanna come?”
Chester tilted his head and then, surprising even himself, made a humming sound. Something in him pushed him to earnestly think on it. But at the same time, something else snapped him back out of it.
“Sorry guys, I think I need to head back to orphanage,” he answered them. The other two appeared dispirited from hearing that. “Probably another time? I still need to watch over that old crone, before I leave. She just left the hospital and all.”
“Very well.” Matthew gave a casual honk and a shrug. Then he threw a majestic bow in hedgehog’s direction. “Enjoy your evening!”
The goose looked at Tom, motioned him to leave first, that he will catch up. Matthew silently accepted that, before setting off. 
Tom got closer to Chester.
“Thanks a lot,” he said, looking relieved.
“I di-…You’re welcome. I guess.” 
Then, rather awkwardly, Tom spread his arms out, as if readying to give a hug. Chester took a moment to register that, then put his hand forward. Tom settled for a handshake with him.
The two parted quickly. For Chester, his clothes in reality weren’t suited for going out, being a leather jacket, a cap and some big pair of sneakers. But, at least, they kept him warm for a while. He wasn’t that bothered by the cold, anyways. The snow began to fall while he was on his way. There was a light feeling. It has been a few months since the end of the summer, since it all started. So much had been done with them, and now, they were going to face a change in their lives. What was going to happen next, one must wonder.
…
“Thus, I believe that it was exactly what he meant,” Azure finished his speech.
It was only him, Rose and Kage for tonight. He had spent some of it explaining his thought process during the battle with the clown. How, despite how clearly dishonest that jester has been, he was likely telling them the truth. And that truth was about Saeclum, the very same artifact that Lahpa-Pessa had previously guarded. 
He lowered himself on the table, letting his comrades think over his words. Rose gave it deep thought, while Kage aloofly kept to himself.  
“Saeclum was unreachable, even to my own father,” Rose first spoke, “Lahpa-Pessa did great many services, among them being to never let anyone lay their eyes on the artifact.”
“And what exactly is it?” Kage asked. “Saeclum?”
Rose took a deep breath. “As far as I am aware, it could show the future.” Rose breathed again, as if she had just undone the chains holding her in place. If one was dead, why bother keeping secrets, they have all concluded. “It is unfortunate, that we know so little of Lord Vaco.”
“What are you professing, Your Highness?” Kage asked. Azure said nothing, but since he thought the same, gave her a curious gaze.
“It is said that those who are drawn to and seek Saeclum are of certain character.”
Her two comrades exchanged looks.
“The why of it is incomprehensible, but each person who sought it, are seeking it, or will seek it, have, in some way, share the same characteristic. And that is, a desire to see the future.”
Kage glanced at Azure. The blue warrior showed no knowledge of this fact beforehand, appearing even more surprised, yet curious by this revelation. 
“An item that shows future, and many come to it because they wish to see it.”
“Even before they come to know of it’s power,” Rose corrected him. She added, “Only Zamarad was ever told of that, and only so in secret by me. There were no other who were aware, besides us, my father, and Lahpa-Pessa.”
Kage rubbed his chin pensively. He seemed to have found this whole part rather amusing.
“So then, this is a Cor, is it not?” Azure clarified. 
“Very well be,” Rose posited. “If there is a place that it is being held, it would within that same institute, one where my father could possibly hide in. It could be why they have changed their current location.”
“He is powerful,” Kage stated. “And he grows more powerful still. We had never managed to finish him. Once he anchors himself to this world, we will return to square one, of all creation.”
Rose pressed her lips together. Azure couldn’t imagine having this world become the same as it was. Or, more accurately, he refused to consider it for a moment. So he placed his hand on Rose’s shoulder.
“We can’t let our failure halt our passions to save this world! These children, their families and world need us!” he exclaimed to them. 
Kage folded his arms, unimpressed. 
“Speeches mean nothing to reality,” Kage retorted. 
Azure glared at the dark warrior intently, as if he was challenging that notion. Kage found that amusing too.
“Let us not dawdle on it,” Rose tried to mediate. “We know little for the moment, and our power is still at infancy. And yet, we had managed to locate his lair to destroy later, and had struck down his general. We are becoming better. We do have a hope for the future.”
“Hope means little next to overwhelming power, Your Highness.” Kage stated coldly. “And we are running out of time.”
Rose sighed, looking down to her lap. She wouldn’t answer him back against that, to either agree or disagree. Azure took another stance entirely.
“Would Lahpa-Pessa sacrificed for us to come back to life once again, if she thought we couldn’t succeed?” he shouted.
Kage looked over to him quizzically.
“You insinuate her faultless judgment?”
“I insinuate her proximity to Saeclum.”
Kage silently thought for a moment, and then chuckled. This startled the other two spirits a bit.
“You always carry some unusual perspective, don’t you, Azure?”
The dark warrior got up from his seat.
“Wait!” Rose exclaimed, reaching for him. The warrior lend his ear to her. “I wished to ask first before you leave, but your presence has decreased, Kage.”
He turned around, despite his mask, coyly. “And?”
“You seem to be aware, are you not?” Rose concluded. “What has-?”
“Your Highness, my trade is shrouding. Is it potent to probe further on this?”
Rose sat back down. The dark warrior disappeared in a blink of an eye, as it was standard of him. Both she and Azure had a lot of thoughts to sift through. And yet, as Kage stated, things just could not wait for them. This was one thing that the blue warrior agreed wholeheartedly. From here on, their roles could become far more proactive, especially once they reach that institute. 
“Lahpa-Pessa…” whispered Rose to herself. Azure looked at her, expecting to hear her say something else. But nothing came.
“I would still hold on hope, Rose.”
Rose smiled lightly. 
“As long as you will, so will I, Azure.” She stood up. “Shall we?”
…
Chester was right at the steps of the orphanage. It was cold, the snow was falling down faster, and the toes on his feet had seemingly turned into icicles. And yet, for some inexplicable reason ,he wanted to stand there. He had no clue at all as to why, of course. But he stood there, looking over the building that he grew up in again. And his opinion of it was ultimately that the thing was old. It was decrepit. It had a window covered in a cloth at the room adjacent to their bedroom. The roof looked caved in, with several pieces missing. The “paintjob”, or whatever left of it, was on its last few specks, before getting washed away. There were few holes in the wood, right next to the spot where it had completely rotten down, but thankfully nowhere near the foundation. In some ways, it was a miracle it was still standing. Chester was ready to call it a lost cause and to just trash it altogether.
In the end, he couldn’t help but feel pity towards it. 
 I’m gonna miss it. Chester didn’t know why he thought that.
The door opened with a loud creak, letting even more of outside’s cold air into barely warm building. And from behind it, stood none other than the old, grey-haired, slouching, grim-faced cat lady herself. Her eyes landed squarely on the hedgehog. She closed the door behind her.
“What are you doing here?” she grumbled, already moving towards the stairs.
“Outside or in this town?” Chester replied, to which she hissed.
“Weren’t you going to leave?”
“In few days.”
“God…” the old cat lady shook her head disappointingly. She placed her last foot on the ground with enough effort that she required a breather. “You ought to learn to not waste time, you troublemaker. I was waiting for you to land in prison.”
“You mean juvie?”
The old lady froze. Not because of cold weather, not that Chester thought it was impossible for her. She slowly cranked her head to his direction, her ears out to check if she heard it right.
“Where?”
“My friend, who hanged around with you. He said that the officer came seventh time this month. Apparently you were making it very difficult on him to take me away. Despite mayor’s offer to cover it, too.”
The old lady didn’t utter anything. She just sniffed something, as if she got distracted. Probably trying to make herself look clueless. Chester would never believe she’d try that on him though. Not unless she panicked.
“You know,” Chester chuckled. “After yesterday, I actually got afraid I wouldn’t hear you screechy voice again. Or smell that weird oatmeal and pee smell. Or that weird noise you make when you sleep-“
“What’s your point?” she interrupted him. “Didn’t you want to leave?”
“Look Granny,” blurted out Chester. Her eyes grew big and round. Chester paused too, since he never seen her do that face, but quickly recovered, “I need a place to sleep at for the time being. It’s going to be a long way, and my day has been non-stop work, trying to cover for you. So how about you let me in, and we can argue tomorrow morning. How’s that sound? I’ll try not hide your dentures again.”
“So it was-“
“Not that time. Also, not Brian either, but he tried to do bath bomb. I left that on the desk.” Chester pointed to the bedroom window. “Bobby accidentally forgot to put it back and then Yuri and the twins played with it.”
Miss Cheshire paused for a moment, then did something with her tongue in her mouth, before spitting. She launched herself from the porch railing, walking right by the boy.
“Go inside, they are having a party,” she said.
“Huh?”
“For you. They didn’t know your birthday, so they are having it now.”
Chester furrowed his brows, but she kept on walking forward, not saying anything. Chester’s eyes narrowed, but then he dashed towards the door.
He was met with the biggest “SURPRISE” shout he ever had in his life. In front of his face where several papers, many of which scratched Miss Cheshire’s name with his. There was also a cake, held by Lily and Tiana. It was pretty small one, being more like a pie, but they supplemented by having also the previous apple cake they made for Miss Cheshire. That one was held by Charlotte, who was in the middle of eating day old oranges from the top.
Chester didn’t say anything. Then again, how could he, when he got pulled before he had a word in. One kid, Thaddeus, even brough a matchbox and a piece of rolled up paper. He said they had no time for candles, so they went for the next best thing. Thankfully, no fires came from this incident, as per Miss’s instruction to only light it outside, but they were only left with half a box of matches in the end, and realization of how hard it was to start a fire while cold wind was blowing.
Sometime later, Brian would show up at the door, as he apparently left earlier, which Chester only then noticed. With him, were Tom, Matthew, Eleanora, Napoleon, Flora and Varvara. Brian specifically led the lizard by hand, even though she said she could walk in fine. She didn’t pay attention to the fact that the young wolf wouldn’t let go of her hand even after. 
Explaining that it wasn’t his birthday, Flora was first to say this,
“You don’t want a free party?”
Chester gave it a thought, and then shrugged. He let everyone in, making the house the loudest it has ever been. Matthew set-up the board games, enough that all of them would play something. The orphans handed Chester their presents, all of them being pictures, and majority of them being of his game with the clown. They chanted the birthday song to him again, without the candle, this time so that Flora could capture it on video and post it. He found that pointless but did it anyways. And so, the kids partied all night.
And Azure, while he would’ve joined, thought to let the kids should enjoy themselves. He knew how much joy Chester was feeling.
He looked over to Miss Cheshire, who was leaning on the fence, on the side of the yard. She was grumbling something, while looking up in the sky. The tears have been frozen for a while now. If she only took her handkerchief earlier. 
“I’m so sorry, Belle…” were the only words he heard. He didn’t feel appropriate to listen in on her. 
He watched the snow fall down from the sky.
What a beautiful winter it was.
…