Something is amiss...

Nobuyuki couldn't help but feel that something was not right. With what? With everything in general, he thought. Or maybe it was a concept he couldn't quite put a finger on. He didn't know, but the unsettling feeling had bothered him so much that he quickly sought refuge in the one place he loved best; the library.

Once there, feverishly set upon finding a book; any book; to distract him from his unshakeable unease. The young Orbis Terrerum read from one book to another, opened some, closed others, until he came upon an age-old tome that was written about something along the lines of spells.

I can't read any of this, he realized as he tried to decipher the language printed in faded ink upon the yellowed pages. He wasn't sure whether it was because the ink was faded, or if the words were really from an old tongue, but he just couldn't make any sense out of any of it. Exasperated, Nobuyuki was about to put the tome away--carefully, because it was so old--but then a word from the top of the next page that he could finally read caught his eye. The Shadows.

And there, a black mist moved about behind Nobuyuki. It spun around, and Jack Vernon appeared. Jack hasn't been at the academy since his last attack on Kyan and Ben. He was sent away for a while, but nothing can stop him this time. The book is what brought him here. "What are you reading there?" he asked Nobuyuki.

"What are you reading there?"

The question was so sudden, so unexpected, that Nobuyuki gave a start and almost dropped the tome. He whirled around to face the man first, with the tome in his arms as though he were embracing it, and looked the stranger up and down from head to toe.

I've never seen him around before, Nobuyuki thought. He's not one of the teachers, and he certainly isn't a student. Perhaps he's someone that I just haven't known yet? Nobuyuki was relatively new to the Academy, so he wasn't sure. The man could be a new teacher coming in to take a look at the school, for all he knew.

"I...I don't know," Nobuyuki answered truthfully as he tried to read what was on the cover of the tome. That, too, was unreadable and foreign. "I just picked it out, but then I couldn't read anything...except..." Except for that one page about The Shadows...

But what were The Shadows? Nobuyuki could tell that it wasn't talking about the average, everyday shadow cast by something blocking a light. It sounded more as if it were about a certain creature, or an organization. Given the menacing nature of the name, it could only mean something dangerous.

"Who are you?" Nobuyuki asked at last.

"I'm Jack Vernon," Jack said, turning into a black mist again, slowly moving around Nobuyuki, and stopping behind him. He turned into human form and began speaking again. "I'm a Shadow, we do good for this academy as well," he said, motioning his hands around the room. "Let me have the book please." he said.

"Jack Vernon," Nobuyuki whispered to himself, though he didn't understand why. He gasped as Jack turned into black mist, and looked around to see where he was, but jolted when he heard his voice right behind him. "You're a Shadow?" he asked astonishedly as he whirled around to face him. "Is that the same Shadow thing described in the book?"

When he heard from Jack that the Shadows did good for the Academy, Nobuyuki felt that he could hardly care less. He was here at the Academy to learn, not to dilly-dally in its moral right and contribute as much as possible. No. That would simply take up too much energy. So instead of debating the matter, he just nodded and listened to what Jack had to say next.

"You want the book?" he asked, and looked at its dusty cover for a while. "What's so special about it, if you don't mind me asking?"

Jack looked at Nobuyuki suspiciously.. "It is important to the Shadows, and it doesn't belong here."

"If you say so," Nobuyuki said at last, and held out the tome for Jack to take. He felt a little reluctant, as though he were doing the wrong thing. But then again, if it belonged to the Shadows and not here, why should he refuse? And Nobuyuki wasn't one to drag on unnecessarily, either, hence his dislike of drama. So he just waited for Jack to take the tome and be on his way.

"Thank you," Jack said. He took the book, and disappeared in that black mist from which he came.