A man who had covered his face ran with a crying child in his arms through the woods. It seemed that he was extremely nervous by what Kangnam could see. The man zigzagged through the trees, never once stopping for a breath. It was raining lightly and even the moon was shrouded in darkness.

When the man finally stopped, he set the child down and unwrapped the blankets around him. Kangnam was too far to recognize the boy, save for his helpess eyes. He couldn't help but wonder what was going on in the dead of night...

The strange man dug into his cloak and took out a knife. He looked once more at the child and seemed to apologize before lifting up the weapon and...

Prince Kangnam shot up on his bed, shaking from the nightmare he just had. It had seemed so real. And if the Water doctor's diagnosis was true, then it would mean that this was a dream of the past. Someone was cruel enough to bring a baby boy out into the night and murder him. The thought was horrifying to the prince.

The prince shook his head and put on his flowing robe for the day. It was black and blue to represent his recent desire to help the Dark and Water Beings. Kangnam tried to put away the thought of the murder dream when he walked out of his room. Off from the side, Tiffany had been on her way to wake up the prince, but she stopped when she saw him.

"You're already awake, Your Highness?" Tiffany looked a little surprised.

"Yes, Tiffany," Kangnam nodded. "I had a nightmare that woke me."

"About what?"

"I don't want to talk about it right now," Kangnam shuddered.

"Okay," Tiffany smiled.

That smile brought back the memory of his dream about the other boy.

"Tiffany," Kangnam called out just as she was about to walk away.

"Yes, Your Highness?" Tiffany stopped and looked back.

"Who's your son?"

"My...son?"

"Yes. I saw--"

"Miss Hwang," another maid came from behind her.

"What is it?" Tiffany shifted her attention to the other maid.

"The kitchen is a mess. We need all the help we can get."

"Okay. Prince Kangnam, I'm sorry. We'll speak again later."

Kangnam was a little disappointed that his question was left unanswered, but he bid Tiffany goodbye nonetheless. After all, working in the palace was hectic almost every day. The king, prince, and the various nobles and consultants weren't hard to please, but there was the occasional over-catered noble who needed everything to be perfect. Those were the worst, and Kangnam wished they wouldn't be so . But since ruling Pakma had to deal with all of its people, it just couldn't be helped.

A wonderfully aromatic breakfast consisting of fresh eggs, several slices of bacon, and a bowl of diced fruit was waiting on Kangnam's usual side of the table. As with any other morning, Prince Kangnam sat across from his father and gave thanks to Pandora for the food. He took several bites from his breakfast and glanced at the king, who was busy reading the daily newspaper distributed across Dankik. If Kangnam wasn't mistaken, King Wu was to visit the various district supervisors who watched over different parts of the royal city. That would be the perfect chance to talk about...

"Father?" Kangnam swallowed his food.

"Yes, Kangnam?" King Wu set down his newspaper and looked up at his son.

"Are you going to the supervisors today?"

"Why, yes I am."

"Would you mind if I came with you?"

King Wu thought about the question for a moment before smiling.

"I don't see why not," King Wu nodded. "If you behave, that is."

"I'm not eight anymore, father," Kangnam whined.

"I know that," King Wu chuckled. "You're growing up way too fast for me to keep up. Pretty soon, you're going to turn eighteen and take the crown."

Take the crown. Although he was still only twelve, the thought of rising to rule the world of Pandora seemed so exciting, but also daunting. There was never any guarantee of how things would start off, and especially how they would finish. Kangnam could only hope that what he was planning to do would be met with an open-minded nation.

"Finish your breakfast," King Wu looked back down at his newspaper. "We'll start getting ready before the sun reaches its highest."

"Yes, father," Kangnam complied.

After putting on appropriate dress for their visits, King Wu and Prince Kangnam stepped into the royal carriage and sat beside each other. It was the first time in a long while that they had time to spend together, and Kangnam was very happy. A smile was plastered on his face as the carriage began to rock with motion.

"How have you been, Kangnam?" King Wu turned to ask.

"Fine," Kangnam smiled. "But I--"

"Have you still been Dreaming?"

"Yes, father," Kangnam shuddered at the child murder dream from last night. "But I wanted to ask you something."

"Whatever about?"

"If one were to commit a murder, would that be recorded anywhere?"

"Murder?" King Wu was taken aback. "Why would you want to delve into murder cases?"

"I have need to investigate something," Kangnam suddenly felt nervous.

"All trials are recorded into the Book of Justice, along with the accusation, the verdict, and the sentence if found guilty. Each case is explained in more detail and they also have records of evidence or interviews, which will be noted on whatever page they're on. It expands over time and is massive, but why would you want to investigate a murder?"

"My Dreams," Kangnam sighed. He felt very awkward inquiring about such things, even to his own father. "Where will the book be located?"

"In the restricted area of the library, which is accessible only to the Royal Family, or those with permission. You can see it when we return."

"Thank you."

The remainder of the ride to the first district, mostly inhabited by Fire Beings, was in silence, Kangnam eager to look through the book, and his father extremely suspicious of his son's sudden interest in it. Neither of them said anything more. If he wasn't mistaken, Kangnam's best and only friend resided in this area. They couldn't meet as often as they liked, but were very happy to when they had the chance.

The carriage stopped in front of the Fire Council's building, and the two Royal Family members stepped out. Citizens that were present recognized the emblem of the Lineage of Light and stopped to bow. King Wu bowed his head in return and greeted them while Prince Kangnam smiled. Before they entered, a boy around Kangnam's age whistled in the background. The prince looked in that direction and smiled. He turned to his father, who nodded in understanding, and Kangnam ran over to the boy.

"Your Highness," the boy bowed. "What a pleasure to see you."

"Hangil," Kangnam smiled brightly in return, "I haven't seen you for weeks."

"Let's go inside."

Hangil led the prince into a tailor's shop owned by his family, which doubled as a home. As soon as the prince entered, Hangil's father bowed in awe.

"Your Majesty," Mr. Kim gasped. "What brings you here?"

"I have to play with your son," Kangnam smiled. "With your permission, that is."

"Please, feel at home."

Kangnam and Hangil ran up to the latter boy's room. In there, Hangil took out a set of Pandorain Chess and set it up. It was similar to the one played on earth, but the pieces were made in Pakma's style. They loved to challenge each other in this game, and their victories were evened out at that particular day.

"Tell me," Hangil began the conversation once again. "What's happened? You seem different, if only slightly."

"It seems that I have acquired a new gift," Kangnam sighed.

"A new gift?" Hangil gasped. "Is that even possible?"

"Well, it must be. The Water doctor just outside of the city said that's what happened."

"Water doctor? What were you doing with Water Beings?"

"They're not bad. Water Beings and Shadows are part of our world."

"But they're so..."

"They're my people too, Hangil," Kangnam sternly stated.

"I'm sorry," Hangil quietly apologized.

"No offense meant to you."

"About this new ability, what is it?"

"Dreaming. Of the past."

Hangil nearly knocked over a chesspiece. "Past? That's really rare."

"I know," Kangnam shook his head. "And I had the most disturbing dream last night."

"What was it about?"

"A man running into the forest at night to kill a baby boy."

From the hallway, a gasp was heard, then the shattering of glass. Kangnam and Hangil shot up and ran to see what had happened. Just outside of the door, Mrs. Kim was standing agape with a tray of sandwiches and shattered glass at her feet.

"What's wrong mother?" Hangil asked.

Mrs. Kim couldn't answer, but just stood there looking shocked at the prince. She must have heard the last thing Kangnam said, but he couldn't possibly imagine why that would affect her...

"Are you okay?" Kangnam slowly asked.

Again, Mrs. Kim couldn't answer.

"I--" Mrs. Kim started. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to..."

"I'll get the mop," Hangil ran to the bathroom.

Mrs. Kim snapped out of her stupor when Kangnam bent down to gather the shattered glass. She apologized again before bending down to help him. It was the most awkward silence the prince could ever remember. Before Mrs. Kim walked away to throw away the broken things, she apologized again.

Kangnam was still very confused.