Prologue

"With freedom, books, flowers and the moon, who could not be happy?" Oscar Wilde.

Does it happen to you sometimes that you just sit and keep staring at some random object without actually seeing it and without thinking about anything in particular?

Well, it happens to Jimmy a lot.

This morning, he prepared his coffee with two spoonfuls of sugar as usual and sat on the couch which must be a hundred years old with all the chocolate stains, tomato sauce and dog pee that covered the natural beige colour. He never had the chance to clean it, or never had time.

He turned on the television not to watch it but rather because people's voices and music made him feel less lonely.

He put some butter and strawberry jam on his toast and ate a bite before drinking his coffee. He was not going to finish either his food or his drink but he took the trouble to prepare his breakfast with delicacy every morning before leaving the small apartment.

He was a very busy guy but when we say busy we're not talking about having a lot of friends, dates or parties every day. No, his life only consists of attending classes at university in the mornings and cleaning an old lady's house at night.

He started living alone after the death of his father three years ago in a car accident. He was his only family because he has never seen his mother before. His father would tell him that she left them after she gave birth to him. When he was a child he could not understand why the woman who bared him for nine months would abandon him after he was born, when he started growing up he doubted his father, he thought that maybe he was lying to him, maybe he hid the fact that they divorced or worse, that she's dead. But after years, he finally realized why the woman would leave them, leave him.

The obvious reason why everyone was escaping from him was his unnatural hair.

While the majority of people had dark or light hair, blond, red, or grey when they get old, his hair has a very strange tone that nobody has in our world.

The closest colour that could be suggested would be white pearl but it was very different because his hair shone with a thousand fires. It was visible even in the extreme darkness, that's why he was never afraid to sleep alone in the night.

After many comparisons, he and his father had concluded that his colour was what is called diamond. It was a sparkling, magnificent crystal colour.

It looked very beautiful and pure.

His father thought it was a blessing because he just had to take a glimpse of it and all the fatigue, stress and bad mood disappeared.

But he was wrong, he was, unfortunately, the only person to feel so because, on the other side, people were fleeing his son thinking he was some kind of dangerous creature.

They could not both go out without receiving strange looks and listening to whisperings and insults.

Journalists had even invaded their home to ask if they were wizards if they used black magic if his mother was cursed just to fill the front page of their newspapers with Jimmy's photos and false articles.

He had been rejected by several schools because he attracted a lot of attention and didn't let other students concentrate. He couldn't have a normal school life because of his hair and that's why his father had the kindness to be his teacher during all these years despite his tiring work.

After his death, Jimmy worked hard for the college's entrance exam. He wanted to face his fears and insecurities and choose a career as everyone does.

He never really had a dream but if he had to choose something to do for the rest of his life, it would certainly be writing books. But not any books, he had a huge weakness for fantastic stories because reading them made him happy, for some reason he felt closer to the characters than he has ever been with any human being. He loves how they are different like him and how it wasn't bad to have a different eye colour or have long dark wings on your back. They were like him and he wished he could live in a better world like the ones on the books.

💎

After finishing his breakfast, he packed his bag and ran to catch the bus.

As usual, everyone was staring at him but he decided not to care so he sat on the back and put on loud music on his headphones.

Camera flashes hurt his eyes so he was obligated to cover his face and his hair. He put on a black beanie on his head and a mask over his face. The inside of the vehicle was hot because of the heater and he was suffocating with all the clothes he had to wear to cover himself.

He arrived at the literature faculty and headed to the auditorium.

The professor was talking about one of the most popular works in England. Pride and Prejudice.

Jane Austen was one of his favourite authors because she wasn't afraid to write and describe things as she saw them in real life.

He smiled because he knew everything the professor was saying. After all, he had already read all her books, maybe twice or more.

In order not to waste time, he opened his book; The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe.

He was once again transferred to the world of Narnia, where his dreams were laying.

He took a look at the windows and I saw the snow majestically falling on the ground. He smiled and mumbled to himself, "It's snowing like in Narnia."

Some students glanced at him from time to time because they were still not used to seeing such hair colour.

Sometimes Jimmy gets angry and takes a chisel, ready to cut it but something strange happens. The chisel breaks into tiny pieces as it comes into contact with his hair. For that, he was condemned to always live like this.

After class, he hid in a corner of the garden that nobody knew to eat his lunch quietly.

He laid his backpack on the wooden bench and sighed heavily, "How long am I going to live this way?" he mumbled.

He closed his eyes and rested his head on the bench, while the snowflakes wet his face.

Suddenly, a violent airflow emerged. The trees moved dangerously until several leaves fell on the ground and soil dust flew around him, blocking his view. "What is going on?" he quickly put on the hood of his sweater.

Then, a voice came up. "Your home is Fantasia."

He widened his eyes and jumped on the bench. "Who is this?!" he shouted.

He turned around to see where the voice came from, but he couldn't see anything because of the fog around the garden.

"Your home is Fantasia." the woman's voice was silvery; clear, light and pleasant. It has been caressing his ears slowly slightly to the point where he no longer feels his body. "Who are you?" he mumbled, his heart beating very fast.

He thought he saw a figure walking gracefully through the fog. His vision was not so perfect, but he could see the body of a woman with long black hair who wore a white dress that went down to the bottom, hiding every part of her body.

"Hey! Who are you?!" he screamed, hoping he would get an answer but the woman suddenly disappeared and everything went back to its normal peace.

Jimmy sat, breathing slowly. He tried to close and open his eyes, again and again, to make sure he wasn't just dreaming.

What happened? Who was this woman? What is Fantasia?

He stayed stuck in the middle of his thoughts for a long time until he realized that there were only ten minutes before the next and last class of the day. He took the sushi he prepared earlier in the morning and quickly swallowed them to save time.

He rested a bit and then headed to the faculty.

💎

He walked in the corridors, the book in his hands. He knew people were looking at him, but when he was reading, nothing mattered to him.

"Hey! You!" someone shouted.

Jimmy frowned because he knew exactly who it was but he pretended not to listen. "Stop right there!"

His steps became faster, he wanted at all costs to escape from the guy who bullied him since he entered the university.

He tried to run but he was faster than him, he took him by the arm and slammed him against the wall. "Want to escape from me huh?" June smirked.

Jimmy was afraid of him every time he saw him, only his face proved enough that one should never look for trouble with him. He had huge scars on his face and his neck was covered with tattoos. "How many times should I tell you to leave this faculty," he mumbled. "We don't need a monster like you," he added, pressing Jimmy's thin arms, making him groan with pain.

"I'm not a monster." the boy whispered.

"What?" June furrowed. "What did you just say? I think I misheard it."

"I said that I am not a monster," Jimmy answered, louder this time.

June widened his eyes and burst out laughing. "Did you hear it guys?" he turned to his group of friends. "He's saying that he's not a monster! That this ugly weird hair is so human! Right?"

The other guys started laughing.

"I'm not going to repeat myself, get-out-of-this-faculty," he said, his deep stare dangerously piercing the young boy's eyes.

Jimmy gulped. "This faculty is not yours," he mumbled, mentally cursing himself for responding to him.

The taller clenched his fists. "You dare to respond?" he said, venom in his voice. "Do you know what happens to monsters like you?"

Jimmy shook his head.

"They die," June mumbled before slapping the younger's cheek so hard that he fell on the floor.

"This is not enough for you." he approached him, ready to kick him with his feet.

"No, please. Don't." Jimmy cried, feeling his cheek hurting.

"Don't talk to me!" June shouted and punched his stomach, making him scream with pain. "No!"

"You need more!"

"Hey June I think you hurt him enough.." one of his friends stopped him.

"Wanna die with him?" June glared at him.

Jimmy took advantage of their conversation to get up and try to run away but once again, June grabbed him. "Where do you think you're going?"

Jimmy got scared and the only thing he thought about was kicking his balls.

"Agh, you son of a bitch!" June groaned his hands between his legs.

Jimmy wanted to run but the older pulled his hair and that's when the loudest groan could be heard.

June was screaming while looking at his hand bleeding because of a deep cut.

Jimmy smirked because only he and his father could touch his hair. For some reason, every person who tries to touch even a small hair could be burned or deeply hurt.

"You're a monster!"

He frowned and ran even though his stomach was killing him, he reached the bathroom and closed himself there.

He heard footsteps approaching and he panicked. He found a chair and blocked the door with it.

"Open the door!"

"Leave me alone!" Jimmy shouted and stared at the scratch he had on his cheek. After a few seconds, it completely disappeared. This was another strange thing about him, he never gets sick and his wounds always healed at the moment.

"OPEN!!"

The boy was trembling with fear, he could not escape from him anymore.

He was walking in the middle of the bathroom, his body shaking while the guys were banging hard on the door.

"Leave me alone!" he squatted on the ground and started crying.

There were those moments when he hated himself, or he didn't to be the person he is. Moments where he wanted to be like the others, be friends with them and live normally. But it was only a dream.

When he opened his eyes, he was greeted by the same fog of earlier.

"Your home is Fantasia."

This woman again…

He could not see anything, he just smelled a pretty smell of roses. "Please tell me who you are," he mumbled.

"Your home is Fantasia." the voice kept on repeating on his mind.

"OPEN THE DOOR!"

He covered his ears and started screaming.

"Your home is Fantasia."

"Please leave me alone.." the boy was sobbing.

Suddenly, a bright light appeared in front of him. He didn't know what it was, but he was certain that he felt attracted by it. It is as if a part of him had to cross this light.

"I'll count to three and you go okay?" he heard June tell his friends.

He panicked.

"Your home is FANTASIA."

"1"

"2"

"3!"

He heard a loud bang and five shadows appeared in front of him.

"Your home is FANTASIA."

He stared at June then the light.

What should I do?

"Monster, be sure of one thing." he heard June say. "Today, I will kill you." he approached him slowly until he could see his blood still falling from his injured hand.

"Don't approach me!" he stuttered as he was walking back, escaping from his senior.

The strange thing is that they didn't seem to be disturbed by the fog nor by the blinding light.

Jimmy was the only one who could see them.

"It's your final day," June smirked before raising his fist.

Jimmy quickly turned down and headed toward the light.

"Don't you think you can escape from me—"

Darkness.