sleepless night

The boys were jolted awake by a cacophony of crashing sounds. Rushing into the common area, they froze in horror: the entire lounge was a chaotic mess. Furniture, books, and even the carpet were floating mid-air as if gravity had taken a vacation. In the center of it all was Cior, levitating in her sleep with an eerie calm.

"What the actual—" Ziven blurted, staring at the surreal scene.

"What do we do? What if something happens to him?" Amias said, his voice laced with worry.

"Stop worrying, Mommy," Arvan teased, patting Amias on the shoulder. "We can handle this. He's just... floating. How bad could it be?"

Ziven stepped forward, his arms crossed. "Bad enough, genius. Look at this mess! And what if he decides to teleport us to his dad's room again while we're trying to sleep?"

Arvan smirked. "Relax. We'll just wake him—" He reached out but was immediately sent flying backward by an invisible force. "Okay, new plan! No touching him."

"I told you this wasn't normal!" Amias said, pacing in panic. "We need to stop him before this gets worse!"

Mateo snapped his fingers. "Wait! The duke gave me something. He said it's for emergencies only."

"Hold up," Ziven said, narrowing his eyes. "The duke gave you something? Why didn't we know about this?"

Mateo shrugged. "I don't know, he just looked super serious, handed me a letter, and told me, 'Only open this in a real emergency.'"

"Flying furniture counts as an emergency!" Amias yelled.

"Fine, fine, I'll get it." Mateo dashed to his room, returning moments later with a sealed envelope. He tore it open, revealing several smaller instructions inside.

"What the—" Ziven muttered.

"Look!" Mateo pointed to one of the smaller notes. "It says here: If things start flying while he's asleep…" He scanned the instructions quickly. "Alright, Amias, you're supposed to use your nullifying ability. Then, we need to press the button on his bracelet to reset him."

"And how do we get close enough to press the button without being yeeted across the room?" Ziven asked sarcastically.

"We hold him down!" Mateo said triumphantly.

"Oh, sure. Let's hold down the levitating boy emitting psychic tornado vibes. Great idea," Ziven said dryly.

"Stop whining!" Arvan said, cracking his knuckles. "We're doing this. Let's gooo!"

"Fine, but when I'm flying into the wall, I'm blaming all of you," Ziven muttered as they moved into position.

Amias took a deep breath. "Okay, let's do this."

The boys lunged toward Cior, dodging flying objects and bracing against the gravity-warping force. Ziven managed to grab Cior's arm but was immediately lifted off the ground. "I got him! I got him—wait, no, I don't—HELP!"

Mateo tackled Cior's legs while Arvan tried to pin her shoulders. Amias, the only one with an actual plan, dodged a flying chair and reached out, activating his nullifying power. The chaotic scene instantly calmed, everything falling to the ground with a loud thud.

"Quick! The bracelet!" Mateo yelled.

Amias pressed the button on Cior's bracelet, and a soft hum emanated from it as her powers reset. Cior's levitation stopped, and she flopped onto the couch, completely oblivious to the chaos she had caused.

Breathing heavily, the boys slumped to the floor.

"Let's never do that again," Ziven groaned.

Mateo glanced at Cior, now snoring peacefully. "You know, for someone who's asleep, he sure knows how to keep us on our toes."

"'Noble training,' my butt," Arvan muttered.

Amias shook his head. "Next time, I'm making Mateo take first shift. If the duke gave him the letter, he clearly wanted him to deal with this."

Mateo shrugged. "Hey, I'm just the messenger."

The four exchanged exhausted looks before retreating to their rooms, silently praying Cior wouldn't decide to start sleep-floating again anytime soon.

The night was far from peaceful for the boys. As the chaos of Cior's levitating incident subsided, Mateo rechecked the instructions, and his eyes widened. "Oh, no," he muttered under his breath. "It says here it happened because of overthinking and stress... and that we need to monitor him all night. His bracelet has to be switched on and off every three hours. That's... lovely."

Arvan burst out laughing. "Hahahaha! Our beautiful sleep is gone!"

"Nooo!" Mateo groaned, dramatically flopping back onto the couch. "I just wanted to get some shut-eye!"

"Why should we babysit him?" Ziven grumbled, rubbing his eyes. "This is a nightmare."

"I just wanted to sleep," Amias muttered, defeated.

The boys grudgingly took turns monitoring Cior for the rest of the night, each enduring their own unique brand of torment.

Mateo's Turn:

Mateo sat in a chair by Cior's side, staring at him in silence. "He looks like that girl, doesn't he?" he thought to himself. Cior's peaceful face had an almost feminine softness. Mateo couldn't help but stare, his thoughts wandering.

"Wait, hold up... this guy's cute too," Mateo mused quietly, his gaze softening. Cior pouted slightly in his sleep, as though annoyed by Mateo's intrusive thoughts. Mateo just chuckled, deciding to keep his admiration to himself.

Amias's Turn:

Amias was next. He sat at Cior's bedside, staring at him with a furrowed brow. "Why do you remind me of her too much?" Amias thought, his mind flashing back to the mysterious girl he'd met earlier. He couldn't shake the feeling that Cior was more than just a boy. Without thinking, he reached out to gently brush Cior's face, but quickly withdrew his hand.

"Never mind, I'm not going down that rabbit hole," he muttered to himself.

Ziven's Turn:

By the time Ziven took over, he was already half-asleep. As he sat on the floor, trying to stay awake, he absentmindedly pulled Cior closer into a hug, muttering, "It's just so cold..."

But then he froze, realizing what he'd done. He immediately let go of Cior and sat back up, his face red. "I—uh—I didn't mean to..." He shook his head, attempting to ignore the awkwardness of the situation. "He's just a kid," he told himself.

Arvan's Turn:

Finally, it was Arvan's turn. He sighed dramatically as he stared at the still-sleeping Cior. "Wake up already," he muttered, poking Cior's face repeatedly. "Come on, wake up!"

Cior groaned in his sleep, shifting slightly but not waking up. Frustrated, Arvan kept prodding him. "Wake up, you sleepyhead!"

When that failed, he had a final, very creative idea. He pulled out a little bottle of paint he'd found lying around and gently dabbed some paint on Cior's face, just enough to leave a small streak across his cheek.

"There. That oughta do it," Arvan said, grinning. "This'll wake him up for sure."

---

When Cior finally stirred, the boys were slumped in various positions, their eyes bloodshot from staying up all night.

"Why do you guys look like ghosts who didn't sleep for a century?" Cior asked, blinking in confusion as he rubbed his eyes.

The boys groaned in unison, looking at each other like they had been through a war.

"We hate you right now," Ziven said flatly, glaring at Cior.

"You're lucky we're not locking you in a closet next time," Amias added with a grumble.

Arvan just shook his head. "I should've just painted your whole face."

"Yeah, we'll never do that again," Mateo added, his voice hoarse.

Cior, still half-asleep and completely oblivious, smiled innocently. "Well, now that I'm awake, what's for breakfast?"

"Breakfast?" Mateo said, eyes twitching. "We didn't even sleep!"

The others groaned again, and Cior, completely unaware of the mayhem he'd caused, just looked at them with wide, innocent eyes.