During this rainy spring, Shade had clearly noticed that the air quality was worse than in the past.
It was early tuesday morning, the twenty-first day of the Month of Planting, when Shade woke to the fine patter of rain outside his window.
Yawning as he shuffled downstairs in slippers to collect the newspaper and goat milk, Shade opened the door and found that the morning sky was pale gray. A strange smell permeated the air, and the clouds hung so low they seemed ready to crush the pointed roofs across the square. Fine rain seeped through gaps in the clouds. The rainwater was not clear, but a faint yellowish gray, like rust.
"Acid rain."
He stood beneath his own eaves and stared blankly at the sky until the cat inside gave a soft meow. Only then did he take an umbrella outside and open the milk box beside the gate.
More than a month had passed since the War of Fate ended, and today was a special day. Not because yesterday had marked the end of Red Butterfly Day and today was the first day of a new twenty-one-day cycle, but because a full month had also passed since Shade and Professor Danist brought back that "Moon Egg."
The Time Key's one-month restriction ended officially today. Though the Black Key could not be opened until next month, the key Shade had dug out from a crack in Saint Byrens Comprehensive College's wall could be used today.
"When I took the key out of the Gift Box yesterday morning, I thought it was the Time Key. Turns out it was just an ordinary wooden key with no clue what it was for."
Shade thought about this as he carried the newspaper and goat milk upstairs. When he returned to the