"Hey Bel, why don't you play something for us?" Belias's grandfather, the human one, asked. "I here you've gotten pretty good since I last visited."

The entire family was over, ready to see him off the next day when he departed for Hikari Academy, and if he was lucky, somehow not fail badly enough to get sent home within the month. Yeah, that was mostly just his nerves talking, but just because he was paranoid, it didn't mean he was wrong, damn it!

"Yeah, alright..." He said, picking his Bodhrán up and giving it a small knock.

However, it seemed like that was all he needed, and within moments he was lost completely in the sound coming from the drum. A couple of minutes later, he opened his eyes, seeing the whole group looking just that little bit calmer.

"Are you better now?" His grandfather asked him, an amused grin on his face, and if Bel had had skin on his, it would be blushing.

"Oh, yeah." He said, almost a little embarrassed at how quickly he'd given into the drums beat. "I guess I am."

"Don't worry." His father said, patting him on the shoulder and, if his face had not also been a skull, Bel thought he'd probably be smiling. "You're a friendly boy, once you get over your shyness enough to talk to people. You won't be alone for very long, and then you'll always have someone at your back!"

Looking around the room, Bel felt a lot better. His dad was right. It might take a little while to make friends, considering his unnerving appearance, but once he did, he'd likely be able to turn to them whenever he was freaking out.

"Now..." His father continued. "I believe it's about time for you to get to bed."

"Wait, what?" He asked incredulously. "It's not even five o'clock yet! The sun is still up!"

"Trust me, you're going to need as much sleep as you can get before we leave tomorrow. It's a long way to the academy, and even my magic won't get us there in an instant! Now bed. Go."

Grumbling, Bel went to his room.

And promptly lay awake the entire night in a terrible combination of excitement and nerves.