The coffee almost spilled from his cup when his body turned abruptly as soon as he heard those words come out of Oswin's mouth. Hayden stood in silence with his eyes closed as he took a deep breath, clenching his jaw. Behind the desk, Oswin frowned and shifted his gaze between Theo and Hayden, who were both clearly shocked, but for different reasons.

"Am I wrong?" he asked, tilting his head and raising his eyebrows inquisitively. "He must have some magic in him, otherwise—" 

“We can't know for sure,” Hayden interrupted in a quiet voice.

With his hand covering his mouth and his index finger resting on the tip of his nose, Oswin's face pursed in surprise and curiosity. He went around the desk and waited patiently for Hayden to continue, encouraging him with his gaze. But instead of trying to make sense of the accusation, Hayden exhaled softly and turned around to confront Theo.

"What do you mean by that?" Theo asked before Hayden could even open his mouth. "You told me you didn't know," he said, feeling a sharp pain in his stomach. "I don't understand. Did you suspect it?"

"I wasn't sure."

"You weren't?" Theo said outraged. "Are you now?"

"No, I'm not," Hayden answered, shaking his head as he stepped forward. "What your brother said was not exactly that, I'm still trying—"

"Ethan?" Theo said, aggravating the look of disbelief on his face. He gripped the cup of coffee with both hands. "What did he tell you?" he snorted with annoyance. "Is there anything else that you haven't mentioned? What are we even doing here? Is he even locked up?"

"Of course he is." Hayden furrowed his brows. "I wouldn't lie about that."

"And what would you lie about?" Theo counterattacked.

Oswin, who had moved towards them, held out his arm to cut them off.

"His brother?" he questioned him. "Is he from Earth? What's this about? Is your father going—"

"No, he isn't," he answered fiercely. "Madelyn and her team are working on getting him out of there." He said as he softened his expression. "They’re still trying to get more information out of him, so that'll buy us some time." He looked back at Theo. "He didn't go into much detail about you, but he did say that you didn’t know anything about this world, and the way he said it made it sound like you were somehow...different." He rubbed his neck. "Your brother seemed to be quite acquainted with magic, that's why I found it odd that you didn't know of its existence. Either way—"

"Different?" Theo jumped in and the look of enthusiasm on Hayden's face vanished. "Why am I hearing about this just now?"

"I wasn't going to throw all of this information on you just like that. Especially when I didn't even have all the answers to the questions you would have had." He sighed. "I wasn't certain of what I knew. It would only have confused you more, Theo," he took a step forward. "I'm just saying that if your brother didn't tell you anything about this, he must have had a reason for it. I didn't think it was my position to tell you everything."

"Still, you should have at least tried to explain that to me. It's my brother who you're talking about," said Theo, trying to stay calm. "You don't get to hide things about him from me."

Hayden seemed to want to open his mouth to say something but ended up staying quiet. To the side, leaning against the wooden desk, Oswin had become absorbed in listening to the conversation.

"Theo," he said, passing through them. "Would you like to sit down?" he smiled gently as he moved the piles of books that were on a couch across the room.

Theo remained still for a few seconds before turning his back on Hayden to follow Oswin's footsteps.

"Let's see," he said after Theo sat next to him. "By any chance, have you ever experienced something out of the ordinary?" He gestured with his hands. "Such as manipulating objects without touching them, possibly perceiving things others couldn't, or so to speak?"

"Umm, not really," he replied, placing the now cold cup of coffee on the small table that Oswin had cleared. “At least not until last night. But I still don't understand what actually happened." He looked at his hands. "I felt as if something inside me was starting to burst and expand outward...I don't know how to explain it, but It happened twice already."

Oswin was tapping on the handle of his cane and scratching his stubbly beard with his other hand.

"Did you do it involuntarily?" he raised one of his thick eyebrows.

Theo nodded and Oswin's eyes narrowed as he directed them to Hayden, who had been keeping his distance while observing them with his arms folded and looking disheartened.

"Are your parents from here?" Oswin carried on.

"They could be, I don't know," he stared at a spot on the floor carpet. "That's what I'm trying to find out," his voice cracked slightly and he had to clear his throat before he could go on. "Why? Could that have something to do with all of this? With me being able to do magic?"

"You see, a child with magic can only be born if both parents are from here, on the other hand, the union between a human and a wizard does not usually give the best...results. They either are born as human or they die shortly after birth," Oswin looked into Theo's face for something that reflected what was going on inside his head, and what he saw in his eyes was nothing but fear. "Nevertheless, there are not enough cases nor evidence to examine, and even if there were, I doubt they would allow any proper research to be carried out..." He cleared his throat. "Either way, there might be exceptions; genetic mutations, but I could not say anything for certain."

While listening to Oswin's explanation, Theo began to dissect all the information he was getting and analyzing it. His past, once dark, unknown, and full of uncertainty, was illuminated by fine beams of light that barely allowed him to discern concrete things. Theo would have to rely on only that to put all the pieces of the picture together, to be able, to try, to understand where he came from and belonged. However, all he had for the moment were only shadows and reflections.

Little by little, he could see the foundation on which he had based his life and his future shaking under the weight of the unveiled truth, making him tremble at the unwanted idea of a possible unknown and buried part of him that he did not recognize. However, even though the raw, primitive fear of truly knowing oneself was slowly consuming him, the flame of curiosity inside him flickered furiously, ready to burn it all down.

A few steps away from Theo, Hayden shifted the weight from one leg to the other anxiously, brushing his hair back.

"Even after that being said, there's no way of knowing if I can truly do magic," his anxious eyes settled on Oswin. "We can't be sure. It's never happened before, maybe it was something insignificant. It may not have been me; it could have been anything else," he spouted hurriedly. "I didn't even say a spell."

Oswin nodded gently in a sympathetic manner as he waited for him to finish speaking, and when he did, Oswin raised his index finger to signal him to wait. He then took his thumb and middle finger to his mouth and whistled towards the door. Seconds later, the big dog that Theo had seen before crossed the doorway energetically and approached his owner.

"The thing is that," he began to ruffle the dog's hair and, at the same time, the marks on its face started to shine beneath his palm. "I sensed magic in you. Well, not me but her."

Oswin stopped caressing its head and the dog went on to sniff out Theo.

"Sorry, what?" His eyebrows furrowed in astonishment.

"She is part of the Light species," the dog rubbed its nose in Theo's knee and the marks in his muzzle lighted up as soon as Theo put his hand on its head. "One of the qualities that these types of animals have is being able to perceive what others may not. Rivel, here, can feel every kind of magic. See? That's why her birthmark is shining."

"It could be the necklace," Theo stammered as if he had suddenly remembered it. "Perhaps that's where it's sensing the magic from. Hayden told me that—"

"Hang on, what necklace?" He looked at Hayden, who had gone up to where they were, and then at Theo, more specifically, at the necklace hanging from his hand.

"That could explain why I can manipulate magic," Theo said, hope soaking his voice.

Oswin furrowed his eyebrows and took the crystal for a closer examination, without being able to draw a concrete conclusion regarding what was happening.

"It belonged to my mother," said Theo expectantly. "I had it since I can remember, but it had never reacted the way it did yesterday."

"In all my life I have not once heard of such a thing as a magic crystal," reflected Oswin as he contemplated the necklace in his hands. "I cannot tell what kind of stone it is. Some minerals do have healing properties but I never—"

When Oswin handed the necklace back to Theo, the pendant flashed for a second, and almost instantly, Rivel began to bark in response, its marks lighting up again.

Startled, Oswin opened his eyes slightly and soothed the animal. He noticed the serious look on Hayden's face and the bold, determined glow in his eyes.

"Excuse us, Theo," said Oswin without looking away from Hayden. "Can you leave us alone for a minute?"

"Eh?" he said, taken aback and looked over his shoulder, meeting the captivating gaze of the young wizard. "But—"

"It'll be just a moment," Oswin added with a reassuring smile.

With hesitation and uneasiness, Theo got up from the brown couch making it squeak, and walked across the room to the door until he reached the kitchen, listening later to the creaking sound of the studio door closing behind him and feeling the undeniable void of uncertainty tightening his chest.

Oswin rested both hands on the handle of the walking stick and waited for Hayden to close the door to signal him to come closer.

"What's happening?" sighed Oswin. "What is the meaning of this?"

"I was planning to tell you," Hayden answered. "I really was, it's just—"

"It's not the first time someone's tried to cast a disorienting spell on Rivel." He arched one of his eyebrows. "I'm not saying you should tell me all about these missions; I don't think I really want to know what you do but, Hayden, this boy looked like he wasn't any more clueless than I am about whatever's going on. Were you planning on telling him anything at all?"

"Yes, of course, I just wanted to get some things straight," he closed his eyes and rubbed on his temple. "I didn't understand it at first. At that moment, he told me but I didn't realize it. I didn't understand. When I last saw his brother, he said something about the necklace..."

"So, you spoke to him?" Oswin looked at him with concern.

"The first time they took him in for questioning, I was there," he said and the expression on Oswin's face turned serious. "What he said about the necklace was too...ambiguous." He shook his head. "And they—they ended up concluding that he was talking about a necklace with limitless magic," he said as he sat down on the couch, beside Oswin. "But when I spoke to him and asked him about it, he mentioned Theo." He paused. "So I just...left, before it was too late." Hayden glanced at Oswin. "This morning, Madelyn sent me an update on his situation and confirmed my suspicions."

"What exactly did she confirm?" he pronounced carefully.

"Theo is the only one who can manipulate that necklace." He lifted his head to look at him.  "Apparently, he's connected with it."

Oswin opened his mouth to say something but closed it as soon as he did. "I assume they also know this?", he said.

"Yes, and now they are not only after the necklace but also after Theo," Hayden's eyes pierced through him. "They need him too."