Leo jumped when he heard a small voice coming out of nowhere. There was no one in his sight, until he spotted something that seemed rather odd. A head of golden-brown hair hiding behind outer wall of the stables. Leo moved quietly not to spook whoever was listening in on his predicament. When he came close enough, the sorcerer found a young boy who appeared no more than seven-years-old.

“Um, hello…?” Awkwardly greeted Leo.

“H-Hi,” he bashfully said back.

The boy stood hiding his flushed face behind a stuffed bear in his arms. He still wasn’t looking directly at Leo, but the sorcerer saw the clear-blue in his eyes. There was no doubt that child felt scared talking to someone who’s a complete stranger. So, to keep the boy calm, he decided to use an approach that’d make him less intimidating. Leo sat down on the grass to get within eye-level and kindly asked…

“Could you tell me what you’re doing out here?”

“I-I wanted to see Fred,” the boy answered, still averting his eyes. “Daddy told me he was coming with some friends.”

“Daddy…?”

The boy nodded before pointing at the direction of Tom’s house. There was no one there in sight, which made the sorcerer to guess on what he meant.

“Do you mean, Tom?” Leo asked him. “Is he your daddy?”

He merely nodded to the question as he kept clutching his bear. The sorcerer would’ve been shocked, but then recalled he had learned of before. Leo’s father once told him of meeting Tom again after a long trip to Aiden long ago. He even said that the man was also married and had a baby boy soon after it was born. There was mention of a name for him, but the sorcerer apparently had trouble remembering it. As it coming to him, Kazu and Celine walked out of the stable and found the two together.

“Leo, who’s this?” Kazu questioned.

“I think it’s… Bartholomew?” He guessed.

The boy made a quick glance at Leo’s friends before again looking away. Kazu appeared clueless by the name, but Celine, however, knew it exactly when she heard it. The witch restrained herself back from pulling her obviously shy nephew into a sudden hug. But Bartholomew noticed her strange look on her face and rushed over to the sorcerer.

“I-I go by Barton now,” he informed fearfully. “Are you guys friends with Fred?”

“You must be talking about Fredrick,” Leo suspected, earning a faint nod. “Well, he’s actually my father.”

Bartholomew, or Barton as he preferred, gasped excitedly at the sorcerer. Leo laughed and got up from the ground, taking the small boy in his arms. He felt scared of course, but quickly became comfortable having the young man hold him. Just then, all four heard footsteps, seeing that it was Tom walking toward them. Barton jumped off of Leo and ran over to his father as fast as he could.

“I figured I’d find you here,” Tom stated, smirking down at Barton. “Were you playing nice with your aunt Celine and her friends?”

“Y-Yeah,” he shyly replied, then asked, “Uh, Daddy? How come Fred’s not here?”

“I was just wondering that myself,” wondered Tom and asked the others, “How come Fredrick and Akira didn’t aren’t with you guys?”

The trio glanced at each other in hope that one would provide an answer. But while Kazu and Celine both remained speechless, Leo decided he should tell him.

“There was some trouble outside the village,” stated the sorcerer. “So, my dad thought it best we come here by ourselves.”

“Really?” Tom questioned. “What kind of trouble was it?”

“We… didn’t see what it was,” shrugged Leo. “He only said that Avinerian soldiers were fighting off some monster.”

The mention of the word “monster” sent a chill down Tom’s spine. Even his son Barton was clinging to his father’s leg, dropping the bear he brought with him. He reached down for the boy, pulling him in for a soothing hug to comfort him. Their shocked expressions all seemed very questionable to the others, though.

“Let’s all go inside,” insisted Tom, changing the subject. “We can all talk about this after breakfast.”

The sorcerer actually felt his stomach growl over the mention of food. Kazu and Celine started to laugh but stopped when the same noise was coming from them. Leo picked up the stuffed bear for Barton and followed Tom with his friends to the house. The sound of horses neighing, or grazing were the only ones made as they passed each stable. However, when the group was just a couple of feet away…

“Daddy?” Barton called. “Who Morphos?”

Leo’s legs suddenly froze in terror when he heard the young boy’s question.

“Morphos…?” Recapped Tom, then asked his son, “Where did you hear that?”

“From him.”

Barton looked over his father’s shoulder and pointed at the sorcerer. Everyone turned their attention to Leo, who stood absolutely motionless and speechless.

“Leo, what’s he talking about?” Kazu asked.

“Yeah, who’s Morphos?” Questioned Celine as well.

The situation was not at all how Leo planned on telling his friends. He imagined the three of them someplace alone where no one else was around to listen. But that opportunity became impossible thanks to Barton asking his father about Morphos. Though, he thought it best to have them know about his dream sooner than later. The sorcerer turned to Kazu and Celine, sighing tiredly before he said to them…

“There’s something I need to tell you…” 

End of Chapter Five