Footsteps rang through the room as a young girl walked back and forth within a small cottage built by the lakeside of a small town.

"Arghh! Where is he?! He should've been back by now!" The girl impatiently shouted to herself.

The young girl sported bright green eyes as it complimented her light brown ponytailed hair, which swayed side to side each time she stomped on the wooden floors of the living room. Her eyes filled with anxious excitement as she waited for something.

Who did this girl awaited for? It was simple. The young girl by the name of Fei anticipatedly waited for her father's return.

"...what's taking dad so long to come back?" she muttered. Quickly she stopped at her footsteps, soon after, she averted her eyes from the furnish of the cottage, turning towards the window by the side.

Under the dim night sky, she saw the grassy fields that gently blew from the cold wind. The lakeside view from the distance enhanced the sight, thus making a beautiful vision of a landscape.

Although one would feel calm upon looking at the scenery, it wasn't the same for Fei. She frowned at the sight, having seen no signs of her father coming back, she could only let out a sigh.

"Did something happen to him while he was on his way back?" she uttered worryingly. "No no! Nothing must have happened to him right?! I mean... the guild would have informed me otherwise!"

Fei continued at her previous pace, quickly rocking the floors once again. "But... It's not normal for dad to be coming back this late..." she thought to herself as she pondered on whether or not to check with the guild to see if anything was wrong.

The young girl stopped in her tracks as she screamed in frustration. "Ahh! Just thinking about this is so frustrating!!" she pulled her hair in annoyance. Fei had no clue why her father was coming back late.

Looking out at the window again, it was still the same beautiful scenery that she saw earlier. At the outskirts of the field, was a dirt path that led towards the Twin Pathway.

"..."

Waiting and waiting, her impatience got the better of her as she quickly stormed out of the cottage. The moment she stepped out of her home, she felt a gentle breeze that blew at her hair which slightly calmed her down.

Fei slowly looked around the surroundings of the outside, as she saw that the fields of grass everywhere glimmered under the dimmed moonlit skies. The droplets on the grass from the afternoon drizzle leisurely dripped down to the soil whilst the fireflies danced around the lake.

"Sigh... when will dad come back?" she muttered in hopelessness. It had been hours past the time when her dad was supposed to come back.

Just as she was about to return back to the cottage, her eyes caught glimpse of something in the distance. "...huh? Who's that?" she blinked at the sight. Quickly, her eyes narrowed over towards the area. There, she saw a man slowly making his way over to the direction of Fei.

"...Isn't that?" Trying to get a better look at the man, Fei took a step forward. As the man continued to come into the distance, she could see the person much clearer than before.

Branding a hair with the same coloured tone much as her own, her eyes glistened with joy. She knew who it was. It was a familiar face, a relieving one at that. It was her father, Kruz Lin.

Relieved to see that he finally came back, Fei excitedly rushed towards him. "Dad!!"

"Honey!" Hearing the shout from Fei, Kruz smiled. Moments later, Fei grabbed onto the leg's of Kruz as she hugged them.

"Dad! What took you so long! I've been waiting for you to come back for hours!" she pouted.

"Aha... I'm sorry about that. There was a problem while on the way back," he replied with a tired breath.

Letting go of her father's leg, Fei looked up towards Kruz still with a pout on her face. Just as she was about to say something, she noticed that Kruz didn't come back alone. On his back, was a young boy.

"...and who is this?" Fei pointed towards the young boy who had black messy hair. The two made eye contact with one another as Fei saw his midnight blue eyes, which seemed lifeless. Upon further inspection, she quickly took notice of the wounds around him. It was severe—almost life-threatening.

"..." The young boy stared back silently at Fei.

"...ah, him?" Kruz said still with a tired breath. "Well firstly, let's head back to the cottage. I need to treat him immediately."

"A-Ah, right," Fei replied disheartened, unable to say anything further.

...

The two made their way back towards the cottage. Upon returning, Kruz hastily made his way towards the second floor of the building, quickly heading into one of the two vacant rooms within the home.

As he entered, Kruz wasted no time as he placed the young boy on a bed by the corner of the room. Immediately after, he began treating the wounds around his body.

While he was treating his wounds, the young boy spoke up in a sharp tone. "Why are you getting into this mess? It's none of your business."

"Oh, but it is my business. You see, I'm doing this for your sake as well as for hers," Kruz calmly replied while continuing to treat the boy's severe wounds.

"...and which part of this 'for your sake' are you implying?" he frowned upon hearing Kruz's answer.

"You'll find out soon enough," Kruz smiled at the boy.

While they talked, from the entrance of the room came Fei who abruptly barged in. Her face was bitter as she made her way towards Kruz, soon after, she began to barrage him with questions.

"So? Are you going to start answering me?" she asked. "Who is he? Why is he here? What happened? Why did you come back so late?!"

"..." Hearing the barrage of questions, the boy only gave an expressionless look over to the direction of Fei.

"Woah there. Calm down, Fei." Kruz let out a slight cough from the bombardment of questions coming from his daughter. "I'll answer your endless stream of questions one by one," he said. "Firstly, this boy will be staying with us from now on."

"...!!" Upon hearing the words coming out from Kruz's mouth, Fei and the young boy looked at him with mouths wide open in shock.

Fei widened her eyes as she exclaimed. "Huh?! What? What do you mean he's going to be staying with us from now on?!"

"Well, to put it bluntly, he will be your brother from today onwards."

Fei froze in place as she heard the disbelieving words coming from her dad. She slowly tried to process the words one by one as she turned towards the boy in a confused manner, right after, she turned back to Kruz. "B-Brother?!" she shouted in an aggrieved voice.

"What do you mean by brother?!" Almost simultaneously at the same as Fei, the boy shouted.

"From now on, you'll be Fei's brother and Fei will be your sister," Kruz calmly said.

"What are you going on about?" The boy furrowed his brow. "I've never agreed to any of this!"

"You've suffered enough as it is, so, the least that I could do is take you in."

Feeling complexly to the sudden turn of events, Fei glared at her dad as she shouted in disapproval. "Dad! Don't I get any say in this?! This isn't fair at all! Not one bit! You just came back and then you said out of nowhere he'll become my brother? Just what is this?!"

"Honey... I'm doing this for all of us," he reassured the two.

"But, dad!"

"I'm sorry. But, my decision's final," Kruz firmly replied.

"W-Wait! I don't understand at all! Why do I even need a brother in the first place?!"

Kruz smiled as he jokingly replied. "So that you don't feel lonely when I'm not around, of course!"

"...that is one stupid reason to take me in," the boy remarked.

"Aha... anyways, trust me. You'll be glad that you have a brother," Kruz placed his hand onto Fei's shoulder.

"Glad? In what way will I be glad?!" Fei threw on a tantrum, not accepting the decision that Kruz had made without any sort of confrontation about it.

"..." The boy looked over the situation as he kept silent.

"Ahem. Now that everything is all settled," Kruz said as he ignored the disparaging Fei. "It is now time for you two to get acquainted with one another!"

"DAD! Don't ignore my question!" Fei frowned as she turned her head out of spite. Soon after, she gazed into the young man's midnight blue eyes. His eyes dimmed lifelessness in it. There was no emotion at all.

Appearing as if he didn't hear Fei, Kruz quickly began the introduction of the young boy to Fei.

"His name is Damian. Damian Lin," he said. "He will from now on, bear our family name, Lin."

"..." Damian turned towards Kruz in a silent manner, his mouth opening as he soon closed it.

"Dad!" Fei shouted.

"And this here is Fei! Though she may be extremely demanding, I hope you will get along with her," Kruz joyfully said.

"Wh-What do you mean extremely demanding?!"

Kruz turned towards Fei as he smiled gently. "And that goes the same for you as well, I hope you will get along with Damian."

Soon after the introduction, Kruz went back to wrapping up Damian's wounds, finally patching it all up. "There we go, all patched up! Ahem, anyway, I've got to head out to the guild to report in for a bit, so I'll leave you two be."

"Dad!!" Fei continued shouting.

Without another word from Kruz about the matter, he silently left the room.

"Grr... Dad!" Feeling annoyed and frustrated, Fei couldn't help but only grit her teeth as she turned to Damian. "Don't you have any say in this?!" she asked in an angry voice.

"..." Damian glared at Fei with an expressionless look on his face, soon after, he broke eye contact, quickly looking the other way. "Hmph."

"W-What...? Hey! Don't ignore me!"

"...just let me rest," he turned himself around the bed, showing his back to Fei.

"Aghhh! Why is everyone being so difficult today?!"

...

And so, two youths at the age of ten with two different backgrounds met one another.

A story of two, who would later be known as 'Guild Rankers'.

Just what would they bring towards fated destiny?

This is the story of fate. Libria, and its skies of freedom.