... Okay, what is going on?

He didn't know what was going on. What happened to him? He couldn't remember anything about where he was before seeing these people standing in front of him.

... Where's the light? Where's the guy who called me 'Samael'? Where am I?

"He seems to be a healthy boy, madam," he heard someone say, "There's something on his forehead, but otherwise he's completely fine."

... Forehead?

"Look, Cate," the man called Marvin said, "He has green eyes, just like his mother."

"And black hair just like you," Cate said.

He wanted to say something. Maybe alert them that he wasn't whoever they thought he was. While he didn't have any recollection of anything before he met them other than the darkness, he was sure he wasn't a little newborn. He wanted to speak to them. He wanted to escape this folly of adoring a small newborn. He wanted to stand up, but he couldn't move. The only thing he could do was stare at his apparent parents and cry for himself in powerlessness.

"Wait here, Cate," Marvin said, "I'm getting some mead."

"Mead?" replied Cate, "Our newborn son just came into the world, and the first thing you want to introduce our little boy to is alcohol?

"Well, when you phrase it like that..."

"No, Marvin," Cate said assertively, "Now, be a darling and get our little son a blanket."

Marvin, while clearly disappointed at the fact that he couldn't be celebrating his son's birth with some alcohol, followed his wife's orders without question. Samael didn't know much about this man who was his father, but what he did know was that he wasn't an unreliable person. Despite his seemingly reckless personality, Samael could clearly see Marvin's rather bulky body with occasional scars alongside his muscular arms. His face, while clean-shaven, had a long scar running down his left cheek. Samael immediately knew that Marvin was a fighter and someone who would always be by his side. As Marvin came to him with the blanket in his hands, he picked Samael up and wrapped the blanket around him. His hands were rough and scarred, a sign of years of experience on the battlefield, yet also caring and gentle at the same time. As Marvin passed Samael onto Cate's arms, he could feel his mother's tender soft arms, ready to protect him whenever he needed her. Samael didn't know much about the world around him, but what he did know what that he was a lucky child born into a peaceful and loving family, and that was really all he could ask for.

"What do you think we should name him?" Cate asked.

"You don't know?" Marvin replied with a question, "Truth is, I haven't thought much about it either."

Cate and Marvin continued discussing the new name for baby Samael for a while until Marvin's friend chimed into the conversation:

"What about Drew?"

"Drew?" Cate asked.

"It's short for Andrew," the friend explained, "It's a variant of Andreas. I mean, magic runs in your family, and Andrew means 'strong', so I think it'll be a good fit."

... Wait, magic?

"That's a beautiful name, Beckett," Marvin replied, smiling, "Thank you," he then looked at Samael, gently caressing him and said, "Welcome to the world, little Andrew."

Samael, or Andrew, stared at Marvin and opened a huge smile.

"It seems he likes it," Marvin smiled, "Don't worry, little Andrew, I'll always be with you," he said, hugging Andrew tightly in his arms.

It was one of Andrew's most important moments in life. He may have fought back and survived the deadly darkness, but none of it had made him as proud as he was right then: he was finally able to crawl.

His four frail limbs pressed onto the ground as hard as he could, trying to hold up his tiny body from the ground. Once he was able to partly stabilize himself above the ground, Andrew started moving. At first, Andrew struggled to balance himself whenever he had to reach out one of his arms to keep moving. But once Andrew was finally able to crawl around the room without any obstacles, he truly felt unstoppable. He felt like whatever happened, whatever life threw at him, he would be able to keep moving. He felt like he was on top of the world. He felt unafraid. He had his family by his side, watching his every movement, encouraging him to keep on moving. Despite not being able to see what was in front of him, Andrew didn't really care. He just kept on crawling and crawling just like a blind person being able to see for the first time: he wanted to crawl to every inch and every corner of his house to be able to feel it with his entire body. He breathed in the fresh air and listened closely to the singing of the birds outside.

He felt alive.

Within the following weeks, Andrew used every second of his time to explore everything around his house. To him, the sun was brighter, trees were greener, winds were cooler and everything seemed so much happier. He knew almost the entire house like the back of his hand, and with his newfound knowledge came newfound confidence. With his father constantly going away from home for his business trips and his mother working on the fields when his father was absent, Andrew was unsupervised and was allowed to go anywhere he wanted in the house without an adult watching him. Andrew didn't make too much of a mess either - while he was curious, he wasn't reckless, and he knew what he could and couldn't do for his own safety.

Until one day, his confidence got the better of him. Andrew was just crawling around in the library, reading books and maps about the outside world when suddenly, he slipped onto what seemed to be a quill, or it could be a piece of paper for all he knew. All he remembered after slipping was that he fell off the table and hit the ground. It was painful, much more than a baby could take. While Andrew didn't try to or even want to, he instinctively let out wailing and crying, which notified his mother who was just outside the library. Worried, she immediately ran into the library, picking him up and caressing him, trying to calm him down. But Andrew didn't stop crying, despite him wanting to. And that was when he felt something cool touching his injured leg. He peeked down and witnessed his mother seemingly summoning water from somewhere outside the library and forming the water into what seemed to be a bubble surrounding his leg. She then chanted something under her breath while closing her eyes and seemingly focusing on the water bubble around Andrew's leg when suddenly, Andrew felt the pain fading away. The red spot on his leg from the injury started fading until it finally disappeared completely, leaving Andrew lost in thought. Cate then carried Andrew back to his crib while telling him to stay put and stop moving for a while, but he couldn't hear what she was saying. There was one and only one thing going on in his head:

... What just happened?