A couple of weeks prior, they went on a weekend trip to Mark’s family beach house with a group of friends to relax before a big exam. They had a lot of fun. But something went very wrong during that weekend. The Roosevelt family beach house got invaded by a group of organized housebreakers. The situation got dire enough to force Irwin to use his magic to protect his friends, and Mark was the only one who saw it all because only those two were inside the house while the others were partying outside on the beach. While Mark was in choc because he saw his friend use magic, he was more in choc about almost losing his life. Which allowed Irwin to explain himself. Irwin could have cast a spell to make Mark forget everything but he was freaked out at the time and hadn’t thought of that. And Mark’s curiosity presented itself as the perfect excuse to get invited to Paris as a guest and be used as a distraction. This is why Mark was there at the front gates with him and all three of their luggage. 

But instead of going through the gates, Irwin preferred to use a secret side entrance and surprise everyone. Mark was scared about how Irwin’s family would react to his presence but he was too excited to meet a whole family of Magi to even care about the consequences. Irwin did reassure Mark that no one would do anything bad to him. The worst thing that could happen to Mark was memory loss. As the two young men were looking for the secret passage, Mark started to have second thoughts about the plan they had formulated prior:

“Tell me Irwin” started Mark “once we are inside, what will happen? Assuming that everyone likes me and lets me stay, what’s next?” 

“As I said, your presence alone will distract everyone and prevent them from using magic as they don’t know you know. Don’t let anyone know you know!!” Irwin couldn’t have been clearer. “So watch what you say and try to be as natural as you can.”

“You are asking a lot buddy” Mark knew he would eventually mess everything up.

“Hey! You are the one who wanted to come with me and get a taste of my world! Panicking now that we’re here isn’t going to help.”

“Okay” sighed Mark, momentarily regretting to have tagged along. “But, for what you’ve told me, no one will talk about the death of your brother. Not your dad, not your sister. So, where will you start?”

“My brother’s room. He had a lot of things there last time I was inside. There is a spell in one of his notes that would help me get to the truth. I would look for it while you distract my family.” 

“Okay. I still think me staying at a hotel would be better” Mark added anxiously.

“No. You'll stay with me. You being here is crucial. Besides, we have plenty of empty rooms. I won’t let my best buddy stay at a cheap hotel while there’s unoccupied space at my house.”

“You are such a doll. But, I have the money you know? A 3-star hotel is not above my means”. Teased Mark.

“Shut up.”

“But what about afterward? What will you do when you learn what you wanna know? Will you accept whatever reason your father had to kill your brother, or avenge him?”

As Mark was finishing his sentence, Irwin found the secret entrance. It was behind a wooden panel fixed into the wall with the name of the backstreet written on it. It was some sort of magical portal only a Demahy De Chevenelles family member could get through. So Irwin had to hold Mark’s hand to help him pass. Once inside the domain, they found themselves in some sort of garden in a form of a maze.

“What in the world was that” Shouted Mark.

“Would you be quiet you dumb fuck!!” Growled Irwin.

“What?! It felt weird!! And where the fuck are we now??”

“Silence! We are in The Garden of the Lost and Forgotten. It is how we named it because of obvious reasons.”

“Yeah Irwin, I got that. One can get lost in here and be forgotten! Geez, you people are rocking the mystery thing aren’t you guys? Tell me you know your way out of here!”

“It depends” Said Irwin, softly.

Mark looked right into Irwin’s eyes, wanting to hurt him badly.

“Okay, I don’t want you to put a fucking curse on me so I’m not going to punch you in the face. I’m just gonna ask you a simple question: It fucking depends on what, Irwin?!”

“First, I will never put a curse on you, not on purpose. Second, if I indeed accidentally put a curse on you I’ll reverse it, no big deal. Thirdly, it depends on whether or not they changed the spell that opens the way out.”

“Okay.” Mark felt a bit reassured that his friend would never curse him, not on purpose. “You know the spell, right?”

“Yes of course… dude. If they didn’t change it.”

“Cast it damn it!!”

“Okay Mark, hold on! You act like we are going to die in here!! Chill!!”

Then Irwin concentrated on the spell. It was a simple one: ita libere patefacto. It’s Latin for “open the path so I can be free”. Irwin didn’t have to say it out loud, he just had to think it to cast the spell. Mark just saw the maze form a straight path before him. He was amazed by what he had just witnessed.

“But you didn’t say anything!”

“Be quiet Mark! We gonna get caught if you keep shouting like that! The gatekeeper may be roaming the grounds.”

“But you didn’t say anything” repeated Mark silently.

“Spells don’t have to be said out loud all the time. You can just concentrate on the words and let the magic do the rest. It demands a lot of discipline and practice though…”

“It is amazing Irwin! You need to teach me how to use magic! I wanna know everything about magic!”

As the two young men exited the maze, they came upon a large manor. Although it looked well maintained, no one lived in it for years. It was the Rosemary Manor, as Irwin called it. It used to be inhabited by the eldest of his uncles, Anthon Demahy De Chevenelles. But he had died a long time ago and the manor was left empty since then. Only a few maids came inside to clean it every once in a while.

“We gonna stay in there for the moment” suggested Irwin.

“C’mon! I don’t want the ghost of your dead uncle to haunt me at night.”

“I think it is better, trust me. Get our things and I’ll check if the back door is open. We better not use the front door.”

“You know, I thought I was rich but you…” Mark trailed off as he was amazed by everything he was seeing. “You guys are filthy rich! And how big did you say this place was? How many manors?”

“Well, it’s a family fortune that predates the discovery of your continent. So, my ancestors had a lot of time amassing it. Don’t be intimidated. I’m sure your family would have been as rich as us if they were around as long as we were.”

“How old are you again? 500 years old?”

“Shut up and take our bags, would ya! Imbecile.”

Fortunately for them, Irwin manages to get access to the Rosemary Manor. As the afternoon was ending, it was getting darker inside. So Irwin lit up a couple of candles they found in the back kitchen, which was where they entered the manor from. Everything was covered by large white sheets: the furniture, even the chandeliers. As they penetrated the manor further, Mark discovered that even the painting on the walls was hidden behind white sheets. He was very disturbed by how eerie the place looked. As they enter the main hall, Irwin explains to Mark a bit of his family history.

His uncle, Anthon, was the eldest of the elders of the Demahy De Chevenelles. However, he was born without powers of his own and couldn’t even cast any spells. Anthon was born without magic in him. As a magus, his “condition” was shameful to him, but also the magical community. Even if he was respected by his kin, he still felt rejected. So, he fell into alcoholism and drug use. For years, the family tried to help him without any permanent success. One day, Anthon killed a woman in a car accident while he was drunk driving. The remorse ate at him, making him drink even more. After that, he was found hanging by the neck in his bedroom.

After hearing that story, Mark refused to get near the floor Irwin’s uncle was found in. So, they stayed in one of the guestrooms on the ground floor. The room was big enough for them both. Also, everything was covered in white when they entered it.