“How come they make us run around for 2 hours in a monster-infested forest before breakfast?” I asked while we sat around a tree stump, playing with the weed, grass and random bundles of unbloomed flowers.

“It’s to get us to wake up and get hungry enough to finish the trash that they feed us,” Rein said while playing with a twig he’d found off on the side.

“Still better than tree bark, at least the gruel doesn’t try to bite you back…” replied Reuben. 

As we were having a more normal conversation than last night I saw the Chimera and director leaving out the front door. The Chimera proceeded to get onto the carriage we arrived in and ride away further into the forest.

The director watched until the carriage was no longer visible, as she turned around to go back inside, our eyes met and she started walking over towards the stump we were sitting around.

“Vee, Mr John just left, why didn’t you come over to bid him goodbye?” she asked while analysing my expression.

“He said he’d come back and I already said bye yesterday, Mr John doesn’t like it when people repeat the same thing again and again,” I replied, from her reaction the night before this seemed like the kind of personality he would’ve had.

“Can you tell me about where you’re from? Do you know the name of the lord?” 

“I’m sorry, I'm not allowed to talk about that.” I gave her a curt answer, and to that she simply smiled, patted me on the head, looked at the twins then walked away.

“Weird, what was that about?” Rein asked while watching the director as she walked back through the front door.

“Hey, I’m not trying to freak you out but she’s still looking at us through her office window, so act natural and stop looking around like that, Rein,” I said to the boy who looked around his surroundings awfully suspiciously.

“What’s the director's deal? Did Mr John… No, your Chimera tell you anything? Is she still looking at us, God this is driving me insane” he said while beating the stump with his stick.

“She’s still looking, the Chimera hasn’t said anything but I know she was suspicious of him last night, she spiked his drink and then used some weird artifact to scan him for any magic.”

“Wait… scanned him for magic? Doesn’t that mean you’re busted? What are you doing right now? Let’s get out of here, forget everyone else.”

“Calm down Rein, if she’d been discovered the director wouldn’t have just come over and asked her one question then walked away.” Said Reuben in a calm manner while he gave me a flower ring, I looked at him with my brows raised.

“We need to act naturally, remember, here Rein take this and make something with it if you’re getting all anxious about the director and calm down.”

“Reuben… can I ask how you’re so calm? Rein is freaking out but you seem to think nothing of this situation” I asked while putting the flower ring on my finger and giving Reuben a hug, this seemed to subside the director's suspicions as I felt her moving away from the window and going back to her desk.

“Truth be told, I’ve been waiting… waiting for a knight in shining armour to save us, I know it sounds stupid that we’d wait for something that happens only in fairytales but… I still waited with hope. Is that strange?” I smiled slightly and shook my head. How could I possibly think he is strange when I myself kept longing for someone to save me too… 

I looked up towards the sky and pondered.

“Isn’t it strange? We’re sitting in the middle of one of the most dangerous forests and yet it somehow feels so peaceful here, even the sky is beautiful…” 

“Yeah you're right, the sky really is breathtakingly beautiful…” The three of us stared at the sky as if in a trance.

The fresh breeze swept past my cheeks and tickled the tip of my nose, birds sang a song of morning glory and the laughter of innocent children rang through my ears. The swishing of grass like a lullaby, every sound, scent and feeling filled my heart with an itchy and shallow sensation, making me clench them ever so slightly. I closed my eyes and breathed in hard.

‘Have I ever felt this at peace? Weird, this place fills me with nostalgia but I've never been here before...’

- - -

‘Sniffle’ ‘Cough’ ‘Whimper’

The sound of rustling sheets echoed through my head, a waft of a comforting scent and a heavy body.

“Oh dear, young master, it’s time to wake up now. Oh my, you’ve soaked through your pyjamas with sweat… young master? You there go call the madam and a doctor! HURRY!” a light tap turned into hurried shakes. Heavy and light but swift footsteps reverberated off the floorboards.

“Colleen, what's wrong? What's going on?” asked a familiar soft voice.

“Madam, I'm not sure. The young master was fine when I tucked him into bed last night but he won’t open his eyes no matter how hard I shake him.” 

“Madam, please let me take a look at the young master.” A deeper voice broke through the worries of the others.

“Of course, please doctor what’s wrong with my boy?” I felt a tickle of mana rush through my veins and touch every crack and crevice in my body.

“Hmmm, madam I believe you should talk to a mage about this, my device tells me there is an issue with his mana core…”

“A mage? Alright, You there go call the duke and a mage from the central mage tower tell them it’s an emergency, go now!” The sound of footsteps scattering around and away from the room echoed inside my head once again.

“My poor poor baby, why is this happening to you? Don’t you worry this mother will save you no matter what it takes,” A soft voice dipped in sadness soaked my ears.

‘Mother? Have I died? If so, is she here too?’ I struggled to try and pry my eyes open but the more I struggled the more it felt as though my soul was drifting away from my body.

More hurried footsteps and hushed cries could be heard. ‘What is happening? I can’t open my eyes and I can’t move.’ More mana of a different colour flew into my veins, this time it felt as though it attached itself to my soul and pulled me back into my body, I jolted awake from the sensation huffing as if I had run a million miles.

“Haaah! Haaah! Haaahhh! Ugh, my heart!” I clenched at my heart as if to dig it out. ‘I’ve felt this pain before… but why am I feeling the pain of awakening my mana again?’

In between my huffing and puffing, I could faintly make out the other people arguing in the background.

“What’s going on? What did you do to my son?”

“I didn’t do anything to your son, this is simply the pain that he must go through and overcome himself.”

“What do you mean? Do you not see the pain he’s in do something?” I turned my head towards the ruckus and I could barely make out the outline of people.

“Lucas! Lu! Can you see me? Can you hear me?” 

“Mo… Mother? Have I died?” 

“What? It’s okay, it’s alright my baby.” A mother's hug could melt away the coldest of nights, the moment her embrace embraced me I felt a wave of relief and my vision cleared.

A room filled with familiar faces, even the ones that had passed years before, only, they all looked so young. ‘What’s going on? Am I dead? Both my mother and Colleen died on my 22nd birthday…’

I raised my hands to rub my eyes but the hands that entered my line of sight were tiny. ‘What? Why are my hands weird?’ I touched, analysed and pinched my hands.

“What’s wrong Lucas? Is there something wrong with your hands? Lucas?” she asked in worry as she took them into her own hands and rubbed them over.

“Mo...Mother I need a mirror, I need to see a mirror,” I said frantically. 

“Al…Alright, Colleen go get a mirror, Lucas wants to see a mirror.” Colleen hurriedly rushed into the closet to find a mirror and brought it to me and the reflection I saw left me in shock and awe.

Just then another set of heavy footsteps rushed into my room. 

“Lucas! My son, what's wrong with my son?!” 

‘Father!? Even my father looks so young… what’s going on here?’