Alexander still had an awful feeling in the pit of his stomach. Even after sleeping for the night and going about his day, it still lingered.

"Ah!" Alexander gasped as a bolt of electricity seemed to course through him. It wasn't necessarily painful, but it had his attention.

"Good, you're back with us, Alex. If you want to train, then stop spacing out and focus!"

Alexander nodded, "I'm sorry, sir…."

He felt bad. He was the one who had asked Ronan to train him after all, and here he was, spacing out because of a feeling he'd had. He knew this was probably because of the attack the evening before. Over his day so far, he had realized quickly that even though some aspects of magic here were the same as back home, much of it was also different. It was more like what you would see on TV or read in books. This made him wonder if any of the people from his Earth were actually from Ellond or somewhere else, perhaps.

During their break, Shauna meditated instead. She had insisted that something felt off, and she wanted to pinpoint what it was. Ronan argued with her for a bit and finally agreed once Shauna had promised that she would only meditate briefly and then rest. Alexander felt beat. His head was pounding, and it felt like he had run a marathon. Right now, Ronan had him focus on the basics and had given him books to study in his free time as well.

He usually hated studying, but this intrigued him, and he found himself becoming increasingly eager to learn. Though the most challenging thing for Alexander wasn't even the magic itself, it was the language of magic used here in Ellond. He quickly found out that the word Owen had used when they entered the underwater city was the word for 'open.'

After their breaks, Shauna and Alexander both practiced. Well, it was more like Alexander being used as a practice target since he couldn't quite grasp anything yet. Certain things started to click as they were similar or the same as back home. Everything else, however, was where Alexander had issues, instead of magic being mostly unseen to the eye like back home. It was quite visible here, where Alexander thought it more reminded him of fiction back home and couldn't help but wonder if that was where the idea came from.

Just as Shauna had sent a firebolt towards Alexander, Alexander went to put a field up around himself, and something landed in between the two. Alexander felt himself leave the ground as if he were floating before suddenly coming to an abrupt halt. He slammed into something hard. It was so bright that he could have sworn the sun was right overhead, but it was evening. Something wasn't right; the colors were wrong, and things kept getting brighter. The shadows looked wrong, too. Alexander found it hard to focus and felt deaf and blind all at once. He turned his head to find Shauna or Ronan, but it took forever to turn in the right direction. Then he heard a loud noise, and suddenly, everything was happening all at once.

Confusion washed over him and then dread as he noticed Shauna lying just a few feet away from where he had landed. Bloodstained her clothes, and she wasn't moving. Fear and panic threatened to overpower his senses as he tried to go to her and quickly realized he wasn't in much better shape. As he tried to move, his body sent shockwaves over him, and he felt a wet, sticky mass of blood over his abdomen where something metallic was sticking out. When he looked around, he couldn't find Ronan anywhere and feared the worst.

Alexander tried once more to move, but instead, he found his vision growing darker. The last thing he remembered hearing was someone calling his name.

Alexander's thoughts were swirling as everything came rushing back to him, and he groaned as his vision began to clear. He seemed to be back in his room at the castle. He didn't know what had happened after he'd lost consciousness, but he was worried about what had happened to Shauna and Ronan. As Alexander tried to move, he had to fight the sharp pain that sent him collapsing right back onto his back.

Owen, who he only just now realized was in the room, looked up from the chair he sat on. He'd been asleep.

"Alex! Thank the gods, everyone was worried about you and Shauna. Shauna woke up yesterday, but you've been out cold, and Ronan was worried your injuries were worse than he thought." He rambled on, unable to contain himself.

Alexander forced himself to an upright position at that point, ignoring the pain that shot through him. His chest and stomach were bandaged, and he recalled the object protruding from him after the explosion.

"What happened?"

Owen glanced away from him, "we aren't sure, but my father thinks it may have been the rebels."

His voice was quiet, and Alexander knew he wasn't telling the whole truth.

"What else?"

Owen stood up at that point and headed for the door, "I'm sorry, but I can’t…."

It was evident that Owen had been worried. Why else would he have been in Alexander's room waiting for him to regain consciousness? Still, Alexander needed to know what was going on. This was twice he had been in danger, and he now suspected this group was after him, not the royal family. If that were the case, then he was sure it had something to do with the prophecy that Ronan had mentioned. If that were the case, then if no one were going to tell him, he would just have to dig up the information himself.

Alexander recovered quicker than average in the days that followed the explosion. Ronan had been coming twice a day to use healing magic on him. Shauna was already back on her feet but wasn't yet allowed to use magic or train. Once Alexander was allowed to leave his bed, he went to the library, determined to find out what this prophecy was all about.

It took a few days, but he had finally found a few books that mentioned it. From what he could make out, it wasn't good. Then again, he wasn’t even sure how accurate his translations were.

A traveler will come,

from a distant realm,

and after many trials,

will decide this world’s fate,

at the cost of his own.

The prophecy foretold of a traveler from another world who was bound to decide the fate of this world. In other words, Alexander was thought to be someone who could potentially either save or harm this world. However, the price would be his life, though he could just be jumping to assumptions about that. That explained everything. If these people thought that Alexander was the person this prophecy told of. Then that meant the people attacking him were trying to kill him and prevent the prophecy from coming true, for better or worse.

From then on, Alexander decided he needed to fully commit to his training and get as strong as possible. Whether he would use his magic to leave Ellond or fulfill the prophecy, he still wasn't sure. Still, no one would talk about it with him. He had tried on multiple occasions to learn anything he could about the group or about the prophecy, and no one would talk. It was as if they were too afraid to tell him anything. It was frustrating, to say the least.

Owen and Alexander had been becoming closer, though. It felt nice to have someone he could talk to, even if he wouldn't answer him about the prophecy. Alexander felt that this was the calm before the storm since the last few weeks had seen no attacks. They were planning something. He just didn't know what.

Finally, that evening, when Owen and Alexander were out on the balcony of his room, he snapped.

"It isn't right! I've found out more about this prophecy from books in the library than what anyone has told me. No one will answer any of my questions, even when my life could be on the line here. Everyone else is getting dragged into this, too; Shauna could have been hurt a lot more. I don't want anyone else getting hurt, but if no one will tell me anything, how am I supposed to help!"

Owen was startled, to say the least. His face gave away most of his emotions at that moment before he turned and stared out across the landscape, leaning on the balcony's edge.

"I'm sorry… I know I should have been helping you, but it's like there's this unspoken rule where no one will talk about it. Especially given what the prophecy entails… You're right. Your life could be on the line, but no one knows for sure. Prophecies are always far too vague."

He looked down. Noticeable feelings of guilt for not telling Alexander sooner and feelings of worry for him all swirled around, making him appear nauseous.

"You're right… the price of fulfilling the prophecy says that a price must be paid, and given how it is worded, most believe it's the person's life. No one wanted that on their hands, so they locked it away, hoping it wouldn't come to pass at all. Then you showed up."

Owen looked at him, "You're sweet and kind and brave, and no one wants you to get killed over this, especially when this isn’t even your world to worry over. That's why no one will tell you anything. They're hoping that by you not knowing, the prophecy won't be fulfilled, and things will go back to normal. That you’ll go home."

Alexander sighed and leaned against the balcony, now facing his room. He thought about everything that had happened so far and felt guilty for yelling at Owen when he was simply trying to keep him safe.

"I'm sorry for going off on you like that… but I'm worried too. After all, it's my life we're talking about. I have a right to know what's going on."

Owen rested his head on his arms momentarily before standing up straight and walking over to Alexander.

"…sorry… forgive me…." He said softly before leaning over, his lips gently brushing over Alexander's lips in a soft, hesitant kiss. Once Owen had moved away, his eyes quickly widened in surprise as he realized what he had done. Owen quickly stepped away from Alexander before taking off from the room, leaving Alexander standing there in shock.

He touched his index finger to his lips. For a while, he didn't move from where he stood. Alexander wasn't sure how he felt about the kiss. He felt like running after Owen but then wondered why he wanted to run after him. Did he like the kiss? Did he want to kiss him again? Alexander's thoughts were jumbled, and he was confused as he sat on his bed.

"What the hell…?"