After venturing around the southern regions, Urien made his way back to Mitos. It was the place his tragedy began, and yet it was the only place he found solace. He thought he could live a peaceful life. He wanted a family, a family similar to what he had. He shook out any notion of it. The fear of hurting them and outlining them were to much to bear.

Yet, fate seemed to love playing with his noble heart. As if his trauma manifested, he saw a group of men who looked like raiders from the time before. He was conflicted. Should he follow them? Should he ignore them? His body gave him the answer. He tailed their journey.

Northwest, he followed them, keeping distance. With three days' worth of travels, they reached a village along the cliffs and within the woods.

Urien watched the events unfold. The raiders launched their attacks. He tried to intervene. He tried to help. When faced with a weapon, he felt the same sensation he had before the incinerating calamity. He ran. He hid himself within dead leaves and branches.

As he calmed himself, a woman with a baby in arms, and by her side, was her husband, fled the village. The woman knew she couldn't outrun the danger to keep her child safe. So, she hid the sleeping child in a hollowed log. It was a log planted in front of Urien. He saw the child coo with innocence and ignorance. And he saw the slaughter of the wife and husband.

Cautiously, he took the infant and returned to Mitos. There, he raised the baby boy as his own, naming it Urus.

A year passed with the hectic duties of parenting. But it was worth the pain. Urien missed his family. And this was as close as he could ever wished for.

That immediately changed when he was minding his own business in the markets. The raiders from before accused him of the pillage. The infant was proof of spoils. Being unknown to most of the city, no one was able to confirm Urien's identity. Even the guards that gave him entry every now and then or the tavern keeper couldn't side with him. As an unknown resident with circumstantial evidence, Urien was detained, and Urus was put into foster care.

Several years passed, and Urien was kept jailed indefinitely. He hung to the thought of Urus. He wondered what Urus was doing and how his new parents treated him. Urien thought about what he would do if and when he would be released. But as the days went, he began to lose the thought of it. All of it.

Fortunately, a new king was crowned. He was a benevolent king. He allowed to free all prisoners who had little to no evidence of their misdemeanors. This included Urien.

On the day of freedom, Urien went to search for Urus. When he did, Urien realized that so much time had passed. In front of him stood the boy he once knew as an infant. And of course, the boy did not recognize him. Instead, the boy simply stared curiously at Urien.

Urien wanted to speak his name, Urus... but was that his name now? It was confirmed when his mother called for him. His name did not change. The boy skittered off to his mother. Urien smiled with relief. Urus was safely growing up.

Several years passed again as Urien stayed afar, watching Urus grow into a teen. This was the time when magic was discovered. Children around the same age were displaying a supernatural ability to control the natural world around, such as fire manipulation or water, some were able to fly, and some were shape-shifting.

The once benevolent king heard news of this and decided to abuse the phenomenon. He ordered the royal council to help find the source and to help gather those children. He gave an incentive to the families; if he was allowed to keep their children within the castle walls as they trained to master their abilities, then they were to be given riches enough to live without working.

At first, that seemed fine. When a few years passed, the families realized most of their children were dying from war. The children were sent to the front lines and were never to return. The issue became appalling as the people realized the children from the worker class and commoners were the ones dying out. The nobilities were keeping their children safe while sending out the lower class.

There were even rumors that the nobilities would intentionally kill the commoners. After all, the children were in the domain of the nobles. No one would know what actually happened if no one said anything.

This discrepancy tore the lower and upper class. The noble children grew arrogant and bullied the commoners.

One day, in an alley, there was a boy named Faustus. He was surrounded by the children of the nobility. They threw rocks at him and called him names such as 'street rat'. A kid even kicked him while he was huddled up in a ball.

Urus happened to walk by this alley. Witnessing the event, he stepped in:

"Stop! You are hurting him!" He took a glance at Faustus. A kid a little taller than half his height with auburn hair and golden eyes.

All of the nobles gawked at him.

A snobby, round kid scoffed, "I haven't noticed." He kicked Faustus in the shin. Faustus yelped. The round kid continued, "Did you hear something? Sounds like a dog wants to play." The other children gaffawed with ridicule.

Urus pushed the kids out and stood between Faustus and them. Despite the kids being younger and smaller than Urus, their numbers were intimidating.

"This is stup-,"

A punch flew at his left cheek, then a pebble.

"You're nothing more than dirt contaminating our clean air! I bet you can't even use magic. You seem too old."

Instantly, a ball of water smashed into Urus's face.

"That's magic for you!" Laughed the culprit.

A bolt of lightning shocked Urus. Then, a flurry of rocks. The kids mocked him. He stood his ground.

Finally, Faustus spoke up, "Just leave me alone." Urus turned to the fiery haired boy. "You don't need to help me."

"You're right!" Urus shouted. He believed pain would not stop pain. Seeing someone hurting did not change that notion. He did what he felt was the best solution. He stood his grounds and acted as a shield. "But I want-"

The other kids continued their harassment. Urus took the barrage from head to toe. Suddenly, the round kid squealed with pain.

"Did you just hurt me?" He accused Urus, who returned a confused silence. "How dare you hurt a noble?" He readied his magic.

Urus couldn't keep his pacifistic approach. He launched a punch at the kid's face right in his right cheek. To everyone's surprise, Urus let out a grunting cry. He felt pain run through his right cheek as well. But no one hit him. As he faltered from bewilderment of the event, the others retaliated. The same phenomena occurred. The stings and pangs were felt by them.

There was a choir of feint voices that they brushed off as the wind. It started with a singular female voice, "From head to toe," to a singular male voice, "of flesh and bones," to a collective of children's voices, "you are one and the same," then lastly, a unified voice of all, "yet, desire to play such foolish games. If you deny the cries of their afflicted strife, then feel what they feel with a shared life."

The nobles began to feel uneasy. One of them suggested leaving, to which they all agreed.

Urus then turned to Faustus. He extended his hand as he introduced himself. Faustus stared, fascinated and confused. But not at the gallantry of the help from Urus. Through Faustus's eye, he saw an aura, a colourful mist from and around Urus.

"Was that your magic?" Faustus inquired.

"Magic?" Urus scoffed. "I don't have such thing."

"Then what did you do to them?"

Urus shrugged. "I don't know... I do know that you need to get off the ground. Come on now."

Faustus grabbed the helping hand and introduced himself. He dusted off his pants. Then, a sharp pain ran through his shin and ribs. He hissed.

"Looks like you need some care," Urus stated. "Let's get out of here."

Faustus wrapped an arm around Urus's waist. He limped as Urus tried his best to keep a steady pace. The height difference didn't help.

His eyes shot glances at Urus. The mystical sight before him signaled the sure sign of magic, yet Urus denied it.

This was Faustus's magic. The ability to detect magic. He actually envied others since theirs could be useful. He, on the other hand, couldn't apply it to his daily life.

So, he wondered what magic Urus had. He thought deeply, 'What magic could it be? Wind? Makes the most sense since I didn't see anything hit them.'

"That is possible," Urus replied.

"Huh?" Faustus exhaled with surprise.

"Like you said, it is possible that wind magic was used."

Faustus eyes darted side to side. 'Did I say it aloud?'

"You're funny," Urus chuckled. "How else would I hear you?"

'He is reading my mind!' Faustus eyes opened with a sense of guilt. He thoughts raced with unfinished sentences.

A sting went through Urus's mind. "Wait! Stop!" Instinctively, he pushed Faustus, causing him fall. "Too many words."

Faustus groaned from the pain throughout his body. He looked at Urus. The colourful aura had expanded. He knew magic was used. He just didn't know from whom or where... especially if Urus was telling the truth that he didn't have magic.

"I'm sorry," Urus grunted with pain. He tried to reach for Faustus. But the thoughts from Faustus continued to run through his head. The headache was too much to handle. "Stop what you are doing! I can't-!"

"I'm not doing anything!" Faustus finally spoke. And with that, the voices calmed inside Urus's mind. "You're-!"

"Wait," Urus interrupted. "It's gone."

Ironically, that caused Faustus to think again, causing the thoughts to be shared with Urus. Slowly, Urus got used to the uninvited voices. He regained his composure.

"Calm your thoughts," he told Faustus. Faustus did as he was told. "I don't know what's happening, but I am hearing what's in your mind. Are you able to hear mine?"

At first, Faustus did not. But as they stayed silent. Urus's voice trickled in like incoming rain. They shared a conversation in silence. They tried to figure out what was happening. They cleared one another from the cause of the phenomena.

Then, without warning, their telepathic bond disappeared.

"That... that was something," Urus awkwardly stated.

"Definitely," Faustus agrees.

Urus noticed the wounds. "Right... we need help for you."

"I almost forgot," Faustus chuckled. "My mind was occupied."

They laughed at the joke as they left the alley.

•~°~•

ParaVi huffed with annoyance while he read the lips of Hexice. He understood the silent talk, but it was inconvenient. Hexice was auto guessing ParaVi's words, which was almost a hundred percent accurate.

Then, he heard him.

"Ah!" Hexice squealed with excitement. "We have a new addition!"

ParaVi grunted with disgust. "Your voice is more annoying than you look." He wrapped his finger around his chin. "Though I can't deny our new member."

"Welcome!" Sang Hexice. He waved in multiple directions and twirled.

"They can't see you," ParaVi said.

A choir of voices entered their minds.

A child's voice: "But I can hear you."
A woman's voice: "I hear what you are saying."
A man's voice: "And what you are thinking."

Hexice gasped dramatically. "An invasion of privacy! I don't mind a little eavesdropping, but you are not allowed to enter my mind!"

"Hypocrisy," ParaVi stated. "You were invading my mind this whole time."

Hexice clicked his tongue. "No, no. I, technically, invaded your future." He corrected.

"Not any better." ParaVi's enunciated. His eyes shut halfway. "You had, and still have, no permission."

A girl's voice intervened: "Our voices are our bonds. We must share so that we can understand."

"Then don't read our minds," Hexice said. "I speak truths. I am transparent."

A woman's voice stated: "I suppose we have no need to lie to another. I will severe the connection that binds our minds."

A man's voice followed: "Your mind is empty anyways. All I saw was a black space."

ParaVi giggled. "For a being who sees the future, you have nothing going on."

"Ha, ha, ha," Hexice faked a laugh. "It's only black because all the future are combined. You'd think it'd be a white light, but it certainly is not." Hexice sat in her chair and rested on his arms. "By the way, what is your name?"

A boy's voice answered: "I am Pathalias. I am here to help people understand one another."

"Understand, eh?" Hexice gave a smirk. "People certainly have a knack of understanding one alike." He spread his cards onto the table and flicked a card. It flipped over, revealing The Hierophant. "Lead the way, oh great one."