Everything happened so fast and I couldn't wrap my head around anything. I barely stashed away the Oratris orb into the side pocket when Woreus snatched the duffel bag from my hands. He tossed it over his shoulder and then grabbed my arm. My words wouldn't leave my mouth when I tried to ask Ms. Do'or what the hell is going on. I fought against the pulling, managed to slip out of Woreus' grab a few times. She looked back at me and I saw a slight fear in her eyes. It got mixed with anger that got directed towards Woreus with the words: what are you still doing here? Take her away!

I got dragged out of the house through the back door into the garden. There is nothing much around besides a few bushes of hydrangeas covering a white wooden fence, planted in around the lowcut grass, like this a normal household and not where a magical person lives. We stopped in the middle of the grass square. It's early in the morning so the air is extra chilly and me standing barefoot in a snow is not helping at all, but I can't complain, since Woreus is dressed only in sweatpants. He doesn't seem to mind the cold though. And it quickly changed too when he muttered something and clothes appeared on his body soon after. The outfit that I know so well from reading about it in the books. Black suit pants with a shirt and a green tie, but he remained barefoot like me. I don't know what is he going to do and I am little bit scared of his unreadable expression, but Ms. Do'or told him to protect me, so I can probably trust him for now.

Me: Where are we going and what's happening in the house? Who are those people?

Woreus: No idea. That's for your master to handle. I am here to make sure you are out of harm.

Me: Like you were there for me my whole life? Instead of living with me, you left me rot in the orphanage and only came to visit as a stupid dog?

I couldn't help but bark at Woreus when my brain finally put everything together and I realized that he really was the stray dog this whole time. I heard Woreus speak in the memory-dream but listening to him in real life is totaly different. His voice is deep and has this primal tone to it. A real animal growl resonated within his chest and he only said later. Something must have happened because he twisted his head towards the house and then lowered it, like he is trying to listen. I don't hear anything besides the sounds of the busy street and a family chatter, coming from the neighboring house. What I noticed though is a protection shield starting to form around the house. I didn't have much time to analyze it better because Woreus grabbed my arm again.

With a whoosh, the whole world twisted and scrumbled, then unfolded again after a few seconds and we found ourselves standing in abandoned alley. The same one where I have been left, because I recognize every scratch on the bricks from visiting this place many times, hoping someone will come back for me throughout the years. And now i am finally here with a part of my family, my brother. I couldn't stay with him, so I fought my way out of his grasp and darted towards the main road. It was all in vain because Woreus snatched me again and pulled me back into the alley. He is towering above me, his height similar to Mr. Hale, and he easily overpowers me. He grabs me with both of his hands and stares me deeply into my eyes.

Woreus: It is dangerous and you need to get back to this school. How do you get back?

He seems not to know much about how our world works, but go figure if he grew up for thousands or how many years in a different dimension. Can I really bring him to the academy though? I guess we will see. He will either get rejected by the Inyll or he might not follow me at all, just drop me at the gate and leave. I twisted Woreus to the side so I can gain access to my bag. I rummaged throught to find the return pass. I don't know the details of how it works and if it even does for multiple people. Tangling my arms with Woreus, I tell him to hold on and tear the pass in half.

A bright yellow light engulfs me and Woreus. We got transported into the dark poplar alley in instant and the teleporting left a ringing in my ears. I wanted to grab my bag and go towards Inyll, but Woreus kept it and instead started to walk towards the gate. He paused after the gate opened and looked back to see if I am following. This answers my question if he is planning on joining me. It is against rules to bring an outsider to the academy but I doubt they will kick out an ancient god. I pick up my pace and move towards the gate. I can hear Ityx breathing again, its' eyes shimmering with red glow but it doesn't move. I stop moving again after I reach the gate and think about the crossing. If Woreus is from this Noion gene lineage like I am, he might be sorted into the Aveus side and it will be hard to explain it or to keep him around.

With uncertainty and anxiousness, I cross the gate first and emerge on the Umbras side. I am scared to turn around and see where Woreus will be placed, but suddenly a warm hand lands on my shoulder and the deep voice calls my name. Luckily, Woreus is placed on the Umbras side as well, so he can stay with me, but the problem now is, how am I going to explain bringing an adult god to the academy and ask for them to let him stay with me?

I pulled Woreus away to the side, hiding us behind a drinking fountain. He looks much older than me that he could even be my father, making this hide and seek much weirder. He fires up such a respect in me that I can't bring myself to see him as a brother.

Checking the surroundings, I am piecing together a plan how to dodge unwanted attention, avoid people and somehow get back into my dorm with a tall ass guy. Finally gaining a chance where most of the students are far away, I stop crouching behind the fountain and tell Woreus to follow me. Explaining some of the rules fast to him so that he knows why we need to sneak around, I dash out and drag Woreus with me, but after a few steps, he drops on the ground. I can't risk anyone busting us this early without thinking of a plan or consulting Reilly maybe, so I reach for his arm and try to pull him with me. It works for additional three steps of the way we need to pass, but Woreus falls on his knees again, grabbing at his chest and groaning in pain.

Me: Shit. Did you get placed wrong and this is the effect of the barrier on you?

Woreus: Don't know anything... about a barrier. But is there a place to hide for a moment?

A sweat is starting to form on his forehead as Woreus replies to me with pauses and heavy breathing. We are pretty much in the open area of the school front yard and the only place where no one is right now would be the forest. Tossing the duffel bag over my shoulder, I sneak under Woreus and support him. We stagger the whole way, walking as fast as we can but I can see how much pain he is in right now. Still, I can't risk anyone seeing us, so I try to drag him as far as possible into the forest.

His legs gave out and we drop near a huge tree. I positioned him to lean against it and be more comfortable. I try to help him out, asking what hurts and if I can do anything but Woreus is a mess. His whole face is covered in sweat, he is shaking, convulsing, clutching his chest and breathing irregularly. When he finally gains some strength, he pushes me away while tearing off his tie and shirt. With a grunt he rolls onto his knees, standing up and barely keeping himself on his feet. He tosses away the shirt, walking away with his naked torso which is well defined but I can't stare too much since he is family. And I pivot on the spot to look away immediately after he starts unbuckling his belt. I only hear the breaking sound of branches and rustling of leaves mixed with needles. When the sounds stop, I decide to take a small peek to see what's going on but Woreus is gone. The sudden silence of the forest gets broken by a human groans and growling. There is so much pain behind those sounds that it makes me move from the spot and go search for Woreus. I follow the path he took, tracking the disrupted vegetation but I halt when he yells at me to not get closer. I pause for a moment out of fear but I can't just leave him to die in here. Woreus tells me to not come again but he is cut off by a growl that sounds more animalistic now.

When I finally find the tree he is hiding behind and walk around to check on him, I stumble with my steps and fall on my butt. With an open mouth I stare at a gigantic dark wolf standing in front of me. I sit on the ground between its' legs as it lowers head and breathes on me. Pushing myself on the ground, I want to get away slowly without angering the beast because if it decides, it can gobble me up in just two bites. I hold my breath while I stare at the giant wolf but there is something reassuring in its' eyes. I bows to me and as its' lying down, the beast starts to shrink. The black fur is retracting and a dark grey one is taking its' place, revealing a familiar stray. The stray dog sits up and looking at me, I can hear Woreus' voice inside my head.

Woreus: It seems, I am out of practice and ran out of time.

His voice has a weird echo to it and at first I think I just imagined it but the more I stare at the dog that's now sitting in front of me, the more I come to just accepting it. The voice is stuttering or more like getting cut off, but Woreus reassures me that I will be able to hear him clearly in the future with a little bit of practice.

When everything seems to settle down, I leave the forest with Woreus, now in a dog form. We can pass through the yard without any hiccups but the troubles start when I enter the academy and bump into Professor Coldos with Principal Haydos. They seem to be waiting for someone deliberately so I just try to make my way around them, but the person they want is sadly me.

Professor Coldos: Coming back early, Ms. Holland?

Me: Unfortunately, Ms. Do'or got busy so I offered to go back and not bother her.

Principal Haydos: No need to explain yourself to us. We are just concerned because of weird signals we got from Ityx. There were two frequencies entering the academy grounds and you are the only one that arrived at the time. Have you seen anything suspicious?

Professor Coldos: Or care to tell us about that dog behind you?

I knew that they are going to figure it out sooner or later but I hoped it's going to be the second option. I let my gaze fall on Woreus who just walked up to my side, letting his head rest against my palm. It's weird to think of him as a real dog and pat him, but I do it anyway and then swiftly come up with an excuse to explain his presence.

Me: With the help of Ms. Do'or, I came back to my powers, even if it's not in full range. We also figured out that tattoo which appeared on my back if you remember.

Professor Coldos: The wielder of a familiar from Noion spells. What about it?

Me: Well, we tested it out and somehow he ended up being bonded to me as my familiar. Ms. Do'or was worried about separating us, since we weren't able to figure out the whole thing, so she told me to bring him with me.

Professor Coldos: I can see a certain connection between you two and also a magical frequency coming from the dog. This would explain the readings of Ityx. I think it is safe to let her have it for now, Joseph.

Principal Haydos: I agree, Tom. You are allowed to keep your familiar, Ms. Holland, but if anything should happen in the future because of it, we will hold you accountable.

Luckily my fastly-put-together lie worked and I can return to my dorm with Woreus as my pretend familiar. He doesn't seem to mind being demoted to a pet and follows me with no problems or talking to me telepathically again.

I have three days to spare until the start of the school and the whole room to myself since Reilly is coming back at the end of the holiday. Or at least, no human companions around, since Woreus is still in his dog form and doesn't seem to want to change back. Not that I mind it this way, because I am used to him in this way. Even though now that I am thinking about how I used to scratch and feed him, I can't take the image of him being an actual adult man, just transformed, out of my head.

First day back I used for just hanging out and mostly doing nothing. I called Ms. Do'or multiple times after I unpacked, but she didn't pick up. Leaving her a voice note was the only option for me, but I was still thinking about if she is alright.

A little bit of my worry is taken away by going to the cafeteria to grab something to eat, since I had to leave without any breakfast. I left Woreus in the room, to not get bombarded by questions about him. I did promise to bring him food though and I just bought double of what I wanted since he is accustomed to eating normal food anyway. But just in case, I avoided anything with chocolate.

For the rest of the day, Woreus only slept, curled up on my bed and ended up not touching the food I brought for him at all. I saved it for him and then went back to reading, this time the notes I copied when I worked with Professor Coldos. Since Woreus is alive and real, I am assuming the rest of the family is too, just tucked away in Viysus. Figuring out some points about my other brothers won't hurt, no?

Falling asleep mid reading, I wake up the next morning and Woreus is still dozing off. Even with me moving around and making noise didn't wake him up. It worried me but I am not very versed in magician-to-animal biology and how to help him. I texted Nima, if she can come look up at my "dog" to see if there is something wrong with it, while I go test out my returned powers in the combat grounds.

First day was pretty much the same as the training with Ms. Do'or. I could only summon the bare amount of my powers which are limited to the electricity only. I am not even able to magnetize things but I am just glad to have a safe place to use them without hurting anyone.

By the end of the Winter holiday, I increased the energy levels a bit, but still chose not to use the lightning. Woreus slept for days and woke up just in time to greet Reilly who got back and kept staring at me with the stray dog from the orphanage sitting next to me. She gave me a weird look and then asked me to go into the closet to talk, like she knows that the dog is actually a person. I thought about telling her the truth but I am scared to trigger the timeloop again.

Woreus: I undid the time spell. You are free to speak.

His voice resonated through my head again, making me jump a little bit, because I wasn't ready for it. I walked out of the closet to look at Woreus, Reilly joining me and then she asked me why are we staring at a dog.

Me: Long story short, that's my brother, Woreus. Woreus, this is my best friend Reilly.

Reilly: Hey, hey, silly goose. Are you feeling alright? I know I have mentioned it this one time as a joke but it's not funny when you repeat it.

Me: Not joking though.

Reilly looks at me and then at the "dog". Woreus bows as a greeting, making Reilly point a finger at him while staring at me, nudging with her eyebrows that convey the question: is this for real? I press my lips together and tilt my head with an annoyed expression, replying with a simple yup, and Woreus joins too with nodding his head. It freaks Reilly out and she asks me if I am planning on keeping him around. I know that she must be worried about him peeping or something because at the end, he is a person and a man, but I reassured her that he won't. I experienced it on my own, but I still looked at Woreus with a warning expression.

Being cooped up and sleeping for days isn't good for Woreus at all but he refuses to turn into a human form. He explained it briefly as something useless anyway and I am left with only one option, which is escorting him outside and let him roam inside the forest. Woreus didn't complain about it and seemed actually happy to do that. Besides the days when it rained or snowed outside. He refused to budge and instead accompanied me to the Combats class.

Professor Radock welcomed me and was glad to see me back but he wasn't twice happy about some strange dog wandering around the grounds. I told him the same lie I used as an excuse to keep around Woreus in his wolf form. The professor protested, saying it will be dangerous, but I assured him that my "dog" is pretty intelligent and he won't be in a way. Woreus heard that and without confirming it with me through our telepathic-sibling-whatever connection, he just strolled to the bench and sat right next to my things like he is keeping guard. That might have convinced Professor Radock a little bit, because he allowed me to keep him around, but I am supposed to not let him wander off and hinder other students while they are training.

Letely, I have been mentally preparing myself to summon the lightning instead of just doing parlor tricks with moving targets. I have positioned a few figurines yesterday, in order to not waste time or my power limit. I don't know how the connection works, but I tell Woreus with the voice in my head to not enter the mat. No response, but when I check him, he just lies down and watches me.

Four. That's the amount of lightning strikes I can summon in a one session, probably also for the whole day, before a blood starts gushing out of my nose. Not that the amount matters, because I couldn't hit a single target with any of them. Ms. Edite noted it down and then told me to pick the focus of my training. Either aiming or increasing the limit, then continue with the other one when I master whichever I picked first.

Since I exhausted myself, I was sent back to room early, again. Woreus doesn't seem worried about me and he just leaves to plop down at his usual spot in the room. With Reilly's help, we asked for a small bed, but Woreus usually uses it only during the day. Before night hits, he asks me see him off to the forest where he wanders until the next day. I wanted him to be comfortable, not having to sleep outside like he must have before when he was a stray dog, but he refused and told me not to worry about it. I am still bothered by it, especially when I get a personal in-head notification early in the morning about him being ready to come back. But I love the days, when he informs me about staying for longer and he is totally gone, like a real wild wolf.

Reilly got back after her class ended at the usual time, and she ran up to me immediately when she saw me pushing tissues into my nose. With a nasal voice and shaking my hands, I tell her not to worry, that it's the usual with my training. We talked about my Combats class and I asked Reilly for some advice about it.

Reilly: If this is the result of your limit being low, I would prioritize training that, even though you will have to push yourself harder than when it comes to aim. You can't even train that with just four bolts available anyway.

Me: I thought that too. But do you have any advice for the aim part?

Woreus: If it's our father's lightning, I can help with that. I can't wield it but I have trained with him for years.

I twist to stare at Woreus and Reilly asks me if I am okay, but I just explain it's the telepathy thing between us again. She got worried about me when I zoned out multiple times, so with Woreus' permition, I explained it all to her. This time, Reilly only nodded and waited for our conversation to end, then asked what he said.

After picking up Woreus in front of the forest the next morning, we go to the cave classroom first. Draco is already waiting for me there, joined by Nix and Leo. My supplementary classes haven't been revoked, but we did get notification about slowly finishing them, since the guys should focus on their studies as well. Letting my bag drop on the desk, I go meet up with Draco and hug him, since we haven't seen each other in a long time. He noticed the familiar dog trailing behind me and asked about it. Before I could reply, Nix is already running towards Woreus, calling him a cute fluffy dog and opening his arms, ready to hug him. I stand in front of Woreus who is in a battle position, growling.

Nix: Okay, no! I take it back! Not a cute doggy!

Draco: You brought him with you? How did you manage to get him through, not to mention convincing the Principal to let you keep him here?

Yet again, I tell the same lie about Woreus being my familiar, bonded with me through a Noion spell. Everyone seem to eat that lie, and I am surprised at me as well, since I am saying it like it's nothing. But I don't want to think about the lying anymore, so I change the topic to the Winter holiday instead. Of course Nix is the first one to grab that opportunity to brag about spending time with Gaia. My focus is elsewhere though, because as we sat down and Draco kept his touch on me, Woreus noticed and now is interrogating me.

Woreus: Who is that guy? I remember seeing him vaguely but what is he to you?

Me: His name is Draco Evren and "that guy" helped me save you.

Woreus: I would have gotten healed on my own anyway.

Me: Perks of being an ancient god I assume?

Woreus: God yes, but I don't know about ancient. I am not that old, even though we last longer than your usual ones. Don't change the topic, little sister. Who is he to you?

Me: In our terms, you would call him boyfriend, but I don't know if you have the same labels in Viysus too.

Woreus: I haven't been in Viysus for the past twenty years. From what I have learned around, I would call him "a courtier" in a comparison to this boyfriend. But if you two are thinking about marriage, he would be "betrothed". After marriage, in our family line, he becomes your "chosen" or "a mate".

Me: What in a werewolf fanfiction is this? A mate?

Woreus: Ethos' equal to it would be a husband. You can call him that if you want. You are from Ethos and from Viysus, you are both.

I gasp with the last sentence Woreus sends through the connection, because it feels like I have heard it before but didn't know the true meaning behind it back then. I am also pulled back into the classroom by Draco, who is squeezing my hand and asking if I am okay, while Nix is frantically waving his hand in front of my face. I spare them the details of the telepathic bond I have with my dog who is in reality my brother, and quickly change the topic once again, this time about Sgaard academy. The guys are confused about why I want to know about it, since we don't interact that much and there is nothing they can tell me anyway, since every school keep its' stuff to itself. They tell me the basic stuff everyone knows, which is that it's an academy like ours, just for Pagan gods. Based on those two I met in the store, I can't just guess which god they belong to, but for some reason, I do want to know, especially about that guy who looked so familiar.

With more days put into training, I increased my limit of lightning strikes slowly. It took a heavy toll on me at the end though, putting me into bed for almost two weeks. When I could finally walk on my own, people still told me to take it easy, so I just slacked off and hanged out with my friends, or in Draco's room for the most of the time.

Woreus spent those days alone in the woods. I wanted to join him too and see what he is actually doing in there, but he used the older brother card over me and told me to take of my health first. So despite being so curious about it, I am now sitting in the Ossilor dorm room, watching Skylar show me dance moves. We are meant to have official classes focused on this, but I wanted to get a grip on it first to not make fool of myself in front of my classmates, especially Saxa. And the reason is: Equinox ball. Apparently there is a special performance by each academy and AU's tradition is a dance. Waltz for Aveus, tango for Umbras. I've never danced in my life, not to mention learn a special dance moves which are set as a tradition. Lucky for me, Skylar knows both of them. Not that it's of any help because the moment I see those moves, they immediately leave from my memory, but I take this torture above what is supposed to wait for me in the new class everyone has been deligently attending and I have been avoiding for weeks, Trials.