»It was
my fault.«

AUGUST
MAGNIKAI
MANSION OF TESTRIAS, THIRD KINGDOM

WHEN THEY entered the fifth hall, everyone already was there however they were still conversing, so both took their rightful place at the table. Sara sat down next to Lucas right by the queen's side, since that was their lawful place as the royal guardians of the prince and Marcus settled down by the side of the king, straight next to his father, since that was his equitable place.

There was a seating ordinance, just as there was a dress ordinance. The members of the royal family had to wear their custom-designed and initial clothing, something that Marcus truly detested and they sat at the prime of the table, that incorporated the king and queen, Sam-Charles Testrias and Dirana Testruas, as well as Lucas' and Sara's beloved daughter Lara Melissa Doe, then there was Marcus Testrias who sat opposite Lucas and Sara next to the leading man, the king that reigned over the last kingdom.

The subsequent people were solely a series of influential or less important magicians accountable for the security or technology of the members inside of the mansion but also a few gunsmiths, and additional staff that were crucial for the defence of the residence, at the very end of the vast table there even where chairs for the culinarians that prepared the food and those who provided it to the table.

Right next to Marcus was an empty seat, a white rose placed in a shining gold vase stood where the dish was supposed to be, a framed picture was placed next to it. Marcus' expression saddened by even looking at both the rose and picture. They had sacrificed so much in the war. It was far from fair. Brandon Trivaris. He was a genuine warrior, to the entireness of civilization.

The architect of all magic, the first magician, the one who made magic credible, the originator of all portals, he was the sole reason as to why humanity had stood any luck at all against the dark powers of the dark lord and his troops of demonic creatures, yet he had to give his life as well, despite having lived a long life of sorcery's immortality, ultimately, his time was up too and in one last battle, one that was more honourable than any other, he fell and his courageous life ended.

It was truly a tragedy, particularly to Marcus it was. Every bit of understanding Marcus had about magic and the means to use it he had acquired from Brandon. His tutor and friend. The empty seat beside him, only made Marcus comprehend more how much the war had taken from all of them.

A woman, one from this family's past had returned amid the great dark war, for reasons unknown till this very day, her assassination attempt on Marcus himself ceased to function once again, as it had failed when she tried it when he was nothing more but a baby laying in his crib.

That day during the third year of the war, when all expectation of triumph was perishing, that ferocious woman returned, her compelling words got herself into the inner circle of the family and before anyone was even close to eligible of halting her, she had gotten too close already. In the last assault to protect Marcus' life, Brandon stood against her, his endeavour to save his life was an enormous success but he lost his own life in the process. It was grievous, it was heartbreaking, particularly to Marcus it was. He had lost his mother only two years before, related to similar reasons.

He lost people because they ensured his safety, people died in front of him as their final aid had been to shield him from a lethal attack. It was survivor's guilt that had always plagued him in his life and even today, so many years after the war, the same feelings of guilt and heartbreak tormented his mind.

A bell rang through the room and almost instantly everyone silenced, glancing towards Dirana and Sam-Charles who had both emerged from their seats, a glass of red wine in their hands. Marcus stood up as well, since that was his commitment as the son of the king and queen.

"We have come here today, to applaud the anniversary of our darling kingdom, it has now been four years ever since the great dark war has come to an end and we have found our new home in an even newer universe, it has been four years ever since the formulating of our three kingdoms, Mandrel, Cremona and this very kingdom we are standing in now, one we haven't labeled yet. And today's anniversary is supposed to also glorify the name-giving of the third kingdom. Our kingdom. After assigning enough thought to this decision, we have finally chosen to name this kingdom after one of our most tragically deceased heroes of the war, one we never anticipated we would side with during the battle, yet it was our only faith, a young girl, as sinister as our antagonists, yet with a heart of gold. She sacrificed herself for the sake of humanity. She and our son are the reason we stand here right now. Thus, our kingdom from now on goes by the name Miandra!" The words the king had spoken came to a frigid finish and everyone arose now, holding up their drinks for the thanksgiving, though not everyone within the hall was delighted with the spoken words and the ultimate decision.

Not Sara, not Lucas, not Lara and most inevitably not Marcus, whose expression of terror and anguish was so plainly visible that anyone who would have presently gazed into his ocean eyes would have had a shattered heart. Sara's eyes went from the king back to Lucas and then to the ground before she dared to look forward and right towards Marcus, who had not spoken a single word yet, he hadn't raised his glass, he only stood there, an expression of shock on his face.

He was speechless for a moment but then he moved, taking a step back, it was a hushed movement, causing the chair behind him to tip over and land on the ground with quite a loud and echoing thump, yet that noise was nothing compared to the sound of the glass in his hand shattering into shards of glass and fracturing all over the table in front of him, as well as over the ground, red wine dripped down his hand. Sara gasped in shock.

"How could you?" He asked, his voice wasn't one of anger.

It was filled with sorrow, dismay and heartache as he stared at both his parents' troubled faces.

"Marcus..." His mother began softly, but he shook his head fast.

"It is true, not even my trust can be put into anyone." He hissed, clasping his hand into a fist before turning his back on his parents. By now, all eyes were on him. The room filled with stillness though a few murmurs and whispers were all around him.

Now, he ran, and he was fast, magically fast, barely anyone had seen him running at all, only the fact the enormous doors of the fifth hall were slam shut a moment later, filling room with an even louder crashing echo made clear to everyone, the prince was gone.

"Marcus!" Sam-Charles shouted his son's name, though it was too late by now.

"Cheers to the kingdom." Lucas unexpectedly said, lifting his own glass, the motion and action were very closely followed by everyone else, which lifted the silenced and awkwardness that had spread throughout the hall.

"Lucas...did you...did you know?"

He now heard Sara's voice asking and he took a deep breath, taking a sip from his glass of wine, despite him seeming to be quite lenient and sorted while an expression of trouble was displayed on his fiancee's and his own daughter's face, he too was quite shocked, taken by surprise.

He had no clue of the secret that had just been uncovered, which made him recollect every single time he had admonished Marcus for bemoaning Mia, he knew she was gone, speculating that Marcus had just spared her, told her to run and retreat.

He never thought that she would be dead and that Marcus had been the one to kill her to safe humanity. Lucas knew he himself had fallen in the war and he wouldn't stand here right now if it was because of Marcus' heroic act. All these thinkings made him feel awful, for the things he had said, every travesty he had tossed Marcus' way. And by now, he understood what Marcus had meant with his initial words on the corridor.

Impressions of remorse and guilt filled Lucas' mind, so much that he had already forgotten Sara's question or that she had spoken at all. He only recollected when she nudged his side reasonably harshly.

"Did you or didn't you??" Sara asked again and by her tone, he could hear she was quite on edge.

He turned his head to look at her, seeing the tears in her eyes and the distress on her face. He sighed deeply, taking another sip of his glass before placing it down, putting an arm around Sara to hold her close to his chest, to calm her down, caressing her hair slowly with his hand.

"I didn't." He said quietly, still holding Sara close to him, despite understanding how she felt, he still detested it. He hated to see her sad, to see her hurt, to see her on edge and so shattered. He knew how much she cared for Marcus and he knew the bond she too had had with Mia, even if it was for a short time.

She cared for both of them and he thought back to how saddened she was to know Mia had left, but this changed everything. Mia didn't just leave.

She was dead. Actually dead.  She was gone and no one would ever see her again.

Right now, he had no time to worry for Marcus' well-being, much more was he focused on comforting Sara, who had started crying into his shoulder, quietly and softly.

"Sara.."

"No."

"It's okay."

"Shut up."

Lucas silenced again, taking a deep breath, starting to feel a bit helpless in the situation, he wasn't really the best person to turn to when sad or crying.

He was the worst at it and he could clearly see that on his daughter's questioning face.

His own mood cried out for help to her but she only rolled her eyes before standing up from her seat, hurrying around the table, to stand by his side.

"Did you know?" Lucas asked her but she shook her head.

" I think someone should look after him. You know him, he might run off again. The sun is down. It's not safe."

Lucas cringed slightly, recalling Marcus' irrational behaviour and reckless actions when he was upset. He moved his arm away from Sara and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Wonderful." He muttered sarcastically, sighing deeply at the thought.

He completely understood Marcus' sadness now, though he also cursed his hardheadedness, of course, he couldn't know if Marcus had run away now but he knew it was a very high probability and they clearly shouldn't be waiting too long to check upon him.

He was not convinced that Lara's relationship to Marcus was close enough to send her after the prince and he himself didn't feel ready at all to check up on Marcus, not after everything that had happened and that he knew now.

"Dad! Did you hear me?" Lara exclaimed in an impatient tone now, placing a hand on his shoulder now. He looked over at her.

"Yes. I've heard you..."  He muttered.

"I'll check on him." Sara suddenly said, causing both Lucas' and Lara'a attention to be on her.

"Are you sure?" Both asked at the same time. She nodded quickly, seeing their expressions of doubt, she couldn't help it but chuckle softly. Their concern was quite sweet to her. It wasn't every day that she began to cry, therefore it wasn't every day that she got to see the display of that much compassion and concern for her well-being on her fiancé's and daughter's face. She stood up from her chair and nodded again.

"I'm unhappy, not lifeless. It'll be fine. Besides that, he confides in me the most." She said with a soft nod, to which all of them agreed.

It was true. He did.

She had the motherly bond to Marcus that he would run to in moments of sorrow and sadness, therefore it made sense for her to go, rather than his cousin to whom he had little to not at all a bond or his uncle to whom he currently only felt anger.

Lara watched her mother depart the fifth hall.

"Lucas? Where is Sara going?" Sam-Charles now questioned the young guardian, his gaze went away from his daughter and met the one of the king.

"I think she is checking on the prince, your majesty." He answered in a favourable tone. The king nodded softly and sighed.

The statements that his son had confessed to him about Lucas before were still a concern within his psyche, after all, Lucas wasn't only a friend or guardian of this family, he was Marcus' uncle and whatever had occurred between them, it should never lead to an outcome as exceedingly as pure hatred and the declaration of no longer deeming a family member as family. He never knew what had arisen or the conversations as well as less civil altercations the two had, yet he still didn't want to endorse that Marcus came across to have such deep-going hate towards his own uncle.

Right now, he was mindful of the fact that
other topics were more critical though he would not stop reviewing this issue. Even though he usually preferred to honour his son's privacy, this appeared to be more severe than just a trivial fight or argument between the two. Then again, he had to face the very current problem, he knew that he and his wife had broken Marcus' trust by uncovering such a fundamental secret to the community, as well as selecting that very particular name for the kingdom, yet they both assumed it was an essential action, to also show Marcus that nothing was wrong with alleging to be a hero and that perhaps it was time to leave Mia to be a thing of the past and move on with his life.

"Why don't you check on her?"

"She's fine."

"Please..." The king's voice sounded concerned. Lucas sighed deeply.

He didn't understand the worry. He believed that both Sara and Marcus we're perfectly capable of taking card of themselves it was true, Marcus quite often acted upon emotions, though none of them had ever gotten him into an excessively dangerous sitistom, he still had good judgment over what to do or not to do. He wouldn't take off that late in the evening. Marcus surely was a stubborn person but he was not stupid.

"I'll check on her." Lara suddenly said, causing the king to stare at her now, as well as she reached a rather surprised expression from her father before she stood up from her chair.

"Honey, you don't have to do that.."

"Dad, it's fine. I got this." She said in a delicate tone, plopping on a kind smile before presiding towards the door. Sam-Charles watched as she left, before looking over at Lucas again.

"Lucas, I don't mean to meddle but...if there's anything I should know contemplating my son, I believe my wife and I should know. Has anything occurred between the two of you? I know the disagreeing and mockery but this seems real, it seems severe and deep-going." He finally uttered his worries to him, resulting in Lucas to take his eyes off of the king, taking a sip of his red wine instead, relishing the full, yet fruity and bitterly dry taste of it before swallowing it.

He didn't inescapably admire these type of questions, he deemed them to be rather dreadful and annoying. It was simple to dismiss them whenever anyone else asked them but this was the king and it wasn't the most courageous strategy to dismiss a question he asked.

"He's grieving, I can't help him with that." Lucas said bluntly, it was a rough and bitter answer, but it was real. He wasn't capable to support anyone during a phase of mourning, particularly not a person like Marcus who had a working mind more problematic than the idea of living in a different universe. He never dealt well with weeping people, he gave the worst guidance. He was here to safeguard Marcus, but never from his own feelings, he had to address them on his own or confide in Sara.

Lucas was not in for that and in all truth, neither was Lara, not with the continual jealousy or rivalry she so openly displayed towards the prince. He had his reasons why he barely let the two of them alone in one room, yet alone allowed them to train together.

He made that mistake once and the situation that occurred afterwards almost ended in a scenario beyond repair.

"Mum!" Lara yelled across the hallway, causing Sara to turn around instantly.

"Lara? What...are you doing here?" She asked, her tone filled with confusion. Lara sighed and stepped towards her, accelerating her steps to attain her mother quicker, until she halted in front of her.

"Dad wanted me to check on you." She answered her calmly, before narrowly caressing herself, rubbing her arms a little to get warmer, the thin blouse she wore was not enormous preservation against the cold temperatures within the empty corridors of the building, especially not during the onslaught of winter.

The halls and rooms were always kept warm and cosy, though the foyers and corridors, those were freezing at night and day, mostly during the winter months.

"Really? Strange. Why didn't he come himself?" She asked her but Lara only shrugged her shoulders, signalling to her that she was as unknowing as she was herself.

Lara wasn't understanding any of it either. She was anxious about her parent's relationship. They both appeared distant lately. She knew her father, she knew how incapable he was to express his emotions or tolerate people who expressed them but newly he came across to be trying to stay away from Sara. She didn't like the thought of them gliding apart so far again that it could break apart the family.

"Well, I'm fine. You don't have to worry, sweetie. I'll take care of Marcus. I'm sure he'll need some space." Lara pressed her lips together and nodded, recognizing the tone her mother spoke in.

"You mean space away from me or Dad. Got it."

"No, no, Lara. That's not what I said."

"But it's what you meant. You think I'm not good for him. You think I'm harming him, you think Dad is mistreating him. I know you always accused us for his condition because we wouldn't understand the way he felt and acted. Well, I'm sorry, Mum but we didn't know what had happened to Mia! Neither did you. None of us did." She cried out, her tone filled with frustration and feeling. Raising the volume of her voice was never something she did towards her mother but right now she felt a lot of sentiments boiling up within her and it was mostly anger and frustration, as well as dismay and the feasible pain she's caused her own cousin over all this time.

They weren't just comrades or two people living under the same roof, they were cousins, yet most of the time she had acted like a complete fool. She didn't believe it was all her fault because just like everyone else she was entirely unaware of the reality but then again, showing some empathy towards him instead of persistent jealousy wouldn't have been that hard.

"Lara. Please. Lower your voice. That's not true. I never blamed you or your father. Marcus just has a very hard time, alright? He needs time." Sara tried to calmly explain. It wasn't her place to tell off Lucas or her daughter for the way they behaved towards Marcus. She wasn't Marcus' caretaker. She was his aunt and guardian. She was supposed to protect him and it just so happened that over time, during the war Marcus had started to put a lot of trust into her.

She never meant to make it seem like she was dismissing Lucas or Lara. In her mind, this was about Lara once again needing to make this all about her. It wasn't the honest thing to do. Perhaps, it wasn't the right thought to have as her mother but it is what she believed and she speculated that way too often Lara was deeply jealous about Marcus, his abilities and so much more.

"Does he even know?" Lara then asked, resulting in Sara to silence instantly and turn away. Realization hit the young magician.

"Oh my god. He doesn't."

"He doesn't need to."

"He has to! Mum! It's his life. You gotta tell him.«

"Lara! Stop. This isn't your decision to make. Marcus needs help right now, care and love, compassion and time. He's not okay. This isn't the right time to put that on him.«

Tears filled Lara's eyes out of a sudden, and she took a step back, her heart was beating faster and faster within her small chest and she clenched her hands into fists, taking another step back. Sara promptly picked up upon the sudden change in her daughter's mood and turned back to her, furrowing her eyebrows at her in utter confusion.

"How can ALL OF YOU care about him so much? I get it. He saved us. He ended the war! Wonderful! He's a hero! Let's all celebrate. Oh..right. We already did! So, who do we...after so many years still have to make sure that Marcus is fine? That he's happy? That he is the one who is okay??! I mean, it's all we do.,,it's all YOU do. You care about nothing else. None of you so. All of you care about Marcus but what about me? When was the last time you or Lucas asked if I was okay?? You probably don't even remember. I doubt you barely remember that I'm your daughter...." Her tone was filled with pain, sadness and bitterness and even more, hostility was boiling within her, being presented within her fiery eyes.

Her voice was trembling, yet her words were relatively loud and clear. Loathe was in the air. Detest and resentment, uproar and turmoil. It was so much that Sara could feel the motion within Lara's aura and that was what concerned her the most. The words she heard her say hurt, like knives being jabbed into her heart but she had nothing to say.

Was it true? Was it wrong? Was it too much?

She couldn't even tell. She was speechless but her heart was aching. Her daughter was upset but she also wanted to rationalize herself and comprehend the meaning of the words. It was a bunch right now. She took a step forward.

"Lara..." She said softly but Lara, took another step back and raised her arm, pointing her finger at her.

"You, stay the hell away from me." She clarified, a single tear rolling down her cheek before she turned away and stormed off, being gone within a second. Sara sighed deeply, trying to process the past few minutes before she looked down to the ground.

"Damn...it.." She muttered, clenching her hand into a fist. She didn't know what to do, whether to run after her daughter or check on Marcus, as she had previously planned to do so, eventually she agreed to check on Marcus.

She determined contemplating the contemporary revelation of Mia's death to the community that he would act impulsively once again. Lara would be fine. She had her moments, though the shifting in her aura was worrisome, she was going to take care of that later.

Accordingly, she continued walking towards Marcus' room, knocking on the door softly, once she reached it.

"Marcus? It's Sara. Can I come in?" She asked, knocking again, but she received no answer, which was a big concern of her. Even if upset or infuriated, whenever someone knocked he'd still answer.

"Marcus? Are you there?" She asked, knocking again, this time a bit louder.

"Marcus??" She inquired again but as before, there was no answer. Panic arose within her. Adrenaline started rushing through her veins as she tried opening the door only to realize it was locked. He never locked his door.

This was one bad sign over another. By now she was basically banging her hands against the door, yelling his name. It was stressful to her and it didn't get any better. She didn't even hear Lucas' approaching steps.

"Sara?" He asked, upon hearing her yell.

"What's going on?" He asked. Sara stopped and took a step away from him room.

"He's not answering his door." She said, panic clearly audible in her voice. Lucas furrowed his eyebrows in concern and gestured her to step aside before he strode in front of the door, positioning his hand on the rigid surface of it, only a brief second passed before a luminous blue light began emerging from his open palm, the intersections of the door proceeded in glowing in the very same glossy blue light, smoke started rising from the flashes of light and with a wild banging sound, the door was quite forcefully pushed open, just to uncover a deserted and dark room.

The prince was gone.