Selene was waiting for me at the end of the hall, and looked relieved to see me.

“Hello, little monster.” She used the now familiar mental magic to communicate in secrecy.

“It has been awhile, Selene. It is nice to see you”. I gave her a bow and a smile.

“You don’t have to pretend, child. You look different than I expected. Your eyes look tired, and I can see that you are carrying a weight made for one much older than you are” she said sadly.

We walked together with the servants to a bath chamber, with a large bath already full of steaming hot water. Selene laid beside the bath, enjoying the warmth of the steam, while the servants insisted they make me presentable to the assembly awaiting me, after scrubbing all the dirt, blood, and other grime on me off completely.

“A lot has happened in a short amount of time, Selene. It was either stay the same child and die, or to grow up faster to survive. I know if I was just… If I was just a little stronger I could have made a difference”.

“Lucian, I-”

“Everyone but Eveline is dead, Selene! The entire city I grew up in, and people I know are gone… My mother was gone before I could even say goodbye to her… That fucking Wolfman mutilated her and I was not there to make a difference!”

“You do not need to repeat yourself and hurt yourself again, Lucian. The Fae Lords will surely ask for the details, and I will be with you when they do. You are not alone”.

“Were you able to locate the professor? I have been interrupting my mana from forming the core for a long time now, and I can not wait any longer. I need to get stronger, so that I won’t ever lose anyone like that again!”

I will take my changes without you if I have to.

“Yes, and he is interested as I had guessed. Once you are through the ceremony, we can begin the process of figuring out what needs to be done to keep you alive through the process and that abyssal power of yours. After you rest first, you look like you haven’t slept in ages”.

I don’t remember when I last slept. The night before the invasion happened? That was… Two days ago?

“Once you are thoroughly presentable, we will return to the throne room to finish the ceremony so you can get your overdue rest. Going through the Fog Wall was stupid and risky, but a masterful move on your part, Lucian. It gives us much needed leverage for the Fae Lords to take an interest in the research and contribute their expansive knowledge and resources to study how to help you survive”.

“I understand, and I will do what I must”. I answered coldly.

“Child, you do not have to carry all of this weight alone.”

“At the end of the day, aren’t I alone, Selene? You are being very helpful and I am likely dead without you, but I can’t expect you to be with me every step of the way. You have your own life, and I can’t ask you to risk losing it for me. I’ve lost enough, so if I have to suffer a little to protect you and anyone else, that is fine”.

“Your consideration is appreciated, Lucian, but not necessary either. I will be here as long as you need, to help you grow properly and accomplish your ideals. I have an eternity to live any other way, so I will be happy to accompany you for an interesting time”.

The servants must have just accepted I was a quiet child, and continued to dress and brush my just past shoulder length black hair. Looking into the reflection of the mirror before me, I see my red eyes received from my father, and the black hair from my mother.

A part of them remains with me, even now.

I see the reason for Selene and Eveline’s concern. My eyes are a tragic sight, indeed. The color may be different, but the look is the same…

These are the eyes I had as Callum…

“Selene, you have watched over humanity for a long time from what I understand. Do humans change a fundamental part of themselves often?”

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“Not just humans, it is hard for any of the races to do that. Asking me to do something like that after my long life would be almost impossible, for example. For you? You’re very young, and still have time to work on whatever it is you wish to change”.

What if I am not as young as everyone thinks?

The servants move to bring clothing for me to wear, and look conflicted because of the size differences from normal guests. Selene waves her paw and a big intricate black wooden box appears before me, looking to be made out of a magically infused wood. I attempt to detect the mana, and my sense is denied as it bounces off when it reaches the box.

“Not even I can easily peek into this box, little monster. Open it up, consider it an early gift for surviving this far” and I move to open up the box. The servants gasp when they see the folded black leather outfit contained inside. It looks to be too big for me, but Selene still motioned for me to put it on nonetheless.

I do as she says, and it is definitely too big for me. Selene lets out a small chuckle, and waves her paw and the leather top and bottom shrink to become form fitting to my body, a perfect fit.

I practice basic hand-to-hand movements, throwing punches at different angles, elbow swings, and kicks and the outfit does not hinder the movements at all.

The servants looked to Selene to verify that she was giving this to me, and Selene nodded at them. “What is it, Selene? They looked terrified that you gave this to me” and Selene waited a minute and said, “It’s a symbol to show that we are partners in this now, Lucian. When a mana beast and human for an Equals Contract, it is customary to present them with this suit made by the finest of Mana Beast smiths. It’s exactly a magical alloy created by my kind that has the appearance of leather, but the strength of a hardened mana beast hide. As you get stronger, it will provide additional benefits you will discover later. It uses your mana to maintain itself, and can restore itself if damaged, using the user’s mana, or the bonded Mana Beast’s” She said to me, and I froze up and looked at the suit in shock.

A symbol of our partnership… She still intends to form the Equals Contract with me regardless if it’s necessary or not.

Selene continued, “I know that you feel like you have to carry it all yourself, but we are partners whether we have already formed the Equals Contract or not, Lucian. You are special, and it would be an honor to help guide you towards the heights of your ideals and dreams. Please rely on me too.”

“Thank you, Selene. I understand that this is likely another one of the big taboos like the Equals Contract, I will do my best to become worthy of your partnership and what this represents”.

“You are already worthy enough, Lucian. Now, let’s go to finish the ceremony side by side” and I nodded to her, and asked the servants to show us the way out. The last thing the servants did was tie my hair into a ponytail using a high quality red ribbon that matched my eyes.

Taking a last look in the mirror on my way out, I almost looked like a respectable noble you’d read about in a story. Almost, that is.

We started heading back to the throne room, estimating that it's been about an hour since leaving it. I did not take the Fae Lord up on his offer to rest, as I would prefer to do that once everything was dealt with. No rest for the wicked, eh?

With Selene by my side, I confidently walked into the throne room and back to the spot in the center I was previously.

Upon seeing the black suit on me, the Fae crowd went into a loud uproar of excitement and shock, and even the Fae Lords I couldn’t see clearly, and the one I met earlier were shocked to see both the leathers and Selene by my side.

“Kid, do you truly understand what you’re doing by donning those leathers?” The fiery Fae Lord asked.

I looked at him directly, and nodded, “I understand the weight of this decision Selene has made to choose me as her partner, and I hope to grow to be able to prove it was the right decision”. Selene pressed her head against the side of my leg, and the crowd got quiet once again.

“I had a suspicion when you arrived asking for Selene, but to see it in front of us so soon is… FASCINATING! I LOVE IT!” The Fae Lord let out a wild laugh.

“Okay Luce, you are crazy but I can’t help but admire the fire in you! Okay, so let’s discuss the rest of the ceremony. You need to obtain the approval of my fellow Lords, minus myself since I already approve of you staying here. Selene is allowed to accompany you as your partner, but she is not allowed to directly interfere with the trial. Are you sure that you wish to not rest before starting this?”

“I do not like to make people wait on me, and I do not think that my sleep will be of much use until we have settled these matters. Please, my lords. Tell me what it is I must do to gain your approvals” I put my fist into the palm of my hand in front of me, and perform a quick bow to the Fae Lords, realizing too late that this was the formal bow of my previous world.

“I understand your resolve then. What do you know of our kind, Luce?”

“I was not privy to much information about the Fae, my lord. From what I have read, there are seven Fae Lords, each with a faction below them. Each Fae Lord and faction follow the path of one of the Seven Deadly Sins. You all make decisions for the Fae Realm, with one of the seven Fae Lords on reserve from active decisions and only votes in case of a tie. That reserve Fae Lord is cycled every 100 years. The Fae are immortal, and a Fae Lord can still step down, or be slain. Either one of those results in a Succession ceremony, decided by the Sin of the faction to decide the next Fae Lord of that sin, and leader of the faction”.

The Fae seemed to appreciate my depth of knowledge about their kind at my “young age”. The Fae Lord smiled approvingly at me and said, “Not only are you a fiery young man, you are a talented and smart one at that. You will cause a whirlwind of events wherever you go. I can tell by your looks that you will grow into an enchanting man that will cause trouble for fathers in fear for their daughters and sons” The Fae Lord laughed once again.

“Well done with your drive to learn about the world you inhabit. Full points for your answer! Since you already understand the basics about the Sins of the Fae, this will be easier to explain. Each of us Lords will test you in accordance with our Sins, and you need to get at least four Sin approvals in order to complete the ceremony. If you fail to do so, you will be subsequently banished from our Realm, never to return on threat of eternal torment”.

I nodded and bowed once again, and asked the Fae Lord, “I understand the terms and what the consequences of failure are. Failure is not an option to myself, as it is a matter of life or death that I remain here for now” the Fae Lord raised an eyebrow to this, but did not inquire about it. “I see, be that as it may, there will be no special treatment here, no matter how much I’ve enjoyed you thus far” I nodded to him once more.

“You passed my test when you destroyed the illusionary barrier around you using a flame of Wrath. You caused the Sin in my chest to react, and I have never seen a human do that before. A truly bottomless Wrath lies within you, and that is a danger if not trained properly. That said, we shall move on to the next Trial” and nodded towards a Fae Lord beside him, and they waved their hand and the fog covering them vanished. On the throne was an enchantingly gorgeous woman with long purple hair and rainbow butterfly wings, wearing a silver dress made of what looked like silk butterflies. Looking at her eyes made various desires, and my agitated mana started to act up, and I quickly had to look at her forehead to not appear rude.

“Do not speak a word, or my Sin shall bury your desires themselves.” She said to me coldly.