"Are you sure he's okay?" Heartilia asked again.

"I told you, he's fine. He'll get over it,” replied Sting, visibly irritated.

They both looked at Vreil, who was sitting by himself on a small rock a bit outside the clearing. They had appeared here after passing through the green gate, in a small peaceful clearing in the middle of a forest. Then, they had unanimously chosen to rest, while Linda had volunteered to scout the area. That was half an hour ago, and Vreil had been sitting by himself since then.

"Maybe you should talk to him," Heartilia recommended again. Sting, who was in a very bad mood, merely snorted and didn't reply, causing her to pout sadly. While Vreil had it the roughest, Ashter's death had been a big blow to Sting as well. Perhaps bigger than he'd like to admit.

Vreil was sitting on a rock, his chin resting on his fist, oblivious to his surroundings. It's not that Sting's and Heartilia's conversation wasn't loud enough for his enhanced senses to pick up on, but his mind was currently busy. Ashter's death, letting a precious person die in front of him again, had opened the floodgates in Vreil's mind. The ones he had been desperately trying to keep sealed away.

It's a normal day. He is in his house, helping his father as he goes about his business. His father is a merchant, and a successful one at that. Pan Light has just returned from a trip to the nearby town of Daybreak, to sell some wares he had bought cheaply off drunk sailors.

"Remember Vreil," his father says, "every merchant can take advantage of an opportunity. But what makes a great merchant is the ability to see even the smallest of opportunities, and grasp them before anybody else."

"Yes father," Vreil replies obediently, and Pan ruffles his hair with a smile.

"Honey!" his mother protests. "Don't spoil Vreil like that! He's not a little boy anymore."

His mother is a beautiful woman. Her warm smile that can make anyone smile in return, along with her deep blue eyes, make his father the target of all the village men’s envy.

"He is my son and I will spoil him as much as I want," his father laughs. His mother pouts cutely, trying to hide her smile.

This was hardly a special day so far. As long as Vreil could remember, his parents had been deeply in love with each other and loved him even more. They didn't lack money, but that didn't make them arrogant or conceited. His parents were liked by everybody in the village, and his father had even been recommended to become the village mayor, although he declined.

"Politics is too much for me," he laughed when asked why, "I'm fine with just making money."

Had things continued as they were, Vreil would have become his father's assistant and later his heir. When he thought Vreil wasn't listening, his father often bragged about how his son was even brighter than he was. Of course, Vreil's heightened senses allowed him to hear that and try even harder to make his father proud.

However, that future was bound to never be, as Vreil's fragile life went up in flames.

Shouts are heard from outside as Vreil was watching his father write down incomes and expenses. His father, Pan Light, frowns and gets up. "Wait here," he tells his family while he goes out to investigate.

Moments later, he runs back inside, more terrified than Vreil had ever seen him. "Get up. NOW!" he shouts at them.

"Pan? What's wrong?" Vreil's mother asks.

"Pirates, Helen! We have to leave now! Vreil, come on!"

Panicking, Vreil stands up and follows his father outside, his mother behind him. He freezes as soon as he exits the house.

The shouting can be heard more clearly now, along with the clangs of metal hitting metal and the screams of metal hitting soft flesh. Smoke can be seen rising from around the village, leaving only one direction free of it. Unsurprisingly, that's the direction the sounds are coming from.

"Shit," his father mumbles, looking around. "We'll try to go through the flames. Follow me!" he says and starts running in a direction not quite opposite to the sounds of battle, but rather diagonal. His mother shakes Vreil out of his stupor. "Vreil, go!" she shouts in a panic-infused voice.

As they approach the outside of the village, they catch sight of the flames. They are encircling the village, leaving no obvious gaps. The tongues of fire tower above his father's height, not that his father is a particularly tall person. He is a handsome, lean man, with shoulder-height black hair and a well-trimmed short beard. While not as muscular as a soldier, he exercises regularly, which keeps him in good shape. His smart clothing, while usually effective in making him appear more professional, now serves as a way to attract the pirates' attention.

His father locates a spot where the flames seem to be considerably thinner. "We'll jump through", he says. "If your clothes catch on fire, roll on the ground to put them out."

"Wait!" Vreil says suddenly.

"What?"

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"There are pirates there," Vreil points right behind the flames they were about to jump through.

His father freezes on the spot and stretches his ears, trying to listen. "I can't hear anything," he says after a moment. "Are you sure, Vreil?"

Vreil gulps. "Yes," he answers. He can hear the pirates' conversation about what they plan to do to the women. It is not pretty.

His father stares at him for a long second. "Okay," he replies. "Run back to the house."

"That must have been a trap to catch the fleeting villagers," Pan tells Vreil as they run back to their house. "I should have noticed by how unnaturally thin the flames were. Good job picking it up. You saved our lives, Vreil." Even among all the panic and running for their lives, Vreil smiles. His father's praise means a lot to him.

As they reach the house, Helen, Vreil's mother, is obviously out of breath. She grabs her knees, panting and struggling to breathe. The smoke wafting around the place does not make things any easier.

"What now, Pan?" she asks, still trying to catch her breath.

"Wait here," Vreil's father responds and runs inside the house. Half a minute later, he steps out with a sword in hand. "I never thought I'd have to use this," he says.

Vreil is anxious. He knows his father isn't a fighter, he knows his father doesn't know how to fight with a sword. Pan, understanding his son's thoughts, tries to reassure him.

"It's not to fight. I just hope to scare them off."

Vreil considers it. His father does look intimidating holding a sword.

"Helen," Pan says, "are you ok?" He can see his wife is struggling.

"I'll be fine," she nods, still gasping for breath. "Let's go."

Left with no other choice, they run towards where the sounds of battle are starting to die out, hopefully unlike the villagers. The odds aren't in their favor, though. Most of this village lives off hunting so the men know how to fight, but fighting wild boars and fighting people are two vastly different things.

Unfortunately for them, they soon see that only a handful of villagers are left fighting against double that number of pirates. More pirates are leaving the already won fight and are breaking down the doors, hoping to loot, pillage and rape as much as they can before the houses catch on fire.

Their fire experts shout guarantees that the fire won't spread to the forest, so they have time. The village itself is surrounded by a wide patch of bare land to keep any forest fire off itself. Ironically, this now serves the exact opposite purpose.

Vreil's father judges the situation in an instant and leads them between two houses, behind the backs of the pirates. He is hoping to sneak past them and into the forest, ignoring his fellow villagers. He knows them, but the lives of his family are more important. However, being behind the pirates means he is in front of the villagers.

One of them notices him and the sword he's holding and shouts, "Pan, over here!" in desperation. He doesn't know they were trying to escape, he is too busy to notice, but the truth is he wouldn't act any different even if he did know. In times of life-threatening danger, it's human nature to put one's life before the lives of friends.

After the villager's shout, the pirates also notice the runners, and two of them go after Vreil's family in pursuit. Vreil notices one of them has a vicious, thunder-shaped scar running down his right cheek.

"Run!" Vreil's father shouts and all three of them start to run as hard as they can.

Death tends to be a very good motivation for people to overcome their limits, but even then, there are some things you just can't do.

Soon after the pirates came after them, Helen stumbles and drops to the ground. She has been over her limits for a long time and, even with death looming over her, she cannot take another step.

Vreil's father turns back. He hesitates momentarily but the tear-soaked eyes of his wife, the love of his life, firm his resolve in an instant.

"Vreil, go on!" he shouts, turning back to face the pirates. "We'll catch up."

Vreil knew his parents would never catch up. He wasn't stupid, he could tell they were sacrificing themselves. However, his fear-clouded mind chose to believe. They will catch up, he thinks. And he runs.

He runs, and runs, and runs. He doesn't stop when he hears the screams of his father or the wails of his mother. He doesn't stop when he hears a body hit the floor. Never before has he hated his enhanced senses so much. He turns his head around only to see his mother, sitting next to her husband's dead body and grasping onto his sword, roughly pushing that same sword into her chest.

"Damn slut!" an enraged roar is heard by the scar-faced pirate as he beheads her. He had hoped to rape her.

Vreil doesn't even notice the hot tears dripping down his cheeks as he runs. The pirates didn't try to come after him, but he still ran until he collapsed on a tree. There was nobody behind him, and even his hearing could no longer pick up the sounds of his village being destroyed.

His mind is a mess and he can barely think, but he knows one thing. He did know his parents would die. And he left them. What a disgusting coward I am... is his last conscious thought. He then screams as loudly as he can and lapses into unconsciousness.

Vreil shook his head to pull himself out of that torrent of memories. He had tried really hard to lock them up inside him, and thought he had succeeded.

But his most recent trauma, Ashter's death had brought it all back to the surface. How could it not? Although Vreil tried to save him this time, he was too weak. Again.

Vreil gritted his teeth. He wanted this to never happen again, and there were two ways to do that. He would either have to become strong enough to protect those close to him, or he would have to make sure the world was a safe, rightful place. Vreil fully intended to do both.

All of a sudden, Linda came out of some bushes, startling Vreil. He hadn't noticed her.

"The elf wasn't lying. I saw Waterslide. It's no more than a couple of hours from here. There's something going on though; I could see a big number of troops on the plain behind the mountain. Perhaps the war is already starting."

Firming his resolve, Vreil buried all those emotions and memories, both new and old, as deep inside him as he could.

"Let's go then. We need to see what's up," he declared, assuming the full authority of the group as he stood up. The others, who wanted to rest more, were ready to argue, but something about Vreil stopped them. There was something mature and commanding about him now, something that wasn't there a day before. And besides, since Ashter died, he was indeed their acting leader.

They stood up, surprised at Vreil's sudden change. He seemed to have gotten over Ashter's death, although they all knew this was highly unlikely.

Vreil stepped out of the clearing, the others following after him.

He didn't have time to mourn. He had a world to change.