Aside from gaining a new roommate, there wasn't much to be said about his fourth day in that region. Well, it was also the fourth day since Earth was fully assimilated into Auroraan. It was calm until later at night when Vin was in the chamber studying, his thoughts swirling like the restless wind outside the open window. It was a brisk night, but the torches warmed him and his company, the sleeping Less and Hughton. That was until something terrifying and miraculous happened. Vin thought he'd been surprised enough in one lifetime to dull his care for Auroraan, but then, that night, the entire planet cheered. Gravity seemed to harden, pulling every atom of that world downward more. Then, without warning, the night sky exploded with a blinding, godly light that returned day for a moment.

Vin recoiled, covering his eyes as Auroraan celebrated all on its own. The glow gradually dimmed, and Hughton rushed to the window with his weapon prepared for anything. Anxious, Vin joined him with an animated heart. As they glanced out the window, they saw a massive pillar of light reaching from the ground into the heavens. It looked far, perhaps millions of miles away. Vin's Journal vibrated as he looked onward, and after inspecting its notice, he read. "A New Hero was Born."

Hughton checked on Less first, who'd covered her head with the bed covers, and then inspected the same message in his Journal. He stated that in the 300 years Ravenours had been on Auroraan, something like a hero had never been documented. He assumed it was an Elven affair and that whatever it was would only bring them trouble. However, it was peculiar that the light rose from the East, where the human settlement had been, and not the North, where Elven territory endured.

It wasn't something Vin would uncover an answer to, but he found himself even more open-eyed after the event. Instead of sleep, he sat in front of the window and peered intently at the pillar of light. He whispered at it, "A hero, huh..."

"Every day, this world feels more like a fairy tale," he added. Vin inhaled the magnetic air outside, then exhaled dolefully before leaning far forward and covering his face with his hands. "I wonder if only heroes get to be happy in the end."

<>

The sky had calmed by morning, but the castle was at its busiest as Ravenour shuffled, fearing the Elves were preparing to launch an attack. The three in the room were immune to the discordance. Hughton and Less utilized the table for studies while Vin finally took the bed to sleep.

Also far from normal was an unusual visit from Maeve. She arrived alone, leaving her guards to independently tend to some negligible matter. Her knock woke Vin, who lazily lifted his head from a pillow and eyed her. The heavy burdens under her eyes spoke volumes of the week she'd had. Though obviously drained, she carried herself tall into the room, her ruby-colored eyes as sharp as her uneven horns. She was out of her leather armor, now simply dressed in a fitted, decorated gown. The sunlight from the window caught her terracotta-toned skin, and she glowed like a saint for a moment- minus the threatening dragon wing and jet-black hair.

Vin nearly tossed his head back and pretended to go back to sleep when she asked Hughton and Less to give them time alone to converse. The Warden submitted no gripes and packed books to relocate his granddaughter's studies.

The moment they left, silence invaded that room. Maeve stood at the doorway for nearly a minute, blankly scanning the neat chamber. Soon, she turned her gaze to Vin, who looked at her as if she was troubling him. She parted her glossy, full lips as if about to speak but halted and released a heavy sigh. The one-winged girl slouched lower than an elderly woman with a deficient back, then she removed her sandals. The half-blood dropped all royal demeanor and wobbled to the opposite side of the bed. Her hair unfurled as she plopped on her back next to the human and exhaled.

"Yea," Vin whispered, agreeing with her bleak mood. The weight of his fate compelled his eyes to close, as did hers.

The bed was large, yet she felt close to him. It was as if- if they both turned their heads, their lips would accidentally meet. Vin's temperature rose slightly, and an unsought thought arrowed his brain as he recalled, 'The only other girl I've been this close to was Lynn.'

'And that's just because I was dying...'

Funnily, being in bed with the royal was comforting despite her mysteriousness and being strong enough to kill him. Seeing her lower her guard was- somehow relaxing. For a while, their only motions were breathing.

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After a while, he felt the bed shake on her side. His senses were still a hazy tangle from little sleep, so he didn't react quickly but slowly opened his eyes to say goodbye. Only when he turned his head, Maeve was still there, now lying on her side, watching him rest with a gentle expression.

Her and Vin's bright gazes mixed and formed magenta. From the moment they met, she had always stared so deeply into his eyes. His mind suddenly spiraled into a vortex, beckoning him to move closer. His hand almost moved to touch hers, but he reigned control over himself and broke the silence. "What do you want..."

"Tell me, Vin," she murmured softly. It was the first time he'd heard his name spoken with such tenderness in such a long time. It may have also been the first time Maeve referred to him as anything aside from "the Eternal" or "human." Nevertheless, he blinked at her and waited for her following words.

She pondered momentarily to compile her thoughts, then asked, "On your home planet, have you ever been forced to make decisions that tore at your conscience, choices that haunted you long after they were made?"

Vin let the side of his face sink into the soft cushion of the pillow, then returned, "Sure... But don't we all? Planet, race, gender- none of that has to do with our challenges."

Her brows arched slightly down. She didn't ask him that so he could lecture on equality. She resumed, furthering her question, "How did you decide what choice to make?"

'In the past, I've always just done whatever the safest option was. But that's not necessarily what's best...'

'Doubt that'll even apply to a princess dragon, elf...'

"As boring as it sounds. You just have to follow your heart."

"My heart?" She reiterated, touching her chest where hers would be. "I don't understand..."

"It's a expression humans use a lot. I'm saying, listen to your instincts."

Maeve looked at the surface of the bed in contemplation of his response. Her eyes lowered, and her face grew serious. She clenched the sheets, rose, and proudly straightened. "Thank you for your time."

She began to march toward the exit, stopping at the door to glance at Vin once more before leaving. And back on the subject of hearts... He felt his own, which had sped into a jog. "I don't get her..."

"She acts like she wants me to hate her, then she goes and does that..." he said, covering his face with the pillow. While physically a 17-year-old, he was in a coma for three years, and before that, he was never good with people. He still had that childish, edgy roughness. Evidently, Maeve also put on a face while in public. It was easier than being authentic and vulnerable. In her case, she had no choice but to become a Ravenour. She was only half-elf, but that was half a glass of poison to those dragon-folk who hated the pointed-eared race. Even if she wanted to cry, prance around, gather flowers, or learn magic, she couldn't under the watch of hateful eyes. How tragic.

After their meeting, things repeated as they had been. Vin avoided going into the town as much as possible. However, there was one welcome instance when he returned to Chucky's workshop to help repair more damaged skateboards. Evidently, the experimental group of Ravenour's continued lessons without him.

After Vin had spent several days among the Ravenours, good news arrived. Hughton informed him that Kaelix- the man at the heart of all the unrest- had returned to the region. Perhaps the hero's light sped up his return, or they'd gotten bored of slaughtering humans. Whatever the case, that bastard was coming back. The teleportation circle Ravenours used to fast travel was half a day's journey away, marking his imminent arrival.

In exactly one week, Kaelix would set foot back in town. Even better, it would be late at night, around the time when he had nearly taken Vin's life.

A lot happened since then. Vin was imprisoned and knighted as their savior, and then he worked to exhaustion with jobs. He met many Ravenours and even began understanding those with whom he spent the most time. But all that will end soon. Once Kaelix was dead, he could go to the human settlement using an express method instead of traveling on foot for an entire year. He celebrated the hour he found out he'd be free from those brutes. He pulled a chair close to the window, breathed fresh air, and looked outward toward the sky. There was a whole world out there, thousands of territories, three alien races he'd never met, and someplace to call home.

'Almost.'

'The settlement is far, but I know I'll make it. Mom, Dad, Macy, Lynn. I'm coming and not empty-handed.'

Vin used the Marking and Shape spell simultaneously to manifest a drawing of a magic circle in the air above his palm. 'I'll use everything I learned here to make sure I never lose you again. If any of those aliens attack our home, I'll use all of my power to fight.'

A sweet breeze infused with the subtle scent of baked dessert hit his nose, reminding him of his Mom and Macy's dishes. Vin slouched in the chair and sighed, 'Might as well relax while I can. After finding everyone, I'll have to prepare to enter the Archival Dimension so I can be done with that bird.'

'After that, I'll live life, skate, figure out what really makes me happy, die of old age...' As this gentle thought passed, the weight of everything he'd been through pressed down on him. He hated to admit it, but as pleasant as it sounded, he felt Auroraan would never allow such luxury. Only time will tell.