“Well, if you didn’t want the ride to S-012, you would have started walking again, right?”

For some reason that Nic couldn’t explain, he had stayed in the same spot the entire time. It had been the perfect opportunity for him to continue moving on. Yet he had stayed put. He had waited. Looking down at his own body, Nic moved his arms first, then his legs. He was perfectly capable of moving. His body was not frozen or anything like that. He had simply stood still, waiting.

“I…” He was at a complete loss of words. He shouldn’t want to put his trust in a stranger. Being against taking this man’s offer was the logical thing. And yet, he somehow found himself unable to outright object to it a second time.

As if rebelling against his confused mind, Nic’s legs began moving on their own. One step, two steps. With each step, the crunching of dirt echoed in Nic’s ears. It didn’t take too many steps for him to arrive at the side of the carriage. He looked up, the road in front of him stretching out into the distance. At its end was the Rad Town that Nic had grown up in. The place he called home. And beside him was a carriage, drawn by two brown healthy horses. In it, he would probably get home before the sun was even halfway down the sky.

“If you come on the carriage, I do have some info that I think you will want to know.” The man spoke up again. Nic looked over at him. From this angle, he realized the man was quite tall. The reason he had been sticking his upper body out of the door, and not fully stepping up to it was because he was slightly hunched over. He was too tall to stand up straight in the carriage.

Behind him, in the cart, Nic could see a female sitting. He couldn’t see much about her. She was staring out of the window on the opposite side of the carriage and her long black hair was covering the rest of her face that would normally be visible.

On the surface, Nic thought that he was sure he wanted to turn the offer down, yet something inside of him was stopping him. A sharp gust of wind pushed Nic from the side, forcing him to take a step towards the carriage. Something or someone had made his decision for him.

“Welcome aboard this fine carriage. Let me introduce myself.” The man held out his hand to Nic. Gingerly reaching up, Nic grabbed the hand and was pulled up onto the carriage by a strength that surprised Nic. “The name is Ordwell Chapman.”

Ordwell sat down next to the female rider on one side of the carriage while motioning for Nic to sit on the side opposite of them. Taking the bag off of his shoulder, Nic set it down next to him as he sat down. What none of the three occupants of the Carriage saw was the small green blob sitting just inside the bag.

“My first name is Nic.” He quickly said his first name. His eyes were drawn to the mysterious third passenger who seemed to refuse to look at him.

“Sorry for my companion here.” Ordwell gently nudged the passenger. “You should at least introduce yourself.”

“Casey Aratel.” A curt introduction, short and said in a deadpan voice. Nic thought he sensed hate underneath her forced deadpan voice, but he didn’t feel like prodding the hornet's nest by asking about it.

A sigh from Ordwell seemed to validate Nic’s thoughts. “Sorry about her. She’s the current Vision and isn’t a big fan of the overall situation we are currently in.” Ordwell offered an apology in place of Casey, though Nic hardly took note of it. Instead, he wondered about a few things in the apology itself.

“Um… what’s a Vision?” Nic’s question was simple really. He had never heard of a “vision”.

“Oh, well… you haven’t heard of the Visions?” Nic shook his head. Ordwell looked a bit confused, like this should have been general knowledge to Nic. “Well, I guess I can explain it then.”

“Visions are a group of people who awaken to a specific magic that lets them see Irradiation at all times, no matter how much of it there is. A normal person can only see Irradiation when there are large amounts of it in a small area, but Visions can see even the smallest amount coming off of a rock. They are also able to see Irradiation on maps.”

Someone who could see Irradiation. No wonder Ordwell had assumed Nic would know about it. It seemed like something that Verilos should know about, yet he had never heard of one.

“So there are a few people who can see Irradiation? That’s news to me.”

“Ah, actually it’s only ever one person at a time. Currently, Casey here is the Vision.”

“I see.” Nic thought about it. With only one person able to see Irradiation, that would certainly give the City-State or Nation where they lived a massive advantage over others. But how it affected the Verilo’s, Nic was unsure. “And this affects me in what way?”

“To a Vision, Verilos look like someone who is completely consumed by Irradiation Sickness when seen in person. And when looking at a map, Verilos are always shown through completely black dots.” As Ordwell was about to answer Nic, he had been cut off by Casey. After hearing her words, Nic was sure his face didn’t hide the shock he was feeling. “That’s how we knew who you were. Last night I saw your dot next to Ground Zero. So I told Mr. Chapman.”

“You also told Jack. Don’t forget that he’s the whole reason we’re in this mess now.” Ordwell cut Casey off, earning him a deep glare from Casey.

When she turned her head to glare at Ordwell, Nic finally got a good look at her face. Cupped on either side by her long black hair, she had an innocent face. Her dark tan skin was smooth and young, her brown eyes soft. No makeup adorned her face, though Nic figured that was a conscious choice considering the red tint in her eyes.

“Yes, I understand that, you do not need to keep reminding me!” Casey seemed to notice Nic’s gaze and turned to him. “What is it? No, never mind I don’t really care. You’re too bright to keep looking at anyways.” With that, her head once again went towards the window of the carriage. However, both Ordwell and Nic were staring at her, dumbfounded by what she had said.

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Nic was just told that he should look like someone with acute Irradiation sickness, yet she said he was too “bright” to look at. If anything, Nic thought he should be darker, owing to the fact that Irradiation appears black when it is visible.

“Bright…?” Ordwell was the first to speak up. He was just as confused as Nic, and it showed on his face.

“He doesn’t look like a Verilo should. Something happened to you last night, didn’t it? What did you do while at ground zero? What made you like this?” Without even glancing at him, Casey quickly fired off her questions to Nic. In response, he simply sat there, a dumbfounded look on his face. Had he been deemed not a Verilo because of what happened? Had the incident caused even something like this? But he still had an increased Irradiation resistance, showcased by the fact that he could still act normal despite how much Irradiation he had pulled from Aria’s body that morning. Even the fact that he could still absorb Irradiation from others seemed to argue that he was still a Verilo.

“Nic, I think it’s about time we hear your story. If anything, we might be able to figure out what actually happened.” Ordwell spoke softly. Sincerity sat behind his face. Nic opened his mouth, but nothing came out. Could he so easily tell them everything? Could he accept them knowing all he had done and tried to do?

“I…” It seemed that Nic’s body already knew the answer even if his mind didn’t. He slowly began speaking. He spoke about everything. From the minute he found the diary until the second the carriage passed by him. He found everything coming out so easily it scared him a bit. Not one thing that he knew was held back.

Neither Casey nor Ordwell outright interrupted Nic while he was speaking, though a few scoffs cut through from time to time. Apparently, Casey was not too impressed with him, especially toward the end. Though Nic barely faulted her for that.

Ordwell had a grimace plastered on his face by the time Nic stopped speaking. For a minute or two, the carriage became deathly quiet. The sounds of the wheels on the dirt outside and the marching hooves of the horses pulling the carriage were the only things that could be heard.

Casey was the first one to break the silence.

“So you can absorb Irradiation now? And you were about to gain the ability to nullify the Irradiation in your body when this Aria prematurely stopped everything? Is that the gist of your situation?” Nic sat with his shoulders drooped. The way Casey had asked her questions had been devoid of any emotion. Nic was a bit scared about what it meant for him. Silently he nodded to answer all of her questions at once.

“I think I understand why he’s bright now, Mr. Chapman.”

“Mmmm. Nic’s the light that the world has been searching for the past three centuries, right?”

“That’s what it seems like to me.”

Nic slowly lifted his head. The two were talking as if there wasn’t a glaring problem with what Nic had explained.

“But! I can’t purify the Irradiation in me. If I absorb too much, I’ll just end up killing myself!” How could he be this light that Ordwell mentioned if he was just going to die before the world was freed of Irradiation?

“Is that really true? Nic, how much do you know about awakening the magic in one’s blood?”

“Huh?”

“When each kid awakens their magic at a young age, they aren’t gaining the magic right then and there. It’s always been with them. They just learn how to access it at that point.” Nic’s eyes slowly started to widen, the truth slowly forming in his brain even before Ordwell finished what he was saying. “If the locks that were in your blood are now gone, then you should still be able to awaken the ability to purify the Irradiation in your body.”

It was something he had never considered. Would going through a normal awakening work for him? What was required of it? Most people experienced their awakenings before they turned 10. Nic was coming up on 17. Was it even possible for him to still experience an awakening?

“Can I even do that? I’m seventeen. Most awakenings happen before a child turns ten right?”

“You would simply need to experience a large amount of emotions in a short period of time. It’s not unheard of for someone as old as you to awaken to their magic. As for how emotional you need to get,” Casey shrugged her shoulders. “That I can’t tell you.”

A lot of emotions… It was a tall order for Nic. What kind of emotions would he be able to muster up in that amount? How would he conjure them up? He tried to wrap his head around everything, but only grew more confused.

“There might be an easy way for us to achieve that here.” Ordwell silently looked out of the window towards a small village wall made of wood that had just come into visual distance. “Nic, we’re at S-012.” Nic turned to look out the window and saw the familiar fence that enclosed the Rad Town.

“What do you mean there is an easy way here? What could there possibly be?” He quickly turned to Ordwell, wondering just what he had planned for him.

“It’s time you hear why I came all the way out here to S-012 with Casey. Last night, before informing me of your escapades to Ground Zero, she informed a member of the Sanum contingent of Hunters.” Another word, another occupation that Nic had never heard of. This one sounded deadlier though. Looking over at Casey, he saw her head turned even further from Nic.

“Hunter?”

“Of course, you don’t know since you didn’t know what a Vision was. Hunters are like a military police force. They are technically multi-national though most contingents report to the government of the City-State or Nation they reside in. They hunt individuals who are found to be using Irradiation in harmful ways.”

A police force that hunted those who used Irradiation. It seemed to Nic like they were a force created to stop the Verilos if they ever created another Irradiated Winter like their ancestor.

“You think they were created to hunt down any Verilo who tries to do the same as your Ancestor 300 years ago, correct?”

“How did you…?”

“It was written on your face. While I won’t deny the accusation, they mostly go after those who use pockets of Irradiation in the world to kill innocent people. And there just so happens to be one in S-012 right now, looking for you and your parents.”

That was what he had meant. Nic had to find a way to stop the hunter from killing his family, or any other innocent people in the Rad Town he had grown up in. How was that fair to Nic? This hunter was presumably trained in combat, while Nic had absolutely none.

“Is this not a death sentence? How am I supposed to go up against a trained fighter?”

“You aren’t,” Ordwell lost any emotion on his face as he looked Nic straight in the eyes, causing him to gulp unconsciously. “All you have to do is turn this Rad Town into a City State of its own.”

“Excuse me!? You want me to do what?” Nic couldn’t hold back his voice after hearing what Ordwell said.

“If S-012 is turned into a City-State, Jack will have no jurisdiction here. Hunters do not have any jurisdiction in places they are not from unless given express permission by that area’s governing body.”

“S-S-So me, someone who will die if I absorb too much Irradiation, am supposed to absorb enough Irradiation to turn a Rad Town into a City State to stop this Hunter from hurting anyone?” Nic stammered out his question, desperately trying to wrap his head around what Ordwell was proposing.

“That’s correct.”

“How am I supposed to survive that? Better yet, how am I even supposed to absorb the Irradiation in something that I can only touch? Do I need to run around every little area in this place and touch everything and everyone?” The task was impossible. There was no way that Nic could do it. And yet Ordwell simply continued to sit there, smiling up at Nic, even as the carriage came to halt.

“I’m sure that you will be able to find a way, Nic. And remember, your emotions are the key to success here. Casey and I will stay back and only come closer if things aren’t looking good.” As Ordwell was talking, the door to the carriage next to the two of them swung open. Ordwell motioned to Nic that it was time for him to get off.

Grabbing his bag roughly, Nic quickly landed on the ground. Looking back he saw Ordwell once again sitting at the edge of his seat, leaning out of the door.

“I look forward to seeing your success!-”