Aurelius woke before sunrise like his first night at Amadeus'. This time, however, he didn't wait for light. He left his gloves in his bag, and though his body longed for it, he had no enhancers left.

He dressed himself in silence, looking out of the window in his room. When he was ready, he threw his hood on and made his way out. But right as he was at the door, Damian stepped out of his room. He wore black night clothes, but there was no sign of drowsiness on him.

"You were going to leave without saying anything?" Damian asked, no sign of hostility. Just well-handled disappointment.

Aurelius opened his mouth but fell completely silent. He realized then how he always did the same thing only to regret it afterward.

"It's okay," Damian said, shurgging. "You don't have to talk to me if you don't want to." Damian turned and seemed about to go back to his room.

"Wait," Aurelius said, and Damian turned back, a slight change in his expression. Something like a pleasant surprise. Aurelius bowed his head. "I'm sorry... for doing things this way. Or trying to. It's just that I'm not very good at things like this, so I tend to avoid them."

"I see." Damian leaned on the wall. "Well, now is a good time to practice. So... what becomes of us now?"

"I, well... I'm going to Mircrest."

Damian raised his brows, eyes hardening. "Numen?"

Aurelius shook his head weakly. "Cade."

"Ah." Damian's eyes softened. Then, surprisingly, he smiled. "That's good. You deserve it."

It was uncomfortable. "I'm not sure. Cade and I left on bad terms. I'm not sure she shares any of my feelings."

"Oh, come on." Damian got a little playful. "How could she not? Have you seen yourself? If a woman who had never seen a man had a wet dream, it'd be of you."

"Uh... what?"

Damian shook his head, laughing lightly to himself. "Nevermind."

"Okay... Well, Cade is special. I just need to apologize and..."

"I'm sure it'll be fine. We all make mistakes. The way you talk about her, she can't just be another woman. You have a connection. She should know that."

"Thanks," Aurelius said, smiling slightly before raising his gaze. "What about you?"

Damian scratched his cheek. "I have some plans of my own. Reckless, you would call them. But about what we spoke about yesterday, after getting to know you, I want to be just like you, too." Aurelius didn't know whether to smile or frown, so his face stayed straight, only twitching slightly in one direction or the other. Damian out a hand up. "Now, I'm talking in a symbolic sense. I want to become what the liveD represents for the people of Arkryk."

"How?"

"I'm not quite certain yet, but if there is possibility for reform, it must be grasped. I'll follow your legacy. Yours and Amadeus'."

At last, a smile grew on Aurelius' face as he remembered Amadeus. "Thank you." He bowed.

"Hey, I haven't done anything yet. Let's see if I'm actually good for something," Damian said, scratching the back of his head with an awlward laugh.

"You are," Aurelius said, and he meant it.

"Thanks you. It means more than you think, coming from you."

Aurelius nodded, but then a thought occurred to him, and his mood soured slightly. "I'm sorry, Damian, but I have one more favor to ask."

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"Name it," Damian said, hands on his sides.

"It's some information. I promise I'll use it only if I need to."

"Okay." Damian nodded cautiously.

Aurelius then asked for what he needed, and Damian's look turned disapproving the second it left his mouth. Still, he obliged, and Aurelius nodded his thanks.

"Farewell, Damian," Aurelius said as he turned and opened the door into the night air.

"Until we meet again, Aurelius," Damian said with a smile. His tone was like he was correcting what Aurelius had said.

Aurelius turned back slightly and nodded. "Until then." Then he walked out, one step closer to Mircrest.

***

He ran through low mountains as he entered the western side of Arkryk in the afternoon. The pace was brisk, and the air was fresh. He hadn't sweated from such running for some time. It was like gliding for him. He rushed past the rough trees that had had their tops broken somehow, and their branches were pointed down as if frowning.

It made him reminisce about the Thropes and his earliest days of travel. Everything was so new then. Now he ran, not to discover what was ahead but to leave behind what was past.

The wind humming in his ears and the air pressure pressing gently on his nody to let him know he was part of the world had become meaningless to him. It was all just part of a process. A means to and end.

His surroundings blurred, and he only noticed changes in color. Otherwise, everything was just the same. It was sad doing what once felt to be so invigorating to find that it was no longer of any significance. It was like the past had been nullified, erased, and reduced to bits that had no critical value. All that he once worshipped seemed like lies, and he felt himself to be a fool for believing in any of them.

Still, he kept going. Even as he came to a swamp and could have gone over it, he ran through, hopping from stone to platform of essence. However, his shoes got wet, and he slipped and stumbled once or twice, dirtying his clothes. At least the smell changed. It had been quite noticeable even after he washed himself and his clothes.

When he made it through the swamp, he came upon a small town.

He put his hood on and walked through it, thinking of maybe buying some food along the way. His enhanced nose caught the smell of fresh bread coming from far away and followed it. To his surprise, at the source, he found a shop run by a little girl with pigtails.

Upon making eye contact, the girl announced the price for one bread and a discount for two with her arms crossed over her chest.

Aurelius smiled at her and asked for one, handing her some coins in exchange.

"Mister, this is too much for one. Way much!"

Aurelius chuckled a little and took one bread before leaving. He got over halfway through the town before a sound struck him. He turned quickly to where the loud smack came from.

"Did I teach you to run your mouth, huh? Did I?!" The large bearded man with a scarred face grunted as he held the boy by the wrist. "Damn brat. First your brother dies, and now you can't work either? Do you want to follow him? Is that it? Do you want to die?"

"No," the boy cried, his left cheek red and bloated. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry!"

"Shut up." The man looked around to make sure no one was staring. Nobody was. He turned back to the boy and whsiepered. "Listen, if you don't man up and do as I tell you, you will never come back home again, do you understand?"

"But my— my head hurts. I can't."

The man grunted again and brought his hand back, but as he was about to bring it down on the child, it came to a dead stop.

Aurelius felt the calloused hand of the ugly man and snarled, "What kind of man beats a child?"

"Who do you think you are?" the man asked, almost baffled that he was being laid hands on. "Get off me, you—" Aurelius received a hit to the face but did not move in any sense of the word.

The man stmbled back, holding his hand in pain. He was beginning to feel fear, but it didn't hold him back from running his mouth. "Arrogant traveler... come to town and judge us... the people of this town... how I should raise my children."

Finally, Aurelius grabbed the man by his mouth and lifted him into the air. "You like hurting people weaker than you, is that it? You take your bitterness out on your children; they grow up and do the same. It never ends, does it?"

The man kicked at him. And eventually Aurelius let the man fall to the ground. He scrambled away to lean his back against the nearest wall while Aurelius walked after him.

"Arran!" the man yelled.

Aurelius looked around in with furrowed brows. Did the man see acquaintance and call him? He saw nobody coming. Then something hit his foot, and he shook it off. Only then did he turn his gaze down where he found the child, on the ground, where Aurelius had thrown him.

The man had called his son to defend him. Or use him as a shield? Aurelius' eyes gleamed with fury as he ruahed at the man, squatting and grabbing the man by the collar. He shivered back and shook in Aurelius grasp, making whining noises.

"I should fucking kill you," Aurelius whispered, every word laced with fury. More than he meant to.

Then his hand went up and grabbed something that had flown at the side of his head. He looked at it. The thing was a rock.

"Let him go!" the child yelled, another rock squeezed in his trembling hand.

Aurelius backed off, absentmindedly, and watched as the child rushed back to his father. They embraced each other teafully as Aurelius looked around at the people staring.

He enhabced his legs and leapt away with tremendous force far beyond the crowd and landed at the edge of the town, where he walked away, rubbing his face in mental agony.

He could never do anything right.