Alaric arose the next morning with aching joints and an urge to be lazy. Light licked the skin of his face before he brought the covers over his face and tried to go back to sleep.
Silence passed… ‘These covers are nice.’ He thought to himself, ‘I could sleep here forever.’
There was a moment of silence before a gentle voice filtered into his head, [ If you do that, I’ll triple your training. ]
Gentle as she sounded, her words sent shivers down the boy’s spine. [ You don’t have to be so brutal about it. ]
Mornings like these were not new to him. Well, this was the first time he was the subject of a dangerous man’s attention but he’d woken up this tired before. On days like those, his guardian was instrumental in ensuring he didn’t lose sight of himself.
The boy groaned as he crawled out of bed. His body pulsed with green aether that flowed through strange veins under his skin, a side effect of maintaining a great deal of Thomper’s power even through sleep.
[ I refrained from waking you up because you seemed tired… ] the guardian spoke to him, [ But I won’t allow you to become lazy just because there are some bad people out there. ]
Alaric nodded as he waded into the bathroom with his eyes half-closed. His mind saw far more than what his eyes could.
‘Those bastards are up too early,’ the boy groaned. The Emperor’s men were out and about, searching again.
This time, they stood at all the major streets… almost as if they wanted to memorize every last face in the city. Alaric even caught glimpses of some of them picking on some unsuspecting innocent people.
[ How are they allowed to just do whatever they want? Isn’t there a leader here? ] he wondered.
This kind of thing felt outrageous. No one even stepped up when they terrorized people. It was like no law applied to them at all. Since when were humans allowed to bully other humans and get away with it?
[ Thinking of punishing them? ] his guardian mumbled to herself.
Alaric’s mind went still at the thought. Wasn’t he the one who had punished both LionHeart and Garrick at some point? The thought was enticing.
[ That’s not a bad idea but before I even consider it, guardians haven’t been reacting to me the way they normally do ] Alaric responded.
[ That’s because your Face Mask hides your true nature. Weaker guardians are unable to tell who you are. As for the strong ones who can, I’ve been telling them to keep their mouths shut ] the guardian responded as Alaric dressed up and made for the door.
At the doorknob, he froze, [ The Face Mask is that good? How would I go about ordering guardians if I can’t take off my Face Mask? ]
[ It was just a thought, Alaric. You can’t just go around punishing everyone that crosses you. ] the guardian chuckled.
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The boy rested his head on the door and sighed, [ What if those people deserve the punishment? ]
[ Violence always breeds more violence, Little Prince. If you want to change things, then you must find another way. ] his guardian sighed.
Climbing down the stairs, he found a large man seated by the table with a cup in hand. LionHeart looked up just in time to see him descend. His haggard barbarian appearance aroused a feeling of rage in the boy before he realised it was only his Face Mask. It was going to take some getting used to.
“Good morning, sleepy head,” the man smiled, “I don’t remember you being such a heavy sleeper.”
Alaric made his way down and joined the man at the table, looking around for some form of nourishment. His nose easily led him to the kitchen, “I had a long day yesterday.”
The man nodded, “There is some bread and tea by the drawer.”
“Thank you…" the boy sighed. Looking around, his mind wandered before he realised what was missing, "Ms. Sariah?”
“She went out to find some party members to join us on the quest you mentioned yesterday. It shouldn’t be hard though, seeing as many adventurers know of your intentions to pursue that quest,” the man responded.
Alaric returned with a cup in hand and a plate of delicious bread which he dug into without reservations.
LionHeart stared at the boy for a little while before reaching out with his hand. Alaric only stopped eating when he felt a hand touch his collar. The big man moved the shirt away slightly to reveal a green vein, pulsing with aether.
“You’re using that ability…”
Alaric gently moved his hand away and took a sip of tea. After a short pause, he spoke, “I’m always using it… especially when I don’t feel safe. It usually doesn’t take this much out of me though.”
“What do you mean?”
“The fewer people to worry about, the less I focus on what I can see. But with the Emperor’s men around, it’s like I have to be in ten places at once,” he responded, “It’s tiring.”
“Don’t you run out of aether?”
“It’s my Inborn Ability that lets me use this power. It doesn’t take much aether,” Alaric responded, “How’s Gunther?”
LionHeart regarded the boy for a bit before leaning back in his seat with a sigh, “He’s alright. He managed to break through to Wood Rank Level Six. He’s improving fast these days... Most of us are,” LionHeart explained, “Strange things started happening when you left the Tower.”
“What kind of strange things?” Alaric raised his eyes at the man.
“Aether density in the air increased. As always, those scholars are investigating the cause, frantically racing for the prestige it will get them. Some are already suspecting it had something to do with you. Others think it was the attack the barrier fended off that left too much raw aether in the air.
That’s not all, though. Seekers and Protectors are rising through their Temper Ranks much faster, which shouldn’t be the case. Also, some guardians are—how should I put this—transforming,” the man explained the last part in a whisper.
“Transforming?” Alaric raised a brow at the man.
“Yes… Evolving, if you will. Changing colour, becoming stronger and more active. They're speaking more. In some incidents, Seekers have been found uttering the names of their Guardians—names they didn’t know before. It’s like they were waiting for something to become more proactive,” the man explained.
Alaric nodded thoughtfully, “And Aslan?”
LionHeart shrugged, “Yeah! Him too.”
The boy nodded with an expression of approval, “Sounds like everything going great then.”
The boy wasn’t sure what all of this meant… but it sounded good, so he wasn’t complaining. His mind, however, was preoccupied. As he finished his food in silence, he came to various conclusions.
The Emperor’s Men were not going to stop whatever this was they were trying to do. They were looking for a ghost. With Alaric’s Face Mask, Change in Height and solid backstory, they had no reason to suspect him.
And yet, from what he’d seen of their captain just the evening before, he could tell things weren’t going to go smoothly at all. The Emperor’s Men weren’t in Melbourne to just search for someone. Whoever had sent them here didn’t tolerate failures. Whether they wanted to or not, they would have to present someone… and if they ended up presenting Alaric, then so be it.
The boy sighed, “I can’t stay in Melbourne much longer.”
LionHeart had picked up on the signs of his mental torment. The excessive use of his abilities, his tiredness and the absence of that childish spark in his eyes, “What did you see?”