Alaric tried his best to sleep on the back of the great stingray. And while it was indeed comfortable, he couldn’t bring himself to relax in case some other enemy showed up.

Besides this, there were plenty of things that kept him awake. One of them was what happened to Darth’s guardian. Alaric knew his Inborn Ability was not like most.

Unlike many Abilities out there that were straightforward to use, his remained unclear as to what it truly was. Instead, he bore several faucets with only one aspect remaining consistent: Guardians.

Alaric’s power, whenever activated, had something about Guardians.

Normally, one’s guardian would take on the responsibility of revealing the nature of their Inborn Ability if they hadn’t yet discovered it. Alaric, however, had no such luxury.

While everyone got their powers spelt out for them by their guardians, Alaric was stuck figuring out how his work was. From the moment he’d discovered the little things about it from Thomper, Alia hadn’t said a word to add to his knowledge of his ability.

All he knew was that his power was one that Alia deemed fit for a king, and that was all.

Now, he seemed to have made Darth’s guardian disappear. The large puma still haunted his dreams, making him wonder where it had vanished to. From the look of rage on Darth’s face as he attacked Alaric after that, he could tell something fundamentally wrong had happened.

Part of him even dared to guess that he’d unknowingly severed the bond between Darth and his guardian, Sabre.

Why else would the mercenary have risked nearly tearing his arm from its socket just for revenge?

Taking a deep breath, he turned to the flying pixie hovering above Darla’s shoulder, “So, are you a Grounded?”

Apollo’s face fell, “Is my presence that displeasing, Prince Alaric?”

“No, that’s not it. I’m just curious,” Alaric asked, seemingly unfazed by the guardian’s jabs.

“No, I am not a Grounded. I can be called upon at a moment’s notice and do take less time manifesting into the Physical world than most guardians,” Apollo replied.

Grounded Guardians, like Thomper, were guardians that manifested into the real world permanently upon their Awakening. Several theories regarding why some guardians were made that way had come up, some more sensible than others.

The majority of people settled for just asking the question to know how their lives were going to change in case their guardians were indeed Grounded.

Hearing Apollo’s explanation, he nodded and moved on to his next question, “How does your power work? I noticed the bow that manifested on Darla’s arm.”

“I hold the power of Concept. Any concept my master wields will be amplified significantly. The more mastery she has in a certain concept, the better I can help her. If she was a master, the bow she manifested could become a physical weapon like the arrow that came out of it. It would never miss,” Apollo explained with a triumphant humph.

“Oh, so where do you fit in all this?” Finn pitched in with a suspicious look.

“I’ll have you know that I bear knowledge of every concept. I merely need to be unlocked by my master for me to guide her in how to be better,” Apollo puffed out his chest once more.

“Now you’re a broken library,” Finn’s face fell.

“You ingrate!”

“Not sure what that means but it’s probably more powerful than you are, tiny,” Finn argued.

Without warning, the flying man launched himself at Finn. Finn raised his hands and shut his eyes, “Get him away from me, Darla.”

“Give him the good stuff, Apollo…”

Two minutes later, Alaric had his palm covering his face while Finn laughed like a maniac under the ticklish attack of a pixie assaulting his ribs. As it turned out, Apollo was indeed useless in a fight.

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His fists were more or less non-existent. Intelligent as the guardian was, he’d abandoned the impossible odds of winning in a fair fight and resorted to going for Finn’s weak points.

“Make it… stop… Darl… Darla…”

“You brought this on yourself. I see no reason to help you,” Darla sighed, keeping a small smile on her face.

Alaric laughed along with his friends. There were still things on his mind… but for now, he allowed his mind to relax.

Alaric came to know the names of his guards. One, a tall large man with a winged lion for a guardian, was aptly named LionHeart while the other, a lean man with a black unicorn and the power of lightning and storms named Gunther.

Gunther volunteered to watch the bandits, summoning reinforcements from the Tower of Seekers. The task of keeping the demons they’d defeated subdued also fell on him. Fortunately for him, it didn’t take long before reinforcements arrived.

Alaric sat in his seat, his mind tiredly flashing with memories of pain. Waves of fatigue washed over him, piling in intervals and revealing more and more of how tired he truly was.

The damage he’d received from fighting against Darth should have made it impossible for him to stand let alone stay awake… and yet, here Alaric was, failing to rest in spite of his friends’ insistence.

Alaric raised his hand up and watched as black fur sprouted from the back of his hand, then vanished. Next, he watched as his nails lengthened and grew sharp before returning to their normal appearance.

“Want to talk about it?”

“About what?” Alaric asked absentmindedly.

“About what you found in Darth’s mind,” the girl responded, “You know you’re the reason we know Sister Marla used to be a badass adventurer.”

“Right,” Alaric chuckled, remembering the time he’d made it into Old Thomper’s memories of his master.

Back when he’d used his ability on Thomper, he’d felt nothing but warmth and joy from Sister Marla’s past. She was surrounded by people who loved her, enjoying a job that allowed her to help people before finally settling down as the caretaker of an orphanage in the Five Hills.

It wasn’t the same for Darth though. Where there was happiness in Sister Marla’s path, pain and suffering flourished in Darth’s memories.

Disobeying his guardian had caused him a constant headache, especially on the day she followed Jafar up his spire.

It was through the dark mage that he then placed his guardian through the same pain for years, intensifying whenever orders were disobeyed.

And for years, the guardian had endured this pain, at times going against his own principles for a bit of reliefs.

Sadly, going against his principles meant committing atrocities like killing, torturing and atrocities Alaric’s mind had been shielded from.

What little he witnessed though… was unthinkable.

Shaking, Alaric tried to take his mind off these thoughts, [Alia, you okay?]

[Yeah…]

[What’s on your mind?]

[Just wishing I killed Darth before the Tower Guards stopped us] Alia responded.

The boy was stumped by the reply. Could she really kill him?

[Doesn’t killing him mean his guardian dies?] Alaric asked.

[It’s better than a life of eternity] the knight responded indifferently.

The logic broke the poor boy’s mind. Death is a better than life…?

It was a thought he couldn’t wrap himself around. Death to Alaric was nothing… the ceasing to exist. When he was numb and emotionless, he pinched himself to remind himself he was alive.

So to him, pain was a reminder he was alive. Why then would he ever wish for death?

A light chuckle resounded within his mind, ‘You don’t have to think of all that now. You’re still only fifteen.’

Alaric wanted to argue but then a voice tore through the silence, “So the rumour is true then? A boy in the Five Hills awakened his guardian.”

Aiden had finally spoken up.

Alaric didn’t turn back and remained silent. The boy had been difficult to read since the end of the Appraisal ceremony.

“That makes two now,” Finn corrected with a smile.

Darla struck the boy’s side, “That’s not a good thing, doofus.”

“What? Why?” Finn asked, confused.

“Because it means the Five Hills is a dark place,” Gunther spoke from his flying horse, “Guardians are summoned prematurely when someone is exposed to a traumatizing event. When someone witnesses something close to death, their guardians can awaken because of that.”

“What will happen to Darth?” Alaric asked abruptly.

“That’s for the Tower to decide. He might be looking at five years in prison… if the Flame Vipers don’t get involved that is,” Gunther shrugged.

“He was using Dark Magic though. Isn’t that illegal?” Alaric asked, curious.

Everyone went silent at the claim. Garin and Gunther were silent for a moment before the Stingray rider spoke up, “That’s a big accusation. The kind that could get you killed. Dark Magic is forbidden. So, anyone who practices it has deep roots in protecting them. Careful what you say.”

Alaric went silent after that… and a few minutes later, he sighed and told Alia, [I’m starting to like your idea with each passing minute.]

The guardian chuckled at his words, a laugh that sent warmth through the tired boy’s cold heart. Alaric, for a moment, forgot what they’d been talking about as well as the problems that troubled him, and marvelled at how much he’d missed her laugh.

The carefree nature of the laugh, the sincerity and emotion behind it was simple… and yet strong enough to light a spark in his frozen bitter heart, reminding him of the boy that woke up that morning to attend an Appraisal ceremony.

Alia, missing this subtle transformation, finally spoke through her laughter, [You leave the killing to me, little prince. If it were up to me, I’d make sure you never have to shed a single drop of blood for as long as you live.]

The statement itself had two sides… and Alaric didn’t miss them.

[Right,] he replied.

Alia’s unspoken words, however, remained clear as day… Alaric would come to spill blood in time… and Alia was sure of it.