“Master Carter, it’s time to wake up.” a woman with short blonde hair and a simple green dress said as she opened the door to Carter’s room.

A young boy with messy and shaggy icy blue hair emerged from under the sheets, accompanied by small grumbles. His tired eyes lazily glanced around the room before resting his head on the soft pillow.

“Oh no, you don’t!” a feminine scream echoed from behind the maid standing in the doorway, “The last of your guardians has finally arrived, so we have to discuss what you will be doing while you are on the Genisis Continent and… Are you listening?”

A small no squeaked out from the boy as he stared at the red-headed woman.

The woman's eyes sparked with fury as she bellowed, "Every morning!" She charged forward, causing the cover to fly into the air.

“Madam…” The maid attempted to intervene, but the woman insisted on getting the child out of bed and would not accept no for an answer.

“Oh, okay.” the boy said meekly, looking into the burning eyes of the red-haired woman.

“Carter, you sleep too much, and with the last of your guardians here, this may be the last time we ever see each other.” The woman said with tears welling in her eyes as she looked at the boy.

The boy looked at the woman, sleep still in his eyes, “Sleepy,” the boy said weakly, pointing to the bed he was lying on, before rolling over to face away from the teary-eyed woman.

The woman was in a daze, staring at the boy's back, questioning the reality of the situation. When she heard the sound of the boy's light breathing and snoring, her anger exploded.

“Oh no, you don’t; you are coming with me. It’s been five months since we rescued you, and not once have you spent time with us or thanked us; I don’t even know if you know our names.” the woman screamed, grabbed the boy, and began dragging his still sleeping body out of the bed.

“No, please,” the boy said, trying to reach for the bed, “Sleepy,” the boy struggled to get back to the bed, and to the maid still standing at the doorway, it seemed as if he was fighting for his life, but to the woman it was different.

“He’s not struggling like normal, it looks like he is, but it feels… different.” she thought.

A smile slowly crept up on her face, “You are coming with me today, Carter,” Then the woman dashed out of the room past the stunned maid while the boy being dragged behind her pointed sadly at the bed.

“But… Sleepy.”

“Doesn’t matter, we are going to see the others for some...” The woman noticed a small head hiding behind some furniture not too far from the door of Carter’s room; with a smile, she screamed, “Training!” hearing this, the child hiding in the distance ran as if their life depended on it.

Nesha hurried through the corridors with Carter clinging to her back. He was amazed by the blur of scenery flashing past him. Once they reached the training grounds, they spotted Echo, who had just begun his strength training routine. Nesha set Carter down and rushed over to speak with Echo. She gestured towards the child, who sat on the ground, dazed from the dizzying ride.

“So she finally managed to drag you out of your room, huh,” A man with light green hair said, walking in behind Carter, who fell backward trying to look at where the sound came from.

"I see the boy has finally managed to escape his prison!" Echo exclaimed as he approached Carter.

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“Blunt and dense as always, Echo,” Sivie said

“What?”

“Poor choice of words, Echo,” Nesha said

“What?”

“Dumb Echo!” Char screamed, running into the training grounds

“You don’t even know what happened, Char,”

“Little Sivie, I don’t need to know what happened to know that little Echo is dumb,” Char said with a prideful smile.

Nesha looked at her friends and shook her head, “Anyway, guys, what should we do with Carter now that he is awake and outside?”

“Training, look at him. He is so small! Let us put some muscle on him,” Echo said

“That is what I thought at first, but he isn’t like the other children we have encountered so far,”

“Nesha, your phrasing of that leaves a lot… You know it just is not the best.” Sivie said

Sivie looked around where they were. He didn’t know Carter well; in fact, they barely said a word to one another, so how was he to know how to entertain a however old Carter was years old.

“Char, can you take care of Carter while we figure out what we will do for the day.”

Char gave a huge smile, “Yes, Char will watch little Carter. Come, little Carter, we will play over there.” Char grabbed Carter and dragged him into the open field. The others could hear Char and her excited plans to play with the little boy.

“Nesha, what were you thinking bringing Carter here,” Sivie asked

“I thought he had been through too much and needed to be a kid.”

“Nesha, he is a Feyrisian, not a Seedling, and last time I checked, we are not the ones who should be role models for a great childhood,” said Sivie

“I know… it’s just…” whimpered Nesha

“Look, Nesha, I know you want to save everyone, especially the children, but it is…”

THUD

The trio turned around in time to see Carter sliding down the stone wall at the edge of the grounds and Char crying in the center where she had brought Carter.

“CARTER!” Nesha screamed in panic

“CHAR!” Sivie and Echo screamed in a mix of panic and rage

“CARTER… Carter, are you okay?” Nesha called, running to Carter’s side

“Char! What in the gods did you do?” Sivie asked the crying Char

“He called me little! I am not little. I am big. Char is big.” Char said through tears and gasp of breath.

“Sivie, Echo, bring Carter back to his room. I will talk to Char,” Nesha said

“How is he?”

“He is fine. I could not see anything wrong, but just in case, get someone from the Divine Race or Va… Guardian Vanir to look at him.”

“It’s fine. Let me take him to his room, and I will tell the other Guardians as well,” a young man with long icy-blue hair that flowed well past his shoulder walked onto the grounds, his face calm and voice monotone.

“Vanir, we…”

“I know, Nesha; I do not blame any of you. It was an accident, but I can not speak for the other Guardians.”

“We…”

“Let me finish, Nesha. I will take the blame for this.”

“What, Why? Vanir, you can’t keep taking the blame…”

Vanir ignored everything, picked up Carter, and left silently.

“Vanir!”

“Nesha, leave him alone; he has already made his decision, and I doubt the other Guardians will do anything to him beyond what they have already done.” Sivie said, his hand on Nesha’s shoulder, “Now we have a crying Char to take care of, so let that be the priority for now.”

Vanir carried Carter in his arms, walking down the corridor far from the training grounds, “You can wake up now, child.”

“Sleepy,” Carter mumbled.

“This child causes problems no matter where he goes,” Vanir mumbled with a sigh.

As Vanir made his way toward Carter's room, he couldn't help but notice a figure standing outside of it. The man had short, dark blue hair and a more robust physique, with darker skin than most of the other guardians. Vanir approached with caution, unsure of the man’s intentions.

“Cri, why are you here,” Vanir asked.

“I came to look at the boy, but low and behold, you took him out,” The man, Cri, said, a sneer spread across his face.

“You have nothing to do with Carter,”

“I am just as much a Guardian as you, Vanir,”

“A commoner…”

Cri slammed Vanir against the wall, but noticing Carter between them, he backed away, clicking his tongue.

“At least I am not a red-eyed ice-mind like you,” Cri said

Vanir said nothing, bringing Carter into his room, “I know of my shortcomings, Cri. I do not need to be reminded of them.”

Cri clicked his tongue, “The meeting is at noon tomorrow. Make sure the kid is there.”