Pata sat at his desk, his chest heaving as he took deep breaths in an attempt to calm himself. The room around him was in shambles, a stark contrast to the luxury decorations that it had only a few hours ago. Splintered wood from broken chairs was scattered haphazardly across the floor, while paintings and other expensive decorations lay in ruin, their frames smashed, and their canvases were torn. The remains of shattered crystals and blazed quake shards littered the ground, and the air was thick with the scent of smoke and burning. It was clear that whoever or whatever had caused the destruction had intended to destroy, leaving nothing untouched or unscathed.

Pata tightened his grip and slammed his fist and forearm against the desk once, twice, three times, each time with more force than the last until he wrenched it back from the pain. As he did, something fell from his clenched fist. He watched as it bounced on the desk before stopping and rubbing his forehead with the knuckles of his fist, his eyes never leaving the item.

It had been the longest day and the worst day of his life. He moved his other hand above the desk, released his fist, and let a similar item bounce on the desk. With a sigh, he took the first item, a locket, and opened it to look at the pictures inside. Pictures like this were still relatively new, and only those in the know could have them. This locket was made to hold the pictures, so the fact that another existed here after everything that happened today left many questions. But the fact that it was here wasn't even his main concern; no, the letter 'E' was etched onto both the lockets. This could belong to only one other Seedling, and he couldn't even open the locket to see if his assumptions were correct.

***

A young Pata sat with his chin resting on the table. He stared blankly while the instructor spoke of the most uninteresting thing he had ever heard. Losing interest by the second, his eyes began to flutter until something poked his side.

"Pay attention."

The pale pink eyes of the girl next to him were squinted in annoyance.

"Uh, sorry."

"It's a wonder how you manage to be the best student in the school despite your lazy behavior in every class."

"Uh, sorry."

"Are you even able to say other words?"

"Uhhh, sorry?"

The girl shook her head as she turned her attention back to the instructor. Pata, on the other hand, couldn't take his eyes away from the girl.

A loud, deep scream echoed outside the room, followed by a loud bang on the door. The door burst off its hinges as a large man in armor put down his foot and walked inside with a group of similarly armed men.

Pata was too distracted by the thoughts running through his mind to notice what had happened. Only when everyone turned to look at him did his attention turn to the armed men approaching him.

"W-What is going on?"

"Succesor of the Erlminins, you are being put under arrest."

"W-Why..."

As the men approached, their faces were stern and uncaring. Without a word, they grabbed the young Pata by the arms and began to tie his hands together tightly. He struggled to understand what was happening, but the silence in the room was deafening. As he was led out of the room, he turned to look at his classmates for an explanation, but all he saw were expressions of confusion and amusement. Their looks were like a punch in the gut, leaving him feeling even more lost and alone.

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The young man was escorted to the nearby detention center located within the school. As he walked into one of the detention rooms, he noticed it was small and bare, with only a desk and chair in one corner and a narrow window in the back. He had never done anything to receive punishment, so this situation was terrifying, but all he could do was sit and wait. For what seemed like an eternity, he waited nervously for someone to arrive and explain the situation he found himself in. But as time ticked on, the silence in the room grew louder, and his fear grew.

There was a sudden small knock on the door, and the familiar voice of the dean could be heard from the other side.

"Child, are you unharmed?"

"Yes..." The young Pata said weakly

"I told those brutes to wait until after school, but it seems they lack the ability to think and can only act."

"Why is this happening?"

"It is a complicated matter that should not include you, but it seems someone is trying to."

"Why?"

"Sigh, politics, child. Anyway, a friend of your family is here to see you; he said he might be able to help. I am having him brought here now, although there are some papers to fill out before he can talk to you. It should not take long."

Time passed as slowly as it did in any of his classes, but soon, a knock on the door caused the young Pata's ears to prick up.

"Hello?" Pata heard the voice from the other side of the door, along with the jiggly of the doorknob, "Hey, why is it locked?"

"It's locked from the outside..." Pata said weakly

"Oh, Hey you open the door!"

The sound of a key opening the door and the strange man's laughter soon filled the detention room. The man standing in the doorway had long, braided black hair that flowed down his back. His bright green eyes shimmered with playfulness, and the crooked smile on his lips only added to his playful nature. His dark tan skin was a bit strange, though, as most of the Alchemic Race had never seen anything like it. The combination of his unique traits made him stand out, especially to the young Pata.

"Hello, child!" The man said, patting the top of Pata's head

The young Pata took his head back after the first attempt. Only Alim is allowed to do that, no one else, he grumbled in his mind.

"My, my, feisty, are you not?"

Pata fixed a sharp and intense gaze on the unfamiliar man, watching his every move and expression with skepticism.

"Whoa, no reason for such a sharp glare, child."

Pata didn't know why, but something about this man made him on edge, like something was screaming at him not to trust this man and to get as far away as possible.

"My name is Orion. I am a friend of your family, well, one of your ancestors, but Ol' Ivan did so much for me. I try to help your family whenever I can."

"My ancestor Ivan Erlminin has been gone for many generations."

"Right! His disappearance was a shame; he had such a sharp mind that helped me with so many things when we were young. I do wonder what happened to him and where he is now. Well, it's a mystery we can never solve, right? But maybe one day, we'll be able to." Orion said

"Why are you here?"

"To help, of course. You see, your mother did something she should not have done, and now they are making you pay the price."

"What did my mother do?"

"It's a wild story. You know your old butler, right?"

Pata stared silently, waiting for the man to continue.

"Well, no fun. Anyway, she killed him right in his cell. Crazy, right?"

"WHAT!"

"Ah, not done yet, sit down. So, that butler of yours, you know what he did, right, no? Probably not; they didn't release that to the public. Anyway, he did a lot of things, and they got him to confess to everything, but they had no idea of the details, and that butler said he would only tell his madam or you about everything."

"NO, EVERYTHING WAS A LIE. ALIM WOULD NEVER DO ANYTHING WRONG!"

"Hahehe! Your mother went to see him. She was with him for several hours, and the guards got suspicious and went to check, but all they found was a dead butler, and guess what? There wasn't even a Life Pillar. Crazy, right."

"Mother..."

"You can't even say your mother wouldn't do that, can you? HAHAHA!"

"I... don't understand..."

"It's fine, let me explain. The Alchemic Race is lucky since they have never had a mutation in their race; they prided themselves on it, calling themselves perfect, but that butler and his cohorts, well, they made some by artificial means."

"What? How? Who?" Pata asked, only to see the man pointing at him, "Me..."