"Arell," Willos cries out as he embraces me, "So you finally remembered to visit this old man. Oh, it's been so long. How are you doing?"

"I'm doing well, Willos," I say, unable to stop a smile from blooming across my face.

"Well, come in, come in. You should be proud of yourself you know, you're the first person in years that I'm willing to let in here." Willos moves deeper into the building. The place is a little untidy, filled with countless notes, various tomes addressing varied topics, and lots of unfinished artifices. Still, it feels almost like a second home to me. After leading me through a couple of rooms, we finally get to his study. I find a spot and sit comfortably, while Willos settles into a rotating armchair he had invented purely for the fun of it.

"The capital's going to be very lively in the coming days," he says, "To be honest, I didn't expect you to be here so soon. When did you get the message?"

"Around a month ago. I was pretty surprised when I saw it. A summons from the King addressed to almost every Sadabi in the country and holding no other information. Do you know what it's all about?"

A smile spreads across his face. "As a matter of fact, I do. The meeting was called because of me after all."

I am immediately interested. "Because of you? What did you do?"

"Nothing, much. You'll find out the details tomorrow, along with the other Sadabi. The King forbade me from informing anyone of the reason for the time being," a small frown appears on his face, "That pompous idiot. He causes me to become old at the ripe old age of fifty and still has the gall to order me around like that."

I nod, deciding not to mention his disrespectful words to the King, since, he is right in his accusations. If not for the King, he wouldn't have been this old. He had spent quite a lot of his Jahlin - his life force - during his early days as a fugitive. The fact that he is still alive despite enduring the relentless pursuit of the Kingdom's elite is a testament to his genius.

Eventually, he shakes his head. "Enough about me, what about you? You've been really busy these past few years. Freeing the Harish nobles from the slave traders, saving Liadel, and on and on. You must have quite a lot of stories to tell." I let out a wry smile. First Vanessa, now Willos. Even without using my ability, I can tell that in the next few days anyone I meet will most likely ask me about those events. I would probably refuse to speak much about it to others, but to Willos…

"To be honest," I say, "I have no idea how I kept getting in those situations. Like the slave traders, it all started when my host in Viola requested my help in finding his missing sister, next thing I know I am fighting a group of Jarin slave traders, and then suddenly I'm a hero who saved Harish nobles from being sold to our enemies as slaves."

Willos eyes sparkle as he listens to the tales I tell, asking questions when he wants to clarify something, but mostly just letting me speak. As the morning turns to afternoon, I slowly run out of stories I can think of to tell. It is then I become conscious of the fact that I have been speaking about myself for the past several hours. "But enough about me, what about you? Has anything interesting happen to you these past years? For instance, did you finally find love?"

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Willos snorts. "Apart from work and balls, what else is there to do in the capital? As for love, I thought I told you. The only things I'll ever love are my artifacts. Anything else is just a waste of time. But, to answer your question, while nothing particularly interesting thing has happened to me, I have made some major breakthroughs. Come with me."

I get up and follow him to his workshop, excited. My interest in artificing is what first drew Willos and me together. That and the fact that in some strange, unexplainable way, our thoughts usually align when it comes to thinking up strange ideas, or connecting things that normal people wouldn't. As he begins to show me his discoveries, ideas begin whirling in my mind. Soon, I'm lost to a whole other world, one of aris and sigils. It doesn't take long before Willos and I begin bouncing ideas off each other. At a point, I draw out some sigils I had created during my travels and together we begin making improvements to them. It results in me finishing a couple of sigils I had been planning on using to make some artifacts but was unable to do due to imperfections.

Not wanting to lose steam, I ask Willos for some materials and begin working on the first artifact. A pair of boots. Though the materials I am using now are a bit subpar, as long as the boots work, I can recreate them using much better materials.

As Willos watches me work, he sighs and shakes his head. "What a waste." I understand what he means almost immediately. When I first informed him of my decision to work for the King, he had been dismayed. "Why would you waste your talents like that?" he had asked then. In the end, after realizing that my decision couldn't be changed, he uttered that statement. Still, as much as I love artificing, I don't plan on spending the majority of my life cooped up in a small workshop. I would pick up artificing properly when I finally decide to retire. Till then, I work for the King.

Hours pass and the sun begins to set. As my work begins to wind down, I hear Willos speak behind me. "They are coming to the capital too. You know that, right?"

The near bliss I had been in for the last several hours fades away. I had almost forgotten the decision I made when coming to the capital. That I would make things right. That familiar heaviness settles once again in the pit of my stomach.

"I know," I answer simply.

"So what are you going to do?"

I am silent for a few moments. "Whatever I can to make things right."

I feel Willos place his hand on my back, a small trace of happiness in his voice. "Good. I'll try to help however I can. I've missed all of you so much."

I nod dumbly. I've missed them too.

It is already dark when I leave. At home, I find out that Vanessa still isn't back yet. Apparently, she has a very important meeting going on and can't come back home until everything is settled. The maids serve me dinner, and I eat alone in the dining room. Without Vanessa's presence, I can't help but notice how lonely it all seems, having a large meal all alone in this empty room. Some part of me questions if this is how Vanessa has felt for the past few years, staying mostly alone in this mansion.

After dinner, I go to my room and try to sleep. It doesn't take me long to realize that that isn't going to happen anytime soon. The combination of accumulated tiredness from my travels and the fact that I had been feeling emotionally drained yesterday had allowed me to go to sleep early, but now, the years of staying awake late into the night are finally showing their results, making me unable to sleep. In the end, I decided to head to the roof. When the mansion was being built, I requested that the roof be easily accessible. Due to my early years being spent in the street, I sometimes cannot relax fully without being exposed to the open air.

On the roof, I find a corner where I will be hidden from the countless prying eyes on the streets, and lie down. My eyes close, almost involuntarily, and I let out a small sigh. Slowly, as the night wind wafts gently around me, I begin to relax. Soon, I reach that state where I am half asleep and half awake at the same time.

After a while, my ability suddenly activates, and I get the premonition of somebody sitting down beside me. I instantly become wide awake, but I keep my eyes closed. The premonition showed someone sitting beside me, not attacking me, couple that with the knowledge that no sane person would be on another person's roof this time of the night, and there is only one person it could be. A moment later, I am greeted by the sound of footsteps coming closer. The footsteps come to a stop beside my head before the person calmly settles down beside me, making sure to keep a little distance between us.