Months had passed since Virno left the slums behind. As hunger and filth began to slowly eat away at his mental well being, he turned to countless avenues to make enough coin to scrape by. Street performances, construction work, and even stealing... Whenever he ran low on funds, he'd scan the area around him for potential profit. Each time, he would try to incorporate his new abilities to gain an upper edge in the task at hand, being ever so diligent so as not to arouse suspicion. As weeks went by, he became more and more accustomed to his power, gaining the habit of using it as an extension of his own body, as yet another part of who he was. Now, at long last, it seemed he had finally reached his destination.

Virno: Finally...

Before him stood a great manor, seemingly abandoned. It had been a couple of years since Virno had left, and it seemed that since then no new owner had been selected. Anya's garden was overgrown and full of weeds, and the courtyard where Virno used to train was, too, slowly being completely overtaken by the nature growing into it. As he tries to get inside through one of the front doors, he is held back by their locks. At least, someone had bothered to keep the place secured under lock and key. Although, they were not as thorough as they could have been...

Virno: There...!

Virno noticed that one of the windows in the upper floor had been left slightly open. Though impossible to reach for any human, he sensed the perfect opportunity to put his skills to the test. Placing himself slightly in front of it at ground level, Virno crouches down, as a circle of wind begins forming around his feet. In a sudden discharge of energy, the circle expands rapidly as it spreads across the ground, propelling Virno high in the air and toward the open window. With this boosted high jump, he is able to latch onto the windowsill with his hand, pulling himself up with ease.

Virno: Dad's office... Not a bad place to start.

He searches through drawers, bookshelves, desks... The dusty office was littered with all kinds of tomes and documents that had been left behind. The mess on the floor suggested Virno hadn't been the first to search through it... Indeed, chances were that others had gone through Charles' notes themselves, hoping to take for themselves what the cunning businessman had amassed over the years. Alas, Virno cared not for his father's fortune. What he sought was something far less extravagant.

Virno: Here it is.

Amidst a pile of discarded books on the floor lied a familiar journal. Virno grabs it, then clears the nearest desk to give him ample room to read through it. He flips through the pages, each of them containing the names and addresses of several of his family's servants. Some had permanent residency in their lands, but others whose services were not so recurrent would only visit at specific times. It was the address of one such person he sought.

Virno: Hope you still live there... I'm going to need you.

Ripping one of the pages from the journal, Virno folds it in half a couple of times and keeps it inside one of his pockets. Although he was satisfied with his finding, it seemed that was not the only reason for his return.

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For the remainder of the day, he walks through his old home's many rooms. Each of them bringing back memories of simpler, more blissful times. The dull lessons he cared not for, the scoldings from his mother, even the days spent longing for his father... He had come to miss all of that dearly.

As the sun begins to set, Virno takes a seat in Anya's garden. The red and orange skies brought a tear to his eye, evoking within him great feelings of loss... Of times that could never return. Even though his home was still there today... There would be no telling when a new family would move in. Would the garden still be there...? Would the home he knew and loved still be there, waiting for him? Or would it be unrecognizable, becoming someone else's haven, instead of his...?

Virno: No. None of this belongs here, anymore... Not I. Not what we've built. Not what we've left behind.

That night, Virno slept in his own room. His made had been made up -- this would be the last time he would be visiting his childhood home. As a matter of fact... It would be the last time anyone could ever walk through the same corridors and fields as he did.

Virno: My past... I return to this earth.

By sunrise, Virno was already standing in the middle of the manor's centermost courtyard, his entire body lit up with sigils. The patterns they evoked shifted erratically, struggling to rearrange themselves into a stable shape.

Virno: Mother... Father... What belongs to us, we shall carry ourselves. Everything else...

Then, a sudden burst of wind erupts from his core, creating a sphere of gust all around him. Slowly, the glyphs seemed to be reaching a state of stability. As their movements came to a halt and they arrived at a specific arrangement, the magic he commanded was exponentially magnified, expanding and twisting the sphere into a tornado.

Virno: Will turn to dust.

The skies above turn grey as minutes pass, with Virno still channeling his divine powers. The clouds darkened, as a raging thunderstorm formed above the manor. His tornado rose high into them, reaching absolutely massive proportions. At its center, immovable, serene, was Virno. Controlling the destructive force of the cyclone, which was now wide enough to engulf entire buildings, Virno razes his home to the ground. Structures are pulled up and ripped from soil, as were plants and any objects caught in its radius. A cataclysm of otherworldly proportions had been summoned, yet remained contained solely within the perimeter of the lands that used to belong to his family.

Virno: As your bodies return to dirt, never to return... So, too, should the shadows they used to cast.

It rages on for almost an hour, until there was nothing left in its wake... Only to disappear afterwards, dispelled by a completely exhausted Virno. As rubble and debris rain down from the skies, falling all around him, he collapses onto his knees, falling unconscious. It was difficult to tell if it took him hours or days to return to, but eventually, he did. Slowly rising from the ground, a circle that barely covered the entire radius of his body was miraculously untouched. All around him were piles of destroyed buildings, a completely devastated land. The moon was high in the sky, ushering in a night of peace and silence, in stark contrast with all the destruction that its bright white light shone down upon.

Virno: Hn-hngh...

Climbing past the rubble, Virno resumes his quest, his hand gripping the folded paper he had found...

Several more days pass. He looks down at the address, ensuring that he's at the right place, then promptly knocks on the wooden door of the house in front of him.

Man from behind the door: I'm coming...!

Virno couldn't help but smile... He recognized the voice almost instantly. The door opens.

Virno: ... How's that eye doing, Pocna?