"They are all dead, every single one of my family", a sense of finality had set upon Noah.

The main family house was attacked while he was away on one of his training trips. He had been ambushed as well but was able to fight off the attackers. However he was injured and had literally crawled to the family house only to find it deserted. All of their guards had been slaughtered and Elijah as well as Tessa were missing. Xavier and Arthur were reported dead.

Joakhim had managed to escape, he had been hiding in one of the underground libraries, none of the assailants had ventured to search for him there, he saw Noah wandering around the house through the cracks in the ceilings. He had rushed to meet him only to find Noah bleeding profusely. He had tried to treat him with whatever medicinal skill he had. Noah also had a burning fever going on, Joakhim called his eldest son and together they carried Noah to their house. It was situated at the edge of the Great Forest, Joakhim took care of him for almost a fortnight before Noah gained enough strength to walk around, his calf muscle had been slit by the attackers, but thankfully it was a shallow strike and with the medication provided by Joakhim he was soon able to walk again. He however had to use a support to hang on to.

During these times Noah often used to sit by the window side, looking out into the wilderness, sometimes Joakhim came and sat alongside him and they talked about the old days, around this time the news about Elijah's death had also reached them and there were also rumours that Tessa had been forced to live along with the White Tiger clan's head, Yoshimura. Noah had almost boiled over in anger when he heard the news but an unsettling calm again set down upon him, but surprisingly what hurt him the most was the news of Levi's death.

Joakhim was astonished to find Noah crying by the window side one evening, he came and sat beside Noah and laid a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Master Joakhim, do you know how I got this scar?" He said suddenly and pointed to his neck, Joakhim shook his head. Not even Elijah knew how he had got the scar, besides Levi it was Noah himself who knew how it happened.

"It was the result of a test, a simple test, a test of loyalty", he said.

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"It was a sunny day, I remember, when I got this scar", he said, "Levi was out in the hills, the place he always used to disappear to. Father had asked me to search for him and so I had went after him. I caught sight of him walking a few paces before me and I started to run to catch up with him and at that moment I saw him die", Joakhim looked up in surprise at what Noah had just said.

"Die? What do you mean Noah?", he asked, unknowingly Joakhim had leaned forward, caught up in the excitement of the interesting narrative he was listening to.

"What I said Master Joakhim, he died", Noah again said, "He blew apart, literally, there was blood everywhere I threw up when I saw his disembodied head lying a few feet in front of me and right then a lady appeared."

"She was the most beautiful women I had ever seen in my life, with flowing blonde hair and startling blue eyes, she looked like a queen with a soft velvet cloak on her expensive gown along with a golden crown on her head. She had appeared out of nowhere and sat down beside the bloody mess in front of me, she put a hand on to Levi's detached head, it seemed to float in the air for a second before all the scattered pieces of him joined back, relief ran through me, I rushed forward to thank the lady but she turned towards me and lifted a warning finger.

"Don't come any closer" ,she said to me, "You have witnessed something you must never speak to anyone about, not even to Levi and in return I will make sure that you will someday get what your heart desires the most", as you can imagine a million questions were running through my mind at that time but she didn't let me answer even one, she struck out a hand and pointed towards my neck, "This will be a sign of our contract", she said and just then a burning feeling erupted from the side of my neck down to my chest, I felt that area and saw my hand being stained red with my blood, I almost collapsed right there, I was feeling dizzy but I still had to protect Levi from that crazed lady, I stumbled towards them

"Farewell brave one, I will be watching you and the loyalty you have towards your brother, will you give him up for what your heart desires just like my brother or will you stand steadfast in your loyalty? This will shape the destiny of this world, until we meet again", she said and vanished, I never saw her again in my life, I carried Levi in that bloodied state and refused to tell anyone about the incidents that day until now", Noah stopped at length, "To Levi I said that I had been attacked by a wild beast, he was grateful towards me for saving his life but from that day a cold distance started to take root between us, I admit it was mostly due to my jealously but I just couldn't accept the fact that he was the special one and not me". Noah trailed off as he looked out of the window once again.

Joakhim sat there dwelling on what to say and then finally spoke, "I wanted to tell you something as well Noah"