“So he’s still alive,” Ivan said with a little too much enthusiasm for Heimdall’s liking. Then he barked a loud laugh, one that came from the stomach, full and genuine.

“I don’t see why it should matter much,” Heimdall said.

Both men were seated on a couch in Heimdall’s home. In front of them, Jason stood at ease. Jason had returned from the expedition with Tulip and Francis a day ago and had been given leave to rest. Francis and Tulip, however, had been quick to report the death of two of their own. Kev and Lovina had been killed in the forest. It was tragic news, but not something unheard of. It was the life of a mage in this world. Death often walked hand in hand with them. Heimdall knew the two mages but couldn’t say their loss hurt him on an emotional level. He’d seen enough people die and had since grown numb to it. To him, a dead mage was a statistic.

Tulip and Francis had lost two friends. Heimdall had lost two mages in his army. That made the town’s security weaker.

It had been two days since Jason had returned, and now he was here to give his own take on the events that transpired.

Before them Jason nodded in response to Ivan.

“Yes,” he said. “We found him during the expedition. He was with a girl he says he met when he was coming.”

“He even got a girl to put up with him,” Ivan chuckled. “If that’s not luck I don’t know what is.”

Heimdall dropped his head in his hand and shook it in resignation. After a while he looked up at Jason.

“So, what else happened?” he asked. “Why did only the three of you return?”

Jason’s eyes darted to the side momentarily, reluctant to make eye contact. Whatever it was he was about to say seemed to bring him discomfort. There was an answer but he clearly didn’t like it.

“Ash and Oliver have chosen not to return,” he said, as if testing the sentence before proceeding. “Or, at least, if they are to return it will only be for a brief while.”

“Did they say why?”

“Yes,” Jason nodded. “They finally purchased a viable map. One from the VHF.”

Heimdall nodded slowly. He already understood the siblings’ reasoning.

“They are going to continued their search for their parents,” he said. It was not a question.

Jason nodded in confirmation.

“And the angry one?” Ivan asked. “Chris, I believe you all call her.”

“She has…” Jason’s words trailed off in uncertainty.

It was clear that he had the answer. The problem, however, seemed to stem from the fact that he didn’t seem to understand it. Whatever had happened with her still puzzled him.

Ivan made a gesture with a twirl of his hand, urging him to continue. “She has…”

Jason shook his head, as if he had just forgotten where he was and was pulling himself back.

“She has decided to go with Ash and Oliver,” he answered, still puzzled.

Ivan leaned back on the couch. He studied Jason’s still present confusion while Heimdall seemed to find something on the other side of the room interesting or distracting.

“I see,” Heimdall said.

“Yes,” Jason muttered.

“And this level of development will leave you without a team, if I’m not mistaken,” Heimdall said.

“It will,” Jason confirmed.

“You are a good mage,” Heimdall said. “But not so good that you can be left without a team. You will require teammates.”

Jason winced slightly at the words, as if the idea of replacing his teammates hurt to think about.

“Wait,” Ivan cut in. “What about Zed? Why isn’t he coming back? Is he going with the siblings, too?”

Jason shook his head.

“Let me guess,” Heimdall said. “He’s decided that he doesn’t like how we do things here and has decided to go with the VHF.”

Jason’s gaze shot to him in confusion.

Heimdall leaned back on the couch, emulating Ivan’s actions.

“It’s actually not that difficult to deduce,” he said. “Your team wasn’t the best to him, and I know how Ivan trains people. He does a really good job but he’s quite harsh about it.” he turned to Ivan. “If I’m not mistaken, I think your daughter was the only person around he could call a friend.”

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“Cindy’s friendly with everyone,” Ivan said. “And if he can’t accept how harsh the world is, then there’s no point in keeping him. We need strong people not people who want to be coddled.”

Heimdall smiled but there was something sad about it.

“I don’t disagree,” he said. “However… Here’s the thing. My wife once said that the world is a tough place to be in and we need tough people to survive it. However, we don’t need to be tough on people to make them tough, we just need to find a way to help them survive tough situations. If that makes any sense.”

Ivan grunted. If the sound was in agreement or not was anyone’s guess.

Heimdall turned away to look back at Jason.

“So,” he continued. “Zed is leaving us, too. It’s a testament to a lot of things if he believes the VHF are nicer people than us.”

“I don’t think that’s why he’s leaving,” Jason said.

“Really?”

“Yes. I think he got some of his memories back and is in the same boat as Ash and Oliver.”

“He’s going out in search of his family?”

Jason nodded.

Ivan scratched his chin in thought.

“I see,” Heimdall mused. He flicked something off the arm rest of the couch and frowned slightly. “It seems everyone’s going in search of their family. What about you Jason? You don’t have a team anymore, or to be more precise, your team is headed in another direction. You have family out there somewhere, don’t you?”

“I do,” Jason answered. “South of Idaho.”

“Is that where they were when the second awakening happened?” Ivan asked.

“Yes.”

“So you know where they are. The thoughts never crossed your mind to go find them?”

“It has… a few times.”

“But?”

“But going on a journey in search of them doesn’t really feel very logical. There’s no guarantee that I’ll even find them. If they are safe, my presence will change nothing. If they are not safe, my presence will change nothing.”

The response filled the air. It sounded cold, calculated. Heimdall stared at Jason with a mix of emotions. Not for the first time he remembered the boy who’d been sleeping in one of the old houses without anyone’s knowledge. He remembered the boy that had shown talent and promise with magic. Logic was always the concept people used to justify the actions they did not take.

A small silence stretched between the three of them. In the waiting room, with Jason standing as a soldier should while Heimdall and Ivan enjoyed the comfort of the couch there was something heavy in the air. Something unspoken. It permeated the entire house. It seeped into the walls and left them stinking of it. The stairs the led to the upper rooms were quite as it crawled up them to invade the rest of the house. It buried itself in the carpet beneath their feet and played checkers in the next room. It was their new companion.

Until Ivan dispelled it.

“The boy’s afraid!” he laughed in amusement.

Jason sputtered at the suddenness of the words. He opened his mouth and closed it, like a fish in water. In the end, nothing came out.

Ivan leaned forward with an amuzed smirk.

“Alright, kiddo,” he said simply, still smiling. “What are you afraid of?”

Jason met his gaze but said nothing. If Jason’s plan was to look defiant, he failed. Heimdall watched him easily. His entire expression seemed to be in agreement with Ivan’s words.

Jason was terrified. But of what?

“Talk to us, kid,” Ivan pressed. “I might have paid you back for saving Cindy all that time ago, but it doesn’t mean I’m never going to help you out again. What are you so scared of?”

Jason said nothing. His lips pressed into a thin line.

“You scared you won’t find them?” Ivan asked. “You scared they dead?”

Heimdall’s eyes glanced slowly at Ivan. It was one thing to fear something in the mind, it was another to have someone voice it out. In front of them, Jason remained standing.

“Come on, kid,” Ivan continued. “Talk to us. Who knows, we might just have the answer you’re looking for. What are you so scared of?”

A small silence stretched as they gave Jason time. It was not as pregnant as the one before. It did not slither through the house like an annoying guest with no regard for boundaries. Instead, it hovered around Jason, wrapped itself around him like a massive blanket.

“I’m a Rukh rank mage,” Jason finally said, hesitant.

“Yes,” Ivan urged him on. “You’re a Rukh rank mage, and…”

“And I’m not even sure I can find them.”

“So you’re not worried that they might be dead.”

Again, Heimdall spared Ivan a glance. He wondered why the man kept bringing up the possibility of them being dead.

Jason shook his head in response. “Not really. My dad became a mage with the first awakening so I’m not very worried.

“I see,” Ivan mused. “So your problem is with not finding them.”

“No,” Jason said. “My problem is with… the issue...”

Heimdall sighed. “Despite how interested Ivan may seem in this specific topic, you don’t have to say anything if you don’t want to.”

“No,” Jason shook his head. “It’s fine. If I’m being honest, I think I’m just scared that when I finally meet them, I might actually not make a difference.”

Ivan and Heimdall shared a look before turning back to Jason.

“So you think you’re not strong enough,” Ivan said.

Jason nodded. “Yes.”

“Even if you’re a category three Rukh mage,” Heimdall said.

“Yes.”

“You do understand that the next level for you is Bishop, right?” Ivan asked. “It’s quite literally the next category. Trust me, you’re plenty powerful.”

“Maybe,” Jason said, clearly not believing his own words. “But I’m not growing fast enough.”

“Category three Rukh rank in five years is plenty powerful,” Heimdall said. “Believe me. Growth is a slow process, slower even, as a mage. If we’re being honest, from the weight of your aura you’ll make Bishop in maybe another year.”

“That’s not fast enough.”

Ivan barked an incredulous laugh. “Do you hear that, Heimdall? It’s not fast enough.”

“Trust us,” Heimdall said to Jason. “That’s plenty fast. I knew a mage who got his powers with the first awakening. He's been a category one Bishop for the past four years. It’s not because he’s no longer growing but because growing as a mage isn’t as easy as some mages make it seem. It usually takes time. Growth is a slow—”

“Zed is already at category three,” Jason said softly.

His words sufficed to silence Heimdall. Ivan stared at him as if he had just told them that they were currently in an illusion of his making.

“You said what?” Ivan said.

“Zed,” Jason repeated. “He’s now a category three Beta mage. When we ran into him in the forest, his core felt as if it was broken, then he evolved to category two in front of us.”

“Category two in a few months,” Heimdall mused. “Well we don’t know what his level at category one was before then so…”

“A few days later,” Jason went on. “Two days later, actually, he goes into category three. He jumped two categories in a few months.”

Ivan frowned and turned to Heimdall.

“An advanced seal?” he asked, his tone serious.

Heimdall shook his head. “Unlikely. We would’ve felt it.”

“Not if it’s King rank.”

Again, Heimdall shook his head. “He’s too young to be King rank. And you know the rumors around King ranks. All the Kings had some kind of access to a mana surge. And for very prolonged periods of time.”

Ivan looked back to Jason.

“Here’s what’s going to happen,” he said. “You will tell us everything you remember about Zed’s growth, then we’ll talk about you and your desires to find your family, since we seem to be entering open season on family hunting.”

Jason nodded.

“But first,” Ivan leaned forward. “Zed.”