~~~(Flame)~~~

"Flame!" Tuck exclaims when he sees me. "You're awake!"

"Nah, I'm dead," I tell him. "I'm just walking around because being dead is boring."

Tuck stares at me, then looks at the doctor.

"He isn't usually sarcastic," Tuck says. "Are you sure he didn't suffer brain damage?"

"My boyfriend's about to," I smack him in the back of the head, and he rubs it, then I look down at my lack of a right arm. "That was a fast adjustment. Guess Caleb's mentoring on stuff like that paid off."

"Caleb trained you for in case you lost an arm?"

"Couldn't use," I shake my head. "Though I guess it serves the same purpose, right?"

"Owen wouldn't tell us what happened," he says. "You've been out for a week now, and he's refused to tell anyone anything. In addition, Fuller Mansion is sealed up – no one can get in or out, and it's run out of electricity, so we can't even communicate with Jared or the staff that's in there. No one knows how much food they've got left."

"They store enough food on-property," I say. "To feed two hundred people for three months."

"Seriously?" Tuck's eyes widen in shock. "That's a ton of food!"

"It isn't the healthiest, but it'll work," I say. "Jared's probably fine – that particular manor only housed ten staff permanently, with the rest coming in for work from outside, and only roughly twenty in the building at a time, unless there were several around. I think, with the Sage's son there, they still only had twenty. So they'll be fine."

Couldn't Jared contact us? Why can't he contact us now? We spoke directly to each other?

Is there more to the barrier than I know? Some sort of lockout that happens after so long?

Trying to pull out my phone, to see if I can reach Caleb, I'm reminded of three things. I'm missing that arm, my phone isn't in my hospital scrubs, and Caleb is the Sage's son… and currently in kid-mode, until he reverts himself back.

His brother…

Something told me, after regaining access to my draconic side, that his brother, Nik, wasn't human. Or rather… he was as human as Caleb, but had full access to his draconic power, and all that came with it. He felt like a dragon, and the one within me burned at his presence, in fear and in worship, of the beast standing before me.

It was terrifying. Even with my new knowledge and power, I doubt I could defeat him. Is that what Caleb will be like, once he breaks those binds on him?

Speaking of this new knowledge and power, I need to test it out.

"Oh!" I realize.

"What?" Tuck looks at me, and I realize that I made a noise.

"Nothing," I say. "I need to test some stuff."

If Caleb already knows beyond all this, that means that he's probably been leading us to learning, realizing, and understanding this.

Unless there's far more to understand than this, I'm like him, now.

"How did you get out of the bed on your own?" The doctor asks.

"I pulled off the blanket," I tell him. "Then climbed out of the bed. Then, I located a scrub top, pulled it on, and walked out of here. Was it supposed to be difficult?"

"You also removed the monitors, I.V., and other stuff," he says. "Without setting off any alarms, and show absolutely no signs of any punctures."

"I heal fast," I tell him. "How long before I can leave?"

"We need to run some tests," he responds. "Make sure you're okay. Then, we can discuss your arm-"

"My arm is fine," I wave my hand. "See?"

"The one you're lacking, idiot," Tuck smacks me in the back of the head, then looks at me, concerned. "How did you lose it? Magical ointments and stuff didn't work. Owen wouldn't open his mouth for anything."

"It can't be healed or regrown with magic," I say that, but at the same time, suspect that Caleb and his brother could easily regrow it. "It was a sacrifice. I'll be fine. I need to get going, though."

They make me go through the tests, and after they finish, they reluctantly release me back to the GMDF, putting me on rest for a month.

As if that will work on me.

Back at the academy, they pull me into a briefing room to debrief me, and I tell them what information I can and want to give. I have no plans to tell them about Caleb being the Sage's son, nor about my sacrifice, what I gained, and Caleb's brother.

They really shouldn't know any of that.

When they pressure me into talking about the stuff I won't tell, I adamantly refuse, and the officer threatens to put me on suspension until I talk.

"Then I'll just quit," I stand, pushing back my chair and stretching. "Because it would be the same thing as a suspension, only without the ties to this place that I'd have while suspended. I'm not talking."

And Caleb's mentioned before that it's possible to bind someone into not saying thing. It's entirely possible his brother bound me to prevent me from saying those specific things, even though I wouldn't have planned on it, anyway.

"Besides," I say. "Hard for me to do the duty I'm assigned by a power higher than you when you're trying to tie me down."

"Really?" The officer folds his arms across his chest.

"Really," I say. "Jared was given absolute authority, where the Sage's son is concerned. He can override any order given, if it concerns the Sage's son. He ordered me to rescue him. Unless the Sage's son has been rescued, I'm technically still working for Jared, on the mission. So actually, you can't restrict me, anyway. And the information I have is classified above your paygrade. Well above it, actually, considering that it concerns personal information about the Sage's son and the Sage himself."

The officer gives up after that, because there is no way to prove me wrong without knowing the information, and I am on assignment from Jared, who does have that authority.

Not that they can verify he used that authority to give me an order.

Not with him being sealed in right now.

Back in my room, Tuck's waiting for me, and he asks how the debrief went. I tell him as I search for my phone, locating it in the closet, hidden under some stuff.

"Did you really think I wouldn't find this?" I ask Tuck, and he blushes. I dial Kieran's number, and it goes straight to voicemail. "Tch."

"What's wrong?" Tuck asks.

"Kieran didn't answer his phone," I call Brooks.

It keeps ringing, then goes to voicemail. I hang up, then call him back. The fourth time I call him, he answers.

"I'm in class!"

"Oh, right," I say. "You have a class schedule, there."

"Flame!" He exclaims. "You're conscious!"

"I've been out for hours," I say. "Do you know what's going on with Kieran? I wasn't able to get hold of him before, and his phone went straight to voicemail again."

"Hold on," his tone sounds dark. "Sir, permission to leave?"

"You may," an instructor says in the background. I don't recognize his voice, so he must be one of the ones they brought in after Caleb quit. "If any of you have an issue with it, you're free to leave and do five hundred laps on the track. His brother's been unconscious, after receiving injuries on an S-Class mission."

Air rushes past the speaker on Brooks' phone for almost a minute as a series of small snaps sound near him, then it stops. He's in a room of some sort, but not a very large one. It isn't in the main buildings, so likely one of the distant, isolated buildings, possibly a storage building.

"How are you feeling?" He asks. "They suspended Owen, because he refused to say what happened to you, but then it got reverted, when word came through that Jared had authorized the two of you and Kieran for some mission dealing with the Sage's son, and so it probably dealt with classified information, and that that's why he won't say a word."

"It does and it is," I confirm to him. "So do you know why Kieran wasn't responding before? Why his phone was going straight to voicemail?"

"Missing," Brooks answers. "Presumed dead. There was someone in town who was hunting and killing Superhumans. It's believed he fought Kieran, and they killed each other in the fight. An anonymous tip suggests he died. The killer was an escaped S-S Perception prisoner, formerly GSDF. He's not confirmed dead, all they know is that the one who gave the tip claimed so."

The one who gave the tip?

Someone powerful enough to put Kieran in a situation where he's believed dead, also killed?

Even if Kieran's S-A for Perception and A and S for his two elements, there isn't a chance in hell he could fight an S-S Perception and win, especially if they're armed and using aura as well. A former GSDF agent who reached S-S as a Perception would be overwhelmingly powerful against him. That's years – possibly decades – of experience that Kieran's natural talent wouldn't have made up, even with magic.

The only people I know of in town who would have been able to handle that man would have been Caleb and his brother. With Caleb being preoccupied, that means it was probably Nik who confirmed it for them.

I see no reason for him to have lied. He was… strange.

"Tuck," I look at Tuck, ending the call. "I may or may not disappear. I'm just testing something."

"Okay?" He asks "It wouldn't be the first time you used an illusion of-"

His words cut off to my ears as I appear standing in front of the gate to the local Fuller Manor, startling several GSDF and GMDF agents.

It worked! I'm like Caleb, now!

I wonder if that means I can teleport inside?

Actually, looking at the barrier surrounding the property… that isn't even needed. It was designed with the knowledge that no one would have the power to remove it. Not for a long time. It would need understanding like I have, now.

"Hansen!" An agent exclaims. "You're awake!"

"Uh… Colby?" I look at him, trying to place him.

"Major Colby Richards," he nods. "We met on a training mission a month ago. Glad to see you're awake. I didn't know you could teleport. How are you feeling?"

"I'm alright," I say, then look back at the barrier.

If it's active for more than twelve hours, it immediately enters a more powerful state, blocking off the entrance or exit of anything unnecessary. In other words, anything other than air. We can't even see inside of there, and Jared has likely had no electricity for awhile. Not unless they had backup generators.

They would have needed a water filtration system of their own, too, actually. It's possible they had both, though, since it's a Fuller property.

The barrier itself possesses a swirling, milky grey appearance, dome-shaped over the walls, but once it reaches the walls, it becomes straight, reaching several yards underneath the manor before turning dome-shaped again, encompassing the property in a pill-shaped barrier.

"I wonder," I place a hand against the barrier at the gate.

Deactivating the barrier without undoing it takes me several minutes, and once I finish, it fades away.

"There we go!" I say as the agents stare at me, then I stick my tongue out at them. "Need to find Jared!"

He was eating dinner. They definitely have electricity and water.

The moment I appear, he whirls around, knives flying at me, then slamming into a barrier I willed into existence.

"Flame!" He exclaims, eyes wide in shock. "You got in! Wait – how'd you get in? What happened to your arm? What happened to Caleb? How-"

"It's a long story," I tell him after weaving a barrier so his staff don't understand us and can't read the proper words from our lips. "And agents are probably on their way here, now. In short, the people who kidnapped Caleb threatened him to prevent Owen and I from fighting, and put something called a zieksharr on us. It locked all magic and aura, and can only be removed by the one who put it on. It's the same amulet they put on Caleb before they left here.

"Once preparations were complete," I continue. "They suspended Owen and I with chains, killed the one who placed them on us, then set the warehouse on fire. We were as good as dead, because I couldn't access my inner dragon with the damn thing on. I was, essentially, just a well-trained martial artist with it on. They left the city, and the rain washed away Caleb's scent, so it's not like I can track him down."

"Damn," he grimaces. "That's not good. We need to find him, and fast. And your arm?"

"Caleb's brother did that."

"Caleb's brother?" He exclaims. A lot of people are doing that around me, since I woke. "There's two of them?"

"Possibly more," I nod. "Nik kept referring to Caleb as his 'big brother'. He took away my arm in exchange for magical knowledge. It wasn't like how Caleb was teaching me – he was shortcuting education and training, possibly centuries' worth. I'm wholly a magician, now – what I learned and gained from that… I'll have to explain what's possible to explain, once the agents are done."

"Alright," he nods, then glances to the door. "We still have a few seconds before they reach the doors. Brief explanation?"

"Abilities are a shortcut to magic," I inform him. "And reserve a massive portion of the Superhumna's mana for using it. With my new knowledge and understanding of magic, combined with what he did to me, I'm no longer a Superhuman, my mana no longer reserved and the shortcut gone. However, I can still do the same things as I could with my Ability before, though on a much, much larger scale and in a much, much more efficient way. They're within hearing range."

A few moments later, three agents enter the dining room, then look at me in confusion.

"You really can teleport!"

"Short distance," I nod. "I can't do Caleb's funky long-distance teleport, though I'm sure it won't be long before I figure it out. I'm almost as cool as Caleb, now!"

"Was he wearing his ring?" Jared asks.

"What?" I ask.

"When you saw the Sage's son," he says. "He should have had a ring on his hand?"

Caleb's ring? The one he said he got as a gift from Teacher when he was ten, yet has a child?

"Yeah, he was wearing it," I nod. "Why?"

"It's made of a metal," he says. "I've never encountered. I put a small trace of my aura in it, when he came into my care. I can't replicate its properties, but have been studying it. It works as an aura trace, at the same time."

I'm not the only one who changed. Jared is very, very different than the kid I knew before this happened to Caleb – before he turned himself into a Reality Marble.

"As long as that ring is on or near him," Jared says. "I'll be able to trace him."

"I can probably do a ton of short-range teleports to get us there," I say.

"Good," he puts a hand on my shoulder. "Because we need to beat some sense into that kid."

He puts his hand on my shoulder, and the knowledge of where his trace is fills me.

"Bye, you guys," I wave to the agents, who start to say something, but then we're gone.

He's not much closer than he was before.

It takes two days of us doing short-range teleports. I can reach around ten miles, at the most, for the movement. We also have to stop to rest and recover multiple times.

Once we're within a single teleport's distance, we stop at an inn and check in, going up to our room to sleep and recover. When we wake, we eat a healthy meal, but don't fill ourselves too full.

"Ready for one last teleport?" I ask, and Jared nods.

I put a hand on his shoulder, then bring us to the safest spot closest to Caleb, but no closer than three feet, just in case.

"It's about damn time!" He exclaims when we appear, pulling the sucker out of his mouth. "Took you long enough! Oh. You lost your arm. What happened to it?"

"I count fifty," I say. "All Superhumans."

"Small fry," Caleb slides off the stool he was sitting on as we look around at the agents standing around us. "The big fry are all-stop pinging my mind, you overgrown lizard!"

Jared and I look at each other.

Overgrown lizard?

"Who are you talking to?" I ask as Jared assesses the guards around us.

Around twenty in this room of the warehouse. Looks like this room is solely for containing Caleb, judging by how empty it is, apart from food, a kitchen, his bed, and a couple of other items. Plus boxes and boxes of sweets, more than half of which are some sort of cookie.

"Some overgrown lizard that pings my mind once a day," he answers. "It's annoying, so I told him to stop. You! Get me cookies!"

"I thought you didn't like cookies?" I ask.

"He likes one specific brand," Jared waves a hand, and the top of a box splits open.

He flicks his wrist around, and a package of them flies toward us, landing in Caleb's open hands. Four small beads of metal zip into his pocket.

"Yay!" Caleb opens it.

"Ready to kick some ass?" Jared cracks his knuckles, and the guards' weapons fly away from them.

Anything metal that isn't on one of the three of us flies together, forming a massive metal giant, the same one that was attacking the barrier before.

"Come on, bitches!" He laughs. "You neutralized my Ability before, but you aren't this time!"

I throw up a hand, surrounding Caleb and myself with a barrier as Jared's giant goes on a rampage, the metal on Jared attacking everyone around him.

I know Jared's careful enough to not hurt us, but… better safe than sorry.

The rest of the 'small fry' show up, and are subsequently killed by Jared or his beast. Not even their Abilities allow them to hurt him. The only one who manages to get inside his guard and hit his body is repelled by whatever metallic property Jared infused his aura with, a faint, silvery gleam coating his whole body.

Caleb finishes off the last cookie as the last guard falls, and I release the barrier, Jared's power fading.

"Jeez," he inspects his sleeve. "They ripped my sleeve, the bastards."

"You can mend clothes, right?" I ask.

"Yeah," he stretches. "But that used up my stamina. I don't think I can expend the mana properly right now."

"No problem," I fix it for him.

"Show-off," he mutters.

"Hey," I smile at him. "Give it a century or two, and you'll probably be like me. Of course, I'll be even more powerful, but-"

This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

"Can you remove it?" He asks. "You don't have one, anymore."

"Caleb's brother removed it," I shake my head. "I don't know how to. Why are you so angry, Caleb?"

"He still owes me a pie!"

Caleb grabs the amulet of the zieksharr, then yanks it really, really hard. The chain snaps, then the amulet cracks under the force of his grip.

Oh.

He said I wasn't strong enough to break it.

Wait a second – shouldn't his draconic side have been sealed away with it?

Caleb huffs, a water gun forming in his hands, and he aims it at Jared.

"Pick a number, one through one hundred!" He orders.

"One," Jared looks like he's been through this routine before.

"Loser!" Caleb spits at him. "You always pick one!"

"It's the safest bet!"

"No, it's not!" Caleb exclaims. "It's a cop-out!"

He flips a coin into the air, then catches it in a swiping motion. He holds that hand up out in front of him, then opens it, palm-up, with the coin on top.

"Tch," he makes a noise. "Front-side. One squirt, it is."

He squirts Jared in the eyes, and Jared winces.

"Salt water," he says. "Not as bad as you've done before."

"Cop-out!"

"The more times one picks a number, the more likely the coin hits the side that makes that choice the bad one!"

"It makes it luckier to have it a good one!"

"You sprayed a hundred squirts of hot sauce in my eyes!"

"That was lucky!"

Caleb spins the gun on one finger, then aims it at me.

"Pick a number, one to one hundred!"

"What's going on here?" I ask.

"Water gun roulette," Jared answers. "Pick a number, then he flips a coin. If it lands front-side facing up, you get that many squirts of whatever's in the gun, which changes each time he summons or spins it. Sometimes, it's something okay, and not harmful, other times, it's pure agony. If it's flipside-up, you get the opposite number of squirts. The more times you pick a number, the more likely that coin flip makes you pick whichever would be more squirts. The more good liquids you get hit with, the more likely you'll get hit with a bad one. Our definitions of 'good' and 'bad' are flipped, though – the torturous ones are the ones he considers 'good'. Also, you have ten seconds to pick, or you automatically get one hundred squirts. It's impossible to dodge, too – they're homing, and they'll pass right through anything that isn't your eyes."

"I'm being nice this time," Caleb huffs. "So you could explain. Five seconds!"

"Oh, no," Jared looks horrified.

"One," I say.

Caleb flips the coin, then catches it. When he reveals it, it's flipside.

"One hundred!" He grins. "It's your lucky day! Yay!"

He pulls the trigger.

----------------------------------------

~~~(Jared)~~~

After Flame recovers from his very unlucky hit of very hot sauce, we make our way to the nearest manor of my family's, where Caleb promptly passes out.

Literally two steps inside the gate. He just collapses from exhaustion.

That, or a sugar coma.

With him, it's hard to tell.

I pick him up and take him to a guest room, then meet Flame in the family room. He's surfing the channels, and I let him know I'm making a phone call, then enter the kitchen and get started on dinner.

I have no idea how to cook, though, so it's really just something from a box with directions I can follow. Especially since we have nothing fresh in town. I dial Father's number and set the phone done, letting it run on speakerphone as I turn to look at what we have.

"Jared," Father answers on the first ring. "I heard Flame took down the barrier, then took you and left."

"We recovered the Sage's son," I tell him. "We're in the manor at Filstad right now. He's sleeping. He mentioned that only the small fry were there, which implies that there are big fry around as well."

"Ten S-Class Superhumans," Caleb says from the entrance to the kitchen, only normal. "All powerful. Nothing you can't handle."

"Is that Caleb?" Father asks. "He's there with you?"

"Yeah," I feel myself smiling. "He's back."

"Hey, Mr. Fuller," Caleb says. "Sensitive information incoming, call ending."

The call ends, and Caleb looks at me.

"This is an avatar," he says. "Caleb is still that little boy, and no, he didn't make me – the real Caleb did. I don't have any of his powers."

Then how did you end the call?

"He made you, stuck you in here, and made it so I can't sense you?" I ask, realizing that the little boy is still sleeping upstairs.

Meaning this probably is just an avatar.

"Yeah," he nods. "This body is basically just a storage for certain pieces of information, done as a precaution, in case of something like this."

"He knew this might happen?"

"That he might become a Reality Marble, himself?" The avatar asks, then nods. "Yeah, he did. He knew it was a possibility, since most of his power was bound, that he'd become one, after hitting Alkran with that meteor. He designed me as a filter and a storage for what the kid version of him would take in. He knew it was possible he'd be difficult."

"He expected to be reverted back to how he was before the Massacre?"

This is so weird.

"No," the avatar shakes its head. "He knew that if he turned himself into a Reality Marble subconsciously, as a result of the emotional state he was in, the source of it, and the high level of magic he used, that he'd become the boy he was immediately following the Massacre. He also knew that he would show up and take him somewhere safe, likely to you."

"This isn't the Caleb from the reports, though," I say. "According to Kieran, it's not like he changed much. And who is he? I'm assuming you're referring to the boy who brought him to me?"

"Yeah," he nods. "Unfortunately, Caleb didn't bestow that knowledge to me, so all I know is that he exists, but not who he is. Caleb is keeping his identity a tight secret, though he did let me know they're not brothers. I'm not sure why, though."

Did he plan on Nik showing up, and us learning he had a brother?

"And for the Caleb we're facing?"

"It's him," the avatar responds. "The difference is how he was treated after he was 'found'. The orphanage, in trying to let him heal, allowed him to become that shell. When they pressed for answers or therapy, he pressed back, and that resulted in this. They comforted him, but in a different way than you did. You became a big brother to him, and someone he could lean on and rely on. As a result, how he shaped in each instance was vastly different. You didn't give him time to feel down, when he was conscious, and so he recovered much faster, pushing past his trauma to keep smiling and having fun, for the memories of his brothers."

"Caleb knew that would happen?" I ask.

"Indeed," he nods. "Caleb is capable of distancing himself from a scenario, even if it involves himself and his mental state, to view how things will play out."

"And he knew that we'd end up here?" I ask.

"No."

"Then why are you here?"

"Caleb made me undetectable, unless I wish to be," he nods. I'm referring to the avatar as an actual person, now. This is soooo weird. "However, he didn't know where the kidnappers would end up, only that they would eventually come for him. Any information and knowledge relevant is in my possession. As a result, I was able to follow them here, and I knew that you would, eventually, arrive. So, I waited here for you. I also stocked the pantry for you. Caleb gave me all of his cooking knowledge, so I can prepare food for you."

He just wanted to annoy me, there.

"He gave you money, too?" I ask.

"Plenty," he nods. "He knew it might be awhile before he would willingly revert it. The boy you know as Caleb, and the kid he was before the Massacre, are two entirely different beings."

"What?"

"He knew that, as a kid, he'd find out fast what happened," he says. "And that he'd refuse to change back, because it was scary. Caleb knows how different he was, back then. Your teammate is hesitant in combat and when it comes to fighting or hurting others, and seeks ways to deal with situations in a nonviolent manner. The boy you have sleeping upstairs won't hesitate to enter into combat, and even starts it. He enjoys hurting people for fun – that's just how he is, as a kid.

"Know this," the avatar continues. "When he finally undoes it, the real Caleb will be changed as well. He'll be a mix of the two Caleb's – the real kid Caleb from after the Massacre, and this new one."

The avatar gestures with his hands, and a stack of files appear in his hands.

"These are all the people," he hands the files to me. "Who you need to know about, for the mission you're on. I'll start making dinner, why don't you go wait for Flame to return?"

"He's still here."

"He'll probably leave, once he gets over his excitement," he shrugs, and then Flame vanishes from my senses. "I gave him a magical augment, to allow him to return to base and grab Owen a bit faster."

"A magical augment?" I ask.

"Philosopher's Stone," he nods. "Caleb said that whoever would be protecting him might need it at some point. As Flame's a powerful magician, I felt it best to give it to him."

"Does Caleb know-"

"Caleb isn't aware," he shakes his head. "Remember, this is kid Caleb, and he's only in peoples' minds if he wants to be. Though I do have a passive Territory as well, and oddly, can't enter your mind or Flame's."

There are several things wrong with this scenario. Flame's mind shouldn't be sealed against intrusion, for starters.

And a Philosopher's Stone? Those are myths.

A stone capable of augmenting someone's magical powers far beyond their normal levels, to the point that even an ordinary magician could fight on-par with the magicians of old, and that a magician of old could essentially become a god.

The rumors of their existence have persisted for centuries, and no one really knows how they began. Odds are, magicians just wanted to make a claim that there was a way to become even more powerful, or to explain how someone suddenly and rapidly gained immense magical power.

Like Flame.

A Superhuman whose Ability faded away, turning back into raw magical power, his mana no longer on reserve. That's hard to believe, but his magic and mana are much, much stronger than they were before.

"Do you mind?" The avatar asks. "I want to get cooking, and only the chef's allowed in the kitchen when someone's cooking."

I have not a doubt in my mind that Caleb designed him to be able to kick me out, so I leave the kitchen and sit on the couch, turning on a martial arts show while waiting for him to finish.

Flame returns with Owen, looking a little exhausted as the avatar sets dinner out in the dining room.

"You two accept things way too easily," Owen tells me. "All this shit is just freaky as fuck."

"I agree," I stand and stretch. "But you know, that's just how things are, these days."

"It broke," Flame stares at the stone sadly, which turned to red dust, which then fades away before our eyes. "I used it up."

"It wasn't a true stone," the avatar says from the entrance to the dining room. "Caleb didn't want to risk it, in case it was stolen. It was missing several vital ingredients to become a true Philosopher's Stone, so it wouldn't last as long. Dinnertime."

We enter the dining room, and kid-Caleb is already seated, devouring an entire plate of chicken nuggets with fervor.

Please tell me the avatar didn't cut up, bread, and fry chicken just to make us chicken nuggets? I mean, there's also a salad and fruit salad, and some fries as well, but still. I can't believe he made nuggets and fries.

"Nuggets and fries?" Owen asks.

"Wow," Caleb looks at him. "You're an even bigger idiot in person than in Kieran's memories. Huh. Flame's mind is blocked to me."

He sniffs the air, then widens his eyes.

"Whoa!" He exclaims, running up to Flame and climbing on him until Flame awkwardly picks him up with his arm. They stare into each other's eyes. "How does it feel, having that power?"

"What power?" Flame asks.

"You didn't know?" Caleb practically yells. "WE HAVE SO MUCH TO DO!"

Owen and I both had to cover our ears at that squeal.

It takes us ten minutes to calm him down enough for us to understand him, after that. Apparently, someone with draconic heritage who's awakened their draconic powers can increase their draconic side, little by little, by using their draconic side and being draconic in nature.

Flame apparently hit twenty percent on draconic, enough to qualify him as a Territory. His mind's now blocked to other dragons, Territories, and Creators (though something tells me Caleb can ignore it, despite what his father thinks).

Even though Flame isn't a Territory, as he's not a Superhuman anymore, there were still some changes, such as Flame's mind becoming blocked off, and his smell apparently changed. I can't sense anything different, and when I look at the avatar, he just shrugs.

No help, there.

We eat dinner, then I give Caleb a bath and avoid his bubble attacks. Well, try to avoid his bubble attacks. I failed to evade even once, because he never misses.

So after I put him down for bed, I take a shower, then meet with the others, giving them the files to look over. The three of us, combined, will be able to take those ten on. Owen and I together can, though Flame would ensure his victory.

However, it would be best if at least one of us stayed behind, to protect Caleb.

"Well," I snort. "Protect them from Caleb."

"What do you mean?" Owen asks.

"Kid Caleb is different from our Caleb," I explain. "He's much, much more powerful, for starters. Some of his power was bound from birth, but after the Massacre, more of it was bound. This Caleb doesn't seem to have those additional binds on him – at least, not all of them.

"In addition," I continue. "Because his circumstances are different, so is he. He isn't in a shell, as you've noticed. He's not just excitable – he isn't hesitant to start shit. He's a goofball and a prankster, and isn't afraid to attack. He has several Reality Marbles suited for fighting, and trust me when I say, any enemy he puts into them will not survive.

"They're all akin to games, to him," I continue. "But even Kieran and I couldn't win them, whenever we randomly found ourselves in them. Caleb kicked our asses in them. A Creator is that far above anyone that it's impossible to win against them. The weaker Creators could still wipe the floor with an army of soldiers, and this isn't a weaker Creator – it's Caleb, an S-S-S-S-Rank Creator, even at only six years of age.

"So," I take a deepb reath. "We need someone here to protect others. Flame, you're about as childish as he is, do you want to stay here and entertain him? You'll probably have a better chance at controlling him if someone attacks than we do."

"Sure!" Flame grins. "Though I really want someone to attack me – I want to flex my new powers a bit!"

Of course you do, Flame. Of course you do.

After we finalize what will happen, Owen and I leave, making our way back to the warehouse, where two of our targets are waiting, along with around thirty more soldiers, all with some degree of magic or Ability, no doubt. As we enter, I weave a small opening in a magical perimeter set up.

"Do you know what happened yet?" One of the two S-Ranks asks the other.

"S-Ranks," the other one nods as Owen and I hide in the shadows, watching. "The strongest here wouldn't have been over C-Rank, like the rest of you. Two was all it took to overwhelm. Judging by the weaponry, it was likely one with immense strength, and one with metal Manipulation."

Or a massive giant made of metal, and a Metal Manipulator. Close enough, though.

"And they took the Sage's son," the second one stands up, stretching. "Either agents of the GSDF, or another force wanting to use him against the Sage."

"Sir!" One of the soldiers runs over to the two S-Ranks, holding something up. "It's broken."

"The zieksharr?" A magician walks over. "That shouldn't be possible – they're indestructible, a result of the ancient rituals performed centuries ago."

"It looks like something crushed it," the soldier says as I gesture to Owen to follow me, then walk into the area, sliding my hands into my pockets.

"Of course," I say, and eyes turn to us. "It was a boy who is more than sixty-percent dragon. All he did was grip it tightly in his little fist and pull, and it snapped easily. Even the most powerful of magics must bow to dragons."

"Who are you?" Guns and spells are aimed at me, but Owen and I continue to walk.

"Me?" I laugh. "I'm the single agent who took out the men here. We had a feeling at least one or two of the S-Ranks around would return, so I brought an A-Rank friend of mine. Owen? Do you mind lending me a bit of your power?"

"Sure," Owen puts his hand on my shoulder, and a current begins to flow through me.

"Stop!" The S-Rank who seems to be in charge yells. "Move, and-"

"Not going to move," I keep my hands firmly in my pockets. "Though by the time I'm done, only the two of us and the two of you will be standing. Then, you will tell us what your plans are, where your allies are, and who your boss is."

"Release him!" Someone yells at Owen. "Release him now, or I'll blow your brains off!"

His head explodes in a burst of electricity.

"My apologies," I say to the S-Rank in charge. "It appears someone here recognized us and knows what we can do. Allow me to introduce us. This is my good friend Owen, an A-Rank Electric Manipulator. I am Jared Fuller, son of Lord Jared, a Stone Manipulator on the Council of Dreams, and I am an S-Rank Metal Manipulator, unrestricted. Your guard – well, former guard – apparently knew who we were, and the fact that we are capable of performing a Unison Strike. Every single person here is a weapon to me, since humans have metal within them. All I need to do is use Owen's electricity, and I can torture you to death. I don't even need him to make your bodies rip themselves apart.

"Of course," I give him a smile, one likely akin to a reaper's cruel grin. "There's no fun in just killing you outright, so I'd love to toy with you. Plus, I need you two alive a little bit longer, so I can get answers out of you."

The S-Rank starts to say something, and I channel Owen's electricity through the metal of all the guards, moving it around. Their bodies begin to spark, then crackle, then explode. My metal bracelets morph off of me and fly around us at high speed, preventing even a single drop from touching us, then reform onto my wrists.

Owen and I watch the two S-Ranks, who probably want to rip us to shreds, now. I infuse the metal within them with just a tad bit of electricity, and they drop to their knees.

"Pathetic," I say. "That wasn't even a lot. I withstand far more than that every time Owen works with me."

For the next hour, Owen and I torture them, then once I'm satisfied, we kill them, and I pull out the phone of the one in charge and dial a number set into it.

"Any word on what happened there?"

"Yeah," I answer. "The GSDF agent who retrieved the Sage's son returned, killed the guards, tortured the two S-Ranks, then killed them. We'll be waiting for the rest of you. Oh, and bring your big, bad boss. It'll save me some work."

The phone shatters in my hand, and we sit down on some stools, waiting for them to arrive.

"You sense that?" Owen asks. "I count forty, all with high powers."

"So they kept some hidden," I say. "Likely A-Ranks, mostly. They're rare enough that the ten S-Ranks they have were likely all they had. They probably expect to wear us down with those forces."

"Maybe," He stands and stretches, and I do the same. "But they don't factor you into that. You're an S-Rank, sure, but you're something past that. Like… an S-S Rank. No… probably more like an S-C or S-B, if we have to do two letters."

He's right. I'm not on the level of many S-Ranks. Caleb helped me advance well past that, both before and after he left and became a kid. If ordinary S-Ranks had two letters, I'd probably be an S-C."

The Superhumans charge into the building, as well as the magicians, whose magic is weird. It's twisted, and tormented. They're more powerful than they should be, too.

This might actually be a problem for us.

Owen and I fight, but the manage to separate us, ending our Unison Strike. They have an S-Rank Metal Manipulator and an S-Rank Electric Manipulator, effectively blocking off our trumps of just killing them through their bodies' own metal and electrical charge, and we begin to wear out after only half of their agents.

I have to focus on their Metal Manipulator, and I know Owen's focusing on their Electric Manipulator, who's overpowering him.

Owen falls first, and ends up bound with magic so he can't fight back. I last a little bit longer, the Metal Manipulator's extra decades of experience giving him roughly the same level of power as me, but he has the aid of other Superhumans and some magicians to help him.

They bind me with magic, suspending both of us in the air, and then one of their magicians summons an actual fucking demon.

"I think," a man enters the warehouse, walking up to us calmly and casually, as if we didn't just wipe out a huge portion of his forces. "We'll have a demon bind you into our service. Then, you'll retrieve the Sage's son for us, bring him here, and-"

"You want the Sage's son?" A very familiar voice says, his smell filling the air and sending a primal terror through the dragon in me.

Fuck! I should've woken up my dragon to fight! I can still fight! Blargh! I can't get out of these binds!

I drop on my ass.

"Then let's tumble," that person says.

"The Sage's son is a small child-"

"Ha!" The newcomer laughs. "As if that was real."

I turn and look at the newcomer – Caleb, back to his normal self, his eyes glowing with the labyrinths of the Creators, a terrifying look in his violet eyes.

Just how much magic is Caleb using right now, for his eyes to turn violet again?

Caleb's wearing black cargo pants and combat boots, a navy blue tee, and a dark grey short-sleeve button up, unbuttoned, his hands in his pockets, some sort of tooth on a leather cord around his neck.

Did he trigger us into a Reality Marble without me noticing?

When did he do that?

"Are you religious?" Caleb asks.

"Kill him," he tells a guard, who then drops dead.

"Because if so," Caleb says. "Tell me which god you worship, and I'll tell you if they exist or not. Then, I'll allow you to say one final prayer, before killing you. I'm feeling merciful, right now."

I know the avatar said he'd be different, but this is too different!

"Kill him!" The man in charge yells.

"You're still thinking you can win?" Caleb laughs. "I see why you thought they were idiots, big brother."

What?

Big brother?

Isn't that the term Flame said Caleb's brother used? But this doesn't match his description of Nik.

"Allow me to introduce myself," the newcomer says. "I am Iinav Nomari, the Bringer of Faith. I will give you one final chance to tell me who you worship, and if they're real or not, and if they are, I will grant you one final prayer to them."

Uh… how many brothers does Caleb have?

"Quite cocky, aren't we?" The man in charge asks, then his body turns jet-black, before turning to dust.

"Shame," Iinav says. "Your faith wasn't strong enough, and it was to a false god, too."

The guards and Superhumans all turn jet-black, then to dust. Iinav looks at me, a small mile on his lips.

He smells so much like Caleb, I can't even distinguish the two of them.

"You must be Jared," Iinav looks at me. "My big brother's told me quite a lot about you. He didn't mention that your mind was sealed to us. In fact, he gave me some very explicit things you projected to him, as a result of him always being in your mind."

"Teacher sealed my mind to intrusion," I answer. "To prevent something that happened anyway. It was after he entered the state he's in, now."

"Ah," he says, a tablet appearing in the air in front of me. "I've downloaded all of the relevant information onto this tablet. This is about as much as I can interfere, though. Sometimes, we wish we were like Caleb. We'd be much, much more capable of interfering, then. Father's getting close to sensing me, so I need to leave. Farewell."

He vanishes, and the tablet remains hovering in the air for a few moments, then begins to drop. I run over and catch it, then begin to look through the files.

"Owen," I say.

"Yeah?" He asks.

"We have a problem."

"Isn't there always some sort of problem?" He asks. "Especially when Caleb is involved? Or his brothers, apparently."

"It gets worse," I show him the file I'm looking at, and he reads through it, then pales.

"Shit," he says. "That needs to get taken care of before we can return to the academy."

"Yeah," I say. "Let's head back to Flame, and let him know. We'll need reinforcements – probably Jared."

He nods, and we return to the manor, where another is sitting on a chair, watching some cartoon. This one is dressed in black and silver sneakers, a dark green tank, and a pair of black athletic shorts with a single, dark green strip down each side. He watches us as we sit down on the couch.

I seriously can't tell a difference between him and the other and Caleb, though his ocean-blue eyes also glow with a labyrinth. Is this a permanent state for them?

"Which one are you?" I ask.

He groans, smacking his head into his hand, and remains like that for several long moments.

"Uh… what?" I ask.

"Which ones did you encounter?" He asks.

So he's not in Owen's mind, right now.

"I encountered one named Iinav a little bit ago," I say. "Along with Owen, and Owen and Flame encountered one named Nik."

"Nik and Nav," he groans. "I'm going to beat the crap out of those two! I told them it isn't safe for them to flex their powers. Father will sense them."

"So which one are you?" I ask.

Before he respond, Flame comes flying into the room.

"Jared!" He exclaims. "You're back! I've been searching all over the manor! Caleb's missing! I went to check on him, and he vanished! I know you said it's normal for him to do that while setting pranks, but… are you another one of his brothers?"

"What happened to your arm?" This brother ignores the question.

"Huh?" Flame looks at his missing right arm, then back to the boy on the couch. "I met one of your brothers named Nikvar. At least, I think he's one of your brothers. You are a brother of Caleb, right?"

"You're all so dense," he mutters, then stands. "Anyway, I've already memorized the data on the tablet. Why don't you three get some rest? I'll reinforce the barrier around the property, so-stop pinging me, you overgrown lizard!"

Teacher appears in the manor, then looks around, confused.

"We're three thousand miles from where we should be," he says. "You shouldn't have that much dragon in you, your Ability has reverted back to raw magic, and you-" he looks at the boy. "Have some explaining to do. Why the hell could I sense a power akin to yours that isn't yours?"

"I'm not the one with magic sperm."

"What does that have to do with anything?" He asks.

"Wait," I realize. "You're Caleb."

"Yeah," Caleb laughs. "I'm back."

"Wait," Teacher says. "How did you know I had magic sperm? I don't recall ever telling you that!"

"Grandpa told me."

"WHEN THE FUCK DID YOU TWO MEET?"

----------------------------------------

~~~(???)~~~

Getting answers out of Caleb was as easy as ever, so I'm going to try Father. As soon as I can stop pacing around my island and breathing smoke out of my nose in my frustration, that is.

That was definitely not Caleb's power I sensed both times, even though it felt like it. There was something off in both incidents.

As soon as I arrived on-location, though, I noticed something was very, very wrong. Both times, a shattered dragon's soul had been soothed nearby, and both times, there was no trace of the being that did that.

Is it one of my brothers? Unless it's one of Father's brothers, it has to be one of my brothers – only we and Caleb have the power to sooth a shattered dragon's soul.

"Your uncle is quite agitated by your pacing," a voice says, and I turn to find Father lying on a pool chair, tanning in just his trunks and necklace. "He asked me to investigate."

I tell him what's going on.

"So Caleb finally broke past that bond, huh?" He asks. "His eyes will always be in that state, now."

"I didn't even mention that!"

"And?"

"When did you two meet?"

"What makes you think we met?"

"Only you know how he was conceived!"

"And?"

"And he knows at least the method in which I've conceived children!"

"He also knows that your mother's coming to this realm," Father says. "That doesn't mean we've ever spoken."

I scream in frustration. These two have met, and they have no plans on telling me how!

I swear, my family exists solely to annoy me!

"As for the other situation," Father stands up. "What you should be asking yourself is this, son: if you know for a fact that you've conceived a single child that way, how many do you really have?"

Then, he vanishes, as if never there, and I stand here in shock.

How many do I really have?

Do I have more than one child?

But how? How could they escape my notice? Both times, this power was far greater than Caleb could manage, and it was the soothing of the dragon that alerted me to their presence. Well, and what happened to Flame – that should not be possible. It would require a draconic body for a member of my species to perform. Specifically, our tail.

Unless…

I do have another kid, and he doesn't have the binds Caleb does. Though my son is growing closer to breaking free of them.

At least we're safe in that he'll never get into the Dragon King's Temple. One son with full power is bad enough, but two?

That would be an entirely different type of calamity waiting to happen.