Capítulo 17: Familiar Person
-Town of Voltin, Marx Volden, Right after Auric and Atlas left-
"Maybe I should go wish him luck for the rest of his test."
Ugh! What is wrong with me!? Why the hell did I kick him out like that… I'm a terrible father.
But still, who even is that Auric? He had the same name as him… last time I saw him was back then, right after Movia was found, pretty sure the king sent him to retrieve its treasure. Didn't he pass through this town then?
I don't remember hearing if he had kids or not… it's strange, Movia shows up again and someone carrying his last name appears.
"What was with that white hair anyway."
And why was he with Laloo, that note made no sense. none of this makes any sense… was it really safe to leave Atlas with him.
"Redfurn huh, maybe I should look into it."
I then heard a knock on the door… who could it be.
…
-Voltin Outskirts, Auric Redfurn-
"How sleepy are ya?" Atlas asked me.
Even though I had been awake for a whole 24 hours I still wasn't that tired, maybe that's due to the fact I'm being hunted right now.
"Not at all… why?"
"We got quite a long walk ahead of us, maybe around 40 kilometers."
40 kilometers! How far out of town does this guy live!?
"We'll probably get there just after nightfall if we keep up a good pace that is."
So I most likely won't get any rest until tonight… that cannot be healthy, but, what else can we do, we need to get as far away from this place as possible.
"There are several places we can rest at on the way though, I visited my grandpa often so I know the fastest way."
We soon exited the tunnel, this must be the overhang Atlas talked about, and… he was not lying, the view from up here was incredible. As I approached the edge it was almost a shear drop to the bottom. The ground was mostly covered by trees and on the horizon I saw a flat open area.
"Our first goal is ta make it into that break in the trees," Atlas said pointing at the flat open area I just saw.
"Well let's get going then," I said as I noticed a note hanging off a branch.
"Wait not yet." He said quickly.
I turned to face him, he was gazing out at the view, maybe the slight breeze and the morning sun is a bit nostalgic for him… soon though he walked over to a bush and reached his arm into it, pulling out something."
"What's that?" I ask
Atlas sat down on a nearby rock, he signaled for me to do the same. I walked over and sat on the rock next to him.
"Ya remember how I said I tripped on something that night."
"When Fraya left upset?"
"Yep." He said while breathing in, sighing in the process.
"It was actually her bag, she forgot ta take it with her."
Ah so that was her backpack, why did he leave it up here though, instead of giving it back to Kuga?
"About a month after the incident I snuck my way back up here, that's when I found it laying in the grass."
I wonder what's so important about it, it can't be that it's the last thing that reminds him of her.
"I was surprised at first, I planned ta hand it back ta Kuga."
"What changed?"
He then unzipped the front pocket of the bag, he pulled out a thin piece of square paper, it seemed to have writing on it.
"I saw this sticking out of it." He said handing it to me.
However, instead of just having writing on it, it had something else.
"What is this?"
"It's a Managraph."
Managraph? I've never heard of that before, but looking at it I got the basic idea of what it was, it had both a young Atlas and a young Fraya in it. The paper itself also had a slight glow around the edges, albeit very faint.
"This was taken by both my Father and her Father, the morning of our graduation. The same day she was attacked."
So this was when they were both 12 years old then, looking at it I could tell what kind of people they were, Atlas looked unrecognizable, in my opinion, he was quite handsome, it didn't even feel like the same person… if it weren't for that scar, he would have been popular amongst the girls… can't say the same for him now though, his hair was messy, his skin looked unhealthy, bags under his eyes, there were a lot of things. But, I know why he changed, I'm actually a bit scared about what would happen if he fixed himself up, that's too much-unwanted attention… sorry Atlas, I'll help you out when I understand this world more.
I then looked at Fraya, the only thing that noticeably changed was that her hair was a darker blonde and less knotted and messy. And probably due to the coma, her skin had lightened significantly, it was a surprise she was still alive. But that's not all, moving away from their appearances I could tell how close the two of them were. Fraya had her arm around Atlas' neck pinching his ear with a big smile on her face, meanwhile, Atlas had a face that screamed annoyance. Probably wasn't the first time she had done that.
I could make out multiple people to the right of the Managraph but I couldn't see their faces, however they were quite a distance away from them… maybe around a meter.
"You should look on the other side," Atlas said.
I flipped the paper over, this is where I saw the text, it read…
'Atlas… I wonder what I should get for his birthday tomorrow?'
His birthday was the next day!
'13 already, these 7 years flew by'
There seemed to be more written but it looked like it had been rubbed out, I couldn't make out what it said… 'Hold on, what's this.' I thought to myself, on the bottom of the paper I noticed my thumb was covering more writing, this said.
'I'm scared'
What?… scared, was this about the blade academy or something else… I looked back at Atlas, he seemed calm, it's not my place to push the subject so I handed it back to him, he returned the bag back to the bush… however, he kept the Managraph, instead he put it in something around his belt, it fit perfectly into the square leather case.
"I also found her journal in the bag, I didn't touch that, it's none of my business."
I could tell by the desperation in his voice that he really wanted to read through it, only because there might be information in there about who could have possibly attacked her.
"Hey it's fine, why don't you just ask her when she wakes up," I said standing up and smacking him on the shoulder.
"Yeah, you're right."
Is it too much of a sensitive topic to discuss with him, I'd rather he not dwell on the bad.
"Oh I almost forgot, look at this!" I said trying to change the subject as I grabbed that note off the branch and handed it to Atlas.
"This was left by Kuga, he's just telling us to follow the edge of the cliff until we reach the bottom."
After saying that we both picked up the bags we were carrying off the ground and started heading down the cliff. For the next 20 minutes, no one said a word, all we did was follow the cliff wall, it was like someone constructed a staircase into the thing itself. At first, we were heading back toward the Town but shortly after it started taking us away from it instead.
"I can see where we need ta leave from here," Atlas said as he pointed to a small break in the fence.
It was a weird sight, there was a tall metal fence that just stopped and continued, leaving enough space for a person to fit through. We quickly reached it and stepped through, officially leaving the Town of Voltin… I let out a sigh.
"Oh shit!" I said in shock, causing Atlas to turn around quickly.
"What! What's wrong!"
I had just placed my hand where my knife used to be and it wasn't there, you've got to be kidding me, how did I not notice this entire time?
"I forgot my knife."
"You idiot."
What the hell am I supposed to do, we can't go back now, it's not safe… where could I have left it.
I probably left it back at the Halls, they probably put it on the bedside table while I was out and forgot to take it when I woke up.
"You'll just have ta get a new one then—
"Oi, you forgot this."
I heard a voice say from somewhere in the trees. Looking up I see something flying at my head, I quickly catch it.
"What the hell! It's my knife!" I said stunned.
"Huh!" Atlas responded.
"Hup!" the voice said again.
I heard the sound of something heavy hitting the ground, I look around trying to find the source.
"I'm right here genius."
"Ah!"
I heard the voice right next to my ear, It caused me to jump back tripping over a log in the process and landing on my back.
"Wow, not even a thank you, rude."
Sitting back up I caught a glimpse of the person.
"Oh, you again." | "What are you doing here!" me and Atlas said over the top of each other.
The person standing in front of us was that same girl we first met back when we were heading to the Halls, the one that Atlas helped, she was also the person who needed help with that request… not to mention that time in the alley… what's she even doing here.
"Weelll, I went to go check on you but by the time I got there you were already gone, except I saw your knife still in the room, soooo I thought I should give it back." She said in an exaggerated tone.
Oh so she came to return my knife, that's kind of her… I stand back up, clipping my knife back onto my belt.
"Well thank you."
"There it is!" She said with a slight laugh.
Is she making fun of me? I'm not really sure, I looked toward Atlas, he looked kind of pissed, he was about to open his mouth.
"Get down!" She said aggressively but quietly as she jumped on me and Atlas pushing us down onto the ground into some bushes.
"Wha— "Shh!" she covered both our mouths.
What the hell Is going on? I could tell Atlas was trying to struggle out of her grip but, I couldn't even do anything, it felt like I was getting crushed… she was strong.
"They're sending out all of us just to search for one kid?"
"Yeah seems like it."
"As much as I dislike the idea of hunting a kid, I wish we could have done it without those royal knight bastards."
"Well to them, this is a serious threat, that eye and all. Everyone is scared of it."
I heard four separate voices in the distance somewhere, they were still incredibly close to where we were though, a few minutes passed until they slowly got quieter and quieter as they got further away. Once we couldn't hear them anymore the girl got off the both of us, she extended her arm out to me. I grabbed it.
"Thank you," I said as I stood up.
As I was brushing the grass and dirt off me I noticed she did the same for Atlas.
"Piss off." He said, slapping her hand away as he stood up on his own.
What's his deal?
"You good Atlas?" I asked him.
"Why would I be."
Why is he acting this way, she was only trying to help us. If it weren't for her they probably would have found us.
"Let's just go, Auric," Atlas said as he continued deeper into the trees.
I looked back toward the girl.
"Sorry about him," I said to her in a whisper.
"Don't worry about it." She replied.
We stood there for a few moments in silence.
"Well I need to get going, you should head back to Town, thank you for returning my knife."
"Mmh"
I then quickly jogged back to Atlas, from the look on his face I could tell that something was making him mad. But why, what did she do to him that would make him act this way?
…
For the next hour, Atlas kept getting increasingly mad, and I know why. Even though I told her to go back to Town, it seemed that she didn't do that. Instead, she was walking behind us, keeping a 5-meter distance, not saying anything. Atlas then stopped walking, she stopped as well.
"Why the hell are ya following us," Atlas said frustrated.
She tilted her head slightly in confusion.
"You promised to help me right?"
Oh, she's talking about that request.
"Huh!— "Uh about that, we can't, we didn't finish the test, and as you can tell, we had to leave," I said cutting Atlas off.
She gave me a look of confusion as well.
"You're heading to Clith aren't you?" she asked.
"Yeah, we are, how did you know that?"
Once again, she looked confused, this time though, she also seemed surprised as if I was stupid.
"Well, you're heading in its direction."
Oh yeah right… I forgot about that, but even still, we aren't official adventures so we can't help.
"And you don't need to be adventurers to help anymore, I called the request off, just means we won't get compensated."
Did she just read my mind, I was just thinking about asking that question.
"Even more reason ta not help, if ya can't even pay us then get out of here," Atlas said as he waved his arm in a shooing motion.
What the hell is up with him right now, why is he acting so selfish right now?
"But…"
It seemed she couldn't argue with that.
"Atlas how far away are we from the first break spot?"
He was caught off guard by that question.
"Well we've nearly made it ta the wetlands… so probably 5 minutes." He said, slightly confused.
"Alright how about this, once we get there we can discuss more about this," I said looking back and forth between Atlas and the girl.
"I'm fine with that." The girl said.
I looked toward Atlas waiting for his answer, it looked like he really wanted to say no. I started to get a little frustrated at how he was acting.
"Okay fine." He answered.
…
As Atlas said, 5 minutes later we arrived at a small cave that we made our way into, the entire area however, was still lit up by the sun, so it wasn't dark in the slightest. We all sat down on rocks, the girl and I sat in talking distance, however, Atlas sat quite a distance away, far enough that it would be hard to have a conversation… well if he really doesn't want to talk then I guess I'll do it.
"Before we start, let's introduce ourselves, my name is Auric, and his name is Atlas," I said pointing at myself and then Atlas.
Now that I recall, I don't think that she ever told me her name.
"I'm Aari. Haven't I told you?"
"No, you haven't."
"Well, that was rude of me, sorry about that."
She's surprisingly polite, more so than someone else in particular, I glance over at Atlas, he was doing something to his arrows… was he sharpening them.
"Anyway! I would like to know how you found us." I asked in an attempt to change the subject.
"Well after I left the Halls with your knife I was surprised at how many royal knights I saw. Some of them were complaining about having to hunt down a kid with white hair."
Wait, when did she see me with my white hair, wasn't it black every time we saw each other… but that still doesn't explain how she found us.
"After that, I noticed the knife started doing its thing."
Thing? Is it something different from what's been happening to me?
"Because it was made out of Manith the knife was connected to you by magic."
Connected by magic… how does that even work, is this another use of Manith that I didn't know about? That guy who told me about the collisions didn't mention anything about that.
"In short, the knife was trying to find its way to you. I just followed the directions it gave me."
It's amazing a knife can do that.
"I see.." I said, thinking of what to say next.
Maybe I should ask her for more details on this thing she needs help with.
"So Aari, what exactly are we helping you with?"
She sat there for a little bit, seemed like she was in deep thought.
"Weelll I was sleeping outside like usual when all of a sudden I was attacked, I kind of got my ass handed to me."
Is that all, she just wants to get revenge on these people… why does she need help with that though?
"But that's not what I'm upset over." She said quickly, not wanting to embarrass herself.
"Spit it out then hurry up!" Atlas shouted angrily, still sharpening his arrows.
I feel like he acts this way with anyone that tries to get close to him, he acted this way toward me when we first met, but even then it wasn't this bad.
"They stole my katana."
"Katana?" I asked.
"It's a type of curved sword, it belonged to my brother, so it means a lot to me."
Oh I see, that's what's got her upset… she must love her brother then to care so much about a sword that he gave her.
"How do you know it's at Clith?"
"They were bandits and I overheard them saying stuff about selling off a bunch of things there."
That makes sense as to why she wants to head there, best chance of getting her stuff back.
"So— "Here Auric catch!" Atlas said cutting me off as he threw something at me.
I caught it with my hand, it was a long cylindrical shaped object, from the catch I heard a cracking sound come from it. I unwrap the cloth surrounding what was inside.
"What's this?" I asked Atlas.
"They're crackers, found them in the bag Kuga gave us, it's a snack." He said as he started eating his.
It seemed he wasn't going to share any with Aari, well I know that we weren't prepared to have another person but he should still be considerate… not like I have the right to tell him what to do.
"Here take half," I said, passing Aari half of the crackers Atlas gave me.
"Tch!"
Yeah, I knew that would annoy him.
"You sure?" Aari said as I reached my arm out to pass them.
"Yeah go ahead it's fine, not that hungry anyway."
That's a lie, I'm starving to the point I feel like I'm going to die, I haven't eaten anything since those skewers… wasn't that like 2 days ago… or was it 3, I need to treat myself better.
"Thanks then, I'll take you up on that." She said, grabbing the half from my hand.
I then bite one in half eager to know what it tastes like.
"It's quite bland," I said.
It was nothing special, all it really tasted like was salt, and it was incredibly dry, do people really like this?
"Add cheese with it, makes it 10 times better," Aari said after having one herself.
"Cheese? How?" I asked.
"Improves the flavor basically, you can add things like meat or even fruit." She said.
So it's like a pick-and-choose food, if you don't feel like having meat on it you can instead have fruit, that's pretty cool honestly.
"Hey Auric, catch again!" Atlas said to me as he tossed something else.
I caught it again, but this time, they were clothes. It included: a pair of socks, plain black pants, similar to the ones I was already wearing, a plain white shirt, a dark grey long-sleeved shirt, and some sort of leather belt.
"What's this?" I said holding the leather belt up, showing it to Atlas.
"Ya wear it going from your shoulder ta the opposing hip."
Ah I see, I'm guessing I clip things onto this that I need easy access to, interesting… don't exactly have anything for it yet though except my knife.
"You mind stepping out for a second Aari?"
"Yeah of course."
I then watch as she exits the cave and turns the corner
"Why'd ya get him ta leave?" Atlas asked me as he took his shirt off.
"I can see your 5 years of work Atlas."
"That's a funny way ta put it." He said letting out a small laugh.
And it seems he hasn't realized that Aari is a girl yet, I should probably tell him.
"By the way, he is a she," I said to him as I took off my cloak.
From his reaction, I could tell I caught him off guard, yet he didn't say anything, he just continued getting dressed.
I then took off my shirt, I've been wearing this thing since I left Movia, it's a nice change to finally get something clean… I wonder though, how did Kuga know I was with Atlas, and what size my clothes were?
"Ya look like a stick," Atlas said to me.
"That… I can't argue with that."
Did he really need to point that out, I never learned how to work out, and I still don't really know what working out really is, maybe Atlas could help me with that.
…
We both had finished getting changed, I let Aari know she could come back as I was clipping my cloak back around my neck.
She walked in with a smirk on her face, seemed she was trying to hold her laughter in, did she overhear us or something… Aari then looked over at me, I assumed she noticed the tear in my cloak that was caused by Zath.
"Did you want me to fix that for you?" Aari asked, pointing at the tear.
I looked at it for a few seconds…
"No don't worry about it, I like it."
It is a shame that it's damaged but I would rather leave it how it is, I want to see Laloo's face when I show it to him… knowing him though he'll probably just give me a new one.
"I want it to be a reminder to not make the same mistake."
I would like it to represent my past fights, look back at how it was caused, and improve so it doesn't happen again.
"I like that idea," Aari said with a slight smile.
So I guess Aari is able to fix clothes, does she perhaps make them as well, maybe that's why her clothes look so unusual.
"Cut the talk we need ta go," Atlas said gathering all the stuff he had laid out on the ground.
I began to stand up myself, making sure I wasn't leaving anything behind and that my belts were tight, not to forget the knife as well. "Yeah, we don't have much time."
…
We all stepped out of the cave and continued on our way until we reached the Wetlands. "I see why they're called Wetlands now."
It was like a lake, except one you could walk over, there were large areas of water where we wouldn't be able to cross obviously, but there were also smaller sections where we could either jump across or just step across.
"Is this your first time seeing one?" Aari asked me as we continued stepping across the flooded areas.
"I never really left my house that much."
"Oh I see… do you mind me asking why?"
'What's with her sudden interest in me.' That is what I thought to myself, but, from the look in her eyes, it seems I struck a cord of some sort.
"I was stuck, unable to leave, wasn't until someone came that I was able to escape."
After saying that the footsteps behind me vanished, I paused and turned around… she was looking at me, a look of surprise but also relief, I saw her mumble something but didn't quite hear it. "Sorry, what did you say?"
"It's nothing don't worry about it." She said walking past me with a small smile on her face… 'what was that about.'
"Can ya hurry it up!" I heard Atlas shout from quite a fair distance away.
"My bad sorry!" I shouted back, I could see noticeable anger on his face.
Atlas is still quite a mystery to me, despite acting fine around me, if it's someone he doesn't know he tends to be quite rude. It makes sense seeing how he grew up but, Aari hasn't done anything to provoke him yet… maybe he's just shy or something.
Aari is even more of a mystery, why would she just join two random people on a long hike, doesn't really make all that much sense, however, it might just be because of desperation, wanting to get her stuff back and all.
Looking behind me I could barely see the mountain that Voltin was situated on, it had nearly vanished into the distance… but, we still got a long way to walk, got to keep my guard up until we reach the place.
…
it's been around 16 hours since we left Voltin and maaaaan am I tired. The sun had set around 5 hours ago and we only stopped three times throughout the entire day, the first time was right after we left the Town, and the other two times were when we stopped to eat.
-a little over 10 hours prior-
"So you're telling me the two of you want to become adventurers," Aari said in an extremely annoyed tone.
"Yes that's correct."
I was the only one that said anything, Atlas only sat there and avoided eye contact. We had both just revealed that we can't actually cook, well I can cook, I just don't know how to outside with no appliances.
"My lord, at least learn the basics of surviving in the wild. You're lucky that I tagged along." Aari said with her arms crossed shaking her head in disapproval.
"You know how ta cook," Atlas said this was the first thing he said since he told me to hurry up.
"Of-course-I-do!" she said slowly and mockingly.
This easily pissed Atlas off even more, it looked like he was about to get violent. "Atlas, can you just calm down for 5 seconds please," I whispered to him in frustration as I dragged him away from Aari.
After he got a hold of himself I walked back over to Aari and apologize.
"You need to stop apologizing on someone else's behalf, I won't accept one otherwise," Aari said to me aggressively which gave me quite a shock.
"But, I did just force you guys to let me tag along, so he has every right to be upset." She said disappointed in herself.
Is she beating herself up just because of that, she didn't really force us to take her, I myself agreed to it… I did force Atlas though.
I let out a sigh. "Don't worry about that, how about you teach me some cooking."
"Heh, I would love to," Aari said, a slight smile appearing on her face.
I then helped Aari in setting up what we needed, which surprisingly came from only her backpack… makes sense seeing I doubt Atlas would have bought things like that.
I then watched as she went through the many different ingredients Atlas had bought, placing the ones I assumed we were using on these plates Aari had also unpacked.
"Right! First things first. We need to cook this… now." Aari said enthusiastically.
She then started picking up random sticks and dry grass… perhaps she was trying to make a fire, I remember one of my books had the instructions for doing that, except I can't quite remember the details when it came to on-the-spot fires. I mostly used the fireplace back at the house.
"Can I borrow that knife of yours?" Aari asked me after she had set up what seemed to be a makeshift fire.
"Yeah sure, will Manith work though?" I said unsheathing the knife.
Maybe due to the properties of this metal, it may not create the sparks needed to set one.
"Nope, makes it 100 times easier actually… that's if the knife lets me."
Lets her? What does that mean…
She then pulled out something, which I assumed was flint… it didn't look like the rock though, it was too unnatural, and after just one strike with my knife, it instantly lit the grass and sticks on fire. It wasn't like the times I'd set them, Laloo did it differently as well, he used one of those wands to start the fire, however, he still used the sticks, grass, and leaves.
"Alrighty!" Aari said passing the knife to me and pointing her finger toward the flame.
I watched as the small flame immediately turned to a roaring one, it felt as if it would turn into a massive bonfire if it kept up like that… due to the heat of the flame I had to look away from it, from the quick glances I was giving I noticed it slowly getting smaller and smaller until nothing was left… there wasn't even a mark left by the fire.
"Uh… where did it go?"
"Hm!" Aari said caught a bit off guard while she made her way back to the ingredients we had laid out.
"It's right here?"
She raised a closed hand toward me and opened it which then erupted back into the roaring fire that was once on the ground… but, it was in the palm of her hand.
"How— how are you doing that?"
She gave me a confused look.
"You seriously don't know about Elemental-Type Magic?"
Oh so it's a part of that branch, I see, that makes a little more sense, still don't quite know how it works but I'm sure there are places I can learn about it… I'd rather not burden Aari with questions as I did with Atlas.
"No, I have!" I said quickly.
"Then why are you so surprised?"
Okay, she's definitely on to me, I'm not good with hiding my facial expression, I must be giving off a very obvious smile that I'm lying.
"Anyway hurry up and take this back." She said passing me my knife back again.
"Oh right my bad!"
I grab it out of her hands and sheathe it back on my newly acquired shoulder belt… well I think that's what it's called, that's what it looks like to me.
After that, I then watched her as she prepared the food we were about to have for lunch, first she cooked the chicken in one of the strangest ways I have ever seen, she had combined what I think is Wind and Fire together as it was floating above her left hand and somehow using the fire in her right to cook it… it was very strange.
While she was doing that I decided to get all the other things ready, which were things you would usually use for a salad, nothing too complicated, I use to prepare many different fruits and vegetables with my meals.
But other than that there was nothing else we needed to do except eat the food before it got cold. "Here, this is yours," I said handing one of the portions to Atlas while sitting down next to him.
"Oh, thanks."
"Aari made it so make sure you thank her later."
"Mmh."
Nothing much happened after we ate lunch as all we did was continue walking until we stopped to eat something for dinner, which was mostly done in silence for the most part, I was too busy staring in awe at how Aari was using magic while Atlas was doing his own thing minding his business. It wasn't until we saw a light in the distance that we started talking again.
…
-Present Time-
"Just a little further, that's grandpa's house," Atlas said not even panting from the amount of walking we had been doing across plains, water, and mountains. Meanwhile, I was on the brink of death, to the point my vision started darkening.
"Well, that's good… seems like Auric here has reached his limit," Aari said putting my arm around her neck to keep me standing.
"I… I can't feel my legs."
Damn! Who knew walking so far would be this bad, especially running on zero sleep as well, how the hell is Atlas able to do this without breaking a sweat… it's not fair.
"Might have ta carry him in a seco—
Huh? What was he saying, why did he stop… I can't move my body… did I pass out again, what would that be, like the third time in the last two days, I need to get a hold of myself.
"What is this?" I heard a voice say far in the distance.
Am I having another one of those dreams again… as I thought that to myself I instantly regained control over my body, I was floating in darkness, but I was standing on solid ground, I wasn't falling. I tried walking around, it felt gut-wrenching but it was possible.
"Is something wrong with me?" the same voice said, still far away from me.
Looking around I notice a difference in the darkness, I started making my way to it, there seemed to be a cold breeze wherever I was but I kept moving, increasing my speed as I got more and more use to the ground I was standing on, until I then reached the source of the voice… what I was staring at was something I couldn't quite explain. It seemed to me like I was looking through someone's eyes however, I was still in control of my body, I could still look around in the darkness, the thing seemed to be a picture of some sort… a moving one at that.
"Why are my eyelashes white?" the voice said again, this time right next to my ear. It was the same voice as one of the people in my dream.
'Maybe this is a memory of some sort' I thought to myself as I looked closer at the moving picture. It was of someone looking into a mirror at their eye. They looked around my age, maybe slightly younger. The colour of their hair was that of a dark ruby however, it also looked like it had a mix of blacks and browns in it, it was an odd colour… but the thing that caught my eye was the person's right eyelashes. As the voice said, they weren't the same colour as the rest of their hair, it was instead, a pure white, devoid of any colour at all… like my hair.
The person I saw in the reflection as well looked familiar, but I don't remember seeing anyone that looked like this, but me and him seem connected, my conscience is telling me that it was someone important to me, but my mind itself is lost, confused at this feeling. My body started trembling. It's a feeling I haven't felt toward anyone else I've met… I feel sad, for some reason.
"Ruric! dinner's ready!" another voice said, a woman's voice.
"Coming Mother!" The person said.
Ruric!? No wait, that can't be, Auric… Ruric, they are way too similar. What's my connection to him!?
My body started turning numb and my shaking arms and legs stopped until the feeling worked its way up to my head before reaching my eyes… my vision started becoming blurry again, and I was once again dropped into a state of emptiness.
"So you're saying this is the third time he's fainted in the last 24 hours?"
I heard Aari say as I slowly opened my eyes, being blinded by a bright light that was in the ceiling… they were heavy, they felt swollen, I tried sitting up but couldn't, I felt weak.
"Ya shouldn't move there Auric, you could die." Someone said… but it wasn't Atlas
"What— what do you mean I could die?" I replied nervously.
I remember that voice, did we make it to Felk, is that him I hear… I haven't seen him since I left Volden Markings, did he leave for his house the instance he dropped me off? And I'm not going to die due to lack of sleep right? Right?
"Not only have ya over-exerted yourself, but you're also suffering from mana exhaustion…. However… unlike the common cases where it's caused by the individual, yours has been drained by something…"
-Same Time, Somewhere Unknown to Auric-
"What a terrible father you are, you really want to defend a child that's not yours, I kind of feel bad for your biological kid now…"
That's what the interrogator assigned to me always said after he was done with me, I've only been here for maybe around a week but every day, for hours on end, they constantly question me about the mysterious white-haired boy that we all know by the name Auric.
"It's my job as the adult to protect the young." I mumbled under my breath as I let out a sigh.
They sure got some nerve putting me in these magic-suppressing restraints, do they really think I need magic to break out of these flimsy things… quite funny really.
"Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!"
It was about that time of the day… around midnight I believe is when the most dangerous criminals get questioned, but it wasn't regular interrogation, it was more like torture than anything else.
They've yet to do it to me due to my reputation… I try not to acknowledge it in fear that I'll become arrogant but it looks to be coming in handy, I doubt they'll even do anything to me physically. Well even if they did I could stop them, I need a plan before I try anything anyway.
As long as Thiza doesn't show himself I should be fine, I got ahead of myself back then thinking I could best him. He was still too much for me, I'm glad Auric got away at least… speaking of which, I wonder what he's doing right now, has he made any friends? I sure hope so.
"Here take this."
One of the guards had walked past and thrown something into my cell landing right in front of me, I picked it up and noticed it was a piece of parchment, it seemed new…
"Hm? What's this?"
As I opened it I realized it was one of those newspapers, I rarely read these things as they had little importance in my daily activities… 'but I guess there might be something in here that's useful' I thought to myself as I scanned its contents.
"What is this!?"
Something in it had caught my eye, I felt a burst of shock ring throughout my body which soon turned to nervousness and concern… it read.
—————————————————————————————————
-NATIONWIDE WARNING-
The long-forgotten ability has returned
The Prismatic Eye
Many of you may have forgotten the tragedies this power has caused across not just the Arc Empire but our neighbors as well.
However! Do not be concerned as we have the situation under control, the king has a message that needs to be passed.
~to all my subjects, if you happen to know of any information regarding this cause for concern, please send a letter to the royal guard or our most trusted Spectica, you will be handsomely rewarded~
With that please refer to the details we know of below.
The suspect's name is Auric Redfurn
Est 5'10
15 years old
White hair
Yellow eye
We are currently investigating the connection he has with the Redfurn family, there is no evidence of his birth.
Perhaps the previous Rank A adventurer Ruric Redfurn had kept this boy hidden due to the ability he possesses.
We thank you for your cooperation, do not worry as we will have this boy captured immediately.
—————————————————————————————————
"Redfurn!"
Ruric you couldn't have, didn't you only have 2 children, they're both younger than Auric as well. Did you really go missing that day, how could he just leave his boy alone like that for 7 years!?
This is bad, I need to get out of here right this instant, how did they figure out his name… must have happened when he was at the Halls, taking part in the test, they must have had his appearance before then as well.
"Why the shocked expression Laloo? I thought you didn't know anyone with white hair?"
Damn, it seems they outsmarted me, this must have been a plan of theirs, and it seems I've failed as well… don't worry Auric, I'll get out of here soon and come help, just hang on for a little longer. if you got his blood I'm sure you're capable of anything. Especially that goddamn inability on giving up.
It may be hard and you might be confused right now but I'm sure you'll figure it out, find people you can rely on, people you can trust. Being alone only gets you so far.
"Well looks like we have more questions for you."
These guards are so annoying, I've been playing dumb so I didn't cause trouble for Auric, but it seems I've gone and blown it… for now I'll come up with a plan on how to break out of here, shouldn't be too hard with my physical strength, magic isn't needed for what I'm about to do.
"Alright, sure." Laloo replied… a slight smirk appearing on his face.
PENSAMENTOS DOS CRIADORES 
Baitozz
Baitozz Damn i wonder what our boy Laloo's got planned, he ain't taken nothing in prison.
Auric gotta hurry up and stop passing out fr, bro is clueless on what's going on.
Atlas needs to cheer up, all that negativity is poisonous to everyone else around him.
Aari... why did she show up by jumping out of a tree, a bit extra if you ask me.
Status de energia semanal
-- Ranking de
Poder 
-- Pedra de
Poder