Standing near the bed, Tercius took in the face that his father proclaimed as kin. Hair, forehead, cheekbones, nose, lips, jaw. It was uncanny how this intruder shared so much of with his father, once they put away that cloak that masked the man and actually confirmed it. I am sure the eyes match too. he thought. But for now they were closed as the man, the uncle, reposed and recuperated.

The actual reason for him being here was not to check up on his fathers brother. No. He came here for that cloak. It took him some time to actually put pieces together, but he was sure that his uncle had a much lower Mana pool the first time he saw him. Much lower. The man before his eyes had the Mana pool that neared his grandfathers, and Ciron was a man nearing his seventies.

The man before him was somewhere around fifties.

Yet, now that he had time to think about last nights events, he distinctly remembered and in fact confirmed with a lengthy use of Visualization that last night this man had a Mana colour much lighter in shade. I really have to find some way to make this colour schemes into a more numerical form. he made an internal note.

So he did the one thing he could to sate his curious mind, he came here and used Mana Sight on the man and all of his belongings. The cloak, while at first glance ordinary, stood out. Not as a lighthouse in a dark night, no. More of a firefly in broad daylight. Difficult to spot, certainly, and yet possible.

So while this interloper slept, Tercius took his time with his cloak. A payback for his actions is necessary, and while this doesn’t even come close, it’s a start. Tercius mused.

Using his regular vision, he saw just an ordinary grey cloak, that judging by its size and from what he saw when he took it off the man, covered a man from head to toe, leaving nothing exposed. The head was protected by a hood that could probably go all the way over the nose, and when the cloak closed, nothing underneath would be seen from any angle other than directly beneath. It had a pin just below the hood to firmly bind the two sides, when such a thing is needed.

And for all the quality of material, for he felt nothing so soft to the touch, in this life or previous one, it still appeared ordinary. No special symbols he expected, no Mana coursing through its weave, nothing. That is until he first touched it.

In that moment he saw the proverbial firefly.

As soon as his hand touched the inner side, under his Mana Sight, the whole thing looked like a fast burning fuse, only numbering in hundreds. It fizzled and a spark buzzed his finger, making him bring his arm back to safety. There was nothing on his finger nor the spot where he touched the cloak, and he took a moment to see what happened with Visualization.

What did just happen? he asked himself.

In his minds eye he saw the scene in slow motion, he saw his index finger brush gently against the inner side and then from him the cloak took, because he certainly did not give any, Mana. It looked like when thunder splits over the sky, branching out, with the main truck wide then split after split it got so tiny, it seemed non-existent.

Returning back to the present, Tercius once more looked at his finger, because he felt a numbing sensation spread over it, for the moment contained there. A taser? Interesting. He used the other index finger to touch the thing and the same thing happened again, which led him to the conclusion that the item somehow knew to differentiate Mana.

Mana has some sort of signature? Like a fingerprint? he postulated.

"How does it do that?" he murmured. Behind him he heard groaning, the man tossing and turning in the bed, probably having nightmares of being swallowed whole by the stone. The thought appealed to Tercius, as a slow wicked grin made its way to his face, as he made him way to observe the sweating man.

"You." his eyes cracked open no wider than a needle, yet he recognised Tercius. As he should.

"Me." Tercius said calmly, as the man started to get up.

"Father!" Tercius shouted, his head turning for an instant towards the open door. "He’s awake!"

"Where is my sword?" the man asked, his hand searching and not finding it where it usually was. He looked calm, Tercius observed, yet he could also see how underneath that bravado existed a crack filled with fear and terror that threatened to spill its contents.

His father came running in, from the sound of it the rest of the family close behind, and Tercius made his way to them.

"Can you give us some privacy everyone?" his father asked after a moment where the two brothers exchanged a long look, and Tercius went for the door and closed it much to the protest of his remaining family.

"Don't worry, I took his sword." he confided in a conspiratorial tone, a thin smile forming as he spoke. It didn't matter who the man was Tercius felt compelled to be antagonistic, and he reasoned it completely justified, from the way the man chose to come to their house to what he made both his parents and him go through.

"Well done my boy, now let us go and see that ceiling downstairs." his grandfather said with a smile as he took Tercius by the shoulder and asked for him to tell the tale of the previous night one more time.

Ciron found the whole story so entraining, probably because Tercius used Stone Shaping to do the actual "saving the day" part or in this particular case "saving the night". The older man had Tercius repeat the whole thing three times so far, and for some reason Tercius felt ready for three more, never tiring of telling it. The women that stood behind them rolled their eyes as they heard how the story changed with each new retelling, expecting fully that in one of the next versions Tercius would be a two meter tall three headed giant, that just crushed his opponent head on.

His grandfather used his Stone Shaping to raise the foundation below their feet, making it easier for them to reach the ceiling, and they repaired the work Tercius did in the past night, returning the ceiling to its previous pristine state, then sinking their impromptu platform back into the floor.

Both of them took their time to make sure no weakness stayed.

It was then that a sleepy Neiran came down.

"What are you doing?" asked the confused boy, standing in the doorway to the kitchen in his underwear, his usually messy hair even messier, eyes almost crusted over. Everyone just stared at the boy as if he grew a second head.

"Did you just wake up?" Tercius tentatively asked.

"... Mmmm, yes, and you will not believe what I dreamt last night..." Neiran answered all cheery and bubbly as he stretched his back with his arms raised high.

"Incredible. Just... Incredible." his mother said, probably recalling all the screaming and the noise made, yet still the boy slept though it all.

"Why do you all look like that? Did something happen?"

***

When his father came down he was in the company of his brother, and all present gaped at the similarly that bonded these men. His father young and beardless, and the new arrival older by a decade with a thick moustache and a finely groomed beard.

"This is Lux, my eldest brother." his father introduced the stranger to the household.

"Lux these are..." Septimus then did the reverse and introduced them to his brother, one by one.

His father left Tercius for last when Lux spoke, using an eerily familiar voice, yet with a tone so cold and different it sent shivers down his spine.

"What's your name boy?" Lux asked, suddenly seeming more imposing, yet it only served to inflame the bonfire of annoyance he felt for the man.

Tercius had to take a moment to go over what his brain came up with, from outright hostile to the overly polite and apologetic, finally settling on something.

"You may call me..." he made a dramatic pause, looking this new uncle of his straight in the eyes. "...Your worst nightmare."

When those words left his mouth, they no longer sounded so menacing when spoken with his childish voice. He heard the muffled laughter coming from behind him. Time and place guys, time and place. he complained internally. Aren’t we on the same side here?

"But I go by Tercius by day." he sniffed.

Lux stared at him, and he did not want to give the other man even a small victory, so Tercius didn't look away, nor blink. That lasted until the older man broke into a roaring laugh, showing his upper teeth as his head fell back and small stomach started bouncing.

"You are the one who did that to me last night?" he asked when he calmed down.

"You can't blame me, I did not hear you knock when you got in." Tercius said with all seriousness. "Ever heard of it? It's supposed to be polite."

The man cracked a small smile. "This child of yours has more spine than you do, little brother."

"..."

"Considering the position I found you in last night, one would wager you have none. So, maybe join an entertainment troupe? I heard they have needs of such a talent." How dare this man come here like this and then insult the person that saved his life!

"That's enough Tercius." his father snapped, then silenced his silent protests with a stern glare.

"Are you hungry eldest brother? It won't be like the food in the Capital, and yet it has its own charms..."

***

"So uncle, what brings you our way?" Tercius asked after a particularly long stretch of silence. The meal was over and his uncle made his compliments to the ladies at the table, when suddenly Tercius realized that everyone at the table felt a degree of fear towards this man.

Even his father.

Especially his father. Septimus seemed all prim and proper, yet avoided eye contact when Lux initiated it.

Lets see what is going on here. he thought to himself.

"I just came to visit my little brother and his family." he answered all calmly and confidently.

"Is that what this was? A surprise visit? Certainly original take on the surprise part." Tercius said, and he felt someone nudge him under the table. His family was staring him down, their eyes popping out with silent screaming, hoping for him to shut up.

"I had some family matters to discuss with your father." Lux emphasised the word in a way Tercius found curious, not exactly like it was meant to exclude them, but more like that it was a private matter, for special ears only.

Tercius opened his mouth to ask him how long he was intending to stay, when his mother pinched him on the thigh, and he had to stop to force down the sound that came up from the sharp pain.

"Thank you all for this meal, and brother I hope you rethink your course, if not for yourself, then for these children. Three beautiful children that have no notion of their last name. Think about it. I will see myself out." Lux said as he rose, and with a small bow he turned towards the door.

"Brother, I…"

"No little brother, no need for an answer now, I said think about it. I will be in touch. Good day."

"Wait! I just have one question. How did you get in last night?" Terscius asked, planning to make corrections so last night events did not occur again. His mind came up with many scenarios, from skills for manipulating stone, to flying through the windows on the top floor, even using magic as Perdy did with that box. He had to know, otherwise he would go mad with guessing.

"Please." he added when he saw the man thinking it over.

"I just climbed up the walls and over the roof, then jumped into your garden. I must say quite lovely what you did there, so…unique. But the windows there are large enough to go through." Lux answered and continued his even pacing, as his father went after him.

Almost all of the openings on the outside were made too small for even him to fit through and the amount of light that came through was very small, so he convinced his grandfather to make the ones that looked at the garden a bit bigger, and now it seemed that it came to bite him on the ass.

Before the door was even open, the man put on his cloak, and under Mana Sight Tercius saw the whole outer side of the clothing item glow for a moment, lines of Mana spreading all over the surface, then vanishing right after.

The part of the face that was visible under the cloak went grey, loosing all colour in an instant, while the cloak stated getting splotches of light brown all over, first one, then more, the stains multiplied, until the whole thing looked uniformly light brown.

And Tercius forgot to think about anything while that transformation occurred, staring transfixed, taking in as many details as he could. In Mana Sight he saw the cloak pulse a few times, the Mana it took from his uncle spreading all over, used as fuel for these changes.

What about his sword? Tercius suddenly remembered that he took it to his room earlier. Should I return it or?

Damn!

"Wait! Don’t go until I bring you your sword." he yelled and then running he got to his room, got the sword and came back.

"Here." he said and extended it towards the older man.

"...You can keep it," Lux said. "Consider it a gift."

Then the man took his leave, moving at a brisk pace he vanished between the neighbouring houses while Tercius and Septimus watched.

"Father do you think if I asked really nicely, would he swap this sword for that cloak?" Tercius asked his father.

Septimus gave him a tight smile and said. "Not for all the money in the world. But good eye, spotting that."

"Will you tell us what this was about?" Petra asked his father when they returned to the dining area.

"He came to convince me to return home. From what I could get out of him, it seems that he had a plan to lure little Tercius to the service of the Army under the towns Commander, then probably order her to relocate to the Capital, and Tercius would have been obligated to follow. At least I think it went that way. My brother was always a bit crafty, plans within plans sort of man. Who knows, maybe even this is part of his plan. Ughh, this is one of the reasons I never liked being around him. Once I found out this side of him... Well, I could never fully trust him again." his father explained.

"Why now? Why after all this time? What changed?" his mother asked.

"Brother said that my father had an... accident. He is in a coma, has been for a year now. Mother is now in charge, and she thought that once I knew, I might come back. Brother told me he had his doubts, that's why he mentioned his other plans for getting me to come back."

"He will not back down? Your brother?"

"... I don't know. I knew these people 15 years ago, now…"

"But what can he do? Drag you away against your will?" Tercius joked after he saw the gloomy looks on their faces.

"..."

A tingle shot through him.

"He would do that?" he asked suddenly worried of the possibility. To imagine the family without Septimus was impossible. "But... why?"

"Depends what he was ordered to do. But I think mother would prefer if I came back on my own. If what he told me was even the truth. As for the reason... I think she just misses me. At least I like to think of it that way. But who knows?" his father faded into a melancholic mood, and Tercius could not stand and just watch.

"So just go and visit her, what's the big deal?"

His father snorted. "If I go back, I would be pulled back into something I barely managed go get out of in the first place. We would have to abandon the life we have here, and go live in that den of vipers that stab each others back. My own father called me a weakling, someone who wanted to profit while keeping his hands clean, and I could not make him see. He could not see that rather than afraid, I was just not willing to do that."

"Do what?" Tercius asked.

"... I can't talk about that. Literally." Septimus said as he raised his shirt and pointed with his thumb on the small black dot that stood on his chest. Right around where the heart should be.

"What's that?"

"An oath." Septimus said solemnly. "Some call it a curse. Depends on the person and what it represents to them, I suppose. I agreed that I won't ever say what I saw, and... the other party allowed me to leave with my head on my shoulders, a courtesy made for my family."

"And if you do tell someone? What are the consequences?" Tercius asked.

"You don't understand, I can't tell. That is the consequence."

"..."

This is a lot to take in. Tercius thought.

"But now lets us talk of how my 10 year old son defeated the man almost 40 years his senior, and a celebrated warrior to boot." his father broke into a laugh that increased in intensity as the moments went by. "The look on his face when he saw you with that knife..."

All of the family had a little laugh at that, with Neiran and Aurelia standing confused in the corner, wondering what was going on.