“Ah! Urie, dear! Where have you been!?”

—Mother's embrace was suffocating, I didn't resist as I could tell how worried she must have been when I went missing.

“Urie, you really shouldn't be troubling our mother like this. It'll be bad for her heart.”

—Eldest brother placed a blanket around me and mother. Although he was scolding me, his voice was soothing.

“Yeah, little brother! You should at least tell me where you're going before you run away.”

—Second older brother's showing a grin. He tried to lighten the mood but it seemed mother took it the wrong way. Ah, no, I guess I was wrong. Although she threw second brother a threatening glare, I felt the tightness of mother's grip loosen a bit.

“Urie! I heard they found him!?”

—Father... He appears quite unkempt. It's the first I ever so him so out of sorts. He didn't show this much of a reaction that time elder brother was attacked by that stray dog.

“It's okay dear, he's here. They found him by the fountain.”

Rivelle caressed Urie's head as she spoke to Gideon. The panic on Gideon's face visibly calmed down as he heaved a sigh of relief. He composed himself and met with Urie eye to eye before approaching him to speak.

“Urie, I'm glad you're safe, your mother would have been distraught if something had happened to you,” he said.

Rivelle smiled mischievously and leaned closer to Urie's ear, “Your father was pretty unsettled earlier when he heard you had disappeared. He dropped his bags and ran outside to look for you,” she whispered.

“Ah! I-I'm sorry father...” Urie stuttered, stifling the tears that had welled up in his eyes.

“Hah... Urie, son,” Gideon wore a stern expression, “In the future, I will require Vigril and Kyron's aid at the northern wall. I want you to stay here and take care of your mother, alright?”

“B-But father!” Urie raised his voice, only to withdraw reluctantly as he knew he musn't complain. Gideon spoke a bit with Rivelle and Urie's older brothers before sorting himself, and departed for the northern wall the next day.

Urie, as he was waving goodbye, had an idea of why his father didn't plan on having his help after he graduates from the academy. He'd heard from his older brother that children born in the Loeth house usually grow with a self-composed personality. He wasn't completely sure what it meant, but,

—That time older brother had been attacked by the dog, both me and eldest brother were with him... I couldn't move. I wasn't scared but I didn't know what to do.

Urie's thoughts at the time of the attack had fallen into disarray. His eldest brother acted quickly and drove the dog away but received wounds that appeared far too horrific for the six-year-old him. On his second older brother's face even, was a large gash that would turn Urie incredibly pale whenever he recalled it.

—I wasn't the one bitten nor was I wounded but I was the one that cried.

It was Urie's misconception. It was natural to freeze up when faced with sudden danger but for the young boy who looked up to his brothers, their actions seemed to him as if a clear line were drawn between them. Urie had hastily established that he was different from his brothers.

—Father does not want me at the wall. I wasn't born with a blue seed like himself or my brothers. He isn't expecting any help from me because...

Urie deemed himself unfit.

Cold skin and composure was a defining trait of a person born with a blue mana seed; the latter being a blessing fit for the commander at the northern part of Erden's Wall. Being calm when magic beasts are bearing down upon you, keeping yourself in check when sending people to their potential deaths— Urie shuddered at the thought.

Experiencing a mix of anxiety and self-deprecation, he slipped away from the house the day of Gideon's supposed departure, right after his older brothers informed him that they would be joining their father in the following years.

It was at Daerin's fountain he had gone to calm his agitation, to listen to the soothing trickle from the mouth of the winged beast, falling constantly unto the fountain pool.

- Age Seven – Urie Loeth -

*

-Age Ten – Urie Loeth-

Urie had a dream.

At the time he was seven, after hearing the news of magic beast attacks getting fiercer, his father had to leave for the wall. As a small form of protest, he left the residence without informing anyone and loitered around the city fountain. That was also how Urie remembered that particular incident a few years back.

He opened his eyes to the sight of his room's familiar ceiling. Locks of golden hair tickled his nose as he slowly turned his head towards the side of the bed. His mother was beside him in deep slumber, her eyelids appearing swollen.

—Did mother cry herself to sleep?

Urie felt deeply apologetic for he knew he had worried her.

“Daylight?” Through the softly swaying curtains on the windows, morning sunlight greeted him. Since when had he gotten to his bed? His memory was fuzzy as he tried to recount yesterday's events.

—Yesterday was the Harvest Festival, and I... I failed to form my mana roots.

His heart that should have dropped at the thought was surprisingly calm.

Urie felt neither sadness nor lingering indignance, as if they had all washed away. Then he remembered— last night, he was at Daerin's fountain. He should've gone home before dark, so why was it that he had stayed there? Urie scratched his nape, a faint tingle bothered him on the back of his neck.

Before he could recall, however, the heat from under his blanket had gotten past being comfortable and prompted him to get up from the bed. He walked towards the windows and pulled on the curtains to embrace the sunlight.

“Ah... can't use magic, huh.” he whispered, before hearing a yawn behind him. His mother had awakened.

“Good morning mother, did I wake you?” Urie said.

“Good morning, dear,“ Rivelle sat up and spoke with a soft voice. She appeared to still be half asleep and was rubbing her eyes as she mumbled, “Go call Patty and Ersha, let's prepare for breakfast.”

“Yes, mother,” Urie immediately answered and prepared to leave the room.

Rivelle was still seated on the bed with half-opened eyes, ready to lie down and indolently return to slumber. But when Urie was about to close the door, her eyes suddenly shot open. Her consciousness jolted awake and she stood up from the bed before briskly walking towards him.

She swung the door open and looked at Urie with eyes of deep concern. There were no words spoken, but Urie knew what was asked.

“I'm alright now mother, and—“ he paused as he had a sudden recollection.

—A red motif.

Of a strange sequence of events, one he could not wait to tell. Where he cried with a crimson-haired girl, met a mysterious spirit, and was awakened to magic.

Urie smiled cheerfully at his mother and said,

“I had a good dream.”