(Alex, 17)

"Milord," the butler bows after entering my office. "Sage Elena has arrived and wishes to speak with you."

Did Jason finally lock my mansion so that his parents ain't able to enter it at will anymore? I was ignoring her calls, and she normally just gates right into here.

I glance at Leviathan Alpha, who is drifting lazily in the air beside me. Though he's followed me since Jason created him after I was kidnapped and carved into as part of the trap for Jason, he doesn't normally show himself. As with most of the stuffie golems, he can conceal himself from my scanning spell.

Perhaps he's blocking her ability to enter.

"Show her into the drawing room," I look at the butler. "Serve her some tea as well. Use the relkrimma tea, it might be more to her taste. I need to finish up this paperwork before I can meet with her, I have a busy day planned and this needs to be done."

"Yes, milord," he he responds, then exits the room.

I return to focusing on this report. I'd rather not be doing it, but I put it off and Connor got upset with me last night. Then I forgot to do it before bed, so I'm trying to get it done before Connor goes off on me again. Or tells Jason to tell me to do it.

Why does being a noble come with so many reports? I'd rather be hanging out with the crew, killing monsters, doing some enchanting, training, or enjoying Jason's presence and his voice as he reads a story. Not doing some report about about…

What is this report about?

After looking over it once more, I still ain't able to make heads nor tails of it. After scribbling down some stuff, I put my pen down, then pick up the report. If I made a mistake, Connor will have me correct it later. It ain't my fault I ain't able to understand this stuff.

I walk to Connor's office and enter, setting the report on his desk before leaving. He's still sleeping, I think. It's pretty early, why is Sage Elena here?

With the report delivered, I walk to the drawing room, where Sage Elena waits, sipping on the tea, a surprised look on her face.

"What are ya so surprised about?" I ask.

"This tea," she answers. "It comes from south of Varil, doesn't it? I thought Connor was restricting the budget, yet I'm certain this cup of the tea is at least twelve hundred varru in price. Yet you're serving it to me casually."

That bastard. How many tens of thousands of varru did he spend on those tins of tea? Hundreds of thousands? Millions of varru, even?

"Is it?" I ask as I sit down.

"Yes," she answers. "I recognize the taste, though it's been a few years. I doubt the price has gone down at all since then."

The butler pours me a cup of the tea as well, and I'm sure he's doing his best not to be stunned at the price, either. My family ain't ever been able to afford such expensive teas, even before now. My butler's likely only ever thought he'd only hear about such teas.

"It was a gift," I tell Sage Elena. "From Jason. He didn't tell me it was expensive, only said that he thought I might like it."

Her surprised look returns, only to shift to exasperation.

"That boy!" She exclaims. "He went and did something absurd again!"

"Well, it is Jason," I say. "Though ya might want to talk to him about moderation in spending. He gave me four tins of it."

Sage Elena lets out an exasperated groan, setting her cup back on the plate before burying her face in her hands.

"Though I think he mentioned something about receiving a discount on it," I tell her. "Knowing Jason, though, he just meant he received an extra tin for free."

Still, I'm sure he spent at least a million varru on the tea. With how Jason acts, it can be easy to forget he's pretty wealthy. He earned a lot of money from helping the Sages make stuff growing up, stuff that Harold sold. Then there are all of his inventions and the patents he holds generating income. Yet when it comes to what he needs, he makes most of it himself from stuff he gathered himself. As a result, his expenses are pretty low.

"Knowing Jason, he probably did something for whoever he bought it from," she says. "Or received some of it as a gift."

"I doubt he'd gift away his gifts," I tell her.

"That is true," she says. "I did actually come here to discuss him with you, Alex."

"Ya did?" I ask. "Is it because of our relationship? We have kept things within code."

"Not that," she answers. "You didn't answer your comm plate, so I came directly. Jason was not at the house this morning, and he bound the stuffies into silence, meaning we can't ask them. In addition, he turned off his comm plates. Do you know where he may have gone?"

"Did you try his home?"

"There," she says. "And the Dragon Clans. We think he may have become absorbed in whatever project he was working on last night and forgot about his obligations for today."

"No, sorry," I tell her. "I ain't aware of what he's doing. When we talked before bed last night, he said he was going to bed, so if he started on something, he did so after that. Though him silencing the stuffies is weird."

"Yes, it is," she says. "If he contacts you, please tell him to call me."

"I make no promises about what he'll do."

"No one can," she snorts. "This is Jason we're talking about. There's a good chance that when we find him, he'll have gone and found another talking sword, blown up a city, wiped out a kingdom, turned a desert into fertile soil, or something else just as absurd."

"Maybe," I say.

Sage Elena finishes her tea, then stands.

"I will see you this evening," she tells me. "Enjoy your day, and be careful with that tea."

"Yes, ma'am," I say, then watch as she leaves.

I turn my attention back to the tea. Jason and I need to have a talk about him gifting me such expensive things. Once I'm certain Sage Elena has left the property, I pull out my secret comm plate and make a call.

The call goes through. After a few moments, it's answered.

"Boss is not available at the moment," an unfamiliar voice comes over the comm plate. "But if you would please leave your name and a short message, he may be notified of this at some point."

The voice sounds closer to the childish, higher-pitched voices of the stuffie golems, and something about it does feel familiar, even though I don't know it. That wording, though… Jason definitely told him to say that, that's a voicemail message.

"Alex, you can't just call and not say anything," they respond as I remember the voice I've only heard once, maybe twice. "Are you going to leave a message, or no?"

"Dragon Alpha?" I ask.

"No, my name's Dragon Alpha, yours is Alex," he says. "Now. Let's begin again. Boss is not available at the moment, but if you would please leave your name and a short message, he may be notified of this at some point."

"Is Jason on the Shattered Isle?"

"That is not a valid message."

"My name is Alex Levirar, and I need to talk with Jason regarding his gift-giving sense."

"Message accepted," Dragon Alpha says. "Have a good-"

"No, ya don't," I interrupt him. "Dragon Alpha, is Jason on the Shattered Isle? That's where he has ya, isn't it?"

"Boss isn't here," he responds.

"Why do you have that comm plate?" I ask.

"He gave it to me," Dragon Alpha says. "Woke me up from my nap a few hours ago and said 'here, take this', and then told me how to answer it and to take messages from anyone who calls."

"What's he doing?"

"I dunno."

"Ya don't know what Jason's doing?" I ask.

"He's not here," Dragon Alpha tells me. "Though some stuff is missing, so I guess he took them before he woke me up. That, or Niko. He was here earlier, too."

"Niko was?" I ask.

"His residue is a little older than Boss's, so he was here before Boss," Dragon Alpha yawns, which I know is intentional, they don't actually get tired or need to yawn. "I'm sleepy, Alex. Is there anything else? Otherwise, I'm going back to taking a nap."

"Ya have no idea where he's at or what he's doing?"

"No, I don't," he answers. "Bye, Alex."

He ends the call, and I sigh, leaning back in my seat. After a few frustrated moments, I put the comm plate away and take a sip of the tea. If he gave Dragon Alpha that comm plate, then he's intentionally fallen off the grid. And he did it a few hours ago, before any of us would have started to wake up.

"Alex," Connor enters the drawing room and approaches, holding a paper. "You did the report wrong."

"Yeah, well, ya should have told me how to do it right," I say.

"I did," Connor sits across from me. "You just forgot again. Don't look so exasperated, you'll get it eventually."

"I was lookin' exasperated already," I tell him. "I'm going to meet the crew and get some drinks. Jason's disappeared. Intentionally. That means he's up to no good again."

"He's disappeared?" Connor asks. "What do you mean?"

I explain what's going on, and he sighs.

"Great," he mutters. "What are you going to do now?"

"Find out why Niko went to the Shattered Isle," I answer. "I'll take care of fixing the report tomorrow, Connor. I've a full day planned for today, I ain't able to sit around too much. The meeting with Sage Elena and calling Dragon Alpha has already taken up too much time."

"So you're going to go ask Niko something?"

"That will take a lot less time than fixing that report for ya."

(Niko, 17)

"Hello, Alex," I answer his call.

"Ya ain't at your home."

"No, I left it earlier," I tell him. "You should call in advance if you wish to visit, at the least so that you know whether or not you will arrive and find me not there."

"I mostly wanted to ask ya something," he says. "I'm going by your place anyway."

"I see," I say. "What did you wish to ask?"

"Why were ya at the Shattered Isle earlier?"

Earlier? Is he referring to my visit three days ago?

"To pick up some stuff from its storage," I answer. "Jason granted permission when I asked him a few nights ago. The island contains a few supplies one cannot acquire easily, and I wished to use some of them in a gift for Lina."

"Of course ya did," Alex mutters. "Have ya talked to Jason since then?"

"No," I answer. "Why?"

"It seems he's gone missing," Alex informs me. "Not like last time, he did so intentionally. He silenced the stuffies to avoid having them tell his mamas and papas, shut off his comms, and the one we Magi commplate can contact was given to Dragon Alpha. That's how I know ya went to the Shattered Isle."

"I see," I say. "Jason did not deign to tell me his plans."

"Ya know him better than I do," Alex says. "Much as I hate to admit it, ya are his best friend, even if I'm his boyfriend. Ya would know better than anyone where he'd go."

"I might know a location or two," I respond. "I will check once I finish with my current plans."

"Okay," he says. "Let me know, would ya?"

"I will inform you when I finish," I tell him. "Goodbye, Alex."

"See ya," he responds, then ends the call.

I put the comm plate away and think for a few moments. Perhaps I should resume training later? Yes, I will return to training later. First, I open up a gate and step through, finding myself on the edge of the cliffs on the western coast of the continent. Then, I open up another gate, stepping through onto the sandy shores of the islands of the moon folk.

Rather than the usual shore, I went to one of the islands used less, and luckily, it appears no one is here at the moment. Stretching out my scanning spell, I look for signs of Jason's presence. Even when he hides himself from the scanning spell, I found a way to at least know if he is within it, even if his location will remain a mystery.

Once my spell encompasses all of the islands, I pull it back in. Though I possess the ability to stretch my scanning spell for miles, maintaining it that far puts too much mental stress on me. Fortunately, checking for Jason does not take long.

He is not here. I open up a gate and arrive at the dimensional entry to the Shattered Isle, then open it up and enter, flying to the island. Once I land, I push out the spell again. Thankfully, the island fits within a more comfortable range for me, even if it still puts a mental stress on me after awhile.

Jason truly does not appear to be here, either. I half-expected him to have bullied Dragon Alpha into lying.

Next, I visit as close to Steven's lair as I dare, and the dragon informs me that while Jason did stop by hours ago, he left shortly after. Judging by the regrowing horn on the dragon, I know what Jason visited him for.

I check a few more locations, but Jason appears to not be at any of them. If he went somewhere I cannot find, then either he went to the workshop of his that he locked his mamas and papas out of once he turned grey in magical power, or he went somewhere else.

Regardless, it worries me. Jason disappearing like that, especially intentionally, never bodes well. However, because Jason cannot be found if he does not wish it, I find no further reason to continue searching, so I return to the barrens.

Back to where I started, I open up the crate I pulled out before Alex called me, then pluck out a small, wooden ball from within it. I push into it a small amount of mana, then throw it, and the ball begins soaring around. I repeat this with nine more balls, then put on a blindfold.

Using my scanning spell, I target the balls and attack, throwing force magic at them in an attempt to knock them out of the air. Training this way proves difficult, but it will assist me in attacking targets unable to be seen with my eyes, especially when they move swiftly.

Jason made plenty of the balls for me, so I should have enough that even if I damage them, I may continue until the Garoyalan jeweler finishes the item I asked them to make. Hopefully, Lina will like it.

One of the balls strikes me in the left cheek, and I remember to focus on the task at hand.

It takes me many tries, but I manage to knock all ten balls out of the air. Using force magic, I pull them back to me, then activate them once more. I wish to reduce the time it takes me to take all ten out to under one minute.

My practice continues, with me replacing a ball anytime I damage one beyond use, and after nearly two hours of this, my comm plate alerts me to an incoming call. I remove the blindfold and strike down the last of the balls, then pull out my comm plate, checking to see who decided to call me this time.

"Hello, Kyron," I greet my apprentice after answering the call.

"Hello, Lord Niko," he greets me. "They told me they finished the item you asked them to make."

"Thank you," I tell him. "I will return soon to pick it up."

"Okay," he says. "See you soon, sir!"

"I will see you soon," I respond, then end the call and put the comm plate away.

I summon the balls back to me and place them into the crate, then place the broken balls into my spatial storage before sending the crate into it as well. Checking myself, I need a shower, so I open a gate to Jason's home and enter.

"Hello, Cody," I greet Jason's younger brother, who jumped upon seeing me step through the gate. "It is just me. I need to take a shower, and will leave after. Or would you like me to make you lunch once I wash up?"

Cody thinks for a moment, then gives me a small nod.

"Okay," I smile. "I will make us both lunch after I wash up. Do you know where Jason went?"

He thinks for a few moments, then shrugs, looking a little worried.

"You feel worried over him disappearing as well, yes?" I ask, and he gives me a worried nod. "You are not the only one, Cody. However, based on the circumstances, I feel much calmer than last time. Last time, Jason disappeared in order to recover. This time, it seems he disappeared to do something without any of us knowing what. So rest assured, I feel certain Jason will return here once he finishes whatever he left to do."

Cody nods, then I ruffle his hair before going upstairs. While my parents never ruffled my hair before, Jason ruffles Cody's all the time, as a way of showing brotherly affection to him and informing the boy that everything is well.

Upstairs, I enter the washing room and strip off my sweaty clothes. Even if I did focus on using magic, the barrens were quite warm and I did move around and exert myself some.

I send the sweaty clothes into my spatial storage and take a shower, applying holy magic to the single cut I received, a result of my own force magic striking me. Upon finishing my shower, I quickly dry off and dress.

Rather than my usual black clothes with either green or blue accents to them, this outfit consists of black pants with a light grey stripe two inches wide running down the outside of each leg, a dark red tunic, and a black leather vest.

Unlike most of the vests I wear when I do wear vests, this one is not a piece of fabric folded over, then stitched together on the sides, which is pulled on over the head, arms put through the holes.

Rather, it matches the style Jason wears, with a split in the front, which can be closed by lacing a leather cord through holes on the side of each flap. I suppose that is only natural, as a leather vest in the other style is difficult for me to put on.

Though this one proves a little more complicated than expected. I always struggle with lacing up the front, and while I could leave it open, I prefer wearing it closed. Once I manage to close the front of the vest, I pull on my belt and boots, both made of black leather, then fix my sword to my hip.

Stepping in front of the mirror in here, I use water magic to pull the fog away from it, then fire magic to heat it up to prevent it from fogging up more. My cuffs are hidden by my boots and the sleeves of my tunic, and I doubt they would look good with it. My rings are on my fingers, though, and I still wear the necklace Lina gifted me.

Something seems to be missing from this outfit. I fix my hair so that it is not simply drying however it is, but brushed and dried. Still, I cannot figure out what seems to be missing from my current outfit.

Perhaps I will figure it out later. It is not important until tonight, but I still wish to be dressed and ready for this evening, even if we only just reached lunchtime. Evening comes in Varilsy before it does here, which means that it will come sooner than expected if I think only of the time for my current location.

Nothing else today will ruin my outfit, and I doubt much time will present itself to me later to change into this.

Ready, I return downstairs and fix lunch for Cody and myself, using the rabbit he provided, along with some vegetables. With how happy Cody looks about the rabbit, I believe he hunted it himself, without supervision.

Jason will likely be proud upon learning of the successful hunt.

"Can you clean the dishes?" I ask Cody after we finish eating, and he nods. "Thank you. I will see you this evening."

Cody nods, then I open up a gate and step through, entering the Garoyalan castle. Kyron jumps upon seeing me, then follows me to the forge.

"Hello," I greet the jeweler, who bows deeply. "Kyron says you finished?"

"I did," he present to me the necklace.

From a mithril chain hangs a black mithril dragon, curled forward so that its tail reaches its mouth. A brown mithril thunderbird sits on the tail, its wings tucked in, facing forward. Small grey jewels make up the eyes of both creatures, sparkling gently in the dim light of the forge.

"Thank you," I tell him as I place the necklace into my spatial storage. "For making it on such short notice. The quality is as excellent as always."

"You're most welcome," the jeweler tells me. "You gave me three days to work on it, which was plenty of time. I have never worked with mithril other than the normal color before. Would it be rude of me to ask how you acquired such things, Great Benefactor?"

"They were altered magically thousands of years ago," I inform him.

Nolan never did tell Benjamin why he changed them, as far as my current recovered memories show.

"Well," the jeweler says. "Your girlfriend will like it very much, I believe."

"Thank you," I smile. "I hope she will enjoy it. I must be off, I have other things to attend to now."

"Goodbye," he bows once more.

"Goodbye," I tell him, then look at Kyron. "Thank you, Kyron, and goodbye. I will return to teach you more sometime in the next week or two, okay?"

"Yes, sir," he says. "You honor me with your teachings."

"I hate to see good talent go to waste," I tell him, then open up a gate. "Goodbye."

(Jacob, 17)

"Boss is not available at the moment," someone other than Jason says when he answers the comm plate. "But if you would please leave your name and a short message, he may be notified of this at some point."

I only heard Dragon Alpha's voice once, but I still remember it clearly. Jason gave that comm plate to the stuffie which guards the Shattered Isle.

"Dragon Alpha," I say. "This is Jacob Varil. Please inform Jason that I intend on thumping him in the back of the head when I see him next."

"Your message has been noted, and may be delivered to him if I remember to," Dragon Alpha informs me. "Is that the entire message?"

"Yes," I answer. "That is the entire message. Goodbye."

"Very well, then. Goodbye."

Dragon Alpha ends the call, and I shake my head, then finish changing into training clothes. Papa called me a minute ago to ask after Jason's whereabouts, after Sage Elena paid him and Lina a visit.

Whatever reason Jason has for disappearing before any of us woke up today, I feel confident his mamas and papas will deliver unto him quite the scolding.

Now dressed in training clothes, I make my way to my usual training grounds here at the palace, where Alex waits for me, already dressed in training clothes. He tosses me a wooden training sword, which I catch as I approach him.

"Ready?" He asks.

"Remember," I say. "No magic with this session, just me, you, and the training swords."

"Yeah, yeah, I got it," Alex says. "Let's begin!"

Alex attacks, and I deflect his attack, then aim at his side. He deflects that, and we begin our dance, our swords clacking against each other as we try and fail to strike the other. Feints and parries, quick steps and rapid strikes, yet no blow manages to land upon the other.

We spar for nearly half an hour before taking our first break, and as we walk to the bench, I look at Tasha, who arrived a few minutes ago and sat down to watch us, looking quite amused. At the moment, she wears a red dress with black accents on it, her earrings and necklace made of blackened metal with onyxes and rubies set into it.

As always, she looks beautiful.

"Did you really choose to spend today training?" Tasha asks.

"It is equal parts training," I tell her as I sit down and pull off my boots. "Testing my strength against Alex's, and proving that I possess the ability to last just as long as him."

"Of course," she smiles. "You must test your strength and resiliency against your rival. Of all the activities you could do, you chose this one."

"Worry not," I kiss her. "I have plenty of other activities planned for today, before this evening."

"Did ya two get grilled by Sage Elena?" Alex asks as I remove my tunic, noticing him doing the same thing.

"Yes," Tasha asks. "It appears she decided to ask everyone in his training group, beginning with those of us closest to him."

"I did not," I answer as I use a little water and air magic to cool off. "However, she spoke with Papa and Lina, and Papa asked me. It seems he left the comm plate we Magi may contact with Dragon Alpha."

"You tried to call him as well?" Tasha asks.

"I think we all did," Alex snorts. "The first thing any of us would try is find out what Jason's up to ourselves. I asked Niko if he knew what Jason might be doing, it seems he hadn't been spoken to yet. He says he ain't sure, but would check a few places and get back to me. That was a few hours ago, and he hasn't, so either Jason silenced him, or he forgot."

"Or both," Tasha says.

"Or both," I agree, then take a drink of cold water, before standing back up. "Alex, let us resume our session."

"Yeah," Alex stands and walks with me back into the center of the room.

"I will see you two this evening," Tasha tells me. "I stopped by to say hello, Lina and I will be in town."

"I will see you later," I tell her.

Alex and I wait for Tasha to leave before resuming our sparring session, both of us pushing even more than we did before. However, I can tell that Alex worries over what Jason decided to do which required him to disappear from us all.

This session, we push for forty minutes before stopping, both of us exhausted. It seems that as usual, neither of us can exceed the other. One day, I will defeat him fairly.

"Thanks for the sessions, Jake," Alex says. "I'm heading back home to take a shower and get changed. The crew and I have some plans for before this evening."

"Call me Jacob," I tell him. "We are in the palace, with others possibly around to hear."

"Whatever ya say, Jacob," Alex shoots me a cheeky grin. "See ya this evening."

Alex leaves, and I return to my quarters and take a shower. After drying off, I dress in an entirely-black outfit, before adding on a dark red vest with black wing designs on the sides and a pair of dark red cuffs to my wrists. My valet replaced the laces in my black boots with red ones as well, finishing the additions of color. I pull on my boots and belt, then fix my usual sword to my hip.

Many would likely wear a decorative sword to match the outfit, I would prefer my blade remain sharp. Yes, I could have commissioned a practical sword to match the outfit as well, but I will admit, I forgot. Too many things occupied my time and my mind these past few months.

Dressed and ready for the next events today, I exit my room. Upon stepping into the hall, I find Wyatt, Evan, and Eden standing there, waiting for me. All three of them are dressed in blacks and reds as well, all three with their swords on their hips.

"Everyone ready?" I ask, and they confirm it. "Good. Let us be off. We have much to do before this evening."

Hopefully, Jason returns before then. I hope he knows what he is doing, disappearing like this today.