“I see…” Ted, who was engulfed by the black flame, stopped screaming and heaved a sigh of relief despite the pain he felt.

He did not know what actually happened but he suddenly saw his life flashed before his eyes. For that reason, he now knew why he was so pissed when he saw the boy.

Because the boy reminded him of his past self.

What was the point in helping those children?

They would eventually betray you for their own selfish reasons, without a care or concern about you..

Just like what happened to me.

That was what Ted was thinking. He then closed his eyes, getting rid of these useless thoughts.

‘I’m sorry, sister.’

Bwoosh!

The dark flame continued to blaze as the boy was staring off daze, just standing still. Soon after, he blinked his eyes as he tried to gain his balance.

‘What was that?’

The boy was clearly confused as he grabbed his head with both hands. Something happened in his mind that made him feel a little dizzy.

When the boy stabbed Ted and the dark flame burned him, he saw strange things in his mind!

It was not something that he had experienced before. It was more like he was watching someone else’s life in a movie!

‘Wait... the people there called the person in that perspective ‘Ted’?’ The realization struck him.

‘Did I just saw his memories?’

“AAAH! DON’T COME!” Tank, who was the only one left alive from the hoodlums screamed in horror as he ran away from the room as fast as he could.

Tank’s scream brought the boy back to reality. The grimoire flew toward the boy and tugged the boy’s head with its pages as it wrote something.

“We have to go now, or we will be late to meet Lady Jade.” The boy answered while still trying to catch his breath.

Now that the feeling of adrenaline rush was over, he felt unbearable pain all over his body. He fell down on the ground, panting heavily.

“Ugh… huft, huft… Aargh!” The boy tried his hardest to stand up as the grimoire helped him. “Let’s go… huft, huft… I have to get to the promised place before I collapse. I feel like I’m going to reach my limit any time soon.”

The grimoire nodded, helping the boy to walk. Thunder flashed and from there, the boy could see something glistening on Ted’s body.

Although Ted’s body was burnt beyond recognition, the ‘thing’ that was glistening before didn’t seem that bad in shape as the boy was still able to perceive its previous look.

‘Isn’t that the thing that he always wore?’

The grimoire noticed it too, and flew to grab the shining item.

“Maybe it will be of use to me so let’s just take it with us first. And I also need to ask you about something later.”

Even though the boy was curious about the scenes that he saw earlier, he had a more pressing matter to take care of first. And that was to meet Lady Jade.

The grimoire nodded and continued to help him walk. When they reached the front door, he swiftly looked for some clothes to wear to keep warmth..

‘This should do it.’ He said as he finally found something that’s a bit warmer to wear than the tattered robe he wore right now.

‘This was Buckteeth’s.’ He thought as he wore it. ‘This cloth isn’t too oversized for me, it must be his.’

With minimal lighting, he couldn’t see what the clothes looked like. All he could feel was how thick the material was. That should be enough. He doesn’t care about appearance.

After putting on the clothes, he walked to the front door again, this time, painfully as he gripped the front of his clothes. Apparently, he had pushed himself too hard, causing the agony.

Creak…

Pitter-patter!

The rain was loud and heavy, swamping the boy in an instant.

Cough, cough!

The boy vomited blood as he kneeled weakly on the ground. The rain continued to wash over him and again, he tried to stand up with all of his strength.

The grimoire grew worried and concerned. It could do nothing but continue to help the boy. The two of them moved on, traveling through the dark and stormy night.

There was not a single soul outside, due to the heavy storm. It was actually near impossible for someone with an injured body like the body to venture outside in this kind of weather. But the boy continued to persist as he had only one thing in his mind. Again, that was to meet Lady Jade and be together with Summer and George.

He must do it.

This thought was what made him push his body to the absolute limit, despite all the injuries.

…

The boy was finally near the marketplace area.

‘Huft… huft… my consciousness is fading… Come on, just a bit more…’

Splash!

The boy fell into a puddle of water; he no longer has the strength to stand anymore.

Cough, cough!

He vomited blood again, making the puddle red with his blood.

The grimoire tried to pull him up, but it was in vain.

‘Just a bit mo...re.’ The boy fainted in the middle of the rain.

…

“Ugh…”

The boy tried to open his eyes. He could feel the headache as soon as he opened his eyes. He grabbed his head and clutched his chest in pain. “Huft… huft… ugh…”

He couldn’t even move his body because it was hurting all over. He endured the pain and tried to adjust his breathing.

He looked down at his body and was surprised to see that he was bandaged all over and had a new set of clothes on. It was definitely not his.

‘Where am I?’ The boy was confused. He looked around and found himself in an unfamiliar place.

With the ceiling above him, the fire on the candle lit swayed left and right on top of a small side bed table from the wind drifting in from the small holes in the wall. It made the smoke from the small candle slowly fill his nostrils.

But there was an unfamiliar smell that was mixed in with the burning candle. He looked around the room and found that the place was almost filled with paintings. It either hung on the walls or was placed on the floor.

‘What is this place?’

Whoosh!

Just as the boy was still contemplating the situation he was in, suddenly something flew in the room.

When he saw the ‘thing’ rushing in, the boy tried to sit up straight on the bed. “Oh, you are here too! Cough, cough!” The boy was so glad that he found a familiar face… or uhm, let’s just say that it has a ‘face’.

The grimoire started to worry when it saw the boy was trying to sit up. It quickly flew over and gently pushed him back down the bed.

“Don’t move! You’re still injured!”

“Ugh… I can’t! I have to go to Lady Jade!”

“No! You can’t!”

“What do you mean, ‘I can’t?!’”

The grimoire was silent for a moment and finally said, “Because you have been unconscious for two days now…”

“WHAT?!” The boy started to feel that his pain was becoming worse. Probably because the thought of never meeting Summer and George worsened the agony as tears began to drip down his cheeks. Soon after, he began to sob. . “Ugh… ugh…”

...

After some time, the boy finally calmed down. But he didn’t know what to do as he stared up at the ceiling with empty eyes.

“...Where are we?” He asked the grimoire.

“You’re in my house.”” An elderly voice answered from outside the door and not long after, an old man appeared in the room. “We meet again, kid.”

The boy was surprised by the man’s sudden appearance. He subconsciously tried to hold the grimoire to protect it, but the old man just laughed.

“Haha! If I really wanted that flying book, you wouldn’t even be here right now.”

The boy was confused, but after some time, he remembered something. “Yo-you are the old man that gave me bread and water before...”

The grandpa smiled gently. “Oh? I thought you wouldn’t remember me.” He walked toward the boy and stood beside the bed. “Yes, I was that old man.”