He had turned Eight two months ago and still was craving the day he would be able to see his entire family in the same place again. And that day was coming soon. Max awoke from his short 6-hour sleep and felt well-rested as he rubbed the remaining sleep out of his eyes.

'Seems like my magic still hasn't changed much in the last few months.' Max thought to himself as he went through his morning ritual of getting ready. It was an incredible sight to behold Max not only taking a shower and making his bed at the same time but also airing out the room and cleaning every inch of it in a matter of minutes. It didn't even take him saying a single word for the effects to be accomplished. All it took was simple hand gestures and a snap of the fingers and it was done. Almost... like 'magic'.

"Ta-Da!" Max said out loud as he looked over his handiwork once more.

It was immensely satisfying to wake up to a rain shower of magical effects. It was like a symphony in Max's ears as every spell came together to form a perfect harmony.

'So the cleaning charm on myself was a watered-down version of the cleaning spell used on the room. It could do with some improvement, such as brushing my teeth, though I suppose it is always good to keep basic human habits in mind. And finally, a few simple movement effects to get the air moving and it was finished. Fairly efficient though I think I could do it more quickly in the future. I just require more books to study...' Max thought as a dribble of saliva dripped down his chin at the thoughts of the wonderful books to be had where his siblings had gone.

Max continued his day by brushing his teeth and eating breakfast as normal and began to browse through his notes that he had been refining for quite a while. It was interesting interactions he had found while casting spells and the various reactions they had when cast close to each other. It was incredibly interesting through something that required years of study to understand but boy did Max have time. Two years to be precise.

'Should be enough for me to simplify some spells for my reduced Magical Reservoir...' Max thought as he scratched his chin.

The day proceeded as normal except for one strange oddity. Both Max's Father and Grandfather were in the household today which hadn't happened for nearly a year.

Max asked off from his studies as he wanted to spend time with them and since he was already ahead in his studies Sir Leon allowed it hesitantly.

Max made his way shortly after to his Grandfathers study to ask some pertinent questions.

---

Max approached the dark oak double doors that lined the wall of the office of Onyx Blacklock. The Black Steel knockers on the door stood out, especially since there were no knobs or keyholes to be seen in the door. It had been quite a while since Max had been in the office but remembered the time fondly as he was always studying with his Grandfather.

But something stopped Max from entering the room. He could hear something. Murmurs were coming from the other side of the door. Max slowly raised his ear to the door as curiosity filled him.

"-But Father he's a natural!" His father's voice echoed out dully. It seemed almost as obscured by something. Dampened almost.

"A Natural? That can't be possible. What type is he?" His Grandfather asked with doubt flooding his voice.

'What are they talking about?' Max thought as he listened closely, the voices slowly coming into focus.

"I don't know for sure... I believe him to be a Foci. It's almost the only explanation for why he can cast magic at this young of an age." His father said and as he did Max's heart sunk.

'Wait, wait, WAIT!" Max thought as his heart almost stopped beating entirely. 'This is bad. Real bad!'

Despite Max's fear he kept listening. He needed to know more. It was enthralling in a way, their words wrapping him around their fingers.

"A Foci. Hmm... It's not impossible. Rare but not impossible. He would be the first in the Lock family who has such a talent at this young an age." His grandfather said in return to Max's Father.

'Lock? Not Blacklock? Perhaps he is speaking of the main family and not us.' Max thought hopefully.

"The Madlock's are quite lucky then. We must train Max to the fullest of his extent then. He is already interested in magic and with our resources and his unique... talent, I should call it for magic. He should be able to contend with that Foci."

"Max has a talent for the magic you say, Father? How so?"

"He has an interest in knowledge. A thirst, you could say that even overpowers mine. That is a talent in itself. People have grown lazy with this technology." He paused.

"But he won't be able to cast magic at such a young age Father. What's the point in training him in magic?" Max's father asked inquisitively.

"That doesn't mean he won't find the information useful. And on top of that... Being a Foci isn't the only way to cast magic. There are... other ways."

"...???"

Grandfather sighed deeply before beginning to answer. But before he could start to speak he stopped abruptly.

Silence filled the air for a solid minute before Max felt magic energy surge around him.

Max innately sent magic outwards and tried desperately to ward off this strange energy before realizing what he had done. Lightning covered Max's body from head to toe but not a bit scorched or electrocuted him.

Max turned around, confusion written upon his face before noticing Sir Leon standing up with a sword pointed at Max from a great distance. Fire swirled out of the tip of the sword towards him and in a matter of seconds, the jets of fire came to a stop. His eyes, which were golden a moment before, dimmed down and went back to normal.

Max felt the lightning swirl around him keeping him safe before he felt his body running out of magic at an alarming rate.

'Shut it off!' Max thought to himself as he tried to control the rampant magic in his body but it just wouldn't listen. It was acting almost on its own as it drained from him until it was gone and then some. It had protected him but at what cost?

Max let out a light yelp before his body gave in to unconsciousness.

---

Max awoke to find himself once more in the medical room with Madam Stone staring over him, though this time she had no teapot nor concoction. And instead of being cheerful and carefree, her eyes stared at him, cold and calculating.

Max had not a scratch on him as he patted himself down and though he had very little magical energy he was still at full strength. He tried to get up to find that he couldn't. He looked down to find his wrists tied down to the bed that was floating in the air.

Madam Stone shook her head slightly and let out a sigh.

'She's not happy but seeing me use magic should be a good thing from what I overheard... Why has it turned out the way that it has.' Max thought to himself as he started to speak only to find that there was some binding keeping his mouth shut.

Max furrowed his brow as he began to think. He couldn't move whatsoever. He couldn't cast a spell if he wanted to unless he was incredibly talented in the soul aspect and even then...

'This is serious' Max thought before seeing Madam Stone stand up and leave the room abruptly.

Max was left with his thoughts for nearly an hour before Onyx Blacklock walked through the door with a large black cane in hand. His appearance was grim and he seemed off-put by something.

His grandfather stood and didn't sit down upon the velvet black chair that rested in the room and stared at Max harshly. He stayed this way for around half a minute before slowly beginning to speak.

"I am going to let you speak now. I have questions I want to ask and you must answer them truthfully perpetrator. If you don't it will not be pleasant for you to say the least.'

Max was about to nod before realizing that he couldn't.

His grandfather studied his expression that was locked in place before gently using the cane in his hand to make a gesture towards him.

Max felt something unlock within him as he regained the use of his head. He raised his head to get a better look at his grandfather before his eyes slowly gravitated towards the cane he had or perhaps the better term for it now that he had a good look for it was a walking stick or... staff.

It was about the same height as his grandfather and was made out of a gnarled-looking root of a tree that was pitch black. It twisted and turned into a rather long natural stick yet attached to the top of it, almost as if it had grown there, was a black onyx gem that was jagged and natural-looking. It didn't have a scrap of stone in it or Max would have thought it had come straight out of the ground.

'It looks like it came straight out of a Harry Potter book...' Max thought before testing his voice.

"Grandfather? What's going on?" Max asked hesitantly.

The look on Onyx Blacklock's face turned from grim to rage in a moment.

"I SAID TO SAY THE TRUTH!" He said before a lightning feeling jolted through Max's body, filling him with pain.

"Now. What is your name?" He said afterward, seemingly having instantly calmed down strangely abruptly.

Max thought for a second before coming to a horrifying realization.

'They know I'm not Max...'

Max tried to conceal his emotions before answering rather shakily.

"Maxwell Blacklock of the Blacklock Family"

Rage flooded his Grandfather's face once more but he calmed down once more after grimacing.

"Seems like you are not willing to cooperate. We will have to do this the hard way then. Madam Stone please come in and begin the process."

He said before tapping his staff against the ground entrapping Max's head's features once more.

He got up and left the room casually through anger could be seen deeply traced in his movements.

Madam Stone soon entered the room and moved the chair to the side of the bed with a single sharp movement of her hand. She then proceeded to sit down in the chair in a no-nonsense manner.

Max couldn't see her that well but he could feel her cold stone-like fingers on his chin slowly moving his face to face hers.

She stared at him. It was too intent for Max's liking but with the bindings on his body, he could do nothing but stare at his caretaker.

The look on Madam Stone's face evolved from one of utmost confidence to one of stunned silence over thirty minutes then horror over the last thirty. Yes, it was over an hour that she spent staring into his eyes.

'What the hell is she doing?! I'm going insane from waiting this long. Is she doing some strange method of torture?' Max thought to himself before his Grandfather entered the room, seemingly to get results.

He stopped in his tracks however when he saw Madam Stones' intense stare. In a matter of seconds, Madam Stone broke her gaze at Max and looked at his grandfather with her mouth open in horror.

"He is... Your Grandson. But his Mind is terrifying." She said as a shiver ran down her body. She snapped her fingers and the binds on Max were released and before he knew it he was pestering the two with questions with mild anger in his voice.

"Why the hell did you all zap me and treat me the way you did?! You seriously treat your family this way grandfather?" He asked as his anger started to begin building as he stretched his sore body. Being held in a suspended state was not good for your body.

Onyx had a strange look on his face as he looked at Max, scanning him up and down.

"It's not possible. No one of his age, even if a natural, could stop Leon's flame strike even at the lowest of its strength let alone breakthrough a top-tier sound ward."

Max felt a heat fill his body but he controlled his feelings as he looked at his grandfather with confusion in his eyes.

Onyx seemed to be getting more out of breath by the second as he gripped his staff tightly in his hand. He made an exaggerated gesture and at that moment Max felt the world go black.

It wasn't unconsciousness for he could still think but it was akin to infinite darkness where ever he was.

"Reveal. Your. Secrets. Who are you!?" He heard a deep growling demonic voice echoed through the infinite space endlessly.

Max felt his mind being pounded at roughly by energy that seemed intent on finding out what he was thinking but Max felt something stop it almost the instant after the force began. Then he was in his mind space.

Nothing was out of space yet everything seemed off to Max. He stared at the starry fields of photographs, some black and white, and others color. There were even some scrapbooks that spiraled through the sky.

Then he realized what was wrong. It was the fact that the grids were apparent in the sky and the walls which till this very moment he thought didn't exist.

It was massive, the space he was in, and he couldn't even tell how big the space truly is but something was happening to these walls and ceilings. They were being attacked.

'Should I just show him that I'm his grandson?' Max asked himself as he concluded. Even if it took revealing that I wasn't 'technically' his grandson I will reveal it to him.

Max felt that he could do anything in this space and for the first time since he had first stepped into his mind, he did something that he might have never had the ability to do again.

'Make this place open. Make this place free. Make this place spread out for all of eternity. I command thee!' He chanted in an almost song-like manner. And as he finished these words he could see that the walls and the ceiling had disappeared and the white nature of the Mindspace had disappeared instead of being replaced by a wide dark void. The pictures were now truly star-like as they stood out in their polaroid nature.

The force that was attacking this space of his stopped as it came crashing down from his defenses onto these pictures. In a matter of seconds, however, it all stopped and he was awake in the medical room once more.

He looked around the room in alarm and his eyes immediately locked on to his grandfather who was kneeling on the ground with his hand on his head.

"Agh!"

"Are you okay?!" Max said while running to his grandfather's side.

Max's Grandfather coughed in response, blood running down his lips onto his chin then finally dripping against the floor in erratic patterns.

Madam Stone, seeing Onyx Blacklock in such a matter, ran across towards him and began placing her hands on his temples. Moments afterward a glowing gold light echoed out of her hands and began to heal him strangely as his bloodshot eyes retreated to normality and his blood-stained lips became normal once more.

"Rewind in time for the faint of heart." She whispered as the damage had been reversed to mere moments before.

She took haggard breaths after she cast the spell which seemed to have taxed her immensely.

Max's Grandfather took a long laborious breath before issuing commands in the next.

"Send for a Sir Leon Maxwell. I understand who you are. You are indeed my grandson. But of different blood of me and your siblings. You are special. But hurry, grab Sir Leon and tell him to fetch the family healer at once."

Max nodded at the sudden calmness of his grandfather and made his way through the mansion looking for Sir Leon though he didn't have to go far before he tracked him down. He was in the main entry hall pacing gently.

"Sir Leon!" Max called.

Sir Leon turned his head in Max's direction with confusion written on his face.

"Grandfather told me to tell you to call for a healer for Madam Stone!"

---

After a few hours Max's grandfather was in a stable condition and what was going on had been explained to him.

He effectively was treated as an intruder by Leon because he broke through a high-grade audio barrier ward in a matter of seconds and seemed to bypass it instantly. This was something only capable by those proficient in wards to an advanced degree. Because of this, he was treated as an imposter. That was the gist of what was explained to him before he was pulled into the medical bay once more but instead of him on the white bed, it was his grandfather.

"Maxwell. I'm sorry this had to happen. Everything was so hectic but when you see a child casting magic there is very little hope in that person being who they say they are. The chances of a child being able to cast magic is one in a million but you seem to have some talent in it for some reason."

"I have some clues as to what you may be and I believe you to be a natural." He said with a certain level of finality to his words.

"Grandfather... what are you talking about?" Max asked with curiosity and fear etched inside of him.

'How did I accomplish those things they said I did without even thinking about it?'

'Am I a monster?'

'I'm scared...'