"Hey! Who's there?" The voice of a man could be heard in the distance, a small light peeking through the hole of the hideout.

"Oh, crap, we've gotta run!" Mavis said as he clutched his journal tightly, peering through the hole to see a guard in the distance holding a lantern up.

The other got up frantically, exiting the small entrance one by one.

"Remember, one week from tonight," Mavis said quietly, sweating a bit.

"Right." The rest all said in unison, whispering.

The group scattered towards their homes as Mavis lowered down, quietly moving into the dark alley where he couldn't be seen. He listened closely to the frequent footsteps of the guard as the light from his lantern illuminated near their base, growing closer towards it. Mavis kept his back against the wall as he watched the guard barely pass him, not noticing him in the shadows of the alley.

"Phew." Mavis let out a sigh as he watched the guard pass by, completely unaware of the group's whereabouts in the darkness of the night.

He then quietly sprinted back to his home, climbing onto the crate as he tucked the journal into his shirt. Taking a deep breath, he hopped up, grabbing the side of the house and pulling himself up as quietly as he could. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the light from the guard's lantern turn the corner where his house was as he ducked into his window quickly.

Thud.

He fell against the floor of his bedroom, causing a loud noise to be heard throughout the house as he quickly hid the journal and dove into his bed. Clutching his eyes shut and covering himself with the blanket, he prayed that his parents wouldn't suspect anything as footsteps could be heard approaching his bedroom door, the lighter footsteps indicated to him that it was his mother.

Please, Please, Please.

His door opened gently as the footsteps now entered his room, he felt the presence of his parent behind him as he felt his heart race. He then heard a sigh from his mother as she walked up to his window, closing it before she began to leave his room.

"This child is going to one day let in some creature if he leaves his windows open like this." She sighed again before gently closing his door.

Mavis felt his heart relax as he let out a quiet sigh of relief, holding his blanket close to him as he began to fade away into sleep for real this time. Sleep was an event he looked forward to each night, as his dreams consisted of the outside world he imagined. A dream where he could finally be free to walk the world he was born into, see sights beyond those dreadful walls. Sometimes, he encountered a man in his dreams that he knew was Frederick, always taking a different form yet yielding the same role.

"To seize the peace that anchors you, to throw yourself forward into the unknown abyss before you, that is what it means to truly be human."

Words from Frederick's journal, spoken by this dreamlike imagination of him directly to Mavis never failed to fuel his motivation further.

The next morning soon followed as the sunlight beamed through Mavis' window directly onto him. Mavis yawned, stretching from beneath his blanket as he felt the sunlight against him.

"One week, huh." He said quietly, rubbing his eye as he sat up in his bed.

Hopping out of his bed, he peeked outside of his door to make sure his parents weren't around before kneeling by his bed. He reached under his bed, pulling out a green backpack before stuffing the journal inside of it.

I'll need some food and basic supplies, especially rope. Dad usually keeps this stuff in the back of the house. I'll have to wait for a good chance to grab what I need.

The days went like any other as Mavis watched the house carefully from within, taking any free moment he could to grab necessary supplies to bring with him. Everything was going smoothly, more so than anticipated. Soon, the final day arrived, the night of the escape. Going through his bag of supplies, counting everything to make sure it was there, footsteps suddenly became audible coming towards his bedroom as he hid the backpack quickly.

A soft knock was heard on his door.

"Come in," Mavis said, wiping the sweat from his forehead from the sudden scare.

Surprisingly to him, his father stepped into the room, adjusting his glasses and standing near Mavis' desk. He looked down at the magus grimoire he had open at his desk to study and traced his finger on some of the words, a small smile forming on his face.

"You know, they had us study this same grimoire, except I was a few years older than you," His father said softly as he turned back towards Mavis, who was now sitting on his bed.

Mavis nodded, wondering what the reason behind this sudden visit was as he looked at his father.

"As your parent, I couldn't be any happier to see you succeed where I failed. I guess it's only natural for the newer generations to pick up what we had dropped, but you really are a smart young man. I'm proud of you." He sat down next to Mavis on his bed, patting his back.

"Dad..what is this about?" Mavis asked quietly, a bit taken aback by the sudden doting behaviour from his usually strict father.

His father took his glasses off, looking out towards the night sky with a glimmer in his eyes from the tears he seemed to be holding back.

"I've come to realize that we all have dreams of our own. Dreams that nobody should ostracize, as those very dreams were what shape us. Which leads to a silly thing I've learned over the years. You can tell what a person's dream is just by knowing them well enough. With one look, anybody could tell Blanc wanted to be an adventurer and lead a life of exploration beyond the walls. Some people take a bit more understanding, however. I guess I'm going on a bit of a tangent there." His father stood back up and cleared his throat, putting his glasses back on. "I guess what I'm trying to say is, if you have a dream you care so deeply for that you would dedicate your life to it, then I won't have any say against it."

Mavis choked up a bit, feeling tears well up in his eyes as he turned his gaze away from his father to hide those tears. He didn't fully understand what his father meant that night, but something inside of him recognized the meaning of the conversation.

His father gave a wry smile as he looked at Mavis who was now staring at the wall, failing at hiding his tears as he sniffled. Mavis' door shut quietly before he turned back to see his father gone, wiping his tears away with his own pillow.

"Did he know? No, that can't be." Mavis asked himself quietly as he sniffled once more.

I think sometimes, parents just know something when their own child is going through something, by some pull of fate.