Chapter 1 -

"Narice!"

A voice echoes within a subconscious as it struggles to be. The ebb and flow of waves crash against a body within a wreckage- but the mind seems unaware. The body itself seems to be contained within a ball of light as it drifts along a an ocean towards an unknown destination.

"How did I get here?" the consciousness ponders to itself. It can't seem to remember. A dark fog seems to be covering its awareness as it tries to recollect anything about itself.

Suddenly a bright light appears amidst the fog and a landscape rushes into the figure's mind blowing away any dark fog within the room. an open sky among a field of corn comes into view.

He looks the source of the sound - a woman waving-the lips seem to be forming his name but it can only be seen- as if the voice arrived early and the scenery has yet to catch up .

Narice looks down at his hands- they seem tiny- this must be a memory of a time when he was very young.

He looks up again to see the woman repeat the call she'd done-

"Narice-!"

Out of all the voices… why hers?

---

She waves out to him as they lock eyes.

"Come inside," she beckons cheerfully, 'Dinner's ready!"

His notice his feet begin to move.

He finds his body rushing towards the house- and his thoughts are carried away with it.

Another figure appears in the entrance and kneels down to pick him up. As his father lifts him up near his chest- he feels his father move in to kiss his mother.

As they release - his mother leads the way into the house with the both of them- he looks at but can't remember her face.

---

The entire landscape fades into a circle of fog once again-

Suddenly a new setting begins to form- steps lead away from him as he stands on the porch- the sky is overcast and he watches as a figure walks away.

He feels a tap on his shoulder and looks to a figure on his right- rather than his mother - it's his aunt. He watches on for a moment as his father leaves him for a mission and then nods.

-

A while later- he sits alongside his aunt as they work on an art project together. The sound of a door opening causes them both to pause.

His feels his heart lift as he watches his father in the doorway.. His arms open wide- and he rushes into to give his father a hug.

-

The next moment he sees is father is cooking them both a meal while he's sitting down. He watches on as his father sets a bowl in front of them.

He and his father grow up alone. Sometimes his father will go out on missions. When he does - Narice stays with someone from the village.

Eventually, things becomes a routine. It could even be said that the two of them had even become happy... until one day.

His father comes home with a new woman.

Narice looks at the woman in a sense of confusion.

“Narice... this is Cindy- This will be your new mother.”

Narice feels his heart clench.

"I dont want a new mom!" Narice replies.

—-

An ocean surrounding the consciouness swells crashing around the figure it carries within. However - the figure remains unaware... it senses a slight disturbance - but simplyreturns to its dreamlike state.

—-

The consciousness finds itself inside of a small store.

Narice has a few items- it seems that he’s shopping.

“I hear that Jarret married a human outsider...”

Narice’s ear gets closer to the aisle as he tries listening to whispers.

“You’re right,” another woman whispers back, “what a scandal.”

“Think about their next child. Remember what happened the last time there was a half-breed?” The first woman speaks.

“Oh my...," the other woman covers her own mouth, "we certainly can't have that around.”

A large crash occurs and they notice Narice picking up some items.

The two women carry on their own way - pretending the conversation never happened. Even still, the damage is done. Narice goes home with a new disdain in his heart.

“What’s wrong- Narice?” Cindy asks him as he enters inside. Shes sitting on the couch while holding her belly for the soon to be brother or sister-

Instead of responding he drops off the groceries and treats her coldly for the next week or so.

“Are you mad at me?” Cindy asks him quietly one day. Instead of responding- he ignores her.

His father, upon noticing Narice's attitude towards Cindy, calls him to dining room.

“Narice! Come here now!” his father- speaks sternly. His father, Jarret, is a great man. He is a guardian and goes on missions. Narice looked up to him. He had the respect of the whole village as well. However, this time it seemed like Narice was to be the recipient of his confrontation.

Cindy, put her hand to his father’s shoulder wanting to avoid aggression, “It’s okay, dear…”

However Jarret silences her with a wave and continued, “Why do you treat your new mom this way?”

Narice responded by looking him straight in the eyes and speaks, “I don’t want her to be my mom.”

His father hit him across the face, “Don’t you ever say that again.”

He looked up at his father’s eyes with tears threatening to well up - but he brushed them off and hurried off.

“Narice!” he could hear Cindy say.

"Let him go," his father responds.

—-

Narice hid in the fields and cried. He wasn't sure why.

The sun had begun to set- the air was getting cold, but he didn't want to return like this. However- someone broke him out of his trance.

“Supper’s ready, Narice!” he heard from the front porch. It begins to get late.

Another half-hour passed and he felt a hand on his crouched back.

Cindy comes up next to him and kneels down beside him. She place her hand on the cheek that his father had hit.

Narice isn’t sure what kind of magic did it- but it began to feel better.

“There now…” she spoke as she smiled at him reassuringly. She was a human. but right now… perhaps that was okay.

He looked up at his new lady in his life. Perhaps a new mom wasn’t terrible.

“Do you want to come inside? Supper’s getting cold,” she said.

“Okay…” Narice said as he grabbed her hand.

---

A new baby sister arrived. Narice looked curiously at his baby sister cradled in his step-mother’s arms.

“Hi Aria…” he said looking down at the figure.

He dangled a finger down at her wide-eyed face and a tiny hand grabbed onto it.

“Can I hold it?” he looked up to his step-mom.

Carefully, his stepmom guided Aria into his arms and he holds onto her for the first time.

-

A circle of fog changes the scene once again- this time a two year old Aria is pouting at him.

“Narice!” the conscienceness can feel a tumult of emotion - but mostly centered around love.

“Where are you going?”

“I’m going to school,” comes his own voice - he kneels down and his hand stretches out to pat her on the arm.

“Why can’t I go?”

“You’re a little... too little,” he tries to explain to her like a good older brother.

“I can do anything you can,” Aria responds sternly. He sighs and swallows down the little bit of jealousy that threatens to come out. Unlike himself- she is incredibly gifted. Already she exhibits signs of magic- her cognitive awareness is very advanced - at her young age - she speaks in full sentences and understands much.

He may be slightly jealous- but he's very proud of her as a sister. He simply gives her a sad smile and pats her on the head.

“Alright, Narice,” his dad voices speak to him from behind. Narice nods and follows his father- giving a last glance at Aria and then looking ahead.

He and his father start walking along the footpath.

Aqayan school. In villages- between the ages of seven to fourteen- it’s where they first learn about using their abilities. Afterwards- there's a bit of freedom in choice- continue with further education, apprenticeship, or guardianship.

Most kids exhibit signs of elemental affinity by the age of six. Narice is eight- and his magic has yet to appear. He wonders what school will be like for him since he has yet to exhibit a sign of magic.

His father breaks him out of his trance- as they continued walking down the path. Even though Narice is only eight- his father always treats him as he would a man, “Keep track of the path. After this time- you’ll be walking on your own.”

Narice nods as his father points out the signs that they pass by.

After a long walk - they approach the village. They live on the outskirts for the safety of the other villagers. It's decided as safety- but it's more prejudice against his human mother.

Even still- Narice as a pure Aqayan - is allowed to participate in the activities of the others.

There was a bigger doubt to what would happen with Aria. Her own education was still in question. Even Jarret's influence with the council was not enough to convince them. If it had been anyone except Jarret, she would have been rejected immediately on the premise of her human attributes.

As for now- it’s still a wait and see. This alone shows how much Jarret is respected amongst the villagers.

As the walk ends -Narice looks up at his father who stops and turns to him- nodding to the schoolhouse while holding an extended hand towards it.

Narice begins to walk towards the schoolhouse and these thoughts are pushed to the back of Narice's mind.

---

The school looks gigantic to Narice- it's probably the side of his own house times ten. He sees a giant field that surrounds it with separate areas- some sort of exercise field.

As he approaches a large doubledoor entrance- he hears the slight sound of laughter from inside of the building. Another student- a girl- comes up beside him.

"Hi," she speaks shyly.

"Hi," he speaks back. With a last look he sees his father walking away from the building.

---

Inside of an ocean- some sort of barrier seems to be containing the figure- as if the figure was a hamster in a clear ball- but instead of plastic- the ball is made of pure energy. Outside the days seem to pass eerily and for some reason - time seems to be different on the outside of the ball.

The figure inside seems to realize something but remains unconscious as the ball heads towards a very distant shoreline.In fact, it’s been heading in the same general direction for a majority of the travel time. This odd thing is that sometimes the figure moves contrary to the waves- leading an observer to believe that it's being moved by another force.

---

Narice finds himself inside of a large hall where the girl has grabbed him by the hand and started to lead him through.

As they walk forward-they pass many rooms- the schoolhouse itself seems to have some sort of magic lighting above the hallway- something he is unfamiliar with.

They walk down the path until the find themselves in a big auditorium. Narice hears the conversations and laughter much more now.

Inside of the room an adult ushers the two kids toward a specific section- where Narice finds himself among kids his own age. The girl sits with some other girls.

Lined up in front of all the segmented groups- are some adults. They are standing and conversing with each other when someone walks into the doors and everyone grows quiet.

---

An older lady appraoches the stage.

"Hello, i am the principal," a moderately older woman speaks, "To those of you who know your station, you may go to your own groups now."

Narice now notices some of the older kids getting up. They get in a line and go on stage towards one of five teachers. Each teacher is now in front of their own respective banner- each banner holding its own color.

He looks around again- and the only kids remaining are those his own age group- the new students.

The principal redirects her attention to the group of young kids.

"To the rest of you, welcome!" She speaks, "We will be spending the next few weeks determining your affinity for magic and placing you into one of the five groupings here- she speaks pointing to the banners and the other students.

"While it is common for each of you to have at least one elemental affinity - it is also possible to have two. She proceeds to hold out both her hands- one with a flame and the other with a ball of ice.

"it is because of this that we will be spending the next two weeks deciding where to place you - or if to train you in more than one vocation."

Narice doesn't know what vocation means- but he knows he doesn't have an element. He decides to trust the adults however and goes along with the ceremony.

The rest of the day continues as people break up- and a certain adult leads Narice and his group towards a different building.

Inside are sections divided by color. It isn't anything intimidating - rather it seems like they have games that promote the use of specific magics. Narice watches as many kids seem attracted to certain toys inside of the room and rush towards them.

Narice himself tries to join others that he's already become an acquaintance with.

The teacher watched on as students walked to particular stations playing with the toys. the room they was a pentagonal shape- each of the five sections had a specific color and items related to the color.

Narice tried to join in the with the fire group - as the teacher simply watched on. There were two others who immediately could already turn one of the toys a different color- or light up a kiln by using magic towards it. Narice's own father was attuned to fire. Narice would have known whether or not he was by now- but he tried it anyway. He sighed as none of the objects in the section worked with him.

The other kids who were laughing and playing looked at him with as if he didn't belong here and he left to try a different one.

Perhaps water was his element. He saw a girl there- who smiled at him as she made a sort of flying artwork using water from a cup and getting the water to take shape. He tried to manipulate his own cup but to no avail- as it remained in place.

Beside him a couple kids were playing with plants in a green section. Earth. The kids were having fun with seeds as they caused plants to grow. A bunch of leaves were in a small pile as well- to which they played inside.

He held out his hand to a potted plant in an attempt to cause some growth... and failed.

The teacher looked at him with a sympathetic look and walked up to him bringing him by the hand into a crystalline section: ice, well technically -cold.

He felt a shiver in this section- but noticed that a couple kids seemed to have no qualms wearing only their basic clothes. In this section - it seemed like the games were related to building ice structures from water- or making certain foods by chilling it. Once again- there was no reaction.

"Hm...late bloomer huh?" The teacher said, "Maybe sky?"

This section seemed to have toys that were generated by air currents- fans and such that did fun things if air moved them.

He held out his hand to a said fan- but unlike the other three there- nothing happened when he tried to control the wind to move it in a motion.

The teacher gave him a pensive look- as if trying to figure out what to do next.

"Could take a little time," the teacher spoke, "It happens every once in a while."

Narice tries his best to fit in by playing with the toys despite not using magic on them. After a bit of time passes- the head principal enters inside. Narice watches as the principal goes to the teacher to talk.

After a few minutes discussing the students - Narice watches the teacher nod toward Narice while talking with the principal.

"As of yet no sign of magic..."

The principal raises an eye while looking at Narice, "That one's yours then. Until he exhibits an element- you can teach him whatever it is you're studying about humanity.

The teacher nods- seemingly appreciative about the idea of sharing knowledge about humanity.

---

The kids around him however- weren't as kind as said teacher.

After a week or so went by and Narice still didn't show any signs of gaining magic... rumors began to circulate around him.

--

"I hear that his mother is a human..."

"No... that's his step-mother..."

"Maybe it's some sort of curse."

"No magic?! He's some kind of freak..."

Narice didn't let it bother him. Not until...

--

“Hey you…” A bigger kid from another class came up to him during an outdoor period. Perhaps two years or so older then him- and looking like he was trying to prove something to others from his own class.

Narice tried to be nice, like his parents were teaching, “hi."

“I’m going to show you a lesson,” The boy was bigger for sure- maybe a few inches taller and certainly wider and the boy started to push at him.

While he wasn't happy about it- Narice tried his best not to fight back.

The boy seeing that he had the advantage and the approval of the classmates continued his assault.

“You're a mistake.”

"How so?" Narice replied angrily- already having been punched was upsetting, but. it wasn’t the first he’d heard of dissent coming from the village, but this was the first time it was so blatent.

“I hear that your mother and sister are human and half human."

“So what?” Narice replied.

"Your father is a traitor to our village... your mother and your sister are abominations.

Narice could take insults to himself -it was true he couldn't use magic- but when the boy began to mention his family- Narice couldn't take it anymore.

"You and your family should just leave."

It didn't matter if the kids was bigger - Narice felt a rising anger as he curled his ball into a fist.

--

“You’re son had a fight in school,” the teacher told his dad.

“Is he okay?” Jarrit responded looking at Narice standing behind the teacher. He motioned for Narice to come behind him and Narice did as he was asked.

“He’s fine, but you should really teach him how to behave. If there’s any more of this, he won’t be allowed back, the other kids were crying. I’m sure it’s probably because of his mother-”

“Kids?” Jarrett interrupted.

“Well- after the first one was beaten up, the others tried to stop him so he took them out too. It took a lot of work to break him off of them.”

“I’ll make sure to talk to him, thanks,” his father closed the door.

“Narice… don’t you know better already?” his father took a look at him.

Narice held his face down guiltily.

“Look at me,” Jarret responded.

“He insulted mom…”

Narice looked up- scrapes and bruises covered his face and body.

“Oh dear…” his step-mom almost cried.

“What happened?” his father said.

“Well he started the fight…and I finished it,” Narice smiled through the bruises, although it wasn’t much of a smile with the puffed up jaw.

“Well,” his father spoke up, “If you’re going to become a ‘Guardian’ someday, you’re going to have to learn how to fight better.”

Narice looked up in bewilderment. His father was once a full-fledged Guardian who went on many adventures in the human world. Even though his father was on leave from guardian duties to take care of his family- it was likely he would return to full guardian once Aria and Narice were grown-ups.

In fact- back in the human's land, Cindy was a 'nurse' - someone who used her knowledge to help heal people. That was how his father and she had met- after he'd been injured in a mission.

“A Guardian?’ Narice said wide-eyed.

“Really dear?” Cindy said with a more concerned attitude.

“Yes, he’s most likely meant to be one. There’s no point in letting him loose on his own- it seems like he’s got a knack for getting into fights anyway."

"It’ll take some training for sure," his dad gave Narice a wink ,"-so we’d better get started asap.”

Narice looked up at his dad with wide-eyes and a full smile.

“We’ll get started as soon as your mom’s done patching you up…”

“But dear-” his mother responded hesitantly about such a big decision.

“There’s no time like the present, right?”

“Right!” Narice looked back up with determination.

After his mom patched him up- his dad led him outside into a nearby field.

His dad hit him on the neck.

“Ow!” Narice said after rubbing his neck.

It seemed however that this was already a lesson- “Always be on guard when an enemy is nearby.”

His dad had taken on a fighting stance, “You’ll be coming home with bruises every day from now on, unless you can beat me." his dad laughed, "Since you’ll be fighting every day and you should start training your body now- I’ll be having you work in the field after school (there were some fields for harvest around them) It’ll be good for your health.”

Narice put up his fists.

“Begin!”

—

Narice is both hungry and tired as he holds on to one of the larger pieces of the broken ship. He finds himself in an ocean- looking around himself. The sun sets and rises by in minutes- within a few more minutes the moon has already set and risen. After a few of these occurences - his body begins to adjust to the strange magic. He once again falls asleep and the final parts of a memory fill his mind.

--

“Your son doesn’t have a power,” the chief speaks to his father. Narice finds that he's grown considerably since his last memory- he seems to be nearing twelve or thirteen.

“I’ve trained him to expect the unexpected, He’ll be able to handle himself…”

“We don’t care…” the chief spoke up. He touched a wall and the entire room shook - he touched it again and it stopped, “How can he be prepared for something like that?”

Despite it only being level one type magic- it was still powerful and effective enough to hold its own against stronger forces that could threaten the village.

“I’ll prepare him myself,” Jarret said with disgust as he walked outward of the building, “if he isn’t twice as capable as other candidates- then you can tell me he’s not allowed into Guardianship.”

-

The memories become more familiar as Narice feels that the newer memories are close to where he is now.

-

Narice finds himself following his father into a wooded area far away from the village. It's probably perhaps a half-day's walk when his father stops.

Narice watches as his father opens up a portal in front of the woods- as Narice enters inside - he finds that the woods they've become a part of have changed. While the trees are the same- the surrounding feels much more like a dull grey- and a thick fog seems to be covering the wooded area.

“They don’t understand…" His father pinched a portion of his lips within his teeth, "You’re much more capable and clever than any of those other brats they call guardian material

“It’s okay -dad,” Narice said. While disappointed- he accepted the decision. After all, while everyone else in the village had magic, he does not. To become a guardian required unique abilities, “I don’t have any powers."

“Nonsense,” his father rebutted, “You have a unique resistance to magic. Did you ever notice how little we have to heal you anymore from all those kids that attack you? Even if they don’t recognize it as ability- with proper training- that can still be more useful when in conflict.”

Narice looked at his dad hopefully- he would know best, seeing that he’d done many missions for the guardians.

When Narice thought about it too, it was true.

Narice had grown up with the other kids in school always showing off their abilities. Initially he’d come home burned or numb or scarred from their magic- whether it was magic or simply developing immunity, after so many experiences the initial attacks seemed to leave only shallow scratches. Defending himself had become much easier- to the point where most other students didn't even both him.

After each fight his mother would take care of his injuries, but sometimes, barely any bandages were necessary. And then either way, he’d go to work in the field and then take on his father.

Aria his little sister was now six.

They’d travelled quite a distance away from the village. Narice wondered what his father had in store.

His father led him further into the strange wood.

Narice hadn’t been here before… it seemed somehow empty. A dark fog grew thickly around them obscuring both of ther visions completely.

“What is this place?” Narice asked confused.

“It’s a prison for lost souls... and also a training grounds..." His father responded quietly, "It's filled with a unique magic..."

"For you to be a guardian one day you have to start here. It is the first trial for all those who desire to become a guardian. Magic creatures and the like... you’ll be challenged much more than you were at home.”

His father handed him what seemed to be an iron sword, “Take this…”

Narice looked at the blade that his father handed him. In all this time- he had never used a sword before... soon afterwards his father disappeared into the woods and Narice was left to fend for himself.

---

Forty days passed. Narice was in the remnants of the ragged cloths he'd used as a pair of clothes. He was exhausted- hungry- tired- sore- bruised- but alive- and certainly capable of living off the land.

His father's spoke from behind him, “Since you didn’t fail- we’ll go straight to the council and overturn the ruling.” his father spoke from behind him.

Slight resentment filled his heart but he pushed it down. Training was complete.

---

The two left the training ground.

His father walked at moderate walking pace. Narice raced ahead- I had been so long since he'd seen anyone- since he'd had a proper bath or a proper meal. He wasn't ashamed to admit that he missed his sister and mother.

—

Narice overlooked a hillside as he approached the village- but instead of a village...

“It’s gone!”

He yelled as his father ran to catch up to him. The village that was- had turned into a crater.

Broken rubble was all that remained.

Narice and his father raced towards their house on the edge of the island in the hopes that it would remain safe. Sadly it wasn’t. While the crater itself hadn’t reached the point of their home. The earth was broken up as if a giant earthquake had moved across the entire island.

“Cindy!” his father yelled as they looked through their home.

“Ari!” Narice called out.

Upon arrival of their home however, they only found Aria and Cindy's bodies.

-

Over the next day they tried to find any other signs of hope.

All they continued to find were remnants.

“Who was it father?”

“This was the reason for your training…” his father’s solemnly replied, “a new threat.”

A hollow tone echoed from his voice.

“This is the path of a guardian.”

-

Narice looked across the shoreline- ever since that day, Narice kept a journal with writings and drawings as a way to relieve his emotions. Through writing it down maybe it would make it easier to get off of his chest.

--

-Day One

We’ve started building a makeshift house along the shoreline. From the remains of the village it shouldn’t take too long. My father started investigating the details and mutters to himself when he finds something interesting. I dont know what he's talking about- but it must have been someone with magic. We dont know how our island was reached- we thought it was protected with our magic. After all- the only people who can open a gate are those who've been here before.

Dad seems very serious now- but i can tell he's broken up- perhaps we’re keeping busy to forget. He buried Cindy and i buried Ari.

—Day Seven—

We’ve been able to keep warm at night because of dad. He's gathered enough information it looks like- he wants to go straight to Magic City across the ocean.

—Day Fifteen—

We're preparing for a long journey and repairing one of the ships attached to the harbour.

—Day Twenty—

We finished preparing things- after we ate dad’s been trying to teach me about different guardians and their place in history.

Supposedly guardians have always been about- protecting the world from many dangers throughout history. Dad wanted to contact someone- but couldn't get ahold of anyone he normally talks to in magic city.

He think something might be wrong.

---

The boat they’d worked on was ready, they said a quiet goodbye to Cindy’s and Ari’s graves.

They pushed off from the shores. When he was younger, his dad been a shipbuilder- because of this- him and Narice had been able to patch one of the less broken ships together. After a couple weeks of work, they’d put together something that would work.

Narice had been taught the basics about ship parts and how sailing- without having taught him- his dad thought it would be difficult.

-

A few days passed as they neared what his dad said was 'the halfway point'.

“Hey dad…” Narice said pulling the sail, “the wind’s picking up…”

His dad looked at the sky. The wind seemed to be the foreshadowing of a much more ominous storm.

“Put down the sail!”

Narice followed his father’s commands for a storm.

The next few minutes the sky grew dark, and the waves grew rough. They turtled up inside of the boat until a giant stillness arrived.

They got out of the cabin to check- however, the clouds around them were still dark.

“It can’t be… this… is this…?” his father spoke but broke off the rest of his speech looking up at the sky.

‘What father?’ Narice said, however the spoken words were muffled by the grandeur of the storm as a large darkness overshadowed them…

His father stopped as a figure appeared in the sky, slowly descending from the clouds above them.

“K’atra…” he whispered and he readied a ball of fire.

As K'atra appeared hovering above of the boat, a strange stillness surrounded them - the calm in the storm.

While the figure approached slowly Narice watched as his father grew strangely serious. His father's eyes closed as a pulsating power began to emanate from his core.

He turned to Narice with a slight glance and a look that Narice had never seen in his father before. As if a fight for his life were about to occur. However, his father then gave the entirety of his attention towards the figure descending onto the ship.

No words were spoken as his father jetted into the sky. He’d had no idea that his dad was capable of flight.

His father threw out a giant flame in front of him that illuminated the entire sky. The figure was astonished for a moment and had to back up defensively. Perhaps the figure hadn’t expected such a force from the man.

For the next few minutes, a fierce battle occurred. His father cast both spells of fire that seemed to cut gashes into the figure. Each strike would have been a deathblow to anyone else. The figure it seemed, gained some scrapes with each attack.

When it started, his father seemed to have the upper hand with enhanced agility, and unique magic. A lightshow of fireballs and strikes- and other things Narice couldn’t describe-after a little, he realized the truth. While his father was tiring out, ‘K’atra’ was none the weaker. It seemed that his father was just punching at shadows as ‘K’atra’ moved in and out of the way.

His father, he saw, noticed this too and looked down at Narice with a sad smile. He then charged at K’atra and grabbed onto the man’s waist – following this- he attempted something else entirely. A large glow illuminated from his father. The glow suddenly became a flash of light that erupted the entire sky as the waves around him shook violently and a force pushed everything around him in a giant explosion.

When what had been a large glow of light became visible again after maybe a few minutes and the waves finally settled- he looked to see a weakened man holding onto the body of the still intact figure.

K’atra looked at him with what seemed to be pity and with a light jab his father fell into the ocean.

K'atra then flew down from the skies onto the boat and stood before Narice solemnly.

After a moment of being studied by the man- Narice heard words come from him.

“A young, Narice, I presume. I’m sorry it came to this…” he said looking down at the figure sinking down into the ocean.

“There’s no counterspell to what your father just did… he won’t ever be able to revive from the spell he cast on himself- I ended his suffering quickly.”

Narice didn’t believe the figure’s words.

“If I weren’t an immortal- I would have died many times over against him…he was perhaps the most powerful foe I’d ever faced- if that’s any consolation…” the figure looked at Narice with the same solemn look as before.

Narice only looked on.

“I have only one question… perhaps you can use your gift to help me save this world from its turmoil. Would you care to join me? I know that you would make me a great guardian in the new kingdom.”

Narice looked harshly at the man, he picked up his sword and charged at him.

“No?” the figure dodged the attacks swiftly. Compared to his father, they were nothing to him.

“Then I guess I’ll do the only thing left to do,” Ka’atra put his hand over Narice after he brushed away the sword from his hands. “You’re strong, but not strong enough… yet… until I gain the remaining jewels, perhaps I can do this… ”

Narice heard him chant some words…

“You will forget everything about your past,” he said to him. “I’m sending you to the future, where you will live out your life in a world of my design…”

As he began to faint from the overwhelming force that seemed to envelop him he could make out one last phrase before Ka’atra seemed to vanish back into the darkness.

“I’ll see you in the future.” he heard Ka’atra say.

He felt a warmth overtake him while he was about to faint. What was this? It felt like something inside rather than from Ka’atra… Something was protecting him.

After that, everything went black.