Mathew opened his eyes and saw himself standing in the middle of a bright room with someone standing next to him. His head was exploding from the pain. The only thing visible was a pair of bright green eyes that started back to him before he passed out from the pain again.

When he opened his eyes next he was lying down next to the small lake and his headache while not as bad was still present. He wanted to know what was happening before he remembered something. Something he didn't know he knew, Felix was sent to the bottom of the lake!

Only a couple of seconds passed before he noticed a middle-aged man who was his father with two of his uncles next to him. They were clearly trying to wake him up. “He is in the water!” he said as he pointed to the lake behind him. The three men rushed towards the water and dived in so quickly he couldn't see them anymore.

“Vel!” He heard someone call and he instinctively turned around. He couldn't tell why but the name was at the same time new to him but also quite familiar. It felt like Vel and he had merged into one person. He saw a woman run towards him and order the other woman next to her to check upon him. “Where is your brother?” She asked as she looked around trying to find him.

“They attacked us and threw Felix in the lake. I tried to stop them but I was not strong enough,” he said a little ashamed. He was the big brother and it was his job to protect his younger brother. He saw his mother stand up to jump in after him but he took her hand and stopped her. Even he at ten years old knew that the lake was filled with high-level magical beasts and that his mother didn't have a chance against them. “Dad already went in after him,” he explained trying to put her at ease.

She nodded her head and looked at the other woman who told her Vel was going to be fine. She stood up and walked towards the lake and waited patiently for her husband to return. Luckily only a minute passed before the lake shook and three men with a small child exited the lake. The child had a small rock attached to his legs that were used to make him drown.

The middle-aged man put the small child down and moved aside for his older brother to look at him. Vel didn't know what was happening but saw the old man put his hand on the boy's chest and forcefully remove the water from his lungs. “He will be fine, there is no permanent damage to his body,” the old man said with a smile on his face. But he did have a questionable look on his face which his younger brother noticed.

“What's wrong big brother Herius?”

Herius didn't know if it was smart to say anything but decided to share his thoughts. He made sure the boy was given a recovery potion before he said, “there are no physical signs of struggle. I can't tell if your son Felix is smart of a coward.”

“Didn't I tell you not to bring that boy back with your brother Paulus? Now, look at what happened. Not only is he useless, he even put the life of your son in danger,” the younger brother said shaking his head.

“Shut your mouth Gallio!” Herius said quickly pretending to be angry. It was better for him to pretend instead of letting Paulus do something to the poor fool.

Paulus didn't say anything and picked up his son from the ground and walked back to his wife and Vel as he said, “how is Vel doing?”

“He is fine my lord,” Caepasia who had cleaned the wound and covered it said before she handed him to Herius who also checked upon him. She could not help be jealous, these nobles really could do things people like her would never dream of.

Paulus walked towards Vel and patted him on the head as he said, “I'm proud of you son.” He could not help be proud of the young boy. It was nice to know the next lord of the house had enough courage to defend his family. He also checked on his wife and ordered everyone to slowly follow him back to the house as he didn't have time to bring horses.

Vel didn't say anything as he was still absorbing new information and needed time to recover. He nodded his head and quietly follow his father back to the city. He could not get over the strange feeling of how new and exciting everything was and quite normal the next. He noticed that even his thinking was now done in Latin.

Half an hour passed as they had just passed the gates when his father stopped and slowly put Felix down on the ground and asked him if he could stand. The boy slowly opened his eyes and quietly nodded.

Vel looked over at Felix and felt a chill go down his spine. “Caepasia, what color are his eyes?” he asked clearly remembering that his brother had dark brown eyes for all his life.

“Dark brown off course young lord,” Caepasia said a little confused. She wanted to ask why he had asked that but didn't say anything as she knew that this was not the right time.

He wanted to ask her if she was joking with him and hoped it was the effect of some kind of medicine but didn't dare to speak as he and Felix made eye contact. Felix looked at him like he could see right through him and gave him a cheeky smile he felt he had seen many times before. He tried to act normal but couldn't stop himself from shaking. There was no way the devil from the middle east was really here right? As his own brother no less. He would take anyone else right now, even that stupid fool of a president.

“How are you feeling son?” Paulus asked as he let go of Felix who was able to keep himself up.

“I'm fine thanks to you, uncle and older brother,” Felix answered Paulus while not taking his eyes off Vel. Paulus looked at Vel and noticed how shaken he looked but decided not to say anything. Both his sons were acting a little strange but that sometimes happened when you had a life or death experience. You changed and hopefully became more mature.

Vel started to concentrate so he could speed up the process of processing the information. He wasn't sure but even if there was a one percent change this was Abbas he needed to take care of him by any means necessary. But it was still too soon for that. He was never a man to make hasty decisions.

They soon reached the senator's estate. Vel looked around in amazement at the building as big as a castle made completely out of marble. He could not help laughing at how he couldn't even buy a marble kitchen counter with the salary the DEA paid him, and now he was going to be the next lord living in a marble mansion. His grandfather was a Roman senator and would stay in Rome most of the year and had left the leadership of this city to Paulus. This had not come as a shock to anyone when he had made the decision. Paulus was by far the strongest son and had served at the border for years as a general before he had finally accepted the comeback and marry his wife Faleria who was his mother.

They spend the next hour freshening up before the servant told Vel that he was summoned into the living room. When he entered he saw his father sitting next to the small fire he had created with his two brothers sitting next to him. At the other end of the room sat his mother with little Felix on her lap who was unlike his former self quietly listening to the three of them talk. He could not help notice how Felix kept staring at him with those bright green eyes from the moment he entered the room.

“Good you are here!” Paulus said with a smile and pointed to the small empty chair that was specially made for him. Vel sat down and was instructed by his father to tell him what had happened.

Vel spend the next ten minutes explaining how they were attacked by people in masks. He made sure to not use any big words and made mistakes and left out the name of the organization that was after Felix. He didn't need to say it, just by explaining to them that they wore white masks with peacock feathers was enough for his father to understand.

“To think those bastard purists would dare to attack the son of the acting magistrate,” Faleria said with contempt in her voice. She hated those bastards, and she would do anything she could to stop them from taking her son from her. She may not have given birth to him but these six years had been the best of her life. She felt like her family was now complete and she had promised herself that she would be just a good mother to Felix as she was to Vel.

“Well they are not called swimmers for nothing,” Gallio said before instantly regretting it. Swimmer was a word that was forbidden in the house as it was a slur for Germanian. They had gotten the nickname after the emperor had ordered a hundred thousand of them to be drowned in the ocean the last time they had tried to invade Rome.

Paulus didn't say anything but everyone could clearly tell he was reaching his boiling point. He wasn't a man of many words but was known for having a temper. Seeing that Herius tried to calm down the situation and told his brother he would personally investigate.

“My apologies father but maybe it would be best to keep Felix inside the mansion for the time being for his own protection,” Vel said hastily as he saw his father stand up.

Paulus sat down again as he stared deeply at his son and answered, “you want me to imprison my own son and show the whole world that I the magistrate don't even have the power to protect my own family?”

“Nobody said anything about imprisoning father, just to keep him here for a while as we investigate the situation. I will visit Felix myself every day to make sure he has someone to play with.”

Paulus wanted to answer but was cut off by Felix who was pulling on his leg and looked like he was almost about to cry as he said, “I don't want to go out with those bad men out there .”

Paulus thought about it for a couple of seconds and finally agreed, Felix would be kept inside the mansion until they found the attackers. And he would personally lead the investigation. A part of him was excited, he was finally able to go out there and hunt again. And who better to hunt than the men who dared to hurt his sons!