The seamlessly endless night drew on as Will slept peacefully within his sleeping bag under the stars in which appeared between the random branches of his tree. While the calm set in within the silent darkness, many miles away, an old man looked out the window of his castle room.

The Crimson King as always kept himself isolated from others, the only thing that truly held his interest was his mirror. He didn't find his looks so appealing that he'd stare at himself; instead, he used his royal flame on the mirror to try to locate his wife and son.

A twinge of sadness crept into the old king's eyes as he thought of his son. Three years old when he was taken away. Fourteen years of birthdays he had missed, fourteen years of raising his own heir. The king had been worried since that fateful day that his son would not be found in his lifetime. What would happen to the kingdom without an heir? Would his bloodline step down from the throne? But even more worrisome was the idea of his child growing up not truly knowing who he was. He couldn't think of a worse punishment dealt to him than to take away his heir before he truly knew who his father was. If he had just been older, the old king may have been able to get a trace on his flame in order to track him easier. The only thing he could think of that was blocking the scrye mirror was another flame that was holding his son back.

As he had done every night since the disappearance of his family, the Crimson King waved his hand toward the mirror. “Show me,” were the only words that escaped his lips as his sad tired eyes gazed upon the mirror. He wasn't really expecting to find anything; if anything at all, this had become a forced habit, a way to show the universe he had not given up, and the only way he could possibly bare the nightmares in which he had.

The mirror swirled a golden flame as if the reflective surface was a cyclone of gold as rich as his jeweled crown. In a few moments, the flames parted, leaving a wooded area. The king's eyes grew wide as in the center of the wood line, there was a sleeping mat, and on that sleeping mat was a crimson flame. He wouldn't have cared so much except the fact that he saw a small seed of gold within the flame, the identifier for the heir to the royal flame. The king was so astonished to see a reaction in the mirror; he didn't even question why the appearance was only his flame. The flame of lineage had burned brightly within the mirror; there was no question that it was youthful.

“My son returns,” the Crimson King said with a small sob. Without wasting any time, he zoomed out the picture in the mirror so he could get a better look at the location in which the flame was located. As soon as he had a proper view, he called for his guards. Moments later, two men knocked and entered the king's chambers.

“I want you to memorize this location,” the king said quickly. “Make a map or just use memory, I don't care what you do, just bring me anyone you find within this area,” he said within his full capacity as king. “Any failure will have to report directly to me!” With the last of the king’s brief done, the guards had already departed.

“Soon, my son, we will be reunited,” he said with a smile on his face for the first time in fourteen years. The flame in the mirror reflected the flame in his heart. With this new discovery, a long died out fire rekindled within the old king's heart.

As the door closed to the room, a shadow appeared in the hall. With a wave of his hand, five shadow-like figures appeared behind him. “Follow the guards. If they find the boy, take him before they are able to collect him.” As he said the final words, a rush of their black cloaks were the only sounds they made as they departed.

As the sun shone through the tree of his camp, Will's eyes came open slowly. Today was the day in which he and Maya would set off for Nearwood Village. Excitement was shining as if the sun had found a new home in his eyes. Will sat up and stretched his muscles.

Nothing really eventful had happened in the past few months of preparation. Will spent most of his time training his flames while Maya made preparations to leave. Putting small bags of herbs within larger bags, Maya had spent most of her time loading her small wagon. Though Will had offered to help her on many occasions, he was turned down as fast as he'd offered. Maya was so set on getting this portion of the job done on her own as well as insisting that Will take it easy for the next week, that Will had begun to feel a new appreciation for her. Not only did she work hard, but she cared about others working too hard.

Seeing that Will had more time to train, he had increased his flames output by two more hours. He had gone to a clearing in the woods every night to make as big a flame as he could and formed it into a ball of condensed flame. Now that he had four hours of training time, Will almost constantly had his ruby fire present, taking a permanent spot a foot above his head. To keep him occupied, he changed the density of the flames to the maximum as well as decreased the output. No matter what he seemed to do with them, the time had always matched the cool down of the ability.

Now that he had been taking it easy, the twin flames danced a foot above his head, rotating and circling as if he had a dancing fire above him. Will barely noticed when the flames dissipated now; he would just feel a pull within his aura when his time was done. An hour later, when the aura's strength returned, he would feel a fullness within himself that told him it was ready once more.

Having finished with the preparations, Maya went to Will who had just finished packing up his camp besides his sleeping bag. Without words, they looked at the cottage. Maya had never truly left without her parents before, but since they were no longer with her, she had to make the trip and carry out the deal in memory of everything they had done for her. Will ensured that he was as strong as he could be for the journey; he had no idea of what kind of dangers they could be in for. The most he could do was train and hope it would be enough for any trial they might face along the way.

“We will wait at least until dusk,” Maya said as she finished tying up the wagon. “You shouldn't train tonight, William, you will need all of your strength for tomorrow, I'm sure,” she said with a smile on her face. As she raced back to her cottage, Will couldn't help but watch her as she opened the door to enter. He had been with her for at least four months, and it would be a lie to say that he didn't have feelings for her. It's not like I'm cheating on you, his thoughts turned to Bianca, but it's starting to feel like it's going to be a while before I get back. It could be a long time before Will found Michael and moved on to the next stage of his training. It could take months or it could take years. Will didn't know how long he had to wait for Bianca. His phone had died a month ago, with its death came a new peace inside of Will. He wished her the best, but he couldn't hold out for her if there wasn't any way for her to be with him.

Will had been thinking a lot about Maya and how they got along together. She had always been cheerful toward him since he met her. She had always been kind and generous. He couldn't find a reason why he shouldn't open up his heart to her, but every time he would try, the memory of Bianca would get in his way.

Sitting on his sleeping bag, Will couldn't help but think what life could have been like if he was born in Crystallia. Would he have known Maya? What would his mother truly be like? Would he have even known who Jonathan was? Will stopped himself at that thought, if his mother had stayed in Crystallia, he wouldn't have even been born.

As Will sat in his thoughts, he didn't even notice when Maya sat on the grass next to him. She had noticed his expression almost instantaneously and decided it was time for her to say something. “You know you're not alone, right?” She asked, trying hard to get him out of his usual thoughts. “I've been here for you from the beginning, and you know I'm not going anywhere, right?” Will looked at Maya as if he'd never seen her before. Her concerned expression didn't match that of what a friend would make. He frowned slightly as he tried hard to make his thoughts go away. As he did, he noticed that his flames had already taken the form of the people he had been thinking of. Without him realizing, all of the faces shifted to the face of one person, the one that was sitting next to him.

Maya looked at the many reflections of herself, not knowing what to make of it. She had seen the faces of his loved ones in the fire many times, but never once did it actually depict her. She looked at each and every one of them, most of them had her smile, and others had her crying. All of them showed the concern Will must have felt for her. She looked from the flames to Will, his face was completely unreadable as he stared at her.

“Maya,” Will said quietly, “if I were to accept you in the way you wish, I'd be saying good-bye to the one I care about back in my world.” He looked down. Maya could see the confusion building up in him. “I would have to give her up. I don't know if I'm ready to do that.”

Maya watched him for a moment, a moment in which was long enough to see a tear fall from his eye. In that instant, she pulled him into an embrace. “I'm not looking for anything else besides you realizing that you have a place in this world as well,” she said as she cradled his head in her arms. “I'll always be here should you ever find yourself lost, William.” With that, she laid him in his sleeping bag. She couldn't bring herself to leave him, so she instead brought him close as she lay down next to him. Will had fallen asleep with Maya holding him in her arms. “I'm always going to be here for you,” she said softly as she felt his breath even.

Enveloped in darkness, the mercy of his dreamless sleep, Will cuddled up close to Maya. The first true feeling of belonging had finally set in with him. He felt that as long as Maya was with him, he never truly had to be alone. Within his dreamless sleep, a face appeared—one that he knew all too well. Bianca was there with him as clear as day, but the more he held on to Maya, the more the image of Bianca faded away. It's time to let you go, he thought to himself one final time before he allowed the darkness to take over.