“Hahh– hah.” Livi panted roughly as she rolled off of me and onto the ground. “I,” She paused to take another breath, “I found you!

“You sure did,” I laughed, brushing myself off as I stood up. “Was the tackling really necessary though?”

“Yes! More than necessary!” Livi exclaimed, pulling herself up with my sleeve. “If I take my eyes off of you for a second, you’re gone! Do you know how long I’ve been looking for you?!”

My eyes drifted to the floor as I felt a pang of guilt. “You’ve been looking this whole time?”

“Of course I have! I can’t just go back and tell your mother I lost you!”

“Oh, right.”

“After all that, I’m gonna be expecting a serious apology! I had to bother so many townspeople—-”

“I’m very sorry!” I exclaimed loudly, bowing my head. Livi jumped back in surprise, but I did not relent, instead continuing loudly. “I didn’t know you would be out looking for me the whole time! Please forgive me!”

“Okay, okay, I forgive you! Shhhhhh!” She put her finger to her lips, her face red from embarrassment from all the attention we were getting. She didn’t let go of my sleeve though, and used it to pull me away from the plaza and towards our house.

After a little while of us walking, Livi regained her composure and asked, “Where even were you anyway?”

“I was… meeting up with a friend.”

“Hmph. And why couldn’t I meet this friend?”

“They uh, are really shy, and have a hard time talking to other people.”

Livi nodded like she accepted my reasoning, which was quite surprising, considering the fact that she didn’t even wonder why I didn’t just tell her that I was meeting a friend in the first place. I guess she’s a little too trusting.

The sun had nearly set by the time we returned to the house, and I had managed to convince Livi not to tattle on my little adventure to my parents. She was hesitant at first, but agreed after I told her that it would never happen again, and would only cause unneeded conflict.

Livi and I ate dinner with the rest of the family, where I avoided questions about how our day was with a simple “it was fun,” and “we played in the town.” Elise seemed to know I wasn’t telling the whole truth, but she also didn’t seem to care, as she had the same mischievous personality that lied in me. I think I managed to hide my exhaustion well enough, but there was nothing unnatural about a child who just came back from playing all day being tired, so it didn’t matter all that much.

After dinner, I headed up into my room where I read through one of the new books that my mom had gotten me. After I was done, I headed to bed early, eager to test out my mana exercises the next day.

And so the following months passed by uneventfully but enjoyably. I spent my days playing with Livi, training my mana use and gradually improving upon my exercises, and reading. Sometimes Livi would join me in doing the exercises, but it was a little frustrating to watch how naturally she got the hang of things I had struggled to do at first. Out of the two of us, it seemed like she undeniably had more natural talent. Elise would occasionally play around and spar with Livi and I, whenever she had time, so I somewhat kept up with my sword practice.

Things around the house gradually became more reliant on my father and Vanessa, as the date of my new sibling’s birth drew nearer..

When the fateful day finally arrived, it was a truly surreal feeling to look at the new baby. This thing is like me. It turned out to be a he, which meant I would be getting a brother. Once Elise heard the news, her only reaction was, “Ehhhh, another brother?”

“That's a little hurtful,” I commented. “Didn’t you have sooo much fun with the first one?”

“Yeah, sure I did.”

Once we had confirmed it as a boy, the next question was clear. What were we going to name him? We all had different ideas, with my father suggesting Julian, my mother Matthew, and the Heirels, though not being nearly as pushy, suggesting something like Leo. Elise and I were largely indifferent, but one day during dinner, I offhandedly mentioned the name Issac. Apparently it was not a common name in this world, but my family took a liking to it, and so it was decided.

The second I got some alone time with Issac, I decided to do a bit of investigating. He laid alone in his new crib, inside my parent‘s room, who were currently both in the living room.

“Hey, psst,” I got his attention. He looked over at me with blank eyes.

“Can you understand me?” I whispered.

…

“You’re not from another world, right?”

He continued to stare at me blankly.

“Okay.” I whispered as I tiptoed back out of the room.

Either he was a really good actor, or he was just a dumb baby. Here’s hoping it's the latter.

A couple days later, me and Elise were sitting on the couch, across from both my parents and the Heirels, who were all fawning over the new baby. I thought back to how Elise had initially regarded me coldly when I was born. Maybe this was why? All attention to either of us had fallen by the wayside as soon as this new little fellow stepped up.

“My bad.” I said, seemingly out of the blue.

“Hm?” Elise looked at me quizzically.

“Nevermind.”

Things continued this way for a long while, as I relished in the family atmosphere I had not gotten to experience in my past life. My seventh and now eighth birthday just slipped by, each day fun and comfortable. Birthdays were only really celebrated at the five, ten, and fifteen mark, but I still got a few small gifts at each one. Today I had received a navy scarf from Livi herself, which was currently wrapped snugly around my neck as I walked through Damerel town square.

It was a chilly day as I strolled through the plaza, picking up different vegetables and ingredients from a variety of stands for dinner. It was the afternoon of my eighth birthday, and I was humming along happily. I was heading home to a loving family for a celebratory dinner. This might be the best my life has ever been. As I turned the corner onto the path that led back to my home, I was thinking that I honestly wouldn’t mind life going on like this forever. There were a lot of people in my life I valued, and many who valued me. Sure, it wasn’t exciting, but it was comfy.

Alas, comfort was not a factor of my destiny.

“Forget about me?” A familiar voice rang out inside my mind.

A small black and violet feline stood perched on a fencepost in front of me.

“How could I?” I sighed. Admittedly, since I haven't had much contact with Khiros in the past year or so, he did somewhat slip my mind.

“Then I assume you haven’t forgotten about our deal, as well?”

“There wasn’t much to forget,” I replied exasperatedly. “All you said was I had to ‘go somewhere’ for you.”

“And that’s all I’m asking,” He smirked deviously.

“Alright then, where? Can I go there quickly now?” I asked, growing impatient.

“No, unfortunately it is not nearby whatsoever. Though that was by design.” He said, mumbling the second part under his breath.

“Listen man, I’m kinda busy right now, so I don’t think I’m gonna be able to hold up my end—-- Aghk!” A flaring pain erupted in my right hand, as if I had sunk it directly into a pool of lava.

“Aghhh! What the hell?” I shook my hand as the pain slowly started to fade away.

“Uh oh.” Khiros said with a sneer. “Surely you weren’t intending to break your promise just now?”

“Y-You bastard- what the hell did you do?” I grimaced, infusing my body with mana in case I had to get away.

“Wow, looks like those mana exercises paid off,’ Khiros remarked. “Relax. I didn’t do anything, you’re the one who reached out your hand and agreed to the pact.”

“Agreed to the pact? Wh—-” I froze as I remembered the weird violet light that had enveloped my body after I had shook “hands” with Khiros. I hadn’t thought anything of it then, but now…

“But I didn’t even know anything about that back then!” I protested.

“A pact with a spirit is still a pact.” He confirmed, letting out a yawn. “Listen, I think we can both agree that this is gonna go by a whole lot faster and easier if I don’t give you time to keep interrupting.” Khiros said with an unusually authoritative tone, as he hopped down off the fence post down in front of me. “In two days, you and I are going to go retrieve something of great importance to me, located at the summit of a mountain in the //// region. I’ve already made preparations that will make this easier on your family, because I understand it would be somewhat inconvenient for you to just suddenly disappear.”

“Wha— Hold on, I ca—-”

“There will be a mining party hired by the adventurers guild heading to the same mountain we are bound for. Within the next two days, you will register yourself with the guild and join that party. Prepare your parents for the fact that you may be absent for a few months. Got it?”

“No I don’t get it!” I exclaimed. “All of a sudden—-”

“Thank you for your understanding.” Khiros grinned as he turned around and entered a pitch black void, just like the teleportation portals. I didn’t even have the time to call him a bastard before he disappeared from my sight entirely.

I stood there for a moment, stunlocked. No, I can’t do all that. There’s no way! I’m not gonna—-

“Aghk!” A flaring pain shot through my entire arm this time, causing me to buckle and fall to my knees. My brain was overwhelmed from the pain as I tried to process everything Khiros had said to me. So much for a quiet and peaceful birthday.

Sorting through my thoughts, I picked up the things I had purchased and stumbled like a zombie down the path leading to my home. The frosty air bit my skin as the scarf I had been given fell around my shoulder.

LIVI HEIREL

“Ikarus! Welcome ba…” My greeting faded as I noticed Ikarus’s ghastly expression. He looked like he had seen a ghost, with his body drooped awkwardly as he set down the things he had bought from the shops. Despite his current state, it made me a little happy to see him wearing my present.

“W-What’s up? Are you okay?” I asked as I walked over to him.

With empty eyes, he simply stated quietly, “I’m going to become an adventurer.”

“Wha- Ok, why today? Today is your birthday, just calm down and we can talk about this at your celebratory dinner!” I waved my hands in the air, trying to cheer him up, but it was to no avail.

“I’m going to become an adventurer.” He said again, like he was reading a line off a script.

“Alright, alright,” I nodded slowly as I backed away from Ikarus. He was kind of creeping me out. “I’m just gonna take these, and we’ll talk about this at dinner, kay?” I picked up the ingredients and went to find Cedric in the kitchen. While Hazel was pregnant, Ikarus’s dad had started to cook for the family, with the help of my mother. He had actually gotten quite good at it now, so the three adults would rotate between themselves preparing meals, with myself occasionally helping out.

“Oh, hey Livi. Got the ingredients, did ya?” Cedric said as he took the basket off me.

“Yeah- listen, Ikarus is acting a little weird,” I whispered, not wanting Ikarus to overhear me talking about him.

“Weird? How so?”

“He keeps saying something about becoming an adventurer.”

“Ah, so he’s at that age. I too had lofty dreams as a boy, and in my case I was lucky enough to be given the opportunity to follow them.” He began recounting how his parents had allowed him to try to become an adventurer, and how he had narrowly passed the qualification exam by the skin of his teeth. It didn’t seem like he was taking what I was saying very seriously.

“Alright, then I’ll let you deal with it.” I was worried about Ikarus, but I figured we might as well just leave the matter until the whole family was gathered for dinner. On the way back to my mother and I’s room, I walked past Ikarus who had taken a seat on the couch in the living room. He stared at the ceiling blankly, as if his brain had overheated. Just before I left the room, I noticed Elise sitting down to talk to him, which gave me a little hope things would be resolved.

“Food’s ready!” A voice called out around 30 minutes later. I was a bit late in getting out of my room because I was taking a short nap, so I hurried down to find everyone else already downstairs. Ikarus was chatting idly with his parents, so I thought at first that maybe everything had in fact been resolved. He looked perfectly normal, but then I realized that might be exactly the problem. It was his birthday, a celebration was being held just for him, but there wasn’t even a hint of happiness on his face. He looked calm and collected, and he would have fit right in on any other day. But today, he was out of place.

I took a seat next to my mother, and we silently said our prayers to the Deities. Ikarus’s family wasn’t big on religion, but they had no qualms with us practicing it. After our prayers, the celebration continued nicely and we all made small talk, with his parents speaking of their pride in Ikarus, and my own mother showering him with gratitude, which was a frequent occurrence.

After a while, everyone had settled down and the chatter began to fade. I noticed a distinct change in Ikarus’s expression, as his empty eyes suddenly seemed to overflow with determination.

“Everyone, I’ve decided to become an adventurer.”

The resolve in his words made it hard to even begin to refute him. The first to speak up was his mother, Hazel, who commented that the minimum age to register with the adventurers guild in the first place was ten.

“I’ll lie.” He responded as if it was a matter of course.

“Wh- Why are you so set on this all of a sudden? I mean I don’t have too much of a problem with it, but…”

“It is also likely that I will be away for a decent while.” Ikarus interjected, almost robotically. “There is an expedition to //// that I have my eyes on.”

“////? That’s so far away! Cedric, talk some sense into the boy!” Hazel nervously turned to Ikarus’s father for help.

“Sorry kid, I’m with her on this one. An expedition to //// is too much for a boy your age, we can’t allow this—--”

“I’m afraid I wasn’t asking for your opinions on the matter.” Ikarus cut in again, looking extremely stressed.

…

“I’m sorry, that was rude.” Ikarus apologized, trying to calm himself down.

He glanced over to Elise, who simply nodded back at him. At first glance, It looked like she was encouraging him, but when I looked closer into Elise’s expression, it seemed like she was desperately trying to cover up any facet of emotion slipping through. Her stormy gray eyes hid an abundance of pain, but she kept her composure.

“Elise, you’re for this idea?” Hazel blurted out, seeing her nod to him.

“Err, well uh… yes, yes I am.” Elise gave up on explaining herself and just took Ikarus’s side without reasoning.

A stressful atmosphere hung over the room as the two opposing sides of the siblings and their parents clashed. “How long would you be gone for?” Cedric asked, much to Hazel's dismay.

“Why would you even ask that!” Hazel shouted, annoyed that Cedric seemed to be considering the options.

“I can’t say for sure, but probably around a few months.”

A few months? That seems like quite a while for a mission from the adventurers guild. I wasn’t too familiar with their system, but usually Luthor would return within the week whenever he did anything for them, if not the day.

Luthor. Thinking of him brought a mixed bag of emotions to me. I had always known he wasn’t a good man, but there was a part of me that looked up to him, from a young age. While I love my life here with Ikarus and his family, against my better instinct, I sort of miss spending time with Adela, Braxton, and Luthor. I wonder how the two younger ones are doing now. Hopefully they haven’t followed in their brother’s footsteps.

“A few months, huh.” Cedric put a hand to his chin in thought.

“I will ensure his safety.” Elise spoke up.

“You’ll go with him?”

“Well– no, but I’ll properly prepare him for any possible danger. Everything turned out fine with the Milbournes, right? Ikarus is a strong boy. He’ll be fine.” Elise put forward a strong argument, but for whatever reason, Ikarus’s parents don’t know what really happened on that day. I don’t even really know, and I bore witness. The Ikarus in that dining room seemed so different to the one in front of me now, it was like they were two separate people. Recalling the immense power and aura he had wielded, made me think I must have mentally exaggerated the memory.

Even so, he managed to take down Luthor, which was no easy feat. Luthor had been trained all his life in magic, and although he was somewhat of a slacker, there was no way Ikarus should have been able to dispatch him with his superior experience. I told myself not to think too much about it, and just be grateful that Ikarus was kind enough to let me and my mother stay with him. In that notion, I had obliged Ikarus in not telling his parents what I had seen.

“That’s true…” Even Ikarus’s mother seemed to slowly be coming around.

After only a little more pushback, Hazel was convinced and Ikarus was given permission to register with the adventurers guild. Once he finally got conformation, Ikarus’s reacted only with a sigh, as if a weight had been taken off his shoulders. He didn’t seem happy, or even a little excited that he would be able to become an adventurer like Adela would have been, merely relieved.