The breakfast table was nearly silent aside from the twins and James, who simply didn’t understand what had happened last night.

Harlan couldn’t take the silence.

“Don’t you want to ask if you are going to be a grandmother soon.”

Many around the table spit or choked on their food and the twins heckled them for it.

“Nothing happened last night though, so don’t worry.”

“What was that?”

“I’m trying to lighten the mood.”

“You’re going to give your father and I a heart attack. We all saw you taking that dress and underwear upstairs, we thought-”

She could see Adina had turned beet red.

“That both of you are responsible, so we didn’t know what to think. I’m glad that you didn’t…”

“I’m not the best at bringing back conversation. Autumn, do you want to try?”

“You shouldn’t feel so ashamed, it isn’t like me and Jaramis didn’t do things like that before the marriage.

He was really upset seeing me upset, so one thing led to another and-”

Everyone saw how Harlan stared at Jaramis, but Jaramis felt how Harlan was looking at him.

“No, please, go on.”

“Harlan, it wasn’t like that, I came onto him. He blamed himself-”

“Because it was his fault.”

“So I tried to comfort him, he didn’t want me to hate him for what happened. He didn’t know what would happen when he brought you to his father, he was afraid that you were going to hurt the rest of us.

Once he explained why he did what he did he kept trying to make it up to me, it was romantic and I chose to have faith that you would come back, that my husband hadn’t sent you to your death.

Honey, at least defend yourself.”

“I think you are remembering it better than it actually was. You were walking on eggshells for a while and I was too. I thought that I killed Harlan and ruined my marriage to a girl who I hadn’t known long but was falling in love with. I was being distant or overbearing with little in between and we were both so confused that a lot of things happened. It worked out between us, but it could’ve been a source of a lot of regret.”

“I think you are-”

Harlan got a warning that someone was at the gate.

“Well, this is all very interesting and I don’t regret hearing any of this. But someone is here, so please, feel free to keep going without me. I’m going to just control a golem, so please don’t shake me.”

Harlan tried to get used to the feeling of the Sentinel.

Knowing that this is how Balor felt, Harlan wasn’t shocked that he devoted so much time to getting a body and was willing to suffer to finally achieve it.

Harlan fumbled a little bit with the gate due to the large hands of the golem, but instead he reached forward a little too quickly, putting his hand through the gate and tearing it off the hinges as he tried to remove his fist.

“Zach, to what do I owe the pleasure?”

“Harlan?”

“Yes, getting used to a new spell. I can jump into certain golems that I’ve made. But enough, please, come inside.”

“Right.”

He eyed Harlan with suspicion, but followed him inside anyway.

The dining room went silent when he stepped inside.

He saw Harlan with his head back and his eyes closed, then suddenly he jolted awake.

“It will take a while to get used to that. Should this conversation be private?”

“I don’t think so, I didn’t come here to say what I was told to say. I know that relations between us have been a little rocky, and they are insensitive, so I’ll just tell you. The higher ups want you to start testing your magic. I’m sorry, I know that it is a bad time to-”

“I still have the lab at the academy gifted to me by the headmaster. Send people who understand the risks involved and who truly want this. I will need to see them in a transformed and a normal state; I might need to test their reaction to things like silver, since that weakness must be soulborne and not physical.”

“I’m sure they would demote me for even saying this, but you should take a few days, get some rest. Before you make any moves, wait and see how people are moving. News spreads fast, it won’t take long for the more impulsive people to start doing things, and I’ll tell you what that means when it happens.”

“Zach.”

There was a silence as he realized that Harlan wanted a reply first.

“Yeah?”

“Thank you.”

“You’ve done a lot of good for us, you are likely to do more good. I don’t like how they are treating you, and I don’t want you to think that you need to do more right now.”

“Do you want to sit and eat something?”

“No, I had breakfast before I came.”

Harlan took that rest, not that it did him that much good.

Only a day had passed but he wanted to work, he spent the last two months almost constantly doing something to the point where it felt wrong to stop.

Harlan would head back to the academy in the morning, but there was something he wanted to ask.

“Hello again, my child.”

“How long does it take for a pixie to come back to life?”

“Could be a year, could be a century. I can’t say with any certainty when it comes to those things.”

“Alright, now, I’ve thought of something, and stop me if I’m wrong. But I recall that Xol has an immortal soul because he doesn’t belong to this place, so where are all the Fae souls? Surely they must be around, somewhere safe, not at risk of being broken free, probably under the watchful eye of Xol and Merigold themselves. Now, let’s say that they are also a powerful source of mana, which would enrich their environment. Why did you hide them from me when I first entered the academy? I felt awful, I could feel their minds around me, and then my vision went black, and I couldn’t feel them anymore.”

“They are inert as they are, and they power their own prison. If you felt them, mentioned it, and then began to poke around, no good would come of it. It was better that you simply didn’t know about what that feeling really was. It is still better that you don’t know.

“Can an immortal soul-”

Harlan felt fear, he knew who had arrived within the small world of The Mother.

“The interlopers are where they are until we might have use of them. You have no claim to them.”

Harlan’s body felt like it was on fire when he woke up, but his soul wasn’t seriously damaged, his defenses could at least hold up to at least a few words from Aarde.

He awoke on his floor, Adina was ready to call for Sepul, but he talked her down.

Harlan groaned and let her help him to a seat so he could explain what had happened.

“Just from his voice?”

“Their voice. Aarde is fused with the god from the world the Fae came from. But yeah, if that was Aarde in full control, he would be the right word.”

“If I wasn’t sure it would actually hurt you, I’d hit you. I didn’t ask because I wanted a language lesson.”

Harlan was looking a little queasy.

“Sorry, I’m not-”

He barely kept himself from vomiting.

“I’m calling Sepul.”

He was less than happy to be there for this reason. Harlan’s soul was shocked, but would heal itself, Sepul could do nothing. But he was more unhappy seeing Harlan like this at all.

“Stay here another few days, no magic, no physical exertion. Doctor’s orders. I’ll check on you tomorrow morning, you are not going back until I give you a clean bill of health. Adina, in his weakened state, even you should be able to force him to listen to you.”

She was offended by the way he phrased it, but didn’t voice this.

“Keep him safe.”

His face made it seem as if he meant to say something else, and that simply slipped out.

Nobody got the chance to ask and he didn’t explain himself, he just teleported away.

“Do you need anything right now? I bet you want food and drink. Can you use the bathroom yourself? I could-”

“Yes, just something light, water instead of juice today. I can have golems help me do that.”

“I’ll stay close still. Do you want me to-”

“Adina, I’m not helpless, I’m just hurt.”

Harlan sneezed and his lungs felt like they were about to burst as he seized up and nearly fell to the floor again.

“I’ll keep close.”

After an hour he wanted to get up, but Adina took his hand the moment his feet touched the floor.

“I can walk.”

“Not without me you won’t. You could fall and get worse, then you’d need to spend more time here recovering. I know you hate rest, so I want you to get back to destroying your body on purpose instead of by accident.”

Harlan sighed.

“I want to go downstairs and ask Isha to make me more food; my stomach is settled and I could eat more.”

“Alright, then we can go together.”

She walked him to the kitchen, Sara was already there and began making him a second breakfast.

Adina already told everyone how Harlan was feeling.

“Should I ask what happened?”

“I made the world upset by asking a question and their words can kill people.”

She barely even registered what he said, filtering into the part of her mind that held all of the ‘Harlan statements’.

“I was wondering, Gunther and I-”

“Yeah I’ll put on the wedding, if Garad will ask me only if it gets too expensive.”

“Thank you, but that isn’t what I wanted to say. Since the attack, I haven't had a good time to speak with you. But, Gunther has been thinking about leaving, and, if he does, I want to go with him.”

“What can I do to-”

“Do you feel safe?”

Harlan wanted to say yes, but he couldn’t, it wasn’t a secret to those close to him that he always felt like there was something about to happen.

“Even if I think that it is safer here than Tole, he wants to move, and I still think I should go with him.

I love him, and he loves me, it isn’t like I can’t work here, but I’ll be here from late morning to early evening, if you let me.”

“He should’ve come to me. Call him in, I’ll talk to him.”

“Harlan, he doesn’t know you like I do, he wouldn’t dare go against you.”

“Surely he knows that-”

“No, he doesn’t. Maybe he did, but after the attack, when you… I don’t know, whatever you did with those bodies…”

She stopped scrambling the eggs in the pan as she thought about how she wanted to phrase it.

“Gunther is sensitive, he hasn’t seen things like we have. I’m asking because he can’t.”

“I’m not going to hold it against either of you. Do you need anything to get a house there? He is probably going to want to set up a tailors shop again, it won’t be cheap.”

“I’ve been saving money, and you pay us well enough that it isn’t going to be a problem.”

“You, saving money? Where is the real Sara?”

“If you can joke then I’m going to assume it really isn’t an issue.”

“I should work on that train more, you could get to Tole in just a few minutes.”

Harlan was going to head down to the bunker, but then he looked at Adina and sat back down.

“Or not. Do you know where Balor is?”

“Said he had to look at something in Tole.”

“Ava?”

“Everyone already left, you were supposed to be leaving in the early morning and you had your little goodbye dinner last night. You’re stuck with just us boring people now.”

“You guys aren’t boring.”

“Ask me, what did I do for the last week?”

“What did you do?”

“I worked, talked and ate with my fiance, gossiped with Isha, and then I slept. Every single day.”

“I’ve been meaning to get around to it, but I want to teach everyone magic. Are you interested?”

“I’d feel like a toddler if you started trying to talk about magic with me. But I could learn if you want me too.”

Harlan ran through what he had planned, and Sara agreed without understanding it really, Adina had to step in to avoid her dealing with some hellish regiment made up by Harlan.

This, in and of itself, was very useful information for his teaching and how it should be structured to handle a complete beginner.

His father had attended bootcamp, and though he flunked out due to a lack of magical talent, he could sense after a little lesson to make him remember.

His mother had experience through osmosis, nobody raised 4 children who were interested in magic without picking up some knowledge.

Sara had none of this.

The day passed without anything terrible happening, Harlan invited Gunther to dine with the rest of them, since Sara and him often ate with one another.

He was tense, Harlan’s words did little to alleviate this, but he thanked Harlan for what he had already given him and turned out anything more.

As the night went on Harlan gained a fever, his bed grew ever more damp with his sweat as he was barely coherent.

Dawn felt that it was dangerous and Adina was still in the room, but was sleeping in a chair at his bedside.

She weighed her options, was Harlan likely to die from this? If he didn’t get any better than he was right now, then yes, if his body and soul started to heal at a faster rate than he got worse, or even if he just stopped getting worse, then no.

She knew how she could contact someone for help, but not without revealing herself.

After 5 minutes his temperature only got higher, fear of losing him gripped her and overrode the fear of others finding out about her.

She flexed as much power as she could, moving Harlan’s hand to the amulet on his bedside table.

The one in Adina’s pocket lit up, but there was no response from the girl.

She tried a few other people, his parents, Isha, Sara, Kass, everyone was sleeping.

While she didn’t know for sure, and she didn’t want to put the idea in Harlan’s head, she expected that someone would be awake.

“Harlan?”

“Mary, Harlan is very sick, and I can’t help him. Please, find a way to get someone here.”

There was silence that hung heavy in the air for a long moment as Mary processed that the voice she heard was the one that she remembered.

“Eliza?”

“No, I’m a friend of Harlan’s. I can-”

The Golden woman appeared in the room suddenly, searching for her old student, who she believed to be dead.

“Eliza, where are… Harlan… what have you done?”

By using her powers, she had become enough of a presence that she could be detected.

“It wasn’t his fault. And please, don’t call me that. My name is Dawn now.”

“What happened to you?”

She crossed the entire room in a single step and touched Harlan’s face.

“Eliza died, Harlan, well, instinct overpowered sense and he forced her mind to come inside of him.”

Anger clearly flashed across her face as her eyes glowed golden in the dark room.

“That isn’t good enough, when did he do this?”

“15 years ago, right before he was taken away by Coronach, her killer. He was just an infant still, he didn’t even know he did it until a year ago. I tried contacting him in his dreams, but he kept letting The Darkness remove those memories because they hurt him too much to bear.”

“As an infant? That doesn’t… no, it does make sense. Harlan has always had a rather clear mind, when he focuses on something, little stands in his way. If he tried, I’m sure I could teach him the true gate in an afternoon.”

“True gate?”

“Why the name change? Are you, I don’t know, comfortable? How much do you remember?”

“I can’t be Eliza, she was… you know how she was. That isn’t who Harlan should have, I fought and clawed against that identity for years, finally I killed it, but I didn’t want to be that person and yet I had no idea who I really was anymore. I’m still her, but I am more, a better person. As for what I remember, everything.”

“You didn’t answer me, are you comfortable? Can I help you get out?”

“I’m fine in here, Harlan asked me before, but I don’t want to live another life, I just want to help him.

He gets so carried away, and I can steer him back to what he wants to be, just enough that he doesn't hurt anyone. But I can’t heal him, I can’t even do a single bit of magic myself, and I can’t use his magic because his soul is hurt. Please, I’m begging you, don’t let him die, if you want to punish him for making me, wait until he gets better, I’ll tear myself out of his head, it wasn’t his fault.”

Mary placed her hands on Harlan and Dawn could feel the power surge through his body, his soul sealed up the little cracks, the waves calmed.

“If you have free will, and you choose to be there for him, then do it. I’m not going to hurt him for doing something he didn’t understand and then trying to make it right. How did you know I would come, or that I could even help him?”

“Because you haven’t aged a day in 20 years, your past was always too clean, like a fully formed person popped into existence. Mary, he might have been drunk, and confused, but my memories are clear.

That was you in Xol’s lair.

I haven’t said anything by the way, just like he doesn't know who his great grandfather is. Sepul needs to come clean himself, it isn’t my place to tell Harlan about him.”

“Then I guess it is nice to meet you, Dawn, I hope you can help Harlan, but there is going to be a time, sooner than both of us will like, when Harlan makes his choice on the man he wants to be. I hope you can understand that he isn’t your son, he is a champion, and he will have duties related to that.”

In the morning Harlan awoke to find that his bed was absolutely soaked.

“You’ve never been sick, so you wouldn’t know, but this is what it is like. Your fever ran hot, you were boiling up. Go drink plenty of water, then take a bath. Adina probably won’t be awake before you get out.”

“Thanks.”

“For what? I couldn’t help you, I’m just a voice in your head.”

“But I’m sure that you were there the entire night, worried about me anyway.”

“Don’t let it get to your head.”

Harlan had done as asked, and he really did feel much better.

Sepul arrived in late morning to dash his hopes of a quick return to work.

“Physically you seem to be fine, but we can both see that your soul is shaky. Perhaps you could handle light magic, things like telekinesis and hover, but no warmagic or soulsmithing. I thought it would take closer to a week, but your vitality never stops being impressive, one more day of rest and you should be fine. Adina, you need to watch him, if he gets off his leash he risks doing something stupid without realizing it.”

“Thank you for the vote of confidence.”

“You weren’t conscious for it, but I was the main healer when you nearly killed yourself last week.

I have no interest in seeing you like that again.”

Sepul left since Harlan had no questions.

Harlan sighed and thought of what he could do that wouldn’t be vetoed by his love.

“Maybe I should visit the lovers, I haven’t heard anything from them since the attack, but I know they are alright.”

“Alright, let’s go then. You did well yesterday, can I trust that you can repeat such a feat?”

“Now you are just making fun of me.”

Her reply was just a giggle.

When they arrived the children were just finishing up their breakfast.

Harlan, and thus the rest of the house, started their days quite early.

Jerah and Sherah were inside helping to clean, the man doted over his wife.

“Honey, you don’t need to do that, think of the baby. Why don’t you go rest.”

Not all was well on the homefront.

“I’m fine, and if I need to tell you that one more time, I’m going to-”

“Miss Sherah isn’t supposed to threaten people.”

She let out an exasperated breath.

“Please go to your classes.”

“I wanted to help Miss Sherah with cleaning.”

She patted the boy on the back and sent him on his way, though when she turned she realized Harlan was there.

“I’m sorry to have not welcomed you when you arrived.”

“Don’t worry. How have things been here? I’m sorry I didn’t come after what happened.”

She had to think about what he could mean.

“I’m sorry, I’m not sure what event you mean.”

“The attack, 2 months ago.”

“Oh? That was nothing, the golems weren’t even damaged very much. I put it out of my mind weeks ago.”

“That is for the best then. How is the baby?”

“Fine, and I don’t need to visit the doctor every week.”

“But honey, what if something happens. I couldn’t-”

“You couldn’t live with yourself. Well I can barely live with you right now. I’m not an invalid.”

Harlan just stepped back as the couple became oblivious to their surroundings.

“I bet you are going to be just like that when I’m pregnant.”

“I know you can take care of yourself. I don’t need to watch you every second of the day as it is.”

She simply put up a veil and laughed until she could barely stand.

Harlan didn’t think it was quite that funny.

Adina wiped a tear from her eye and her laughter petered out.

“Maybe you aren’t ready to return, because clearly you are delusional.”

“Adina, you’ve been… off lately. Are you ok?”

She buried her head in her hands and began to cry, knocking the lovers out of their own quarrel.

“You died. I saw your head vanish, I was covered in your blood. IS BEING A LITTLE OFF SO WRONG.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t-”

“Just stay another day, I want you to be rested. I don’t want to see that again, I can’t close my eyes without seeing it.”

Sherah came nearer to hold Adina’s hand.

“Why don’t you two stay the day here at the village, tomorrow too. Children are hard to handle, but just being around them can raise your spirits.”

She was still sobbing, but shook her head yes.

Harlan would rather not, but he really had no option.

The moment the idea of not doing it crossed his mind, even if it was fleeting, he could feel how angry Dawn became. Harlan would handle Adina with as soft a touch as he could, but he was a little worried about how she clung to him like a kitten wanting to be petted.