Air of foreboding was evident in the meeting room. Hushed voices and the nervously excited murmurs added to the tension. Aurelia listened to the familiar booming sound that recited and enacted tales filled with magic in her childhood, announce to the emergency gathering of regiment leaders and advisors how successful the trip to forge as well strengthen alliances with other magical provinces was. 

Lost in thought, attention dwindling from her father's rather passionate appeal to the thinking heads to formulate the best possible offense in face of the impending threat that loomed over the realm. She could sense the tinge of desperation in his tone even if the oratory skills said otherwise. She wished she could wholeheartedly get behind her father's call for action, marching into a path of war with no regard to the collateral damage she had seen it cause. Faceless savages and depraved beasts could've been shrugged off as unavoidable casualties. But Aurelia couldn't comprehend the justifiable haste behind an expected outcome as everybody saw.

Aurelia didn't dare to interrupt the proceedings, biding her time to address her father once everything quieted down. She did not want to give off the panel of esteemed strategists that she was not in a position to do whatever that's expected of her when the time came; which she did not need a reminder that it has. Regardless of continuous reassurances from her mentor, she knew she was nowhere near capable to accomplish the kind of sacrifice that Flora once did. The burden of expectations and the question over her abilities was certainly an issue from her standpoint, but she did not know what the reactions or conclusions that can be drawn would be, if she was to inadvertently blurt out the truth regarding the non-magical realm that was caught in between a conflict that they had not asked for.

As everyone bowed down to the King, her eyes met her father's for a moment before she withdrew contact pretending to continue transcribing the events. The King dismissed the session while Aurelia watched them leave lifting her head up a few times more than the normal pace in between her writing. With the footsteps of the council members starting to wane, her father gave out a bemused expression.

"I'm pretty sure you are not seeing them for the first time. Are you? This is what happens when you are reading all day. You forget reality," Justin was smiling. "What is troubling you?"

Aurelia was embarrassed that he knew it right away. She thought she was doing a good job of hiding it. Apparently not.

"Is there really a need to go out there with everything in our arsenal?" Aurelia prefaced the conversation.

"Sooner the better. You know very well that the presence of the dark wizard is growing powerful by the day. It has to be put to a stop. We have to strike before the situation gets a whole lot worse. He is not going to wait around or show mercy." Justin was patient but thought his daughter totally not grasping the gravity of the situation at hand.

"I know that. This is why I have been training my whole life. An all-out war would damage that realm beyond repair. More than it already has. More than what we had or will inadvertently – "

Justin's lax expression gave in to seriousness. It seemed as if he had sensed the unspoken alarm bells blaring the room.

"What do you mean?" The question was neither condescending nor conducive for further conversation. But Aurelia decided to push for it.

"In your absence. I – I investigated the magic leak. I traced it back to the realm where the dark wizard was last vanquished. The entire land is toxic; the people are struggling. The leaking magic is how they get by. That's how their machines function. Father, that place is not like what we thought. While we celebrate our liberation from the holds of darkness; they suffered. We should assess the situation before doing anything drastic, which is my suggestion." Aurelia let it all out in one go, uncertain whether she would get a further chance to elaborate before it was too late. Irrespective of what the response was or what people thought, the fact that she was able to make her point made her feel at ease; the nagging frustration relented a bit.

"You have let your curiosity get the better off of you and disobeyed direct orders. I am disappointed, but I understand. Even I wish things were better between our realms. Mistakes were made. We are tethered together in an unwilling destructive entanglement. But our people will suffer. The monster lives to see the downfall of all magical realms; will stop at nothing for domination." Justin tried to defend himself from his questioning daughter, even if he had no obligation to.

"What are you hiding from me, father?" Aurelia's voice cracked as it looked likely that some of her fears might be true. "Where are all the records regarding the thwarted rebellion from the non-magical realm? Shouldn't it be kept safe in the palace and disseminated for the people as a reminder of the struggles of our ancestors? Why is that most of it is hidden in restricted sections of libraries?" Aurelia seemed to have nothing to lose. She went for it.

"I thought I was gone just for a few days," Justin let out a dry laugh more to himself. "I am impressed by your sleuthing skills, Aurelia. I presume Lumien did well to get through to the chamber of knowledge. I knew he was a good choice for the job. But this makes it easier for me. Now that you know there is a device out there which would starve this realm off from every reserve of magic, that is slowly doing the same as we speak. The people you speak for take advantage of it. Meanwhile, the dark wizard is gaining relevance and reverence in that realm. How convenient." Justin was growing weary.

"I know what their part was clearly, father. I have read the books; what that device in wrong hands led to. Our suffering. It is our part that I am vague about. The very fact that we caused it or how the rebellion ended. I need to be sure to grasp the entire situation." Aurelia appealed to her father, despite his disinterest was evident.

"My daughter, you have read about it. I lived during that. There is a big difference." Justin did admire his daughter in some level, but was convinced that she was being naïve. "Do you speak and behave the same way towards your closest friends, casual acquaintances and sworn enemies? You would be unwise if you did."

"I have not slain my enemies yet." Aurelia was starting to get furious.

"I wouldn't call someone who defeated you in checkers, an enemy, Aurelia."

"Your majesty, are you forgetting that I have already faced mortal danger in the recent confrontation? I did well by myself. And I am here speaking for the safety of the offending realm. I'd like to think that I have a handle of what I am doing." Aurelia had to muster every bit of her courage.

"Yes, I know that. It's great that you wanted to be on the frontlines. Despite how dangerous it was. But it's all the more reason for me to say that you are not ready, yet. The world doesn't work on principles, Aurelia. People are unpredictable. We all are trying to do what we can." Justin shrugged at his daughter's persistence. "What is it that you want me to do?"

"Let me visit the realm for once. I will try to learn more about the device that the dark wizard forged. There should be a way that would be satisfactory to all of us. I want to see for it myself that this action for a war on that realm that we already harmed is justified."

"Okay, do whatever you want. Just don't get in trouble. I want you back in one piece. Just so you know, if any of them manage to harm you, I won't hold back." Justin patted her shoulder.

Aurelia leaned against him, "Thanks father."

***

A hooded man proceeded to step out of a circle drawn out of thin air. The kind of circle which wasn't clean enough to be one drawn with a compass. Even though it was distorted in some ways with the perimeter not equidistant from the vertex, it let out a fiery glow. It let out sparks like how metal was welded. With one foot out of the portal, stuck in the arid soil, the other foot was still in the lush greens of his native world. Anybody who was lucky enough to get a view of this aberration, would pass out from the sheer uncanniness of it all.

Tents were present all over the place in a disorganized manner. Hot air burnt his skin. He saw in the distance, a group of working folks trying to build something. Women were seen pulling carts which were set on wheels, carrying the mortar mix and some construction equipment. Workers were busy talking measurements and laying down the brickwork. They all wore transparent masks, fogged from their own breath. Climate didn't help ease their day of labor.

After every ten to fifteen minutes the worker groups rotated. While one group worked, the other group restocked oxygen from the cylinders. Some of the tents already were providing respite for the workers who passed out from exhaustion. It looked like a ghost of a town to the man from the other world. The kind which he thought he had not seen anywhere but history books. Unfinished structures looked like future homes, which barely had enough room for people that they were supposed to accommodate.

In the middle of a ram shackled town stood an equally incomplete town square with a prominent tree like structure which was under works, supported by beams, horizontal and vertical. Scaffolding was erected from where workers were doing the paint job. Some cranes were used to lift a supposedly fragile material from underground cravens to place it in the trunk of the structure and some of the branches.

Way to go, thieves.

The man passed the town square without drawing attention to himself and his accomplices.

"We got to be quick, Gladion." The man didn't think the loser knew what he was saying. But now, it looked real.

Gladion was filled with guilt. He had spent months on the realm, hiding his magic. Supressing it became a second nature of him now, even the involuntary bursts of magic he used to let out when under duress. He had come to not see the connections he made – friends and foe alike – as part of an infiltration plan. He had hoped this day would never come. He wished he never succeeded. It was his day of betrayal. He eyed the feline of the desert, his trusted pet, mournfully.

The killings had been brutal. They had sent out many a man before for the same ordeal. Over the years, many of them had perished. The locals were feisty. Armed with magic cancelling weaponry, their natural tenacity only compounded with thirst for vengeance. They went for everyone with any sign which wasn't deemed ordinary. It was a major embarrassment and weakness for the leader of the magical province that a shield had to be erected between the realms. This should not be possible. The man could've never predicted this turn of events. Their victory of their people over fifty years ago should've guaranteed him a position worthy of envy and a comfortable life. He should've been respected by the kind of folks who are now coming for their throats. This was unacceptable and it needed to stop. The duo was already successful than the others. They had taken in many of the culprits under the guise of barely peaceful confinements. They had taken out some. As they say, offence was the best defence. Excitement that was building inside the man.

"Amazing work, Gladion. Truth be told, I didn't expect you to play all these fools for what they are, so seamlessly if I might add. I'd have to be careful around you from now on it seems." The man laughed, clearly elated by Gladion's effort.

Gladion did not respond. His face did not show any expression. He was numb inside. He whole heartedly regretted what was about to happen. He wouldn't be able to redeem himself.

"We already tried retrieving the crystals. Our powers don't work in their presence. We cannot steal them without injuring ourselves. It feels like dark energy. Exposure to this is fatal. This might corrupt our realm. Can we not jump into hasty decisions and think this out?" Gladion tried to reason with the man. He stood no chance against the man, the fire element of his at a clear disadvantage. He had a child to tend to; whom Gladion hoped would be a good boy and stay out of this.

"What have they done to you, my man? Don't tell me that you are looking for a new mother for your child in these wastelands." The man let out a vicious grin. Gladion shuddered at the transformation that his comrade had gone through. The man could be under the influence of the crystals which seemed to seek out darkness. But he wasn't sure if his former companion was not capable of doing what he was planning to.

"To be fair, we made this a wasteland. Like it or not." Gladion raised his hands in a symbol of peace. The man did not like it.

"I used to sympathize with them. Now I think they deserve it." The man was firm in his intentions.

"After everything they have done, all for a grave but an honest mistake, there is no going back. Stop being a coward. You came here knowing very well what you were sent out for. Now, deal with it." The man said with finality.

The man clasped his hands, as bubbles began forming in his palm, turning into a stream fighting against his hand to get out, like a hungry locked up wild animal locked inside the cage waiting for a chance to break its shackles; very much like how he was feeling himself. He viewed this a release more than punishment. It was going to compensate the injustices dealt to his people. That's what he told himself. That this had a higher purpose. But in all honestly, he wanted to get back at them. That was all he cared about.

"You shouldn't do this; this is not like you. Stop at once!" Gladion pleaded.

"Sympathizers like you say they did all this for water and air. I am just giving them what they asked for." The man overpowered Gladion's fire magic with ease with the current throwing Gladion off the course, pushing him through brick walls.

He continued at it like a crazed monster; plummeting the newly erected construction sites, tents and settlers alike, reveling at the power he had over their submerged dreams, with his rage blocking out the screams of despair; of people frantically trying to save themselves and their belongings - the ones who did not know anything but calamities since birth.

It was the darkness of the dusk that saved them that day. The crystals used the nearest source of darkness as their power source, draining the man off his energy, preventing a massacre that it could've been.

It had been the lowest moment of the man's life. He had lost his friend. Gladion was his only accident.

They had taken Gladion to heal but to no avail.

Even when the man was awarded with a high-ranking position for his exploits, no matter how kind he was or how altruistic he tried to be, he thought it was out of guilt or as an act. The man knew he could not be absolved from any of his doings. But he strived to not be the monster ever again.

Kelvin felt pain shoot through his head, awoke with a pulsating heart beat and cold sweat. He had momentarily felt his eyes roll back into his head as if feeling an intense urge to get back at the man. A righteous, ominous rage had enveloped him.

You know what to do my boy

A whispery smooth voice egged him on to rip that man apart in any way he could.

As Kelvin gasped for air, he noticed the blurry face of Max trying to violent shake him into consciousness.

Kelvin had seen the events that tragedy that shaped him, through the eyes of the man who was responsible for it; hence missing his face. He saw his father use the last remnants of magic to create multiple short-lived clones, saving his life. His father must've suffered alone towards his end. He was teary eyed.

Kelvin longed to see Lee more than ever, wishing to keep the feline close to him. He did not want to stress Lee out with all his problems. But out of all possible days, Lee found today suitable to go missing.