After talking with Stanford, I had a lot on my mind. After almost a decade apart, I still have mixed feelings about my father. I had done something terrible that had warranted his retaliation, yet I was eight years old at the time. Some would say that I "didn't know any better," while others would beg to differ.

Even though I harbored apprehensive feelings toward going back home, I still have a job to do. No matter what I have to do, I'll do whatever it takes to protect my home-even if I'll be demonized in the process.

After I left my boss's office, I made my way out of the keep and walked back into the bright, cheerful city around me. Alas, my dour mood sullied the magical atmosphere of Helios. I stalked through the wide, stone-paved streets full of merchants carting their wares of fresh produce, fine fabrics, and whatnot in and out of the city along with the average citizen going to gods-know where. I didn't care either way-I avoided them all. I didn't mean to, but I barely noticed Luna tailing behind me, quiet as a mouse.

Dorrian noticed the look on my face when I caught up with him and Analise at my favorite tavern, The Drunken Skag. The watering hole's been the meeting place for me and my friends ever since I first met them, so there's a certain kind of affection I feel for the old cobblestone building. Even if it was a bit old fashioned, (the outhouses are shit.) The 'ye olde' style that characterizes the Drunken Skag makes me feel at home. I didn't realize it initially, but I sighed as I realized that I had been biting my lip in deep contemplation. The blood dripping from my lower lip told me as much.

"Helix? Something's up, isn't it? What's wrong, my dude?" Dorrian asked me.

A rueful grin appeared on my face. Why can't I lie to anyone?

"Our next mission will take us to Erisiir-my home."

Dorrian's face turned the color of bleached marble. "Wha-really?"

Only Dorrian and Analise knew the whole story. Virrius and Stanford knew slightly less than they do, but you get the point: not many people are aware of what happened to me.

Luna looked at me with a question in her eyes, "What's wrong Helix?"

I decided to tell her. She hasn't asked me about my scar or my eye or even my past. If she's going to go with us on missions, she deserves to at least know some of the story so she could trust me. I know I was a bit...Hesitant to tell you as well, my dear reader, so allow me to answer any questions you might have right now.

When I was eight, a cloaked, mysterious man who caused the other children to run away squealing in fright asked me if I had lost someone dear to me. I wish I just ran away from him like other kids did, but nope: I said that I had indeed lost someone dear to me. He had smiled then and handed me a strange scroll. He told me that if I read it aloud, I would be able to bring my mother back.

(Quick note: Never trust hooded strangers! That and a series of horrible events has led to my scars and a buttload of pain...I actually prefer the metric equivalent to buttload, also known as "Shitton." It seems more fitting, does it not?)

Well, as it turns out, the guy was a dark magic user. And, he just gave moi, an eight year old at the time, a scroll that talked all about one of the most forbidden forms of black magic you can ever hope to find: necromancy.

A few hours after that I made a circle of runes in my room. I put my necklace in the middle of the circle and proceeded to cut my pinkie so a few drops of blood could land on the valued pendant. Part of me still wonders why I had decided to use the necklace my dear mum had so lovingly crafted for me in that cursed ritual. Now that I think about it, my necklace was the only thing I had left of my mother-I've been wearing it for as long as I can remember, so I thought it was fitting to use it to revive her.

When I was done with that, I unrolled the scroll and attempted to read the series of syllables made of random vowels and consonants that were written on the weathered parchment. (Now that I think about it, I seriously butchered that spell. I mean, I wasn't born with a natural ability to understand and use necromancy. I was just a little kid wanting to bring their mother back to life.) When I finished reading the scroll, everything seemed to get darker. Then my mom appeared in the rune circle before me. I nearly jumped for joy then. Too bad I accidentally turned her into a demon.

"Mum?" I called out, "What are you doing?"

She growled and lashed out at me, raking her claws against my face. The pain was unlike anything I had ever had the displeasure of feeling, and my screams of agony alerted my father, who charged into my darkened room I was in and dealt with the mess I had created.

"Helix!" he began after he was done cutting down the demon version of my mother. "Helix, are you..." He noticed the wound on my face and scowled. "What have you been doing in here?"

I looked at him, blood running down the left side of my face. My eye had somehow shifted to a lighter shade of blue than the other one when my mother attacked me, and this mark has served as a physical reminder of my failure since that abysmal day. I couldn't answer his question-I honestly couldn't. I thought what I was doing was right-Of course I did: I was only eight.

"I... I was trying to bring Mom back..." I replied in a small, meek voice.

"By using dark magic? Helix, this is all outlawed, and for a reason." He began coldly, malice and disappointment apparent in his voice.

"I-I'm sorry..." I whispered, looking away from him.

"Sorry? Sorry can't repair this." My father exclaimed, his voice rising to clearly convey his anger: "Who taught you this blasphemous magic? Who?"

"A man, I really didn't know who he was though-."

My father slapped me. "This is punishable by death. You know that, right?"

My face went pale. "I- I didn't mean to."

He struck me again, and what happened next was honestly the worst moment in my life: I was branded and exiled at age eight, and I was lashed two hundred times for my crimes. I'm still amazed that I didn't die from all of the lacerations I had received. I still remember counting to two hundred as my father lashed me in front of the whole village.

Old friends and relatives wore stoic features as I was whipped. A few of the deeper scars still ache even to this day, and the scar over my eye... It's a grim reminder of just how badly I screwed up, and I still get strange looks even walking through the streets of Helios. To this day, I wonder why I was punished so...viciously. If my memory is correct, I could almost say that an unholy rage had settled over my father. I don't know...that's all water under the bridge now.

After I finished telling her, Luna looked at me in surprise.

"O-Oh...I didn't mean to-I'm sorry for asking..." She stammered.

"Don't worry about it Luna. I wanted to tell you this, so now you know." I told her. "You're a member of this team, so you have a right to know so we can all trust each other."

"Team?" She echoed.

I cracked a smile, "Aye. King Fredrick and Stanford have been asking me to create a group of sorts-a team of 'elites' if you will."

Luna looked thoughtful, "Hmm, okay then. I've never thought of myself as an 'elite'."

I chuckled, "You'll be an elite once you start getting the hang of a spell or two."

"Hold up," Dorrian interjected, "while I'm not opposed to Luna being a part of our team, I can't help but point this out: The lass just got here, yet you're already thinking about bringing her on missions. Are you daft?"

"I know she just got here, but we're not leaving for Erisiir for another five days," I pointed out, "I also know that it's not a lot of time, but I want to expose her to what we're going to be dealing with. If it's too much for her, then she can say this isn't the life for her."

"I-I would like to tag along," she chimed in. While her voice was soft, I could still catch the determination in her words. "I may not be a hard-hitter, but anything's better than sitting around all day doing nothing."

Analise regarded Luna curiously. "And why do you say that, kitten?"

While her face flushed ever so slightly, Luna met Ana's gaze and answered her question: "There's nothing worse than feeling useless. Since Helix was nice enough to bring me along, I'd rather not be a deadweight." A pained expression crossed her face. "That's the last thing I'd want to be."

Dorrian considered her response and nodded to himself. "Eh, fair is fair. I must say, you're brave for wanting to be in this team of lunatics."

Luna shrugged, and the ghost of a smile brightened her features. "You all aren't that bad, really."

While we continued talking, I spotted a straggler was watching us from across the tavern.

We were seated in the back of the Skag where we were further away from the other patrons of this fine joint. While they might seem like a jolly bunch to share a pint with, their personal hygiene left...much to be desired.

Almost nonchalantly, I shot a pin-like object at this stranger. Only, this pin was made of light-blue energy and it looked almost transparent. Long story short, it's one of the neat little tricks Virrius taught me. Luna's eyes widened when she saw the needle of blue energy form between my index finger and thumb. She then blinked in disbelief when the pin seemed to vanish into thin air.

The pin hit true and embedded itself in the man's neck. Incapacitating but not outright killing him.

Hearing the thud of the man hitting the floor, Luna turned around.

"What the-." she started, "Bloody hell! Why did you do that?"

I shrugged and grinned from ear to ear, "He'll live." Her bewildered glance made me chuckle. "What? I don't like people snooping on us." I continued to speak as if nothing had happened. (Don't worry, the bloke got up about ten minutes after he hit the ground. He was a bit dazed, but he wasn't dead.)

"Y-You didn't answer my question though." Luna stammered. "Why did you do that?"

I chuckled. "Mmm...I dunno. I saw a weird dude staring at us, so I showed him I didn't appreciate his snooping ways."

"Y'know, you could've just asked the bloke to stop looking at us." Dorrian grumbled. "That's what most normal people do."

"Anyway," I continued as if Dorrian hadn't said anything. "I hope to recruit more people in the future to make this team of ours more interesting. You'll have five days to practice getting good at imagery magic before we're off on this mission."

She nodded, "I'll try to learn as much as I can before we have to leave for Erisiir."

"Don't worry if you don't learn a lot. If you learn just a few novice-level imagery magic spells, that'll be enough. It took me a while to at least get the title 'apprentice'. Virrius poked fun at me until then because I was a novice."

That got her laughing. When she realized that she had laughed, she blushed, "Uh, that didn't happen."

Dorrian shook his head in wonder, "Wow, she's like a kitten. Silent one moment, bouncing off the walls the next."

That got everyone laughing.

After we finished eating and chatted for a bit, we retreated to the castle. Fredrick was kind enough to supply us all with rooms to crash in, and they were really nice too: a small kitchen, bathroom, and a single bedroom made up the suite the king had allowed me to reside in. It wasn't the largest of accommodations, but its home, and that's what matters.

After Dorrian and Ana retreated to their rooms, Luna was still with me.

"Well, there's your room," I began, motioning toward the door by my room, "Sleep well."

She nodded and smiled, "You too." She entered her room and closed her door softly.

As I entered my room and flopped onto my bed, I had a momentary feeling of sadness pass through me. I shook my head and wondered why I had felt that way.

After a few moments, I shrugged and fell asleep.