[.....]
Mark Feehily's POV:

"Wait, why would he cast a spell to himself? He doesn't even know how to summon magic," I uttered.

"Well, that's still vague as of now, Lord Feeholira. Nonetheless, there's one thing I'm certain with."

"and that is?" Kian continued.

"As I examined the aura that was used to pelt this spell towards himself, I conclude that it indeed came from his own."

"Don't you think it could be just a bit of a mistake?" Nicky queried in disbelief.

"I hope that it was a mistake likewise, but as I tried to signify the aura which was present along with the spell, it really matched with Lord Filheney's own. Otherwise, there's also this strange phenomenon that currently occurs inside him. I'm trying to penetrate his mind more deeply to inspect, hoping that I was merely missing something upon my examination right now. Then, I noticed some essence of magic that appeared to be unfamiliar, although it is just a very tiny fraction.

"Tiny or not, it could still give more possibilities, right?" I remarked.

"Certainly, that's why I want to let you know that Lord Filheney might need to stay here from this night until tomorrow, or longer. I'll definitely have to work on this matter together with the other healers more poignantly to mend this oddity in most immediacy, so we wouldn't have to afford another risk," the healer professed.

"Alright. Then I guess, we have to leave," I declared.

Nicky seemed to not agree though. " But, Marky, Shane is..."

"I think Mark is right, Nick. Since we even don't have much knowledge when it comes to magic, let's just leave the rest to Ms Ellea and her colleagues for the meantime. Besides, our minds are all tired already, so taking enough sleep is obviously the best option." Kian grabbed Nicky's arm. The other attempted to argue, but I also snatched away his other arm, then the two of us began to drag him out of the hall.

"Please, do not get so anxious tonight, Lord Berrylun. Your body needs a proper amount of sleep, so you better take the advantage. I promise that we won't stop until everything is cleared up," Ms Ellea uttered before going back to her duty.

"See? There's nothing to be worried about too much, Mate." Kian looked at our captive.

"But, may we come here to visit for tomorrow?" I asked.

She nodded. "It's fine with us, but you will have to consider asking permissions from your taskmasters too."

"Okay, thank you, Ms Ellea." I projected a smile. "Please, take good care of our friend."

"I surely will, Your Excellency. Take care of your other friends too, especially, Lord Berrylun." She smiled back while eying Nicky with a hint of worry.

"Yes, leave it to me."

Then, we stepped out of the glass door. I released Nicky, so did Kian. We started to take the path going back to our elegant cottages, bearing with very exhausted bodies and totally drained minds. Yet, I signalled them to proceed without me. I just had to do something, or rather, talk to someone.

As they gradually got further from my place, I slowly walked and approached the person along the same route we're taking. Of course, this is the main and only way to get in the hub of the castle, so basically, he would be here too. Perhaps, my pals had failed to notice him because they'd been too occupied and prostrated.

"Seems like you're lost," I initiated; "The name is Brian McFadden, am I right?"

Earlier, I'd seen him standing near the tower. His eyes focused at the current scene of the sky, and when our group passed by, the lengthy guy then seemed to move away. Still. he turned around once my voice echoed through the night's solitude and called for his name.

"Says the one who's been left by his idiot companions." He raised a brow.

"I actually meant for them to go ahead of me."

He just snorted lightly and tossed a sharp glance on my way. "What? Want some confrontation, at this moment?"

"Wo, easy you there, bloke. I'm not an aggressive type of person like what you are. Seriously, you still thought of getting in trouble even during nighttime, huh," I tattled, which had merely caused him to get even more irritated with my presence.

"Then what do you want? Better talk right away, or I'll get pissed, and you surely won't survive the night," he said filled with annoyance.

No wonder why Nicky had said that he's quite feared by the students at the uni. Tch! There were many similar types of delinquents on our school who tried to get near us before, but they never got their hands on Shane again after we had 'em all beaten up. He'd never get on my nerves. This guy was more likely the same as those eejits.

"Well, I'm just wondering if a rock could be really turned into bread, you know?" I put my hands on my hips. "By the way, I'm Mark Feehily."

"Yeah, not that I care about it. Stop bitting around the bush and talking with some nonsense metaphor. Just tell me what do you want. Damn it!"

Now, he's getting impatient. Very nice idea, Mark. You're too good at putting yourself into trouble tonight.

Nevertheless, I remained unfazed with his irascible manner. Let's just say that I used to be a little bit stubborn at times. "Didn't I told you to be easy? By the way, thanks for helping us."

Guess what, his face swiftly changed expressions from annoyance to surprise, and to blank.

"So you merely risked yourself to approach me for that? You're urging me to laugh at you," he scoffed.

"Really? Then, why don't you laugh at yourself for helping some people you had harassed a few days ago? On the same note, why do you think of this as a risk? Is that how proud you are of yourself, just for being healthier and a few inches taller?" I uttered in a more serious tone.

"If you're not saying anything more, you can now go away and follow those lunatics over there," he remarked coldly while frantically pointing at Nicky and Kian who were walking like zombies.

"Fine then, I will no longer be bothering you, but only when you answer my question earlier," I compelled.

Brian seemed unamused by my persistence. "I don't have any obligation to answer your stupid fucking questions, okay? If I were you, I'll be just thankful, make myself comfortable on my bed and stay away."

Stupid questions, huh? What do you think with that stupid mentality of yours? This bastard was a complete mess. I couldn't get why he's acting and ranting like a fool. I couldn't see anything sensible at his logic at all. Yet, he still had the nerve to keep whining about being nonsense.

"Lord Obreon, you have to get back to your detention now." I heard someone from behind. He's actually being escorted, after all.

Elycia and Demorie suddenly appeared beside me. "Good evening to you, Lord Feeholira. Please, forgive us for interfering, but we need to conduct him back to his room now." Demorie slightly bowed his head to me.

"Alright then. Don't worry, I just have to hear his answer with my question, and after that, you may proceed," I asserted. Yes, I thought of using this chance to acquire what I wanted.

"Okay, we understand, Your Excellency."

I looked at McFadden once again. "Just answer my question, then I'll stop."

"You truly are one of that weakling's acquaintances. You all don't know when to stop, do you?" Brian said. "If I'm just not being watched by these people, I'd probably beat you up right now."

"Yeah, at least you recognized us that way." I simpered.

"Let's go, I thought you're sending me back to detention," the blond bluntly spoke up towards his two guardians before turning to me again. "I owed something from that psycho."

He quickly turned away as he said that, then the maid and the butler chased after him while I was left alone, dumbfounded. Well, that settled my being, somehow. I really had so many insane ideas running in my mind because of the favour he'd done to us. I actually got anxious about what might happen after that, for Nicky had told us how much trouble Brian had caused to Shane back when we were still on earth. THat's why I was too persistent to get the answer. I'd been selfish to annoy someone tonight in order to appease myself.

Taking a deep sigh of relief, I began to trudge until I was surprisingly still able to reach them along the way.

"Hey, what's with the slow-motion?" I queried teasingly.

The two simultaneously looked at me, and I was really shocked by what I saw. How did they get those lumps on their foreheads?

"Marky, what took you so long?"

Wait, what kind of stupidity were you up to?"

"Before we answer that, tell us first what did you do with that knobhead," Kian demanded.

"Oh, nothing. I just needed some peace of mind."

. . . . . . . . . . . .

The next day, I woke up with some sort of strange feeling of disquietude within. There must be something about the day and I didn't know if it's gonna be a nice or an unpleasant one. It's pretty weird for me to think this way actually, but I already got the unusual habit since when I was a kid. However, I had never been certain regarding what really could happen, and it always left me to wonder until everything was merely shoved at my face. Albeit none of my childhood friends had known about it until now, there were Shane and Gillian to ask every time they noticed that I was acting so uneasy around them at the least while all Kian had done was to satisfy himself by making fun of us.

With all of this kept in mind-I yawned, rolled and spread my limbs around the bed upon trying to wake my senses up. Good thing that they had provided us with this king-sized bed, so I could continue to process even longer without flopping down the floor or getting hit by the bedrails and walls. Anyway, we all really got pretty exhausted yesterday, not only because of what happened, but our trainers started to increase the routine as well, and my muscles felt very sore.

If it's just possible, I would ask them to let me sleep for the whole day or two. It was never easy to be a nobleman, after all. I'd really started thinking of how had my previous life managed to handle everything, especially with the fact that he'd become a ruler at a very young age. Honestly, I remembered that when I was fifteen, all I thought was all about being a student, a farmboy, a theatre player, an athlete, even having fun with some mates, singing and writing songs, then taking some rest and maintenance for my heart disease.

Speaking of which, it's been more than a week since my last attack. That was when Ms Ellea helped me, and frankly, my chest somewhat felt tight starting last night. The worse thing was, I didn't have my maintenance when I got here. As much as possible, I should stay calm and well-rested, yet I wonder if that could be my vocabulary right now.

"Your Excellency, are you awake yet?" Someone knocked on the door.
Hey, Marky, you had already slept long over there. Hurry up and we still have a lot to do." That's Kian, shouting outside my room again.

I sighed and finally revealed my eyes to the world once more, well, ALONG with the hope that the day would turn out just fine.

I tried to get up, but unfortunately, aside from the disquietude inside me, it seemed like my usual discomforts began to attack once again. My chest tightened, even more, my breath shortened-and I could feel my jaw, neck, shoulders, back and some other areas of my body aching.

"Mark, come on, open the door," Kian shouted louder for the second time.

Right, why did I lock my door anyway? I slowly moved forward to the end of the bed, stretching out my arm to slue the doorknob and let them in. As I did that, my body fell backwards so in time due to dizziness, and perspiration commenced throughout my skin. I could barely see the three figures walked over since I was busy with my attempts to ease the pain while trying to breathe some enough air in..

I heard a gasp from Kian, and he screamed as he approached me. " Shit! Mark, are ya alright?"

"Oh heavens! What happened?" Another voice, which I assumed to be Aflera, exclaimed as she came closer.

Mark! Mark! Can you hear me?" Kian said while gently tapping my shoulder.

"Yeah, I can hear you. Don't shout," I responded weakly.

"Lord Kian, what do we do? Should I call a healer now?" I guess it's Emria, based on the way she addressed Kian.

My vision started fainting as I could feel that the discomfort along with the shortness of my breath intensified and cruelly overwhelmed me. Not to mention that a headache had been triggered to add more agonies, as well as my arms and legs started to feel some chillness.

I tried to murmur my complaint. Good thing that Kian learned to be sensitive towards me when it comes to this situation.

"Hang on, Mate. We'll help you," he said in a panic. "Emria, do you remember my jacket when I came here? Wasn't it burned out?"

"No, it's not. I cleaned it up and placed it on your personal drawer,"

"Have you found something through its pockets?"

"Oh, those small capsule-liked objects and a small bottle? Yes, I took it out. I thought you'll need it one day, so I kept them. Although, I didn't know what are those."

"Can you please get it for me? Those are actually for Mark through times like this."

Kian also asked assistance from Aflera, who willingly conceded, so she received a few instructions from him on how they could help me with this struggle of mine. The blond reminded me to breathe too and so I'd been trying a lot to accomplish it.

Then, he commenced performing some relaxation technique that he had learned through my right arm and shoulder. Him, Shane and Gillian were the ones who tended to have some knowledge of it from my Grandmother. They said that they wanted to know it, so they could do something to help me whenever I'm having angina attacks because of my current illness.

I also felt that Aflera began to do the same on my left, maybe a bit lighter and soothing than Kian's. "Lord Elgeon, am I doing this right?"

"Yes, I think yours is better than mine, right, Marky?" he uttered. "Sorry if I'm not as good as Shane and Gillian with this. They were the ones who often did the job for you before."

"That's fine," I briefly replied.

I barely heard the door swang open. "Here it is. Sorry if I can't be at least faster enough."

Kian asserted his gratitude as he collected the items from Emria. "Oh, can you please take my place here? Just do the same as Aflera," he requested.

"Sure, I'll be happy to help," Emria remarked as I felt her making her way towards me. "Hold on, Lord Markus. I'll try to make this right."

Kian moved near my face and took out a familiar medicine bottle. Once he had it opened, he ordered me to open my mouth as he held my head up, so he could pour on some amount of the oral nitrates. "Be careful while swallowing, okay?"

I complied and opened my mouth to let Kian put a few drops. Until I could finally taste the sweet burning liquid on my tongue and swallowed it.

"Wait, I'll just open the window," he said, putting my head down on the pillow.

The ladies kept on doing their tasks, and it really helped a lot. Later on, a cool and nice air breeze abruptly blew inside and touched my skin as Kian lifted the window. Luckily, it faced the area of the garden where we used to spend most of our days. It must be the abundance of trees was what made the wind that blew even fresher.

Kian returned on my side and went to caress my head. It kept going for a few more minutes. After that, the pain left me, at last, and it had been replaced by relief. Although, there's still the headache as a side effect of my nitrates. The pain on my chest remained as well; it might take a few moments to be completely gone at least. Therefore, when Kian asked how I was feeling, he didn't get surprised by the honest answer I gave him. After all, it had been a usual occurrence for all of us.

Since that attack had literally taken all my energy and made me feel tired already, Kian suggested to me that I should just remain in my room. He told me to leave him the task of telling them that I couldn't attend my daily lectures and training too, so I conceded and thanked him.

"Oh, do you want to eat? Aflera was actually about to escort you to the dining hall."

"No, maybe later. I can't still bear to get up long enough."

"Okay, just don't skip all of your meals for today. You might end up even worse," Kian reminded after patting my shoulder.

"Hey, Kian, where are you? Have you decided to join Mark over there? Come on, they're waiting for us." It was Nicky, playfully banging on my room's door.

"Fine, I'm coming. I think Mark won't be able to join us today," Kian screamed back.

"What? But why?" Nicky suddenly appeared at the door. "Oh my, are you okay, Mark? You seemed not."

"Right. Then, why did you still ask?" Kian scoffed. "Anyway, he almost had a heart attack awhile ago, so Mark needs to rest. Also, please, kindly lower your voice. You're giving him more headaches."

"Oh, I'm sorry about that, Mate." Nicky threw a concerned look towards me. "Wo! I never thought you really have such a chronic illness, you know?"

"Why? Hadn't Shane told you about it?" Kian queried.

"He had, but it's just, Mark didn't appear as sickly every time we're all together," Explained Nicky.

"Well, he doesn't get this more frequently, albeit we've done playing hurling. Perhaps he merely had been too much due to his current daily routine," Kian stated. "By the way, we're leaving now, Mark. Don't worry, if you need anything, Emria and Aflera are here."

"Okay, thanks for helping me, Ki."

"No problem. Next time, tell us as early as the first symptom kicks in, understand?" he uttered with a bit of compassion on his tone.

"Yes, sorry if I stressed you out. I really thought it would soon go away if I sleep it off," I expounded and apologized sincerely.

"Fine, I accept it, as long as you won't do that again. Don't underestimate your condition, Mark. Maybe if your parents and grandparents are here, they'd definitely scold you to death, and many sermons would be on your way."

"True, it's gonna be a terrible one for sure," I agreed.

Well, I was completely aware of that ever since. Needless to say that my grandparents hadn't really allowed me to go outside for straight a month after the day when I almost got heart failure. It was my fault because I hadn't told anything to them the night before when I was feeling uncomfortable.

"See ya, Mate. We'll come here later to play something since it's our rest day tomorrow." Nicky grinned widely. "Also, if you feel better, we might count you in to visit Shane this afternoon."

I just nodded and smiled as a response, so they left and waved at me before closing the door.

I scantily sighed and stared at the ceiling as my mind was filled with many thoughts running incessantly. I kept noting the things that might occur this day together with the hope that it wouldn't be really a bad one.

"Lord Markus, is this alright now?" I returned to reality when someone had spoken to me. I saw Emria with an innocent look being cast on her image.

"Yes, it's fine. You may stop now. Thanks a lot, Emria and Aflera."

"You're welcome, Milord. Are you sure that you still don't want anything to eat? How about some fresh beverages: tea, fruit juice, milk, water?" Aflera added.

"A glass of water will be very much appreciated, Aflera. I really felt so drained after that attack."

"Oh, alright then, Emria and I must be heading now, I guess. Please wait for a moment, I'll take your water immediately."

I thanked them too. Then, I watched as they went off and shut the door gently

I moved a bit to make myself comfortable, and I tapped my chest softly in an attempt of easing the pain. Moreover, I was getting distracted by a lot of new matters in front of us, and being calm didn't seem to work that much. We had known nothing about this world, and the pressure always intensified every time that something sinister took place around us, especially now, Shane had been into that state in all of a sudden for such unknown reasons. Probably, if we just weren't so tired last night, none of us would be able to sleep with all the insane thoughts.

Before long, Aflera came with my water, so I sat up to drink it. I set it down on the small table near me and laid down again.

"Lord Feeholira, since you're still taking some rest, would you want me to merely bring your lunch later instead?"

"Yes, that would be fine."

"I'll ask them to prepare an appropriate meal for you to ensure your well-being and so you can eat smoothly," she announced. "I have to leave now, Your Excellency. We'll be checking you from time to time to monitor your condition." We might assign a personal healer for you likewise. Rest well, Milord."

"Thank you so much, Aflera. You've done a lot for me," I uttered.

"It's my pleasure, Lord Feeholira,"

She bowed to excuse herself for the last time and gently closed the door, leaving me alone. I realised that it was indeed quiet and peaceful around with the birds singing outside the window. They must be happy while flying through the wide sky so freely. Oh! I truly wanted to know how it would feel like.

We'd seen some sorcerers flying sometimes, and frankly, we're envious because we didn't even know how to perform the simplest art of magic. Although, I had experienced riding on Kiashne yesterday, and it was absolutely great. Oh, wait! There's something on the window.

Slightly raising my head up to take a peek, I was surprised and pleased at the same time to see a huge wonderful flying creature. "Kiashne." A mutter came out from my lips with a smile forming on them, and it let out its usual shrill chirp. The bird flew inside the room and lept on me. I silently winced due to the pain within my chest, but the creature seemed to notice. Its eyes quickly turned and focused on me. That was too odd, but it looked sorry as it continued to stare at my face, so I commenced petting Kiashne on his feathers. "Don't worry, I'm just fine."

It chirped again, and I was too shocked when he suddenly decreased in size and weight. Oh, so that's why he seemed smaller than his usual once he entered here awhile ago. Amazing, right?

He flopped his wings and got settled on my belly, causing some warmth through. He quite served me with more comfort. I then felt sedated as Kiashne remained to lie on top of me while he's stroking his beak through the area of my chest. I patted him before shutting these eyes of mine, which started to feel heavy. Letting out a yawn, I embraced the bird on my cuddle and whispered, "Thanks for coming, Kiashne. Don't leave until I wake up, okay?" Then, the last thing I heard before drifting away was the soft humming sound from him while singing a familiar melody.

Surely, it granted me a nice recess, which lasted for more hours of sleep, and that melody was the same thing I heard waking up. Aflera was already standing through the door while carrying a tray. If I wasn't wrong, that's supposed to be my food.

"Your Excellency, are you in shape to eat now?" the woman asked.

"Yes, somehow," I replied.

I patted Kiashne, so he went down and just made himself comfortable beside me. Then, I sat on the bed, leaning my back on the wall.

Aflera walked over and handed the tray to me with a smile that the maids usually wear. "Here, eat well, Milord."

"Thank you." A smile lit up from my facade. "Mind if I ask you something?"

"What is it, Sir?"

"Do you know how long did I sleep?" I continued.

"Well, base on my observation since we've been checking on you while you're asleep, you had slept for straight six hours, Milord,"

"Six hours? That's quite a lot then." I sighed.

"Is there anything wrong?" Aflera wondered as she saw me staring at Kiashne with a blank expression.

I shook my head as a response. "Nothing, I'm just grateful for being awake."
My personal maid looked at me with sympathy and care to project through her eyes. She pointed to the vacant space in my left. "May I?"

I just nodded and glanced at the food. I picked up the utensils to begin eating. My throat felt dry, so I took a sip first of the tea that was served together with the food.

"How is it, Milord? Did you like it?" asked Aflera.

"Yes, it's good,"

She suddenly placed her hand on my back and proceeded to make circles on it. "Young man, are you afraid to die?"

I was startled to hear that direct question from her, though it sounded so sincere? I turned to her and smiled gravely.

"Is it because of your illness?"

Taking another morsel, I faced her again, and I thought that maybe it's just fine to share to her what's on my mind. Once the food in my mouth was gone, I commenced speaking.

"You know what, since the day when they let me know of my condition, I felt horrible. That time was only my ninth year of existence and also the first time to understand more what was it all about. It was the moment when I realised that I've been growing up with a certain sickness. In spite of them telling me that this condition of mine isn't as bad or fatal as the other named chronic diseases, there's still the fear in me of dying so early. Even today, it never left me alone, and I'm just thankful to have my friends around to remain at my side, cheer me up, help whenever I needed, help me see those positivities in life and allow myself to stay calm most of the time. I don't want to die yet, Lera. Every time I experience the pain and the sensation of having a hard time to breathe, there's always my fear of not being able to wake up soon. Especially, I often fall back to sleep after having Angina due to too much fatigue and chest pain. A little shortness of breath remains at those periods too, even the possibility of recurrence, or worse, sudden heart attack."

After saying that, I sipped my tea and took a spoon filled with hot broth and shredded spinach. Aflera seemed very attentive upon listening, and she gently patted my back again as I finished my delineation.

"Lord Markus!" she called out.
I looked at her with a trace of surprise.

"That's your real name now, isn't it? I think it's better to call you that than your previous name," she declared. "Sorry if I just figured it out right now, Your Excellency."

Notwithstanding, my eyes settled on her with confusion. "Why are you saying that?" I queried.

"Because I can see how all of these matters affect each of you. We kept calling you with your previous names, yet none of you could even remember a single thing about this world and your previous lives. Apparently, everything seems new and peculiar for you. Furthermore, it stresses your minds out, leaving you with so many questions and uncertainties. Milord, what happened today made me realised how hard you've been facing everything that is currently served before you. We're putting you through unknown things, and it merely appended to your personal loads and things to ponder about in life. Therefore, maybe calling your current name is the least I can do to somehow ease the havoc within your minds," she professed. "I guess, Emria had thought the same once she started to get along with the four of you."

I didn't say anything more and just nodded to her. Honestly, I believed with the same thing, but I chose not to force them to address us with our new names. After all, I think we're merely riding on the same boat: we knew nothing about them and this world, and they knew nothing about us and the world we had left. Still, we're tending to learn from one another as we spent more days here, and it came naturally. About the lectures, I guess whether we like it or not, it could help us to know how to survive to live in this, indeed a completely different world from what we were used to be.
Before long, the ebbed creature suddenly flopped its wings widely and started to skirt around like a little nestling, who'd just managed to fly for the first time, breaking the awkward atmosphere that overwhelmed my room.

"Kiashne, don't break the chandelier, understand?" I yelled, looking up to the adorable creature.

Aflera chuckled from beside me. "I never knew they could be this cheerful."

"Really, he always gives me some comfort every time he comes by," I imparted after swallowing my food.

Kiashne seemed to have much energy, for he kept going and playing at the ceiling with the chandelier. I was also amazed as he showed how he changed colours every time he took rounds flying in the entire bedroom.

"Lera, do you know anything regarding that?" I inquired, pointing at the bird, who just finished switching from a pure yellow into a clear white with blue feathers.

Aflera Hummed and turned her eyes at where my attention was. "Base on the common descriptions of the gathered information about the Feeholewe, the one that we're seeing right now is just a part of their common nature. Which means all of their kinds could probably perform the same ability."

"Wow! That's truly wonderful," I said in awe. "Does that mean, they can do more other things than this one?"

"Yes, Milord. I believe that this animal companion of yours actually belongs to the noble manner since he's been chosen to serve under your resolve," Aflera denounced.

My eyes widened in disbelief and glanced at the strenuous being near above my head. The bird, however, seemed to understand my expression.

Once I finished my lunch, I emptied the glass of water before setting it down on the small table. Then, when my body touched the bed, there was something that softly chafing on my neck.

I looked down my shoulder, then the tinier Kiashne emerged and began tickling me. At first, it was merely like cotton rubbing down my skin. Until I got startled when Kiashne turned bigger and his feathers covered around me again, the same as the first day of our encounter. He then settled himself on top of me, and I noticed that his beak and claws weren't as sharp as the usual. Eventually, he stroked his claws frantically on my flankers while his beak was on my neck, flogging me with much titillation

I laughed hard and uncontrollably as he persisted to torture me. "Come on, please. Stop it, Kiashne," I begged between chortles since there's no way for me to escape from his huge frame on my body. "Kiashne, please." He didn't listen to me, however, and he let out a playful whistle while flapping his wings. The bird became more elated instead, fluctuating the pressure on what he's doing to me.

I attempted to stop him by using my arms, but his too zealous and vigorous enough to manacle my every movement. On the other hand, Aflera was merely sitting on the chair next to my bedside table, a lenient smile decorated her face.

"Lera, I'm-begging-you, please. Make-him-stop," I called out between my suppressed string of giggles.
The lady just winked and gave me an apologetic smile. "Forgive me, Milord. Unfortunately, I'm incapable of talking to his kind. I'm a fire sorcerer; I HAVE NO CONNECTION WITH WIND ANIMALS."

"What?-oh, Damn!" I hissed.

Hence, one afternoon in Arthalli-goenlyn, the previously silent bedroom had been filled with a sound of laughter from its occupant himself. He had been unlucky to be the main target of such a cheerful flying creature because he didn't know how to make it stop.

More moments of my crazy giggles and pleading cries had passed before a knock heard on my door, though not enough to take me away from my current situation.

"Aflera, you're still there, aren't you?" the voice asked from outside.

"Yes, I'm afraid that I cannot leave His Excellency at this moment yet," the maid responded.

She then turned around to find how embarrassment covered my image while I couldn't seize to laugh.

"Aflera, it's me, Meorya. Is it alright to see Lord Feeholira right now?" The voice at the other side of the door continued to speak with a lot of patience on how it sounded.

Hearing that, I didn't let Aflera open her mouth, or even make a gesture and immediately consented the unspoken question with an effortful nod I made. Well, there's something that's telling me of whatever was outside my room could really help with this poor state of mine under my animal companion's great power. Thus, she went to open the door to allow the company to finally come in.

I was surprised for the second time today, as two persons revealed themselves to us. The first one was the maid in this castle we knew who's pretty close from being a hugaholic, Meorya. Whereas, having the sight of the other newcomer behind her was what caused my eyes to grow bigger.

"Good afternoon, Lord Feeholira. I'm just here to escort Lord-oh, hold on! Is that the Feeholewe?" Meorya gasped, and her gold eyes abruptly glowed as bright as the morning sunshine.

Right, I still got the bird over me, but it somehow lessened the infliction and turned his head in the same direction where my attention was settled. He wiggled and chirped in a resonant tone like he's granting the person a high degree of recognition.

This was the time when I realised how my chest felt like squeezing again, and I became aware of how my breathing seemed to get shortened once more. Now, I went too desperate to make Kiashne let me take a break to catch up to the increasing beat of my heart. "Kiashne, c'mon, I swear that you have to stop, now."

The maids turned their attentions to me, and they began to look very worried. Then, the man who'd been standing at the doorway for some minutes moved, at last, and made his way towards the bed to pat the bird gently. "Kiashne, that should be enough. You wouldn't wish to make things harder for your master, would you?"

The creature seemed to recognize the command because he halted and his eyes were soon focused on me until I saw how those bulky orbs became dull.

"Come on, you can still lay beside him, okay? Just get down there, for now, so he could breathe," the lad said nicely.

Kiashne obeyed and went down to lay himself on my left while my saviour took the place on the other side.

"Are you alright, Mark?" Shane looked at me with a hint of concern through his facade.

I turned my head to see him clearly. "Yeah, I'm fine, somehow. Thanks. Hold on, how did you..."

The healers finished the examinations to me earlier today, and I asked them for permission to get sent out of the infirmary sooner than tomorrow as what they have planned."

I nodded to consent his words, but something suddenly hit me. How did he know about the question that I was going to ask?

Meorya eyed me with worriment, then she looked at Shane, who immediately granted her a smile and a thumbs-up. That kind of communication made me sceptical, so I got the urge of asking what was going on. Yet, before I could manage to open my mouth to do so, Meorya already climbed up to the bed and had one hand placed at the front of my shoulder near to my chest. A soothing sensation soon came and caused my whole body to relax, as well as my heart palpitation and unstabled breathing. It was similar to what had Ms Ellea had done before.

"I hope that helped even a little, Lord Feeholira," she modestly remarked.

"Yeah, it really did, though I'm not quite sure of what it was. Thank you, Meorya." I smiled.

Look at that. Should I start counting the times that I said thanks to anyone for today?

Naturally, she responded the usual formality and went off my bed to join Lera at the seats across us. On the other hand, Shane was silent, and it seemed like he's being distant mentally again. Since I was feeling better, it's my turn to offer help. With a light pat, I made his attention back to the real world.

"Where have you been?" I teased. "You alright?"

He let out a sigh, and the trace of exhaustion was quite noticeable through his dull gazes. "Mark, I need to tell you a lot of stuff. It might sound so crazy, but I don't want you to end up freaking out, especially on your current condition."

I laughed at his statement before motioning him to look at me, so he could see that I was fine. "C'mon, what else could be crazier than our situation recently, Shane? Just spill it out, and we will all come through that later, no matter how insane we're talking about. Also, you owe me an explanation regarding what happened yesterday and merely a few moments ago."

"Well, most of the revelations you're gonna hear from me are related to them," he declared.

Shane began to delineate the whole truth behind all the things that we thought were merely living on our friend's schizophrenic side. Well, how I wished for it to remain just like that, yet his story couldn't help to reveal tons of stuff that were totally making me feel giddy. From those hallucinations he had since when we were kids, the music that he often perceived, the day when those incidents that had brought us here occurred, until what happened to him yesterday at the library-which eventually had served his memories of the past back-it definitely caused more questions and numerous emotions, but these all appeared like there's nothing we could do. Then from that, he proceeded to explain what were those things he'd seen through his hallucinations before from the memories he had regained. As the conversation went on, I proved that he wasn't indeed, a mentally ill person but a reincarnated sorcerer who just saw things that tell about the kind of life he once had through unusual phenomenon without him knowing what could clarify all of it. Not only that, but this friend of ours also proved that we're truly originating from this world, albeit it's too complicated of a matter to understand.

I wanted to buy some time for me to take a breath and let them all be absorbed by my somewhat still sleepy brain at the moment, so I thought of interrupting him in the nicest way possible. For sure, he understood my gesture because Shane stopped talking and turned his attention to my face like he's examining me.

"Sorry if I suddenly bombarded you with all of these. I think we should've just done this tomorrow or on the next day instead." The brunet threw an apologetic look on my way.

I rubbed my temple while focusing on the figure next to me. His eyes showed more hints of bother and fear than other mixed emotions oddly, so I was silently thinking of some reason that might be the cause. Then, a little conjecture came to me.

"Shane, have you also regained your power or your knowledge about it?"

Through that, I saw how he was taken aback by the inquisition, and he became hesitant to retain our contact.

Honestly, I couldn't comprehend that kind of reaction, but there's a portion of my consciousness which was screaming that I was right. To confirm it, I asked Shane once more.

"Do you know how to use it again?"

This time, he responded with an insufficient nod. "I guess, I do."

"Okay, then why are you acting so uneasy?"

His hands started to become fidgety, yet he forced himself to voice out what's that fussing his very existence. "Mark, I have to do something right now, but I need the assurance that you won't dress me down."

I huffed. "Seriously, what is something you would do that could possibly turn me to a savage?"

"I'll help you to regain yours too," he blurted out.

In an instant, I got up to straighten my view towards him, not precise of what emotion from within I should consider first. Should I be cheering in so much excitement? Should I do something ballistic to show him how shock I was being? What if I tell him to just skip it up, for now, to let us have ourselves prepared? How about calling my friend crazy? Or maybe, I ask another question.

Shane touched my collar bone, pushing me back to my previous position on the bed. However, I was kind of dazed and confused, so I unintentionally slapped his hand away.

"Hold it, are you sure about what you said? Are you nuts? -how are we supposed to do that? Don't you think it'll be too hard for us? Don't you think we're not ready yet?"

I noticed that it merely caused him to grow more nervous and disconcerted as he created a distance between us. That just let me regret what I had done so in time, especially when Shane finally cut off the contact with me and looked down on his palms that were seeming so clammy and shaky.

I was about to recant my words and actions when Kiashne came out of the blue and made his way to the lad's aid. The feathered creature stood its retrenched self on Shane's shoulder while covering its plumes around him.

I went near them and placed a high-five on one of Shane's hand. "Hey, Are you okay? Listen, I'm really sorry."

The green-eyed lad looked up and breathed out deeply as he faced me again.

"It's alright, just lend me your animal companion for a bit," Shane denounced before giving the creature on him a soft pat. "Kiashne, can you help me?"

the bird took off to leave his place and headed at the chandelier, flopping his wings to fan all the branches, where all the candles suddenly lit up. I gasped at the scene before me while Shane took out his sceptre and pointed at the lighting. Then, I heard him chanting a more likely an ancient hymn of some culture as my body was gradually being lifted up, and I felt completely sedated.

Everything was a blur after that sensation. Because the next thing I knew, we're already united with Kian, Nicky, and even that stuck up lengthy guy, Brian in a transparent circle. It also seemed like they're on a similar trance as me. Although every movement I made was futile, fortunately, my senses could still work somehow, for I could hear singing folks who were accompanying Shane's chanting outside this coinage. They sounded wonderful; the harmony they created was undeniably amazing. It almost withdrew my awareness into darkness. Yet, despite my head in a haze, I let a question off me.

"Shane, what is going on to us? Where are we?"

[:::::]
Brian McFadden's POV:

My eyelids felt too heavy, making my attempts to see what was up to my surroundings difficult. Perhaps, this was all due to the weird phenomenon that took place a while ago when I was doing some inspection towards the weapon given to me, back in my detention room. Well, whoever was the cause of that, he'd better be prepared for the worst of his life. It didn't matter if he's one of those so-called, sorcerers or Daemons, or whatever he was, I'd be more pleased to tear him apart and make the hell out of his useless life. Who did he think he's messing up with?

By and by, I was able to open my eyes, at last, so what I should do initially was to just let all my senses to be fully awake. Yeah, supposedly it was, but if the first people I could see after that fucking trance were Filan and his lunatics, the best idea was probably to pound their faces in. THey're really pissing me off. Haven't they known that it was never brilliant to make up jokes to a just awaken person, especially to me who had merely woken up from an insane stupor?

I wanted to get up immediately, but it was like my body couldn't do so. There's some sort of an unknown force that was keeping me from making any move, and I thought it was conveyed by this odd sphere. Now, it did really annoy my whole being. Other than that, my head terribly hurt like it's gonna split open later on, and I hated that much when I'm being throttled like this. Then, the colours changed on my vision in all of a sudden.

The scene turned into a clear blue rippling ambience entirely, which could simply get my nerves trembled in dread. What the hell! Why this place was seeming to be meant for torturing me?

Water. For countless of times, I admitted, just not to anybody, that I truly loathed it. I didn't think that it would ever cause any good to me. I might drink or use it for a bath, but its business for me merely was limited at that. And yet, here were some fragments of old memories cluttering in my notion, revealing a strong connection that I once had with it. Absolutely, it was never a nice idea.

Damn it!

After a while, I perked up at the sound of someone snapping his fingers, followed by the sphere's deterioration that soon brought us at the site of the garden. Then, we just found ourselves in the middle of various names of plants and faces. The people gasped in witnessing our anticipated protrusion along with the most awaited gain of that ritual. It seemed like they had known this was coming beforehand.

One after another, the bunch of morons came over to extend their diverse greetings towards us. The other four used to return the formalities on their own adaptations while I chose to remain in silence at my disposition. I didn't even bother to notice the appearance of the woman who's been assigned to keep an eye on me ever since I found myself in this unthinkable premiss. Well, let's just say that creating a welcoming mood wasn't my thing at all.

"Hey, Shane, you know what? This still freaks me out. How am I going to actually believe it?" I recognized Byrne, who's frantically waving his hand in the air, enjoying the occurrence of those plants that seemed to obey his nonverbal commands.

It's funny to see how he had picked his mental friend as a testing subject for his creations if it wasn't that I despise them though. Moreover, there was the other tall brunette who had intruded my solitude last night at some corner, having his fun time petting a huge hackle on his lap. He looked calm, but I could tell that he's currently fogged with lots of uncertainties in mind. Not that I should care about it, but it's even harder to explain how was I able to sense those emotions from within him. Otherwise, if hiding your true emotions is a talent, this guy by all odds had an exceptional capability on it. Yet, he strangely tossed a quick smile upon my way as his gazes carried the same curiosity I had right at this moment.

On the other hand, another familiar lad, who stood the nearest at my place amongst the four of them, glanced at me with a disgruntled insinuation he presented. That didn't intimidate me by any chance, however, he's only an eejit lacquey of Filan after all. Until I saw his hands with flashes of tiny red flames, although I knew that he was not going to do anything drastic with it.

"Milord, here, use this." The woman with creepers approached him to hand a pair of orange gloves that have some peculiar insignia at its back, which looks similar to the emblem on his right front shoulder. It was like a small trident with the shape of a tiny flicker of flame on each of the blades.

The lad thanked her, and he turned his attention to me once again. Guess what, I finally got a nerve to speak up.

"What's your problem?"

He spat. "Na, I just couldn't still move on with the fact that I have to endure seeing you around. I even ponder of the reason why Shane did help you get your powers back."

I snarled. "Why don't you ask your schizophrenic friend instead? I'd rather beat him up more often than to thank him if that's what you wanna say to me."

As a result of so much coercion I had put up since the time when I got abducted from the detention room, I was easily ticked off. My hand clenched and prepared to land on someone when my headache reminded me of its presence. I quickly closed my eyes and opened it with the hope of relief from the pain that never came. Instead, the ambience I'd seen a while ago appeared, as well as those fragments in my mind. They were all drowning me with my developed fear of water. It kept intensifying until all I could see was that, and my consciousness was replaced by blurry images and a soft command that my body did not refuse to obey.

[;;;;;]
Kian Egan's POV

"Kian, be careful," Mark screamed and immediately stood up from his seat to assist me.

I moved back from the small tidal wave released by Brian as Emria managed to put a concrete wall to defend me.

I didn't know, he was about to punch my face awhile ago, but his body has begun trembling once he reopened his eyes, and there's the attack rushing on to me. Was he that furious to us?

"Oh, no," Emria muttered. "Lord Kian, please do not get away from the barrier."

I nodded at that, but my assailant didn't focus on me. He lifted himself up through the thin air and made his way on Shane and Nicky. A more nurtured tsunami followed him, and it directed on the two. Luckily, Nicky had made the wall in time to defend themselves from it. Yet, more waves trod on, scattering around the garden, where other people living in the castle were about to get implicated to the commotion.

Mark swiftly jumped up and proceeded to move around with his animal companion. He brandished the sceptre on his hand and redirected the wind blow, leading those violent watery assaults to a shallow stream beyond this garden. Soon, he went face to face with the insane bloke above, and they engaged themselves with a little rotation of their attacks. Yet still, I couldn't believe what we're witnessing; a real clash between two sorcerers. Not just some random sorcerers, but they were Mark, a friend of ours and a delinquent from Shane's Uni. However, we were worrying about Mark since he's still in a recovery state after his occasional angina attack, so Shane and I followed him at the sky.

"Kian, let's take him out of here," Shane suggested.

I glanced at the eejit sorcerer, only to note that he's quite not in proper sanity, though he was really from the start. What I meant was, Brian didn't know what he's doing right now at all. Therefore, I squinted at the two brunets on my side and they simultaneously nodded to confirm my suspicion.

Well, I knew that Mark and Shane can perceive thoughts, so their assurance was all I needed to see that I got the situation right. Hence, I guess the plan would be carried out with less effort.

We asked Nicky to help on getting some of the people at the hall while Emria and Elycia rushed to call for more assistance. A particular matter had hit us, so we thought of calling someone from, (The Bough of Healers) to check on Brian.

As we succeeded to take the lad away, he continued to charge, so we kept countering likewise. The uproar just finally subsided when Mark quieted him down through a particular ability he has and Shane trapping McFadden with ice.

The three of us let out a huge sigh of relief, especially when Ms Ellea had arrived.

As the usual, the healer apologised for not coming in time. We simply granted her an assuring smile, then pointed at the already passed out Brian.

"We know that you have to fulfil other tasks too, so thanks for coming here still," Shane uttered.

"No problem, Milord. Please, let me have a look at him."

She then approached Brian and began inspecting his countenance.

"Would you like us to help you carry him to the infirmary?" I offered.

"Yes, that will be very appreciated. Thank you so much, Sir," the woman conceded.

At the infirmary, Ms Ellea confirmed our worriment, which was the predicament that we're bound to encounter. Now that McFadden had regained his power, his fear towards it might cause us some kind of a complicated ordeal.

"I think we all must prepare for what is coming. Some of the noblemen have to be informed regarding this matter, especially those who are responsible for the supervision of Arthalli-goenlyn. He's a powerful sorcerer, so you need to help as well," the healer denounced.

"How bad are we referring to?" Mark queried.

"Honestly, I'm not sure, but the only thing I know is that you all have to face a more different person once he wakes up."

- - - - - - - - - -

Author's note;

Hello, Everyone! I'm here again. Sorry for the very late update and for much of errors. Don't worry, I'll be working it all out soon. I kinda made this in a rush so definitely there will be a lot of mistakes and much of vague sections on this chapter but I promise that I'll make it up one of these days. You can also point out some to inform me. It'll be appreciated. Also, regarding those symbols or emblems mentioned since they arrived in a new world, I might do some job for it. Maybe, I'm not quite sure, but yours truly might find some way to give you a little bit of a glimpse of them. I may even post the lyrics of the said hymn in this chapter. You can remind me about that whenever I forget to do so, alright? Of course, You would if you really are interested in those matters at all.

By the way, I'm also here for another greeting. This time, it is for our Dear, Mr Markus Michael Patrick Feehily for his fortieth birth anniversary. Don't worry, we will all get through this pandemic. For sure everyone would like to come out like you and we're waiting to see all of you on stage or on the screens once again. Take care.

On that note, let me also grab this opportunity to congratulate our idol for his new chapter of life as a father for his Little Laila. It's a bit late because she was actually born last year. Still, I want to write this today for his birthday.

With all that in mind, how is this chapter? I hope you find some interesting matters here. What do you think is going to happen next? Are you excited?

Well, I have to go by now. Stay safe and healthy. See you in the next chapter!

The Author

May 28, 2020