Traveling Through The Series

When Ryan woke up, he first noticed the ceiling that he was so used to seeing in the morning. He looked around and noticed that he was in his crib, in his own room.

Ryan: 'Was all that a dream? Or was it something else like a vision from the future? No, something definitely changed within me. I don't remember my magical capacity being this big.'

Seeing that he could not get any clues from what he saw, Ryan looked towards himself to see if there were any changes. To his surprise, he found that his mana was at least ten times what it used to be. Now, Ryan can probably cast a few of wind blades capable of killing a normal person.

The last thing that Ryan could do now was cry and watch who would come through the door. Every morning Ryan would cry and that would signal his mother to come in and feed him.

He heard footstep closing in and inwardly, he was praying for it to be his mother. Although he knew that tragedy was bound to strike sometime because of the difference between his parent's race, he did not want to be left alone so soon.

That is why when he saw a one-eyed Laguz female walk through the door, everything paused for him, like the world gave him the needed some time to himself to understand what happened, even if he already knew it. After an eternity of continuously deducing what had happened start to finish, time seemed to go back to normal and Ryan cried physically and internally.

When Nailah heard a cry coming from Ryan's room, she was initially confused, but that later turned into relief and happiness, after a week of waiting the baby was finally awake.

Nailah: "Finally he's awake, why couldn't he have woken up sooner? I was about to leave him if he didn't anytime soon."

While he was sleeping, Ryan was still able to be fed and poop unconsciously, and it was starting to become annoying for Nailah to do this because she was the only one in the group that had some knowledge of this.

When she opened the door, she saw him staring at her and looked at her right in the eyes. She was dazed by the gaze that he directed towards her, which could only be characterized as piercing and deep. In front of this tiny baby, she felt like she was completely n.a.k.e.d, like he was able to figure out everything about her from just one glance.

It was the next moment when Ryan started crying that she snapped out of her trance and looked at him in a different light. There were not many people able to make her falter like that and she was too experienced to believe that this was just her mind playing with her. However, soon rationality took over and she started trying to feed him.

It was difficult trying to do this while he was crying and he was continuously spilling milk and messing up his face.

Nailah: "C'mon, you got to eat. You need to get your energy up because we got a long journey ahead of us when we go back to Hatari. We won't be able to get any milk on the journey."

Nailah decided a few days ago that they would go back home after both Rafiel and Ryan were both awake and energized. It had not been long before she became the queen and although her parents still took care of most of the work, it would not be wise to be away any longer.

Rafiel woke up two days ago and had enough energy for the journey back. Even though they would have brought him along even if he was still in his deep sleep, they still waited a few days for Ryan to wake up, since it was here he could have fresh milk to drink.

For the trip back, they would bring whatever supplies they could carry from this farm. Although it might seem a bit disrespectful to the person who was buried, Dale, it was all going to go to waste if they were just left there.

Eventually, Ryan started to properly drink his milk. He knew there was no use crying and like every revenge novel he ever read, he knew that he will meet his mother's parents and Shiharam in the future and that he will deal with them then. What he needed and could do now was just focus on getting stronger. In this unsafe world, the stronger you were, the better you were able to protect those that you love. As he was drinking, Nailah started to apologize to him.

Nailah: "You were probably the son of the family that lived here. Sorry for living on your land and using your supplies, we came from the other end of the Desert of Death and someone in our group needed some medical attention. Also, sorry for not coming sooner. I imagine that your mother and father were taken from you and we could not come fast enough to stop the perpetrators."

Ryan was just staring curiously at Nailah while he was drinking. He had already figured out who she was. There was probably no one in this world that was a wolf Laguz and had a patch covering her right eye.

The two were interrupted by a knocking on the door and it opened to reveal a heron. Needless to say that this was Rafiel.

Rafiel: "How is he doing?"

Nailah: "Ah, Rafiel. He's okay, but he is drinking quite a bit. Well, I guess he does need to recover his strength after sleeping for a week."

Rafiel came up to Ryan and looked him in the eyes and saw Ryan do the same while still drinking. When the two locked eyes, Ryan immediately looked towards another direction. Nailah became a bit confused at the way Rafiel was continuing to stare at the child.

Ryan didn't want to reveal himself just yet. Although everything will come out in due time, it would be better and much safer if he was stronger.

Ryan: 'So this is Rafiel. If I remember correctly, his background and personality showed that he was more like what a heron is supposed to be. I never expected him to be both intelligent and observative included to his base gentle nature.'

Nailah: "Rafiel. What are you doing? Is there something wrong with this child? I get that he behaves a bit strangely, but there is no need to stare at him like that."

Rafiel ignored Nailah. No, it was more like he did not hear her as he was focused too much on the boy in front of him. Although Ryan looked away, within that split-second, Rafiel saw thing Nailah saw when she first stepped in, incredible deep eyes.

Rafiel: "You are not a normal baby are you?"

Nailah: "Of course he's not normal, he is a branded, a child born from both Beorc and Laguz."

Rafiel: "That is not what I mean Nailah. I am sure that you already noticed that this child is different, did you not feel anything when he looked at you?"

Nailah: "I did feel something when he first saw me, but I have no idea what he did."

Rafiel: "Well, the answer will come in due time. Since he is now awake, are we finally going back to your home Nailah?"

Nailah: "Yes, my men should be prepared to leave within the hour. They have been stocking up supplies for the past few days so we should be all ready. We will need your abilities to cross the desert safely and I am sorry that you have to exert yourself again after only a bit of rest."

Rafiel: "It is fine. Without you, I would have passed away in the desert. Doing what I can to help my savior should be given."

Nailah: "Thank you."

She then moved her gaze towards Ryan who had just finished drinking. Nailah saw that he was sleeping and smiled at him.

Nailah: "We're going to take you with us back to our home, alright? Well, not like you have much of a choice for survival."

After saying that Nailah went out to give her men orders to move out and Rafiel stayed in the room and watched her leave. When she was gone, Rafiel looked towards Ryan and spoke.

Rafiel: "She's gone now. I know up can perfectly understand my words, so please stop pretending to sleep."

Inwardly Ryan was shocked by what Rafiel said. When Ryan looked into his eyes when he first saw him, he knew that he had let down his guard a bit. However, that moment did not last for even a second. Ryan was wondering how was Rafiel able to know that he could understand and interpret words.

In response to Rafiel's request, Ryan continued to pretend to sleep.

Rafiel: "So you will not reveal yourself, I understand. You do not want to display your abilities to someone you do not know and that is perfectly understandable. However, let me speak for a few moments about the current situation."

Rafiel then began to speak about why he and Nailah's group came here in the first place. How he woke up from an unconscious state when he and Nailah felt an overpowering wave of sad and angry emotions, how he used up all the power he could muster to assist the group to arrive here, and that he fainted before they had arrived. Next, he repeated what Nailah told him she found out, about how there were soldiers chasing after Ryan and another person, how that person died in the end, and how one more was captured. Lastly, Rafiel told him that he had been asleep for a week now.

It was hard for Ryan to stay still, pretending to sleep after hearing all this information. In fact, his brand started glowing in response to his emotions, especially during the part about his father dying and his mother being taken from him. Rafiel saw this entire process, but did not say a word. Everybody needs some time to themselves to grieve, just like he did when he found out that his home was burned down and his family were killed.

Rafiel then went outside to ask if Nailah needed help, leaving Ryan alone in his room silently weeping.