By the time Reid noticed that he was airborn, and not standing on the hard wooden floor of the Ivers' estate, it was too late, because he had already been sent on a collision course with the hard wall behind him.
Thatan was a Stage 4 Ruptureed whose class was a Mage. His Mage class specialised telekinesis. Without order, Thatan stopped Reid dead in his tracks without even moving a muscle. Reid fell with a loud thud, hitting the hard wooden floor and looked down at a man clinging very tightly to his waist. The man looked to be around 16 years old, with wheat-blonde hair, stunning hazel-brown eyes and slightly tanned skin.
At the moment, Reid was trying to get the man off of him, and whispered into the man's ear, saying, "Come on Urias... people are watching."
With a restfull and happy smile, Urias replied in a soft but tired voice, "You know, you should appreciate me more. Without me, your uncle wouldn't have gone."
Reid stared his uncle down with his bright, neon-yellow eyes and with a hint of malice visible. Royce, who heard what Urias had said as well, simply shrugged his broad shoulders in total indifference. Reid scoffed and continued to attempt to pry Urias off him.
"Well, maybe I could appreciate you even more after you let me go."
After a long back and forth exchange of both heated and relaxed words, Urias let go of Reid with a contempt expression and a wide smile that streched from ear to ear. Urias also stood up and apologised. Reid also stood up, except, unlike Urias, he did not looked pleased. Reid proceeded to pat down his dirty clothes because he had to look respectful in front of people.
The both of them started to walk over to Royce with a mix of a happy and annoyed atmosphere. Royce just stood there, shaking his head in what looked to be a mild disappointment, and turned from talking to Thatan to face the two boys. Thatan, whose face looked as neutral as ever, had both of his hands clasped neatly behind his back.
Royce said in a deep and cheerful voice, "Well, great catching up with you, Reid, but I need to examine the device we found back there with some of the researchers, and try to find this Lord of Illussions person is. I'll come over to your room later and inform you about what we find."
Reid still looked to be a bit annoyed and nodded in agreement, replying in a serious tone, "Grand, but when you do come over, we need to talk..."
Royce very rarely heard Reid use such a serious tone, and so he said, "Ok, we can talk. I'll finish up quickly, then, considering how serous you sounded."
Reid looked at the black smartwatch resting comfortably on his left wrist and said in a more lively tone than before, "Well, Urias and I will be going now."
Royce nodded gently and beckoned Thatan to come walk with him. With practiceed steps, Thatan quietly walked behind Royce as they headed down the corridor to the research lab.
Reid and Urias, who would be incredibly busy in next coming months, decided to head down to Reids room.
The rhythmic tapping sound of the two mens' shoes hitting the hard wooden floor rang out, but ultimately not making to much sound because of the light velvet carpet stretching to the length of the corridors floor.
A few minutes later, Reid walked with a measured pace, his hands neatly tucked in the silk pockets that were attached to his black trousers. To the right of Reid, Urias moved with a palpable air of serene tranquility while also humming a little melody to himself. If someone were to see Urias during that time, they might have thought that he was a fool or even a little tipsy.
As they turned a wide bend in the corridor, the way foward looked a bit more bright and lively to eye.
Mounted along the greyish beige walls at regular intervals were stunning, black crystal sconces, but they didn't hold any candles. Instead, they held, or at least supported, swirling spheres of pale, cerulean light floating within the crystal, making an elegant contrast of colours flow out intern.
The moment the two of them stepped into the light, the air around them changed becoming more soothing and refreshing. Urias, upon feeling the obvious change in the atmosphere, suddenly felt extremely lethargic. The lights, which, for most people, calmed down the soul and restored the body, were like a god-send, but the same couldn't be said for Urias. For some strange and unexplainable reason, anytime Urias were to enter the corridors with the lights, he would feel incredibly lethargic and lose his train of thought instantly.
On the other hand, when Reid entered the space covered in light, he would get the usual treatment and his wounds would heal. Reid really needed some healing after what he had been through.
Both the big and small cuts that littered Reid's body were getting healed at an astonishing speed. Reid clearly felt the calm inside his soul and let out sigh of relaxation.
Urias who looked like he was going to vomit suddenly said, "Can we hurry up? You know I don't like the cerulean sconces, they make me sick, uhhhh."
Urias then hunched over, placed his hand in front of his mouth and a few seconds later, he stood up again, looking more pale than he did just a moment ago.
Reid spared him a short looked and then said, "Alright. My room is just up ahead, you run a long, I'm gonna hang back and heal for a bit".
Urias nodded in contempt and started to limp foward. The sight would have been quite comical if Urias was feeling so good. Looking at his friend hobble on foward by himself, Reid let a small genuine smile show on his features.
As Reid turned his head to look down another part of the corridor, his rare smile began to fade. The soothing light from the cerulean sconces still bathed his skin. His eyes, however, had already drifted towards the heavy oak doors leading to the garden.
He stepped out of the warm embrace that the mansion gave and into the chilling cold. He crossed the luscious lawn. The evening sun stretching his shadow long against the grass, until he reached a decorated arch full of various plants, and stopped.
In front of him were two gravestones that stood side by side, carved from the same pristine white marble the outside of the Ivers' estate was made of. One bore his mother's name, Sasha, and the other, much smaller, belonged to his little brother, Orin. He stood silent and still, his cold hands stuffed in his pocket. His expression, blank. There was no crying, no dramatic speech. Simply just a son and elder brother, mourning his late mother and younger brother.
Soon two simple words escaped his mouth. The air made it so that his breath could be seen by the naked eye.
"I'm back."
There was a long pause before he uttered another word, his voice high pitch and breaking, and a hint of melancholy.
"Well, funny thing happened to me a few days ago. I actually got kidnapped. Royce of course saved me in the end, so I'm fine now, but I can't stop thinking about somthing."
He stopped abruptly.
He stood still for a little while more. His enchanting neon-yellow eyes sharpened.
In a deadpan tone, he said, "I will..."
He took a visible breath and continued, "...find who set that fire and burn them to ashes myself."
His steadfast determination had not faltered even one bit.
One singular tear was forming in his eye lid and trying to escape and scale down his cold cheek to hit the floor.
Reid heard a splash when the tear hit the ground and it brought him back to his senses. He brought his finger up to his eye and wiped the cold remains of the tear streak off of his face. Looking at his wet finger, he was wondering when he had started to sob.
He took one last mournful glance at the two gravestones. He walked back toward the white mansion facing him. Back into the warn embrace it provided.