"I wonder why they told us to remain in the cell for today." Liro was sitting on an old bed; he was dressed in the same blue uniform of the workers that Darian had seen before.
The cell was extremely old. There were cobwebs around, and it looked completely different from the laboratories, while the labs were extremely clean and made entirely of metal, these cells were made of old, ruined stone.
Liro wasn't alone in the cell; Vane and Lily were with him. Only the three of them had remained in the cell for the day, while the others had all gone to work.
"Like we're supposed to know, they never tell us anything," said Lily, annoyed, as she looked up at the ceiling.
"I can't stay here anymore! I need to get out!" shouted Vane angrily. Before he could turn into an animal, Liro stopped him. "Hey, cut it out. You already tried that yesterday and it didn't work," said Liro, referring to what had happened the day before.
"Tch… it's not my fault that these bars are made of magic metal!" Vane kicked the bars as hard as he could, frustrated.
"I wonder how they were able to create such resistant bars… the ones in Therya aren't this strong." Liro suddenly knelt down to inspect the bars. 'It doesn't matter how much I look at them…' Liro sighed sadly; he had already inspected these bars for hours and hadn't been able to find a single weakness.
"The ones in Therya were easier to destroy," said Vane, annoyed, as he returned to his bed and sat down.
"What do you mean easier? Have you been in prison?" Lily joked playfully. Vane nodded his head silently.
"Right before joining the Veilguard… I was imprisoned," said Vane as he looked down. Lily curiously tilted her head.
"Hey, you've never told me anything like this!" she said, it was clear that she wanted to know more about Vane's past.
"To think I wasn't even in the Veilguard yet, I've only heard these stories from the others." Liro suddenly got up and returned to his bed. "C'mon, Vane, it doesn't feel like we have much to do now…" Liro pointed out. Everyone else could only agree, as they had completely run out of topics to talk about.
Vane agreed to tell Liro and Lily about his past, and with this, he started to narrate his life before joining the Veilguard.
For as long as Vane could remember, he had never met his parents. He had always lived on the streets completely alone, staying in a small box in an alley between two houses.
"I only got this today…" whispered Vane. He was currently five years old, and in his hands was a small piece of bread.
"And stealing this was so damn hard…" Vane had to learn how to steal in order to survive; he wasn't as lucky as the other children he saw passing the end of the alley with their parents.
Vane took a small bite of the bread and watched a child walking hand-in-hand with both parents, smiling happily. Vane looked at the scene with envy.
'I wonder how much easier life would have been with parents…' Before going to sleep, Vane would always imagine a hypothetical life with parents. In Vane's imagination, these people were always kind and would always buy bread for their young child.
These dreams would always end the moment Vane looked up at his parents' faces, which were completely blank because he couldn't remember exactly what his mother and father looked like.
Seeing those empty faces in his dreams would always wake Vane up, and every single time, he had tears flowing down his cheeks.
"I'm not supposed to think about this anymore…" Vane took another bite of the small piece of bread and finished it. 'I'm still hungry…' Vane realized that the moment he swallowed the last bite, his stomach still hurt, as he had barely eaten anything in the last few days.
"Brr… it's so cold…" Vane, unlike other children, wasn't well-dressed, in fact, he didn't have a shirt and only had a small pair of shorts he had managed to steal from a younger child. As his body grew, these shorts became too small, and they were starting to hurt him, too.
Vane grabbed a small blanket, it was an extremely ugly brown color and had multiple holes in it, as it was old and worn by time. This blanket wasn't clean at all, because it always remained on the ground, it was always dirty.
But for Vane, it didn't matter, he knew this was his only way to feel a bit of heat during the cold nights in Therya's caves, and he didn't have any other choice.
"Tomorrow I'll have to search for more food…" It was becoming harder for Vane to sleep because his stomach hurt, but right now there wasn't anything to steal, as the whole city had already turned quiet and everyone was asleep.
Vane felt tears about to flow down his cheeks, but he immediately buried his head in the old cushion he was using so that the tears wouldn't show. I'm not allowed to cry… With his face buried, Vane started to think about the times he had seen children with their parents crying.
'The others are allowed to cry…' Vane realized that every time a child cried, their parents were always there to help and comfort them, but Vane didn't have anyone ready to help him.
"I—" Vane tried to hold back all of his tears. "I must resist." Vane was able to hold them back, but in his mind, he kept thinking how beautiful it would have been if his parents had been there to help him.
But because Vane realized that could never happen, the moment he fell asleep, tears started to flow down his cheeks and his face looked extremely sad.
Thanks to his power, Vane could steal without any problem. Since he was little, it had been hard for him because he didn't know how to control it very well, but as he grew older, he understood that he simply needed to grab something and turn into one of his animals so the object would fuse with his body while he escaped.
Since he was small, passing through a crowd without being spotted had become easy. He could steal all the fruit he needed, and thanks to this, he had been able to survive his childhood. But the moment he grew older, people started to recognize him, even the city guards.
'I'll have to escape immediately after I take this fruit…' Vane was now fourteen years old. His body had become larger as he had spent most of his childhood training, so he was extremely muscular for someone his age.
Vane was passing through the crowd with his head lowered. 'I think they've spotted me…' Vane looked down and realized the guards were slowly moving toward him. The moment he turned his head to confirm this, his eyes met a guard's, who immediately whispered something to his companion.
Suddenly, the guards quickened their pace. Vane, realizing he had been spotted, started to walk faster. The guards had no problem passing through the crowd, as people moved aside the moment they saw them arriving.
But for Vane, it wasn't that easy; the people in front of him weren't moving, so he bumped into them and had to push them away. 'They're here!' Realizing that the guards would grab his arm in a few seconds, Vane started to speed up as much as he could. "Move away!" he shouted. Surprised to hear someone shout so loudly, the people in front of him stopped for a moment, and Vane reached the stall.
Vane grabbed an apple. The seller looked at him confused for a moment, then realized who he was. "Hey, you fucker, you'll have to pay now!" he shouted angrily. But the exact moment Vane grabbed the apple, he immediately turned into an eagle and started to fly away.
"Stop that thief!" shouted the seller. He could use water magic and was about to shoot it until the guards stopped him. "It's not your duty, citizen, wait here and we will take care of that thief."
The other guard, who could use fire magic, immediately shot multiple fireballs toward Vane. 'Dammit, already this?!' Back then, Vane wasn't as strong as he is now; dodging all those spells wasn't easy for him.
Luckily, he dodged the first two by veering first to the right and then to the left. 'Am I safe?' Thinking he was finally clear, he lowered his guard, and one fireball hit him on his left wing.
"We got him!" shouted the guards as they immediately rushed toward the eagle. The other guard, who could use wind magic, was able to create a strong wind current to make him and his companion move faster.
The other people in the crowd looked at the guards happily, glad that this thief was finally about to get caught.
'Shit!' Vane was slowly losing height because he could no longer use one wing. "I'm going to crash!" he shouted, unable to do anything else. Before hitting the ground, he turned into a polar bear so he could better resist the fall.
"Ouch… that hurt." Returning to normal, Vane realized his legs had become weak and he couldn't run anymore.
"I need to return to my base…" he said as he started to walk slowly, not hearing the footsteps of the guards coming toward him yet.
"It should be around here…" The place where he had built his base was different from his first one. Over the years, Vane had found guards waiting for him several times; every time that happened, he had to escape and couldn't return there to live.
"At least I was able to get my meal for today…" Vane looked at the apple before entering the old alley and smiled. Suddenly, the moment he turned the corner, he heard some screams. "He's here!" Terrified, Vane dropped the apple and looked up to see three guards near his old blanket.
"Dammit!" Vane tried to run, but the guards had already spotted him and ran as fast as they could.
With his legs hurting, Vane couldn't do anything and fell to his knees. "I'll run away, you'll never catch me!" Vane turned into an eagle and started to fly toward the other end of the alley, but suddenly, two more guards popped out from that side.
"You will not escape us!" The guard who could use fire created a huge wall of flames to block Vane, who had to stop immediately or be burned. "We got you!" One of the guards threw himself onto Vane, who, caught off guard, was pinned beneath him.
'I can't escape…' Vane tried to free himself but it was useless. By the time he turned into a buffalo, the guards were already all over him, and he was slowly losing consciousness. 'Fuck… I haven't eaten for at least two days…' Vane wasn't used to using this much magic, and because he hadn't eaten, he collapsed, unable to continue the fight.
'No…' Before falling unconscious, Vane was sure he saw two figures—a woman and a man—slowly walking away. Even if it was only in his mind, Vane realized he had seen this scene before; it was when he was little and his parents had left him on the street completely alone.
Several hours passed, and by the time Vane was awake again, he found himself inside what looked like a cell. Old metal bars blocked his way.
"Where am… RIGHT, THE GUARDS!" The moment Vane woke up, he felt extremely dizzy, but as he slowly regained consciousness, he remembered the moment the guards had caught him, but nothing more after that.
Vane was still very hungry, and his lips had become dry since he hadn't had anything to drink in days. 'It doesn't feel like there is anyone nearby…' Vane looked around. He realized that if he stayed there, things might get worse. 'I need to escape…'
Vane noticed the metal bars in front of him were extremely old and rusted. "I might be able to break them." Even with the little strength left in his body, Vane turned into a polar bear and, with his paws, was able to create an opening in the bars.
'Perfect… you'll never catch me,' thought Vane as he turned into a buffalo and completely smashed the bars. 'I have to find the exit now…' Vane started to rush in a random direction, unsure if it was the right one.
After some minutes, Vane finally found the exit. 'I'll be free!' thought Vane happily, but the moment he stepped out, he found guards at the entrance of the prison. "Hey, it's the prisoner!" shouted the two guards the moment they noticed Vane passing between them.
"Fuck, they were here too?" Vane froze for a moment as he saw the guards rushing toward him. 'I can't lose any time…' Vane immediately started to run, realizing other guards were slowly closing in.
'I can't… I don't have enough strength.' Vane realized that the more he ran, the slower he became. 'Things are getting bad…' Suddenly, Vane turned around when he heard a voice.
"I'll take him!" Vane noticed this person was Kael, one of the newest members of the Veilguard. 'I don't even know what power he has…' Vane shook his head. "I have to escape! He will never be able to take me while I'll fly" With the last of his strength, he turned into an eagle and started to fly away. "Singular Gravity!" Suddenly, Vane felt the gravity in his body intensify, and he began falling toward the ground.
"Dammit… is this the end?" Vane realized it was useless to fight against this magic. His body was being forced to the ground, and he couldn't do anything as his consciousness faded once again.
By the time he landed, Kael had already arrived and noticed the poor guy in a lot of pain, barely able to keep his eyes open. "Hey, are you alright?" Kael noticed something was wrong; as he got closer, he saw that Vane's lips were extremely dry and that he hadn't had anything to drink for a long time.
"Hey, you can create water, right? Let him drink something!" shouted Kael to a guard he knew. "Alright!" Even though the guard was confused, he could only obey, as the order came from a member of the Veilguard.
"Hey, keep it up!" shouted Kael. Even as Vane was slowly falling unconscious, those were the last words he heard before his eyes closed completely again.
Vane woke up in a totally different location. This room was better, and he was lying on something extremely soft that he had never tried before, a sofa.
"Ouch, my head…" Vane realized that while he was still hungry, his strength had returned because he'd finally been able to drink. As he looked around, he noticed the room was unlike anything he was used to.
"Oh, you're awake," said a female voice behind him. When he turned around, he saw a desk, and the person sitting there made his heart race with fear. It was the Queen. 'The leader of the Veilguard…' Vane didn't know her power, but because she was the leader, he guessed she must be powerful.
"Please, I'm sorry! I'm just doing everything I can to survive!" Vane immediately scrambled off the sofa and knelt in front of her with his head lowered.
"Was that your power?" Hearing this question, Vane remained confused for a moment, as he hadn't expected it. Alerya looked at Vane with a bit of curiosity and asked another question: "You're an Alterid, right?"
Vane nodded. "Yes… why?" he said, his heart beating faster with excitement.
"I've heard your story…" Alerya got up from her chair and looked out the window. Vane remained kneeling in front of the desk. "I don't know if this is the life you've always wished for, but this is what we can give you." Suddenly, Alerya turned around and her eyes met Vane's. "Would you like to join the Veilguard?"
After that day, Vane's life changed completely. In the year 2577, Vane joined the Veilguard at the age of fourteen. Now he was twenty-two and had become one of its most important figures, and one of the most important people in the whole city.
"I still haven't become the most respectable person to everyone in the city… but I'm trying my best to improve myself," said Vane as he finished narrating his life story.
"Woah… I didn't expect that, Vane…" said Lily. She had always seen Vane as a shallow person, hearing this story, she couldn't help but feel touched.
"I'm happy you joined the Veilguard, Vane, or we might never have formed the group with Darian," said Liro. As he mentioned that name, the air in the cell became heavier.
"I wish he could have heard my story, too…" Vane said, looking down sadly.
"I wonder how he's doing right now…" Lily added. Suddenly, someone appeared at the door of the cell. It was one of the guards; he was a bit chubby and had a beard.
"Sorry, I happened to eavesdrop on your story…" said the guard. The others looked confused. "Oh, don't worry, it's alrigh—" Vane couldn't even finish his sentence before the guard locked eyes with the group.
"Are you the ones who arrived here with Catripple?" Hearing that name, the others opened their eyes in surprise, while the guard looked at them with a serious expression.