The mansion felt too quiet again.
Eli stood in the hallway, staring out a window where the early morning light poured in. It had been three days since the Collision, and the house hadn't felt right since. No Aqua teasing him over breakfast. No Olsen yelling about how school was a waste of time. Just... silence.
He missed them more than he was willing to admit.
He tried again closing his eyes, breathing deep, searching for that light inside him.
Nothing.
The warmth never came unless his life was in danger, and he couldn't risk recreating that.
Before he could go deeper into the frustration curling in his chest, a knock echoed through the mansion.
He blinked. A visitor?
He made his way to the front door, cautiously.
There stood a delivery man holding a thick envelope.
"You Eli Whitlock?" the man asked, eyes scanning a clipboard.
"Yeah..."
"Signature."
He signed quickly, and the man handed him the envelope, nodding before walking off.
There was no return address just an ornate seal, a strange symbol etched in gold. Eli broke it carefully and pulled out a letter.
"To Eli Whitlock,
My name is Aritha. I knew your mother. I was a friend, a comrade, and perhaps now, I can be a guide.
You've felt the shift in the world. The Collision was only the beginning. Powers are awakening, and chaos will follow. That is why I'm reinstating a school
The Sanctum of Orison.
A place where those like you can learn to control what they've been given. I'd like to invite you as a students."
Eli's hands trembled slightly as he finished the letter. He read it three more times just to be sure.
Aritha. That name from the news. That strange man no one believed.
But he believed him now.
Eli clutched the letter to his chest. He suddenly wanted to get out of the mansion. He hadn't left since that night not really.
He turned toward his computer, typing in the only other lead he had:
"Abarice Clan-origin."
It took a few clicks before something popped up.
A small town just on the outskirts of the city. Population a few thousand. Rich in ancient culture and strange folklore. Recently marked by a rising interest due to strange power surges after the Collision.
The town's name?
Brickstone.
And beneath that, the line that caught his breath in his throat:
"Soon-to-be declared an official magical sanctuary. Current home to the newly restored Abarice Clan."
He stared at the words. Olsen and Aqua's home.
And maybe… his path forward.
Eli stood up. He didn't feel strong yet. He didn't feel ready.
But he wasn't going to sit in this house forever.
Eli grabbed a small backpack and packed light: his cards, a couple of books, a few changes of clothes. Lastly, he slipped on the heart-shaped necklace his mother gave him all those years ago. The metal was warm, like it remembered him.
As he zipped the bag closed, a thought struck him.
"The Cost."
He hadn't finished the book from the secret library. The one that started it all. He needed to finish it, now more than ever.
Heading downstairs, he approached the wall panel in the library room, the one that opened to the hidden stairwell. When the door slid open, something felt... off.
Not wrong. But different.
The air inside was heavy, not with dust, but something like presence like a silence that was listening. Blissful and ancient.
He descended each floor, quiet and alert. At the fourth level, he reached for the book. As soon as his fingers brushed the spine, he heard something.
A small, stagnant sound.
A pulsing. Like a heartbeat behind stone.
Eli turned slowly, his heart inching up his throat. In the far corner of the room, floating above the old runes, was a glowing orb of energy. Pale blue, flickering, soft but alive.
It hovered like a newborn unsure how to breathe. Eli took a cautious step forward, but as he moved, it reacted darting upward in a flash of light, disappearing into the ceiling.
Gone.
He stood there, stunned.
"What... was that?"
But he already knew. A spirit? A guardian? A familiar?
Something was in that library, waiting to be born.
He would figure it out later. Right now, he had a train to catch.
---
Brickstone was only an hour away by train. Eli didn't want to drive his mind was still too full of... everything. Better to walk and let the world feel normal, even if it wasn't.
On the way to the station, he passed the small corner convenience store the one he and the twins stopped by that day. He considered grabbing a snack.
But just before he stepped inside, something shifted in the alley beside it.
A shadow.
Something small. Lurking.
"A cat?" he muttered, stepping closer.
It turned. Not a cat.
It was the size of a basketball maybe bigger. It had fur that shimmered like black static and a mouth far too wide for its head, teeth like broken glass.
Eli froze. A spirit beast.
It snarled and lunged.
He fell hard onto the concrete, barely throwing up an arm to shield his face. He felt its teeth sink into his forearm.
"AHHH-!"
The pain was blinding, electric. He couldn't think.
Acting on instinct, he smashed his arm against the brick wall once. Twice. Again. Until he felt the beast go limp.
Dead.
He collapsed to the ground, gasping, his blood dripping onto the pavement. His heartbeat was a drum inside his chest. His whole arm ached like fire.
He stared at the small corpse. Its eyes were still open.
This was just a small one.
If they were already appearing in alleyways of the city…
Then humanity is in real trouble.
The train rocked gently as it moved through the countryside, but Eli's nerves weren't nearly as calm.
He tried to relax, watching the blurred trees pass by the window. But that's when he noticed him again a man in a long black coat with a hood, sitting across the aisle, motionless… staring.
Eli glanced at him, uneasy. He turned away, blinked once.
And just like that he was gone.
No footsteps. No sound. Just gone.
Eli scanned the car. Empty.
"Was he even real?"
He shook it off, burying his thoughts in the memory of the spirit beast from earlier, the weight of it still aching in his arm even if the bite mark had already faded.
He remembered the news anchors fumbling over their words:
"Unconfirmed sightings of unidentified species..."
"No official word from government agencies yet."
"Perhaps invasive... or previously unknown wildlife."
They didn't know. They didn't believe.
But Eli had seen it. Felt it. Killed it.
And it was only day three.
---
When he finally stepped off the train and into Brickstone, he expected some sort of magical village or ancient ruins. But the town was surprisingly normal. Brick roads. Local vendors. A public square with a rusted fountain.
Still, there was a strange energy in the air subtle but ever-present, like a hum beneath your skin.
He approached a few locals, asking politely, "Do you know where the Abarice Clan is located?"
Every time, he got confused looks.
"Abarice?"
"Never heard of it."
"Is that a brand or something?"
It wasn't until he stopped near the edge of the town that a chill ran down his spine. That man. Again.
The black coat. The hood. Standing at the edge of the alley.
He didn't speak at first just pointed silently.
And then, in a low voice, said:
"The clan you seek is behind the northern gate. Follow the old cobblestone path."
Before Eli could ask who he was, the man turned a corner and vanished again.
"Okay, definitely creepy," Eli muttered, but curiosity tugged him forward.
He followed the narrow, cracked path until ancient walls rose ahead, overgrown with ivy. Towering metal gates stood closed, flanked by two guards in dark gray armor.
"Halt!" one guard barked, drawing a sword. "No one is allowed near the Abarice Clan's grounds. Turn around."
Eli raised his hands calmly. "I'm looking for two people. Their names are Olsen and Aqua. They're my friends."
The second guard narrowed his eyes. "What's your name, kid?"
"…Eli. Eli Whitlock."
The guard's posture shifted instantly. His eyes widened, then softened.
A wide grin formed. "You're Eli?" he laughed, turning to his partner. "It's him. It's really him."
The sword was lowered, and the gate creaked open. "Welcome to Abarice. We've been expecting you."
Eli blinked. "You have?"
One of the inner guards stepped forward. "Come. The leader wishes to speak with you."
As they escorted him deeper into the compound, through stone corridors and torch-lit halls, Eli couldn't help but feel something settling in his chest.
The clan base of Abarice was unlike anything Eli had ever imagined.
From the moment he stepped through its gates, it became clear: this wasn't just a place people lived. It was alive with energy.
Hundreds maybe thousands of homes stretched across the wide landscape, built with a mixture of old-world stone and glowing ethereal patterns that shimmered with faint blue hues. The air felt thick with magic, but not suffocating more like... buzzing curiosity.
Some houses lit up randomly in pulses of blue light, like the rhythm of breathing. Eli stared at them as he walked. Some pulses were sharp, others calm, all lasting for just a few seconds before vanishing. He remembered what Aqua once said that they have abilities containing to water, and some of the lights we're similar to the light the clan leader used on Jewel.
Now he saw what she meant.
And as he passed a group of children laughing and practicing spells in front of a fountain that sprayed glowing water high into the air, he couldn't help but feel something stir inside him. A sense of belonging or at least, of invitation.
---
Inside the main house, the warmth of familiar voices pulled him back into the present.
"Well we only have three weeks to prepare! What are we gonna do if we miss the first day?!" Olsen's voice echoed from deeper inside.
Aqua's exaggerated voice followed. "'Aqua, you can't take other people's things!' 'Aqua, you wore your uniform wrong again!' They act like I'm some criminal!"
Eli chuckled to himself.
When Aqua opened the door and spotted him, she lit up.
"Eli! What are you doing here?" she said, half laughing, then pulled him into a tight hug before he could answer.
Olsen, leaning against the wall with a training staff in one hand, gave his usual quiet nod. "Didn't think we'd see you this soon. What brought you here?"
"I got this." Eli held out the letter and ID from Aritha. "Sanctum of Orison. Says classes start in three weeks."
Aqua groaned. "Guess that means we're all going then."
"She says that like she's not secretly excited," Olsen said, cracking the slightest grin.
---
Meanwhile…
In the dim candlelight of the clan leader's private chamber, a figure stood half-shrouded in the corner barely visible beneath his cloak. The leader, his one good eye focused like a blade, spoke without looking at him.
"The boy is here. I never thought I'd see Whitlock's son again."
The figure didn't respond just tilted his head, listening.
"He's a variable I wasn't trying to add. If we're not careful… he'll become something even we can't control, then what will we do? He can't see them again."
The cloaked figure finally spoke. "Then why allow him into the clan?"
The clan leader chuckled. "Because I'd rather keep him, just in case we can use them against his parents."
A pause.
"Now... it's time to see Ruby."
He reached for his coat, adjusting the golden clasp with the Abarice emblem. And just before stepping out, his expression softened but only slightly.
"The clan we'll be stronger because of us me."
And then he was gone.
---
Steam curled above an untouched cup of coffee, drifting lazily into the air. A teenage boy sat alone, eyes distant, fingers idly tracing the rim of his mug.
His phone buzzed.
He glanced at the screen, then answered.
"Did you do what I told you?" The voice was cold, commanding.
The teen straightened his back, eyes sharpening. "Yes, Master."
There was a pause. Then the voice replied, "Good. The seeds are planted."
The call ended.
The boy lowered the phone slowly, a faint smirk on his face.
"It's finally time," he whispered, eyes narrowing. " hopefully, this path can let you find him, Alyssa's ."