24 The Second Auction House

A couple weeks has passed since I've returned, and most of it has been spent helping Vincent and Reynolds in preparation for the next auction house event. This will be the 2nd one that I've attended with everyone, though this got me thinking. How come the Leywins hadn't been in the private box with the Helstea's before the time Arthur was there?

I found myself thinking this more and more as I found that I've messed with the timeline a bit. Because at the moment the royal family just entered the room, and the Leywins are sitting in the row of seats in front of me. I shake these thoughts from my head as it's too much of a bother to worry about something such as this.

A couple guards entered first before the King, then queen, then finally Curtis and Kathyln before another few guards stepped in while 2 stayed outside the door. I hadn't seen that guard that tries to get Sylvie from Arthur yet, so I can only assume he hasn't joined the guards yet.

My and Kathyln's eyes meet and her statuesque face breaks momentarily into a smile and I return one of my own. I see her tug the sleeve of her mom's dress and wring her hands as she asks her something. Priscilla's eyes dart towards me with a mischievous grin and she gives a nod. Kathyln brightened once more and she quickly stepped to where I was.

"May I sit beside you for the auction?" She asks and I notice that her voice doesn't carry the same timidity it did a year ago when talking to me. I give her a smile as I slide down so she can have the edge seat.

"Please do, Princess." Hearing my voice speak to her brought the faintest of blushes, but it was gone as soon as it appeared as she sat down. Hands layer upon her lap and her back as straight as board.

"Thank you." She said while turning her head to face, and I give her another smile.

"You're most welcome." Was my reply and just past her I could see the royal family looking this way. Specifically Curtis and Blaine as Priscilla only snuck the occasional glance with a smile on her face. I could never tell if she found the situation comical or she was happy for Kathyln. Maybe it was both?

"I actually have a present for you, though I must admit I didn't pick it up from my travels but actually here in Xyrus." I said as reached for a box beside me, I could see her eyes widen and she turned her body to face me even more. I could see the anticipation flooding her body, though I'm not quite sure how much a girl, a Princess, no less will appreciate my gift.

She seemed to be too excited to speak so I didn't waste anytime and handed her the box. She carefully lifted the lid to find a bright blue almost icy colored mask in the box, this one looked like a normal mask compared to the one I wear as Rez. This one has facial features as well as normal eye, nose and mouth opening. She looked confused at it, then looked to me.

"I'm very thankful for the gift, but are you saying I need a mask." She asked cautiously

"Yes." I could see her face start to frown at that before I quickly continued.

"But not for the reason you think." I clarified, and her face went back to confusion as she looked at the mask again. Finally realization dawned on her, and she looked back to me with sparkling eyes before gently grabbing the mask and putting it on. The mask was again made by Gideon, and uses the wearers innate mana even if they don't have a core yet. Everyone has the smallest amount of mana within their bodies.

I also added my own bit of sound magic into the mask for her, so it changes her voice to slightly more mature sounding voice.

"This is amaz- Wha-? My voice?!" She looked from side to side and felt her ears before looking to me. The eyes in this mask did not black out the eyes like my Rez mask, so I could see the confusion evident.

"It wouldn't do to use the same voice if you're pretending to be someone else." I say with a grin and a wink. It is a hint to my identity as Rez, but I highly doubt she or anyone else in the room would catch on. As it's quite preposterous to think a soon to be 6 year old would be a yellow core mage AA rank adventurer. Though I guess it would be even more so for a silver core mage to be 6 years old.

"Thank you so much for this Jaron I don't know what to say." Kathyln said as she took the mask off and placed it gently back into the box. Before I could reply she leaned forward and gave me a hug, the surprise of it almost made me miss the box falling but I quickly grabbed it and returned the hug.

"A hug from a Princess is thanks enough, though you should be more careful, you almost dropped the mask." I finished with some cheek at the end, only half heartedly admonishing her. She flushed slightly and quickly grabbed the box close to her chest before dashing off to Priscilla for her to hold on to it. Who then passed it off to one of the women standing behind her, all while still having that smile on her face.

The rest of the auction proceeded with no other things of note. Me and Kathyln sat beside each other the whole show, trading comments here and there about different items as well as normal things happening in our lives. Besides a few glances from the royal family over to us they didn't seem to mind us being close, rather I think they were glad for Kathyln to have someone her age to talk to.

We bid out goodbyes as the auction came to a close, the royals had important business to handle so they couldn't stay after the auction for the dinner we had last time. Which also means Kathyln wasn't able to attend my party the next day, but oh well. After tomorrow I'll be here for only a week longer before my journey to the beast glades began, so I had my mind on other matters at the moment.

However we still went to eat with the Leywins after the auction, it was a casual affair with simple but tasty food. Especially for someone who had just spent a year traveling and eating food made by campfire. I of course finished my night with a cup of tea, and a short round of meditation to purify my core. My progress had slowed compared to the sprint that was the previous stages. I've been at solid silver for a year now, but I'm slowly starting to see cracks of bright silver.

The only thing that has me worried is breaking through to white. Every person that I remember being a white core mage had something that helped the breakthrough. Arthur and Uto's horn, then the Lances with the artifacts given to them by the Council. Though that's not to say they would have never reached white stage without, I can only imagine how long and tedious it would have been.

However I get the feeling that the answers lie partially with my sword that's resting in my lap. A mysterious soul within the blade that has been training me in the way of the sword whenever I meditate. Surely there's more to it, especially since I haven't been able to decipher those symbols that appear on the blade when I fuel it with mana.

Maybe I'll find out more about it as I gain more experience in fighting, which means I can only wait until my 2 year journey in the beast glades.

*The Next Day*

It was May 30th also known as my 6th birthday, which also means roughly 2 more years until Arthur returns from the Elf kingdom. With luck I'll already be a white core by then. I won't lie I've been itching to meet the main character after seeing all the side characters so far. However if I truly want to be able to help him in the war to come, I have my own trials and tribulations I must go through.

I was broken from my thoughts when a knock sounded on my door, before it was quickly opened by Tabitha, Vincent, and Lilia. The only Leywin present was of course little Ellie, and they all yelled in unison.

"""Happy Birthday Jaron!""" Though Eleanor just sort of babbled and raised her hands in the air from the arms of Tabitha.

"Thanks everyone." I say with a smile on my face, still sitting on my bed.

"Come on brother, everyone from the orphanage is downstairs as well as Aunt Alice and Uncle Rey!" Came the cheery voice of Lilia, and of course I immediately began to get out of the bed so that I could get ready. I genuinely look forward to seeing everyone at the orphanage as it's been over a year since I last saw them all and I have many stories to tell them.

However something that I found weird was the slight grimace on Vincent's face when Lilia mentioned everyone from the orphanage. Being the type of person I am, I obviously went through a cycle of all the bad things that could have caused that reaction. Instead though I decided to shove all the negative thoughts to the back of my mind and just try to be positive. It is my birthday after all.

Walking down the stairs I was met by everyone standing in the living room, and a table filled with small finger foods, and drinks. The cake was set to the side on a table by itself with a chair placed behind it. Tabitha guided me to the chair, and took my seat as everyone began to sing happy birthday. Although the only thing I could think about throughout the song was that head mother was not here.

When they ended the song, I blew out the candles and made my wish. I raised my head to see all the smiles on everyone's faces, sadly that might change soon.

"So where is the head mother? I had hoped she would be here." I roamed my eyes from Tabitha, to Vincent and a few others before I landed on Maeve who had a conflicted expression.

"Is she alright?" Came my next question though it was a bit more cold than I meant it to be. The older people in the room flinched slightly at the words before Vincent stepped forth.

"Ahem. Meredith has been put on bed rest for the last couple months, so she wasn't able to make it." He said while not being able to meet my eyes.

"How bad is it?" I ask next and see the kids from the Orphanage take on pained expressions, especially Maeve.

"S-she's not expected t-to recover." Maeve said through shaky breaths. I stomach dropped, and I could feel my throat tighten and my eyes heat up.

"Tsk. Why did no one tell me?!" I fought the lump in my throat to express my emotions fully in this moment.

"Meredith asked us not to. She didn't want to ruin your birthday." Tabitha tried to reason. It's strange honestly, I hadn't expected to be so attached to her. But there's no mistaking this pain in my chest. Pressing my hand to my chest I grip my shirt into a fist. Taking a shuddering exhale I stand up, and turn away from them.

"I'm going to see her." Was all I said as head out the door and to the orphanage. I hear the voices call out for me, but I had already thrown my Rez outfit on so that I could run as fast as I needed to without drawing attention. Minutes later I'm entering the back door of the orphanage and making my way to head mothers room. And I see her laying on the bed with one of the orphans I didn't know holding a cloth to her head.

The door creaked as I opened it all the way and she gasped, knocking over the bucket of water and waking Meredith. She looked to where the girl was looking and saw me standing there.

"That mask really is as disturbing as the rumors say." Was all she said before resting her eyes again.

"Mary, go fetch another bucket of water and let me talk with our visitor." She got a quick nod before the girl bolted out the room, making Meredith give a brief and strained chuckle. She looks back to me still standing in the doorway.

"Are you going to stand there or are you going to sit down so I don't have to keep turning my head to see you. Also take off that mask, so I can see your face." She admonished me for standing there, so I moved to the still beside her bed and removed my mask. Her eyes widened slightly before a soft smile crossed her face. She reached a hand to my cheeks and wiped the tears coming down.

"Little Jay, you've grown well. There's no need for tears, this is the nature of life. Babies come into the world and the old bags of bones like me leave it. I'm just glad I got to meet you before I did." I tried, I really did try to keep the tears from falling, but they fell against my will. I gripped her hand tightly, as I stared at her, trying to engrave her face in my memory.

"Is there nothing that can be done." Came my shaky voice, which brought another smile to her face but also some tears as well." She patted my hands softly with her free hand and looked at me lovingly.

"Dear little Jay, you warm this old woman's heart with your worries. Don't fret, there may be nothing to help me, but you can sit here with me for a while longer." My hands unconsciously gripped her frail hand tighter, as if my grip on her would keep her here. However I nodded to her words to stay for a while longer. A few hours had past, and during those hours she had fallen asleep. The people from my party had also came in and out of the room after placing a consoling hand on my shoulder.

Tabitha and Vincent had stayed a little longer than the rest but eventually they too went downstairs to wait for me. A small part of me felt bad for leaving them down there, but the main part just wanted to sit here for as long as I could. I didn't leave her side until I noticed the sun was setting. I stood and leaned over the bed to place a kiss on her forehead before making my way home.

Surprisingly or maybe not surprisingly my family and the Leywins were still in the dining area of the orphanage waiting on me. Ellie asleep in her mother's arms and Lilia dozing off against Vincent's shoulder. When I walked in all their eyes landed on me and Tabitha immediately stood up and wrapped me in a hug. It felt good. It felt good to be comforted by the warm hug of a mother, whether by adoption or not she treated me like a son.

Lilia had woken up and she and Vincent came and joined the hug that we held for a few more moments before we released from each other.

"Lets go home." Was all I said, getting nods from everyone. Walking outside Gerald was there with our carriage.

"Sorry for making you wait so long Gerald." I said as stood beside the carriage.

"Not at all young master. It warms the bones to know that Meredith has someone who cares about her so much." I tilted my head at that and he gave a smile.

"You know head mother?" Was my next question.

"Aye, young master. We dated in our younger years, though she was much too good for me." Came his slightly sad response, I just nodded and boarded the carriage with my family close behind. We returned home and all the decorations, cake and food was left untouched.

"Lets take this to the orphanage tomorrow, so that they can eat it." I said to no one in particular.

"That sounds like a great idea Jaron." Vincent placed a hand on my shoulder, and patted.

"But how about you get some sleep and we can worry about that tomorrow." I just nodded and went to my room where I immediately fell asleep.

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Author's Note

Actually hadn't planned for Meredith to be sick this chapter, but it just kind of popped into my head and I went with it(Though I have been thinking about it for awhile, just didn't know where to put it.) Also I'm sure some people probably forgot about her, or find Jaron's reaction exaggerated. But to me it felt right, as she was the first mother figure he had ever truly had in both lives.

Also since I can't remember if I explained it or not, the mask is so that Kathyln can explore the streets without drawing attention. She realized that and obviously really liked the gift. There's not much you can really get a Princess after all.

Had planned to separate the auction house scene and the birthday party scene into their own chapters, but couldn't come up with anything good enough to warrant a whole chapter for each.

Thanks for reading.

-SocioPhobia