Chapter 33: Child of the Maze

The next day the dryads decided not to wake up the boy. He deserved a day of rest after the shock he suffered yesterday.

To her great dismay, Verdania had a lot of responsibilities and could not watch over the boy. She wanted to attend to them as quickly as possible before making contact with his family. If they were truly the people Ciaran thought they were, then she would at least be civil with them, if not, she had already resolved herself to mentor the boy.

"Keep him out of trouble today. In fact, he is to stay here until I come back. And I don't need to tell you what must and mustn't be said right? I will be back before sundown, behave yourself."

Eleftherios rolled his eyes at his sister but still promised to do as she said. He didn't however promise not to talk to the boy. There were things he wanted to say to the kid, that simply must be said, and the man just didn't have the patience to wait for him to grow up.

"Humans grow up so slowly. I wonder if that is the case with you too." He said as he looked at the still-sleeping boy.

The spell cast on him would keep his rest dreamless. They wanted his mind to heal as much as possible, and nightmares had a way to make that less than efficient.

Of course, his absence was noticed at school. First at the front gate, where his mother was less than pleased not seeing her boy, and then in the classroom.

His friends were very vocal in their questioning of their teacher. Their worry only grew worse as the headmaster himself came to tell them, it would take Ciaran some time to settle in.

-----

At around noon, Ciaran finally woke up.

"Morning princess, you sleep ok?" The man asked.

"Like a baby in a sinking ship sir. I feel totally rested."

…..

They didn't speak for a moment. Eleftherios wanted to get into a bantering mood with the kid, but that was not going to work, not with Ciaran. He wanted answers, and he wanted them yesterday.

"Sis left, has something to do. One among them is to contact your family. She will tell them you are with us now, as our own."

Ciaran tried, he wanted to keep the mood serious and heavy, but in the end, he just couldn't.

"So I will have to call you daddy from now on, that I understand. But are you going to be my new father or…" He said with a creeped-out smile.

"What no, I would never, we just… You damn brat, who do you think you're messing with!" Eleftherios got enranged. It was safe to say he wasn't used to being made fun of.

"Good question Eleftherios. Who are you really? I know you won't talk to me about the stuff I care about. Not for a while at least, good people usually keep that stuff away from children. And despite all your posturing, you are a good man. But who is this good man, sir?" Ciaran asked, like an amateurish actor who only knew how to read his lines.

This had a purpose, this Eleftherios knew, and yet he couldn't help but allow the kid to manipulate the flow, even if just a little.

"Ok kid, no need for the theatrics. I am this place's gardener. I work for my sis, as do most of this region. The only reason I stay here and help with raising you kids is because sis wants me to. And from today forwards, you are mine." He said with a smile.

"Usually we call that discipleship, but let the formalities shackle the unenlightened. People like us don't care much for titles."

The boy wanted to ask why he should learn under this green, selfobsest nut case, but then a question popped up in his head.

"A Wind Grand Mage. One of the weaker ones. Don't look at me like that, your eyes went from existential crisis to pure greed. You are a smart kid, but you have to work on those tells Ciaran, it will get you killed."

"I could read you just the same tho. No, forget that, I will learn about magic? " He asked, his mood the brightest it's ever been.

Eleftherios smiled and shook his head in denial.

"No, at least not now. Unlike humans, we know how to make our own more likely to survive the process, but it still takes time."

"First things first, let me make you an offer. You lived your whole life as a merchant's son right, you should like those. Become my disciple, it is a thing that needs consent from both sides after all. Then I will train you as a Warrior until I believe you are ready. Finally, I will have you complete a few tasks for me during your training, should you accept of course, for each completed task I will reward you with a special lesson. What do you say?"

The boy grinned and put his hand forward. If it meant he could learn magic sooner, and you know, with a lower chance of death, sure why not. The worst-case scenario was death, but if it happens he wouldn't have to deal with the consequences.

"What do we start with sir, more Trials?"

The man smirked, amused by the quick change in attitude.

"No, we start with a theoretical lesson. Today we learn about you specifically. And what you will experience in the following few years."

"First let's begin with what makes you different, in comparison to humans at least. Humans have one element, you, like me, have two. Your body is Water, and your Soul is Air. And before you ask, because all children ask, no, that does not make ice. I don't know who thought of the stupid notion but ice is just the hard state of water, it has nothing to do with Air."

"Question, is two better than one? And how do you know that? My parents said it was impossible to know."

Eleftherios then had to explain how his sister did it, which he didn't know, so he left it as 'Sis said so, and she knows because she is that good, deal with it'.

"Now, most half-breeds die in early childhood so I can't be sure, but those like me are usually born like that, with a body and a soul that differ in element. Now, because of certain reasons, that Sis said not to talk about, you began like this, but now your body 'thinks' its Wind when its Water. So to fix that, your family made you go through some kind of procedure yes? Well, that didn't help you at all, it just helped strengthen the illusion your body holds."

"Don't look at me like that, they did it for your own good. To be fair, it did fuck you up in ways I can't even describe to you, but it made you seem like a real human. A good thing, considering if you were found out before you were under our protection, you might have been killed."

"Merfolk don't protect halfs Ciaran, and humans actively hunt them down. If they didn't do what they did, by now you would have been dead, or sushi, depending if the people hunting you had a taste for it."

Ciaran looked at him, not at all bothered by what he heard. It was safe to say that creeped out Eleftherios so much, he almost regretted taking the kid in. Almost.

"You don't seem like a doctor or the experimental type. How are we going to fix me? Don't tell me you are going to beat me into correctness." The boy asked.

Seeing him so eager to get what he wants, Eleftherios couldn't help but laugh.

"You really are one of the Wind, aren't you? We tend to be single-minded when we set ourselves a goal. And no, I will not be beating you into it sadly. You see you are a very lucky fellow in a very funny way. I, the Warrior will be teaching you Wind magic, and my sister the Water Archmage will be teaching you on the Martial Path. So no Ciaran, I will not be beating you into correctness, SHE will." Eleftherios said and laughed like a madman.

Ciaran didn't like what he heard, no one liked hearing that they would get beaten. And Ciaran doubted it was a figure of speech. Dark days were ahead of him.

'At least I wouldn't be bored.' The boy thought.

On the other side of the city, Camille had just got back from her visit to the Academy. When she entered the mansion she found the staff inside sleeping while standing, and she heard her husband calling her from the Living room. Strange, as he had left on a business trip to the Capital, to try and understand where they stood with the Conceal.

"Hello Lady Clades, my name is Verdania, and I will be one of your son's mentors starting today. I would like to talk with you about that. Starting with the question of whether or not you get to live past today." She said, the same gentle, nourishing smile on her face, as always.