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The moment Rethys noticed the chains restricting him, his body instantly snapped into motion, wildly struggling against his bindings in a blind effort to free himself.

The chains were wrapped around him expertly, binding his limbs and head in such a way that every movement in one direction fastened the chains in the other, all the while taking great care not to suffocate or bruise him, though he hadn't the presence of mind to notice such details.

'Rethys Calm yourself!' A voice resounded in his mind. 'You are safe, I am here.'

He calmed for a moment, his mind awakening and coming to realize himself again, his ragged breathing and desperate flailing lessening as he slowly but surely regained his bearing.

He noticed first that he was completely wrapped in chains and unable to move. He was also gagged and blindfolded, magical cloths pressing against his skin with every small movement he made.

'Stay calm.' Sevi soothed him. 'All is well, this is all part of our plan.'

Hearing the familiar voice helped calm Rethys, allowing him to more clearly remember what had happened and what was around him. He first heard the rolling of the carriage wheels and the sound of it tumbling up and down, and then he heard the sound of chains clanking as he tried to shift his posture.

He recognized this particular sound, the sound of veternium shackles used on mages to restrain their powers, it was not the first time he was bound in them.

He then remembered what had last happened, him attuning to the Water element and seeing the visions of seas and ice. He had agreed with Sevi to make a mess of sorts using his newfound abilities to attract the attention of the Order, and from what he could tell, that had already happened.

And seeing him calm down as he did, Sevi spoke again.

'You have gone into a frenzy after attuning to the Water element, and you have been detained. You are currently being transported to Aldeno, I believe, to be examined more thoroughly. But do not be alarmed! You have not gone into ethermania, it was simply a normal outburst, if a bit too powerful. You did not harm anyone either.'

'I see...' He thought.

His mind ran slow and heavy, the visions of those white plains on the very fringes of reality still imposing themselves on his thoughts.

But as his mind cleared more and more, he began to wonder. Was this truly part of their plan? He had planned to make a mess and get captured, that much was true, but this was excessive.

He had been detained by Kingdom soldiers and even Order mages during his childhood, and had many times known the sting of veternium on his skin. Yet never did they wrap him up in so many chains he couldn't move and then gagged and blindfolded him. He had to wait for Sevi to speak again, he figured.

But before that could happen, he heard a different voice sound in the carriage.

"You've calmed." It said.

He turned toward the voice's source. It was feminine, but he couldn't tell much aside from that.

"Can you understand my words? If you can, nod your head." The voice said.

He nodded as best as he could, after which he heard the woman get up, walk toward him, and remove his blindfold. And as her hand made contact with his skin, his senses instantly extended to her, letting him know that she was an unbound mage attuned to Mind, Creation, and Destruction.

Three ethereal elements meant that she was not combat capable, and that he wouldn't have trouble taking her down if it came to it, even if the Destruction element was slightly concerning.

She slid down his blindfold, allowing him to look around and see where he was. A fairly large, strange looking carriage. He looked at the woman standing before him, it was a thirty-something year old, silver-haired High Mage, and she glared at him in turn. He noted her attire, the iconic red cape and a badge on her tunic displaying a tower wreathed in leaves and flowers, the mark of the Kingdom. She was no Order mage, but rather one of the Kingdom's.

She then uncovered his mouth, allowing him to speak.

"What's your name." She asked, staring him down as she moved back and sat across from him.

"Rethys." He answered.

"What's your last memory before waking up here?" She questioned him.

He quickly worked out a plausible explanation.

"I was walking around, near the square... a-and then..."

'Ice. Tell her that there was ice.' Sevi chimed in.

"And then there was ice."

"Hmm..." She pondered. "And is this the first time you used magic?"

"Yes."

"I see." The High Mage nodded. "How old are you, Rethys?"

"I don't know." And he wasn't lying, he didn't know exactly how much younger Sevi's powers made him.

"And do you have any family in Kalantor, Rethys?"

"No." He answered.

"Good." She nodded again.

'What does she mean 'good'?' Rethys frowned in thought.

"Do you know what will happen to you now?" She asked, staring at him with an inquisitive look.

'They will determine your aptitude for magic and then your willingness to cooperate. For now, display sufficient timidness and ignorance, and do not resist.'

He shook his head, prompting the High Mage to ask yet another question.

"Do you know what you have done? Why you are bound like that?"

'Answer with no.' Sevi said.

'Yes, I know...' He sighed inwardly, even knowing that Sevi wouldn't hear it.

"No." He answered, making sure to put as much fear as he could in his voice.

"Well allow me to congratulate you, Rethys." The High Mage beamed a wide smile. "Your magic talent has blossomed, and quite beautifully, I might add. From this day onward, you are no longer an orphan, but rather a magical talent of the Kingdom who would one day become a full-fledged mage."

She seemingly expected Rethys to display some sort of extreme reaction, as she frowned when she saw him still staring at her with his best attempt at fearful eyes.

"My words may not be so convincing when you are wrapped up in dark chains but trust me when I say that the future ahead of you is a bright one Rethys." She continued, smiling once more. "You will see soon enough, but for now, let me loosen those chains a bit."

She stood and approached him, unlocking one set after another of dark, magic-suppressing chains and shackles, until Rethys was left with only a pair binding his hands.

"I'm afraid those will have to stay for now." She smiled apologetically at him." A necessary precaution, for now, especially after that spectacle you've put on in Kalantor."

Despite being bound with magic-blocking tools, he wasn't alarmed. He could instinctively tell that whatever strange element was contained in the dark metal could not block Origin, not fully at least.

'What did I do?' He wondered.

He didn't remember a single thing from what transpired between his attunement to Water and him ending up in here. There was no vision, no fragmented memory, nothing.

"What did I do, Lady Mage?" He asked, taking her friendly attitude as an opportunity to get some answers.

"Oh, it's nothing to worry about. What you've experienced is only a symptom of your magical talent, simply an outburst of emotion and ether."

'You have covered half of Kalantor's medial district in hard ice and assaulted the inner district's gate.' Sevi revealed. 'Though rest assured that you did not harm anyone, instead you simply targeted walls and buildings... and... revealed far too much power. We will discuss things later, but for now, do not worry. All is well'

Rethys frowned.

He did what?

'In all honesty, it was quite impressive...' Sevi mused. 'I had known that this sort of thing is possible, a release of magic where emotion amplifies ether and is amplified by it in turn... but I had not known that Water would give your emotions release instead of Origin, though I suppose we should be thankful for that.'

So, in essence, he had gone on a magic rampage in the city the moment he attuned to Water?

'That's not so bad, is it?' He thought. 'Sevi said it's fine. And to hell with them in any case, they deserve it.'

But that aside, being controlled by his magic was not something he was fine with, at all.

'But then she did say emotions... but then why don't I remember any of it?'

"But as I said, worry not.' The High Mage resumed talking. "None were harmed, and no blame will fall on you for having magic as great as yours. It's nothing for you to worry about, it's behind you now, rest assured of that."

'You should have seen it, Rethys.' Sevi began. 'You were charging through the medial district in those flimsy rags shooting spires of ice at buildings and walls and parks and anything in sight, bent on doing as much damage as possible.'

"Huh?!" He jolted.

"I understand your confusion and apprehension, child, but know that such grand displays of magic are to be celebrated. Your gift in magic is a boon to all." The High Mage nodded.

And as if he wasn't confused enough, Sevi continued talking, two voices speaking at once in a dizzying cacophony.

'And... hmm... yes, Phiviel is indeed correct in calling it a spectacle.' She considered. 'Your Water magic had a certain... grandness to it. You exclusively unleashed large icy spires, encasing buildings in them as you followed with quite the spirited war cries. Things such as 'Embrace the cold!', or 'Ice will bury you all!', or, my personal favorite, 'Know true winter!'.

'I did not know you had such a flair for the dramatic, Rethys. I am impressed.'

The revelations made his face pale. Even for him, this was too much.

And how the hell did he do all that? He was sure he had neither the energy nor the power to do all that Sevi described, that was just too much.

'No, she's definitely messing with me.' He sighed inwardly.

Sensing his conflict, the red-caped mage, which he now knew was called Phiviel, approached him with kind eyes and reached to pat him on the head.

"I told you, you needn't worr-" Yet before she could touch him, he quickly flinched backwards, his body pushing against the carriage wall as his eyes widened and he took on a defensive stance.

The carriage quieted as the clangor of chains echoed. The High Mage was startled and wide-eyed as well, her hand still outstretched.

She regarded him with wary eyes as she slowly retreated. The chains were too heavy and too large, and he felt uncomfortably small and weak. He felt as if he returned to a previous time, and that made him feel very threatened.

He almost moved to summoning his magic before his presence of mind returned to him and he realized that that was not wariness in her eyes, but pity.

Still, that did little to assuage his suspicions. This woman was a noble after all, a particularly high-ranking one and that, and they never had good intentions.

"Well..." The noblewoman coughed. "Everything will be explained once we arrive at Aldeno."

'I told you to not display this much wariness...' Sevi sighed. 'It matters not, just... loosen up a little, Rethys, you need not be so on guard.'

'What do you know...' He sighed despondently.

The carriage ride quieted from there, with only the clanking of chains to interrupt the serene ambience that ensued.

It would have been very awkward and extremely hard for Rethys to avoid the other person inside with him if it wasn't for a new distraction that kept him busy, or rather a new sense.

For just as his Origin element allowed him to feel ether all around him, the element of Water seemingly allowed him to feel the presence of its namesake.

Many times as the carriage rode along was he able to sense nearby great bodies of water. The new Water sense pulled at his mind whenever he was close to any such lakes or rivers or whatnot, the Water ether in them exerting a pull on him.

He was also vaguely aware of which direction the closest sea lay, and of the direction of the ends of the world, where the great ice dwelt. He resolved to remember asking Sevi about all this later.

"We've arrived." The High Mage spoke, snapping him out of his pondering.

She opened the magically locked carriage doors and stepped down, gesturing for Rethys to follow her. And as he hopped down, he found himself in an expansive courtyard filled with large, ornate carriages pulled by all manner of magical beasts, some he recognized and most he didn't.

It was also night, surprisingly enough, which combined with the buzz of activity all around him confirmed that he was probably in Aldeno's noble inner district.

He looked behind him, and as expected, he saw the towering silhouette of a castle ahead, its entrance marked by the courtyard where he stood. He recognized instantly the sight before him, even though every time he had seen it before was from a different angle and a much greater district; it was Aldeno's archducal castle.

"Glorious isn't it." The High Mage nodded with satisfaction at Rethys' expression, missing entirely that what lied in his eyes was not a look of wonder, but rather one of vitriol.

"Yes..." He answered.

"Well then, let's get you accommodated while your case is processed." She said as a knight walked toward them.

The knight talked with the High Mage about this and that, but Rethys was truly not interested in following along with their over-elaborate noble talk to try and decipher some meaning from it.

He busied himself instead by looking around at the magical beasts that nobles used to pull their oversized carriages. Some looked like horses, others like wolves, and then there was everything from deer and lizards to large cats and what looked like flying beasts, all looking wildly distinct from both one another and their normal, non-magical counterparts, sporting all manner of exotic feature that revealed their magical powers. They all did share one thing, however, which was their large size.

It was an impressive menagerie that simply begged to be thoroughly scanned by his Origin senses, an unattainable desire which made him quite downcast.

He remembered then how his walk through the wildlands when he first appeared in Voldren only brought him face to face with boring earthen lizards.

Eventually the High Mage motioned for him to follow her. She took him through the castle's imposing entrance, its many decorated halls and corridors, laden with tapestries, paintings, crests and portraits. And through it all, Rethys walked with his eyes focused straight ahead and his mind uncaring for the false splendour around him.

And though Rethys' senses were inactive, he could still clearly tell that the noblewoman had taken a longer route on purpose, probably to overwhelm the penniless orphan with the sheer sights or something along those lines.

'Idiots...' He sighed inwardly as he saw red and blue-caped mages all around the castle.

By this point, his mind had more or less sobered up from the magical rampage he had supposedly been through as well as the rude awakening in the carriage, and as his mind cleared more and more, he found himself increasingly irritated by what and who surrounded him.

When the walk finally ended, Rethys found himself before the door of a room with a line of attendants waiting by.

The High Mage then turned to him and removed his final pair of shackles. He rubbed his wrists, touching veternium had always stung in a very strange way and unexplainable way, though he could now tell that the sensation was that of his soul being hurt.

"Your case will be dealt with tomorrow." She explained. "But I wouldn't worry about a thing. You're a guest of the Archduke now, and you'll be treated as such." She then motioned to one of the attendants.

The middle-aged man approached the two and lightly bowed to the High Mage. This was no normal servant, Rethys noted, but rather a lower noble.

"Ehriman, my lady." He nodded

"This man will be responsible for taking care of you, Rethys, you may ask anything you desire of him, and the Archduke's decree will see it brought to you. I will leave you to him now, make sure to stay on your best behavior and good things will come to you."

She then turned around and walked off, leaving Rethys and Ehriman awkwardly standing side by side.

"Lord Rethys, if you would accompany me."

"Lord..." He scoffed. This was too much, even for him.

Yet he nonetheless followed the servant, or rather butler, as he remembered the correct word.

The man opened the door to the room, revealing a lavish interior fit for higher nobility inside, which both irritated and worried Rethys; irritating him because the pomp of it all rubbed him the wrong way, and worried over how much he revealed for nobles to give him this sort of treatment.

He stepped inside and shut the door just before the middle-aged butler could follow him inside.

"Lord Rethys what are you...?" Yet before the man could react in any way, Rethys pressed his hand against the door's handle and, by pure instinct, caused the whole thing to be encased in hard ice.

'Rethys what are you doing?' Sevi spoke after such a long period of silence that Rethys thought she was asleep.

"Shut up." He answered both, and as a precaution doubled the amount of ice on the door.

He gazed at his creation; the ice was blue, too blue. A worrying sign, if ever he had seen one, but he didn't let it distract him.

He walked further inside the room, casting a Stabilize spell on himself to get rid of the nausea from having been encased in damned veternium for so long. He relished in the feeling, remembering once upon a time when he'd stay ill for days from touching the cursed metal.

He then approached the far too large bed sitting in the far too spacious room and tossed himself onto it, bouncing twice before plopping down.

'This is no time for childish games Rethys!' Sevi rebuked, yet her words fell on deaf ears.

"It's fine." He whispered.

He truly wasn't being childish, only curious. He wanted to see how far he could push the nobles before he could provoke a reaction from them, and what kind of reaction it would be.

He felt that he had to satisfy this desire of his, to exact some vengeance upon nobles, even a petty one, otherwise his festering loathing for those rats in human skin would provoke him into doing something much more extreme. He hoped he wouldn't have to be brought before this city's ruler. It wouldn't end well for him, he figured.

And aside from that, he found the whole thing unfathomably hilarious, the degree to which they were willing to coddle him.

He wondered what were they thinking, when they allowed him to go around unrestrained and unsupervised as he was. Perhaps they expected a normal child to be overwhelmed by everything, perhaps tempted by that fancy food on the nearby table, or simply controlled by that poor excuse of a mage masquerading as a butler outside of the room.

Even now the incompetent buffoon was still waiting outside the room, Rethys could sense him pacing around behind the door. He was probably calling to Rethys too, but the room was so spacious that the distance between the door and the bed was such that the young man couldn't hear a thing.

He also wondered what Sevi was thinking when she had brought them here, after all, he had made his very personal dislike for nobility very clear. He began to doubt her judgement, and his own for agreeing with her.

He now had to attend an academy of magic and learn it among noble children; the thought alone made him sick.

He looked around, at the lavishly furnished room he lay in. This was all that he had always wanted, the good life of a mage, one without the struggle that had defined his existence for so long and the contempt that he was forced to bear. He looked at what he had thought the ideal life and scowled bitterly.

They were giving the homeless orphan a taste of the finer things before they made their request; he just knew it.

"They're just lower nobles, Sevi." He explained. "What the hell would they be able to do when a fucking High Mage was forced to act nice to me. In any case, what do we do now?"

In response, Sevi let out an audible sigh as her already terrifying aura flared.

"Rethys, we need to talk."