Good To Always Be Prepared

Alec was woken at the break of dawn by someone shaking his shoulder.

He blearily rubbed his eyes, wondering why his mother was waking him at such a time when he had barely even gone to bed. Even after all the random knowledge that had been stuffed into his brain by her via a 'crash course', she still wanted more?!

Alright.

He didn't hate people who were passionate about things.

However, instead of his mother, what greeted him was his uncle's serious face.

Alec's mouth opened slightly, barely withholding the reflexive flinch.

"Uncle?"

"Oh, good. You're up. Let's go, then."

"Go where?" Alec said, completely baffled. No explanation, nothing. "Mother let you in?"

Vincent paused. "No," he said grudgingly. His eye twitched. "I was… let in."

Alec coughed slightly, silently amused. Right.

"Go where?" he asked again.

"The underground cavern you fell down. We can't find the entrance."

Alec looked at his uncle, puzzled. "Didn't you go with teacher?"

"Yes," Vincent said simply. "It's gone."

By now, Alec had his curiosity piqued. He quickly got ready for the day in record time.

Both uncle and nephew set off for The Great Expanse.

At the place where Vincent met Evin yesterday, the man stood there with a young teenager who wore circular shaped glasses that took up half of his face. He cut a handsome figure just standing there, emitting a scholarly type aura of calm and quiet.

It was Elias.

"Elias?" Alec said, surprised.

"Clan Head, Alec," Elias greeted both of them.

Alec and Elias discreetly looked around for the rest of their friends, but they didn't seem to be coming.

Evin cut in. "Don't bother. The three of them graduated yesterday and have already left the clan for outside training."

This surprised them, and Elias frowned. The three of them hadn't even come by to say goodbye.

All three of them weren't the type to just leave without another word. Of the three, Zacharias might seem like the type that would, but he definitely wouldn't. The other boy would come by and pose for a little while, making pointed remarks, but in the end would properly say goodbye.

Vincent picked up Alec by the back of his shirt and held him under his arm. Alec blinked.

Evin shot Vincent a glare that said, 'you're treating your nephew like that?!'.

Alec had flashbacks of being carried by his teacher in the bridal style, and thank you, he much preferred this.

Alec spitefully hoped his teacher would carry Elias like that as well, and to his glee, he bewildered teenager was indeed picked up in a bridal carry.

Shit, it was too funny when it wasn't himself getting that treatment. Alec's facial muscles worked hard to keep the grin off his face.

Vincent shot a look back to Evin that said, 'and you're doing so much better?'

Evin looked confused. What was wrong with how he was carrying his student?

When his uncle started running, Alec noticed that he was moving a lot faster than what a human should be capable of. What was this? How were they moving so quickly?

Alec gently prodded his uncle's magic, and Vincent looked down at his nephew. "Stop that. It itches. We're able to move this fast because we're channelling a lot more magic into our legs compared to when you do it instinctively. You should be able to do it as well, after some practice."

Alec nodded.

Wait.

Wait, wait, wait.

Was this why he was always lagging behind when he went running with his classmates!? Were they channelling magic into their legs subconsciously?!

Suddenly, things made so much more sense! Why didn't his teacher tell him!?

What Alec didn't know was that most people weren't even aware that they were doing it. It was just that instinctual to them, because magic was part of their body. However, to Alec, who had a life before this without magic, magic was more like an extension that he didn't know how to use just yet.

He had to consciously think about it. Just like if a human was born with a tail, they would eventually be able to use it smoothly, but if someone added on a tail to them, it threw them off balance.

Ahhh, suddenly so many things made sense! Damn, what had he been doing all these years! All those years of wasted training! Ah, Alec as suffused with regret.

Alec itched to be let down to try it out himself, but judging by the way his uncle carried him, he didn't think that was going to be feasible any time soon.

Vincent stopped and put his nephew down, Evin doing the same to Elias.

"Here, right?"

Alec looked around and was vaguely sure that this was the place. He hadn't had much of a chance to look around when he had been desperately running for his life, but the monster-shaped bloodstain on the ground helped.

"Yes. The entrance is right there," Alec pointed. "See that oddly coloured patch there?"

There was a patch of grass on the ground that looked a little off, which was where he was sure the entrance to the underground cavern was.

Alec walked over to it, unaware of the baffled looks that were being exchanged behind his back.

Standing clear of the hole, he pressed lightly on it, and his arm disappeared. He pulled it back out.

"See?"

Vincent stared blankly at his nephew, not seeing a visible difference in the ground no matter how he stared. When Alec's hand disappeared into the grass, he couldn't believe it.

He reached down to try as well, only for his palm to forcibly meet the hard soil of the earth.

"???"

"Eh?"

Vincent lightly held his nephew's arm, and the ground disappeared from under him, dragging his nephew with him.

Startled at the sudden give of ground from under his feet, Vincent quickly recovered and bundled his nephew to himself, protecting him. He then allowed himself to continue to freefall as he reinforced his body using magic.

The two landed softly on the ground.

Alec eyed his uncle. He wanted to learn how to do that. If he had that, he wouldn't have nearly died just from the fall alone!

"Come down," Vincent called up to Evin, hearing an affirmative.

The two moved a way down in the dark, where Vincent pulled out a candle. It lit up by itself, casting light and shadows in the previously pitch-black darkness.

"Do you carry that with you around all the time?"

Vincent looked at his nephew. "Good to always be prepared."

The Clan Head held the candle up higher, his expression changing when he saw the blood splatter on the ground. There was a puddle of it near where they were standing. As he traced his eyes up, he noted the way red streaked down the walls. His heart ached at the sight.

Vincent looked at Alec's expression, but didn't note a change even as he was sure that he had seen the bloody evidence.

Vincent suddenly questioned his decision of bringing Alec back down here. What if there was some emotional trauma? After all, he had been stuck down here for close to a week without anyone but his bunny as company.

"Do you want to go back up?"

Alec shot a puzzled look to his uncle. What for? They were already down here. What's the point of going back up again?

Vincent felt a little better when he saw the confused look on Alec's face. Seemed like he wasn't acting tough. He really wasn't bothered by it. Vincent approved. The mental fortitude that he had was good if he wanted to survive outside of the clan.

The light sound of feet thudding onto the ground met their ears as Evin and Elias landed.