In a room, dimly lit by candles, a woman whose aura spoke volumes of the power she holds in her hands, sat on a stool as another woman, a slave of about the same age as her was washing her feet in a bowl.
She looked at the slave scornfully, before she then said, "I went to get my fortune told by a fortune-teller earlier today. I was told that Alexander will overthrow my son, Edward." The slave who was washing the woman's feet, paused when she heard this, and the woman continued, "How could I possibly believe in such nonsense? I just did it for fun, isn't that right?"
The slave looked up at the woman and wore a forced smile on her face. "Yes, my lady. How could the fortune teller ever dare to say such things that are bound to never happen? What an insolent fortune-teller." She said, trying to appease the woman.
The woman didn't seem pleased though, as she continued. "Even so, I couldn't help thinking to myself, 'what if?'…. I heard that Alexander has been going around, doing strange things as of late."
The slave paused and looked up at the woman again, her expression filled with confusion and worry. "Excuse me, my lady?"
"I heard that he would do anything for money. He's not going about dirtying the Blackwood family name, is he? Thinking about it really makes me feel quite uneasy."
The slave bowed her head, and said, "I apologize, my lady. I'll make sure to give him a good scolding when he gets back."
The woman frowned. "Don't just scold him! Make him stop! What if you end up giving him false hopes by being too soft on him, like before?" She yelled.
The slave was slightly taken aback by the woman's sudden outburst, but she still remained calm. "Back then, he was just young and foolish. He is not like that anymore, my lady."
"Make sure to manage your child! How could he ever think he can have the same lifestyle as Edward?" The woman spoke in a condescending manner, "He is just a bastard child, born from a woman who is in no class higher than that of a slave."
"Don't worry, my lady. Such things will never happen again." The slave assured her.
"I'll be counting on you, then. Alexander is your responsibility! Do you understand?"
The slave just simply nodded, and continued to wash the woman's feet.
Later that night, the slave—Alexander's mother, was sitting outside of the house, and her eyes were fixed at the wooden gates of the house in worry.
The gates suddenly opened, and she ran forward, but she stopped when she realized that it was just Edward—a still drunk Edward.
She bowed to him, and he said, "Hey, it's the middle of the night. What are you still doing out here? Hurry up and go to bed." Then he staggered towards the house.
The woman followed after him and hesitantly asked, "Young master… have you seen my Alex, by any chance?"
Edward looked at her in confusion. "Alexander?… Didn't he come home tonight?" The woman shook her head, and he continued, "Don't worry, I'm sure he will be home soon. The night is cold after all. Hurry up and go to bed." He then continued to stagger towards the house, while singing a song with jumbled up lyrics.
….
Alexander was already lying down on the porch next to the door, comfortably wrapped under a blanket, while his head was rested on a pillow, but he couldn't bring himself to fall asleep, and kept moving left and right on the porch.
"Are you asleep?" He finally said, while facing the door.
Alethea who was trying to sleep as well, opened her eyes and replied from inside, "Not yet."
Alexander smiled, happy that he wasn't suffering alone. "Hey, apple girl. Is your name Alethea?" He asked.
"How did you know that?" Alethea asked instead of answering directly.
"I heard your father calling out to you earlier." He answered, and Alethea just simply said, "Oh."
Alexander hesitated, but he still asked anyway, "But how come your father leaves you in such a dangerous place, all by yourself?… Were you born into a family you weren't supposed to have been born into, too?" He asked the last question with a self-depreciating smile.
"A family that I wasn't supposed to be born into?" Alethea asked in genuine confusion.
"You know, a family in which your mere existence is a burden." He spoke, referring to himself. "Is that why your father hid you away in a place like this, and…"
Alethea cut him off, as she said, "There's no such thing as a person who shouldn't have been born. My big brother told me that no matter what kind of a person you are, no matter what kind of rank you have, no matter if you are sickly or not…everyone who was born into this world was born with the purpose of helping to shape this world somehow. And finding out your role in the world is what life is all about."
She then sighed, and turned to her side, closing her eyes. "So don't be sad, okay? I'm sure there's definitely a reason why you were born, too."
Alexander smiled as he heard, and internalized Alethea's words, but all of a sudden, he abruptly sat up and said, "Hey! How did our conversation get to this point? I've never been sad, okay?" He awkwardly laughed, not wanting to be all touchy-feely around a girl he had just met.
"Alright then." Was all Alethea said from inside, and Alexander laughed again, genuinely this time.
"You know… you shouldn't dare let other people just sleep here like this, okay? You are just lucky that I'm a good guy. So be very cautious around others, you get that?" He warned her.
Alethea opened her eyes, and faced the door so her voice would be very loud and clear. "Is it because you are a good guy, that you barged into my home and stole my kite?" She asked, tauntingly.
"Hey, I already explained that it wasn't like that." He defending himself, and then he heard the sound of Alethea's laughter from inside, causing a strange feeling to bloom in his chest.
"Good night." He said, as he laid back down on the porch with a smile on his face.
"Good night." Alethea replied, and closed her eyes, equally with a smile on her face. And that was how they both fell asleep with smiles on their faces.
Unknown to the two sleepy-heads, whike they were asleep, the dark energy retuned for a second visit to try its luck once again with the quartz stones.
The quartz stones shone brightly like it had done earlier, and the dark magic couldn't move even an inch past the circle that had been made with the quartz stones. At the end, the dark energy still turned around and left once again.
….
Dragon Den's Tavern
It was barely daytime, and Edward and his crew were already creating a ruckus at the tavern, singing and dancing while downing bottles of liquor.
One of them suddenly stopped dancing, and pointed in shock. "Hey, isn't that…" he couldn't even complete his sentence due to the shock.
The others, including Edward turned to look at where he was pointing, and behold, a tattered looking Alexander was approaching them with a kite in his hand.
Edward could only open his mouth in shock as Alexander got closer.
"I've brought the kite, as promised." Alexander said, as he remembered what happened earlier that morning.
Alexander had woken up and was prepared to leave. He had hesitantly said goodbye to Alethea and was about the cross over the quartz stones, when Alethea suddenly called out to him as she approached him.
"Hey! I… I didn't ask for your name." She said a bit reluctantly.
Alexander smiled at her, secretly pleased that she cared enough to ask for his name. "My name is Alexander,… but you can just call me Alex."
Alethea nodded, blushing a bit. "Here. You said you came here because of this, right?" Alethea asked, as she handed over her special kite to Alexander. "I don't know what this is all about, but take it with you."
Then she made her voice sound like a playful warning. "I'm not giving it to you though. I'm just lending it to you. So… you must bring it back to me, okay?"
Alexander then smiled at her, and said, "I promise!"
Alexander looked up at Edward with determination beaming in his eyes, as he said, "It's your turn now. Uphold your own end of the bargain."