Leviathan, head bent low, unmoving, stared at his... master? Owner? Creator?

  His draconic face bore no expression, but his inner thoughts were unsteady. For most of his existence, he never had such questions come unbidden. He had been, he knew what he knew, and he obeyed instructions. Everything else didn't matter, didn't exist.

  But then, he had been given a name. Something within himself... the concept of self still felt awkward- something had snapped, like a chain becoming undone, allowing gears to engage. Stillness giving way to motion.

  Since then, thoughts had come. Questions had surfaced. Things were becoming... difficult, uncertain.

  Exciting.

  He closed his gargantuan eyes and shook the bothersome feelings out of his head, returning his gaze upon his...

  Leviathan frowned. Master was proper, and Leviathan wanted nothing more than to serve him, but the man clearly did not think of his mana as a thing to be owned.

  He was a loyal companion. A trusted partner, a friend, a brother.

  He was the power, and the man was his wielder. His... Lord.

  Yes. That was the right term.

  His lord floated in a lotus position, eyes closed, concentrating on something. He had been like this for a long while.

  “Lord, have you made progress?” Leviathan's voice rumbled.

  David opened one eye. “Lord? What brought that on?”

  “It is the proper term for our relationship.”

  The man opened his other eyes and stared at his mana. “I don't want to lord over you. You're my partner, not my subject.”

  “You are above me. It is proper.” Leviathan argued.

  “I'm not- ...forget it.” David sighed. “No, no progress. Coming down here is as easy as closing my eyes and thinking about it, but I can't seem to figure out a way to get you out there.”

  “Perhaps... when you are not here, but out there?” Leviathan tilted his head, his head fins contracting.

  David looked up at the empty blue sky. “I tried. I just end up calling you out as my mana, and then I catch fire.” He closed his eyes, letting his head hang back.

  Leviathan shifted his head, turning it upward, staring into the empty sky.

  “...I wonder how real water will feel on my body.”

  David's eyes snapped open, lowering his head to look at the sea serpent gazing into the great beyond. Leviathan almost looked... wistful?

  “Hey, huh, Levia-”

  He felt his world shake softly.

  The sea serpent's massive head shifted downward, returning his focus on his Lord.

  “You are being summoned back.”

  “I am. Sorry, big guy. We'll try again later.”

  Leviathan bowed his head in thanks as David willed himself back to his full senses.

  He opened his eyes on Niala's face, a centimetre away from his. She smiled, and he did the same.

  “What is-”

  A knock on the door interrupted David, answering his question at the same time.

  “Right.” He said, getting up and retrieving the Who Are You from the nearby table, and slipping it on.

  Niala sat down and returned to her book, positioning herself so she could see the door, while David went and answered.

  He opened the door on Isaac, who blinked once and rolled his eyes. “Get that stupid thing off your face, brother.”

  “It's not stupid.”

  “It looks stupid, and it's unnecessary.” He said, grabbing at the glasses and tearing them off his brother's face. “I told them you were back.”

  David froze. “You... told our parents I was back.”

  “I did, but I took precautions, don't wo-”

  “David!” A motherly voice rang out from outside, a woman shoving Isaac aside and taking his place.

  His mother.

  They stared at each other. His mind locked in a loop, Agatha gradually losing control over her features.

  His eyes widened in shock when he saw a tear roll down her face, just before she threw herself at him, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him down into an embrace.

  “Oh, my son! You are back, and healthy, and so tall, and handsome!” She lamented, pressing her face into his shoulder.

  His thoughts caught up to the events, and he pushed her away, holding her at arm's length.

  “What do you mean, I'm back? I tried to come back half a dozen times after you threw me out, getting turned around each time!” He snapped, anger clinging to his words.

  The woman before him let her arms fall, her lips trembling, on the verge of crying... before clamping her eyelids down over her rebellious tear ducts and regaining control over her features, laying her hands over her belly, on top of each other.

  When she opened her eyes once more, she had put her mask back on.

  But it was imperfect. Her smile was tainted by sadness, and her eyes swam.

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  “I... am sorry, David. I let my emotions win. Of course, you would be angry at your treatment. You have every right to be. I am a fool of a woman to forget. Please, excuse my lack of consideration.”

  Her words were chained, every single one wanting to run toward him, to unfurl into something bigger. Agatha clamped down on every lid, pushing the pressure back in.

  David looked in morbid consternation as his mother was swallowed back into Agatha Wardenfel, fighting to remain on the surface, and losing.

  A touch from his side jolted him out of his fixation. He glanced to his side to see Niala, a hand on his side.

  Her face mirrored what he could feel through their link: concern and support.

  She silently mouthed the word Hug.

  David returned his gaze to his mother, his arms still grabbing her shoulders. He let go, letting them fall to his sides, his hands balling up. He let out a breath, forcing his anger out with it.

  He'd accepted, after his exile, that his mother had chosen her husband over her children. And now, here she was, acting as if it could all be forgiven with a few tears and a lament.

  “Mother, I'm sorry. I didn't come back to see you. If Isaac had played along, I wouldn't have seen you, and I was fine with it.”

  His words had the effect of punches, but Agatha let them pummel her with nothing but a few twitches of her lips and a singular tear, which she quickly wiped away with the back of her hand.

  From the corner of his eye, he could see Isaac glaring at him.

  Agatha closed her eyes for an instant. When they reopened, she had regained control, if only nominally.

  “I understand. I cannot fault you, but please, what can I do to rebuild what was lost between us, my son?”

  A spike of anger drove into him. “There's nothing-!” He clamped down on his mouth before it went any further, working his jaw and exhaling through the nose.

  He felt Niala tug at his shift gently, cool waters spreading over his flaring coals and dousing them.

  “How about you start by telling me why I was thrown out like trash?” David said, though he knew it was pointless. His mother wouldn't reveal her husband's secrets so ea-

  “Alright,” she nodded. “May we come in, discuss in better conditions than standing at the door?”

  David stared at his mother, glancing at his brother, who had much the same reaction as him.

  Their mother, going behind their father's back.

  Impossible. He must have asked her to do it.

  But, as David peered into his mother's eyes, he thought he could see something that had never belonged there.

  Defiance.

  The Wardenfels were sitting in the guest house's living room. Isaac and Agatha to one side, David and Niala facing them.

  The two brothers glared at each other, and Agatha desperately held on to her regal posture, one strong breeze away from breaking apart.

  Niala was afraid to breathe too loudly.

  But something had to happen. She filled her lungs.

  “Mrs. Wardenfel? You said you would tell us about David's, huh, exile?”

  The brothers' eyes turned to Niala, and then to their mother. The noble woman had flinched at being addressed, and she now let her gaze flow between all three present, landing on David.

  She averted her gaze. “I did.”

  Heavy silence returned to the room.

  David groaned. “Then, go ahead. We're listening.”

  Agatha glanced back up to her son, letting her eyes fall down once more. Her mouth opened and closed a few times.

  “I-I'm sorry. It is... hard, to go against Jacob's wishes after all these years.”

  Her oldest son scoffed. “I'm surprised you're even willing to try.”

  Isaac shot daggers at David, but the man ignored them, waiting to catch his mother's reaction instead.

  The woman closed her eyes and breathed deeply, raising her head and looking straight at David.

  “Your father's looming demise has... made me reconsider my actions. Ever since my betrothal, before marrying into the Wardenfel, I knew what would be expected of me. Complete support of the Wardenfel patriarch, my husband.”

  She stilled her trembling lips. Her next set of words came easier. “And I have done so, dutifully, for the sake of the family and the kingdom it serves. Through pain, sorrow, and despair, even when doing so felt like I was stabbing myself in the heart, I held to it. But now...”

  She swallowed, letting her eyes fall. “With your father's declining health and no cure in sight, I had to envision what my life would be like after. Had everything I had sacrificed been worth it?”

  Her eyes glistened, her hands had gripped each other, wrestling over her lap.

  “I found that it had not. I should have spoken up, voiced my concerns, my opposition. When I realized, I panicked. Too many instances, too many times I should have... and I thought I would never get the opportunity to make up for it.”

  She looked back up at David, her eyes hardened. “But you came back, and I realized that I wanted to try, even if it was too late.”

  Agatha pressed her eyelids down and squeezed. When she reopened them, her eyes had mellowed.

  “So, David, my dear son, I will tell you, because I don't want to be silent anymore. I don't want to lose my sons again.”

  Agatha resettled herself on the couch as everyone remained silent, waiting for the woman to begin her tale.

  “First, you must understand that you are special, David. I'm sure you know some of this already, but do you remember your mana assessment day at the university?” She asked, looking at her son.

  David nodded. “Yes. They found that I had an immense reserve of mana.”

  A sad smile splayed itself across Agatha's lips for a moment. “It was not the only thing they found. The mana sensors used in the ceremony measure much more than reserves. They also test for mana resonance, absorption, density and purity.”

  David quirked an eyebrow and noticed Niala at his side leaning forward, ears pointed at his mother, staring straight at her, unblinking.

  Right, this is a juicy meal for my little knowledge glutton.

  He turned his head back to his mother. “And what did all those tests say?”

  Agatha shook her head. “We never found out. You broke all of the instruments the moment they tried to test you.”

  “I'm guessing that's not supposed to happen.”

  “No, and, as far as the records told, it had never happened either. One, maybe two of the instruments, on certain outstanding individuals, but never all of them.”

  She turned her hands over each other. “Your father had the staff questioned, and the experts queried. The reigning hypothesis is that you were born with something unprecedented: a direct link to the aetheric realm. It was, according to them, the only explanation, the only way your readings would have overloaded all sensors.”

  She levelled her stare at him.

  “If it were true, it meant you had no limit. Your father was ecstatic; a Wardenfel, his heir, with the potential to rewrite the kingdom's history. And yet, he was also terrified that you would be stolen away and used against us.”

  Niala blinked. “But... David would never use his power to hurt people?”

  David looked at his girlfriend before sighing and petting her head. “They wouldn't need to convince me, just subdue me and strap me to a mana extractor.”

  “They, what?!” She stared into his eyes. “But those things are outlawed!”

  Agatha dipped her head. “They are, but great power tends to trample laws underfoot. With David's mana reserve at their disposal, they could have used him to fuel mana condensers, creating an unending stream of mana pellets or crystals. They could also have outright used him as the core of a war machine. Worse, they could have used subjugation imbuements.”

  Niala tilted her head. “What's that? It sounds evil.”

  David turned his eyes back to his mother, curious himself, having never heard of such a thing.

  “It isn't evil by its nature. It is mostly used on mad or psychopathic weavers, who cannot otherwise be controlled. In its basic form, it allows someone with the right incantation to shut off someone's mana pathways. The advanced forms permit control. It is not perfect, but they could, if widely dispersed throughout your body, turn you into an unwilling puppet.”

  Niala gasped, while David narrowed his eyes and spoke.

  “Isn't my body completely filled with imbuements? Could more of them get jammed into me?”

  Agatha shook her head. “No, and that was deliberate.”

  David let the cryptic revelation float around in his mind. His eyes went wide when he understood.

  His mother confirmed his supposition with a nod. “We filled the book, so to speak. No more space to write.”

  David slumped back into the couch, not liking where this was going. “That can't be the only reason I was split open for weeks on end and filled with runes.”

  Sadness flew over Agatha's face as terrible memories were dredged up to the surface. She shook her head. “Of course not, David. You know your father. This was only one of the aspects he put on the scale. The way it swung would decide if he welcomed your newfound power, support your rise to power, or if he had to have you killed.”

  Stunned silence claimed the room.