"SPLOOOOsh? HEY! That's not fair, you are cheating!" The angry girlish voice did not prevent the boy with red hair to smirk, neither did it prevent him from moving his hand and what was right above him. Seeing the huge drop of water moving dangerously close to her, the little girl began to step back and prepared to flee. Even if it was a bit too late at this point.

"Kaboom." Dropping this word as well as the water, Ronald could see the pitiful state of the grandaughter of Lord Darkwater. She was completely drenched, and he could see tears starting to leak from her eyes. Only remembering now that she was nearly half of his age, he could see her shivering in cold. Beginning to worry for her health, he approached her and began to cast a small flame to warm her.

"KABOOOM! HIHIHI! I got a Hero, I got a Hero!" Caught by surprise, the apprentice magician couldn't be anything but stunned by the sudden attack. Starring at both the small cup now empty in her hands and her wide smile, he felt depressed all of a sudden. Even after becoming a Hero, he still wasn't able to even beat a tiny little girl. Of course, with her loud laughter resonating in the entire manor, it didn't take long for a few spectators to gather.

"Is it the fourth time this week or did I miscalculate?"

"No, you are right." The two Rodil siblings did not care about the feelings of the one that could easily listen to them. For some reasons, they only suffered this fate once since the war against the Dark Gods had ended. As for the two other residents of this place, they were spared of the threat of being wet. If the sneaky mouse still behaved normally in front of Istuienn, she seemed a bit scared of Leodagan Arastil.

Recently, even Joren and Owen felt that he had changed, for something worst. They could sometimes hear him weep as silently as he could in his room, or even belittle the fact that it was Ronald that had become a Hero. This last point was exacerbated when they could see the one that was dead last compared to all of them easily catching up now. The qualitative changes both in the mind and the body of the young Hero were too important.

Receiving the aggravated stare of Ronald, the two reckoned that maybe they should have talked a bit farther away. Seeing him standing up properly and beginning to move his hands, they quickly figured out what would happen then. "He will not ..."

"Yes, he will, sister. [Fire Shield]"

"[Fire Shield]"

The second after they cast that protective shield, they received two streams of water directly on them. After the vapor dissipated, however, it seemed the two were completely dry. Under the mocking smile of Joren, the Hero could only leave with a low grunt of disappointment. "You shouldn't make an enemy out of him like that. In the future, even if we are prepared, we wouldn't be able to beat him."

"I know, I know. Don't you worry Owen, it's not like we will fight each other. And we are still young, remember what grandpa said, live happily your childhood, because you only have one. It's you that should have a bit more fun. Especially now." Her voice became softer in the end, dragging a bit after remembering all that happened. The day before, Lord Darkwater and his army had come back, bringing the news of their relative victory.

However, their second grandfather, Arthar had been heavily injured by an unknown evil, the same that was plaguing the Archmage. In the following days, they would probably return to the Academy and leave that cunning and malicious little devil, that was probably the only one enjoying life. If she hadn't been there, Joren would have never realized how dark her days had become after the departure of Leilade.

"Kaboom. Hehe." Puzzled by the small murmur of her brother, she lifted her head just quick enough to see the small drop of water falling down on her. Barely enough to evenly spread on all her nose, it was enough to steal a small smile from Owen. Smiling back, the two siblings became to laugh even more and left the room, to head toward the outside.

SPLASH

Activating the second trap prepared while they were talking, the young apprentice mage could see surprise and anger on the face of his sister, as he began to laugh even more. "YOU LITTLE MOUSE, RUN BEFORE I CATCH YOU!" The shout of fury was audible even in the place where the one that was targeted was hiding. Chuckling a bit, she suddenly stopped when she felt the presence of someone else besides her. Turning her head, she got a glimpse of a foot moving right in front of her.

"You can come out you know. I won't eat you." The cold voice brought her back to the moment where Remi dropped her here. As doted as she was, she still understood that whatever was asked to her was always important and knew how to behave when it was time. And that was what she told to, to behave when near two people. Anything else was allowed, especially creating a lot of funs for those children.

"Of course, Leodagan" Patting away the dust that was stuck on her cute little dress, she looked like she was ready to flee at any moment. Being under such lifeless eyes, it always made her feel very weird. And it was different compared to the despaired eyes of Istuienn. If the latter sometimes had the small light of life sparkling in her gaze, that light was completely extinguished for Leodagan.

"Don't worry, they will never find you here. The last place they would check would be where the one you tried to avoid as much as possible is. You just had back luck with me walking less time than usual." It had already been weeks that they were inside Ronta, and in that time, some habits had been formed. Like that, he often walked in the morning, most of the time for an hour or two. Besides that small moment in the outside, he rarely stepped outside of his room.

"But since you are here, I could use some help, from someone that won't judge me. And quite frankly, you may be the only one I can ask this without getting additional weird stares." Calling her with his hand, he brought her to his desk. During the entire time, she never detached her eyes from him, feeling far more threatened at such a close distance. The more she approached what was displayed on the wooden table, the more she remembered that feeling of unease.

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It fell on her that all this time, it was the same sensation she had a few months ago. In the middle of the night, she was awakened by a loud noise, and of course, as curious a she was she stood up and investigate. Only to see someone she had never seen in front of her grandfather, bound to a chair and another one that was sleeping behind the couch. She said sleeping because he was not moving and she could only see his feet horizontally on the ground.

However, as discreet as she was, it was still late and she was half sleeping. The man that was restrained by ropes looked at her with that thing in his eyes she would never forget. At the same time, she noticed something right in front of her, a shadow in the darkness. Right before she passed out, she sensed that something, but the next day, Remi acted as nothing happened. When she questioned him, all he said that she was too young yet to interact with people like that shadow.

Of course, her reaction did not escape Leodagan, who noticed that she was not moving at all after getting closer to the desk. On it, was a few pieces of paper, filled with perfect writing. It was the test of that old hag, Ella Romba, which had been produced by Leilade. After the attack, everything she had touched had been examined, only to not find anything useful. And while he could not get everything he asked, Sarah Meridil accepted to at least give him that and a few minor things.

However, the only thing he mistook was the reason for the apparent fear of the young child. It was not that she was scared of the paper or anything else, but it was the entire atmosphere of the room. The place where he was spending most of his time, where he wrecked his brain and began to lose a bit of his sanity in the process. At this point, he could easily recite all the answers LEilade gave just by memory. "You see, this was written by one of the Dark Gods. I just want to know what you think of it, that's it."

Even if he was trying to be as caring as possible, his voice void of any emotions did not make it easier. Even worst, because she was not approaching anymore, he began to grab her arm and push her forward. If at first, she was not resisting very hard, the more she felt unsettled, the more she fought back. But she was younger than him, and Leodagan was already stronger than most kids of his age.

"Get off me, I don't wanna do it." Half pleading half fighting like a thug, she was as slippery as an eel. But the obsession of Leodagan did not let him see what was happening in reality, and he did not stop at all. Only after she began to cry a bit too loud did someone began to knock on his door. "Leodagan, it's Joren, is everything fine?"

"OF COURSE EVERYTHING IS FINE! WHY WOULDN'T IT?" Not expecting him to lash at her like that for no reason, the girl stepped back. However, her brother did not wait any longer before opening the door and witness the ongoing fight. The moment the apprentice magician saw the crazed face of his friend, he knew that the two of them had failed him. They should have never let him alone.

"Let her go. It's over." Slowly getting in the position that was taught at the Academy, Owen still hoped he would not have to do that. But contrarily to his hope, instead of stopping after noticing his stance, his friend only let go of the little girl to also get ready. "Now you want to fight me? Here I am, all for you!"

"Leodagan, STOP! Please, please, just stop." Joren rushed toward him and even grabbed his leg, trying to stop him at all cost. Perhaps the distress in her voice finally reached his mind, but he suddenly began to clear the dark thoughts in his head. Realizing only know that he could have attacked the ones that had shared his life for as long as he could remember, he shuddered and grabbed his head in his hands.

"AHHHHHHHHHHH! [FIRE]!" Slamming his fists on the desk, he invoked a huge fire, burning everything on it, including the papers of Leilade and everything else. Behind him, the two Rodil siblings extinguished all the flames that were trying to burn the ceiling and the ground. In less than a minute, a depressed boy was kneeling in front of a pile of ashes, crying all the tears he had in his body. At this moment, Owen put his hand on the shoulder of his sister and tried to pull her out to let him have a moment alone. Only to be pushed back by her.

"It was you that convinced me to let him be alone to deal with that. Look at him now, you want him to be even sadder?" Brushing past the scared mouse that was trying her best to appear as small as possible, Joren began to hug Leodagan. A few moments later, they were joined by another one. Seeing the three apprentice mages like that, the last human present in this room began to feel the darkness disappearing in the air. By now, she could approach them without feeling any worry. Grabbing her last gift out of her previous hiding spot, she aimed and shot before running away at full speed.

The water splashed the three kids,making the girl remembering how mad she was previously. Ditching the two boys, she immediately started a pursuit, not wanting to back down at this point. "Sploosh." Hearing Owen saying the now familiar word, the boy in tear looked at him and his smile. Feeling warmth for the first time in a while, he could taste the salt in his throat as the corners of his mouth were lifting. "Kaboom."