Another day was coming to the end by the looks of it , he could see the changing tones of the sky go from the burnt crimsons and warm hues to the cooler and velvets colours that coated the sky and announced the arriving nightfall.

Reaching out his hand , the boy took a hold of the metal cup which held his beverage for the night as his eyes didn't stop looking at the pictures in front of him from the book he had opened on his lap.

Lifting the rim of the cup to his lips , he took a small sip of the drink , tonight instead of the usual water it was the white drink again , the one he liked more and had a nicer taste to it. But this time when he took his initial taste , his small features crinkled from the aftertaste that came after the milky sweetness , almost like there was a sourness hidden underneath which made his taste buds slightly turn in on themselves.

'It tastes a bit funny again…'

His features unfolded on themselves as the strange sensation subsided , his large eyes turned to inspect the contents of the cup , sloshing the liquid around to see if there was anything which shouldn't be , but to his surprise the milk looked like any other time he had received it.

Biting the inside of his cheek , he wondered if it was really okay to continue drinking it , as something tasted off but he couldn't exactly see anything for why he should tell one of the stone faced ladies about it. Last time he had done so , they told him he was yet again 'thankless' and making a fuss out of nothing as there wasn't anything they could see of concern.

Putting his attention away from his book momentarily , he brought the cup closer to his face again , allowing the tip of his nose to align against the rim as he took a small whiff of the liquid , trying to focus on if he could sense anything out of place. There was a slight underlying pungent tone he detected , but that was only after taking another deep inhale , but even then it was rather well hidden under the general sweet creaminess that existed.

Fingers tapped away on the cup as he decided if it was wise or not to make mention of this , his eyes switching between the cup and the page of the book he was open on before he felt himself jolt from the sudden sound of shouting erupting from somewhere in the house as he immediately lost focus on what was on his mind and felt his heart jump for a bit.

Taking a second to recollect himself , Jellal realised it was best not to take the attention of one of the stone faced ladies now , not when they were occupied. Besides they had told him , only to say something if he could see something that didn't look normal (such as chunks or a weird mush or colour) and since none of that was apparent , it would have probably caused them to get even more angry if they were to deal with him now.

And he didn't want to get in trouble.

Not when so much had been happening already throughout today.

It hadn't been as quiet this time…Screams kept erupting and ceasing both from his mother and the ladies that tended to her. The movement around the house was more apparent and urgent as he could hear a lot of things just going on as things were thrown about and everything just kept becoming scary.

Though it wouldn't happen endlessly , the few hours of peace he would think that would come after a cacophony of chaos had ended would be stolen yet again as some problem would emerge or someone's temper would have set things off and then it would all be loud and he'd just be wishing for it all to stop.

It had been like this not just for today either , but several days now. But he came to get used to such a dynamic , as some days the house would be exceedingly quiet , almost as if no one lived there , whilst others there would be days when it would seem there would be no end to the discord.

Though he disliked it , he came to know it was better to keep to himself and try to focus his mind elsewhere rather than contribute to the madness with his own disturbance and grievances as then it would pass quicker.

It was just like a storm really if he had to say , the house would work up with no warning , and there would be loudness and trauma that would swirl and sway until eventually the dead calm would settle as it all dissipates and all the destruction would be left to linger.

But the difference here being , he actually liked to watch the storms that would come and go in certain seasons , they were a spectacular view and change of scenery. The sounds were relaxing and even he'd say beautiful , whether that be the pitter patter of the rain falling onto the ground and hitting against the walls of the house , or the thunder that would rumble with the presence of nature's intensity as bolts of lightning would strike from the heavens.

Even though before he did find it rather scary when first witnessing such , he'd trade being in the midst of such compared to what he was witnessing now any day. There was nothing beautiful nor calming about what episodes would occur in these walls.

Rather every time it happened , he felt his heart would always stay on edge , just waiting for it all to quieten down and dreading everything to come from it , even though his mind had gotten used to the occurrences and tried to be in preparation for such.

So for the duration of while it was going forth , he knew he had to drown himself out from the chaos with something else to take his attention. And this time it was none other than one of the books that he so enjoyed reading.

Adjusting his legs to sit better on the ground with his back to the bed frame , one hand flipped through the pages of his book , neatly turning with each corner as he used his other to take a gulp of the milk that had to be finished as he brought his focus back onto the thing which had taken up his mind until he was momentarily distracted.

Though he had looked at the book more times than he could think to witness , it was at times like this he really tried to lose himself into it and oddly enough he could. With his ever inquisitive mind , there were a lot of things that took his attention and had him occupied just through the small details he'd pick up and the trains of thought he'd find himself lost in.

The book wasn't anything exceedingly eye-catching at first glance , it had a hardback cover and a lot of cursive words which filled both the pages and were present on the covering and a picture of what he came to know as the coat of arms of the nation. However that alone was a sight for sore eyes for someone who had spent the majority of his life gazing at blandness.

But that wasn't where his interest lied.

It was what was inside the covers that really got his mind entranced.

That which was inside of the book was one of either , filled with impressively detailed illustrations or big cursive words , some of them he understood and could read , some of them being a bit too difficult for his level of cognizance , but each time he opened the book he sought to unravel more that was in it and fill in the blanks that he existed in his mind given what he could take from it.

His fingers stroked against the page, flattening it down against the others he had yet to go through as his eyes marvelled at the colourful illustrations , though the tones were a bit muted he still could appreciate the beautiful artwork used. The colours which were once more vibrant had faded away to something more soft from the amount of times he had skimmed and touched the pages and would consistently come back to the book with days on end.

Because that's how much he liked it.

Compared to the other book he had which was kind of just abstract to his understanding and that was filled with a bunch of words he really could not understand , this book was a lot more to his taste and there was a lot he enjoyed about it.

One being the illustrations , they were something always tasteful to see no matter how many times he looked at them. Though admittedly some of them could be a bit distressing , and made him quite sad to look at with what was depicted in them , the story was what made up for the sorrow he felt , and not just that , but the main character of the story.

That was where his real interest lied.

The main character was a man , his name being something a bit too difficult for Jellal to read or even begin to pronounce , ironic as he could just about pronounce his own mouthful of a name , but that was fine as the man went with another moniker throughout most of the story which was easier to follow.

Which was actually the name of the book itself.

That name being ,

The Voice of Reason.

Why the man was given this name was because in a time of great distress and hardship , he would lift the spirits up of those whom he was captured with and would be kind to them and motivate them to remain strong and remind them of goodness despite the evilness which was apparent.

Evilness that had become apparent when their lands had been invaded by these beings called Wizards , and that had sought to cause nothing but destruction through their horrid ways. Through which they captured many people and put them through great grief , sadness and pain , and the main character was amongst those who had been subjected through such hardship.

And that's something that stood out to him greatly about this man.

Despite all the distress and misery he endured , he remained to keep smiling and acted as a strength to his people. The irony being that the man himself was someone who no one liked at the beginning because of him having some sort of past that he didn't understand yet , but even so he gained the favour of the people and they all started to like him after what he went to the lengths of doing for them.

And to be honest that man's story was something which strangely resonated with him in a way. Though of course he didn't understand the story in it's entirety and the man was a lot different to him in many ways , he thought the fact that after all the pain and trouble he received and all he lost , the fact he was eventually seen as a hero , it gave him hope about his own future.

Not being a hero or what not…

But that he would one day be seen with favour , respect , admiration if he remained just as kind and hopeful as the man.

One day…

A smile crossed his face as he skimmed through the pages of the book that he liked the most , going past the more grittier side of the story where the Wizards had conducted great evils amongst the people with their bad powers that were called Magic , to when the man had been successful in his strive to save his people from the clutches of the wretched after what seemed like endless torment and they celebrated his heroicness and bravery in saving them against great corruption.

How he had been able to do so was because the gods had witnessed his will to save his people and had given him the means needed to defeat the evil wizards and keep his people safe under the protection of the gods in the blessed land they soon found refuge in.

The Nation of Almeta.

Taking another gulp of his milk , he downed the last of the contents , wincing a bit at the slightly strange aftertaste before placing the cup down on the cold floor as he relished in the tale once again , delight filling his young heart as he felt a strong sense of admiration for the man who went through all of this just for the sake of people he wished the better for , even though at first they might not have wanted the same.

He was truly an inspiration and Jellal couldn't help but wish that one day he could be alike to such a man.

To help others from great adversity and be their strength in the time of need.

It was incredible!

Despite all the bad things that happened to him , both at the hands of the wizards and his own people , he gave them hope and courage to try and keep from succumbing to the wantings of the evil wizards and have faith that their freedom would come soon.

Freedom…

That was a word that came up many many times in the book , he recognised it instantly the moment he would lay his eyes on it. Though he didn't know exactly what it was , he deduced it must have been something extremely important to the people and the man as there was continuous mention of it and the people were all willing to do so much just to have it.

It was told in the book that the wizards had taken freedom away from the people , which he could tell already was a very bad thing. And because of that so many people had suffered unjustly , given pain upon pain and tormented for years on end until their prayers were finally answered in the form of the spirit of that man.

However something started to pick at the back of his mind from reading the tale once again. The hatred that the people had towards the evil wizards…It was similar to the hatred that was given to 'the devil' that was spoken about so much. Or might he have even said the hatred for 'the devil' possibly surpassed that as there was fear that existed in the hearts of those people in the book , he didn't feel the same regarding his father.

It was all pure , black hatred.

Hatred that couldn't be subdued nor wished to be extinguished. And because of that he couldn't help but wonder…Was it 'the devil' had been an evil wizard? It would make sense given how similar the dislike was between both beings , or if anything he could have been a worse evil wizard than those that were shown in the book!

Such a train of thought couldn't be left alone as Jellal found himself increasingly curious as if a connection could exist between his father and those evil beings in the book. Was it possible that his father had done something with the bad wizards? Was it possible his father hurt many people like the wizards had done?

Caused great destruction?

Havoc?

Pain?

Suffering?

Loss?

So many questions rambled on in his mind and he couldn't help but feel a little frustrated as he knew he wouldn't be given any definite answers any time soon, given how taboo of a subject anything regarding 'the devil' was.

But still he didn't stop wondering and wishing to uncover the truth.

But before he could go on with that train of thought , his attention was stolen away from the growing rigid knocks he heard against the wood of his door. His eyes blinked in surprise as he hadn't realised anyone was there until now. Closing the book and placing it to the side , he felt his heart beat a little faster as he hoped he hadn't left the stone faced lady waiting for too long due to his own mindlessness.

"Y-Yes?"

He called out in a soft voice , the sound almost sounding foreign to himself as he hadn't heard himself speak for so long whilst he heard the door being pulled ajar. Not too long after his response , he caught sight of one of the stone faced ladies looking down at him through the slit they peered through.

"Are you finished with your meal?"

The voice was monotone , from that he could tell she was the more quiet stone faced lady. Taking a moment to register the question , he looked back to the metal cutlery provided before giving a definite nod.

"Bring it over then."

And with that he did as told , collecting his tray and the cup that had once had been filled with his food for the evening , only crumbs remaining from the bread he managed to eat and a white film formed around the metal cup for where milk once resided. His feet felt rather strange from the sudden rush of moving after so long , though he knew he couldn't leave her waiting lest he wanted more trouble to erupt after having finally simmered down.

With concealed difficulty , he crawled to collect his tray before putting his emptied cup on alongside , pins and needles threatening to seize his movement , but with the impatience he could feel seething in the lady , he would just have to manage through so she didn't give him more distress.

"Iss she ready~?"

As he was in the midst of walking to the lady with items in hand , that offensive smell he knew soon wafted to his nose once again as his ears caught the sound of slurred speech from behind the lady in front of him whilst the sound of more footsteps approaching became apparent.

'They're back…'

As his body came to a still , his hearing focused on the sound of multiple people arriving , increasingly disturbed as it sounded like many people had come compared to the last 3 he had witnessed with the previous visit. This time it sounded like possibly 7-8 , though he couldn't know to be sure as more disorganised speech and foul smells poured through.

Though before he had to witness anymore , he felt that in his hands being snatched away from him with a sudden grip , the lady's eyes emotionless and unmoving as she left the room with a loud slam of the door , though not before uttering the final ordinance of the day in a droning voice.

"Go to sleep."

Her speech wasn't as harsh as the old stone faced lady , nor as demanding and scary as the stone faced lady with bandages on her hands , yet he knew what implications would wait for him if he failed to follow suit.

Turning his back on the closed door , he walked back to the structure of his bed with dread. Not because of the fact he didn't wish to sleep , but because of what he could hear beginning to happen now that it was all going under way.

It was all happening again.

The screams , the movements , the pain…

All of it was going to happen yet again…

But this time it was going to be due to them.

And that's when it was the worst.

Jumping into bed , he didn't even bother to throw the covers over him , his hand over his ears , diving his head into his pillow as he sought to block out all the horror that was soon to occur , and in doing so , hoping he would find himself in the midst of the dark yet quiet void that waited for him one way or another.