Chapter 15

Lian woke up abruptly with no explanation. He sat up slowly and looked around. The room was dark. His friends' snoring was the only thing he could hear. For the first time in weeks he felt a pit in his stomach. He was anxious, afraid- No, terrified. He snuck down stairs to get a look at the clock. It was three in the morning. In four more hours there would be breakfast. And then he would wander Ravnica with his friends the way he always had until lunch. And then they'd finish up the boots and run the final test after lunch. Chill in the room until dinner. And then after that they'd watch a movie and go to bed. And the next day they'd start a new project and the cycle would repeat itself.

He just had to make it to breakfast. Because there were enough distractions in the day that he'd be able to make it through until the feeling left. He made his way silently back up to the room and sat down on his bed. He didn't even attempt to fall back to sleep.

He turned on the single lamp, moved to the closet and pulled out the bin of supplies he stored in the closet out into the middle of the room. He sat cross-legged on the floor and dumped the bin out. He went through and organized all of his supplies in a grid. He counted each and every little bit. Once the entire catalog on his phone had been updated he pulled Spell Breaker out of his pocket. It was about the size of his phone. But it occurred to him that he could probably make it smaller. Small enough he could close his whole hand over it. Then he'd be able to use it without anyone knowing what he had done.

He took it apart. It's design was simple. It was the symbols etched into a small indentation on either side of the device that gave it it's power. A complicated and powerful generalized counter spell. He added a collection of symbols he had developed on his own that allowed it to weaken what it couldn't counter.

"At that point I would be able to take whatever happened to come my way," Lian mumbled to himself, "Because it wouldn't be strong enough to annihilate whatever came into it's path anymore."

Lian let the project he had assigned himself consume every thought and action. He pretended the pit in his stomach didn't exist. After living with it for four hundred and eighty three thousand years he was more than able to ignore it. It was easy as long as he had something to do.

"Lian?"

Lian jumped and whipped his head around. He held his breath without realizing it and his chest was tight. Every muscle in his body was tense, ready for action at any moment. He relaxed a little bit when he realized it was just Jexus, groggily standing behind him.

Lian forced a bright smile onto his face, "Hey."

"You aren't usually up this early," Jexus yawned. He patted his cheeks gently in an attempt to wake himself up.

Lian shrugged, "I woke up and couldn't get back to sleep." He cocked his head to the side, "Are you usually up this early? There's still some time before breakfast."

Jexus nodded, "I usually get up early to get Zven up. And then we get you up, which can take anywhere from five seconds to twenty five minutes."

Lian laughed nervously, "Sorry."

Jexus shook his head, "You're fine. Sammy is, to date, the most difficult person to get up in this mansion. He will not get up until he wants to, no matter how hard anybody tries to get him up before then." He smirked a little bit, "It's quite the amusing sight to behold."

Lian chuckled. He held up the mostly completed new design for Spell Breaker, "Look. It's smaller now." He closed his hand over it, "It can fit into the palm of my hand. Now I can use it without anyone seeing it."

Jexus nodded, "And...other people not seeing it is important?"

Lian nodded, "It is. It's better to keep things like this a secret. That way it's an advantage against anyone who would hurt you."

Jexus studied Lian worriedly, not for the first time, but nodded slowly, "Makes sense." After a moment he made his way to the door, "Wanna check the time with me? It shouldn't be too long before breakfast."

Lian glanced from him to Spell Breaker and back again. He chewed his lower lip but nodded, "Sure." He followed Jexus down the stairs.

Shanniah was already up, helping the adults make breakfast, but everyone else was still in bed.

"Lian. You're not usually up this early," Shanniah commented in surprise.

Lian shrugged, "Woke up. Couldn't get back to sleep." He watched his feet as he tapped at the ground with his left toe. He picked nervously at his fingers.

Shanniah nodded. She shot a concerned glance towards Jexus.

He just shrugged.

Shanniah sighed, "Well, breakfast will be ready in a bit. I gotta get Hailey up."

"I'll get Zven," Jexus nodded.

Lian followed Jexus back up the stairs. He sat down back in front of his supplies and continued to work on Spell Breaker. He was almost done. And now that it was small enough to close his whole hand over he'd be able to use it any time. Anywhere. No one would know. Not even his father.

He stopped abruptly. He stared at the supplies in front of him, his gaze blank and empty. Slowly he got to his feet and took a couple steps backwards. Last time he'd done this it had all been destroyed. He'd done everything to hide it away and it hadn't worked.

"Lian," Jexus said worriedly. He was leaning over Zven's bed, shaking his brother awake.

Lian jumped and turned around sharply. He relaxed a moment later, "Yeah?" He clasped his hands behind his back.

Jexus straightened and walked closer to Lian, "Are you alright?"

Lian nodded, "Yeah! I'm fine. Just..." He glanced back at his supplies, "Frustrated." He turned back to Jexus, but kept his hands clasped behind his back, "I'm almost done. And it's-it's not working out."

Jexus didn't look like he believed him.

Lian forced himself to brighten up, "I'll figure it out over breakfast. Don't worry!"

Jexus studied him for an uncomfortably long time before nodding, "Ask for help if you need it, okay? We're your friends. It's what we're here for."

Lian nodded, "Yep." He sat on his bed and waited for Zven to get up silently. His mind raced. Spell Breaker was almost done. Almost small enough to fit in the palm of his hand. But when his father found it, all his hard work would be lost. Forever. He'd never get Spell Breaker back. "Unless," Lian muttered, "Spell Breaker stayed here."

"What?" Jexus asked.

Lian jumped. He shook his head, "Nothing. Nothing. I'm talking to myself. Sorry."

Jexus nodded.

A couple minutes later Zven finally got up and the three of them went downstairs. They were the first three at the table, instead of the usual last three. Lian tapped his feet on the ground in no particular rhythm while they waited for the others.

The group was oddly quiet at breakfast.

"Before we begin today's adventure, I gotta talk to Vala about something," Shanniah said. She walked backwards for a bit, "I'll be right back." She turned around and jogged into the kitchen.

Lian cocked his head to the side, "What does she need to talk to Vala about?"

Hailey shrugged, "No idea."

"It's probably not that important, Dude," Sammy said, "Shanniah would've told us what she was talking about if it was."

Lian nodded, "Okay."

"Vala," Shanniah said nervously.

"What's up, Kid?" Vala asked. She noticed the worry on Shanniah's face and was instantly serious, "What's going on?"

"Well," Shanniah took a deep breath, "It's Lian. He said he woke up and couldn't get back to sleep last night. Jexus said that he was talking to himself again, which he hasn't done since his first week here."

Vala nodded, "And you're worried."

Shanniah nodded, "I am." She sighed, "I realize it could just be nothing but..."

Vala patted her head gently, "Don't worry. Better to notice and have it be nothing than not notice and have it turn out to be everything."

Shanniah nodded, "Yes, Ma'am."

Vala shooed her away, "Off you go. You have an adventure to get on with. I'll talk to Lian when you guys get back."

Shanniah nodded again. She jogged back to her friends.

Lian was the first to notice Shanniah coming back.

She noticed that his eyes were wary again. Not when he looked at any of them specifically, but when he looked around, he appeared to scan for something. And it didn't seem like he missed a single detail. Now she was convinced that something was wrong. But he obviously didn't want to talk about it. So she wouldn't press.

Lian followed his friends silently around Ravnica. He had his hands shoved deep into the pockets of his hoodie. He scanned every single face around them, making sure he didn't recognize them. And more importantly that they didn't recognize him. He was on edge and he still didn't know why. He didn't like feeling like this and it upset him that for his entire life up until the past twelve weeks or so this feeling had been normal. So normal that he hadn't even noticed how uncomfortable it was before now.

"Lian."

Lian jumped and lifted his head. He hadn't even realized he'd been looking at the ground. He'd been too lost in his own head. "Y-Yeah?"

Hailey put her hand on his shoulder and studied him. She was very worried. It was written all over every part of her face. Every move she made. It was in the way her eyes scanned his face.

Lian looked away from her, to the ground, "Sorry."

"You don't need to apologize," Hailey insisted, "I'm just worried. Are you alright?"

Lian nodded, "I'm fine. I'm just...tired. I guess."

None of his friends believed him. They were all worried. But he didn't look at any of them. He glanced around instead. He studied the faces of the people around them. His friends didn't seem bothered by the crowd. He usually wasn't either. Today it felt like he was being crushed by it.

Lian stiffened suddenly. His gaze became fixed on a single point in the crowd around them.

Jexus tried to follow his gaze but didn't see anything. Just a sea of people. They all went about their normal day to day business.

"I have to go back to the mansion," Lian whispered urgently. His voice was nearly inaudible.

"Do you want us to go with you?" Shanniah asked gently.

Lian shook his head, "I can make it back on my own." He grabbed Hailey's wrist and gently guided her hand back to her side. He turned and silently, swiftly disappeared into the crowd.

His friends all looked at each other in confusion.

A moment later a young man with intense blue eyes and chocolate brown hair walked up to them. He was followed by a younger brunette woman with eyes that sparkled like they were made from literal gold.

Shanniah stepped forward when the two stopped in front of them, "Do you need something?"

"We're looking for our little brother," the man said curtly.

"He's shorter than us, has black hair, grey eyes," the woman sounded much kinder.

"I doubt he'd have introduced himself to anyone, but his name is Arkos'mii'lian," the man added.

Shanniah looked back at her friends.

They all shook their heads.

She shook her head, "Sorry. We don't know anyone by that name."

The man's eyes narrowed.

The woman touched his shoulder, "Daria. They're telling the truth."

He glanced at her and relaxed slightly. He nodded to them and silently strode past them.

The woman smiled in a friendly manner, "Forgive my brother. He's...tense. Have a good day." She followed her brother.

Shanniah looked at her friends fearfully.

"Is that...what's wrong with Lian?" Hailey asked.

Shanniah nodded and whispered, "I think so."