Author's Note: I just wanted to thank everyone that's interested in this story, the people, liking and following it, and reviewing it, but mainly, actually reading it... I hope I'll be able to keep up...


Seth was feeling quite nervous as he was approaching his house. He had no idea of what to expect from here on. What his family would say and the consequences. He really didn't want to think about the consequences. But those fears just lay heavily on his shoulders, and had turned his insides into a cluster of nervous knots.

He paused at the door, hesitating. Afraid of what the reaction would be on the other side. He forced himself to turn that handle, and just take on whatever was in store for him.

"I'm home…" he said as he peeked inside and walked in. The house was quiet. That made him feel even more uneasy, and another knot was added to his stomach.

"Hello?"

"In here, honey", he heard his mother from the living room. He felt relieved that someone was home, but even more nervous again. How that was even possible.

He stepped into the living room, finding his mother and father, accompanied by his aunt. It was a very tense atmosphere, thick like the autumn fog.

Seth didn't like the feeling of it. He just got the feeling that…

They knew.

"I…" he started, without even knowing what to say beyond that.

"An academic was here", his father said in a serious but still concerned tone. It was like he hadn't heard Seth's try to say something.

Even though Seth had decided that he already knew that they knew, the statement came as a shock for him. Had they already been here?

"They told us they have picked up some unapproved Magic from you", his father continued. "Is that true?"

The academy really knew immediately when someone unapproved used their Runes. It both just confirmed his thoughts as well as scared him. Just the thought of them knowing immediately and then taking actions just as fast. Even though Seth wasn't home to have been able to know about it himself. Maybe they just picked up the signals, not the whereabouts.

"Yes…" Seth replied to his father's question, dropping his sight to his feet just as he dropped the thoughts of the academy knowing.

His father got a face that said that he had feared that was the case, his mother and aunt more in shock.

"How could you do that? How could you do something so irresponsible?" his aunt said hastily, obviously not impressed one bit with Seth.

"Leedia…" his father interrupted his sister, before looking towards Seth again. "Seth… what happened? Why did you use your Magic?"

Seth tried to explain but it was easier said than done when he had a hot-headed aunt in the room.

"It's not like I intentionally used it, I was attacked by a dust snail and I had to defend myself."

"There are Hunters for that", his mother said.

"You shouldn't have tried to engage it", his aunt followed up.

"It attacked me, I didn't do anything, I defended myself! I didn't have a choice, if I didn't, I maybe shouldn't even have been here right now…"

"For whatever reason, you're still risking to be sealed because of it", his aunt said. She sounded disappointed.

Seth was stunned by that statement, even though he was painfully aware of that threat.

"I… I didn't have a choice…" he repeated.

He didn't need to be reminded. As with the stuff around Orton, another hot topic for his aunt; being all on about Seth being disrespectful to his Master and all that.

The room went silent as the grave for a moment, just leaving Seth alone with his thoughts and worries.

"Am… am I really going to be sealed…?" he said then with a tiny voice. "What will happen now?" He really grasped for any straw of support from his family.

"You will be summoned to the academy and they will question you. And they will take a statement from the person that sensed your activity and your Rune Master", his father said. "But as far as your sealing… I don't know."

Seth felt it like a smack in the face. Wouldn't his father say everything was going to be alright? Even if he wasn't sure? Wouldn't he at least make it sound like everything was going to be fine…?

"We have never been in this situation. I don't know your chances. They said that there weren't any witnesses and with only your statement…" his father just let his sentence trail off.

As if that made Seth any bit calmer. He wanted to cry that there had been two Hunters there. Dean and Roman had been there, they could be his witnesses. But his emotions was so muddled, he couldn't bring his voice to say anything about it.

"… why are you being so mean…?" his emotions just said instead. He felt abandoned by his family. Betrayed even. "Why are you being like this…?" His voice was barely louder than a whisper.

"Seth… we're just worried about you", his mother said.

"Why aren't you supportive…? I already know the risks and threats over me… why aren't you on my side…?"

"We are on your side-"

"Like hell you are!" Seth snapped. "I'm risking being sealed and you just agree with that!? All I can think about is my sealing! I'm certain I'm gonna be sealed, and you're more or less just confirming it! It doesn't help!"

"We just don't know, honey. We don't want to give you any false hopes."

"False hopes?" Where they kidding? "That's better than nothing at all! You behave as it's already been decided!"

"Calm down, son", his father said firmly.

Seth just stared at him, clenching his teeth hard as he breathed through his nose to try to calm himself.

"I'm sorry. It's just…" his father continued. "When the academics were here… they take these things very seriously. They knew you had used your unapproved Magic, but they didn't know your whereabouts. They just knew you weren't with your Master when you had used them, you weren't in the area at all."

"I was out in the freaking forest, being under monster attack…!" Seth growled.

"I know, son. But they hear these stories every time they get these unapproved signals. It's often used as an excuse, and they don't take that lightly."

"But I'm telling the truth!"

"I know, Seth. I'm just voicing the concerns of the academy. We have to be realistic about this."

Seth just couldn't believe this, the more he heard the more frustrated he got. He could never have imagined this was the reaction from his family. From the moment he stepped into that living room, they had not said one supportive word to him. What was wrong with them? They were so negative… he had always thought they were sensible and realistic, but it couldn't be anything realistic about this, it was definitely just negative. Had they really so little faith in him? Had they given up on him?

"As if you care…!" he just shouted, leaving them in the living room and fled into his sanctuary.

He locked the door and sat down on the floor, sitting with his back against the bed and hugging his knees.

He felt like he was the loneliest boy in the world. All alone in facing this… what if they weren't going to listen to him? What if they were right…? The academy probably had heard it all before… people abusing this monster issue lifeline, so what if they had really becoming even more strict? Should he have let Roman help him…? If he needed witnesses, he had two of them. Well, if he could count on Dean considering how he seemed to feel about him. But he still was there. Should he try to get in touch with them? But what if they had already gone out for another mission? They seemed busy enough…

He cursed himself over and over for turning Roman's kind offer down. If he just would have thought it through a little more, about the witnesses part… He wasn't sure if it was going to help at all, but that was the only he could think of at this moment.

Should he go out? Try to find them? But what if they came here from the academy, for the summoning? Maybe he would get him even more trouble if he wasn't around. He hadn't been around the first time so…

He wouldn't run. That would only spoil every little chance of saving his Runes. They would still be able to track him if he used his Magic. He wanted to be able to use his Magic… but doing it like that… it was just over.

What should he do…?


Seth hadn't realized he had crawled onto his bed and fallen asleep when he was woken up by a knock on the door.

He still didn't want to talk to anyone so he just ignored it and rolled over, having his back to the door.

"Seth… honey?" It was his mother. "There's someone here to see you."

"I don't want to talk to anyone", he replied, hiding his head under the pillow. It couldn't be people from the academy, his mother would not have said 'someone' then.

"There are two men here. They say they are from the Guild."

Two men… The Guild…? The Hunters Guild? What on earth did they want with him? Was it… could it be… Dean and Roman…? Those were the only ones he knew from the Guild. How'd they found out where he lived? Had they tracked him down…? His mind started to race, already thanking Roman for going against his wishes.

With some renewed hope, he quickly rolled out of bed and went for the door.

"The Guild…?" he said as faced his mother. She nodded.

"Yes. They wanted to speak with you. They didn't tell me about what though, just that they wanted to talk to you."

Seth's heart beat faster and faster as he went down to the front door. But that changed into some kind of disappointment as he saw the men at the door. They were short, one with some hair, and one without. They didn't look like Hunters at all.

Maybe he was just really grasping at straws…

"Are you Mr Seth Rollins?" the one with some hair said. His voice was kind of squeaky.

"I am…" Seth said hesitantly, trying to figure out this new situation. If it wasn't Dean and Roman… what did the Guild want?

"I'm Jamie Noble and this is Joey Mercury", the small guy continued, introducing them. Seth gave them a nod each.

"You are being summoned by Mr Helmsley. We're here to escort you there."

"Mr Helmsley?" Seth repeated. He didn't know if the knew that name.

"He wants to speak with you", Noble nodded.

"Is it about the unapproved Magic?" his mother said. She had followed Seth and was now standing in the hallway. "I thought it was handled by the academy?"

"I can't speak of that. Mr Helmsley wants a word with young Mr Rollins and that, as soon as possible."

"Is it really okay for the Guild to be taking an unapproved matter into their hands?" his father said. Seth didn't even know he was there. But he sounded suspicious.

"I'm just the messenger", squeaky-voice said. "If you don't mind, we'll escort Mr Rollins."

Seth had no idea what was going on. He guessed that this Mr Helmsley was some big shot in the Guild so he figured it was best to follow.

Noble and Mercury led him in silence through Authority towards the Guild. He had never been there before. He had probably walked past it several times but that's it.

The building that housed the Guild was very big. Probably a two story building and quite wide. The build was simple, just a stone building with nothing fancy stuff going on.

He was lead through a couple of great oaken doors, revealing a big courtyard. There were several big looking guys, some sparring, some just hanging around, cleaning equipment or just taking it easy.

He found himself scanning the area, looking for Dean and Roman. He wasn't sure why, maybe he just wanted to see some familiar faces in this time of uncertainty.

They didn't seem to be there though. And no one else seemed to care about his presence. Maybe that was a good thing?

They crossed the yard and Mercury opened another set of doors, leading through a corridor and a couple of stairs. After the stairs was a new corridor with some doors on each side. But Seth was led to the end of the hall, to a plain modest door.

Noble knocked on the door, waiting for a reply.

"Enter", he heard a male voice on the other side.

Squeaky-voice opened the door. "Mr Rollins, sir", he said, peeking in.

"Good, send him in."

Seth's nervousness started to make an appearance again. He wasn't prepared for something like this at all. And now he was showed in to some office of the Guild.

When Seth was inside, Noble and Mercury closed the door behind him, leaving him alone with the man on the other side of the desk.

He looked around the room. It was as modest as the door had implied. Some bookshelves filled with thick books, the desk and a couple of chairs. Large windows let the sunlight in, and around the room were simple metal candle holders strategically placed.

"Don't just stand there, come, sit down", the man said. He was writing something in a book and hadn't even taken his eyes from it to look at him.

Seth got closer to the desk, fearing his heartbeat would echo as much as his footsteps.

"So…" the man said as Seth got up to the desk at a reasonable distance. He gave the mage a look from top to as much as he could see from his side of the table.

"You're Seth Rollins?" he made a gesture for Seth to sit, but he preferred being left standing.

The young one just nodded, looking at the man. He was middle-aged, short-haired and had a quite distinct nose.

"Yes, sir", he added politely.

"I'm Hunter Hearst Helmsley. I am the founder and head of this Hunters Guild."

"Pleased to meet you Mr Helmsley", Seth actually made a bow.

"We've been informed you've used unapproved Magic", Mr Helmsley went straight to the point.

"Yes…" Seth said, not understanding the Guild's business about it.

"The academy is going to question you about it. But I hear you used it in battle?"

"In defence yes, sir."

"And you're a Healer I see."

Seth nodded.

"You want to tell me about the fight?"

Seth was surprised he was so interested in that but then again, he was the boss of the Guild; battles were their business.

He told him as much as he could about the fight, answering his questions as well as he could. Mr Helmsley seemed to be taking notes as Seth told him his story. He also mentioned Dean and Roman, even though he didn't know how interested Mr Helmsley was in that part, because he didn't commented anything about them. But they were the Guild's guys so Seth figured he could give them some credit for being the protectors they were supposed to be.

"Wind Rune Bearer with Healing ability. And you can use both offence and defence with your Magic?"

"That's correct, sir."

Mr Helmsley made some more scribbling and looking through some other book for notes, as he was thinking. "I'm going to be straight with you. You seem to have potential", he finally said. "I know you're not that experienced in actual battle but from what I've heard, you know what you're doing. And you possess Healing Magic, something that's very useful on the battlefield. The academy doesn't take this unapproved Magic lightly, not even at times like these.
I'm willing to speak to the academy for you, having them give you your Trial, instead of the sealing. If you fail, they're going to seal you anyway, but if you pass then I expect you to join our ranks."

Seth's jaw dropped. Just now, his whole situation made a complete flip. He almost had to pinch himself to make sure he wasn't dreaming. "I don't know what to say." He was going to be a Hunter? He was offered a spot here, in the Guild? Just like that. He couldn't believe it.

"I… I would become a Hunter?" he managed out.

"I'll be willing to take my chances on you. You're a rare mage. And I won't let his chance pass", he made a pause. "If you're willing to become one that is."

"Yes…! I would very much like that. I mean, I've been wanting to become a Hunter, but I have never managed that due to my build and then I got my Runes and a new door opened. But then I got this threat over me and I was like super scared I wouldn't be even able to make it through my Trial, being sealed beforehand. And now you're offering me this", Seth just rambled on, his mouth just letting everything out without thinking. He finally got himself to stop though, looking at Mr Helmsley, feeling quite embarrassed by his behaviour. "I'm sorry… but really, just… thank you, sir!"

"Just glad to see that enthusiasm. You're special, kid", he had a lopsided smirk on his lips before becoming more serious again. "Just don't fail."

"I won't. I promise."