Aaravos's declaration that Callum was going to be everyone else's teacher didn't go over well. Especially with Callum.

"What?!" Callum whirled around, waving his arms. "I didn't agree to that!"

Viren grimaced. "I'm not sure what Callum could teach Claudia or me anyway. We use different kinds of magic."

Aaravos raised his eyebrows. "Lately, you use no magic at all, Viren. You've left your old passion for dark magic. Now's the time to see if you too can learn an arcanum."

Claudia laughed. "Wait, did you actually forget humans can't use primal magic?"

Aaravos shook his head. "No. It would take change. New mindsets. Determination. But the fate of your entire people lies on Callum's ability to pass on his skills to others." He turned to Callum, excited rather than apologetic. "I understand your history with them, but if you can teach Claudia and Viren, you could teach anyone."

He looked so hopeful, as though Aaravos had found the solution to all of their problems. Callum glared at him, striding up to him and this time, able to shout at him directly, in the flesh. "This was your big plan? You teach me magic while I have to be with these two?! Forget it. Ez will let me go back home no problem."

"I do not intend to keep you here against your will, Callum," Aaravos insisted. "But you don't seem to realize our situation." Aaravos extended his hand, his silver staff flying into his outstretched palm from where Claudia had set it aside. He tossed it over to Viren-

-who shied back as though it would burn him, letting the staff clatter to the floor.

Aaravos's mouth twitched upwards with knowing satisfaction. "Yes, I noticed how even after Claudia recovered the staff, you didn't touch it until I influenced you."

"Yet another reason I'm leaving after you fulfill your promise." Viren folded his arms.

Aaravos hesitated. "Viren… I was desperate to break free and to ensure your survival to see it done no matter the method. For influencing you, for drawing you back into dark magic use to escape from Umber Tor, I'm sorry."

There was a pause, as though the air itself was startled. "Are you?" Viren was defiant even in the face of vulnerability.

"I cannot lie, and as such I rarely discuss my feelings." Aaravos's detached demeanor broke, frowning. "When I say I'm sorry, and such days ought to be marked as holidays, I mean it."

Callum had witnessed several emotional outbursts from Aaravos and he wondered if they'd been carefully staged or if he was truly so close to him that Aaravos had let himself be genuine in those moments. After their minds had touched, Callum was willing to bet the surface calm on Aaravos's demeanor was as thin and fragile as a puddle.

"So… what are we doing?" asked Claudia. "What was all that you said about how humans have been treated horribly by Xadia? What was all that about how we have a right to our homeland, how we were punished severely just for trying to survive?" Her voice was pitched high with desperation, tears in her eyes. "Are you giving up on us?"

Aaravos bowed his head. "All true, but there are other ways to go about dealing with it than war. As a friend to humanity, I will never give up on you." He turned to Callum. "You two used to be friends, right?"

Claudia and Callum made identical disgusted faces at each other.

Viren scoffed. "They'd been close enough to be called friends. Harrow and I had raised our children together."

Callum could withstand a lot, but Harrow's name didn't belong on Viren's lips no matter how long they'd known each other. "You betrayed my father. Don't talk about him like that."

Taken aback, Viren stared at Callum. "Hate me all you'd like, but we were as close as you and Ezran."

"Yeah, Ezran who you overthrew and tried to murder."

"Did you two get your portraits together? The king and the High Mage, brother and brother? That had been us, and we were close."

"You forfeited it when you did what you did!"

Viren flinched, as if Callum had struck him. He expected more of a fight, a shouting match, something to break their fragile group apart so he'd be free, but Viren deflated, sighing. "Perhaps you're right."

Aaravos raised his hand. "Ah, Viren, while we are all getting the unpleasantries out, there is a minor condition regarding the spell to restore your lifespan."

All eyes turned to Aaravos.

Viren's face went from deathly pale to livid, stepping over the staff to have his own go at yelling at Aaravos. "Don't you dare pull anything after all we went through!"

"Oh my. You know how much I love to hear you make threats, Viren." Aaravos pretended to fan himself off. "But it's important, and doesn't require any components or extra hassles that stops us from restoring your life this very night."

"What condition could there possibly be!?"

Aaravos leaned in close to Viren and whispered a few sentences in his ear. No matter how hard Callum strained, he couldn't hear it.

When Aaravos pulled back, Viren's wrath had dissipated to be replaced by bafflement. He opened his mouth to respond and paused again, a confused gasp the only sound he could make. Viren slowly angled his head, pensive. "You… don't."

Claudia looked between the two of them. "Don't what?"

Both Aaravos and Viren ignored her. Aaravos's gaze didn't leave Viren, voice soft but emphatic. "I want to."

Viren had no reply, wandering away, lost in thought. Claudia spoke up again. "What is it?! What's wrong?"

Aaravos put a hand on her shoulder. He lingered for a moment, as if processing the actual touch of another person against his hand was close to getting him overwhelmed. "It's our business. I can still perform the spell. It'll be fine." Aaravos moved towards the entrance of the cave while Viren moved further back, no more words exchanged between them.

No matter how badly Callum wanted to flee, it seemed they were stuck together for at least the night. He put his face in his hands, groaning as he rubbed his head. Viren's aversion to dark magic was news, but he failed to see how it meant Viren could learn anything from him even if he wanted to teach him. Viren and Claudia's plans seemed to begin and end with Aaravos healing Viren further, though Callum wouldn't care if Viren died. He deserved it.

Most of all, Callum hated how much was sprung on him. He raised his head, eyes alighting on what he prayed was not yet another new problem. "And who are you?"

"Oh! Name's Terry, short for Terrestrius." The Earthblood elf who hadn't spoken before was shockingly cheery, waving to Callum enthusiastically. "Thought you all needed time to express your feelings."

Callum didn't know what else to say. "Um… trees to meet you."

Terry's face lit up and he grabbed Callum's hand, giving it a hearty shake. "Trees to meet you too! Claudia, he said the thing! Humans do know a little about us!"

Despite his sentiments towards everyone else in the room, Callum felt himself warm up to Terry instantly. "You seem so nice! What are you doing… here?"

Claudia threw an arm around Terry's shoulders, pulling him close, a bright grin on her face. It seemed despite the situation, Terry was a source of light for everyone. "He's my boyfriend! We met several months ago in Xadia. You're from the Uncharted Forest, right dear?"

"Yep. Ha. Haha." Terry nudged Claudia. "Dear. Like deer! Antler jokes." The two exchanged a look and Claudia doubled over, howling with laughter, Terry joining in a second later.

For a moment, it was like the Claudia Callum used to know was back. Energetic, funny, animated, and apparently able to laugh at Soren's sort of humor. Had Claudia really changed? Maybe she'd always been like this. Callum couldn't tell if Claudia had gone bad or if he'd just never paid enough mind to her dark magic use because she'd been a friend.

Callum suddenly missed Rayla so much that the next intake of breath he took felt more like a knife in his lungs.

If he was going to still be there for some time, he needed to know what was going on.

This couldn't be all for nothing.

"What does Viren need from Aaravos anyway? What's this about his lifespan?"

Claudia glanced at Terry. Terry angled his head to Callum, tell him. "I brought dad back after the battle. I found him in… pieces. A fall like that is impossible to survive. This," she said while running a hand through the white half of her hair, "was the result of magic that gave him a month to live. In order to buy him more time, Aaravos has some spell he told me would work. He'd be back like that fall never happened. He'd live out the years he should have had."

He barely kept from snapping that Viren didn't deserve any more time, not even a minute. However, Callum's gaze was drawn to Claudia's hair and it finally hit him what sort of tremendous effort she'd taken to restore Viren, and only for a brief amount of time. "All of that… for a month?"

"Yes."

Callum wasn't angry, but he wasn't able to understand it either. "For him? For Viren?"

Claudia tilted her chin up, glaring at Callum. "For my father."

"Don't you realize what he's done, Claudia?"

"If it was your dad, you'd feel differently."

Sometimes Callum had thought this through himself. He'd imagined if Harrow had been offered creative solutions, if he'd want Callum or Ezran to stave off grief with denial and reckless impossibilities.

"No. Harrow wouldn't have wanted this for himself. I know that. Viren is the one who started all of this, and you had to go and bring him back?!"

"You came here with Aaravos. If we're going to start pointing fingers about the past, maybe we should start there."

Terry stepped in between them, putting a hand on each of their shoulders. "Listen… I know I've done things I'm not proud of. If someone wants another chance, shouldn't they have it? We can all agree on that, yeah?" His disposition was dampened from his earlier energy, but he stayed calm. "Callum, what confuses us is why you're here with Aaravos. Not being accusatory or anything, but what are you two up to?"

"I wish I knew anymore." Callum stared off in the direction Aaravos had gone, presumably to scout around. "He was able to speak to me in my dreams. I tried to fight him off, but we came to an understanding."

Claudia was too overcome with curiosity to stay angry. "What understanding is that?"

"I guess it's that he needs something to do other than to hate, to take vengeance on the dragons and all of Xadia." Callum had never outright spelled it out or justified it to anyone. He'd come close with Ezran, but he still couldn't have brought himself to outright say he was leaving. "His world from centuries ago is different from ours. I wanted him to see it first before judging. That, and he's a good teacher. I… got to feeling he was a friend. Even knowing all the chaos he caused, I wanted to go with him to keep all of my friends and family safe, I actually wanted to spend time with him."

Aaravos didn't feel like much of a friend at that moment. Callum was starting to understand Viren's own fury about being pushed into corners or misled. All of them had had some reason other than Aaravos's own freedom to free Aaravos. Claudia's own reasons for setting Aaravos free revolved around her father and not even Aaravos himself. Terry just existed, he guessed. Callum did want to spend time with him, but his biggest goal was making sure that the world was safe from Aaravos's wrath. Since his rescue had seemed inevitable, he'd decided to go with him once it happened.

It made his chest ache, once he thought about it.

No one had wanted Aaravos freed purely out of friendship. Every one of them had some other motive to go with it.

No one cared about him.

Not in the way a person should be cared for.

Callum forced down the sudden well of shame he felt rising within himself.

"This might sound weird," started Claudia, thoughtful, a small smile on her face, "but I could totally see that. Aaravos is like a walking library. I bet having someone like you as his apprentice was the perfect fit. I mean, it took me years to get where I did when you ran off with my primal stone. You just picked it up!" Even as something not quite enemies at the moment but not friends either, admiration shone through. "Aaravos taught me too, just through his voice over the past two years. It was freaky at first. Then, I realized we actually got along. Everything he's said and taught me has helped."

Callum couldn't help it. "Dark magic."

"Well… yeah. I should expect you to judge."

How was he supposed to try and teach Claudia and Viren anything about primal magic if Aaravos himself hadn't even tried? He recalled Aaravos's words from many dreams ago, the first full conversation they'd ever had. Claudia will never learn an arcanum. She is like most human mages, who had a dire need and took the quickest route available to meet said need. "If learning an arcanum was really hard, and you felt like you couldn't do it, would you still try to learn and not give up?"

Claudia shrugged. "It's impossible. I don't know how you did it, but you're the only human in forever to connect with an arcanum. I have what works for me."

"So, no."

"Callum, I'm not you. It isn't that I don't want to have a primal source, but I can't. Moon elves don't use sun magic."

That, or they don't try.

Terry nodded to the outside of the cave. "Should we see what Aaravos is up to? Or where we even are?" He led the way out of their cave, opening up into grassy foothills. Callum had never been wherever they were before, but he could tell it was remote,where it would be difficult to find them. It was beautiful, lush vegetation as far as he could see with bright colors dotting the green canvas. Xadia, then.

Aaravos was sitting on the ground, a few yards away. He didn't acknowledge them, gaze on the horizon, trembling slightly. His hand was buried in the soil next to him, fingers curled into the grass and dirt. Callum realized he was experiencing his first time outside without an immediate threat. He wouldn't be surprised if Aaravos was holding back tears. While he was combating his own conflicting feelings about Aaravos, Terry wasn't.

"Hey." Terry didn't hesitate to approach Aaravos, sitting next to him. Aaravos finally seemed to realize there were other people around him and turned his head, expression blank with shock. It wasn't the way Callum had expected Aaravos's composure to break. Terry took it in stride, warm and energetic again. "It must be a lot to be back out here for someone with the magic you have. It's alright to just take it in, you know? Earthblood elves love sitting in the dirt! I'm glad to sit here with you. For as long as you need."

Terry laid his hand on Aaravos's, fingers lacing with the other elf's.

The gesture of support had an effect within moments.

The ground in front of Terry and Aaravos's hands rumbled lowly, a sprout pushing up from the earth. The small plant grew as tall as Callum within seconds, a fully formed hydrangea bush in bloom. Aaravos seemed to recover himself, looking from the flowers to Terry, breathing deeply. "Thank you."

Terry grinned. "You're welcome!"

"Terrestrius, right? Popular 600 years ago."

Terry laughed, good spirits infectious. "It is traditional!"

Callum stepped forward, standing in front of Aaravos and Terry. He wasn't ready to get the entire situation go, but he could at least be compassionate. "If the world is one big primal stone, I imagine you are pretty overwhelmed now that you're here again and can feel it all. In addition to that… I'm sorry I yelled at you. I do kind of think you deserved it."

Aaravos exhaled with a laugh, beckoning Callum closer. Callum sat down on his other side under the new shade of the hydrangea plant Aaravos and Terry had made. Claudia stayed by Terry, leaning her head on Terry's shoulder. Aaraos seemed calmer, tension drained from his shoulders, relaxed. "It's understandable. I only trust myself with all of the moving parts and the full picture."

"Why didn't you just tell me Viren has changed?" asked Callum, insistent, pleading. "Why didn't you tell me before the exact night all this happened that I'd be with Claudia and Viren on this trip? I would have taken this all a lot better if I'd known that. It's good news for everyone! Ezran might be able to relax a little if he knew Viren didn't have ambitions for the throne anymore."

"It was better you saw for yourself. I get accused of lying more than I care for considering I am incapable of it."

Everyone present knew Aaravos was more than capable of misleading, lying by omission, or otherwise finding creative ways to be dishonest.

Callum leaned on Aaravos, welcoming the arm Aaravos put around him. Despite the soft gesture, he was still in a mood to protest. "You want me to trust you, but it feels like you don't trust me with anything."

"Hm. Only with the future of magic and humanity."

Terry leapt in. "Aaravos, your communication tactics do need some work. If all you do is spring things on people or approach them in situations where they have no choice other than to rely upon you or do as you'd like them to, it's hard for real relationships to build."

Aaravos raised his eyebrows. "Quite the reflective one, huh. I am fully aware of what I'm doing. That must make me sound horrible, doesn't it?"

Callum remembered how all of their motives for helping Aaravos had selfish roots. "Terry is right. Maybe you haven't needed to care about others' opinions for a while, but all of us have them and are going to share them." It would have been a playful sounding threat if he wasn't so serious. "If we're going to be friends, couldn't you just tell us things before the last minute?" He pressed on. "Maybe you felt like you had to force others to save you for you to ever be free, but you don't have to keep trying to outmaneuver everyone. No one can actually care about you if you don't let them."

Aaravos sighed. He leaned back on his elbows, eyes fixed on the clouds. "Day one, and this is the discussion we have? Very well. I was imprisoned and betrayed by all who effectively worshiped me, adored me. If you'd like to know why I plot rather than collaborate on plans, there you have it." He turned his head to Callum. "You came with a lot of conditions. I have no illusions as to how easy it would be to lose you."

Once again, Callum realized that he often saw their dynamic as tipped one way when in reality it was equal. He had juggled with trusting Aaravos, while Aaravos, for all his gracefulness and confidence, had needed to weigh trusting Callum too.

"After all we went through?" Callum asked. Their very souls had touched. He knew how deep Aaravos's emotions ran, how desperately he needed moments like these, free and with other people.

Aaravos didn't reply, which was answer enough.

Claudia and Terry also laid back in the grass, the four of them gazing at the sky together. It was a sunny late afternoon, carefree and peaceful. Claudia was lost in thought, eyes up but not focused on the clouds. "I wouldn't have believed how dad's changed either if I hadn't seen it for myself. He came back and he was different. He's still dad, but I don't know."

"I like him," commented Terry. "Bit prickly, but I can respect that."

Viren suddenly appeared over them, upside down from their view lying on the grass. He looked down to address them. "I've done some exploring and this cave is suitable for camping in. However, we're without all of our supplies and no one is living longer than a few days unless we deal with it."

Aaravos lazily smiled up at Viren. "Good to see you too. You brighten up the place."

"Well?" Viren insisted, arms folded. "The plan? Shouldn't we get going?"

"Yes." Aaravos sat up, eyes still on the sky. "We'll go into town. With some changes in appearance, of course."