Kishan woke up with a start in a bed he didn’t recognize. “W-where the hell?” He hissed in pain as he tried to sit up. “Don’t do that, you’ll pull the stitches and it was a pain to close the wound” A monotone voice spoke. “Is that really the first thing you say to someone who just woke up?!” He thought to himself. After he laid back down Kishan looked over at the source of the voice and saw an older version of the boy from what he guessed was a memory of them meeting for the first time. “Wow that’s one hell of a coincidence” Kishan mumbled. The man looked over at Kishan “hm?” he grunted in a questioning tone. Kishan blushed slightly “a-ah nothing” He stuttered, he looked away scratching his neck slightly “I can’t just say I saw him in my dreams, that would be weird, wait I saw him in my dreams… So could this be, Fate?!” Kishan thought to himself flustered.  The man looked at Kishan’s face before he leaned towards him, Kishan looked at the man and blushed more waving his hands frantically “w-what are you doing?!” Kishan yelled. The man frowned “noisy…” The man put his wrist against Kishan’s forehead “You don’t have a fever… But your face is really red” The man spoke quietly but firmly. “Do you have a weird skin condition?” He asked, though he didn’t really sound that interested. “Fate?! Hell no, this is definitely not fate at work, fate wouldn’t be so cruel as to throw this guy my way,” He thought to himself once again. Kishan looked at the man bewildered, “Has this man never heard of blushing?! How??” Kishan thought to himself very confused. “Or maybe… Is he just messing with me?” Kishan asked himself in his head. Suddenly Kishan’s mood became sour and he looked irritated, he slapped the man’s hand away and glared at him “as much as I appreciate your help I need to get home” Kishan said. “And you haven’t even told me who you are” Kishan sat up slowly and he hissed in pain. “Hm” the man grunted, the man stood up and looked at Kishan “Cole” the man said. Kishan blinked a few times, “huh?” Kishan looked at the man in confusion. “My name… It’s Cole” Cole looked at Kishan. “Oh, uh my name is Kishan…” Kishan averted his eyes and scratched his cheek. “Well I should go home… My grandmother is probably worried” Kishan said. “Just rest and tell me what happened” Cole asked, staring at him, despite the question sounding concerned Cole’s eyes were cold and alert showing that he was most likely not concerned at all. Kishan found himself opening his mouth before he was hit was an epiphany. “Wait, what do I even say?!” Kishan yelled mentally as he started to panic internally. “I can’t just say that I got sucked into some weird trash dimension and then got injured” Kishan yelled at himself mentally. He suddenly remembered something, he looked up at Cole “wait, how did you find me?” He asked him, staring at him confused. Kishan never remembered finding his way out of that place, and while normally he would shrug it off as if it was a dream, the wounds he received was proof enough that whatever he went through did happen. Kishan was pulled away from his thoughts when he heard Cole speak “You really know nothing about magic do you?” Cole spoke in a tone that seemed to hold no emotion. Kishan blinked a few times “Magic?” He asked, confused at the idea of magic, something he had only ever heard of in books and media being real. “Are you high?” Kishan asked Cole before he furrowed his eyebrows “wait but wouldn’t everything that just happened make sense if Magic was real?” He thought to himself. “You’re just lucky that you have an aptitude for magic, if you hadn’t your mind would have either broken or you would have died” Cole set a glass of water down onto the bedside table next to Kishan. Kishan felt a cold chill travel down his back “What do you mean?” Kishan asked. After a moment of Silence Cole replied, “the monsters you encountered have a specific ability that breaks the mind of any normal human that it encounters, considering it’s a monster that was strictly made to consume anything in its path it’s not much of a surprise.” Kishan blinked before swallowing dryly, “s-so I could have died but my mind is safe at least?” Kishan struggled to get his words out. “Mhm, now drink… I’m making breakfast” Cole said. Kishan nodded shakily “t-thanks” He mumbled. Cole hummed slightly in response before leaving the room, Kishan picked up his glass and chugged the glass only just realizing how dry his throat had been. A thought popped into Kishan’s mind that made him freeze in place causing a bit of leftover water to spill and drip down his chin “didn’t that guy say that those creatures were made?” He swallowed as an oddly foreboding feeling took hold in him. “Magic is terrifying,” Kishan mumbled to himself.

Kishan had spent a few days now at Cole’s house, he at least knew roughly what kind of person Cole was and that was, “cold, emotionless, and yet not really mean either, it’s almost like he just doesn’t care enough to be mean or nice” Kishan whispered to himself, Kishan had of course been making sure to check in with his grandmother fairly frequently. Kishan had told her that his injury was from work but he had a feeling that she didn’t believe him. Kishan looked up as he heard Cole come into the room with a medkit, Cole had said that even he was confused as to how fast Kishan was recovering “It’s strange that something that should have healed in at least 2 weeks has already nearly healed in a few days” Cole said. “Well it’s a good thing, right?” Kishan asked with a smile. Cole looked at him and grunted “whatever you say,” Cole said. Kishan took off his shirt and let Cole change his bandages. “Hey Cole?” Kishan asked. “Hm?” Cole grunted back. “You said that I have an affinity for magic right? Then does that mean I can cast spells and do other cool stuff like that?” Kishan asked curiously. Cole looked at him and hummed slightly “if you learn, yeah… Though your mana seems to be low so you’re stuck with lower level spells for now” Cole replied. “Then… Does that mean that my parents…” Kishan frowned slightly. “Lineage doesn’t have a lot to do with whether or not someone is born a mage. While mages are more likely to be born from two mages or even only one being a mage it’s not impossible for a mage to be born from two non-mages” Cole said. Throughout the entire time Kishan had stayed with him Cole stayed cold and monotone, it was as if he couldn’t feel any emotion. “Cole, do you live here all by yourself?” Kishan looked at him. “I don’t see how that question is important right now” Cole responded. Kishan gently took Cole’s hand, he widened his eyes when Cole only responded by pulling his hand away faster than Kishan’s eyes could follow and Cole stood up “you’re welcome to take a look around the estate, just don’t go in the basement or the study” He left the room. Kishan frowned and watched the door when Cole left. “I guess he just likes to be left alone” Kishan mumbled. Outside the now shut door Cole couldn’t stop the slight blush on his face as he looked at his hand. “It's warm…” He mumbled as he held his hand wanting to savor that warmth before it vanished.