Evin stood near the doorway to his home, staring at his father's figure who was walking down the street. The man informed Evin that he was going to be away for the evening and left. Evin didn't know why, nor did he care. He was just glad he could take some time to be alone in the house.

After making sure that his father was really gone, Evin went back inside, locked the door with the keys like his father instructed and went to his room.

"Was that you who did that?" he spoke in a whisper.

Unexpectedly, he received no answer. By Evin's guesses, the voice should revel in striking conversation with the boy, especially since it's been so long since the last proper conversation the two had. Believing so, Evin waited patiently.

Evin always thought the voice was some kind of parasite in his head, which had no good use whatsoever, so he never resolved to entertain him. Moreover, he didn't want to do so, because almost every word the voice uttered was one of mocking and disdain. There was another theme where it always tried to separate him from his father. Not only that, it just felt wrong. Evin never really knew why it was so, but every time it spoke, things just felt wrong.

There was logic in the things it spoke, but they all seemed skewed to benefit whatever nefarious scheme it was thinking inside his head. There were times when the voice taught him lessons and Evin could see the reasoning behind it, but they all seemed to serve an unknown purpose of some sorts.

Unfortunately, Evin couldn't guess at the voice's intentions. He tried to do so ever since he was a child, but he was never successful. Thus… he decided to ignore it. Sure, he would fail at it a few times here and there, but he's been making some progress. At least he wasn't falling into full-blown conversations with it lately.

But because of today's incident, that all had to stop. Evin suddenly needed to speak with the voice of his own accord. The voice was knowledgeable about magic. It could so easily accomplish the Imaginary Casting that Evin struggled so much with, it could be called a miraculous event.

'So miraculous that it could be called one of the Miracles of the Empress,' Evin thought.

"Hey, uh, Voice, are you there?"

the voice replied lazily.

"Yes, I am. And I'm asking you, was that you who did that?"

the voice played dumb, clearly enjoying the situation.

"Stop playing dumb! Did you cast that giant fire? I know you did, you even said so afterwards!"

"Can you do it again?"

"Then teach me how to do it?" Evin demanded.

the voice exclaimed in a disbelieving tone,

"What do you mean, why would you do that? You've lived in my head for so long, it's about time you show some of your usefulness."

the voice said in his signature mocking tone.

"Okay…"

Evin didn't understand. The usual voice would be reveling at the thought that Evin had finally become a mage. So since he wanted him to become a mage, then he should also want him to become a good one, right?

"I don't get it."

the voice sighed dramatically,

The voice started speaking gibberish again.

ooover again, but I just never respond. The few times I respond, I tell you to shut the fuck up. How would you feel?>

"I'd feel bad…" Evin replied after a bit, "But it's not like I have any other choice. If I speak to you I get beaten."

the voice hummed.

"Alright, I get it. My bad."

the voice said emotionally,

Evin listened to the voice vent and started to feel remorseful.

the voice paused,

"I'm sorry, Endra," Evin replied to the voice.

'But are you willing to teach me or not,' Evin wanted to ask next, but of course, even he wasn't that shameless. He needed to say something better sounding.

"How can I make it up to you?" he said, after some thinking.

"You want payment? What would you even need as a voice in my head?" Evin asked.

Hearing about his father and thinking about standing against him, a cold sweat ran through Evin's back. His mouth suddenly felt dry, as his eyes started wavering.

"And go where? I still need to live in a house and I definitely don't have enough money to support living alone…" Evin grumbled in response, trying to keep the fear from seeping into his voice.

"Okay, fine. I'll think about it! Now tell me what you want."

the voice said flatly,

"Why is me leaving my father behind so important to you, anyway?" Evin snapped.

He really didn't like talking about this topic. One of the reasons why he disliked the voice, was the fact that it always kept bringing up his relationship with his father.

the voice sighed,

"I'll talk to him later. I'm sure he'll let me go study in the Academy anyway," Evin said stubbornly. In his opinion, since he could attend the Academy from his home, there was no need for him to run away from home.

the voice tsked,

"Shut up!" Evin shouted back.

Evin could almost see the sneer on its face, if it had one.

the voice laughed,

"She couldn't have known…" Evin murmured.

the voice scoffed,

Unable to take it further, Evin ran towards the kitchen and took hold of a knife. He held to his neck and said loudly.

"Stop talking about my father and tell me how you cast magic!"

the voice taunted.

"Or else I'll kill myself here and now. I know you can't stand the idea of me dying, right?! Just shut up and teach me what I want!"

the voice cackled,

"I'm serious!"

Evin's hands suddenly jerked pushing the knife into his neck. A sharp signal of pain buzzed through Evin's head as panic took over him. His breathing became rough and uneven, forehead turning sweaty.

Carefully, he touched his neck and found drops of blood on his fingers. Evin's head was suddenly struck by a dizzy spell, as he struggled to see clearly, shaking slightly.

'Did I seriously just stab myself in the neck…?' he thought fearfully, as the voice's laugh ringed in his ear.

the voice laughed,

Evin's head was still full of fear, as he searched for some clothing to cover over the wound. Thankfully, there wasn't much blood flowing out of the wound, so like the voice said, the wound seemed shallow enough.

Pausing a bit, it continued.

…