"Is someone going to lose their life at the end?" Salem was delicately asking if Syryn intended to get rid of Lumi.

"In an ideal situation, yes. I don't make it a habit to spare my enemies, but this isn't an ideal situation because Magnus is involved."

Syryn handed over a small phial that had a green liquid in it.

"Treat Lumi's burns with this. His skin will heal faster than he can plan his next plot."

"Why do you want to treat him with such a rare item?" Salem had seen it in action when Syryn had used it on him after an experiment that had gone wrong. The blonde had near singed off his eyebrows that day.

"So he can't rack up more sympathy points with Magnus. When he had a cold, he put on an act of a dying person. With the burns I inflicted on him, there's no telling what he might do. The sooner he heals, the better for me."

Salem palmed the phial. Syryn was right about Lumi acting up because the alchemist had seen how the avian had been leaning against the fire mage. Magnus was a smart person but his bleeding heart was dulling his perception.

"I'll see to it that he's immediately made whole then. Next time you're planning something, let me know ahead so I can help."

"Its just Lumi. I don't want to give him the satisfaction of having gotten your attention as well as mine."

When Salem entered the fire mage's room, Lumi was shedding tears quietly. Magnus and Alka were both hovering over the avian while Luci sat on the bed cradling Navi, their orange tabby cat.

"Move aside," the blonde boy told his housemates. Salem then occupied the seat in front of Lumi and observed the burns. Lumi's beautiful skin was covered in blisters and exposed tissue from the tips of his fingers to the skin above his wrist. Syryn had done a thorough job of scalding every inch of skin on the boy's exposed hands. And as he observed Lumi, the avian observed him in turn.

With a sigh, Salem asked the boy to extend his arm. Lumi obeyed but not without wincing in pain.

"You'll be fine in no time," Salem informed the avian as he applied the green liquid that was a miracle to him. His first-hand experience with the liquid had shocked him. Salem had never seen a skin healing potion that restored the dermis so perfectly and immediately. In front of their eyes, Lumi's angry-looking skin began knitting itself over healthy red tissues. Even the avian had stopped sniffling when he was presented with deep and rapid healing.

"All done." Salem tersely said to the quiet room. Lumi's skin had a sheen of silver over the newly healed layer but it was hardly noticeable.

"Salem, what did you give me?"

Lumi's awestruck face was glowing with happiness. His hands were pretty again, and Salem had healed it with something very rare and expensive. Salem cared about him.

"A gift," the alchemist answered. Syryn had told him to let Lumi believe that it was Salem's initiative to help the avian. "You're going to get ravenously hungry now. You should go eat something to restore your lost energy."

"I don't know how to thank you for this... the potion must have been so expensive. How do I repay you, Salem?" Lumi's gaze was fixated on him with an unhealthy shade of attention. It made Salem feel like Lumi was looking at him and seeing something else.

"There's no need for payment. We look after members of the house so consider it a perk of living in Syryn's home."

The words had their intended effect on Lumi. The avian shrank back at the mention of Syryn. A bitter smile appeared on his face and he remained silent. His expression was enough to convey what Lumi felt.

"A perk of living in Syryn's home? He's the one that caused the injury." Despite the culpability he pinned on Syryn with his words, the fire mage's tone lacked any bite.

Salem's gaze was heavy on Magnus. Without a word, the blonde left the room. He was followed by Alka who matched his pace.

"I leave the house for a week and what do I come home to? An internal division caused by the newest tenant. Syryn better have an explanation for why he's allowed this to happen. Magnus is a self-sacrificing idiot who allows his kindness to impair good judgement, but Syryn? I expected better from him."

Alka's muted rant made the blonde smile. The plant mage was on their side. He didn't even require proof of Syryn's innocence. Alka was a friend who did not allow things like integrity or fair-mindedness to get in the way of supporting his buddies. It reminded him of Syryn's own nature. If it had been Magnus that had found him with the dead body, Salem wondered if the fire mage would have turned him over to the authorities. In the end, Magnus measured his actions against a set of principles that he lived by, and that was the right thing to do but it did not inspire Salem's loyalty. So why was Syryn so taken with Magnus?

"Syryn, you've been busy," Alka calmly spoke to the smiling teen.

"And I've missed you, Alka."

"Of course you have." The plant mage had grown taller and prettier over the years, and more haughty too. But Syryn liked that. Alka had grown out of his shy and timid shell. His true self had come bursting out - a savage who was untouchable and carried himself with cold grace - with arrogance. Alka had an aura of nobility that Syryn often saw in Artemus. Both brothers had a way of making people feel like unrefined peasants.

"Didn't you miss me?"

"Not as much as I missed my plants. What's going on with Lumi? He seems to have Magnus wrapped around his little finger." Narrowed feline eyes raked over Syryn with disappointment. Syryn's mind scrambled for an answer.

"Lumi is a scheming liar!" was all he lamely came up with.

Alka sighed and it was a delicate sound. "You've grown soft."

"I can't attack him directly without upsetting Magnus who seems to think that Lumi is an innocent and helpless lamb," The alchemist pouted. Salem noticed that Syryn acted like a puppy around Alka. It was interesting.

"And your solution was to dump hot water on him?" The plant mage was unimpressed. "I know for a fact that he didn't do it to himself. Lumi is fastidious and cares about his appearance. For someone like that to give himself such unsightly burn scars; it's a bit difficult for me to accept. You're lucky that Magnus hasn't come to the same conclusion."

"Fair enough," Syryn replied. "I've got a few other plans so don't look at me like that!"

"Like what?" Alka raised a neat dark brow. His green eyes were half-lidded with annoyance.

"Like I'm a banana peel you stepped on."

"That's.. oddly specific," Salem said.

"It's the exact expression I saw on his face when he stepped on a banana peel and nearly slipped."

That made the plant mage smile. "You're a rung above a banana peel, Syryn." Alka placed a hand on Syryn's knee and squeezed it gently. "Anyway, let's take a walk. Come with me to survey the garden so I can get some red Cardinals for my bedside vase."

It was the next morning that Sebastian arrived. It must have been his unlucky day. When Syryn began to examine Sebastian's now normal blood vessels, the mage regaled him with a story from his adventures.

"Ya should've seen it S'ryn! She had a lower body covered in scales and was slytherin' round the place. It took a lotta magic to cut through her armor-"

Sebastian's words got stuck in his throat. Syryn had been examining the colour on his wrists when his gaze flickered up to see what had happened to the talkative mage. Sebastian looked like he had seen a ghost.

"Syryn, I'm back," a familiar voice grabbed him by the throat and his breath caught too.

The alchemist whipped his head around and saw Artemus standing at the door of the workroom. The man was a glorious sight in his crimson and silver mage hunter robe. It elicited a feeling in Syryn that was a strange combination of fear and fascination. Artemus was a Sanguine, a ruthless hunter, and Syryn had all but forgotten about it because of how friendly the anti mage was to him.

Sebastian and Syryn were both staring at him, frozen and wearing stupid expressions. As if Artemus wasn't already annoyed enough at having been caught by Alka in the garden. Now that his younger brother had become aware of the gate in their compound that led to the lost path, Artemus was sure that Alka would be recklessly using it.

"If you're done staring, I have important business to conduct."

Syryn flashed a smile at Artemus. "Welcome back Artemus."

The anti mage allowed a tiny reluctant smile and Syryn swore he heard Sebastian gasp. Artemus flipped open a metallic cylinder and removed the glass tube in it that held a red liquid. Three wide strides of his long legs brought the anti mage next to Syryn. He handed the glass tube wordlessly to the teen.

"What is it?"

"Fire demon." Artemus' onyx eyes were unusually expressive. Syryn could tell how happy he was.

"Is this why you left?" He asked. Now that Artemus had found the ingredient to his cure, he would no longer depend on Syryn. The alchemist felt a sense of loss but it was a speck compared to how happy he was for Artemus.

"Yes. I killed it myself."

While they talked, Sebastian was a statue, pointedly ignored by Artemus. The anti mage wasn't even pretending there was a third person in the room. Syryn internally cringed at how cold the brothers could be. The worst part was how their presence made people crave their attention. He preferred Alka's banana expression to the complete denial of existence that the anti mage served his former best friend. He felt a pang of sympathy for Sebastian.

"Congratulations Mu-Mu," Syryn smiled as he held the tube to the light. "I'll let you know as soon as I make it."

"I wait impatiently," the eagerness in his voice could not be missed. "I'll return to speak with you after I've soothed my furious mother's temper. If I go missing, tell the mage hunters that my mother did it."

Syryn laughed at the flat delivery of his joke. Sebastian still hadn't moved but the little joke elicited a reaction from him. The mage was staring at Artemus like he was a unicorn.

For the sake of his patient's health, Syryn decided to usher Artemus out of the house immediately.

"You should go. I've got a sick patient here who is contagious."

It was a revelation to Syryn how even Artemus had the capacity for immature behaviour. The anti mage threw a look at Sebastian that was dirtier than sewer water. Shit! That was Syryn's thought. Banana expression all the way. He would have to ask Sebastian just what he had done to deserve such treatment from Artemus.

When the anti mage left the workroom, Sebastian was still in a daze. "A-mu looked at me like he'd ingested rat poison.."

"Uh, you okay?"

"Need ta drink. Wanna get a drink, S'ryn?" It wasn't an exaggeration to say that Sebastian looked like he had lost his soul. Syryn vacillated because he needed to start preparations for the anti mage's cure. One more look at the hollowed-out mage convinced Syryn that Sebastian needed his attention more.

"Let me change into something else. Wait here for me."

After a quick word to Salem about starting prep work, Syryn got into Sebastian's carriage. It was just as luxurious as Artemus' but where the anti mage had muted colours, Sebastian's interior was a rich gold and white. How he managed to keep it clean, Syryn could not understand. The ride was quick but it felt like forever when he had all but a morose mage to talk to. They arrived at a high-end bar called 'Sev's Brews'.

"I'll have a Frost Vengeance," Sebastian told the barmaid that arrived at their table. It was then that Syryn realised they were in for the long haul. Sebastian was planning to get absolutely blitzed tonight if that was his starter choice of alcohol.

"A mug of honey mead for me," he told the barmaid. One of them had to stay sober if they were going home tonight.

"Yer lookin' at me like you've got questions." The mage had put away his funeral face and looked a bit more alive now that they were in a lively public space.

"Are you in love with Artemus or something?" Syryn had meant it as a joke and hadn't expected the mage's strained smile.

"That obvious huh?"

Syryn blinked at the mage. Was he actually out here at a bar trying to comfort his rival? But Artemus wasn't even his lover. Was Artemus even interested in Syryn after all these years? They barely even touched each other. Syryn was a bastard and Artemus deserved a person like Sebastian who was so unashamedly in love with the anti mage. The thoughts fell like marbles in the pits of his stomach. It wasn't a good feeling.

"I change my mind about the honey mead. I'll get a Frost Vengeance too." Syryn raised his arm and summoned a barmaid.

"I thought you guys were best friends or something."

"Or somethin'," Sebastian mumbled. "I can't say that A-mu didn't have feelins fer me because I realised when it was too late that he might have felt somethin' too. I ruined it and now he hates me."

"He doesn't hate you."

"S'ryn, didn't ya see the way he looked at me?!"

Two mugs of Frost Vengeance arrived at their table. The first sip of the drink was an icy shock that numbed the nerves on his tongue. Syryn swallowed it down and it left a trail of ice in its path. At the same time, the alcohol burned the cold away, leaving his mouth tingling and confused.

"What exactly happened between the two of you to garner that kind of animosity from Artemus?"

Sebastian had taken a deep gulp from his mug and he made a face at the weird burn it left. "I let a third person get between us. Years of friendship and trust, all washed away because I was dumb enough to prioritise my girlfriend over the love of my life."

"You're a dumbass."

"Nothin' I don't already know."

"How long ago did it happen?" Syryn studied the mage's beautiful eyes. In the low light of the bar, it looked like molten gold.

"A long time ago, S'ryn. I dunno... I did all I could to forget."

"And yet here we are."

"If yer just here to make fun of me, we can leave right now." It would've sounded intimidating if Sebastian didn't look so sad.

"I'm being supportive," he argued. "If I wanted to insult you, I'd be calling you a loser who professes to love Artemus but can't keep it in his pants, at least according to all the rumours I've heard about you, not to mention the fact that you can't man up enough to make it right with him, and you've turned to drinking yourself to a stupor after your very first meeting in how many years is it?"

Sebastian slammed his mug down on the table causing the liquid in it to slosh. With a feral grin that caught the edge of something dangerous, he stared at Syryn. "Ya.fuckin'.sonofabitch."

"Can't handle the truth, Sebastian?" Syryn mirrored his grin.

Laughter spilt out of Sebastian's lips. It was an infectious and amused sound, and it dispelled away any thoughts that Syryn had of the mage being mad at him.

"You're right, S'ryn, I'm a loser."

He actually wasn't but Syryn didn't say it. Sebastian had a cult following among mages that worshipped his strength. He had powers from different nations vying to pull his loyalty away from Sigil. He even had hordes of noblewomen who wanted to marry him. He was anything but a loser. Sebastian was mostly a lovesick man who was afraid of Artemus' rejection.

"If it happened a long time ago, Sebastian, why can't you get over him? Eos knows you've been with enough women to have fallen in love multiple times." And with those words, Syryn had an epiphany about Sebastian and why he slept around in spite of his feelings.

"You can try to love the night stars but you'll never love em like the way you love the sun though they all shine just the same. And it's always there in the sky, burnin' and shinin' so brightly, and ya can't even stop lookin' at it though it hurts to do so. There's no escape from the sun, S'ryn."

The alchemist was uncomfortably reminded of Rowan. Silently, he nursed his drink, letting the mage talk.

"I know it sounds sappy but it's the kinda love that only comes once in a lifetime. Wretched is the fool who stumbles upon this love and it remains unrequited."

Syryn choked on his drink. Why did it sound like Sebastian was narrating Syryn's situation with Rowan? He was irrevocably in love with a man who was destined for a bride that wasn't him. Two lifetimes of loving and losing Rowan had to have been a punishment for his murderous ways in the past.

"I'll have a double shot of Demon's kiss," he informed the cheerful barmaid who had arrived to top up their mugs.

"Me too," Sebastian added. "Put some cinnamon in mine. Now, where were we?"