– Zion Water

We meet again—or not.

Whether you’re a new or an old face here, I suggest that you sit back, get some water, or do whatever you want. I’m not here to be your father.

Let’s get into what really matters here:

this storyline, called Lost Things, will follow these three housemates’ lives: Carson, Virgil, and John—on their adventures of finding Carson’s past, Virgil’s present, and John’s future.

This is in no way a fantastical heroic story, where the hero is destined to save Magius, the world—all those big feats. It’s those smaller stories in this continent—filled with the ones who seek to be the heroes of their own adventures.

My role here is to deliver the story, and offer you the ways you can alter the characters’ fate.

Why? I trust you, that’s all.

We’ll start with Carson’s story, first.

A week had passed since Carson started living in this house, and he hadn’t gotten used to the bed—but that wasn’t the main reason he jolted up in the middle of the night, breathing as if he had just run out of his breath.

Though, the bed probably had something to do with the nightmare. Even if Carson didn’t mind sleeping on the grass or anywhere less comfortable, sleeping on someone else’s bed felt wrong—as if he didn’t deserve to fall asleep with this comfort.

Bed aside, the heavy feeling that woke him up remained inside his chest—beating along with his panicked heartbeat. Leaving the Sun Rage bandits—the people who took him in after the Riverville incident—shouldn’t matter to him anymore. He’s now free to search for the truth about the incident. But somewhere, inside his mind, regretted this.

“Idiot,” Carson cursed his dim reflection, as he glared at the mirror hanging across the bedroom. The lights from Ironport city were enough to let him see his own state.

He chuckled and wiped his eyes. If he couldn’t sleep, he could use something to take his mind off what was bothering him. He could focus on figuring out his next plan, now that he escaped from the Sun Rage bandits—by getting himself arrested and taken to the Silent Tower.

Now that he recalled that plan again, it sounded idiotic, but it worked well enough for his goal. The bandits tended to avoid the tower itself, and he was lucky enough to not get any other bandits to attempt breaking him free too—considering how many times he had gotten this one Magic Council soldier to roam around his cell, whenever he felt like he’s going to be dragged back to the group.

Ace Grey—he recalled the young soldier’s name, whose presence was a threat in itself, despite his smaller figure and the hair that matched his family name. When Carson attempted to break out and run away on his own, Ace’s lightning magic struck him—his red eyes glared down upon his paralyzed body on the ground—and it was enough for Carson to not consider escaping for a few more days.

One night, after all the attempts to escape, Carson tried to ask Ace about the Riverville incident—the one that happened roughly five years ago. And that was the moment Carson knew Ace could be trusted, to some extent. The way Ace’s stoic mannerisms dropped for a moment, the way he touched the scar on his face, and the way he replied to his questions with even fewer words—Ace was one of the people who got attacked in the incident, too. But despite finally finding a fellow victim, Ace couldn’t figure out who was the one behind this incident—let alone where did Carson’s parents go.

As the end of Carson’s sentence drew closer, Ace gave him a paper for an address in Ironport and told him to head there. And that was how Carson ended up in this household, with two new housemates.

He left the bedroom and saw the first housemate through the window—John Salore, the current owner of this house—who was writing something in his journal, with his brown hair tied back into a teeny ponytail. Was he a writer, drowning in his own ramblings this late at night? Carson couldn’t tell, but he couldn’t care any less about John as he snuck downstairs. John’s first impression on Carson’s mind was a snobby jackass, looking down on Carson’s family name—Calding.

Once he left the Sun Rage bandits, he’s addressed as Carson Calding again, by the Magic Council. And he felt as if he was back with his family again, after he was once a disgrace to the surname, by associating with the Sun Rage bandits.

When he got down to the first floor and looked into the kitchen, he noticed the other housemate with an eyepatch—Virgil Barion—eating what resembled a sandwich at the dining table. Seemed like Carson couldn’t just walk past Virgil to snatch some snack from the shelf, for this night. Virgil rarely slept in his own bedroom—where Carson ended up sleeping at. He couldn’t tell what was with Virgil’s sleep schedule, but hey, he’s far from being irritating, unlike John.

Carson went through his thoughts again, recalling why was he downstairs.

Oh, right. Figuring out the next plan to learn about the Riverville incident. And maybe talking things out may make his head at peace—no, he mustn’t. Anything but opening up his weaknesses to them. Or at least, he didn’t want to be too vulnerable around Virgil and John. If there’s one thing he learned from the Sun Rage bandits: never give away his life story. And now, he finally recalled where could his nightmare and regret come from.

There’s still a Sun Rage bandit whom Carson opened up to. He recalled making a promise with that bandit. For their own sakes, he kept saying.

But what was that promise, again?

For a moment he recalled the bandit, Carson held his breath—Markus was his name, wasn’t it? But either way, he brushed the old thoughts aside. As he thought about how to approach either Virgil or John, so he could ask them about the Riverville incident, and tell them as little as possible about his own past.

Virgil may sound like the best option right now, but if Carson recalled correctly yesterday, John mentioned something like a big threat who terrorized the Eastern peninsula five years ago—Riverville was definitely a part of the peninsula, and that incident definitely terrorized him and the other citizens.

Definitely. John was definitely referring to that same incident, right?