Luin sat his plate on the sill of the open window. It was still mostly full of food.

As Ulla landed on the sill, using her smaller form to be able to fit, Luin eyed the few stars that shone bright enough to make it past the central district’s many gas lamps. His window faced the street and the carriage circle, whereas Thea’s window faced the back garden. Luin began to wonder why they didn’t just use mana stones to power all the lamps, but the answer came to him almost as soon as he thought the question.

Mana stones for light were not horribly expensive, but they weren’t the cheapest, and it took someone making contact with the stone for it to work. Enough stones to light up the whole central district at night would cost a fortune, and the labor involved getting people to light each one would make them both troublesome and even more costly. Using the skill of artificers was much more cost effective and efficient.

But this was just his mind not wanting to dwell on the more serious matters that weighed on his shoulders currently.

:Not hungry, Master?: Ulla delicately picked a piece of meat out of the stew and gulped it down before tilting her head to the side nearly ninety degrees and ruffling her feathers.

Luin shook his head. :You go ahead and eat it.:

Ulla’s feathers slicked back down, making her seem thinner. She nibbled the cake, her pupils expanding and contracting before she went in for a full bite of it.

It’s a good thing she isn’t a real owl, Luin thought. It seemed she had a bit of a sweet tooth. Beak?

Despite the food looking and smelling quite good, Luin couldn’t bring himself to eat more than a few bites. At least the rest wouldn’t go to waste with Ulla here to eat it. The owl made cooing noises under her breath as she debated which bite to eat next and then wolfed it down in one swallow. Her behavior brought a small smile to Luin’s lips. Some of Ulla’s simple enjoyment traveled along the link they shared; she was a part of him after all.

But what kind of being can survive with part of themselves portioned off like this? He still wasn’t sure just what he was. He knew humans fairly well through the dreams of them he’d had for ten years. He knew them well enough to know that he was not like them. It brought about a nagging thought that he’d tried to ignore. Did he really belong here? Or was there some other place he was supposed to be?

The only lead he had at the moment was the head librarian. That man—or whatever he was—seemed to know something more about Luin’s existence than he was able to say. And while Adrien might be a clue towards figuring out more about himself, the other part of the puzzle would only be solved by allying with Commander Hollendale—as much as Luin would have liked to avoid that.

Luin let his mind drift to the sounds of Ulla’s happy eating before he heard the wall clock in his room begin to chime. It chimed nine times before the metallic sound drifted back to silence.

Ulla’s head perked up and tilted to the side, her eyes fixating on the door to Luin’s room. :Thea here. I go?:

:Fade from sight but stay here. If things go well, I suppose you may be meeting her tonight.: Luin’s ears strained until he finally heard a gentle knock, knock, knock.

He took a deep breath. “Come in.”

***

Thea lightly knocked on the door to Luin’s room as she glanced up and down the empty hallway. She heard Luin say, “Come in,” so she gently pressed the door handle down and stepped inside.

Luin stood just in front of the window, which was open and letting in a gentle breeze. He still wore the dress shirt and trousers that he’d had on earlier, though it was clear from how many wrinkles were in them that they’d been through quite a day. His midnight blue hair was down though, no longer tied at the nape of his neck, and it looked nearly black in the low light of the mana lamp.

“Good evening,” he said.

Thea tried a small smile. “Good evening, Luin.”

“Shall we sit?” Luin gestured to a small table with four chairs around it a little ways away from the window. A second, small mana lamp sat in the middle of the table, and Luin brushed his fingers over its stone to allow it to light up the room even more.

Thea took a slow breath before berating herself. I’m being silly. This is Luin. So let’s sit down and hear him out. She pushed past her hesitation and took a seat in the chair to the right. Even so, her hands were clammy as she held them together in her lap.

Luin climbed up in the chair opposite her, but he sat facing a bit outwards rather than right at her. “I’m glad you came. And I apologize that I haven’t talked with you like this before now. I should have done this before I agreed to you being my guardian. I shouldn’t have kept you in the dark, but I…I felt the need to be cautious, and I was afraid that you would avoid me.” It was the most she’d heard him speak before at one time, and his words sounded much too mature to be that of a ten-year-old. But the undertone of sadness in his voice was too much for Thea to ignore.

“Luin, I’m fully capable of making informed decisions on my own,” she said firmly. “Did you think I didn’t realize that you could have some dark past that would follow you around? Or that you could have secrets that may mean trouble wasn’t far behind?”

Luin blinked quickly before frowning, his finger resting on his lower lip before he responded. “I suppose I should have realized. But still, I should have been more honest. I did not know if I could trust anyone, even you, at that time. I grew comfortable before I knew it, and I grew afraid of saying anything for a different reason.” He sighed. “If…if you wish for me to go after you hear what I have to say, I will understand.”

Thea held up her hand. “There wouldn’t be anything that would make me think that.”

Luin’s gaze was firm as he shook his head in denial of her words.

Thea swallowed hard and looked away from that gaze that seemed almost sure that she wouldn’t want him around after he revealed his secrets. “I’ll be the judge of that,” she said stubbornly. “I’ve wanted to know more about your past and your background to better help you, but I didn’t want to push you to tell me until you were ready. It’s true that some dangerous things are happening that I can’t explain which seem to have a connection, but….” Thea turned back to look at Luin, her hands clutched tightly in her lap. “Please, tell me the full truth.”

Luin nodded. “As you wish. First and foremost, I am not what you think I am. The night before we first met was my first time walking freely in this world. Before that, I had slept in a small space adjacent to this plane. That small space happened to be at the top of a large clock tower.”

Thea’s eyes widened. Her first thought was that the child in front of her surely had an active imagination in addition to having genius-level intelligence, but that thought soon fell away as Luin’s voice remained steady. He seems to believe what he’s saying, but if it’s true, how could that be? Words escaped her, but Luin didn’t seem to expect a comment from her anyway and continued.

“I don’t exactly know what I am either, but I am not human—of that, I’m certain.” Luin closed his eyes for a moment, and when he opened them again, mana radiated from them. Mana then wrapped around his body as well. Then, as quickly as it came, the mana glow vanished. Luin looked down at his hand as the last of the glow faded. “I’m weak though. I wasn’t supposed to wake up yet. Powerful creatures tore open the space where I slept and tried to either capture or destroy me. But I escaped—just barely. My form became…this.” He looked down at his body.

Thea couldn’t believe what she was hearing. It was just a bit too out there. However, some of the odd things that had happened would fall neatly into place if everything he said was true. Sure, he showed that he had an enormous amount of mana to be able to show it over his body like that, but wouldn’t that mean he was a gifted magus as well as highly intelligent? It didn’t have to mean he wasn’t human? Did someone he knew before abuse him with the notion that he wasn’t human…or was less than human? That thought stirred anger in her chest.

Thea flinched as a knock came at the door, her thoughts interrupted.

“One moment. The other guest is here. He will need to hear the rest of what I have to say also.” Before Thea could ask, Luin hopped down from his chair and opened the door. And, of all people, Commander Hollendale entered the room.

“C-commander?” Strangely enough, Thea felt a bit numb at this point. Perhaps my body and mind have just had too many shocks today. But her voice still betrayed her confusion as to why he was here.

“Pardon me, Lady Thea. I received an invitation that I believed was in my best interest not to turn down.” He held a note in his hands. It was the same shape and size as the one Thea had received. Though she couldn’t make out what was written on it from across the room, she knew instinctively that it would likely be in Luin’s handwriting as hers had been.

“Have a seat, Commander.” Luin came back to his own seat and climbed back up. Once the commander took a seat to the side of both Thea and Luin, Luin began to explain. “The commander here has already come to witness some of the power and ability I have. Perhaps if he recounts it, you’ll believe what I’m telling you. That is…if the commander doesn’t mind revealing bits of his investigation.”

“He what? When?” Thea looked from the commander to Luin and back again. I was with him nearly all the time. When was there time for something so significant to happen and how did I miss it entirely?

Commander Hollendale cleared his throat and leaned back in his chair. “I heard what was said a bit earlier before I entered. I apologize for overhearing, but I can possibly back up the boy’s claims.” He crossed his arms over his broad chest. “Only the Emperor, his closest advisor, and soon my father know the details of my investigation. While I can’t share much, I can confirm that I was able to see this boy with my own skill, and he was even able to manipulate my skill.”

He what?!

The commander continued. “I can also confirm that the disturbance in the clock tower matches what he said, though I’m unsure if what I saw was truly him escaping from that attack or not. There is the connection of him appearing near your library that night and my witnessing something escape from the clock tower towards the direction of the East District.”

“And can you confirm that the culprits responsible for damaging the clock tower and Thea’s old apartments were not human but dangerous creatures that would be better suited to someone’s nightmares?” Luin asked.

A regretful expression crossed the commander’s face. “I can confirm that, yes.”

Thea had been leaning forward, but now, she let herself fall back against her chair. If the commander also agreed with this, who was she to deny the reality of it? Commander Hollendale was one of the most rational people she knew of—even the articles she read about him mentioned that fact, sometimes to a fault. The details she’d thought over earlier now coalesced into some equally outlandish conclusions, but she felt compelled to voice them no matter how ridiculous they sounded.

“So…what you’re saying is that you are a being who was asleep at the top of the clock tower in a plane not completely our own,” she said, “who was also attacked by monstrous creatures, and who took on the form of a boy before meeting me at the library that night?” It sounded even more ridiculous as soon as the words left her mouth.

“Yes, more or less,” said Luin matter-of-factly.

“And somehow,” Thea continued, “you have the ability to affect and control another person’s skill, even someone who’s as strong as the commander’s skill?” Her voice nearly squeaked at the end of her question.

“Yes.” Luin looked down at the table before meeting Thea’s eyes again. “And the night you took me in, I gave you a blessing, one that caused you to develop a skill of your own.”

Thea felt the blood drain from her face, her heart hammering in her chest. “B-but, I don’t have a skill. And only gods and saints can give blessings.” The last sentence was barely a mumble.

Suddenly, warmth registered on her hand. She turned and saw the commander had his hand over hers. “I know this may all be hard to believe. I also didn’t think I could believe what I’d seen at first. But the truth doesn’t care whether we believe it or not—it just is.”

It seemed the commander was taking this news strangely well, but even he was hesitant to believe that a skill had been awakened from Luin’s blessing in Thea without proof.

Without removing his hand from overtop hers, the commander turned to Luin. “After what I’ve seen, I wouldn’t put it past you to have been able to awaken a skill in someone, but there’s an easy way to tell if what you’re saying is true.” He turned back to Thea who was starting to feel warmth creeping back into her neck and cheeks but felt frozen and unable to remove her hand out from under the commanders. “Lady Thea, all you need to do is say the words Skill Identification to yourself. You can say it out loud or in your mind, but if you’ve never done it before, it may be best to try it out loud first.”

“Ah…okay. I will try.” Thea steeled herself. Excitement warred with dread as she both hoped this was all some kind of a joke and felt the old hope that she’d gain a skill like the rest of her family reawaken. She thought she’d truly given up that hope, but it seemed it didn’t take much to rekindle it.

“Skill identification,” Thea said. Her eyes widened as within her mind words began to form as if printed on an invisible page before her eyes. She had to close her eyes to keep from feeling dizzy since her mind wanted to focus on the words, but her eyes wanted to focus on the room around her.

Skill Name: Reading Comprehension

Skill Type: Passive

That was all there was, and soon the words faded, but it was enough to make Thea forget for a few seconds that she needed to breathe. When her lungs began complaining from the lack of air, she finally drew a gasping breath before saying, “I—I have a skill! I really do have a skill!” Her heart hammered in her chest, and soon her vision blurred around the edges. The room tilted sideways, and she heard both the commander and Luin shout her name before everything went black.