In the majestic palace of Kadianth, where shadows danced on walls of black marble, Alister sat upon a throne of intertwined bones. His crimson eyes never left old Marcus, who stood leaning on his staff.
"So... tell me about that boy who was called Jacob," said Alister in his hoarse voice.
Marcus smiled a bitter smile: "Do you truly wish to hear the story of a human boy? Or are you searching for a crack in my disciple's armor?"
"Just tell me, barbarian," replied Alister, a dangerous glint in his eyes.
Marcus steadied himself, his eyes meeting the Prince's in a silent challenge: "Very well... Let me tell you a story of two friends... one killed by his loyalty, and the other being killed by guilt..."
Marcus took a step forward, his staff making a solemn sound on the marble. "But before that, you must understand something about Arion... He is not merely a broken entity."
"He is a shattered mirror... every fragment reflects someone who played a role in his formation. And the Jacob fragment..." Marcus paused, his voice softening, "It's the most painful, because it's the fragment in which he sees all that could have been, and all that will never be."
Alister pressed his fingers against the armrest of the throne until the bone nearly cracked. "Continue."
"Arion carries within him a graveyard of fragments. Each represents a part of his soul that is shaped by someone he loved. But Jacob is different..." Marcus bowed his head, "Jacob didn't just die... he transformed into a jailer in Arion's internal prison."
"The other fragments remind him of the past and connect him to the present... but the Jacob fragment punishes him like an executioner who sees him as unworthy of life. It is what prevents him from eating, from sleeping, from living. Because Arion is convinced he does not deserve life, while Jacob is dead."
Marcus raised his eyes, in them a look of one who knows he is revealing one of his disciple's greatest secrets. "And herein lies the tragedy, Prince... Arion is not trying to piece his fragments together. Rather, he believes that his worthiness of life is measured by the number of broken fragments inside of him."
" How many of those fragments does he have?" Alister asked with a tilted head
With a shake of his head, Marcus said, " More than he can bear and much less than he deserves."
He was silent for a moment, then added in a sharper tone: "And he believes the Jacob fragment is the price of his sin that he must pay forever."
---
**Back at he present time, where Arion and Evelyn sit before the flickering fire.**
Arion took a deep breath, his eyes gleaming in the firelight. "I haven't told you yet how I met Jacob..." he began in a quiet voice carrying years of pain.
"In Ashwood village... I was never liked." He smiled a bitter smile. "Everyone feared me because of the incident of my birth. That day I was born amidst crimson lightning showers... they thought I was the devil's child."
"But everything changed that day..." Arion continued, his eyes shining with a distant memory. "I was fighting with one of the village children, and it was as usual - everyone was watching, the adults were laughing, and the children seized the opportunity to hurt me."
"And amidst the beating, they discovered something astonishing..." Arion's voice held a slight mockery. "No supernatural powers came out of me, the kid who hit me wasn't struck by lightning, the world didn't end. I was just a child being hit like any other child."
"And here, their fear turned to anger..." Arion's eyes lit up with the fire of the past. "I became a toy for everyone. Even young children were encouraged by their parents to shun me. And I refused to run... I refused to show them fear."
"Julia would wait for me every week..." his voice became gentler. "She would tend to my wounds and try to persuade me to hide, to run, or even to seek protection. But I didn't listen. Little by little... I was no longer the only injured child among the children after the fights."
"Then came that fateful day..." Arion adjusted his sitting position, as if preparing for the most important part of the story. "Guests came to the village to buy weapons from Isaac. And among them was a boy... that boy who would change everything."
"I was lying on the ground, a group of children beating me..." Arion's eyes shone with a clear memory. "And a boy was approaching to kick my face. I closed my eyes, waiting for the pain..."
"But the kick never came..." Arion's voice carried surprise as if he were reliving the moment. "Instead, I heard a thud, then screams. I opened my eyes to see a strange boy jumping over me, kicking that child in the face!"
"For the first time in my life..." Arion whispered as if telling a great secret. "Someone stood by my side. I got up and joined him, and we fought together. And we... were victorious."
"That boy was Jacob." Arion finished his story with a look at Evelyn. "And from that moment, I knew there was at least one person in this world... who wasn't afraid of me."
---
Evelyn stared at him with wide eyes, then whispered: "Why didn't you tell Isaac what was happening?"
Arion shook his head: "Because I knew he would intervene. And I wanted to prove to myself first... that I deserved protection. Also, at that time, I knew how broken he was, so I didn't want to add to his burdens."
---
Evelyn looked at him with deep empathy, her eyes glistening in the firelight. "But... wouldn't Isaac have understood? Wasn't it his right to know what you were going through?"
Arion gazed into the fire for a long time, as if seeing images of the past in the flames. "Isaac... carried his own sorrows. I saw it in his eyes every night when he thought I was asleep. How could I ask a man who had lost everything... to carry my burdens too?"
He pulled his knees to his chest, a defensive movement as if he were still that frightened child. "I preferred to bear the pain alone, rather than see the look of pity in his eyes. I feared that his sorrow for me would become... another burden weighing him down."
"And in the end..." he added in a faint voice, "that suffering was making me a stronger person. Every blow, every insult... reminded me that the world is cruel, and that I must be stronger than it."
Evelyn gently reached out her hand, but stopped before touching him. "But Jacob... why did you accept his help?"
For the first time, Arion smiled sincerely. "Because Jacob didn't offer me pity. He offered me a partnership. He didn't *help* me because I was weak, he fought *with* me because I deserved to be fought for."
"In that moment..." he continued, his voice filling with nostalgia, "I knew there was a big difference between someone who protects you because you are weak... and someone who fights *with* you because you are strong enough to be a partner."
"And that's why..." he concluded with a penetrating look at Evelyn, "I didn't tell Isaac. Because some battles we must fight ourselves... to truly know who we are."
---
The silence that followed was different this time - it wasn't a heavy silence, but one filled with understanding. Evelyn asked no more questions, but her eyes said everything: she understood.
Anyway, let's continue.
---
**The scene changes to a vivid memory flowing in Arion's mind...**
Jacob was jumping around Arion like an unquenchable fire, his words flowing as fast as lightning. "And we finally managed to defeat thirteen children together! Can you imagine? Thirteen! I thought we were going to die, but you were amazing!"
Arion, unaccustomed to such closeness, was trying to step back step by step, but Jacob pursued him like his shadow. "I heard they call you 'Son of the Devil'..." Jacob suddenly stopped with sparkling eyes. "That's an imposing title! It's a pity I don't have a similar one... but I'll get one someday!"
Arion responded only with brief words: "Yes," "No," "Maybe." But Jacob didn't need more than that to keep chattering.
---
When they reached Isaac's house, they found an old man talking with Isaac
He was Jacob's village chief.
"Think about it, Isaac..." the Chief was saying in a persuasive tone. "Staying here isn't good for a child his age. You see how they treat him. Move to our village... there he will play with other children, and he will live as someone his age should live."
Isaac sighed deeply. "I would like to accept your offer, but I'm not the only one who cares for him. There's Julia... she's like a mother to him. And he won't want to leave her."
"I have actually offered him to leave many times."
The man said with a smile: "Well then, what do you think about him coming with us for two weeks? Until you finish buying materials from the capital and making the weapons. And when you deliver them to our village, you can let him choose."
"And also..." the man added jokingly, "with this little devil named Jacob, he'll get a brother!"
Isaac shook his head, convinced by the man's words. "Alright..."
---
Suddenly, a child's shout cut through the silence.
"Wait! Don't believe him! I am not a devil..." shouted Jacob, pointing at his father. "The Village Chief is the real devil! He forces me to go home, and sometimes stops me from playing!"
Isaac turned to see Jacob and Arion standing together, and then shook the Village Chief's hand and said: "It seems we have an agreement."
---
Arion looked at Jacob and smiled sincerely for the first time. "Didn't you say you didn't have a title? He called you the Little Devil!"
Jacob got angry and started chasing Arion, who began running and laughing. And that was the first time Isaac heard Arion's genuine laughter... and it was enough to convince him that this trip might be the best thing for his adoptive son.
**In that moment, under the sky of Ashwood village, two little devils ran... one chasing the other, both laughing as if the whole world had become theirs.**