"And that is what happened."

Crowley took a final sip of his tea and carefully leaned forward to place the empty porcelain cup back on the table. He loosened his grip from the arms of his chair and gently stood up as he looked at his friend, a ghost from the past, in the eyes.

"I apologize, I know you love Hargeon. I shall leave immediately once we have secured what we came here for, Reign."

Reign, completely overwhelmed with emotions, rose up from his chair with a puzzled expression on his face. He did not know how to react to what he had just heard. To find out that his childhood friend was still alive after all these years was great news, but he had changed. Reign didn't blame him for it, after everything that he had just heard about. Still, he could not accept the fact that his childhood friend would get Hargeon intwined in this as well.

"Listen, Ar-" Before Reign could finish his sentence, Icarus stood in front of him. Icarus was no stranger to Reign. In the past, the two would often play games whenever Reign's father visited Crowley's father. The gentle expression that he used to carry on his face back then was long gone. The toll it took on Icarus to care for Crowley after the incident and ensure his safety for years without them finding out was a path of loneliness that he accepted. Reign knew very well that Icarus would've been able to abandon everything and move far away from Fiore to leave it all behind. While his gentleness had faded, his loyalty and idealism had not withered over the years it seemed.

"The reason I came here tonight is to extend a courtesy that I felt was obliged due to our past relationship. I did not expect you to accept it, Reign." Crowley turned around and placed his left hand on Icarus' shoulder, indicating that he should step aside in order to face Reign one last time. Almost automatically, Icarus positioned himself next to Crowley. While Reign tried to regain his composure to convince Crowley not to do what he had just shared, he felt one of Crowley's fingers on his forehead.

"Sleep, old friend. When you wake up, it'll all be over and we shall be gone again."

A bright light illuminated the entire room, quickly resulting into Reign dropping onto the floor and falling into a deep slumber. Icarus quickly grabbed Reign's head before it hit the floor and lifted him up over his shoulder.

"Place him carefully on the chair," Crowley said.

"Will he reveal your identity?" Icarus replied as he gently placed Reign back in his chair.

"He won't remember any of this when he wakes up again. I guess I felt a little bit nostalgic and wondered what he looked like after all these years." Crowley said with a tone of sentiment in his voice. He smiled and turned around, slowly walking towards the door.

"Satisfied?" Icarus curiously asked Crowley. He understood that seeing Reign was something that would bring back memories. It definitely brought back memories for Icarus.

As a young child, Icarus had been arrested by the Rune Knights for stealing an expensive ring from a wealthy lady. When she heard about what had happened and the boy's background, she requested the Rune Knights to release him since no harm was done in the end.

That night, she returned home with a young child in ragged clothes hiding behind her dress. Icarus could still remember peeking from behind her when they entered through the doors, staring at the face of a boy who seemed to be the same age as him. Without much delay, she ordered servants to bathe him, feed him, and give him a room of his own. Somehow, Icarus felt threatened by the situation, assuming the worst that could happen.

Despite knowing how he felt about it all, he could not help but feel tired when he placed his head on an actual pillow after years. Nevertheless, he had not survived all these years by putting down his guard. He convinced himself not to fall asleep, assuming that at any moment someone would come in the room to finally punish him for stealing her ring.

It was at that moment that he could hear the door open slowly. The room was dark and not much could be seen. Icarus clenched his fists, preparing himself mentally to fight back any servant who assumed that he would go down easily. Instead, the boy he saw before carefully entered the room. His face was only partly visible, but he could see a smile on his face. Icarus wanted to say something, but he noticed that the boy had a finger in front of his mouth to sign him to be quiet.

"I apologize, I did not want to wake you up. Mother told me to let you sleep, but I'm just excited to find out that you'll be my brother. My name is Arthurias, from this day on we shall look after each other, like brothers, right?" Icarus felt no sign of malice in the boy's voice, but didn't reply. The boy hopped onto Icarus' bed and pulled out an orb which started to glow, dimly lighting up the room.

As Arthurias sat in front of Icarus, he brought out a book from under his expensive robes. "I was going to read this book and thought that maybe we could read it together? Do you know how to read? It doesn't matter, I'll teach you! It's about a magician who roams across the world and rights the wrongs of others. His name is Crowley." That night, Icarus opened up a little bit, and the two spent all night reading the book till they fell asleep. Icarus longed those days.

"He turned out good. I'm pleased to find out he turned out different than I did."

"Ignorance is bliss. He would've been by your side on this path if you had shared the details of his father's death."

"He is safer this way. We need to return, Theseus should be on his way to Blue Pegasus now." With that said, the two disappeared as if they had never been in that room with Reign leaving only a single reminder in the form of an empty cup behind.