Back in Crocus, before Sage went on a journey to Orichidia...

  Both Sage's feet were resting on his desk crossing each other, his body well rested on a roller chair, both his elbows were leaning on the chair's arm and his hands were holding a book about a seraph and a demon who fell in love but being together would mean suicide to both of them, it was quite a fascinating story about how vicious the cycle of love is but for the thirst of some drama and literature he would continue reading it although the people in the headquarters that caught him reading a book like that sent him uncomfy vibes.

 It was quite an honour for him to have his own office, considering he did many parts of the investigation and solved most of them. That day there were no cases so he would just slack off and read his book. The serene mood was then interrupted as he could hear the sound of footsteps running towards his door, his eyes would roll up and a sigh of "Ughh" would escape his mouth, he knew what's to come, a crime must have happened, something very recent due to the fast steps because why would someone rush over if he doesn't have anything to tell except for things that just happened. As the door of his office opened by a fellow knight Sage asked him, "What is it this time?" his tone rather bored and annoyed, the knight was trying to catch his breath, Sage could see the sweat on his forehead making a thought that the knight was from somewhere out of the headquarters, he started to get a little bit more serious, he stood up and placed the book he was reading on his desk, waiting for a bad news to come.

 It was a bad news, the knights were roaming through the woods near Crocus and found a dead body, and the weird thing was the condition of the corpse. Sage and the knight ran towards the scene where they found the body, it was a good thing that it was found by the rune knights and not the citizens or not things might turn uglier which means more work and headache for him. 

  They arrived at the scene and the condition of the body was quite horrific, the body's skin was purple in colour, parts of it burned and turned into black, his eye sockets were empty, and was also his mouth, no teeth nor tongue could be seen.

 It was a strange sight but that didn't make him back away, he leaned closer and closed his right palm and opening it again, a light orb formed and the intensity of the light's like a flashlight's, he brought the light orb closer to the corpse, lighting its skin, the tiny little capillaries could be seen like usual but something was not normal with it, he then had a thought, he unwidened the witdth of his hand that was controlling the light orb and the light orb's size decreases into one of a marble, he then slowly pushed it into the corpse's mouth and soon after that the corpse's head was glowing like a bulb's would. 

 He broke the light orb's spell and it disappeared, he stood up and releases a sigh, his thought was right, the insides of the victim was burned into nothingness and he read about this curse once, a curse that could only be done by one who has contracted with darkness itself. "Find out whose body this is and report it to the family, but don't make a fuss about it, act swiftly, we don't want the whole city to panic," he said to the other rune knights not telling them anything else as he was betrayed once and not going to repeat the same mistake again.

 He headed back to his office, and it has been 12 hours since he observed the corpse, files and papers about similar cases was laying on his office floor as well as notes about the curse that he could recall from the book he read back when he visited the elven city. 

 He was standing in the middle of them all, trying to find a connection, then a knock could be heard on his door, "Come in," he said without his eyes turning away from all the files and papers as he didn't want to lose any of the possible connections, someone came in, it was some random knight, he gave Sage a bag containing a peculiar batch, "We found this near the crime scene, hope it'll help," then he left closing the door. Sage observed the batch, he felt like he'd seen the batch before, purple in color with golden linings with the shape of a goat with four eyes.

 He then knew where he saw it, he ran out of his office, down the headquarter's hall and into the top secret files area where only permitted individuals could enter, the people guarding the area knew him well and let him pass through easily, he then shooted for the files, grabbing the one titled, 'Umbras'. 

 He opened the file, and he was right, a dark guild with the four-eyed goat who uses forbidden curses and became a threat for awhile but suddenly stopped without no trace and reason, he quickly went to the last page of the file and a man was fighting the dark guild mages and successfully defeated them but was then died because of a horrible curse. The curse was different this time, it wasn't like the one Sage witnessed today.

 He brought the file to his office thinking about what happened to the guild after the man killed some of their members, it would be a definite lie if they retreated for years just because a few of their members died, he believed that there must be something that happened, something he didn't know, he checked the man who was cursed by the Umbra's profile, he was married, had a son and lived happily, his attention then moved to the light blue but with slight violet son, with his honey-yellow eyes, something, he felt something different when he looked at the picture, he then wentt out of his office to ask one of the secretaries, "Hey can you help me find where Aurelion Soleil was last seen?", and on that day he embarked to Orichidia, which was very close to Crocus.

Aurelion was content with the prize he won from the ring toss stall, after getting a beverage to cool himself off he was constantly looking at the pink plushie kitten. He wasn't one for children's toys, but this was the reward he deserved so many years ago, and he enjoyed fiddling around with it. He was once again wearing his sleeveless hoodie like the day before, but this time he decided to change into black tight shorts instead of long ones, the day was much more warm than yesterday.

As he finished his refreshment, he threw it at a trash can and continued on his way. At some point he started hearing people whispering about an elf passing by, an elf, I've heard some are as beautiful as angels themselves, he thought in excitement, maybe he could find a way to meet that person. Looking through the crowd, some people were walking, others were laughing, but some were staring at a certain direction, Aurelion trailed their gaze and saw the blonde-haired elf, found you, he thought and chuckled in content.

Making way through the crowd, he managed to get close enough to take his first look at a living elf. His blonde hair had a unique style and a few strands seemed to be at the height of his waist, Aurelion's gaze went travelled to the boy's eyes, one light-blue and the other blue. Aurelion was standing frozen in awe while watching the elf walk in his kimono, a perfect match for his light-blue eye. Aurelion then noticed his pointy ears, they were slighty facing downwards something he found really cute and couldn't resist wanting to touch them. Without realizing his own actions, he walked up to the elf and watching him directly in his eyes with his own yellow ones, he raised his finger and touched the boy's left ear. It didn't feel as soft as Requiem's, but then again she was a neko and her ears had fur around them, but it was still soft to the touch and Aurelion felt it slightly twitch on the touch of his finger. "So cute!" he exclaimed as some passersby turned to look at him with a confused looked. Realizing what he just did, Aurelion blushed severely as his eyes opened wide, "I'm so sorry! I don't know what came over me, but I had a strong urge to touch your ear." he said as he quickly withdrew his hand and slightly backed away from the blonde.

He was still repeating to himself, saying 'blue hair' over and over again on his mind, as he glanced on one side what he saw made him stop doing whatever he was doing, it was as if the whole world froze, he saw a pair of eyes yellow as honey looking into his, a few moments later he realized that the man he was looking at was standing inches away from him touching his ear, and it would twitch because he was surprised, usually when someone touches him especially strangers, he would smack their hands and push them far away from him as possible but for a reason that he didn't know, he didn't.

His cheeks turned red when he was called cute, especially because it was said by someone very hot, The man then apologizes for doing what he did, then he would notice the man's hair, it was blue with a few streaks of violet, his hair was a little wavy at the end too which made it him look more gorgeous, the height the man has also made Sage feel more infatuated towards him, then it hits him, it was the man he was looking for all this time, right in front of his eyes.

In just a split second all those information came racing through his mind and this is where his anxiety comes, he knew he should react very soon but what should he say first? To forgive the man and said it was fine or to say that he's a rune knight and was searching for him, he then thought that forgiving the man first would be more appropriate but then a sudden thought came to his mind explaining how awkward it would be when Sage has to say that he was actually looking for him, but then another thought came making things worse, saying that it would make him look very scary and creepy to a hot guy if he said that he was looking for him.

All this happened in just a few moments and without noticing, he was baffling with his mouth open and eyes widened nervously, his hands were fidgeting here and there, "Umm umm," then he took a hold of himself and looked at the man, which made him feel even more nervous due to the man's beauty, "it's okay I get that a lot," while trying to put on his best smile not trying  to look stupid or anything.

Aurelion was still feeling embarrassed because of his previous action, he was getting that quite often still, acting on impulse and not thinking first, but he was trying to keep it in check, how could he though when the elf in front of him was so handsome and the urge to touch his ear was unparalleled. It did give him quite the surprise seeing the boy react in such a way, as if he lost his words, maybe Aurelion touched a nerve or something and he damaged the blonde, he wasn't certain himself as he had never seen an elf before in his life.

Finally he heard the boy respond, he gets that a lot huh, Aurelion thought, maybe elves aren't that common after all, Aurelion chuckled in amusement while looking at the elf's eyes, "This is my first time seeing an elf, and a handsome one at that, and I acted on impulse because of it. Again, I'm sorry!" he said. Aurelion didn't mind admitting openly that he thought the boy was handsome, after all he might never see him again, for all he knew the person could just be a traveller that came to enjoy the festival. "I'm Aurelion, probably a name you'll associate with awkwardness after this event." he said in a soft voice while smiling at the boy, "Can I know yours, so I can brag about meeting an elf and having touched his ear?" he continued letting out a giggle after finishing his sentence and waited for the boy's response.

Someone that act without thinking first, for no reason at all, Sage found this attribute quite attractive, but then his wise mind told him again, to be careful, memories of his past love was about to be shown by his mind but then when he heard the blue-haired man saying his name, Aurelion, his past memories couldn't take the space in his mind, it was the first time something like that happened but again, he must be careful or bad things will happen, again.

Despite the affection and infatuation he's having towards Aurelion, he told himself to suck it up and be professional, his personality changes, it always does when he's doing his work, well at least that's how he sees it, whenever he's working on a case he would treat people in a way that he wouldn't do when he's not. "I'm Sage, and I believe we'll see more of each other after this." He said giving the man a small smile, he then moved his left hand to the right arm of the man, looking him into the eyes then moving his mouth he said, "I was actually looking for you.".

Sage, that is quite the name, Aurelion thought as he saw the elf look into his own, their eyes locked onto each others. Aurelion was slightly shocked after hearing the boy's words, he just mentioned that they'll see more of each other after this meeting, and that he was looking for him. Why would someone look for Aurelion, he wasn't a man of importance, not yet anyway, he was just a bartender and an untrained mage he couldn't make any connection.

He looked at the boy's blonde hair again, then his eyes "Sage." he whispered softly, "Wait, Sage?! The Rune Knight?" he exclaimed as his eyes widened. Aurelion had read about the mage in the wizard weekly, apparently he was regarded highly for solving a series of crimes, not to mention he was the paper's favourite with his charming looks and whatnot. Now Aurelion remembered, he had looked at his picture some months ago, and he got the same feeling when looking at it back then, like he did now, he wanted to touch his ears, that's why he had acted on impulse.

"I'm sorry for the slight yelling, but what could a member of the Knights have to do with me?" Aurelion asked, he was certain he didn't commit any crimes, after all he was always trying to be lawful and mindful of those around him, he wasn't someone to stir trouble, in contrast he wanted to avoid it. "Am I guilty of something?" he continued in a softer voice than before and looking at the man's eyes he waited patiently for his reply.

He forgot how famous he was until Aurelion mentioned that he was a rune knight, "W-Well yeah yeah," he said, his eyes looking away for a moment and looked back at those honey eyes, his hand now letting go of the man's arm. He also found the situation quite embarrassing as Aurelion was about 3 inches taller than him, he also found it adorable and also felt a little guilty when the blue haired man asked him if he did something wrong, "Oh no no no, you did nothing wrong, your file's clean," he then looked sideways, in his eyes fear could be seen, he was afraid to ask the innocent mage something that might be very sensitive to him plus they were on a festival and things should be all warm and happy.

"Umm, I think this is not a good time," he looked back at Aurelion, taking a short but powerful breath to get himself focused and turned his 'detective mode' on, "I'm sorry for disturbing you, you seemed like you were enjoying your time here," he stops for awhile and looked at the sky, seeing what time it was and it was a few hours till daybreak, "Meet me tonight at 12, at the cafe down the street, I heard that it's open for 24 hours, we need to talk about something really important and you can't say no, this is an order from a rune knight." Saying this made his ears turn red, for someone that seemed younger than Aurelion and shorter too to give him commands made him feel embarrassed even more, his ears would now point upwards to make himself feel more confident and also due to the amount of blood gushing to it which was also the cause of the redness at his ears.

He then turned around with a face that's trying to look serious and he vanished quickly into the crowds, his face red with embarrassment, not wanting it to be awkward he ran into a place safe somewhere where the gorgeous looking man couldn't find him, he went into the cherry blossom woods where his speed would increase due to the in-tune he has with nature, he went straight to his hotel room and once he's in he jumped on his bed, his face covered by a pillow, he then turned around laying on his back, and he was catching his breath, "Oh God," he said moving his left arm onto his forehead and placing his right hand on his stomach, relaxing his mind body and soul.

Aurelion was examining the boy with his eyes, he appeared to be shorter than him and younger, making Aurelion wonder about his age. He must be a prodigy in magic, he thought, after all someone so young to be a part of the Rune Knights was a big deal, who knows what miracles he could pull off. Aurelion seemed to warm up to the idea of meeting another one of them, maybe his connections with the Knights proved fruitful one day.

However, at this moment Aurelion was thoroughly confused, if his file was clean then what was a rune knight doing at the festival searching for him. Not to mention all the blushing from the elf's side was making Aurelion a bit embarrassed, was it because of his looks that made the boy act they way he did, he wondered for a moment. He found Sage to be quite attractive, after all the smile he gave him a moment ago was reason enough to be around him, Aurelion blushed for a moment before the elf spoke. He heard him say that it wasn't the right time to talk and that Aurelion should enjoy the festival first, but the only thing the boy could think of was what is the matter, that a ranked member of the Knights had been searching for him.

His questions would apparently be answered tonight at twelve at the nearby cafe, Aurelion decided to do as he was told and didn't inquire any further, he only waved goodbye to Sage as he quickly left, losing sight of him through the crowd, "I'll see you tonight." Aurelion whispered all alone now. Looking around, he found a stall with food, had some lunch and headed home for the day.

Some hours later he started getting ready for their appointment, the more Aurelion thought of the elf the more red he was getting, maybe he wanted to meet me at night and have a date, he wondered by himself as he had a severe blush on his cheeks, losing the thought after a while, why would a rune knight be interested in him after all. Wearing his purple and blue flowing robes and a black velvet cloak on top, he headed outside. Date or not the mage had a serious tone in his voice, so Aurelion decided to be a bit more professional with his clothes this time.

Arriving at the designated place he walked in just as the clock rang midnight, he didn't want to make the boy wait, whether it was business or just conversation. Aurelion was nervous as he was taking steps inside the cafe, the lady there asked him if he'd want a table for himself or for two, nodding and gesturing her to wait, he continued looking around for the blonde hair and the pointy ears, where are you Sage, he thought as he took a deep breath.

He was looking at himself in the mirror of his bathroom hotel room since it was the biggest mirror they had in the hotel room, he was wearing his grey sweatpants and his black hoodie, he then started to judge himself, he looked like an emotional guy with no purpose in life that only smokes weed all day long plus the natural drunkard's eye he has. He didn't want to look like that, especially since he was about to meet with someone he liked, but he must wear the hoodie to not reveal his identity that much, he looked at himself again in the mirror;

There he was walking the streets at night alone wearing his black hoodie, covering his hair and ears but not his different coloured eyes, his hands were resting themselves in the hoodie's pocket trying to keep himself warm from the cold chilly night. Once he arrived at the cafe he saw Aurelion waiting, and he was wearing something that didn't match with Sage's at all, he could already feel the awkwardness laying ahead, but then he would tell himself, it's okay, just one night, it's midnight, no one will notice, once he arrived at the door he looked at Aurelion, his blue hair still leave him in awe then he looked at the lady worker, "A table for two please,".

After being led to a small table with two chairs, Sage took a sit and immediately ordered his favourite drink, "A cup of hot earl grey tea please," and waited for Aurelion to order his drink, if he'd like to order something, his chin resting on both his hands, and his hands overlapping one another, both his elbow resting on the table, he looked at Aurelion then at the table, he had been preparing himself for this moment, because on the inside he didn't want to do this, he knew this subject would be too sensitive, but his mind told him that he must do it, it's a part of his job, "I'm here to talk about what happened to your father." and waited for the man's response, hoping that Aurelion would cooperate and won't make him hate him.

As Aurelion kept searching for the blonde he suddenly heard a voice behind him ask for a table for two. He recognized that voice, it was Sage, his voice left a deep impression in the blue-haired mage's mind and he wasn't going to forget any time soon. Aurelion smiled as he followed the elf to the table appointed by the waitress and took a better look at him. His sweat pants and hoodie didn't seem to be part of a date, so that was void as an idea, Aurelion blushed slightly at that thought, he was all dressed up thinking that something interesting might occur tonight but it was probably something else, and something important as Sage didn't seem to be his embarrassed self like in the morning, at least that's what was going through Aurelion's head.

As they sat down, Aurelion placed his elbows on both of the chair's arms, touching his cheek with his right hand and allowing the left one to touch the wooden surface of the arm while sitting cross-legged, his robe was comfortable enough for him to move around freely, and soft enough to give him even more comfort while sitting. He had his eyes placed on Sage's during this whole time, hearing him order some tea he turned to the waitress and said, "I'll have some lavender tea myself, thank you." as he turned to look back at Sage again.

As the waitress left, Aurelion heard the man saying that he would like to talk about his father. "My father? What about him?" he asked as his eyes widened and froze for a few moments, he wanted to hear the next words that would come out of the elf's mouth, this was a critical time for him.

Sage took a deep breath with his mouth, his eyes on the table not looking at Aurelion's as he couldn't bear to see it, he felt like stabbing himself a million times for bringing this topic up, but he must do it, it's for the best, "Your father's case was the last case that had to do anything with this one dark guild, Umbras," he'd say the name of the guild as in a whisper, as he was afraid if someone overheard him and things might not go smoothly, he then looked at Aurelion in the eye, Sage was gone, what's there was a wise rune knight investigating a murder scene. "We couldn't track the members of that guild ever since that night," he explained further stopping for a while as the waitress came with their cups of tea, "Thank you," he say to the waitress looking at her in the eyes while smiling, taking the cup of tea straight from her hands, then turning back to Aurelion hearing the waitress shrieking with glee, which was something very normal to Sage. he took a sip of his tea holding the cup with both his hands then continued where he left, "Have you seen them or perhaps know what happened to them after that night?" he said looking at Aurelion in the eyes not blinking, aware of Aurelion's every movement trying to detect any hint of lies.

Aurelion's jaw dropped and he was left with his mouth open wide, his face took the form of someone terrified but angry the same time. He started trembling as he heard about his father and a dark guild both in the same sentence, and now he also had a name, Umbras. "So they are the ones that murdered my family." he said as he clenched his teeth and fists, he was angry but at the same time his eyes teared up. In one single night he lost everything, he forgot how his life was before and had to move places in secret with his mother so they can live free of the danger of being assassinated as well.

The waitress arrived with their orders, Aurelion tried to compose himself as he took the teacup out of her hands, taking a sip of the sweet yellow liquid, it had quite the aromatic fragrance but he couldn't pay attention to that now, there were bigger things at stake. "If you mean the ones with black cloaks and a four-eyed goat emblem." he said and stopped as the first tear run through his cheek, it was hot as his blazing heart at this moment, his head was about to explode with all the memories flooding in. "I remember them quite vividly, and I assure you they didn't stop at my father." he said and clenching his teeth to try and find his composure he continued, "They hunted me and mother down, they managed to find our tracks some years later, and attempted to assassinate both of us to get their revenge.". Aurelion hit his fist on the table "My parents took down quite a lot of them, they underestimated them, especially my mother, but they succeeded after all in getting rid of her as well." he said as his voice grew deeper and his eyes more dark and twisted, he was angered beyond compare. If they were on the hunt again, he would be there to greet them.

It was too much to take, the emotional energy there, once he heard how the horrific guild killed both his parents, he couldn't keep it up, his mask of a wise rune knight disintegrated as soon as his own eyes would tear up, Sage looked like he was about to cry, his mouth now left hanging open, his whole body frozen, then slowly a single tear would start to run down his cheeks from his left eye, after a few seconds then he would notice this, wiping it away with his sleeve then start drinking his earl grey to help him with the situation, the bitter and a little bit of soury taste the tea had did help him. 

He couldn't look at Aurelion now, embarrassed of himself for bringing that topic up. he then focused on what Aurelion had just said, remembering that he said they underestimated his mother, this brought up the curiosity of Sage as well as his deep interest in magic, covering the sad feeling he had, he controlled his face's muscles and started to narrow his eyes and looked at Aurelion, now the wise rune knight appeared again, "What happened, what did your mother do?".

Aurelion managed to calm himself down after his rampage, seeing how the rune knight was also sympathizing with him made him return to his former self. He wiped away his tears and drank some of his tea, it had cooled off by now and he was able to savor its sweet taste in a bigger sip. Sitting there with his cup raised to the height of his mouth he took a deep breath of its scent, lavender is supposed to be relaxing after all, and luckily it did show to have some effect on Aurelion's mood.

Lowering his teacup, he heard Sage wonder about what his mother did during their fight. Aurelion placed the cup on the table and run his right hand through his hair looking outside. The sky was clear that night and he could see the stars and the moon. "Look at the sky outside." he said, his head didn't move an inch as he continued looking at the stars. "Do you see the stars and the moon? Shining brightly on us humans." he said, letting out a sigh as he continued explaining the origin of his family's magic. The universe, the stars and planets, they were his family's magic, she was an astromancer and an astrologian. She could see the future in the stars, the night sky was a map for her, she could never lose her way, but she could also call on their power in times of need. "And so she did, she brought down the heavens' wrath merging it with her own for hunting down her family...That's what my mother was capable of." he said in a serious tone while looking at his tea and then back at Sage.

On the inside, Sage was actually glad that Aurelion got over it pretty quick, well it had been years now since the incident and he must've gotten over it and grew stronger. He then was asked to look at the night sky, which he did, turning his head towards the beautiful night sky, he always likes the stars and everything else in space, they were very beautiful and he could find peace in them every time he looks at them, then hearing what her mother could do amazes Sage more than ever, back in the elven library he did read about Cosmic magic and how deadly and powerful they could be, he then understood it, he had what he wanted, what happened to the dark guild ever since, how they tracked the Soleil family and how the mother stopped them,

He closes his eyes his hands still holding his cup, he was thinking, without opening his eyes he took a sip of the tea, finishing it, dropped the cup back on the table then opening his eyes, a worried look now on his face, a thought budded on his mind, that the returning members of the dark guild must have a plan to hunt Aurelion, he looked at Aurelion, "How good are you at defending yourself?".

The question came as somewhat of a shock to Aurelion. How good was he at defending himself, well the truth was that he couldn't defend himself at all with his magic. Stirring the inside of his teacup he looked for a moment at the small whirpool that was formed before looking back at Sage, "Not good at all." he said as he left a sigh. Could his question mean that those people were on the hunt again, what did they even want from Aurelion, he couldn't really connect the pieces, was it just revenge that drove them, but after so many years why couldn't they just forget about that matter. Aurelion had so many questions unanswered but was also scared of getting an answer back.

Closing his eyes for a moment he explained how after his mother's death he was left to fend for himself, but he never really had to participate in a fight. He was getting jobs at the local bakeries or bars of whatever town he visited, he was just trying to make a living, he did go on mage quests but only the easy ones those that didn't include combat at all. "You see my mother trained me after my father's death, but I just didn't have the time to continue after she was gone." he added as a sad expression took over his face, he now wished he'd get at least some training so that he could protect himself.

When Sage heard that Aurelion couldn't defend himself he started to worry and he knew that he, Sage, is the only who could protect him now, the upper ranks would see this as a minor thing and won't protect Aurelion properly just like cases before, then knowing that Aurelion could at least know how to conjure basic spells left Sage a little bit less worried then as he knew it would be easier to train him, he looked at Aurelion in the eyes, taking a deep breath and moved his mouth, "You see, recently in Crocus there had been a murder and we found this badge near the crime scene." he had taken the four-eyed goat badge from his pocket and placed it on the table only for awhile though just enough for Aurelion could see it, then pulled it back into his pocket, "The victim was hit by a horrific malice spell," he said using adjectives not wanting to describe the disgusting condition of the body, "and the victim was someone whose uncle once imprisoned a high member of their guild who broke out on the same night he was put into jail," he leaned closer towards Aurelion now, "I believe your'e in danger and I am here to protect you and to train you.", he ended and looked at those honey eyes, it was very spectacular to watch and thinking that those eyes might vanish from reality frightens him, "Will you, Aurelion Soleil, take me, Sage Elm, as your protector?" he said with his voice honest and serene like a flower blooming at daybreak after a stormy night.

Aurelion heard Sage speak of a murder near the capital of Fiore as he took out a badge and showed it to him. The four-eyed goat, that was it, Aurelion looked at it intensely for a few seconds his muscles tensed and his gaze and mind fixed on it. They hit once again, and after his mother's sacrifice they were sending more people to the grave now. Sage managed to take the emblem away from Aurelion's eyes right on time, before he got hotblooded again, he wanted to destroy that guild for good now that it resurfaced once more.

Hearing of the story behind the murder, Aurelion was shocked at how vicious these people were even being able to put out of jail one of their members overnight. "Can I do anything to help?" Aurelion asked but his words faded away as Sage talked. He wanted to protect him and train him, but Aurelion couldn't help and wonder why would a member of the rune knights take such interest in him and be his personal guard. Before he could speak his mind a question came out of Sage's mouth, would he have him as his guardian.

Aurelion was sitting there with his mouth wide open, didn't that just sound like a proposal and a serious one, he thought as he looked at the elf's face. "All this sounds a bit surreal, a high-ranked member of the Rune Knights wants to be my personal guard and train me? Why would you go through this ordeal, I'm not a noble or anyone of importance for that matter." he said as he looked at the boy's eyes, besides isn't he younger than me, he thought as confused took over in his eyes.

Hearing Aurelion question Sage made him let out a little laugh, it wasn't that clever to question him things as he would easily answer that question, he'd move his right hand and placed it on Aurelion's cheek, which was actually very delicate but the feelings he had was stronger, he then locked his eyes with Aurelion's, "No, you do matter, every single soul does," as a natural poet, the way he said this was full of emotions, that sentence sounded like the silver lining in the sky during twilight, he would then continue, "So do you or do you not?", waiting for Aurelion to answer the question he previously asked, his hand still on his cheek, at this point the feelings that drove him to this stage overpowered his anxiety, having only meeting Aurelion that day but already having physical contacts with him, then to think that if his answer was to be no, the possibility for him to get assassinated hurts Sage so bad it made him tear up again, a single elven tear running across his right cheek, but it didn't matter, his eyes didn't even blink, it just kept looking at those honey eyes waiting for an answer.

Aurelion was at a loss of words, he saw Sage's hand move towards him as he stood still and he felt his fingers run through his cheek caressing him. Aurelion blushed and his first reaction was to pull away from his hand but he didn't want to do that, he looked at his eyes, so beautiful, he thought, his heart was beating faster and faster with excitement could he have that boy as his guardian, he'd definitely spend more time with him that way and he didn't want to let an offer like that go to waste. Hearing his words he was further entranced by Sage, every soul counts he said, so Aurelion was important, after his mother passing away he didn't seem to be important to anyone and now this elf right here was telling him otherwise.

Another question came from Sage, a yes or a no, Aurelion raised his left hand and hold Sage's hand in his palm, his head was lowered down and his eyes looked on the table for a second before raising his head again looking at Sage as a tear was falling down on his cheek, "I do Sage, I want you as my guardian, please take good care of me." he said with a smile as he closed his eyes from happiness.

As Sage could feel Aurelion's warm hand on his palm, his heart throbbed, it was a supernatural feeling he was having he couldn't process his feelings at that moment, as he knew he could feel what others around him feels and from experiences he knew that when he's emotional, it was hard for him to differentiate which feelings his and which is others'. As Aurelion looked down on the table, Sage prayed to the Elven Fathers to give Aurelion wisdom and know what's best for him which is to accept Sage as his guardian, when Aurelion looked up, and when the words i do coursed through his tongue Sage jumped and went to hug him, tears of relief running down his left cheek, but his right cheek dry, "Thank you," he said, his arms around Aurelion, holding him close, he then let go of him, just realized how much he wept, he quickly wiped it with his sleeves, "Now that's quite embarrassing," he'd joke about it saying it with a little laugh then looked at Aurelion but now with a set of eyes that're relieved, "Sorry if I scared you or anything by doing this, I know we've known each other for just a short while and it's very hard for me to open up so weirdly in front of, umm, I could say stranger,", he'd say even though it doesn't make any sense, Sage always talk nonsense when he's emotional or embarrassed and in this case both of it, what he meant to say was that he didn't meant to scare Aurelion and act weird suddenly in front of him, and acting weird in front of someone he barely knew is something Sage never did in his entire life until now.

Aurelion wasn't expecting Sages next actions, as he opened his eyes after smiling he saw the boy run up to him, hugging and thanking him for being positive to his proposal. He saw Sage wipe the tears off his face with his sleeve but he seemed to have missed a part. Aurelion chuckled still sitting on his chair and felt some stares from the people around them, he didn't give it much thought though, after all it's not like those guys did anything wrong, they were just happy. Aurelion raised his left hand wiping the last tear away from Sage's face as he looked into his heterochromic eyes, "There, beautiful." he said with a smile and told Sage to not worry about embarrassment, he wasn't any better himself, Aurelion joked and laughed.

Hearing the boy speak Aurelion took his face in his hands and told him that even though this turn of events wasn't quite what he had in mind, he was glad that Sage came to him and that he hoped they would be able to finally wipe out that dark guild from existence, before they would cause more harm to innocent people. "And we're not strangers anymore, right Sage?" he said with a smile and winked at the blonde closing in for a kiss on the cheek as he let his hands fall down from Sage's face, whether the boy accepted it or not Aurelion would thank him for his concern and the help he'd provide.

His heart throbbed once more when Aurelion touches his face, to Sage physical touch affect him more than words, he wiped a tear which Sage had missed, and said that he was beautiful, now Sage felt like he's the one 'under protection' of Aurelion, he felt safe around him, it was a weird feeling but one thing he knew is that that feeling was beautiful. Without warning, Aurelion's hands met with Sage's face a quick response of Sage's hands to then touch the hands of the man older than him, the reassuring words sounded like the direction of sunflowers, turning their direction towards the sun at sunrise, it was guiding and warmth. The wink was enough to make Sage blush a little bit and the kiss on the cheek made his face turn red like a cherry's. He didn't know what to do then, to not make things look awkward he'd then say to Aurelion, his face still recovering from the blushing, "I'll walk you back to your hotel room," he'd wisely changed the subject to make his mind working now, he was blushing too much and to reduce it quickly was to get his mind working on something, he'd then continue as a result of his thinking mind and the redness of his face gone just like that, "I'll be accompanying you wherever you are from now on except for certain situations of course, we've made a contract and breaking it means penalty," despite his serious sentence, he was still 17 and his voice doesn't sound like a serious person at all, then he raised from his chair and walked to the counter to pay for their drinks, his hood still up the whole time covering his ears and some part of his hair so people wouldn't have noticed him, after paying for the drinks he walked to the door and waited for Aurelion to come with him.

Aurelion was amused with how things turned out, seeing Sage blush like that created a fuzzy warm feeling inside him, the boy managed to get his moment of reprieve from the info Sage gave him, the situation looked grim if they found Aurelion he wasn't certain of what they'd even want from him. However, Sage was by his side now and Aurelion could feel his power, he was good at detecting people's auras and their magic ability if not magically concealed, he completely trusted Sage with his protection so he decided to relax for now.

Hearing him say that he would walk him back to his hotel made Aurelion chuckle, he would mention later that he had his own apartment, rented but still his. His next words however did make Aurelion stagger a bit, he was going to accompany him everywhere, but was that even possible and how would he be able to get his rest and his rune knight work done. Aurelion stood up, following Sage as he paid for the drinks, sweet gesture, he thought, and then out of the cafe giving him a piece of his mind about him accompanying him everywhere. "Maybe you could be a bit more laxed, I doubt they're going to hit in broad daylight and with so many people around, so maybe when the night falls we could meet and you'll be my guardian?" he wondered looking at Sage.

Sage has always been a good listener, he listened carefully to what Aurelion said, "Yeah we can work on that, but if they did come at daytime, just a whisper of my name would be enough for me to hear it," giving a back-up plan to him just in case things turn ugly, he opened the cafe door, checking if the situation's clear or not, and he could barely feel any kind of bad vibes which means it was clear, he gestured at Aurelion to come with him and he would always walk by his side no matter what's the speed of the taller man's walking was, he looked at the sky, it was a half moon, which was better than a dark moon night, where magic is at it's most dangerous level, especially dark magic. He'd be keeping his hands inside his hoodie pocket all the time, can't stand the cold plus the fact that he was wearing only his hoodie and nothing else on the inside as he always hated clothing because it made him feel more 'trapped' and not liberated to do anything and he could only feel a limited amount of things but on that cold night he'd wished he'd put on some more clothes.