As the mage, Myungsoo, prepared his mount for the long journey ahead meanwhile his partner kept his gaze on the busy Myungsoo. The blond has been pondering on what the latter had said earlier about the name of the new keeper. There was no doubt that the new keeper was human—the only reason why the human race hasn’t been ridden of or a side hobby for a superior race like Myungsoo’s master. Drowned in his own thoughts, the lad failed to notice the other calling his name.

“Is something the matter?” Myungsoo questioned. Visible on the dark haired mage’s eyes were concern and curiosity, the same look he had seen when Myungsoo first approached and saved him.

Slowly he nodded, “I was just thinking… about the new keeper..”

Though the light-haired lad trailed off, Myungsoo was immediately interested. Guiding keepers Myungsoo’s main task and priority for as long as he could remember. “What about the keeper?”

The other kept silence briefly just to reword his question, “How are keepers decided upon..?”

Myungsoo smiled and folded his arms across his chest, glad that the other asked, then answered, “Keepers are not necessarily decided on, they are born gifted with the ability to see them,”

“Them..?”

Myungsoo hummed as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, “Exactly. Them, dark matter that haunts and taunts him,”

Momentarily the other appreciated Myungsoo’s easy going personality but he was ready to cast a curse on the said one for speaking in circles. “Who’s him?” he asked, sounding more irritated than he had wanted to let off.

A smirk made its way onto Myungsoo’s face, “You’ll see soon enough. Come, I will show you,” Myungsoo turned around to climb onto the back of his white horse. As he grabbed onto the rein he gave his companion one last glance, “We must arrive before sunrise if you want to see him,”

The younger frowned, he was drowning in confusion but decided not to dwell too long as he took the other's words into consideration. Hence he did not argue and instantly climbed onto the back of the brown mammal with no problem. He then steals one last exchange with Myungsoo before the two took off together. Ahead of them, the dirt path vanished into a foresty land of all sorts of hazel.

Right before the blond was ready to lose hope, Myungsoo came to an abrupt stop in front of a large boulder that was pressed against what appeared to be an entrance. “We’re here,” Myungsoo announced as his partner tried to look past the rock.

“Him is on the other side?”

Myungsoo bobbed his head before looking up at the sky, “I can sense the sun’s eagerness to rise. Quick, we must go in before the sun comes up,” as he hopped off his mount, the other followed suit. Walking up to the boulder, Myungsoo placed his bare palms together before chanting in a foreign language. Though it was no alien language to the blonde at all. Soon a wooden staff appeared in the center of Myungsoo’s palm before he can placed it into what was a socket, just for his stick. “Magic isn’t allowed in the Hall,” Myungsoo explained with a soft smile, though the other was not at all concerned.

As the boulder swallowed the staff, it soon moved to the side on its own dragging the ground with it. Before them, a dark path was shown, and on the other side of the long dark tunnel was dead plants and what looked like a castle. Surprisingly the other side did not share the same livelihood as theirs. Myungsoo slowly led the way as he set foot into the shadow of the tunnelway, cautiously he turned back around to offer his partner a hand, “Ready, Sungjong?”

Sungjong took another look and suddenly felt a chill. There was no wind but he felt something or someone brushed up against him. He winced a little with his shoulders closing in on his face once he felt what was a finger brushed up against his cheek. Though they were the only two present, he knew what had touched him was something they called dark matter. Unconsciously Sungjong had both hands grasped around his arms and began to squeeze when the invisible contact and breezes grew and nearly suffocated him.

Then it all came to a still when he felt the warmth of Myungsoo’s hand on his cheek, “Don’t be afraid, I'm here,”

Unaware that he had shut his eyes, Sungjong slowly opened them back up. The lone sight of Myungsoo was strangely comforting, though Sungjong had promised himself he would not fall for this mage that casts white magic. “Let’s leave,” Sungjong said minutes later, “I don't want to see him anymore,”

Without questioning him, Myungsoo nodded but did not remove his hand from the other’s cheek. Gazing into the other's purified eyes allowed Myungsoo to mindlessly mumbled, “How wonderful would it be if she was still here,”

-Titanis City-

Seo Jisoo and her old father lived in a shabby, worn-out hut built on the outskirts of Titanis City. The city was known to house sinners and ruthless residents. Despite their poor life choices, even the cold-hearted shunned the unfortunate and disabled like Jisoo and her father. For Jisoo who was born blind, her father had no other choice but to raise and support her alone, and so for the last twenty years, he’d make days worth of trips to Aruficus, largest and wealthiest city in all of Gudon. However, with the number of highwayman growing and no Robin Hood around, it made getting by each day harder.

On good days Jisoo and her father feast on bread and fruits picked from the nearby forest. On bad days they are forced to skip meals until they were on the verge of death. Weak and hopeless, her father soon fell ill and was bedridden. Jisoo didn’t let being blind stop her from scavenging and would leave a trail of rocks to lead her from and back home. It was during the late fall afternoon, Jisoo had gone out to search for fallen fruits, nuts, and hopefully edible plants.

Walking through the crunches of dried and hot-colored leaves were the horses of Myungsoo and Sungjong's. On horseback, the two were quiet as they rode, except their mounts made a lot of noise. Surprised by the company of anonymous strangers, Jisoo froze in her pose. Cuddled against her chest was the basket, with a hole at the bottom, she had come out with. Her breathing picked up as she worried about being noticed or becoming a passing resident's target.

However, before the tension could skyrocket, the sound of horses’ hooves soon faded and around her was nothing but the sound of chirping Fall birds and insects. Evidently, Myungsoo and Sungjong had seen the lass, but for an unknown cause, Sungjong let Myungsoo lead them away from her. Sungjong did not know who Jisoo was, but the sight of her ached him a little. Her standing as still as a statue and staring down the direction in front of her gave him the idea that she was either scared or blind. But he could only assume.

Until she showed up at the house where they have been waiting for her. During her absence, Myungsoo had casted a time spell over her sleeping father after reading the state of his condition. Sungjong stood on the sideline to observe and quickly came to discover what Myungsoo had done. His eyes widen a little as he watched the old man take his last breath.

“What have you done?”