-Xiu Min’s POV-

I paced around in front of four sleepless people, waiting for the arrival of Tao’s father. No one slept, not a wink. We were all restless. It was a disaster. Who can possibly rest a time a like this? Jinhae and Tao were missing. We could afford to lose everything else, but not them, not anyone. That fact that they were under the mercy of the evil Huang Xiaodan was even more unsettling. He was responsible for the death of his father and he was also after Tao. It just so happened the Jinhae had to be dragged into this family feud that had been going on for decades based on jealousy. If he was capable of killing his own father, the one who gave him life, it wasn’t hard to believe that he was capable of killing his nephew and Jinhae who wasn’t related to him at all and was a hindrance to his purist mission.

I looked around me. Everyone had been out of sorts, too. The lady of the manor resigned herself to the hospice so as to momentarily forget about the matter. She had been most upset upon hearing their disappearance. Her son reflected all the worry in the room as he felt every drop of tension within everyone. It must be hard for him at times like this. We all knew how he felt for Jinhae, but then there’s also Lu Han. He had been acting quite strangely, too, especially when she was around her. He had always been the calm one just like Lay, but seeing how things have turned out, the worst in the Telepathy Noble has come out. We rarely saw him in such a state.

Kris was calm, but he got even more volatile as if a certain balance in his system had been interrupted. He cared for everyone with the zeal of a Visigoth, but when it came to Tao and Jinhae, it was different. To him, they were siblings he had to care of. He might be quiet and indifferent to others, but he’s actually very observant. He wouldn’t let anyone harm those two.

Chen’s temper was erratic since the previous night. I guess I was in the same boat as he was. We were both really sensitive under pressure and it often manifests in our temperaments. We weren’t the patient kind. We tend to execute what we should the moment we learn of it and this waiting we were doing was taking its toll on us.

I brushed away the frost pixie that took its place on my shoulder. Why did I have to bear such guardians wherever I go? They were aggravating at times and the fact that they reflect my mood wasn’t helping one bit. One of them has even made a frozen lake out of the tea we were served with earlier at dawn. No one even touched it.

I shrugged and looked out the window, looking for the Nephylus that would carry Tao’s father and it wasn’t until the seventh hour that he arrived. Relief was written in everyone’s faces the moment they saw him. We all met him at the foyer and I had to admit that he was really intimidating with his tall frame, slightly darker complexion, the beard that covered his face and the piercing eyes. Tao got it from him, but he possessed those that would make one feel as if he sees through the soul.

He greeted us all one by one, asking after the health of our parents except for Chen. He knew how it was with the Lightning Nobles since he was a close friend of the Kim household of Electrius. He merely nodded at Chen with a slight lifting of the corners of his mouth then he turned to me.

“Min Seok,” he said firmly. I wasn’t really his favorite after I froze the lake in front of the Huang manor when we were still children. It was the middle of summer, but it took quite a while to thaw the entirety of it.

I bowed slightly. As the eldest, I didn’t really act the part. Kris was more responsible than I was and even if Lu Han was older than him, he wasn’t chosen as our leader. We weren’t cut out for it.

“How are your parents?”

“They are well, your grace. How about yourself?”

“Aside from this, I do not have further problems,” he replied calmly. He faced Lay. “Yi Xing, where is Lady Jiao Liang?”

“She is currently at the hospice tending to the children,” he answered curtly. “Shall I summon her?”

He shook his head. “I understand how this must be affecting her. You do not have to do that.”

Lay merely bowed briefly. “Would you care for some tea?”

“No, thank you. We do not have time for tea, do we?”

Kris stepped forward. “What are we to do then, your grace?” he asked.

The man looked at all of us with hooded eyes. “I need all of you to transform. In that way, you would be able to find their life forces more effectively. Find the center of the force and I will do the same. We have to find the place where they’ve time travelled.”

He turned away and vanished.

“Let’s do this,” Chen said and was the first one to turn. We all followed and searched the whole vicinity for what’s left of their life force in the present time. I tried to go back to our conversation the night they disappeared. If I wasn’t mistaken, she met Tao at the garden. Lu Han told us about it. As I approached, I felt the presence of three more nobles, one was Tao. I couldn’t feel Jinhae. What could that mean?

Lu Han was already there. He was in his physical form and he was pacing around in small steps as if looking for something. He bent down and reached through the grass and picked up something. I assumed my physical form.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

He raised the trinket in his hand and showed it to me. It was a bracelet. “She made this for Tao and he dropped it. They were here.”

Kris flew past. “I’ll summon the others.”

Soon, everyone was at the garden. Everyone felt Tao’s life force, but just like me, they couldn’t feel Jinhae’s. It was unnerving. It could mean that they weren’t together after all. We might find Tao, but there was a possibility that we wouldn’t see Jinhae with him.

Tao’s father descended and the first thing he noticed was the bracelet that Lu Han was holding. “Is that my son’s?”

Lu Han nodded. “He wears it all the time.”

“I’m going to need it.” He opened his palm and Lu Han laid it there. “You have to wait here.”

“Can’t we come?” Kris asked.

“No, you can’t. I would have to go alone, but I will return if I need help. Please stand guard. You can’t leave the portal. It’s vulnerable.”

We were expecting attacks. We all nodded and he vanished into a vortex. Several moments later, silence weighed on us as we waited for the result when suddenly dull thuds came down to the ground in succession around us. Men wearing black suits and masks rose from the ground.

“What’s this?” Chen hissed.

“Purists,” Kris answered calmly. “How many are we talking?” he asked Lu Han whose eyes darted everywhere. “Seventy…Ninety.”

“Does it matter?” I said.

“Jump!” Lu Han said to everyone as he read my thoughts. They all did while I built an ice cage around the vortex. Soon, the garden erupted into chaos.

-Tao’s POV-

I was in a daze, but ironically, I was well. I sat outside the cottage, watching as my friend, Ahn Jinhae, a half blood with beautiful jade-green eyes, sat on the grassy lawn, looking out into the horizon. I’ve been with her for as long as I could remember. I followed her gaze and saw her looking at the massive manor at the hill in the distance. Our cottage was at the side of a hill where we could see most anything, the rolling hills, the village and that massive effigy that belonged to the Telepathy Nobles of Elatus, the rulers of the land.

“It’s beautiful,” Jinhae began then glanced at me. “Isn’t it?”

I nodded slowly. It was beautiful, indeed, but it got me to wonder about something. I had abilities, too, that surpassed that of ordinary Elyxians. I could control time, but why wasn’t I in the land of the Time Nobles? It was odd and for some reason, we both found a connection to that manor. It was as if we would find something there that we needed.

I glanced at her. “Jinhae…”

“Yes?”

“Why do always look at the manor?”

She smiled then. “I don’t know. I’ve just heard that a tiny prince lives in there.”

She was idealistic sometimes. “A tiny prince? Do you perhaps mean the heir of Telepathy?”

She nodded. “I’ve heard how amazing he was.” She glanced at me. “He’s only four years old and yet he is very wise.”

I frowned. “They do say that.”

She smiled. “I always thought I knew someone like the heir. I just…” She shook her head. “I just couldn’t figure out who it is, but I’m sure I’ve met that person somewhere.”

There was that, too. We remembered being together always, but we never really knew where we both came from. It was something we’ve both been wondering about. We had the present, we surely had our future, but the past was a big void we couldn’t figure out.

“Do you wonder where you came from?”

“From my parents?” she offered sarcastically.

I rolled my eyes. “Who are your parents?”

She was about to smile, but her face fell. She shook her head. “I don’t know.” She looked at me seriously. “I’ve only known you. You should answer that for me, I guess.”

“I’m afraid I can’t.”

She suddenly smiled. “That’s fine. It doesn’t matter. Besides, I have you.”

I smiled back at her. “And I have you.”

“Yes.” She stood up. “And I’m hungry. I’ll just prepare something.”

I nodded and remained seated, looking down the hill when I noticed a caped man walking towards the cottage. I sen