Stirring to consciousness, Baron's eyes struggled to peel apart. His vision slowly adjusted to the bright, natural daylight that warmed his skin and gently woke him, his partially clogged nose taking in a breath of refreshing, floral air. Quickly, he recognized the lush, plant-filled cabin as home.

  Baron, struggling to put his memories together, wondered how he got here, since the last thing he remembered was that he somehow managed to escape the rubble to save the trapped worker—that being the only good thing he managed from his night of meddling. But for now, he was just appreciative that he survived despite his failure to make a difference.

  Frowning, Baron's swollen and bruised face hurt as he reacted, but as much as it hurt, he was sure it should hurt way worse, even if it still didn't feel great. So he lifted his fingers to gently run them across the damage from the fight—the once torn-open, burned, and battered flesh repaired as if it never happened, except for the lingering of a deep, raw soreness like he'd never felt before.

  Now that Baron thought about it, he lifted his arm that previously had been broken, now only a light coating of bandages covering his tired, physically drained, seemingly repaired appendage. In fact, it seemed like all the damage he received from the crazy flame mage had been miraculously healed back to a point of function; magic was surely involved.

  How'd I make it out of there? Baron asked himself. A vague memory of the worker carrying him to an alley and using his phone before he passed out returned to him as he tried to think back.

  And how long have I been like this? he wondered before the thick branches casting shade above his greenhouse shifted with the wind—a familiar bearded trunk shifting into view from the window above the sink.

  His dad smiled as he made eye contact with Baron, a relieved look on the bark and moss that made up his aged, wise-looking face. "Now that it appears you've awoken, I'd like to say I'm more than overjoyed that you're okay after the state your friends described," Hugo said with his low, calming voice. Baron knew only two friends who would be willing to go out of their way to help him.

  "So, that means Abel and Dawn saved me?" Baron asked as he struggled to climb down from his hammock, since his muscles, bone, and ligament felt heavy with the raw, sore pain that felt more like a deep bruise that hollowed out his body without leaving any external markings — but it was eternally better than being dead or dealing with the debilitating injuries he received.

  "Indeed, those two retrieved you; then, you explained what they knew. Perhaps you wouldn't mind me questioning how you ended up nearly dying in a random alley late at night?" Hugo asked, his tone sounding more curious than mad, not that Baron had ever known him to anger or punish him too harshly.

  "Well…" Baron stopped. He felt unsure if his dad would be upset about his work as Spriggan, but then again, his dad was also the one who often had him dealing with invasive species that weren't exactly friendly.

  And with his open, trusting nature, Baron told his father the story of how he'd been running around as Spriggan for a little over a year now. His dad quietly listened until Baron finished without interrupting.

  "I just want to help people in danger, and I felt like I was doing pretty okay until now. But obviously, that wasn't true," he finished, his eyes wandering around the fresh green house—the walls feeling shorter and closer together than they had before.

  "I'm beyond proud of you, son; you've grown into quite the valiant young man," his dad said simply, the bark on his face quietly creaking; the face on his trunk warmly smiled. From his words, Baron felt a sense of giddiness that made him smile as he looked up to his dad through the window.

  "Really?" Baron questioned, the space in the cabin feeling smaller and more cramped than it had the last time he'd visited.

  "Of course, why would I not approve of my son using his talents to make a difference where others might fail? After all, the majority of mercenaries, hunters, and mages are only in it for the money, not to profitlessly help people," Hugo said with his level voice, muffled beneath his moss beard. "Besides, I've always known that you'd make a difference with your decisions, even when it's hard."

  "Thanks, Dad," Baron felt warmth, as some of the self-doubt he dealt with every day soothed for now—even if it was off-putting that his home had always felt bigger and more spacious.

  "But perhaps you could be more careful, since you'd be unable to help anyone if you're in a state of disrepair," his dad said before dragging on. Baron, losing focus on the conversation before his dad began talking on, limped across the creaky flooring to grab and boot up his phone - either Abel or Dawn plugged it in while he was unconscious.

  Quick to boot up, Baron checked the time and date on his lock screen as his dad started rambling off topic. It seemed like he'd only been out for half a day before he placed his phone screen down on a wooden counter covered in potted plants.

  "Then the delivery man who received our shipment of fruit continued to tell me the tale of Walter White," returning to the conversation briefly, his phone connected to the wifi as the vibrations began. Though Baron was too nervous to check it and see a message from Rose about last night, his dad continued to explain the TV show's plot in the background.

  Baron nodded, his mind stuck on thoughts about seeking advice on stopping the fire user, since his dad was the one who taught him how to fight and use magic. But he questioned himself: Why would he go after that guy again? He didn't have any sort of lead on him, and he'd probably die if he had to fight him again.

  But what if someone out there gets hurt because of him when I could have tried to stop him instead? He thought, his wavering resolve refound through the image of that elderly man at the laundromat he pulled from the explosion of flames. And what would have happened if he didn't get involved—even if the lash back of the Veil punished him for aiding him?

  "I'll be more careful, don't worry, but I was wondering if you had any advice on how to handle someone who counters my plant-based life magic with flames?" Baron asked, his hands running across his previously charred skin that had been healed overnight.

  "A tricky predicament," he said before humming to himself in thought. "My first thought is for you to finally learn your Akasha Atman; all you've been needing is to find and visualize the core of your being," Hugo recommended, the idea feeling out of reach for Baron—the skill of an Akasha Atman only obtainable to renowned mages and mercs.

  "I'm not sure. Yeah, I'm pretty okay at magic, but I'm nothing like The Gale, Titan, or any of the other mages I've grown up watching, and I'm sure I couldn't learn it like them, especially in such a short time," Baron voiced his doubts, though he wished that he had had the will to finally learn to project his soul.

  "I disagree; your lack of self-confidence is the only obstacle keeping a prodigy like yourself from taking that step forward. But I digress. If an Atman isn't the answer, then my best advice is to seek the aid of allies to rely on, and remember, battle isn't as simple as rock, paper, scissors. So don't stop thinking outside the box," he finished saying with his slow speech pattern.

  Baron nodded, making sure to remember his dad's words, though he felt unsatisfied with the vagueness of his current advice.

  And before his dad started speaking again, Baron turned over his phone to see the string of notifications on the lock screen. A series of Rose's messages came first to his attention, though before he could read through them, his stomach sank with nervousness as he flipped it face down.

  Stopping in the midst of his random rambling about the forest's badgers and kobolds, and the growing tension between them, he stared at Baron, whose head was hung low. Silent now, Baron could feel his dad's questioning look from outside; from the same opened window, a cooling breeze flowed.

  He wasn't sure his dad was the person to ask; Baron had always depended on his reliable nature. And even if he'd lived a series of past lives as a human like Baron, it was clear now that his dad didn't always seem to understand human issues anymore after his many reincarnations, though Baron wasn't entirely sure how his dad's manifest worked other than it having the ability to bring him back to life unlike anyone else.

  "I also need to ask about something else," Baron limped closer to his father's window as he spoke, the trip taking fewer steps than he remembered. "There's this really pretty girl I met at school, and she's absolutely incredible in every way I could possibly imagine. I think we could even be considered talking at this point… But I think I messed up last night when I left her behind without a good excuse to get involved with that insane fire mage," he asked, that familiar sense of guilt made his stomach continue turn as he verbalized his mistake.

  "An issue you've never brought to me before," his dad said to himself with a thoughtful look in his eyes, as Baron heard squirrels and small animals playing in his branches. "Well, I believe my first question is, does she know of your vigilantism?"

  "No... she's not even Cognizant," Baron answered, his belief they could work out despite the differences in their daily lives wavering as he talked. The idea made Baron shudder, with a reminder of the lonely feeling he felt before meeting Rose.

  "What have you been telling her?" his dad questioned, his discerning gaze piercing through Baron.

  "Well, nothing has overlapped until now, and my only excuse was that I had a personal emergency," Baron called it an excuse, but he really felt like it was a lie.

  "I see…" Hugo paused with a thoughtful hum. "It may feel like a tricky situation, but I think the answer is quite simple. You need to tell her the truth. Not only does she deserve a choice in this, but this will only end in division between the two of you," his dad said, making it sound simpler than it seemed to Baron.

  "But most Noncognizants aren't ready for this world to be revealed," Baron was unsure if he believed that from his time in college and the mundane world that he immersed himself in, or if he was just nervous that Rose would think he's crazy if she couldn't develop into a cognizant with a Thaumic Mutation, a Bloodline Manifest, or a learned Magic to adjust to his supernatural world.

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  "Funny, I disagree, but I also disagreed with an old friend on the opposite spectrum of belief. I believe there's a balance to be found there, and as long as nothing changes on a large scale, many who grow to become Cognizant could seamlessly join the rest of us," Hugo said, Baron believing that the old friend was from a past life, judging from the cloudy nostalgia in his tone.

  Thinking of his dad's words, Baron nodded as he ran his fingers through the soft leaves of a potted plant beside him.

  "But that decision is yours to make, though I hope you consider this girl's feelings enough to have this conversation." Crawling out of his long, mossy beard, a beetle flew away before he finished speaking, Baron wishing that he had gotten different, easier-to-handle advice. Maybe something that meant avoiding anything that could risk what he'd found in Rose—but it wasn't like he hadn't already by leaving her behind last night.

  "Yeah…" Baron responded before he turned over his phone to finally see the series of worried messages Rose had sent in the middle of the night. An anxious guilt made his legs feel weaker than they already did, and his grip on his phone became shaky.

  'Hey Baron. Just wanted to check on you and see how you're doing,' Rose sent at 11:34 PM.

  'Really hope everything's okay, just worried about you,' Rose sent at 1:02 AM.

  'Hey, just wanted to say that I'm sorry if I did something wrong last night,' Rose sent at 3:34 AM.

  The remorse of leaving her behind and making her stay up late threatened to make Baron sick. Between the failure of abandoning Rose without a real reason, and the beating he took while failing to make a real difference, weighed heavily on his guilty conscience.

  "Though no matter the decision you make, I trust you'll decide to take the most responsible, and more importantly, the kindest path, to take," his dad encouraged him, even if Baron didn't agree currently.

  "Thanks, Dad," Baron, while appreciative, sounded flat as he agonized over the decision he needed to make.

  Picking up his phone again, Baron typed out a quick message. ‘Sorry about last night and not responding, I’m alright. I appreciate you checking up on me,’ he sent with a nervous breath - though he felt gross for not explaining what happened or coming up with a better text.

  “Oh, you’re friends said to message them when you awoke,” his dad said as a large, winged shadow circled from above the greenhouse. Baron, as told, opened up the group chat with Dawn and Abel before typing a quick greeting to them.

  ‘On the way, meet you at the lot,’ responding almost immediately, Dawn answered; their obvious concern making Baron’s gloomy expression break with a fragile smile.

  “They’re coming to take me back to school, thanks for helping Dad,” Baron said as he weakly walked toward the door. And as Baron exited the greenhouse, he stepped onto the lush, green grass of the pasture around his home.

  "Of course, son, I'll always be here for you, and it would appear you've found good friends to rely on as well," Hugo said from around the corner, his roots shifting and pulling him through the dirt without disrupting the ground. Baron, about to start walking, smiled to himself at the compliment to his friend. But before he could begin leaving, a familiar shadow descended on the ground ahead of him. The same towering griffin from a week ago gently landed in front of Baron, who reached out with a relaxed hand to pet her feathered head.

  "Sticking around?" Baron asked with a gentle tone, the griffin lowering to its belly, where its head was level with his own.

  "She's been saying that she enjoys being around, and with you gone off to college, she's a great aid in keeping order in the forest," his dad answered, since he knew Baron couldn't speak to animals.

  "It's nice to know she's found a place to call home," Baron responded as he leaned in closer to the griffin. "Please help take care of him and keep him company," he whispered before walking toward the trail as he waved to the two of them. "Bye Dad, I'll be back to visit again soon."

  "Farewell, son. Home will always have a place for you, so please do visit us soon," his dad said while waving goodbye with one of his many branches.

  Walking through the beautiful, flower-covered field, he got a whiff of clean, floral air through his swollen and stuffy nose. It was familiar but different; the aroma was the same he'd smelled during this time of spring for the last 19 years of his life, and though it seemed the same on every level, something felt different to Baron, like him or his senses had changed in his time away from home.

  Without paying much attention, Baron found and followed the trail toward the small parking lot, his mind stuck on what could have altered while he'd been gone. But as Baron stepped across snapping twigs, he thought back to moving out for college, meeting Dawn and Abel, then finding someone like Rose, only to nearly die without making a difference.

  No, that's not true. There was no guarantee that the elderly man in the laundromat or the construction worker would have survived without you, and that is more than you ever thought you'd be capable of, Baron talked to himself as he slowly walked through the cool, shaded woods.

  And as he walked, with the birds chirping above him, it began to make sense to him why the cabin and field of flowers, while remaining the same as he left them, seemed different than before—Baron wanted to believe that it was he who'd finally begun to change from the spectating, odd-man-out he'd felt like since joining public school in high school.

  You can make a difference as Spriggan, Baron reminded himself. A stubborn decision set on continuing, despite the lingering fear of the scarred man's inferno.

  Before Baron realized it, he made it to the edge of the dense woods, where his shoes crunched over loose gravel as he walked toward Abel's red car. Only parked a few strides away, Baron instinctively limped toward the back seat until he noticed Dawn where he normally sat, Abel reaching over the passenger seat to open the door for him.

  "You're looking good," Abel said with a sincere tone that brought Baron back to reality, as he slowly lowered himself onto the seat, careful not to push his sore body. And after closing the door, he got a good look at the two of them, both with bags under their red, dry eyes and disheveled hair - Baron noticing a lingering smell of faintly foul metal on the two of them and the car.

  "Really think so?" Baron asked, unsure if he'd completely agree, judging by the swelling and discoloration across his face and body.

  "Compared to last night, you're looking like man of the year," Dawn said, her hand gently grabbing onto his shoulder from behind. Looking back at her through the rearview mirror, Baron saw the soaked towels draped over the back seat that Dawn sat on.

  The guilt of what happened settled on him as he realized what happened to the back of Abel's previously spotless car, Baron's gaze falling to the crumbled bag of fast food on the floorboard.

  "I'm sorry for ruining your car's interior," Baron said, genuinely sorry for the damage he caused, especially since he knew it was important to Abel to stay clean and tidy.

  "Don't worry about it; I'll get it fixed up." Abel, with a shrug, seemed more unbothered than Baron expected as they drove through the clean-smelling and orderly academic district of grand marble Structures of Yew Grove.

  "Yeah, you should really be apologizing for my cute tank top that you bled out all over," Dawn teased with a tired, light-hearted smirk on her face.

  "I'm sorry…" Baron repeated, his words only carrying a fraction of the self-contained guilt he felt for needing to pull his friends away from the concert to save him.

  "Dude, I'm obviously joking. I think I'd burn my entire wardrobe if it meant keeping you around for a little longer. Not that I'd like for you to test that," Dawn teased with a friendly smirk as she sat back to relax in the back seat.

  "Yeah, we're just happy to have you here with us," Abel added as he glanced up from the road to Baron with a tired gaze. "We also went by your chemistry professor, and he said you can take your test tomorrow. We also gathered up the homework you missed from your other classes."

  As they talked, the car slipped through the familiar gateway disguised as a drab, dirty alley they had used a week ago; the sky transformed for the short time it took them to pass into a dense New York street.

  "Thanks, guys... Really, thank you guys for saving me and everything you've done for me since meeting you two," Baron said, grateful for who they were as his friends.

  "Of course. Now stop getting all mushy on us," Dawn said, her tone unserious as she tried to keep the tone light.

  "And we know you'd do the same or more for us," Abel added, the skyscrapers and daily life of the city passing by Baron in an unfocused blur—the life of Noncognizants begins to feel indistinguishable from theirs at times.

  Nodding, Baron smiled to himself, truly grateful in this moment for the friends he had found and always yearned for as a kid.

  "Oh, yeah. We told everyone you got jumped trying to stop someone from stealing some old ladies' purses. Should help explain the black eyes and bruising, and it also makes you look a little heroic, too. Maybe Rose'll like that," Dawn said with a snicker as Abel smirked at her joke.

  "“Ignore her, but yeah, that’s your alibi; it should help keep your time as a masked vigilante low-key,” Abel added, a hint of amused ridiculousness slipping into his tone after Dawn’s joke.

  "And you guys' already told her?" Baron asked, his face running red with worry over what Rose could possibly be thinking.

  "Yeah, she was worried, and it didn't feel right leaving her completely in the dark," Dawn said, her tone sympathetic as they bounced over a bump in the car.

  Silently nodding, Baron felt a familiar sense of nervousness about being Spriggan since that hospital visit last night and the repercussions of his inability to stop the scarred man, or his failure not to be a burden on the people he cared for—but he could try to make things right moving forward.

  "I didn't think to ask at first, but how did you guys pay for my treatment? Do you need money for that?" Baron asked, knowing that medical bills were no joke, even in The Haven.

  "Nah, it's a long story, but we got your surgery for 90% off. Though we had to promise we'll be back when we get into trouble," Abel said, casually as the car came to a gentle stop at a light.

  "The doctor was weird as fuck, and this guy Abel didn't even mention Tamrat had his doctor's license, or whatever it's called, removed not that long ago, but I guess in the end it was pretty obvious he's legit," Dawn said with an emphasis on the doctor's shady traits.

  "Oh… That's a little unsettling to hear. But I'm still here, I guess." Struggling to process what could have happened while he was out, or what sort of doctor they brought him to, Baron just felt relieved to be alive.

  "Just don't worry too much about it. We'll text you the address in case of emergencies later," Abel mentioned. Baron noticed the quiet tiredness in his tone as he dragged out his words more than normal.

  "Are you sure? It kind of seems like you both went through a lot last night because of me," Baron questioned again, a part of him not believing that anyone would really do all of this for him just because they were friends.

  "Dude, stop asking, I promise it's alright," Dawn said, Baron noticing the familiar buildings that meant they neared his and Abel's dorm. "Besides, if you plan on going after the person or group that messed you up like that, which I'm confident you are, you'll be getting used to our help."

  "We don't plan on taking no for an answer." Straight to the point, Abel left little room for Baron to push back against their aid.

  While normally he struggled to fight against their wills and decisions, Baron briefly considered disagreeing with them - the last thing he wanted was for his way of helping people to hurt the friends he had finally found. But since he knew that he could rely on them, and feeling their desire to help gave him a sense of ease. Then Baron thought back to his dad's advice, realizing that he never needed to look far for reliable allies he considered more capable than himself.

  "Alright. We'll do this together from now on," Baron agreed as he smiled, the two of them nodding in agreement. Their support in this endeavor gave him a newfound sense of courage in facing the lingering memories of pain he was afraid of experiencing again.

  "Though we'll need to talk plans after you head up to the dorm," Abel said as he slowly pulled over for Baron to get out on the sidewalk in front of their dorm.

  Struggling to turn his stiff neck, Baron looked back toward Dawn, who tensely lifted her shoulders with an awkward look as her gaze shifted away from his own.

  "I'm sorry…" she folded under no pressure. "Rose was really messed up about everything, so when she asked me to tell her when you were headed back to the room, I told her I would," Dawn said, Baron understanding and appreciating her despite the rush of anxious heat that made him sweat.

  "We agreed to help you, but you're on your own here," Abel said, neither of them seeming amused by Baron's situation.

  Nodding, Baron opened the door before struggling to pull himself up with his weakened body; his stomach sank as he fully stood on his feet.

  "You've got this, just don't forget the alibi," Dawn said as she climbed over the middle console into the passenger seat Baron sat on previously. The two of them slowly peeled out as Baron turned around to sluggishly walk toward the entrance on this side of the building, his worries and anxieties racking through his mind before he pushed through the clear glass door - Rose awaiting him as he took one step at a time through his journey to her.