"We're done with the setup, we should head to the ruins in a bit." Rowan stated.
Reiji just nodded, hesitating for a moment.
Rowan looked at him, "Are you okay, Reiji?"
"Ye– yes." he stuttered.
"Bound? What does he mean by it and independence?"
A question that kept circling in his mind.
Rowan's matter-of-fact statement earlier had thrown him off.
"Maybe he just doesn't like what ended up doing," he thought.
After all, to him, everyone can make their own decisions.
Some does it to chase milestones of life– experiences, relationships, achievements.
Others express it in philosophy or spirituality.
But to not have that at all? That was something he couldn't wrap his head around.
He glanced at Rowan. "If you don't mind me asking, what do you mean by my bound?"
Rowan shrugged. "I don't know how to answer that. But I do things because I have to. It's just what needs doing."
"Why?" he asked.
Rowan paused momentarily. "Why? I don't understand, but I know I have to do it or I'll be damned."
His brow tightened. "If you don't understand then why bother doing it?"
Rowan met his gaze, eyes distant, almost detached. "You keep asking questions that are hard to answer."
He blinked, unsure what to make of that.
"Then why are you an Artifactum? Is that something you like doing?"
Rowan tilted his head, as though the question itself was unusual. "Something I like, huh?
Rowan looked at him and threw a question of his own. "Isn't it the same for you? Doing things because that is what you were born to do?"
He shook his head lightly. "Maybe… but I would want to know why. I don't want to do things just because that's what I am born to do. I want my purpose to be my choice, not something decided for me at birth."
Rowan paused, then gave a small smile. "Then you're lucky."
He was still uncertain about how Rowan answered, but he didn't push any further.
"Anyway, let's have our meal and head out to the ruins after." Rowan suggested.
Reiji nodded and prepared their food.
Their small talk continued.
Asking simple questions such as preferences, interests, etc.
After sometime.
Their topic shifted into something more serious.
Rowan started it with a statement, saying, "You must have a lot more questions for me, but let's talk about the reason why I'm here."
Then Rowan began explaining what he was after at the ruins of Caledon Village.
"I don't know if you felt it– yesterday, something in this forest shifted," Rowan shared.
Reiji immediately recognized what Rowan was referring to.
"It must've been when the little girl kicked me out of her domain."
"But that happened for the first time about ten years ago. This village was on the map but believed to be a mistake, until that event put it back into the conversation," Rowan continued.
"Ten years?" Reiji was surprised.
"There was a devastating fight that occurred and reshaped the landscape of this area. And in the end? A lifeless man was discovered. He was unknown. No name, no relatives. Nothing."
Reiji cut off Rowan and shared, "My father went missing ten years ago, looking to discover something."
Rowan listened silently.
"He was never found again," he added.
"If that was my father, then the thing that sent me here must be Da Vinci's Vitruvian Man Diagram," he muttered to himself.
"That's highly unlikely, your father, Reiji. He was believed to be an Earthborn," Rowan said.
Reiji's eyes widened.
He started panting, his heartbeat racing.
Rowan continued, "He was the first Earthborn discovered after 500 years."
Rowan paused momentarily. "I know I asked you to help out, but this area is dangerous. I should have told you this before asking you to help– I cannot guarantee your safety once we get there."
Reiji was out of it. He was deafened by Rowan's statement about the Earthborn.
Rowan continued but it was distant, muffled, "This place is the dwelling of Leonardo di ser Piero– the last Earthborn before the recent one from ten years ago."
The words struck Reiji deep into his very being.
It confirmed everything he had suspected.
But what cut the deepest was the realization that his father had been killed in this world.
"He was trusted… our ancestors called him Maestro. But he abandoned us all. He was the most powerful human that walked the land, and yet he left without a trace," Rowan continued, almost like a shadow of sound in the background.
But Reiji's emotions began to boil.
Heat rose in his chest, his thoughts spinning out of control.
"Who?" The word repeated in his mind, over and over.
"Who killed him?"
The repetition became unbearable.
"Who?"
It echoed like a drum in his head, faster and faster, mixing anger, grief, and the desperate need for answers.
His fists clenched, teeth grinding.
Every heartbeat pounded in his ears.
He could barely focus on Rowan's words anymore,
The only thing that mattered to him was, "Who?"
"Reiji…"
"Reiji…"
Rowan's voice was soft, almost a whisper, carrying a weight of concern that seemed to reach past Reiji's storm of thoughts.
Rowan stepped closer, placing his hands on his shoulders. "Hey… did I strike a chord?"
"I'm sorry. I should have realized that you might be from the small village that was destroyed ten years ago."
He looked him in the eyes. "I didn't mean to bring up pain… I only wanted to help you understand."
He maintained his gaze and slowly nodded. "It's okay. I understand it."
Rowan's calmness cut through his thoughts like a lifeline.
The patience, compassion, and trust Rowan showed made Reiji lower his guard.
For years after his father died, he had felt alone.
But for the first time in ten years, he felt had a companion– a friend, a brother.
And then he broke down.
He screamed at the top of his lungs, letting out all of his emotions.
After a while, he recovered.
A weight had been lifted off his shoulders.
They sat in silence, simply letting the quiet settle around them.
Finally, Rowan broke it with a question. "You know we're not really that close yet, right?"
Reiji couldn't help but chuckle.
Rowan's chuckle joined his.
Then, slowly, they both started laughing.
It began as a quiet laugh, but soon it grew– light, free, and unburdened.
For a few moments, they just laughed, letting the sound fill the space around them.
In that laughter, something unspoken passed between them.
A bond forged to last for eternity.