Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The demon's tentacle claws pierced directly into Noah's chest making him let out a scream of pain. This was bad, he had been directly hit at a vital spot- there was no way he was going to survive this. He had been too careless, he was fighting a pair of demons in front of him when suddenly another one had jumped directly behind him and dealt the killing blow.

"Noah!" Clamor shrieked, seeing Noah's wound.

Bearing through the pain- he used his shadows to cut off the Demon's limb and then concentrated the last of his magic into his hand that held Clamor to slice through the demon's body in one clean cut, making it fall to the ground.

"Oi! Kid!" Rosso- who had been busy with another set of demons at his side called out on hearing his scream. He looked back to check up on Noah, "What happened-" His eyes widened on seeing a Noah falling over- a dark red patch widening each second directly over his heart, holding his sickle to his chest.

Rosso quickly used his demonic eye to burn the demon that was holding his scythe down and quickly ran over to Noah lying half-dead on the ground. "Oi! Kid! Don't you dare die on me!" He exclaimed, using all of his limited knowledge of healing powers to try to close the wound, but alas it wouldn't work. Fire magic was destructive- and only destructive- it had no healing properties. The closest was life drain but even that was for the user himself- not for someone else.

Rosso cursed under his breath, "Fucking useless- can't even heal someone else." he chuckled darkly- knowing the inevitable. "These powers are of no use-"

"Stop." Noah weakly ordered, "'is not... your fault... I was too c-careless..." He bit down another grunt of pain as he felt his body becoming cooler by the second due to the loss of blood.

"Stop trying to talk like Gaia kid- focus your energy to heal yourself." Rosso scolded, though his words had none of its usual bite to it.

"Doesn't... matter, old man... I- it's not like I'll really die anyways..." Noah sighed, his breathing was getting harder and harder- probably because of the blood filling his lungs. "I'll start back-... at the temple... like always."

"That doesn't mean you have to endure this-!" Rosso shook his head, but ultimately stopped and covered his face with his hands in defeat. "You really are something kid." He sighed.

Noah would have tried to give a small laugh in reply- but as soon as he tried to, he coughed out blood. So he just stuck to a smile.

"Noah..." Clamor, who had been silent ever since then, called out.

Noah looked down at his partner clutched between his hands and gave another weak smile- using all his leftover strength to not cough out another litre of blood. Since he couldn't say anything- he picked Clamor up with his shaky hands and brought him closer to his face, snuggling up to him in his last moments.

"Start... t-talking..." Noah breathed out, barely a whisper. His life already seeping away. Rosso sat down beside him with a blank expression.

Clamor looked at Noah again with an unreadable expression but after a second he shook his head and started as told, "Yesterday Lucy and Gaia were trying to teach Rosso how to bake a cake. And apparently he concluded that baking the cake the normal way took too much time so he decided to fasten up the process by using his own flames. He ended up burning the entire kitchen and the shed down. Old man Denif had to be called after that to put out his inextinguishable flames or else he would have burned the entirety of Elrianode down."

Noah gave a soft expression of 'Why?' with the remaining energy in his body.

Clamor saw Noah's expression and explained, "Apparently he wanted to surprise you on your birthday with a handmade cake!" He exclaimed with a fake cheer. "don't tell me you forgot about your birthday? What are you, an old man?"

Noah looked at Rosso in surprise who blushed and then looked away.

His birthday... Noah had completely forgotten about it. Now that he thought about it- he had never celebrated it since 500 years ago. And even in his previous lives- he always seemed to die before he could reach his birthdate.

Clamor continued to talk in the background, "And master Gaia was then thoroughly reprimanded by Denif and then teased by Ventus for trying to teach the 'hobo man' how to bake a cake. When he asked why he was the only one getting screamed at- Ventus replied that its because Rosso probably didn't even know what he had done wrong."

"Oi- I'm still right here you know?" Rosso growled, face red from anger or embarrassment or anger Noah didn't know- he didn't have enough energy to analyze his emotions.

Noah could now no longer move any part of his body- the pain had increased so much that his entire nervous system was going numb but at least Clamor and Rosso's bickering in the background distracted him from his pain even though he could no longer understand the words they were saying. But the vibrations from Clamor were soothing. He finally closed his eyes.

He had thought that going through death again and again would at least make him used the to the pain and suffering from his future deaths but no- each time was as painful and depressing as the last. But at least Clamor was by his side always- looking over him, knowing his pain, remembering him. He couldn't even fathom how he would ever keep himself if it was not for Clamor and his annoying jokes by his side.

He had now stopped hearing all together and the pain had finally stopped.

He had died.

Death was familiar to Noah- after all he had gone through with it again and again many times. And so was waking up in the cold hard stone in the temple- but something was different this time.

Usually he would be hit by chilling cold air and his back would hurt from his body lying on uncomfortable stone for 500 years. But somehow he felt warm this time.

Did he not die?

Did Rosso and Clamor managed to save him this time?

No, that couldn't be it- he was sure he had died, had felt his heart stop, had felt his body go cold and had felt the darkness he could only find when he died. So where was he?

He tried to open his eyes- but it was a lot difficult than he had thought for some reason, his body had little to no energy.

'Clamor? Where is Clamor?' Noah's heart rate increased. He was in an unfamiliar place with a weak body he couldn't control- where was Clamor? He needed Clamor.

But before tears could come out of his eyes, he heard a chillingly familiar voice talking in a soft tone.

"...babies really are small, huh?..." The voice of his older brother called out, it was Harque's voice. or was it Dantelion's? He didn't know- "Nice to meet you Noah." The kind voice of his hyung called out.

Noah felt a hand on him, he wanted to jerk away- but at the same time his body never responded. The man with Harque's voice picked up Noah with little to no trouble-

'He must be a Giant...' Noah internally cursed, 'Could it be one of those demons I heard about who mimic your loved one's voices to lure you into their traps?'

Noah tried to wriggle away but his hands were too small-

Wait-

Too small?

Noah quickly used all of his strength to open his eyes, and after finally getting them to open- he saw small chubby baby hands- his hands.

His eyes re-focused on the boy who was now holding him and looking at him in awe. That was no doubt his older brother- though a bit younger than he was used to, but definitely his older brother.

"Hello Noah, you have finally woken up." Harque smiled and held Noah closer to his chest. "My name is Harque, your older brother. And from now on you are my younger brother."

Noah quickly analyzed the situation- and then suddenly realized.

'No...' He wasn't months before his death- he was 500 years before his death- during his birth. When he was just a newborn baby-

"Noah! Why are you crying- Noah!" Harque sounded worried, but Noah couldn't hear him over his realization on what had just happened. "Uh- are there any maids or servants around- Noah is crying...." Noah couldn't hear anymore after that as he passed out.

Being a baby was weird-

Noah couldn't move his body like he wanted to, he couldn't control his crying, nor his shitting or sleeping. And every time he wanted to speak or say something- only embarrassing 'goo-goo-ga-ga's were let out. So he promptly shut up the first time he had made an ass out of himself in front of a maid changing his diapers. He had wanted to scream in embarrassment and that he could do it himself- all that got out of his mouth was alien talk and spit- lots and lots of spit. Even more embarrassingly, the maid actually found that cute and started talking alien with him.

Noah wanted to dig his grave and climb inside.

The even more annoying thing about being a baby was that babies slept a lot- a LOT. They sleep constantly. Usually that would mean nothing to Noah since he couldn't really be doing anything productive while he was awake in his child's body anyways- the shitty part of it all were the nightmares.

Noah had a lot of nightmares- it was mostly a given since he had gone through so much. He was always wake up late at night while spontaneously shivering and sweating. They always ruined his sleep no matter what. He had tried to keep it to himself- so as to not worry Clamor who was already doing so much for him. At first he could lie to Clamor saying that he had Insomnia and couldn't sleep.

But Clamor was not stupid, he knew that Noah had nightmares he woke up from crying each night and couldn't go back to sleep again. But at the same time he knew that confronting Noah head-first about it would do nothing- heck, it might even drive him back. So he didn't mention anything.

But that didn't mean he did nothing.

Noah started to realize that Clamor started making a fuss about sleeping beside Noah at night- saying that he was too scared some thief would grab him and run away with him. Obviously that was bullshit- both of them knew that. But still even after giving Clamor an annoyed look that clearly said- 'I don't buy into your bullshit' he allowed Clamor to sleep in his arms. Obviously tucked carefully since he didn't want to cut himself in his sleep and die from blood loss from mishandling his own weapon friend.

Clamor's presence helped- it really did help. Even though it couldn't outright stop all his nightmares, just his presence alone gave him strength- whenever he would wake up crying, he would see Clamor in his hands and somehow it gave him peace. Sometimes after a particularly bad nightmare and could not go back to sleep- he would just hold Clamor in his arms and spend the night just looking and snuggling at Clamor- sometimes even going as far as retelling him about his nightmare. Of course all the time Clamor would be pretending to sleep- they both knew it but were too big of cowards to bring it up.

Then things got better between them with time, Clamor no longer had to ask and bug Noah to let him sleep by his side and Noah no longer made a fuss about it each night. Whenever they would go to sleep, Noah would grab Clamor from where he would be flying in the air and holding each other in their arms, they'd bid goodnight. It was after a while that Clamor finally confronted Noah about his nightmares when he thought that Noah was comfortable enough with his presence to not shut off instantly upon bringing up the topic.

It took a while, a long while. But they finally finished their talk and Noah swore that the sleep he had that night was the first sleep he had had in years and decades with no nightmares.

"...You killed me Noah..." The distorted voice of his brother called out with a maniacal smile- his face all sketched over like someone had scribbled pencil lines on him.

"No... go away- go-"

Noah's eyes abruptly opened- shattering his dreamscape. But even though he had realized he had woken up- the old familiar ceiling, the noble decorations of the Ebalon house, the chill moonlight streaming from the window. It was like in his nightmares. Just like in his nightmares.

Before he knew it, he had started crying again.

"Noah! You woke up in the middle of the night again...." Harque, hair tousled from sleep called out in a worrying voice.

Noah should have felt comforted, that his hyung he had been wanting to see for so long was finally taking care of him again. But at the same time- the image of his brother had long been tainted in bad memories in his brain. All he could see from looking at his face were either the dead lifeless eyes of him dead, Dantalion's crooked evil smile on that kind face or the messed up sketched over face from his dreams.

It didn't calm him down one bit.

"You are crying more now- what do I do...?" Harque sighed, and honestly Noah was now feeling bad for the guy. All Noah ever did for Harque was cry whenever he saw his face and wake him up in the middle of the night each night.

"Young Master Harque! Please let go of young master Noah!" His nanny called out entering the room and snatching Noah from Harque's hands quickly. "What were you doing?" She asked sternly.

"I- I was... I heard him cry so I came to check up on him..." Harque said helplessly. "I was only trying to calm him down..." He added with a small sob. Noah had never head his brother cry, this was probably the first time- what irony is that the first time he heard his hyung cry was because of him... he really was the world's worst younger brother.

"Young master Harque...." the old nanny sighed on looking at Harque's pitiful crying face. "Yes, what you did was from the right of heart- but in the end it only made Master Noah more agitated... you know how he always cries whenever you are around..." She added with a sad look.

Harque stayed quiet for a long while until he finally spoke back, not looking up from the ground. "Miss Nanny, why does Noah hate me?" He asked innocently, voice filled with despair.

"Young Master Harque..." the maid obviously wanted to give him some excuses but she knew that her young master was smart and would catch on her lie so she sighed and answered honestly. "I... I don't know about that." It was the truth- no one in the household knew why Noah would always become so agitated whenever he would come close to Harque.

"...Mn" Harque gave a small nod and then ran away to his room- trying to hide the obvious tears in his eyes.

Noah looked at Harque's retreating figure and felt his heart clench.

'It's not that I hate you...'

'I'm afraid of you...'

Harque never came to his room in the night ever again. Neither did they seem to cross paths during the day. It seemed like their parents had forbidden Harque from coming in contact with Noah- obviously fed up with Noah's impromptu crying in Harque's presence.

Noah knew that this was mean... but at the same time- a part of him was glad he wouldn't have to see the face of his nightmares so frequently even outside of dreams anymore.

He really did deserve the worst younger brother in the world award...

When the nanny had calmed down Noah enough to lull him back to sleep, she had left Noah in his crib.

Noah pretended to be asleep, but sleep wouldn't come to him no matter how hard he tried.

He turned his body to his right and saw the empty space beside him where Clamor should have been there to give him the sanctuary of his presence. But he was not there.

Noah could feel tears coming out again- but this time he managed to hold them back in and just cried silently through the night.

He didn't get any sleep that night.

Neither did he get any proper sleep for the next few years.

Chapter Text

The next few months were spent just like this- there wasn't really something he could do as a toddler anyway. It was hard enough that he had to sleep 20 hours each day when all he ever dreamt of were not-so-pleasant nightmares. The servants fussed over him day and night, making sure that he was always comfortable and well fed- sometimes he would see Harque sneaking around but quickly escaping when he seemed to realize Noah could see him.

But he never saw his parents.

Noah never really knew much about his parents he never interacted with them in his past life- well, never got the chance to as they were always busy with their parties and gatherings. Though he never knew that they had not even taken care of him or seen him even as a toddler. Noah in his last life only held a fraction of affection for his parents- only because they were his parents, nothing more. They had done nothing for him to make him respect them- any feelings in the middle were just because of their shared blood.

Noah had never had any proper guardian figure in his life except for Harque and even he was busy all the time trying to become the moon master so that their family would leave Noah alone. So he never really had a decent childhood, but he didn't know that since he had never experienced an actual family until he met Clamor and then the rest of the El Masters. The love he had for Clamor, Rosso, Denif, Solace, Ventus, Gaia, and Hernia was heaps more than the superficial love had for his blood family except for Harque.

Although they all fought together all the time and all of them had different crazy personalities, Noah found himself at home in them. Though it never helped that all those connections and feelings would vanish whenever he died and had to go through everything again. But that was why he had Clamor. Noah didn't know where he would be if he had not met Clamor- he would have probably gone mad. He had already been going mad on his first cycle- so dead set on his goal for revenge, uncaring towards his own self.

Clamor always kept the atmosphere lively with his meaningless chatter. Kept Noah away from his dark thoughts. Taught Noah magic. And he had even started teaching Noah the Forgotten Elvian language.

With Clamor he had always felt complete and whole.

Maybe it was because their souls had connected during the time they had been sleeping together for 500 hundred years or what but Clamor was always there to point him towards the light.

But now...

He was truly alone...

With knowledge of this place's inevitable demise.

He could do nothing.

Change nothing.

He never really paid attention to things when he had been a boy and even the things he did pay attention to were hazy due to the tinkering Dantalion had done with his head.

But that didn't mean he was going to give up.

He'd rather die trying than live without doing anything.

"Young Master Noah really is a quiet child." Harque's maid, Mary, commented as she served him his breakfast.

Harque was lounging on one of his couches, reading one particularly thick book while the rest were spread around him in a messy pile.

"How so?" Harque asked innocently.

"He never cries or makes a fuss-" The maid huffed, "A week ago when Ameli had gone with a cold and had to take a sudden leave which caused her to forget to tell the other servants that she had not fed or cleaned Master Noah that morning. It was only after one of the other maids smelled something that we realized that neither had his diapers been changed nor he had been fed at all during the day. It was really a scare and the head maid made us do extra work as a punishment." She sighed.

Harque blinked, "But he is always crying whenever I see him..." he wondered aloud.

"Frankly, none of us know why he always seems to be so afraid of you." She replied, stacking up the books properly. "But it's not like we can do anything about it. Young Master Noah is still just a child no matter how quiet and abnormal he is."

"What was I like as a baby?"

"Well~ Young Master Harque- you were the cutest! But also the most evil to take care of. You always kept crying for no reason, put everything in your mouth, and would never keep sleeping until you always had a hand on your head. You were also a picky eater- so much so that we had to keep a long list of whatever you didn't like. Also-"

"Alright that's enough!" Harque exclaimed, blushing from ear to ear. After he finally calmed down he once again spoke, "Then Noah is obviously your favorite right...?" He murmured, looking down into his book.

"Of course not... master Harque is still the best!" Mary squealed, using her hands to pinch Harque's cheeks.

"S-stop that!" Harque huffed, still blushing. "But... isn't Noah easier to take care of from what I heard?"

"Master Harque... children are supposed to be annoying to take care of- that's their whole charm." She honestly declared. "That's why giving them everything and spoiling them is so satisfying and pleasing. A child is supposed to be able to do whatever he or she wants and give and be given unconditional love. You were the best child I could have ever taken care of ever, Young Master."

"Then... what about Noah?" Harque asked, "If children are supposed to be like what you told me- why is he so different?"

"That..." Mary looked away. "Can I be honest with you young master...? Young Master Noah is... genuinely creepy- he barely cries at all, and neither does he resist us when we clean him. A few days ago we accidentally gave him baby food with too much salt and he did nothing and quietly ate it." She continued, "Kids usually have a look of wonder in their eyes whenever they see something- Young Master's eyes are... completely blank. Like he is seeing something not here or seeing or thinking something far off. The only time he shows any real emotions are when he cries around you." She closed her eyes, "All the servants in the mansion are all creeped out by him and usually talk about him not being a human- of course, that's all wrong, but still-!"

Harque was stunned, he had not been allowed to go near Noah according to his mother's orders so he hadn't properly met Noah for a long time and all of this was completely new to him. He never knew things were like this...

Noah...

He really wanted to know what his little brother was like...

Or how he would be when he would grow up.

Would he still hate him?

Just like that even more months passed.

Noah finally learned how to crawl and then walk by himself. The servants were all shocked as he had learned all that at a pretty young age, but he didn't pay them any attention. He slowly learned about the people around him- from what he could see, none of the servants had been turned into the mindless slaves they had become before the El explosion. So the house of Ebalon was still safe and not in the hands of the Henir yet which was good.

Another thing he tried as soon as he could was to feel for his magic. He would really be fucked if all the magic he had learned over the years would all be gone, although, during one of his future cycles, he had managed to learn how to travel through time with his magic through Glave, that was only for his cycles when the power of the moon and sun had already been forcefully injected into him by Dantalion over the years. He didn't know if he would still have these powers before he had even been injected with them. He didn't want to go through that hell again...

Always laying on his bed due to sickness due to the excess moon energy Dantalion dumped into him every week- or the near-death experience when Dantelion infused him with the sun element with no regard for Noah surviving the experiment.

It was finally when he was 2 years old that he gained enough control over his body to feel the magic bubbling inside him. Although he couldn't sense whether it was his own pure darkness or Harque's forcefully dumped moon powers of the experimented sun power in him- it still gave him hope. Because in his last life, he had only managed to awaken his power of darkness when he was 7 years old.

When he reached the age of 3, he finally managed to actually tap into the magic inside him. As expected- it was his power of darkness. He still couldn't access anything else but he could still feel another weird mix of powers unawakened inside of him in a messy lump. Though it would take time, he had to slowly smooth it out and separate them from each other and his power of darkness. Before it had been Clamor who had managed to separate the darkness and the light inside him and after that Solace and Hernia had helped him sort through the power of the sun in him. Although they hadn't explained to him how to do it- he still remembered the feeling of what they had done, like a gentle hand untangling knots in a bundle of thread. He had never done that himself so it would probably take another few years rather than the few days and hours it had taken with Clamor and Solace.

When Noah examined that everyone in the mansion had finally gone to sleep or gone to work somewhere else, he sneaked out of his room. He made his way into the old familiar courtyard he and his brother used to sneak out to during the night. The path had been forever etched into his brain- he had walked on this path so many times in the past and had even dreamt of walking through it again to see his brother alive and well near the fountain.

Noah looked up at the sky and saw that it was a new moon- perfect. His powers would easily be able to manifest today, he was worried that he would have to use up all his strength to be able to use his darkness today but thankfully a new moon meant that he won't have to do that today.

Noah took a seat on the fountain and began feeling for the smooth ocean water-like darkness inside of him.

Harque stiffened when he heard someone approach his secret lair.

'If someone saw me- I'd be in trouble!' He panicked. He was supposed to be in his room either sleeping or studying- if his parents were to find out that he sneaked out at night he would get punished.

Quickly examining the direction from where the footsteps were coming, Harque quickly hid behind a bush away from the point of view of the unknown person.

He expected it to be either one of the maids or the guards- what he didn't expect was to see his younger brother, Noah, now 3 years old, making his way to the fountain so naturally as if he had done that so many times in the past.

"What is Noah...." He mumbled under his breath and then quickly shut up when he saw Noah sit down on the fountain boundary and close his eyes in concentration. Before long Harque could feel chills in his spine.

The atmosphere of the hidden garden suddenly stiffened, the air became chilly and Harque swore that it was not just his imagination but he had seen the shadows move ever so slightly. Harque quickly re-focused on his younger brother who was still sitting there near the fountain with closed eyes.

Before long Harque could make out the shadows under Noah's feet shift and move on their own.

Harque held his breath in horror as he saw the shadows rise up from the ground and take the shape of small demonic cats with hollow red eyes.

Harque wanted to jump in and save Noah when he saw the cats approach his little brother but stopped himself when he realized that the cats had actually started rubbing themselves at Noah's feet and had started purring.

"It's been a while." Harque heard Noah say in a weird distant voice. Noah had now opened his eyes and was looking at the cats at his feet and lap with an expression Harque couldn't see because of the darkness shrouding the boy and his apparitions.

Looking at the scene with Noah playing with the shadow cats suddenly reminded him of one of the books he had recently read. There was a scene in it where the evil witch summoned her demonic cats just like this before she ordered them to eat one of her victims alive.

Suddenly Harque had frozen from fear. And the old conversation he had had with one of his close maids kept repeating in his mind- 'not human'.

Yes, the scene in front of him with his little brother smiling as the shadows creepily danced around him with demonic animals around him was truly 'not human'.

Chapter Text

It was not long before Noah started being labeled as a genius. Normal babies could form up to 50 words by the age of 2, but even before Noah's second birthday he had started talking in full sentences will vocabulary like that of an adult's. He was also incredibly respectful and had the best manners even without starting his classes on proper noble Etiquette. He was not a picky eater, stayed in his room, never broke curfew, didn't play with toys, and woke up every morning on time without a maid to wake him up.

And it was also not long before his parents heard about his excellence.

On his third birthday, a butler came up to him with a letter.

"Young Master Noah, you have a letter from the Lady, do you want me to read it for you?" The old butler asked, holding out a white letter sealed shut with a wax seal with the Ebalon emblem on it.

"No need." Noah smiled said as he took the letter from the servant's hands and cut it open with a letter knife.

Noah was obviously curious as to why his absent parents would send him a letter now when they hadn't even talked in full sentences with Noah when he was a child in his first life. When he quickly skimmed through the letter he was not surprised by the contents.

Apparently his parents had heard of his talent and wanted to give him a head start by allotting him a few tutors. And the rest of the letter was just a list of candidates they had chosen who could be selected as his new tutors. Nothing more than that.

Noah scoffed inside in disgust- the only time they ever paid attention to me was when I was showing signs of magic so that I might become the next El Master. It seemed like even in this life it was the same. But this time was different, he would not scurry around for their attention like last time- would not go out of his way to try to make his parents proud and praise him

But at the same time, he could not act like someone who had seen the world when he was just 3 years old. People might get suspicious of him or his behavior might draw unwelcomed attention towards him which could ruin his plans in the future.

So putting on a fake façade of glee and happiness on the fact that his parents just sent him a letter, he wrote another to his mother giving her some recommendations for the tutor positions. He made sure to pick out all the people who were secretly a part of the Henir order or supported the organization from the background. In order for his future plans to succeed, he needed to stay in close touch with all the Henir members. He deliberately only chose them also as a means to raise eyes among the older members. He needed to get into their line of sight and focus on him.

Anything to get their eyes off Harque....

Noah carefully sealed the letter with wax and handed it to the butler with a smile who took the letter, nodded, and walked away. When he saw the Butler leaving the room, Noah finally loosened up his stature and pulled down his fake smile. He then raised his hands to reach out for the glass of water on the table- but maybe because he was still not used to his small hands, his hands instead hit the candle stick, causing some of the hot wax to splash onto his wrists.

"Ah-!" Noah cursed, and then looked at his side- "Clamor, can you hea-" He paused. There was no one by his shoulder.

There hadn't been someone there for the past 3 years.

"I'm a fucking dumbass..." He grumbled, standing up abruptly from his chair and calling for a maid for some cold water to cool his burnt hand. As he sat there on his bed, ignoring the maid getting flustered over his burnt hand- he looked outside the window with an unreadable expression.

'Are you still there at the temple somewhere, Clamor?'

He quickly shook his head.

No, he couldn't afford to be sidetracked. And even if he finds Clamor somewhere, he knows no one apart from Yuria who could unseal him and release him. He didn't even know if the method had even been invented yet. If he were to change the past too much, he could accidentally exchange Yuria and many others from existence- not to mention, if something were to happen to Clamor....

No- Clamor was safe there in the temple, sealed away- he had been for the past 500 years and will be for the future 500 years. Finding a way to unseal him now would alert the order and everything he would have done would have been for naught.

'Clamor...' he gripped the sheets in his hands, 'Wait for me... okay?'

"Greetings, Master Noah." The middle-aged lady greeted, "My name is Martha from the house of Albrecht- it is my honor that I got the privilege to serve as a tutor of one of the kin of the esteemed Ebalon family." She smiled.

"The pleasure is all mine, Ms. Albrecht." Noah said in a melodious and innocent voice. "Though you already know of me, it would be rude for me to not introduce myself as this is our first time meeting- my Name is Noah from the house of Ebalon. I'm glad such a kind and beautiful noble lady would be the one to tutor me." Noah continued, giving off a blinding smile.

Martha was a bit taken aback, she had had her doubts when she had heard about the request from the Ebalon couple to personally tutor their son. At first, she had thought it would be the bright, but shy older brother Harque- but she had not expected to be assigned to the younger brother Noah, who she knew nothing about except for the few rumors running around that he was a very clever child. But he was a child nonetheless- a 3-year-old at that, becoming a tutor to someone that young was revolting to her pride.

She was going to refuse the request but then the order intervenes- saying that she should accept the request so as to start filling the Ebalon house with a few moles of their own. If it was not for them, she would not have sent a letter agreeing to the request of tutoring the youngest Ebalon blood.

She had been expecting a rude and overconfident child or at least someone who didn't know proper social norms and greetings.

But currently standing there in front of the infamous Noah Ebalon she felt all her previous misconceptions crumble away to dust in an instant. Even at such a young age, the boy had almost perfect etiquette. And not only in the way he spoke or smiled- the way he held himself like a noble was almost perfect. But there was still another thing to look out for-

"Well then, now that our introductions have been completed- shall we start with a small test to evaluate your academic level?" Martha smiled as motioned to one of her personal maids who had accompanied her to bring out the small test paper she had prepared in advance for the boy. The order had asked her to do so- to check the boy's intellect so that they could see the potential in the boy as a future order member. They had done the same with the older brother Harque as well, the results had been amazing though they had hit a wall due to the fact that the boy was too pure and would never choose to side with the order willingly.

Master Dantalion's plan required them to have a mole inside the el master circle. The best house to infiltrate would obviously be the house of Ebalon as for generations they had produced most of the Moon El masters and with the current Moon El master position vacant, it was the best choice overall.

"What kind of test?" Noah asked, tilting his head a little in confusion. He hadn't expected his new tutors to test him so early- especially on the first day. This only meant one thing- the order was involved somehow. Therefore the way he would choose to answer these questions would directly affect the way the order would see him in the future. He was not naïve enough to think that the Henir Order would not pay attention to him as long as he stayed quiet, no, the order was not like that. Their eyes were everywhere and they knew everything- but no one knew about them as they were the masters of hiding in the shadows, after all, they have been hiding like so for the past hundreds of years waiting for the opportunity to strike. And they had now set their eyes on the House of Ebalon.

The Henir order had their plans- but so did Noah, and he had the best card in his deck right now. The knowledge of what the Henir wanted. Right now they want a mole within the El Masters. And for that, they had set their eyes on Harque who showed promising intellect and powers- even though his brother lacked the ability to control the shadows, his hard work and determination to become the next El Master was truly promising.

But Noah will not let it happen again.

In his past life the Henir had approached his hyung and tried to persuade him to join them but obviously, Harque had refused. After that, the Henir order decided to kill him and replace him.

This time it would be different.

He would not let the Henir come close to his brother. Not even over his dead body.

"Oh, don't worry just a simple exercise on basic math, literature, and history. It's alright if you can't answer many of these questions- this exam is purely to test where you stand academically." Martha explained, "Also, will you tell me how have you been studying before this?" She asked.

"I just picked up and read some of Hyung's old books." Noah explained with a gentle smile.

"Alright then, here is your paper- write all the answers in the space given below. You have 1 hour."

Noah quickly looked through the paper and sighed in relief. This was just a basic-level exam- nothing serious. Though it would be hard for a 3-year-old to do but it certainly wasn't beyond the realm of possibility for a kid of his age to do. He had been afraid that the paper would be too tough and he would have to carefully choose which questions to answer and which to skip so as to not make everyone become suspicious of him.

With a lighter heart Noah picked up the pen and started his paper.

After the designated 1 hour had finished Ms. Martha took his paper and started checking the answers instantly.

"You got a perfect score," She announced, impressed. "The rumors truly precede you."

Yes, this was going to be interesting.

Noah just had to make it so all eyes were on him and Harque would be hidden away in his shadow's protection. It was the only way he could protect him.

Over the next few years the rumors about the youngest Ebalon son skyrocketed. Everyone talked about his academic achievements and people were already sure that he would be the next Moon El Master though only if he had an affinity towards both Shadow and Light. If he would only have an affinity towards one element it would just be the thing with the oldest son all over again. But Noah had no worries over that, he already had mastered both the full moon and the new moon's power under Darkmoon and her guidance.

Then Noah finally decided to reveal his power over Darkness and the Light one day by 'accidentally' awakening his powers. It was then only a matter of time before everyone knew of this.

The prodigy child of the Ebalon house had control over both the light and the dark- there was no doubt about it. He was going to be the next Moon El Master.

So far Noah's plan had been going smoothly.

It was when Noah was 5 years old that the ceremonial occasion which gathered all the El Masters took place. It was also a place where the young to-be El Masters gathered around. In his previous life, it had been Harque who had been given the invitation to attend, but this time it was Noah who had received the invitation. This was a big achievement in Noah's eyes. This meant that he had succeeded in shifting the nobility and the Henir's eyes from his Hyung to himself.

And there was something even more important that would happen in this event.

It was here that Harque had met Misty and had become acquainted with her. She had listened to his rants about the hardships he had to go through, she taught him how to control his powers and control the darkness he had no affinity for, she was a beacon of support in Harque's life. She cared for him, loved him, and looked after him- then she stood by at the back as Harque had been murdered in cold blood by Dantalion wearing his face.

Noah didn't know what to feel about the Moon Priestess. She was the one who caused his brother's death and gave information to the Henir, but at the same time- she saved Noah's life by sacrificing her own life for his and gave him the pendant Harque had been trying to hide from the order.

He did not know what to think.

The ceremonial occasion was just a ceremony in the name- it was more of a party where people could build connections with each other and get to meet the El Masters and the El Priestesses.

Noah had to make sure not to run into any unnecessary trouble or cause any ruckus. The people he would meet here were very important to the timeline- especially the El Masters. If he wanted his plan to go as smoothly as possible, he would have to try not to change the future too much.

Noah's strategy was simple just show around his face in the main hall and introduce himself and talk to some people and then quietly slip off from the main event.

As he finally managed to wring himself out of the main hall he found himself in front of a beautiful courtyard. It was large and spacious and was decorated in sun-themed highlights.

Noah was so taken aback by the view that he didn't see someone walking in front of him and accidentally bumped into the person.

"Holy- FUCK! Watch where you are going, asshole!" The painfully familiar voice shouted, Noah quickly snapped his head up and came face to face with the familiar angry face of none other than Rosso. "Are you blind- Wait" Rosso stopped and raised his eyebrows, "What's a brat like you doing here?" He asked, but Noah was too distracted by the Fire El master's face- searching for the similarities and differences between this Rosso and the one he knew of. "Oi! Who are you?" Rosso asked even more loudly this time, his face showed an annoyed expression.

Noah quickly came out of his trance and remembered his position- he was no longer Rosso's friend or family here. They were strangers, Rosso didn't know him.

"Greetings, Fire El Master." Noah bowed, "My name is Naoh from the house of Ebalon. It's a pleasure to meet you." He greeted politely, knowing full well that Rosso hated these kinds of greetings.

"Huh.... so you are the Ebalon brat everyone has been talking about?" Rosso sneered in disgust. Noah knew why, Rosso hated noble families especially the ones who were behind the making of the El Masters like the house of Solace, Ebalon, and especially the root of all the problems, the house of Rosso where he had been kidnapped and forced to go through painful experiments for years and years in order to make the perfect Fire El Master. In the end, out of the thousands of test subjects- he was the only one who survived and then proceeded to kill his captors and become the fire El Master.

Noah remembered the time when he and Rosso had just met and he had asked the man why he had decided to become the Fire El Master instead of living freely- why did he choose to live the way his abusers envisioned him to live like and not live his own life? Noah had been going through a tough time at that time- the urge and bloodthirst on taking revenge against the Order was making him blind to the point of madness but he couldn't let go of that fire inside him because he didn't know what he would be living for anymore.

Then Rosso gave his answer which was simple and yet made so much sense.

'So that others don't have to go through what I went through, that's why I'm going to be the last and the only Fire El Master from now on.'

Those few words gave him light and a reason.

Don't do it for revenge, do it so that others don't suffer like you did because you know the pain you went through and never want someone else to go through it again.

It had taken some time but after that, Noah had found what he should be fighting for, not for revenge or hate- but to protect.

"Outside of looking 2 years younger than your age I can't really sense anything special about yo-" Rosso scoffed but then paused mid-sentence and looked at Noah with wide eyes, no not at Noah, but directly inside Noah.

Rosso immediately grabbed Noah's wrist with so much force that Noah winced in pain.

Noah's breathing and heart quickened- what had Rosso seen inside of him? Did he somehow see the remnants of the experiments Dantalion put him through. This was bad, he can't get caught now- or else Rosso would start asking questions and his entire plan would fall apart.

"What are you-" But before Noah could protest any further another familiar voice cut both of them.

"Oi! Rosso, what you doing?" Ventus's carefree voice exclaimed, he walked closer to the duo- looking at them to see what the commotion had been about. "Are you bullying kids now? That's low, even for you." Ventus joked but made sure to remove Rosso's grip on Noah's hand as gently and efficiently as he could.

Noah looked up at Ventus and felt a strange feeling in his gut, 'He looks like Clamor...' was the first thing that came to his mind. Of course, he had seen Ventus many times before and knew that the Elf was related to Clamor somehow considering their matching features and races- but right now with no contact with Clamor for half a decade now, looking at Ventus's face felt wrong.'

"Shut up Ventus- I was in the middle of something important right now." Rosso sneered but nonetheless took back his hand.

"I think that your important thing can wait a bit longer, old man Denif is already waiting for you at the hall for your arrival. What are you doing here bullying kids?" Ventus said with a slightly annoyed huff.

"I hate these ceremonies- all these are just places those noble bastards gather in to curry favor from others." Rosso spat.

"I know how you feel about these events," Ventus sighed. "But you just have to show your face for a bit and then you can go around wandering in suspicious parks pestering kids all you want okay? Though obviously that last part was a joke and don't do that." He quickly added, and then turned to Noah. "And you-"

Noah quickly broke off from his trance and bowed respectfully not forgetting how he had to act, "My name is No-"

"Noah Ebalon, I know." Ventus smiles, "There is probably no one here who doesn't know your name. You are quite a famous young lad you know?" He smiled, and then turned back at Rosso, "Now start walking, or else you would have to eat Denif's cooking today. Also Noah?" He looked back, "Sorry for this idiot, I hope your wrist is okay. See you again later someday." He said with a wink and then went away dragging an unhappy Rosso behind him.

Noah stood there frozen until he could no longer see the two El Masters anymore and then sighed in relief.

He somehow managed to get away this time thanks to Ventus's help....

He continued his walk around the courtyard, lost in his own thoughts.

He had to admit that meeting the people he had been so close to in the future was really weird- even weirder than when he had to go through his death loops again and again. At least those times he could explain to them about his situation and who he was and how he got here- right now he had to give away as little information as possible or he might fuck up everything in the future.

Also, seeing Ventus's face reminded him too much of Clamor- the one he saw in the dream realm. He always forgot to ask about the relationship between Ventus and Clamor before. It was no doubt that they were related somehow- maybe they were from the same family?

It was then that his thoughts were suddenly interrupted by an angry scream.

"Give it back to her you bastards!" The young voice roared. This voice was also pretty familiar to Noah, but he couldn't pinpoint whose it was.

Noah quickened his pace towards the source of the commotion and as soon as he turned the corner he saw Master Solace and the El lady-

No-

The young boy Fenriart protecting the young girl Hernia who was being bullied by 3 other children with the same clothing as theirs.

"What is happening here?" Noah instinctively called out.

And then all 5 people's eyes landed on him and Noah realized his mistake.

Ah, he wasn't supposed to make a commotion....

Chapter Text

"What are you guys doing?" Noah found himself instinctively calling out in anger.

As soon as the words came out of his mouth, the 5 people turned their heads to look at the source of the voice. All the kids wore the same kind of clothes, they were all from the house of Solace. It was just then that Noah realized that the ceremony had been hosted at the House of Solace and that's why there were so meant sun-themed decorations around the palace.

In Noah's eyes, the house of Solace- even though not as bad as the House of Rosso, was pretty shit as well. They adopted orphans with the power of the sun in them in hopes of raising a Sun El Master and outside of treating the kids as mere tools they didn't care about them at all. Both Hernia and Fenriart had grown up in such a toxic environment. Noah suddenly felt anger flair inside of him against all the nobles in the buildings who were partying right now when these two innocent kids were out there getting bullied.

"What are you doing here, kid?" One of the older bullies spat, "Go back to your mommy." he laughed and the other two kids started laughing as well.

When they saw that Noah had still not moved from his place, they sneered in anger.

"Go back kid, or it's gonna get painful," one of the other boys threatened, "Or do you actually think that you, a kid stand a chance against us?" he scoffed. "We are from the House of Solace, you should kneel and beg for our mercy for challenging and interrupting us."

"Interrupting you in bullying 2 other smaller defenseless kids?" Noah raised his eyebrows. "I didn't know that the children of the House of Solace were this pathetic that they gained pleasure from stepping on those weaker than them. And you hope to be the next El Masters?" he smirked.

"Oi-! You bastard-" One of the boys went red from anger and shoved away the other boys who were in front of him to step directly in front of Noah. "You're gonna regret this." He smirked as he forcefully grabbed at Noah's collar and pulled back his hand for a punch.

"No- Stop!" Hernia tried to stop him but before she could Noah opened his mouth and spoke in the most chilling cold voice they had ever heard, giving the boys a pause.

"What you are gonna regret is harming the youngest master of the House of Ebalon." He smirked, eyes shining with hints of evil and darkness.

"You-!" The boy exclaimed, feeling shivers down his spine.

"What will happen to you when the House of Ebalon files a complaint on the grounds of assault towards the youngest master Noah?" Noah continued, his evil smirk widening. "Will your parents come to save you- oh right! My bad, they don't fucking care about you. And that's why you all are here scurrying about like street rats picking up on younger and weaker kids to feel a sense of false accomplishment in hopes of the heads of the house finally notice your pathetic self. But don't you know deep down?" he brought his face closer to the boy's ear and whispered. "They don't fucking care about you, they already have 50 different orphans to replace you with. Don't forget your place just because you were taken in as a tool for family fame."

"You-!"

But before things could escalate, a voice called out.

"What is going on here?" Noah turned around and saw Master Gaia's face a few feet away from him. Seemingly he had heard the commotion from afar but didn't know what it was about and had walked in to check in on them. Knowing Gaia and his innocent mindset, he would probably not think and realize that this was a case of bullying since children in his eyes were innocent.

"Greetings Earth Master Gaia," Noah bowed his head respectfully, expression back to its usual chilly poker face. "The youngest master of the House of Ebalon greets you."

"Ebalon...." Gaia thought for a while and then raised his eyebrows, "Oh- you're The Noah Ebalon?" he smiled.

"This humble child is ecstatic to know that the great Master of Earth knows of me." Noah said, holding a flustered expression but deep inside he was smiling in victory- everyone in this ceremony knew who he was, even the El Masters- his plan of overshadowing his brother and away from the eyes of the Henir was going way better than expected.

"You speak too humbly, not knowing who the youngest master of the Ebalon house is would be embarrassing for me considering your achievements." Gaia laughed and Noah felt warm in his heart. Seeing Master Gaia like this smiling so naturally reminded him of his previous lives. Master Gaia was the innocent of the bunch and was the one who would always lighten up the mood with his presence and his smile. Naturally, everyone around him learned to lean on him and rely on him even though he himself thought so little of himself and the impact he had on the other masters. He was the one who always calmed down Rosso whenever he had a fit of anger or anxiety- the same with Noah. Whenever Noah fought with Clamor or had some things he needed to talk about without Clamor knowing (like his feelings for the half-elf) he always went to Gaia who would always listen with no judgment in his eyes and give him the required support.

And even though he was so kind, whenever they sparred..... yea- Noah could still feel those broken bones in him.

"May I ask why The El Master has come here?" Noah asked, giving off his most innocent face he knew could win over the soft-hearted Gaia.

"Oh yes- I saw some commotion on my way here and wanted to see what it was about, is someone hurt?" He asked, frowning and looking at the children in worry.

"No need to worry, we just had a misunderstanding and it got a little rough. All of us are fine though." He lied, he had to, or else if Gaia knew what was actually happening he would talk to the heads of the House of Solace and even though it would bring trouble to the 3 bullies it would make Hernia and Perihart's lives even more troublesome- probably they would also get the same punishment as the bullies for sullying the name of the House of Solace even when they had done nothing wrong. And there was no way Noah would let the two people he almost thought of as his parents get into trouble like this.

"Isn't that right?" He turned to the 5 other children and smiled. They flinched and knew what Noah was thinking about and since none of them wanted to get into trouble they all nodded.

"That's wonderful then, it seems like I was worried too much." Gaia said, scratching his cheeks in embarrassment. "You kids should go back as well, and remember to not get into more fights."

But before the 3 bullies could run away Noah quickly called out, "Oh- I think you accidentally have something that belongs to the girl." He innocently asked, making the boy flinch and meekly pull out a small ring from his pocket and handed it to Hernia who let out a soft 'T-thank you...' and then ran away.

"I will be on my way then." Gaia smiled and walked away.

When Noah saw that Gaia had walked far enough to not hear them, he turned his head to look at the future sun El Master and El Lady couple and felt good in his heart that he was able to help them.

"You- who are you?" Fenriart asked, looking at Noah.

"Me? I did mention that my name is Noah Ebalon..." Noah looked at him, confused.

"Oh... then- nevermind." He shook his head. "I merely thought you introduced yourself as that to frighten those bastards. My bad."

"Why did you think so?" Noah was genuinely confused.

Fenriart looked at him again, "Because I sensed-" he then narrowed his eyes and then once again shook his eyes. "Nevermind- it's nothing serious."

Though even though he said that he was still left confused in his mind- he had surely sensed a flicker of the Sun element in the boy and that's why he had thought that this was one of their new siblings he hadn't met till now. But now that he tried to sense the energy in Noah he could only sense the overwhelming power of Darkness and Light, the Ebalon family's specialty. Maybe it was because he hadn't had enough sleep the last night and was just seeing things? It seemed so, why else would a child of the house of Ebalon have the sun element when they already had awakened their Darkness and Light powers? It made no sense.

"We should get going then, thank you for your help. We don't know how we can ever repay you." He thanked.

"You can tell me your names then." Noah smiled, making Fenriart a bit taken aback as he had not expected this kind of warm expression from the boy who had frightened them all with such a cold face. Noah had to ask their names or else if in the future he might accidentally call them with their names when they hadn't told him, it would have gotten suspicious.

"Uh- my name is Fenriart, and her name is-"

"-Hernia." Hernia finally spoke out after a while and smiled at Noah, clutching at the ring she had just gotten back from the bullies. "I'm really thankful to you for getting this back, this is my last memento of my mother and I didn't want to lose this." He said with a sad smile.

"I only did what any other would have done in this situation." he smiled and saw Fenriart scoff and whisper a silent 'Like hell those assholes would.' Under his breath.

"We have to go now, may we meet again. Goodbye," Hernia smiled and pulled Fenriart with her to somewhere else.

"Goodbye," Noah waved and smiled, a real smile this time. Talking to Master Solace and El Lady was refreshing, somehow they were so different but at the same time they were the exact same as 500 years in the future.

"That boy is such a badass," Ventus whistled, "He didn't even flinch when those kids were threatening him."

"You should stop dawdling around," Lucy sighed. "You told Rosso to go on his way but yourself stopped to spy on the kid. Have some shame would you?"

"But Rosso was so interested in that kid-I just had to know what he was about." Ventus chucked, "And we did find something with him right?"

"Yes..." Lucy agreed, "You sense it too don't you?"

"Yup, he has the scent of another Elf on him." Ventus continued.

"Though it's a bit weird, not a scent but more of the presence of a contract..." Lucy thought, "But even then-"

"-You can't sense a contract in him." Ventus cut in and Lucy nodded.

"It's weird." Lucy chimed in.

"Fascinating too, which Elf did this protected and Sheltered young boy of the Ebalon house meet?" Ventus hummed, "And why is it that the presence of that elf around him is there but at the same time not there? Even Rosso found something unusual about him and considering he isn't an elf and can't sense the presence we are sensing- it has to be something else. Two different things."

"Anyways, get back to your ceremony stupid Ventus." Lucy punched Ventus on his shoulder.

"Yes yes... going- you don't have to lecture me again."

"Hmph-!"

Not knowing of the conversation that the elf and spirit due were having about him, Noah finally found what he had come here for.

He walked into a small praying temple and found his target for the night-

There kneeling on the ground and praying to the goddess was none other than the Moon Priestess, Misty.

Noah took one final deep breath and readied himself.

His first direct contact with someone who knows Dantalion-

He couldn't make any mistakes.

Not now-

Chapter Text

"Greetings, moon priestess." Noah respectfully greeted and observed the way Misty flinched and looked back with a bewildered look.

"You are...?" Misty asked a bit hesitantly.

"Noah Ebalon from the esteemed house of Ebalon." Noah greeted her with a sweet smile and watched as Misty's tense shoulders became even more tense and upright- as if stunned in panic.

For someone in the Henir order… she has astoundingly bad acting skills.

She was easily the weakest link in the Order- someone who let her feelings mix in with her mission and betrayed the order by saving the life of the little brother of the child she cared for.

Before Noah hadn’t attempted to approach her despite seeing her many times from afar as she was indeed the Moon Priestess- and the house of Ebalon was almost a Moon El Master production factory.

But now that Noah was indeed sure that the Order was definitely interested in him as well as wanted to recruit him…

Noah gave her the sweetest smile he could muster up and spoke in a voice filled with childlike innocence, “Madam Moon Priestess, it would be an honor to get to talk to your leader-“

Misty’s face froze in an instant.

“What…-“ she backed off instinctively, away from the creepily smiling child in front of her.

She had of course heard many many stories about this boy- and how Master Dantalion wished nothing more than to have him on their side. How he had gone on and on about how Noah Ebalon was the perfect spy they needed- wherever he wanted to be or not.

Eyes had been placed on the boy and he basically checked every single thing required of him. So much so that many of the order members were genuinely afraid of the kid just from the stories that circulated around about him.

Like how once he hadn’t even flinched when shooting an arrow through a bird who had then proceeded to fall on his feet- blood and guts splashing all over the 4-year-old child who just stared blankly at his first kill during his hunting lessons.

No child should be like that.

But each story just made Master Dantalion even more and more enamored and yearning to have that boy by their side.

Lack of feelings like these… especially at such a young age- could easily be twisted into the ones the Henir Order wanted.

Misty herself had seen the boy multiple times from afar and had noticed with chilling realization how the boy never smiled unless it was the polite thing to do- would always stare off the distance with shadows surrounding his frame as if one with him.

Even that amount of control over magic was unheard of even among adults…

Noah Ebalon was beyond genius- he was inhumane.

Misty prayed to never meet him.

And then today-

This boy had approached him with his sweet smile which Misty knew was fake and filthy.

And he had just said something extremely concerning-

“Y-you mean the El Lady? Forgive me but there are no El Lady’s right now and the next El Lady hasn’t been decided yet-“

“No, not the El Lady.” Noah shook his head and added a hint of red to his eyes and smile a little more crooked and strange- his plan was working. “I meant Mister Dantalion.”

As soon as those words were spoken-

Misty could feel her entire body going limp and then the next second she had already become a spectator to her own body.

Noah watched while trying to hold down the bike rushing up his throat as Misty’s face constructed and the next second- it was no longer Misty in that body-

It was Dantalion.

The man who had killed his brother and had pretended to be him for years while performing experiments on Noah-

The man who was responsible for each and every single tragedy in Noah’s life. The man behind the killing of his dearest Clamor who had ended up being sealed into a sickle-

The man Noah had vowed again and again over and over to chop off his head and smash him into pieces and-

Noah took a deep breath and forcefully calmed down his mind.

No-

Although he wanted nothing more at this moment than to stab this bastard right here right now- he knew that the only one he would be harming would be Misty as the man- no, monster- wasn’t actually here with his physical body.

Dantalion wasn’t stupid- he wasn’t going to expose his vulnerable self in front of an unknown threat- the threat being Noah Ebalon.

Noah did not know how long it would take to earn this monster’s trust- how long he would even be able to survive being chummy chummy with the man without going insane first.

But-

His brother.

It was all for his brother.

Harque did not deserve to be killed by this monster. Harque was a kind and gentle soul who loved everyone and anyone- he was someone who was meant to grow old naturally, become the Moon El Master, and live a comfortable life doing the things he loved and- and- just be alive.

Harque needed to be alive.

And Noah would make sure of that no matter how much he would have to sacrifice.

Noah fixed his expression, kneeled on one knee, lowered his head with his hand on his chest in salute, and with his eyes closed he greeted,

“Greetings to the great leader of the Henir's Order, the great Master Dantalion. This humble believer is grateful for being graced by your presence."

Although in this position Noah couldn't see the expression on Dantatlion's he knew that the man was smirking.

"'Humble Believer'... hm~?" Dantalion hummed, the way he used Misty's vocal chord made his voice even more creepy and inhumane. "Now tell me child of Ebalon... how did you find my name, let alone what the Henie's order is."

Noah took a deep breath and recounted the story he had made prior to this,

"The darkness spoke to me."

The way the air around Noah shifted, he knew that he had gotten Dantalion's complete interest as well as attention- no matter how disgusting that was.

"My shadows... they told me." Noah slowly said as the shadows beneath his frame became even darker and darker like a pool of black viscount ink before rising up and taking the shape of a creepy-looking cat- hollow eyes staring unblinkingly at nothing as it curled up around Noah's feet, purring contentedly.

Noah always loved conjuring up his shadows as cats- Clamor had once mentioned how cute it was and always teased Noah whenever he played with them at night when he had trouble sleeping and-

No, don't think about Clamor.

"Hm... so they did huh?" Dantalion chuckled in amusement and Noah could feel the ground crunching almost as if Dantalion was crouching down in front of him and suddenly-

He felt a hand on his chin.

"Open your eyes." The man chuckled- it was definitely a man now, no longer Misty's voice.

Noah felt his head being raised and he opened his eyes slowly-

And met face-to-face with the eyes of his brother's killer. That pale handsome face smiling at him darkly as he held Noah's face with possessive tenderness.

This was Dantalion's real face. And he was willingly showing this to Noah on their first meeting.

The next words Dantalion spoke- Noah could almost feel his breath on his face-

"Who are you?"

Mechanically, Noah replied, "Noah of the Henie's order."

Dantalion smiled and patted Noah's cheeks still filled with baby fat, "Perfect answer. You pass~"

Noah almost heaved a large sigh of relief when the man let go of his face but thankfully managed to keep it in-

He looked at Dantalion with a look of absolute adoration and awe while hiding his pure contempt and disgust and said sweetly, "Thank you, Master Dantalion."

The man hummed contently, "Just call me Dantalion." He looked at Noah again and Noah almost broke into shivers.

"Welcome to the Henie's order, General Noah. From now on, you are directly under my command and mine only."

General...?

Right away?

Noah did not know whether to call himself lucky or unlucky right now-

"I would love to talk to my newest General more... but unfortunately it seems like our time has to be cut short." The man mock sighed before his figure contorted back to Misty's again and with Misty's face and voice he smirked at Noah and gave one final greeting, "Later, my Noah." With that Misty's eyes became blank again before focusing again and then looking directly at Noah.

Before Noah could even say another word, Misty kneeled in front of Noah and bowed almost exactly like how Noah had done with Dantalion a few mere moments ago, "Greetings, General."

"Raise your head, someone is approaching." Noah looked in the distance from where he could see someone coming up to them- probably for Misty or to call Noah back to the banquet or something.

Misty obediently raised herself at his command- following her superior's direct orders.

The maid came and informed Noah that some important guests from another family wanted to meet him and she had come here to call him back.

Noah nodded and followed her- only halfway through he made her stop and asked for a quick detour to the bathroom.

As soon as Noah reached the bathroom-

He vomited the entire contents of his stomach into the sink.

He felt filthy.

And he knew that he would feel this same disgust for the years to come.

Chapter Text

The party passed and Noah returned back to his house, as soon as he was inside his room, he locked himself in and buried his face into the sheets. His entire body shook but no tears came out of his eyes.

The man who had killed Harque, the man who was responsible for Clamor being sealed inside that sickle-

He had just…

Noah had just teamed up with him.

This was all according to the plans he had thought up with all the free time he got while not being able to talk or walk as a baby- he knew all along that this was the path he had chosen.

Yet-

Actually experiencing this path and living through it…

Noah felt like he wanted to scratch himself up inside and out.

“Clamor…” he whispered weakly, “Where are you… I need you… please.”

He closed his eyes and allowed himself to reminisce for one last time. From tomorrow onwards, he would live as Noah of the Ebalon Family and the General of the Henir’s Order.

Just as Noah had foreseen, the next time he saw his Etiquette tutor, she was acting weirdly.

“Good morning, Madam Martha.” Noah greeted like usual with a curt bow and an innocent yet respectful smile.

“M-Master Noah! No- no need to bow…” the lady panicked and tried to stop Noah by extending her hand towards his shoulders.

But just as she was about to touch Noah’s shoulder, the air in the room froze and her hand did so as well.

A cold and icy voice came out of her mouth, “And just who gave you the permission to touch my General?" The voice was obviously not Martha's, it was Dantalion's.

Noah did his utmost best to hold back his disgust and hatred and instead looked up with wide innocent eyes and spoke clearly in a small voice, "Master Dantalion?"

The plump curvy figure of Noah’s tutor warped and twisted into that of a man who looked down at Noah and smiled at him, “My dear General, didn’t I already tell you to call me just Dantalion?” He cooed creepily. Noah could feel shivers going down his spine.

Noah took on a bashful expression and looked down guilty (and also in order to hide his skewed acting), “F-forgive me Mas- erm, Dantalion… it just feels a little disrespectful…”

Dantalion chuckled and took a seat on one of the soft sofas in the room, crossing his legs over one another he rested his chin on his hand and said casually, "You're my personally chosen and selected student and protégé, there is no disrespect. Stop thinking about useless things." The last few words were almost like a threat- and Noah wasn't stupid enough to not understand those words.

"Yes, Dantalion." Noah raised his head and made his way to the sofa facing opposite to Dantalion's.

"Also, no bowing towards anyone but me from now on." Dantalion said.

"Not even my parents or elders? That could be extremely suspicious... not that I doubt your thinking." Noah still kept his gaze locked downwards towards his thighs, he knew that if he were to face Dantalion he would have to force his face to make it look enchanted and dazed- as if the sheer presence of the leader of the Henir's Order made him weak and turn over to expose his vulnerable belly as of a believer facing his god.

"Always look me in the eyes while talking to me." Dantalion's voice boomed and Noah cursed his bad luck before looking up. "Good boy~" Dantalion purred and Noah's cheeks darkened and he started fidgeting (from pure anger- but fortunately he could use them like this as well).

"Now then, what were you asking me?"

"I- erm," Noah took a deep breath, he had to act perfectly making sure to stutter and stagger just enough but also show unwavering obedience as well as unparalleled genius, perfectly balanced so as to keep Dantalion's interest and attention all on him- and far far away from Harque. "As a young master from a noble family, I am required to show basic respect as well as etiquette towards those from a stronger family as well as elders from the same social standing, of course, if Dantalion wishes it so I shall only bow down to my one and only great leader." Noah showed an innocent dopey smile.

Dantalion hummed pleasantly, seemingly pleased by Noah's acting as he tapped the armrest absentmindedly, "These stupid things nobles did always pissed me off... yet I do understand the need to follow these customs. I will not have your image ruined but you shall never bow down to someone from the organization. That's an order."

"Understood, Dantalion," Noah replied obediently.

"And stop being so stiff," Dantalion chuckled, "After all, it would get boring really quick since we'll be meeting every day."

"Every day?" Noah repeated, outwardly happy and expectant and inwardly disgusted and horrified.

"Well, the young master of the Ebalon family can’t start missing his classes now, can he? And I doubt someone with your knowledge and expertise needs those foolish insignificant people to tutor you. And as my protégé… it is only right for me to personally instruct you.” Dantalion smiled.

‘Instruct? Or more like ensuring that my moral compass continues to remain fucked up so that I can be your little puppet Moon Master?’ Noah scoffed in his mind.

Honestly, he could admit that this Dantalion bastard was quite smart- he had finally seemed to find the perfect person for the role he wanted, so he was trying his best to ensure that there was no way that Noah would stray from their path.

After all, Noah Ebalon was merely a few years old, just a sad little boy with too much knowledge and genius that everyone treated him like an outcast and someone whose parents didn't even come to visit him a few times his entire lifetime. No matter how he was able to find out about the order through his nosy shadows snooping around and getting enamored by the idea of the Henir's Order, he needed to be groomed perfectly to fit his role as the future Moon Master as well as the General of the Henir's Order. And that's why one-on-one lessons were important. Give enough time to this promising investment and reap the benefits.

It was the perfect plan.

If only Noah wasn't actually a 3-4-year-old kid but one who had lived his life countless times over with people who had helped him grow his character as well as a moral compass.

Noah sneaked a glance at Dantalion who was busy admiring the luxurious room that he and Noah would be trapped in almost every day for the coming years and glared at him.

No matter what it cost, Noah would have this man's head no matter what.

The first thing Dantalion started teaching Noah personally was how to properly control his powers over the full moon.

A Moon master was someone who needed to be adept at both shadow magic as well as light magic- representing the new and the full moon respectively, which was why becoming a Moon master was much more complicated than the other Master positions.

Although Noah had taught himself how to control the foreign full moon powers inside of him over the years with the help of Darkmoon with her knowledge of the moon as well as Clamor's general magical knowledge- but Noah had never been able to learn from an actual professional.

It was obvious that Dantalion had a lot of expertise in this field... horrifyingly large amounts as well.

This only meant that Dantalion had already started preparing to take over as a fake Moon Master as a plan B- another scary reality Noah was forced to face.

Noah had been so close to losing Harque all over again...

This was the only comfort he was able to give himself as he integrated wholly into the lessons. The more potential and strength he showed over this element, the more Dantalion would forget about his Plan B, Noah couldn't lose Harque, but he also couldn't lose himself either. There would be no point in doing any of this if Dantalion were to flip- finding Noah no longer suitable enough for his plan and then erasing him from his existence and becoming the new Noah Ebalon.

And the more power he had... the easier it would be to kill Dantalion.

So Noah sucked up all his hatred and pride and gave it his all studying light magic from Dantalion himself.

And before Noah knew it, he had turned 6 years old.

Chapter Text

"You can do it, Young Master Harque." One of the kind maids urged on Harque who was standing awkwardly in front of the door leading to the ballroom where Noah Ebalon's sixth birthday party was going on.

"Thank you, Mary." Harque gave the maid a kind smile despite his inner turmoil, after all he was already 11 years of age- practically an adult, he needed to act mature and stop being a burden on others. At the maid's smile and further urging, Harque took in a deep breath as he clutched at the small gift in his hands- all wrapped perfectly by none other than Harque himself for Noah.

Harque pushed open the door and was hit with bright light of the ballroom, hundreds of guests lined up and having fun- celebrating the birthday of the greatest genius any of the noble families had ever seen- as well as the future Moon Master.

Harque looked around and wasn't surprised to see that many of the other Masters as well as Priestesses were present as well- no doubt to make an effort to get along with their future 'colleague'. Even the haughty and fiery Fire Master was present as well- and he was known to always skip out on boring noble events like these. Just another proof of just how important Noah Ebalon- his younger brother, was. Not at all like the useless Harque Ebalon who couldn't even harness the power of the dark let alone become the Moon master.

Harque politely greeted a few of the guests, not showing that he knew the way they sneered at him, and made his way to where Noah supposedly was- the place with the biggest crowd. The crescent necklace he had made with the help of Misty rattling lightly inside the present box.

That was when Harque's eyes met Noah's- a deep and hollow blue-black, the last time Harque had seen those eyes so clearly from close by... was years ago-

Harque could feel the fear and apprehension build up inside of him as he faced his younger brother- that night he had seen his bother with those... those shadows still lingered in his mind and made his knees weak.

But this was his younger brother- as an older brother- it was Harque's duty to watch over him. And even if these past few years Harque had barely seen Noah let alone do anything for him- Harque knew that he should at least try, because... because- he had always wished for a younger brother to spoil and protect. Call him selfish and weird- but Harque wanted to get along with Noah.

"Happy Birthday, Noah." Harque tried his best to smile- his best and nicest smile he could manage that all the servants as well as tutors liked and praised him about.

But as his eyes travelled from where he was handing the present to Noah's hands to his face-

Noah was looking at him with pure and unadulterated fear and despair.

"-Huh-"

But before Harque could say anything- Noah dropped the gift on the floor, his hands clutching painfully at his ears as the entire hall was filled with Noah's scared shrieks.

Harque's eyes widened as he looked at the sight of his younger brother screaming in absolute agony- it was at this moment when Harque's older brother instincts kicked in and without even thinking he extended his right hand towards Noah and-

"Stay away!"

The entire hall was silent.

Harque made another attempt to extend his hand towards Noah- only for multiple pairs of hands to stop him.

Harque turned his head around and was met face to face with none other than Master Gaia.

"Young Master Harque, forgive me..." Gaia gave an apologetic smile as he pulled Harque and guided him out of the hall- leaving Noah crumpled on the floor, tears streaming down his eyes and Harque's gift left discarded on the floor beside him as people fussed over him.

Why...?

Harque's throat clogged.

Why did his younger brother fear him so much? Why did he hate him so much-

Without even realizing it, Harque's eyes filled with tears and his vision turned hazy and clouded.

Why-

"Why..." Harque choked out as Gaia closed the door to the ballroom.

Gaia seemed surprised at Harque's tears, but in character with the rumors around him, he smiled kindly at Harque and gently rubbed his head.

"I'll go check up on Young Master Noah now," Gaia said as he entered the hall again- leaving Harque all alone once again.

So busy wallowing in his own grief- Harque did not see the shadow of a man smiling and looking at him.

"Gaia you're finally here." Ventus waved casually at his friend.

"How is Young Master Noah?" Gaia asked, still a bit on edge from the worry and tension. This was not just any kid after all- this was their future companion and partner.

"Lincy's looking him over right now, though he does not seem to be physically injured... just a little troubled." Ventus waved at the direction where Noah was lying unconscious, Lincy floating over him.

"What happened?"

Ventus shrugged, "The baby Moon Master is as mysterious they come is all I can say."

"He's not the Moon Master yet..."

"It's only a matter of time, Gaia, everyone in this continent basically knows who the next Moon Master is going to be. It is a wonder why they haven't coronated him yet." Ventus hummed.

"He is six-"

"Age is but a number foe us Elves, Earth Master." Ventus smiled but before Gaia could respond, their conversation was interrupted by another voice.

"That's because of you and your kind's annoyingly long life span." Rosso said as he entered the sealed room- the suddenty as well as nature of the situation had forced them to put a barrier only the El Masters could enter.

"Good morning to you too, Rosso~!"

"It's fucking 8pm you-"

"Language." Gaia frowned, there was still a child present her (though unconscious).

"Ugh." Rosso rolled his eyes as he ignored the two and approached the boy, his bright red eyes scanning the six year old for any signs of abnormality.

"You look displeased." Ventus commented offhandedly as he placed his hand on Rosso's shoulder who swatted him away like an annoyingly clingy fly.

"Is something wrong?" Gaia asked hesitantly as he too approached the group.

"I- It's nothing..." Rosso looked troubled.

"Something really is wrong." Ventus observed Rosso, "What's the problem?"

"The problem is that there is nothing wrong-!" Rosso snapped.

Gaia blinked slowly in confusion, "Isn't that supposed to be a good thing?"

"No! I mean- yes! Ugh... my head hurts." Rosso grimaced.

Gaia held Rosso's shoulder and Rosso allowed him to.

"Are you going to explain or keep being vague?" Lincy said as she perched back on Ventus's shoulder again.

Rosso looked around the room, "Are you sure we are safe and away from prying ears?"

Gaia nodded as Lincy commented, "Unless you count Ventus's tendency to gossip, yes."

Rosso looked down at Noah and took in a deep breath, "I... I sense revolting powers inside this boy- well, sensed past tense- when I first saw him."

"You mean at that previous party where you were bullying the kid?" Ventus added unhelpfully.

Gaia sighed in disappointment, "Rosso..."

"I didn't bully him- hey!" Rosso glared, "I was just trying to... interrogate him. Cuz of what I saw."

"You mean those 'revolting powers'?" All casualness was wiped off from Ventus's face as what Rosso was trying to say dawned on him, "You don't mean..."

"Like when the house of Rosso injected me and... the other 'subjects' with elemental powers forcefully." Rosso said in an empty voice.

Every other El Master knew about the Rosso incident- it was something that was still fresh in their minds after all with how gruesome it had been for them.

The house of Rosso had turned into a child experimentation organization, forcing the Fire El into trafficked children in hopes of creating the next Fire El Master- they had succeeded, unfortunately, Rosso had left none of them alive to see that.

Although the result was bloody and deadly... it had managed to actually create a strong Fire El Master.

"It wouldn't be that hard to consider the possibility of another family doing the same thing after seeing that 'success'." Rosso said through gritted teeth.

"It seems highly unlikely though, after all- in the previous case there were multiple children involved- from what I know, the Ebalon family only has two young children- one of them being this kid." Ventus shook his head.

"Don't you two find it suspicious as well? We haven't had a Moon Master in ages- and suddenly the perfect one arrives? All of us know that the Moon Master is the most demanding post among all the El Masters, not just requiring one but two magics to be excelled in. The light and the dark- two complete opposites! That's why so many years has passed since a Moon Master has been coronated- and just as we are desperately finding a new El Lady- one just suspiciously appears? A child who is more talented then all the previous Moon Master candidates combined?! Miracles do happen yes- but not ones that are timed so perfectly like this!"

All this coupled with the fact that Rosso could see something wrong in Noah's body...

This theory no longer seemed like a mere theory anymore.

"Is that... is that why he had this breakdown after seeing his brother?" Gaia asked hesitantly, unable to do anything but remember the haunted look on little Harque's face when he had pulled him away from the party- from Noah.

"Sounds... plausible." Ventus frowned, as if hating the words coming out of his mouth.

"Is there any possibility that the other kid is... 'affected' as well?" Gaia turned to Rosso who shook his head.

"No, I already checked up on his secretly that day when I first met this kid-" He pointed at the unconscious Noah, "He was perfectly normal- from what I saw at least."

"With how scared he acted around kiddo Moon Master... you think he might be involved?" Ventus said slowly as he pursed his lips.

Gaia instantly shot that thought down, "No, I... I saw that kid- he wouldn't... just count my words on this."

Rosso and Ventus nodded- if there was anyone amongst them the most trustworthy, it was Gaia.

"Then... what do we do?" Ventus turned to Rosso who looked extremely angry, "And before you say anything- we can't go around killing people. Not with proof at least."

"We take him away." Rosso announced, leaving no room for arguments.

"We can't abduct a child-" Gaia said.

"First time for everything." Rosso definitely was not in the mood for anymore talk.

Ventus nodded at Gaia before reasoning with rosso, "My dear friend, taking away this child from the Ebalons might turn out of be counterproductive if they decided to 'replace' him." as in, the other child of the Ebalon family might become a victim. Of course, that was considering if their theories were correct- but it was better safe than sorry.

"You can't possibly be trying to say we leave him-"

"We can coronate him early and he would officiality join you El Masters," Lucy cut in calmly, "And with a Moon Master already in place- no one will have any need to resort to other means to make another Moon Master."

"He's six-!" Gaia reasoned.

"No, actually- that can work." Rosso said as he held his chin in thought, "Even if we don't coronate him- we can take him in as a pupil, no one would question it since this kid's already being paraded around as the next Moon Master anyways- nor are there any candidates either."

That... didn't sound like a bad idea at all-

"Wait wait wait- none of us are capable for looking after a child!" Ventus shrieked.

"Ventus, weren't you the one saying why they haven't made him the Moon Master yet?" Rosso smirked.

"We don't really have that much work- and if Noah Ebalon truly does become the Moon Master, it would indeed be much better if he was guided by us and taught of his responsibilities early." Gaia said, giving a sheepish smile to Ventus was looking at him accusingly with a betrayed look on his face.

"Shouldn't we talk to Old Man about this first?!" Ventus tried, but even he knew that Denif would be more than happy to finally embrace the dad in him and spoil a child like he tried spoiling Rosso and Gaia and even Ventus at times.

"I'll talk to him." Gaia said with a reassuring smile.

Lucy gave a small pat to Ventus.