When Magnus reached the gates of the manor, he was still recovering from the shock of knowing that Syryn had been in a coma for four years, almost five. He was assured by Artemus that Syryn had allowed himself to be induced into a state of coma and that he had good reasons for it. Good reasons, bad reasons, whatever had compelled Syryn to do this worried him.

"Magnus!" Alka dropped a box he was holding and came running to the fire mage.

"Hey."

Magnus wasn't prepared for the fist that landed square on his cheek. He could have dodged it but it was a well-deserved punch and he took it like a champ.

"Hello, Magnus," Alka pleasantly said to the fire mage. "Do you know why I hit you?"

"Maybe."

"One week, Magnus," Alka's demeanour changed as he stepped closer to the fire mage. "We were waiting for you. You couldn't even send a message. Why? When you were out there risking your life, we worried about you but respected your decision to remain uncontacted. A message letting us know that you're safe is the least you could have done for us once you were in clear. You got here one week ago and we had to find out through Artemus. If he hadn't bumped into you-"

"I'm sorry, okay. I messed up and I'm here now." Magnus ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. "I've been gone for so long I assumed everyone would have moved on and forgotten about me."

"Well, we didn't!" Alka shoved at Magnus' chest. "We missed you. Wanted you home. Wanted to know you were alive."

Magnus caught Alka's smaller hands and pulled him in for a hug. The plant mage became quiet in his arms.

"I had no idea, Alka. Sorry, I worried everyone."

Alka squeezed back the fire mage. Pulling away from the hug, he smiled at the fire mage. "Get in the kitchen and apply some salve on your cheek. It's in the top drawer. And while you're at it, make some tea for us. I'll be there in five minutes."

"Yeah, okay. Rice tea?" The bruise on his cheek was already throbbing. Magnus worked his jaw and wondered where the plant mage had learnt to wallop like that.

"Of course, Salem hasn't left. We have a new housemate called Enkansh. He's a siren."

"Excuse me?"

"Let's talk in the kitchen, Magnus. I have a delivery to send off."

The fire mage trotted off to the familiar kitchen which hadn't changed since he had left. A strong sense of nostalgia washed away the lingering feelings of unease that had followed him to the house.

"You're finally here," Luci said to him when Magnus entered the kitchen.

"I'll leave if you want me to," Magnus told the redhead. Artemus' words came back to haunt Magnus again and he wasn't sure how he felt about Luci's little crush.

"Leave?" The redhead shook his head. "Not on my account, Magnus. This is your home just as much as it is mine. Anyway, welcome home."

Magnus folded his arms and watched the redhead move around the kitchen, pulling out a knife, some vegetables, plates, and a whole lot of vermicelli. The young man had a cat-like grace that resembled Alka's. He had been cherubic as a child and those features had matured beautifully. Lucien was a gorgeous, sinewy creature of demonic and human allures. And he had a crush on Magnus. It was enough to send a jolt of something strange and unbidden through the fire mage's gut.

Magnus was quick to erase away all his treacherous thoughts because this was Luci, the little boy who he helped raise for a few years.

"Magnus?" Lucien was holding a knife and leaning against the countertop.

The fire mage broke out of his reverie and cleared his throat nervously because what the hell was he thinking? Luci was a child. He didn't like the way red eyes were knowingly watching him. A smile played about Lucien's lips like he had seen through Magnus' unwanted thoughts. He blamed it all on Artemus.

"Did you miss me when you were gone?" Lucien asked him.

"I missed you every day Luci. How could I not?"

The redhead blinked indolently. Silence stretched between the two of them and then he turned his back to Magnus. "Don't call me Luci. Red and I are the same now." Others were allowed to call him that because it was different when Magnus called him Luci. To Magnus, Luci was an identity separate from Red, and calling him by that name brought out the distinction between the two. And that was no longer true, a fact that Lucien wanted the fire mage to understand.

Magnus opened his mouth and closed it. Luci had absorbed Red? Too much had changed. "What should I call you then?"

"Anything but Luci."

Magnus felt the bruise on his cheek begging for some salve. "Explain. Are you more Luci or Red?"

"Neither. I'm the result of Red and Luci becoming one. I am both young and old," the redhead said with some melancholy. "Neither found nor lost. An abomination."

The fire mage was startled by what he was hearing. "You're no abomination," Magnus blurted out. "Lucien, how can you say that about yourself?"

"It's true."

"Not it's not."

The redhead's mouth curved. "Then you shouldn't have a problem sleeping with me, just like old times, right?"

Magnus narrowed his eyes at Lucien. It was a crush, just a small crush. The teen would get over it once he was satisfied. Magnus was certain it wouldn't take long for Lucien to realise that there were better younger fish to be caught.

"I guess I don't," the fire mage replied, nervous about the thought of sharing a bed with this Lucien.

Alka entered the kitchen right then. He carried a bundle of vegetables that he was growing in the garden. Bunches of celery, carrots, aubergine, and lettuce were tied together under his arm.

"So, let's talk," he turned to Magnus. "I'm eager to hear about how you defeated the baddies. Start from the beginning and don't leave anything out!"

"Oh, you're here," Salem had also arrived in the kitchen to help with the cooking. Business was good, so good that he no longer kept the store open everyday. It left him more time for alchemy. "Welcome back Magnus. One week too late but I suppose it's better late than never."

"Yep," Magnus replied. "Good to see you too, Salem."

"Enkansh, come here," Lucien called out to the siren who was just returning from a swim at the lake.. "I wanna introduce you to someone."