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All was silent at the Alexander residence, the simple wooden house that stood atop the hill overlooking the military district or Avalon, with only the chirping of the birds and the rustling of the leaves that made the place alive. The house was surrounded by beautiful gardens ornate with flowers of several colors. If anything, you'd never expect such lethal people living in such a peaceful-looking residence. Then again, you're given weapons and sent on dangerous missions at the age of thirteen. Avalon just isn't the place for the faint of heart. Within the house lies its two residence, Aiden and Natalie Alexander, Jason's parents, a blaziken and a lucario respectively. The lucario stood beside the window conversing with the blaziken... the atmosphere around them dull and heavy.

"Aiden, I'm concerned about Jason." Natalie stared outside their window of their home, observing the city that was in view.

"He's a strong and brave kid." The blaziken answered reassuringly as he flipped the page of his book. "I doubt the others would give him problems JUST because he took a week off."

Natalie shook her head. "It's not that, Aiden." Her voice was weak and grim. "He's... not alright."

Aiden could hear the sorrow in her voice and put his book down, approaching his wife to comfort her. "Tell me then, what's wrong?"

Natalie thought long about it, thinking of her options before she dared to utter a word. Aiden looked at her in the eyes, his soothing blue eyes stared into hers in an effort to ease her pain. "It's... nothing."

"Nat, that has to be the most horrible lie you've ever said." Aiden held her hands, unconvinced by Natalie's words. "Tell me what's wrong and I'll do what I can to help."

Natalie slowly pushed Aiden's hands away. "There's something bothering me, that much is true. It's just... I don't know what it is."

"Or you don't want to believe what it is." Aiden pointed out. "Nat, what's wrong with our son?"

'Dang it...' Natalie cursed in her head. 'Why must I marry a man who's almost as intellectual as I? Well, maybe that's why I love him.' She took a deep sigh and prepared to say it. "He's plagued with nightmares, Aiden. If I close my eyes and watch over him with my aura, I can just see the scenes of the attack from his dreams." Her voice grew softer and more fearful as she went on. "I can hear screams, a powerful thunderclap, crying, everything that would scare a child... everything that he's seen when Lucius..." Tears rolled down her eyes as she thought about it.

Aiden listened intently to what she had to say, nodding to signal her to continue and offering his finger to brush away the tears that'd roll down her face. "It's alright Nat, there's no need to worry about him." He said in a soothing tone as he held Natalie's hands tenderly. "I know Jason. He's strong, brave and he won't let a few dreams stop him."

Natalie's crying stopped at Aiden's comment, as if a thorn had been pulled out of her head and left it aching. "You obviously have no idea how powerful the mind can be compared to the body." She commented sarcastically.

"It's obviously nothing Jason can't handle." Aiden said with a hefty laugh, patting Natalie at the back.

"Aiden, there's a reason psychic types can beat fighting types." Natalie took Aiden's hand and placed it on his side. "You can't fight the mind using your fists."

"Nat, I'm trying the cheer you up here." Aiden blankly replied, giving his wife an annoyed expression. "The best you could do is take it kindly."

"I know, I know." Natalie sighed and walked over to the fridge. "It's just... I can't get my mind off of the fact that he'll soon be troubled by it." She opened the fridge and pulled out a pitcher of water. "Can you pass me a glass?"

Aiden went over to the counter and got a glass for his wife. "Then what do you propose to do about it?" he asked as he handed her the glass.

"Oh I don't know..." she mumbled random curses too inaudible to hear. "I was thinking we keep him here at home. Let me tutor him." She took the glass and poured in some water.

"Tutor him?" Aiden chuckled at the thought. "Tutor him what exactly?"

"Heh, your chuckling seems to insult me." Natalie was annoyed, but had the decency to shake it off as a joke. "I was thinking I'd teach him how to control his mind... or perhaps healing skills." Her sentence slowly grew softer as she took a sip of her water.

The silly look on Aiden's face was enough to distract Natalie and have her choking on her water. "W... what?"

After a moment of coughing and hacking, Natalie managed her response. "What do you mean 'what'?"

"Our son... learn healing skills?" Aiden acted as though the very idea was inconceivable.

"Is there something wrong with that?" Natalie asked, trying to contain her irritation. She loved Aiden because he was smart, he was unlike the other Avalonians. She believed she saw hope in him, but now it seems he wasn't too different. Avalon took pride in their military strength and valued little for other concepts such as healing. They usually got their medics or healers from other lands, countries or districts. Perhaps Aiden desired that his son be a shining Avalonian, one of those who Natalie detested: those who value brute strength over reason.

"No, there's nothing wrong with that." he shook his hands in panic, hoping he hadn't offended his wife (he did). "It's just... it's Jason's... ability."

Natalie understood what Aiden meant and completely disregarded her anger. "I get it, sorry I almost flipped."

Aiden chuckled uneasily as he shook his head. "Sorry I offended you..." he sighed and paced around uneasily. "It's just that his fire abilities are tied with his aura. And as far as I know, your healing abilities are also tied to the aura. I'm just afraid that Jason might... you know... burn his patient."

"Why don't YOU tutor him then?" Natalie wrapped his arm playfully around her husband. "Teach him to control his flames then I'll teach him healing skills."

Feeling his wife pressed against his back comforted him, gave him a feeling of security. He held Natalie's hand and felt her soft fur. "If I may, why did you suddenly think of teaching him healing skills? I mean... the others wouldn't like a _guy_working as a medic."

"Because I don't give a damn about what others think." Natalie replied with confidence and conviction. "And besides... I feel guilty about Damion's death..." Natalie's tone quickly changed from determined to broken, almost to the point of crying.

Aiden's gaze sunk to the floor as the atmosphere around them grew heavy without the sudden shift of topic. "Damion's death wasn't your fault... it's nobody's fault." He said trying his best to comfort her. "We didn't know that Lucius was there. He would've killed several more if he felt like it... I just... I don't know why he had to predate on Jason..."

"He's up to something..." Natalie mumbled with fear. "I just know it."

"You're probably right." Aiden replied, moving Natalie's arm out of his stomach and walking to the window to gaze at the academy. "I know Lucius and he won't do anything unless it had some tactical advantage. He plans everything from start to finish, that's why his attacks seem flawless." He clenched his fist as the anger welled up within him. "But why our son... what could be possibly gain form tormenting a young boy!?" and slammed his fist against the wall of their home causing the concrete house to shudder.

Natalie felt concerned for her husband. He was usually the silly type of guy. Seeing him this worked up was a rare and terrifying sight. "Perhaps he wants to get back at you." she suggested, wrapping her arms protectively around her husband's waist. "You two have a history together anyway. Any idea what you might have done to tick him off?"

"Oh, so it's my fault now?" Aiden questioned his wife.

"You're the prime suspect." Natalie pointed out.

"Why, because I was the last person he was with before he left?"

"Actually, yes." Natalie pulled back and took a sip from her glass once more. "You were the only one who's experienced fighting him. You know how he thinks, how he acts, his strengths and weaknesses. You're the only one who was ever THAT close to him."

Aiden's gaze sunk to the green grass on their yard. "We were friends, yes... but he's changed. He's not the man that I can call friend."

"Then that'll make it easier for you to take his life." Natalie answered quite coldly. "Make that man pay for what he's done to our son."

"That won't be so easy." Aiden pointed out. "He's stronger now, and far more cunning."

"Then we'll just have to get stronger ourselves." Natalie put her glass down and faced Aiden dead in the eye. "And I guess in order for Jason to get stronger than us is for him to stay in the academy."

"You know, I hear Ignatius' son, Charlie, is in the same class as Jason." Aiden chuckled, meeting his wife's gaze.

"What of it?" Natalie didn't quite understand what Aiden meant, her ears flickered in confusion. "Isn't Ignatius the head of the academy... and the most racist person I've seen in my life?"

"Exactly." Aiden chuckled, pointing his finger at his wife with pride. "He would never accept that his son would be weaker than a half-breed like Jason, and Jason wouldn't accept that he'll be weaker than a bully like Charlie. As Charlie aims to get stronger than Jason, Jason'll work to get stronger than Charlie, an endless cycle of being stronger than the other. I doubt we'd need to worry about Jason's training."

Natalie stared at Aiden as though he was crazy, but his plan seemed too crazy that it just might... get her Jason killed. "Jason needs to at least let up a bit. No matter how much of an ass Charlie will be to him Jason mustn't push himself."

"You want him home don't you?" Aiden narrowed his eyes and held a teasing smile. Natalie may be one of the best agents back then, but she's an open book when talking to her husband. "You don't want him to stay in the academy's dormitory." Aiden slowly approached his wife and wrapped his arms around her. "Nat, I know you want to keep him protected but what he needs right now is someone to hold on to, a friend who'll be there for him." Aiden could feel Natalie tense up, hesitant to return the hug but did nothing to push away. "We won't be there forever... even Jason's afraid of that. As parents, our job is to support our children, not keep them from living."

Natalie couldn't believe the words coming out of Aiden's mouth. Sure he was a sweetheart, a gentleman, a charmer and several other qualities a woman would want in a man. But above all, Aiden knew what to say, even when Natalie shot down all his enthusiasm with her realism, he can still manage to lift her spirits. Natalie moved her arms to the side, loosening Aiden hug, and pulled away. "Alright, but I want to see him at least on a monthly basis. I want you to teach him to control his fire affinity at least."

Aiden didn't expect his wife to act so calm about it, but he was glad. 'Jason's going to be fine.' He thought to himself. But he had more urgent things in mind. Lucius was out there and for some reason, he's after Jason. Lucius wouldn't even waste his time with children unless they were his target. But why would he target Jason? What could he possibly gain from this? Aiden had to prepare himself, he has to keep his son safe. Natalie was right, he was the only one to have even gone on par with Lucius. Next time Lucius shows up and threatens his Jason, Aiden will be there.