Answers

Logan entered the room with the number '014' written on its door.

Inside and on the lower bunk in the room was Orion, one of the tables had a scrawny brunette kid sitting in it.

Orion glanced at who entered and saw Logan, he let out a little chuckle before addressing the other person in the room.

"Would you excuse us for a minute?" Orion asked the young man that left the room.

"Hey don't forget to meet us later." He spoke before exiting the room.

"What is he talking about?" Logan asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Believe it or not but I actually have a social life unlike someone here." Orion snickered at Logan who just ignored the last part of his reply.

"Now unto business. What do you know about the grey energy? The wisps? And who sent that letter?" Logan questioned Orion unceasingly.

"Slow down man. Geez, one at a time." Orion complained as he scratched his head and winced in pain.

"Ok, where do I begin? Ah. Yes, my first experience with those grey wisps." He began his explanation, eyes fixed on Logan who leaned against one of the tables.

"It happened about seven years ago. I lived in a quaint little town that was essentially made up of farmers and life was great." Orion had a wistful smile as nostalgia filled him.

"Until it happened." Then his face went dark.

*******

A younger Orion was running around in a corn field, he was being chased by someone who looked a lot like him, just older.

"You'll never catch me, Mason, never." Orion giggled as his elder brother chased him through the field.

Mason outmaneuvered Orion and caught him, the latter squealed in a high pitch as he laughed.

Mason let out a chuckle at his younger brother, he liked how happy he was.

"Let's go home. We have gone too far from the barn." Mason spoke as he pulled Orion's hand in the direction of their barn house.

"Hey, who's that?" Orion asked his brother as he pointed somewhere to their side.

Mason looked there and saw nothing, "Don't scare me like that. There's no one there." Mason scolded his younger brother.

They walked a few meters and Orion tugged on his clothes, "Who is that?" Orion asked as he pointed in the same direction.

"I thought I just said you shouldn't say that." He spoke as he looked where his finger pointed.

"There's absolutely nothing the-" Mason stopped speaking as he noticed something, a humanoid figure looking at them.

At first he thought it was a scarecrow but he would have noticed it the first time of looking and scarecrows didn't move but this one just did and it was heading for them.

It covered dozens of meters in seconds.

"Go get mum and dad." Mason let go of his younger brother and removed the hat he had on his head revealing his red streaks.

"But-" Orion tried to protest, "I said GO!!" Mason yelled at Orion before he started casting spells.

Orion ran as fast as he could to his house, he didn't know what was going on or why his brother yelled at him but he knew he had to get his parents.

He didn't know how much time had passed but when he turned to look deeper into the field, he could see a pillar of smoke rising into the sky.

Orion eventually ran past the edge of the field and a huge cream barn revealed itself to his view.

A man that looked vaguely like Orion with braided black hair and red streaks like his brother was sitting on a chair in the open.

"What's going on? Why am I seeing smoke rising from deep in the field? And where is your brother?" The man questioned the younger of his two sons.

"Strange. Man. Mason. Fighting. Help." Orion managed to get out in between gasps for air but judging by the horrified expression on his father's face, he had heard and understood.

"Martha!" The man called to his wife and Orion's mother.

She ran out and saw that both her husband and son appeared scared and were confused.

But when they informed her of what happened, she too mirrored their expression.

"Stay here, we'll be back." Orion's dad instructed as he ran off deeper in the field quickly followed by his mom.

Orion waited for about thirty minutes before a loud boom echoed and made the ground vibrate.

He immediately disregarded the words of his father and ran to the source.

By now, the pillar had grown far larger. Smoke, ash, and charred ground limited the speed at which Orion approached his destination but when he did, he stopped.

Tears flowed down his face as he felt his heart drop with unimaginable despair.

The laughter he and his brother had shared less than an hour ago echoed in his head like mockery from beyond the grave.

He could see the bodies of his family partly burned yet that wasn't the reason for their death.

They appeared hollow like something had been taken from them but after searching, he couldn't find what had done this to his family.

All he saw was a torn piece of cloth with the emblem of a three-headed dragon wrapped around a tower that seemed endless and grey wisps that vanished.

************

"And so after a bit of research, I discovered that the emblem and the material it was on were strictly for staff of the academy," Orion concluded leaving Logan with a lot to think about.

'So this was why he asked me what he did on orientation. He knows that the person responsible was or even is a staff member in this academy.' Logan pondered as he remained silent.

'Just like me, he's on a path of revenge.' Logan let out a sigh as he understood Orion's drive.

"As for the letter, I don't know who sent it. I had come to see you and saw you open the letter as well as the grey wisps that left them." Orion answered Logan's other question.

"You should learn to close a door." He managed a joke and let out a sad smile.

"I discovered a rare metal that should react to the presence of the energy but where it's found is very dangerous. That's what I'd have asked you to do if I had won the duel." Orion sighed as he laid down, his head was killing him.

"I can sense similar rage in you. That's why I had approached you in the first place. It's someone like you that can help me, so please." He pleaded for Logan's help.

The latter squinted his eyes as he pondered the pros and cons.

"Sure no problem." He smiled as he got off the table.

"To a long lasting partnership." Logan stretched out his hand to Orion, his hazel eyes hiding chaos and insanity within but this didn't scare him. Rather it was the opposite.

Orion smiled before taking his hand.