"Help! The robber Ax Noir was here!" shouted a woman from the window in the middle of the night, trying to attract the attention of the neighborhood.

A pair of amber eyes carefully scanned the surroundings, accompanied by quick, lightning-fast movements.

The mysterious shadow turned down one alley after another until it reached a small dilapidated house. Pieces of plaster were falling off the walls and the windows were broken by a swaying shutter that kept banging against the glass due to the strong wind.

The mysterious shadow became the silhouette of a flesh and blood human being under the dim light that illuminated the dwelling.

He had a flaming red mask on his face and a hood over his head to hide his hair.

"Eric! Where have you been?" A tall, petite young girl with a cascade of blond hair turned to the mysterious figure, ripped the mask from his face and threw it to the ground. "You said you were going to stop stealing and find something to do."

Eric pulled his hood off his head and his long, raven-black hairs covered his tired, angry face. "Leave me alone, Jessy," he emptied the pockets of his sweatshirt and tossed an envelope full of money at the girl's feet. "Buy food with it."

"Do not treat me like your maid!" the girl named Jessy repeatedly stamped the envelope with her foot, then turned back to the boy. "How long do you think this Ax Noir charade is going to work? Do not pretend to be him, no one knows who he is, and what if he's a dangerous guy? "

The boy sat down on a faded green couch full of patches and put his feet up on the low table in front of him, then uncorked a bottle of water and began to swallow it thirstily. "I ran a lot."

Jessy did not seem very happy with that scene and yelled at Eric again. "It's because of you that we live in this shack! Why in the world did I choose to live with a starving homeless man?" She covered her mouth as she realized what she had just said.

Eric looked at her with flaming, hate-filled eyes, clenched his fists, and then jumped up. He did not look like himself anymore, the aura he gave off had changed.

He grabbed his aching head and began to shout roughly. "You will die along with this house!"

Jessy knelt down in front of the boy and tried to make him think, but every attempt was in vain.

She tried to run away from the door, but suddenly sky-high flames rose in front of the exit.

Eric's hands were glowing, he had two huge flames on his palms. "Now I have nothing," he screamed as he set the house on fire one hand at a time.

The fire seemed to have no effect on him, he seemed to be one with the flames.

Jessy, frightened, looked for a way out, but she was now surrounded by flames and smoke.

And right between these flames and smoke Eric disappeared.

The waves beat mightily against the rocks, the sky was dark, a storm seemed to be approaching.

A girl with long, silver hair and eyes the colour of the raging sea watched the scenario from a distance and was seized by who knows what thoughts.

She touched the chain she wore around her neck, a red rose with a golden edge hanging from its cord.

She sighed, closed her eyes and the wind ruffled her hair violently.

Then she began to gently touch every tree in the area, and a thin, semi-transparent barrier came to life around them.

"Juls, come inside before a storm breaks!" a little boy with brown hair and freckles on his face called out, waving at the girl from a distance to get her to return. Next to him was a small shop with a sign that read "Potions and puddles of all kinds from Lily" and further down, in lowercase letters, it read "P.S. only good potions."

The girl named Juls was too busy saving the trees from the storm to pay attention to what she was being told when her eyes suddenly fell on the open sea.

In the distance, a small raft made of shabby wood, roots and herbs was moving towards her, with a hooded person on board.

Juls ran toward the sea and began to shout. "You there! This way!"

The mysterious hooded figure tried to paddle with his hands in Juls' direction, but the wind was too strong and her dilapidated raft kept tipping over.

Juls plunged into the water, swept along by her momentum. Each of her paddle strokes seemed heavier than the last, and thanks in part to one surge after another, she managed to reach what appeared to be a boy with amber eyes.

"Is it all OK?" she asked anxiously, but the boy did not answer, on the contrary, she tried to cover her face even more. "Follow me."

The two tried to swim to the shore, but the waves kept sending them back.

Lightning and thunderclaps and pouring rain filled the sky.

Juls grabbed the mysterious boy by the arm as soon as she saw his friend's freckled face from afar.

The sea began to roar and something majestically large moved below them.

A beautiful and gigantic sky-blue creature with emerald fins emerged from the water and carried them to safety on its back.

"Juls, are you all right? Who is this person?" The freckled face of the boy who had rescued her began to frown.

"It's okay, Yan. I do not know who this boy is, he was on some kind of raft trying to get to shore."

Juls and Yan turned to the boy, who did not say a word and pulled his bonnet off his head.

His long, raven hair reached down his back and a pair of anxious, amber eyes kept looking down, trying to avert their gaze from the other two boys.

"What's your name?" asked Juls in his friendliest tone, but the boy did not answer and continued to stare ahead.

"We are on land!" exclaimed Yan and began patting the creature's head, which responded by spraying water from its mouth onto his face. "Thank you, Hyara."

"This water dragon is part of Yan's family," Juls tried to explain to the boy, who still did not speak. "They are a family of trainers of magical, mostly aquatic creatures."

"Where are we?" the boy finally managed to say in a weak voice, triggering the astonishment of the other two.

"We are in Marea, don't you know this region? We are surrounded by the sea," Juls explained, still wondering why the boy looked so lost.

"You have not told us your name yet," Yan interjected, giving him a broad smile.

"My name is...," the boy paused for a moment and then continued. "... Aiden."

Juls and Yan smiled, then noticed that the boy was all dirty and his clothes were made of rags. "Come with me to my mother's shop, it's right in front of them," Yan suggested, pointing to the watering hole behind them.

The shop door opened with a clang. "Juls, Yan! What happened to that poor boy? " The woman behind the counter hurried toward the boys with a worried expression. Her face was sweet and gentle, she wore her hair in a brown bun, and a birthmark on her face made her stand out.

Aiden immediately noticed the strong smell of herbs, flowers and various plants as soon as he entered the shop. On each shelf there were at least a hundred bottles, all of different shape and colour, with special labels on them: Humorya, Luvity, and so on.

Small plants and colourful flowers decorated the counter, but what fascinated the young man the most was a vase of roses that constantly changed colour and lit up.

"Mom, this boy came out of the sea in a raft, we found him already so battered, then I intervened with Hyara and ..." Yan's narration was interrupted by his mother, who pointed with her index finger to a swivel chair with wheels. The chair began to move toward them and then positioned itself directly behind Aiden.

"Easy, sit down," the woman said, smiling gently at him. "I am Lily, the owner of this shop and Yan's mother."

"What do you want to do, Lily?" asked Juls as he saw the sink approaching them.

"Is not it obvious?" The woman took the boy's hair and dipped it in the water of the sink, taking some shampoo and a special potion to revive the hair. "What haircut do you prefer?"

"What, you want to cut his hair? But will he be okay with it?", Juls asked, looking at Lily in wonder.

"That's for you to decide..." Aiden spoke again in a low voice, expressing his agreement.

"And there you have it, a nice bowl cut!" A pair of scissors began cutting off Aiden's thick cascade of hair strand by strand, while a broom and dustpan cleaned the floor as the hair fell to the ground.

The woman held her hands to Aiden's head, from which hot air escaped. "That's it, we are done. Do you want to see yourself in the mirror? "

Juls held a mirror in front of the boy, who looked at himself in disbelief.

"You look younger with that hairstyle," the woman exclaimed. "By the way, you still have not told us how old you are! Wait, I am guessing... sixteen?"

Aiden continued to stare at the mirror, then nodded.

"So, do you like the new you?" asked Lily with a smile.

"The new me... yes. I like it."

That night, Aiden slept with Yan and Juls in the back room, although the room was quite small.

The smell of herbs greatly disturbed the boys' sleep, and they tossed and turned constantly on the cots Mrs. Lily had set up for them.

While Juls and Yan were more accustomed to sleeping among plants, herbs and flowers, the same could not be said of Aiden, who kept sneezing so violently that he thought the shelves on which the bottles stood were about to fall over.

Yan was a heavy sleeper and snored loudly with his mouth open, a thread of drool dripping from his lips.

Juls heard Aiden sneeze and addressed him. "Are you allergic to any plants?"

"I do not know," he answered dryly, in a voice that showed no emotion. He continued to stare into the emptiness of the semi-dark room, lit only by the same roses he had seen at the entrance to the shop.

"Where are you from?" asked Juls, curious to know more about the boy who had left no information about himself.

"I do not know. It's complicated."

"If you do not want to talk about it, that's fine," whispered the girl, still staring at the dimly lit ceiling. "I live with Yan and his family, I was adopted by them when I was five, how time flies...".

Aiden did not know why Juls was telling him these things, but he listened silently anyway, and then let out a few words. "It must have been hard for you too."

"It was at first. But Yan's family welcomed me with open arms." Juls' voice began to tremble slightly. "I want to be a healing sorceress or a naturalist, you know," she sighed. "I want to be able to save people and nature. Do you think I have too rosy an idea of the world? "

"Maybe. But that does not mean it's wrong." Aiden spoke as if he was carrying a heavy burden on his shoulders. "At least you have a dream, a family."

"From mid-September, Yan and I will attend Magicae White Magic Academy in the Focus region. His father, Mr. Frank, is a very generous man. He works as a healer in the school's infirmary." Juls paused for a moment, trying to find the right words to express her idea without sounding too pushy. "If you do not have a place to go, you could sign up with us, what do you think?"

Aiden was silent, no one had ever offered him a place to stay before, but most importantly, no one had ever offered him friendship the way Juls was doing right now. "I think so."

"Of course it's just a suggestion, you do not have to..." She did not have time to finish the sentence, which was immediately interrupted by Aiden.

"I do not have to," she paused, then whispered to herself. "Starting over...the new me..." she murmured as her eyelids grew heavier and heavier.

The next morning, Aiden was awakened by a general chatter from the other room. Judging by the sun's rays falling fiercely through the only window without a curtain in the back room, it must already be late morning.

He looked around to find that he was alone, then got up from the cot and ruffled his hair, wondering how short it had become, finally looking into the shop.

Mrs. Lily stood with her arms folded, staring with an annoyed expression at a crowd of women and girls of various ages clustered around one man.

"Come on mom, do not do that! You know Dad is a man who is loved by everyone. " Yan's smile unfortunately did not infect her mother, who was casting more and more disparaging glances at the other women.

Mr. Frank was a very young and handsome man, he had light brown hair and big green eyes like two gems. "I brought some sweets for breakfast," the gentle smile and the delicate and calm movements brought serenity to all those who looked at him. He placed the tray of pure fruit candies on the counter and then turned to the women around him. "My dear ladies, if you need a particular potion, I can serve you today."

The raging crowd of women began to shout and crowd around the shelves. "I want a potion for good humour," another woman randomly took the first potion from the shelves. "I want this one, how much is it?"

Lily snorted and looked up at the ceiling in disappointment. "At least business is better on the days he comes home."

Yan grabbed a large cream pie, sinking his teeth into it and getting his whole mouth dirty, then noticed Aiden's presence at the back door. "Good morning Aiden, come eat!"

Aiden walked with small steps toward the others and remained silent. He met the gaze of Frank, who smiled kindly at him. "You must be the boy who came aboard a raft, they told me about you a while ago," he held out his hand to him.

As Aiden returned the handshake, he suddenly felt the heat go through his entire arm, as if he could not move. Frank's eyes continued to smile at him, then the man released his grip. "So, are you going to study white magic with my children in September?" his gaze was fixed on the boy and he was waiting for an answer from him.

He could not explain why, but Aiden saw something strange in that look from Mr. Frank, something that made all his hair stand on end. He nodded.

"You know, Frank, as I mentioned before, he's alone and has nowhere to stay. I am sure he'll be comfortable with us," Juls explained, adjusting the straw hat with pink flowers that the man had just given her.

"I hope so," Frank's smile was very different from Yan's, almost disconcerting. Aiden did not understand how all the ladies could fall at his feet.

Without saying a word, he took a piece of candy from the tray and devoured it in one bite.

It all began on that midsummer day. Aiden still did not know that what would happen to him next would completely turn his life upside down.

And so he, Juls, and Yan spent the entire summer together.