In the elegant dining room of the grand hotel, Dorian sat at a certain table, savoring both his meal and the current turn of events.

Edmund appeared in the doorway, took one breathe in and let out, before approaching the table Dorian sat at.

"Ah, Edmund!" Dorian said, gesturing toward the empty chair across from him as he set down his fork and began wiping his mouth with a cloth napkin.

Edmund took the offered seat, barely containing his eagerness as he leaned forward. "I don't know what happened, or what you did after you left but it seems like everything just changed for you overnight."

Dorian chuckled softly, and you could see the glee on his face. "Yes, things really did change for me overnight," he said.

Edmund nodded, then went straight into the reason for his visit. "Then can you please fulfill that request of mine now? You told me you'd be able to grant my wish," he said, the desperation in his voice becoming more apparent.

"So about that…" Dorian began with a heavy sigh, "Edmund, to be completely clear, unless you experience some miracle of randomly awakening, you will never be able to use magic. You're simply incapable of it."

"What? What do you mean?" Edmund asked, taken aback by the blunt declaration that shattered his hopes.

"It is exactly as I've said," Dorian replied without offering additional explanation.

"But you assured me one time that summon of yours could do it…" Edmund said

"SUMMON?!" came an eerie voice filled with unmistakable fury. Though Kiyomi remained invisible to the eye, her presence was there, and so was her anger at being called such a degrading term.

"Don't mind him," Dorian said while shaking his head with a facial expression that looked amused by her reaction.

Without warning, Edmund suddenly began gasping for air, with his hands holding to his throat as he struggled to breathe. It was as if he was getting choked.

"Kiyomi…" Dorian said calmly, but Edmund continued struggling. Infact he collapsed to his knees, still clutching his neck with both hands as his eyes became strained and bloodshot from lack of oxygen.

"Kiyomi!" Dorian spoke again, this time sounding more firm.

Instantly, the suffocating effect stopped, and Kiyomi's magical presence around Dorian vanished entirely.

Dorian sighed in exasperation and clicked his tongue in frustration. "Now you see? You've gone and made her angry."

As Edmund struggled to get back to his feet, still gasping for air, Dorian stood from his chair and looked down at him pitifully. "The reason she can't grant you magic is because you have absolutely none to begin with. She's an incredibly powerful creature, but even with all that power, she still has limitations. One of those limits being that she can only improve upon and enhance magic levels that already exist within someone. If you don't have magic originally, she can't create it from nothing."

He paused for a second then added, "But instead of leaving you completely empty-handed, I'll let you join my faction. Maybe you could be part of the cleanup crew."

Without another word, Dorian walked away from the table and headed out of the restaurant toward his room, leaving Edmund alone.

Edmund finally managed to pull himself back into his chair, tears welling in his eyes as he continued rubbing his throat where Kiyomi nearly crushed his windpipe.

The pain was nothing compared to the emotional devastation he just felt.

Dorian had never intended to grant him magical abilities; he'd simply used Edmund for as long as he served a purpose.

Just barely a day ago, Edmund had believed he was going to be the head of a faction, but now that Dorian had gotten his original guild back up, Edmund found himself relegated to nothing more than a cleanup crew member.

…

Back in his hotel room, Dorian called out softly, "Kiyomi…" but received no response. He couldn't feel her magical presence around him anymore, but he knew she was still there.

"I know you're hiding from me, Kiyomi," he said to the empty room. Then slowly, her form began to materialize.

Dorian moved closer and gently took her right hand in his. "Try not to stay angry with him. The boy didn't know any better," he said, with a voice that was unusually tender.

"And what about you?" Kiyomi asked, her eyes searching through his face. "Do you see me as just some summon? A tool you can use whenever you want?"

"Of course not, my love," Dorian replied, his voice growing even gentler. "Have you forgotten how we first met?"

Kiyomi looked at him for a long moment, then shook her head, her anger beginning to fade as memories of their past surfaced.

…

One Year Ago - Minneapolis, Minnesota

The bar was dimly lit and filled with the usual crowd of people trying to forget their troubles at the bottom of a glass.

Dorian sat at the counter, nursing a drink while wearing the same defeated expression as most of the other patrons.

His clothes were simple, just jeans and a checkered shirt, and his eyes looked tired, like someone who was just trying to make it through another difficult night. He was nothing like the refined, powerful man he was once.

A man in an suit walked into the bar and sat down on the stool next to Dorian. Dorian didn't even look up, too focused on his drink to care about some stranger.

"Dorian Graves," the suited man said. Dorian had just lifted his glass to take another sip when he heard his name.

He paused, slowly turning his gaze toward the man who was staring right at him. After taking his drink, he set the glass down hard on the counter. "I don't know who you are, but if you bother me any more, there will be consequences," Dorian said, with his voice carrying a dangerous edge.

The stranger smiled calmly. "What if I told you we could offer you three million dollars to help us with a situation? We know you lost everything after what happened in Michigan."

That last statement however, was the wrong thing to say.

Dorian's hand shot out instantly, grabbing the man by the throat and lifting him slightly off his stool.

Dorian's eyes began to glow as he stared into the stranger's face. Reminding Dorian about losing everything in Michigan was definitely not the smart move.

The man struggled, clawing at Dorian's arm as he fought for air. Everyone in the bar stopped what they were doing to stare at the sudden violence.

The bartender rushed over immediately. "Hey man, not cool! You're causing trouble here!"

With a grunt of disgust, Dorian simply threw the man across the room. The stranger crashed into a table full of drinks, surrounded by other patrons who quickly moved out of the way.

Normally, this kind of violence would have started a huge fight, but everyone in the bar could see that Dorian had just lifted a grown man with one hand and thrown him like he weighed nothing. It was obvious to them that Dorian had magical powers, he was what part of those Visors.

Dorian stood up from his stool, left some dollar bills on the counter, and walked out of the bar. Once outside, his body lifted off the ground, and with a sonic boom, he flew away into the night sky.

…

Dorian landed in front of a small apartment building on a quiet downtown street. His tiny apartment was in one of the rooms upstair.

But just as his feet touched the ground, two black SUVs pulled up in front of the building. Dorian squinted as their bright headlights shone directly into his face. The vehicles stopped, and a single woman stepped out.

She wore a suit as well, and her hair flowed freely behind her shoulders. "Hello, Mr. Dorian Graves," she said as she approached him.

"What is the meaning of this?" Dorian asked with a scowl on his face. "Who are you people?"

He was certain this woman was connected to the man who had approached him at the bar.

"I'm sorry if my employee approached you the wrong way," she said calmly. "Because of that mistake, we're raising our offer to five million dollars. My name is Lena."

"Again, who are you people, and what are you offering five million dollars for?" Dorian asked, still completely confused by the whole situation.

"Would you mind coming with me? I'll explain everything on the way," Lena said, gesturing toward one of the SUVs.

Dorian stared at her for several seconds, thinking it over. Finally, he muttered, "Hmm…" and started walking toward her. They both got into the vehicle and drove away into the night.