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The last time Kaegen had been this happy was when vortigern had first licked his boot. His boot had melted, but it was still a proud moment for the boy. He had felt this happy when merlin had first warned Kaegen of the slap that grandfather was about the rain down on his face, he had been this happy when pendragon first started walking. He had been this happy every year, on his birthday, when his mother would give him his present, of a single hug. Every year it was the same present, and every year it meant the same thing. It mean inexpressible, amazing, joy.
He had been forgiven, his crime removed from his record. A smile stretched across his face, huge and childish and happy and maybe the slightest bit insane. The unknown smiled on him, even here. The mist showed him which compartment to enter, which person to accidentally unleash vortigern on. He had thrown away a friendship because his friend was torn to pieces. But now, somehow, she had forgiven him. His smile was wide, but his eyes were serious, staring at her. He would return the favor. The favor that meant more to him then the unknown. Just by a little. But that little was enough, it was plenty. Taking out a quill, an odd feather that was striped with black, grey and white and all the colors in between. He didn't use an inkwell, but the quill seemed full regardless. Taking the end of his scarf, he wrote in stark, bold letters. 'Eris' she had his protection, for whatever that was worth. He had decided, that it didn't matter any more. Even if she grew to hate him, her name would forever be on the scarf. His protection would not fade. It would remain until long after the boy was dead and gone. No matter what course he took, even if he one day brought hogwarts to it's knees, she would walk free. And then his eyes seemed to lighten, just a little. He put the quill back under his robe, in whatever odd container he had stashed it in.
"I was careful, it's fine. And thank you, I earned every one of them. You need one too, let me think."
Where was she from? Oh, right. The city of toxins, poisons and chaos. What was her greatest achievement? Landing a punch on the death witch. Her greatest item? Probably the knife. His first knife, the one that was to be given to a his first true friend So her name would be...
"I hereby name you Eris Chaos-born First-Avenger. I name you with the authority given to me by my name, which was granted me by the authority of my grandfather's name. Which was granted to him by the conqueror of the 14th dark place."

Eris stared in awe at Kaegen, and the quill he had pulled out of nowhere. He looked happy, more content than Eris had seen the boy in all their time of being friends. Eris felt a small burst of joy, even brighter than the joy she already felt about being friends again with Kaegen. The only thing that would make this moment better is if Adam was there. Eris studied the quill, wondering what Kaegen was going to do with the quill. Hopefully he wasn't going to do anything stupid. Like stab himself with a quill.

No, instead, he wrote her name on his impeccably clean scarf. Eris watched as the ink bled into the gray fabric, mess staining into the fabric. Her name was now on his scarf forever. At least until Kaegen washed it, which Eris had a feeling wasn't very often.

Eris raised an eyebrow at Kaegen's words. Careful. Kaegen had very different ideas then Eris about what the word careful meant. His idea of careful must of been not carrying an acid salamander around. Eris expected him to laugh about the titles, but instead, he fixed her with a serious expression and said she needed some too.

"I hereby name you Eris Chaos-born First-Avenger.

What on earth? Chaos born? First Avengers? What did Kaegen think she was? Captain America? Eris was shocked Kaegen even knew what the first avenger was. He had never seemed like one who liked muggle lore, like Eris and her father did.

Eris had a lot of questions. "What is the conqueror of the 14th dark place?" she finally asked, mind reeling.

The conqueror of the 14th dark place was a complicated, twisted story. It had been told to him by his grandfather, who had heard of it from the man who had conquered it. It was not as bad at the other 13, but it was still not something he freely talked about. If you knew about the dark places, you could find them. And if you could find them, you would. And if that happened then you would never return. You would die in the dark place. The conqueror of the 14th dark place had been amazing. The young ravenclaw didn't even know his name, but he knew that someone must have defeated the dark place. So why not this mystery man, the one that had named his grandfather. The authority of that man had passed down to Kaegen. And from him to this girl. Why did she have to ask about specifically that detail? How would he even explain it to her?
"Close your eyes..."
He began, as best he could. His voice becoming just a tad quieter, a little bit more far away.
"Now imagine the worst thing possible, utter despair with no return. Now look behind it, behind the pain, behind the memory is darkness. Find it, and remember what that feels like. The feeling of emptiness beyond the worst thing in your life. That is a shadow of a dark place, just a shadow. Now look deeper, into the shadow, if you can. Listen for the screams, the misery. The sounds that are beyond misery, beyond sorrow. The pool of endless, bottomless, indescribable dark. There is nothing down there, nothing up, nothing to either side. That is still just a shadow. If you find the place, defeat the dark, your wish will come true. But you won't defeat it. Never look for them, never go to one. Please. I would have to go in after you, and I'm... scared."
The dark places had been defeated, one by one, by powerful wizards since the dawn of time, Grandfather had said so. Now there were 13 left, but they were each stronger than the last. If this girl went deep into the darkness, to find the fabled wish, then Kaegen would have to go after her, he had written her name on his scarf, he would protect the girl. But he didn't want to go into a dark place. In the boy's mind, there was nothing worse. Well, maybe there was. But not by very much.

Eris obeyed, closing her eyes tightly. Little spots of color spread in the darkness of her closed eyes,due to how tightly she had them shut. Relishing the small swirls of colors, Eris felt her eyes start to hurt, as she waited for Kaegen to start his story. Eventually she would have to open her eyes, but this was fine for now. There was still light though, as one couldn't shut out the blistering Scottish sun completely. It might not of been hot, but the sun was still blisteringly bright.

Eris quickly imagined the worse thing possible, pictures darting on the lids of her closed eyes. The images turned into a scene, as Eris listened to Kaegen's whispered story, which he said with a hint of
awe. The place Kaegen described sounded made up. A wife's tale, told to scare children and keep them from doing bad things. But the earnest way he said the tale, and how he begged Eris not to go there, made it seem real. And even scarier.

Looking at the boy in the shade of the tree, Eris nodded her head. It was a simple promise. To not go into a made-up place. But one that Kaegen would respect. "I won't go to the, er, dark world?" Eris said, with child-like somberness, before lying back down in the wet grass and giggling. What a strange day it had been.

She clearly hadn't seen it. There was no fear in her face, only amusement. That was fine, it meant that she wouldn't ever find the dark place. Wouldn't go there. Would be safe, at least from that one danger. As the girl giggled, lying down on the wet grass, he felt like he had something to do that didn't involve gaining something. All in all, she had been the cause of more grief than joy. But he tried again anyway. Why did he do that? This wasn't part of his plan, this wasn't something that mattered in the long run, or the short run. He wasn't going to gain power by playing with this girl, he wasn't going to get knowledge, he was probably going to go through all this madness again. And for what?
For her, he supposed. To make sure Eris had a future. But even realizing that didn't help much. That wasn't a very good answer, was it. Kaegen supposed it didn't matter. He was her friend now, come famine or plenty. Grabbing her hand, Kaegen it for a moment, and then gently pulled up, coaxing her to come with him. He had someplace to show the girl, and was fairly certain she would enjoy it. There was a tree with a tiny hollow in it. Probably barely big enough for both of them to squeeze in. But it was tall. And slightly above head height were a few treasures the boy had hidden away until he needed them. He figured that she would like them. And besides, they could run through the wet grass, and play in a tree. If that wasn't a good time, then Kaegen wasn't entirely sure what fun was.
To be fair, the boy probably only had a very, very vague idea of what fun was.