Back at his forge, Makoto buries himself in physical labor to distract himself from the guilt he feels over abandoning Hera. There is a knock at the door; before he opens it, he knows it is Adena. He sweeps Adena into his arms for a hug. She reminds him that he promised to spend a night in the Fort, and they begin the walk through the streets of Loot. Makoto is shocked when he sees the assemblage of garbage that Adena and Paedyn have called home for five years. At Adena’s urging, he reluctantly shares more about his childhood. The unwanted child of desperately poor parents, Makoto began to display an unusual variety of powers when he was about five. Fearing what it meant to have a child with Wielder powers, his parents kept him locked up inside the shack they lived in. Hera, who came to live with them when Makoto was seven, was his only companion. Makoto’s father told him he was useless, just a mouth to feed who would never be able to contribute to the household. When his father began to drink heavily and abuse him physically, Makoto learned his self-defense skills. When he was 14, his father threatened to sell him to the king.