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As a child, Flamel was often sent to temporarily live with friends of his parents, who were both well respected officers in the Scouting Legion and were absent much of the time. Despite not seeing them often, Flamel was very much attached to his parents, and was delighted whenever they could return and spend time with him. His mother cherished every moment they spent together, but his father, though he loved his son, had a more difficult time expressing his emotions, due to the gruesome events he had witnessed. His mother would often tell him comforting stories about the bountiful outside world, inspiring his desire for adventure and further growing his sense of pride he had in his parents for being such heroes in his eyes. Flamel would often boast to his friends what heroes his parents were, and how they were out there, saving the world and protecting all of them from the evil Titans. One day, Flamel vowed to be heroes like they were. But the reality did not live up to the myth.

When Flamel was twelve years old, the Scout Legion returned from a long expedition. As always, Flamel rushed out to greet them with open arms. Pushing his way through the crowd, he stood there, beside the train of returning soldiers, and waited to hear his mother's voice ring out above the crowd so he could dash over and give her a welcome home hug. But he heard nothing. The boy stood there, waiting, listening and watching intensely to see his mother and father emerge from the slew of soldiers. Finally, he saw a familiar face. His father, wrapped in bandages from head to toe, and missing his left arm. His mother was nowhere to be seen. Stumbling out from the crowd of soldiers, Flamel's father knelt down beside the boy, bitter tears welled up in his eyes as he broke the news in the strongest voice he could muster. His mother had died in the line of duty, and now that he had lost an arm, he was retiring from the Scout Legion to fulfill her last wish to take care of him. The pain and suffering behind his father's eyes as he told him of his mother's death remained engraved on Flamel's brain. Beyond the stoic demeanor that his father always kept was a frightened man who dreaded the world outside. They all were. That day changed Flamel forever. He finally understood true loss, despair, fear, anger, and grief. Never again would he sing praises about soldiers like his parents being heroes. He knew now. They weren't heroes. They were terrified, cowardly humans, like his father, who put on a brave face every day and did they best they could, hoping it would just get a little better. Flamel understood he couldn't become a hero. They were nothing more than a myth. But that would not stop him from following the footsteps of his mother and father, and honor them by trying to be that soldier who put on that brave face, despite how terrified they were, and try to do some good in the world. Shutting away his fear, Flamel spent the rest of his childhood with his retired father, living in relative peace while learning from his father the truth of the world outside. Undeterred, at age seventeen, he finally enlisted as a cadet, vowing to do his best and take the role parents once held.

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