“So you’ve decided to leave your prison, then?” Morliana asked, seemingly amused. She didn’t look worried; if anything, it seemed like she was enjoying someone standing up to her.
“I wouldn’t have, had you not decided to keep tormenting an innocent child,” Set replied. He was standing in front of Orion, shielding him from Morliana’s view protectively.
What the hell is going on? His sudden realization that the Veil Priestess had been targeting him just to distract from her real plan was already a lot to process. Whether she aimed to undermine his mother’s rise or push Elder Yue into action, he wasn’t sure, but it was now clear why she had been paying so much attention to him.
But now, with Set’s appearance, another dimension opened up—one he knew even less about.
“Tormenting!” Morliana cackled, “I had the child watched after he showed to be inclined for blasphemy. That is what I’m supposed to do, as Elder of Orthodoxy!” She then leaned forward, and suddenly, she wasn’t just an old lady. A fire burned within her eyes, and Orion knew instinctively that if she turned that fiery gaze on him, he would be reduced to ashes. “I am the Warden of the Sanctum! I will deal with any budding threat as I see fit.”
Set, however, didn’t seem moved. Mana moved subtly around him, thin enough that [Verification Principle] could barely see the start of some filtering magic. “That is your prerogative, yes. But you, too, must respond to a higher authority. And the High Priestess has already spoken on this matter. If she had changed her mind, she wouldn’t have saved Orion from that harpy.”
That seemed to deflate Morliana’s confidence, but she wouldn’t back down without fighting back. “The world isn’t kind enough for men to hide forever. I understand why you’d move for this child after watching hundreds of your apprentices be exiled and corrupted. You see yourself in him, just a curious mind pushing the limits.”
Set flinched. Whatever had caused him to stay in the Sanctum, it hadn’t been pleasant, that much Orion had always known. But now it seemed his theory of a lost power struggle was even more plausible.
“We both know that is not the path this behavior leads to,” Morliana continued, gleeful now that she smelled weakness. “If it had just been him, I would have been content to wait until he left. All men do, unable to understand how the Sanctum works. But I could see his corrupting influence spreading. The questions he asked, the way he treated long-held doctrine with barely concealed disdain! A tumor has to be excised before it can spread.
Now Orion was starting to get really worried. He was quite certain that his epiphany was still right, that Morliana had targeted him as part of a long-term power struggle, but she also appeared to be speaking sincerely.
Could things even go back to normal after this? Would he have to sit in a classroom with a woman he knew wanted him dead, or at the very least gone?
“I said it is enough,” Set whispered, though the words echoed down the corridor, rumbling as a warning. Whatever magic he’d crafted was now complete, and Orion could see it affecting the very fabric of reality.
Staring at it for too long gave him a headache, so he had to stop observing. Causality magic. I can recognize that much, at least. Schr?dinger’s Defense is part of it, although it’s like a Torchlight spell compared to whatever he’s actually done.
“Ambrosius’ Maze? Really?” Morliana asked, clicking her tongue in disappointment. “Even now, you cannot commit. I went so far as to directly provoke you with the death of your apprentices, I threatened the kid’s life, and you cannot summon the courage to wield the power I know you possess? Ambrosius’ Maze! Who the hell do you think you are?!” She roared in disgust. “I am an Elder of the Sanctum; my very essence is soaked into these stones. I could obliterate the two of you from existence, and not a mote of dust would be disturbed. Do not use defensive magics as if you had to protect the coven from me!”
Set didn’t waver in the face of the verbal deluge, “We’ve known each other for a long time, Morliana. A long time. I remember what you are capable of.”
The witch grinned, once again shifting moods. The quick, sharp swings were increasingly adding to Orion’s confusion and uncertainty, but the more the two elders snapped at each other, the clearer the picture became.
His initial instinct had been right. Morliana was using him as a pawn in a much bigger game, and even her threat to ‘excise’ him was more of a provocation than something truly threatening.
She was trying to get Set to attack her; that much was clear. For whatever reason, initiating the dance herself wasn’t part of the plan, but Orion could see the impatience in her expression as she waited for the man to break and give her a reason.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
I don’t believe this can go on much longer. Someone must have noticed the amount of mana both are emitting.
Almost as if to confirm his thoughts, a new presence drifted into the hallway. It was not, as Orion had expected, Seraphina.
She should have been the closest, since her residence covered the entire seventh floor and they were on the sixth, but it was Elder Alcmene who showed up instead.
But then again, she was the Veil Priestess in charge of security, and a battle between Morliana and Set would be very dangerous for everyone’s safety, no matter what the crazy elder seemed to think.
“That’s enough,” Alcmene said, coming to a stop between them.
“Elder,” Set acknowledged, but he didn’t release his magic.
“Alcmene. This is a personal matter,” Morliana muttered, though Orion noticed she didn’t seem as combative anymore.
“I do not care,” Alcmene replied. “You are an Elder of the Lunar Sanctum. If you have any problem with a guest of the High Priestess, you can take it up with her.” That, apparently, was enough, because Morliana gave Set one last look and left, disappearing into the darkness.
She hadn’t even bothered to glance at Orion during the entire confrontation.
Alcmene took a look at him and sighed. “I believe this has gone on long enough. I will take you to your mother, Mr. Voidwalker, and we will discuss this together. There are some things you need to know.”
Set remained silent. He gave Orion a look of approval to show he was okay with following the woman, and began silently unraveling the complex magical construct he had created.
By the time they arrived, Orion was back in full control of his faculties. He couldn’t say he enjoyed being so vastly outmatched that he could do nothing but watch as his fate was sealed, but even he wasn’t arrogant enough to believe he could compete with those giants given the little time he had.
Asteria opened the door at the first knock, and as soon as her eyes landed on Orion, she pulled him into her arms without even bothering to ask what happened.
And if he let her hold him for longer than what was strictly necessary, no one dared to say anything.
Eventually, the three of them sat in their apartment's living room, and Asteria snapped her fingers to prepare a fresh pot of tea.
Once that was served and everyone had a cup, she looked intently at the older woman, who took a sip and sighed. “There was an incident. I sensed a subtle buildup of mana on the sixth floor and went to check it out. There, I found Elder Morliana in a heated discussion with Mage Set, who is a guest of the High Priestess, over what to do with your son.”
Asteria’s hands clenched around her cup, and Orion was grateful for the distance, or he feared she would have used his hand for that.
“I have no reason to believe Elder Morliana meant any of the words she directed at Orion, but they were spoken nonetheless. Without a good reason, she implied she wanted to remove him from the Sanctum. I stepped in and disrupted the situation before it could escalate, but that doesn’t change the facts of the matter.”
“It does not,” Asteria said, eyes half closed.
Alcmene noticed, but didn’t seem worried. If anything, her lips pulled up just a little. “Your son has the support of Magistra Eire, but it might be time to aim higher.”
“Are you offering me to become part of your faction?” Asteria asked.
“I do not have a faction,” the elder replied, and Orion could almost feel his mother resisting the urge to roll her eyes. “But yes, I would love to have you among my people. Of course, there is one hurdle to overcome.”
“Yue.”
“Indeed. Elder Yue has never rescinded her official position as your master. Of course, if she had been more active, she would have been more than capable of shielding you herself…”
“But she isn’t,” Asteria finished for her.
“She isn’t. I could inform her myself, but—”
Asteria shook her head. “No, this is something that’s been a long time coming.”
Alcmene nodded and stood. “Very well, I will wait to hear from you. If you find a different way, I won't be offended, but I would be happy to have you.”
Orion watched as his mother nodded and casually saw the elder off, but he knew she was on autopilot. He recognized the same signs in himself, after all.
It was kind of funny how, despite him having a whole life to draw from, it was this one that left such a deep mark on him.
His old parents had spent more time with him, at least in absolute terms, but Asteria, despite her failures and mysteries, was far more influential than both of them combined could ever hope to be.
Only after Alcmene was out the door did Orion finally relax. He appreciated Set coming to his aid, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that drawing him out was the whole reason Morliana confronted him.
I feel like I am a pawn on a chessboard I cannot even see.
Unfortunately, he could do very little to change that anytime soon. Growing stronger helped, that much would always be true, but even his most optimistic projection still required a couple of decades before he could directly challenge Morliana.
But then again, perhaps he didn’t need to do it himself.
“Mom?” He called after enough time had passed. Asteria startled, evidently lost in thought. “Will you write to Elder Yue?”
She grimaced. “I would like to think she’d be gracious enough to respond to my request, but I know her too well. She’s kept away, but that doesn’t mean she isn’t nursing a grudge.”
Orion mulled that over. “What are our options, then?”
When did it become ‘our’? Somewhere along the way, he had gotten so caught up in this life that he couldn’t even think about his next steps without involving his mother. And somehow, he didn’t hate it as much as he might have expected.
“I can still try, but I doubt it will do anything but make her more hostile. Elder Alcmene’s offer doesn’t come with an expiry date, but if Morliana is already moving so brazenly, then we don’t have much time.” Asteria pressed her lips into a line, staring out the window toward the dark peaks in the distance.
After a moment, she straightened her shoulders. “Nothing else to it. We’ll have to go to Valderun ourselves.”
Orion nodded. Of course, that way the elder couldn’t ignore them, and it had the benefit of removing him from a heated situation for a while. Then the words registered, and he sputtered in shock. “What?”
But Asteria had made up her mind. “Pack a bag. We’re leaving tomorrow.”
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