"C-Could you repeat?"


    "No, you''ve understood me well."


    Florian displayed a stressed smile at what Orion asked.


    "Why so suddenly? Why do you want to meet the queen when we need to take care of Leonis first?"


    He was sweating buckets.


    "Is that an impossible request?"


    Orion avoided speaking about the sudden c+hange of plan. In his mind, he had a good reason anyway.


    ''There''s no way to tell when we''re going to find that coward of an Apostle. Instead, I want to discuss a few things with that queen, and get a things cleared.''


    A sigh left Florian''s mouth, as he began to think.


    He took off his glasses and wipe them clean, before placing them back on his nose.


    After that, he turned around and began to mumble inaudible words.


    "Alright, I might be able to arrange that."


    He turned around with a tired look.


    "Just so you understand, I don''t like dealing with that woman. She is extremely difficult to deal with."


    Orion nodded.


    ''There''s always someone you can''t deal with in your life. Luckily, I haven''t find one yet.''


    "You will see anyway. I just hope you won''t take offense at her actions."


    He muttered quietly, but Orion heard it without making any comment.


    "Alright, are we done? I''m getting tired of all of this serious conversation."


    Karteira walked next to Orion and Amelia and asked.


    "I think we''re done. There''s nothing else we have to say for now. Kamala, I''ll be sending you back first."


    Even though surprised, she still agreed.


    They all walked to the portals that led to various places. For now, there was only two, but Orion was planning on making this place a hub to move between places, or for their allies to come.


    Kamala walked through the portal, before being followed by Orion.


    "I don''t have much time to stay, because time is moving faster on the other side. So I''ll be quick."


    He talked to Kamala alone, because he had something to tell her.


    "The other Apostles might question you about what happened at Kaios. You can choose two options."


    Lifting two fingers, he continued.


    "You can thrown the blame on me. Honestly, I wouldn''t care and nothing would change, since they knew I would come for them."


    This was true, and also an easy jail free card at that point.


    "You tell them that I tried to attack you too, but was too injured to fight two Apostles one after the other, and retreated somewhere."


    That option seemed to bother Kamala greatly, as her expression looked displeased.


    "The other option?"


    "You can blame it on a corrupted attack."


    "I like this one better."


    "I bet."


    They both laughed amusedly for a second, before Orion turned around, ready to leave.


    "I''ll close this portal until the guest house is fully built. The moment you notice its reactivation, we will receive you accordingly. Until then, take care."


    Nodding, she watched as Orion returned to Horizon.


    ''If I wasn''t an Apostle, I would have never been their friends... but because I am an Apostle, I cannot go with them. My duties as a Lord come first.''


    As she lamented for not being able to follow the group in their journey, she walked out of the room and called for Timothy.


    She needed coffee right now.


    ~


    "Tiohr, what do we do now?"


    Dramia and Drania were sitting at the large table in front Tiohr-nam''s Avatar.


    Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.


    "Why do you ask?"


    Tiohr-nam opened her eyes, as she was previously focused in assimilating Orion''s magic into her own.


    "I know we''ve just returned, and I don''t plan and going out for now, but we don''t have any ways to contact Orion at all."


    The sisters were tired from their ''errand'' into the Northern Sea Chasm, also know as the ''Anomaly''.


    After finally making their way inside the remain of a long forgotten battle, and buried what was left of their friend, the ''Anomaly'' completely vanished.


    At least, no one will be able to inadvertently get lost in it anymore. This part of the sea was charted as dangerous by everyone, and no boat was floating around there to avoid being suddenly sent to their doom.


    While her sister was talking to Tiohr-nam, Drania was sleeping with her head on her arms.


    "I understand your concerns, but you have to calm yourself first. Acting rashly will not give you the results you expect, be sure of that."


    "You''re not answering me, but right, I''ll be careful."


    Tiohr-nam observed the expression Dramia was making. There was impatience, worry, and helplessness.


    "You have changed."


    She said without any ill intent, or mockery behind it. This sounded like a mother speaking to her child.


    "Not only me. Drania too."


    Dramia placed her hands on the table and leaned on her chair to look at the ceiling.


    "It is as if we have received another chance. A chance to do what we couldn''t in the past, to correct the tragedy that we couldn''t comprehend at the time."


    "We were too young to understand what Noah had to fight against. We never understood him fully, and only remained as burdens until the end."


    "And yet, without him, we would have died."


    Her gaze was lost in her memories.


    "Dramia, the problems on the continent is not something you have to burden yourself with. Nobody can resolve a continental problem alone."


    These words took Dramia out of her dreams.


    "But what about Orion? Isn''t he fighting al-"


    "He is not alone. Open your eyes."


    Tiohr-nam''s tone was colder than usual. Dramia stared at the Avatar without saying anything, until she finally realized her mistake.


    "You are right. I don''t know why I keep comparing Orion to Noah."


    "That is a better expression on your face."


    Touching her face, Dramia realized that she was smiling.


    "Remember, Orion have Amelia, Karteira, and you two. Plus the new allies he is currently making."


    "Dramia, his ending will not be the same as Noah, you can be sure of that."


    "I hope you are right."


    A silence fell in the room.


    *Ruffle*


    They both looked at Drania, who lifted her face from her arms.


    The state she was in was incredibly funny.


    "Drania, your hair is mess, and you have drool on your face."


    But she received no response.


    "She is not awake it seems."


    Tiohr-nam exclaimed, looking inside the dead eyes of Drania.


    *Snap*


    Dramia snapped her fingers in front of her sister.


    "Whoa!"


    And instantly awakened the poor girl, who almost fell down her chair.


    "Awake?"


    "Awake!"


    Drania nodded her head furiously, her heart beating crazily from the sudden awakening.


    "Anyway, I will answer your previous question Dramia. About what we should do."


    "Absolutely nothing."


    "..."


    "You do not have to look at me like that. Let me explain."


    Under a colder gaze than was usually displayed on Dramia''s face, she continued.


    "Even with my connection to Orion, all I can feel is the fluctuation of his magic, and his body condition."


    "When his soul uses magic energy, I can feel it and make a guess on what is happening."


    "And I noticed something strange."


    The sisters face became puzzled. Even if Drania entered the conversation late, she was listening.


    "How so?"


    "I seemed to receive more magic than it should be possible of. I also can''t follow how his progress, as it seems that within ten minutes, he expended his magic storage twofold, and then was back to being full in less than two minutes."


    Dramia began to think, but her sister was faster.


    "Is is something related to his new element?"


    The Avatar nodded.


    "You might be right. I felt it when he created it, but I cannot influence this element. It acts like a child and refuses to let me see it."


    A frown appeared on Tiohr-nam''s face.


    "That''s rare to see that expression on you."


    "Well, let me say that I am just as curious as you about that new element. Though, it didn''t stop me from finding something interesting in his soul."


    "Something interesting?"


    The sisters asks together.


    "Yes, something that shouldn''t be available to him until his elements attained maturity. I''m simply nurturing them in his stead. I think it was something he should have known, but as the last member of two lost factions, this might have been impossible to learn."


    "Are you going to tell us what that is?"


    "Of course, you see..."


    Dramia and Drania both opened their eyes wide.


    ~


    "Florian, where do I go if I want to find you?"


    Orion was walking with Florian out in the streets of Lahro with the girls behind them.


    "I''ll show you where I''m currently staying."


    They continued to walk in silence until Florian pointed at a building.


    "I''m staying at this inn. I am technically off duty currently, as I am not doing paperwork so feel free to look for me."


    "In the meantime, I''ll try to get leads on where Leonis went, and I''ll ask the queen for an audience."


    "Thank you."


    ''If she refuses, I''ll pay her a secret visit. Don''t underestimate a hunter.''


    Orion looked at the tall castle erected at the middle of the town, elevated from the other houses.


    "We''ll return to Horizon for a while."


    He looked at Amelia and Karteira, before opening a portal.


    "See you later Florian."


    Orion walked through the portal, and closed it behind him.


    "..."


    "And how am I supposed to contact you?"


    But Orion was already gone.


    ~


    Orion stretched after waking up.


    After bringing the guests back to their places, the three returned to Horizon, and slept peacefully.


    ''Today, finally...''


    He woke up, took his clothes, and walked downstairs straight to the bathroom. He entered the men''s side, stripped, and entered the shower.


    His body cleaned of impurities, and satisfied after taking a calming shower, he dried his body, and put his clothes on.


    Not long after exiting the room, he entered the living room in search of Karteira.


    Luckily, he found her rather quickly, as she was maintaining her tail like she did every single day on the couch.


    She woke up later than him though. Since his showering usually took around thirty minutes to an hour depending on days, she had enough time to make it look like she had awaken long ago.


    "Good morning, Orion."


    "Yes, good morning."


    Knowing that she was here, he turned around and walked to the kitchen to prepare himself a nice and warm black coffee.


    After five minutes, he returned to the living room, and sat quietly next to her.


    For a moment, she was looked surprised.


    ''It''s rare for him to sit next to me. Is he going to ask me something?''


    As she was polishing her stinger, and questioning why he was so close.


    "How are you feeling today? Are you in shape?"


    "Hmm? I''m feeling pretty good, my tail hasn''t been hurting at all since it has evolved, and my strength hasn''t diminished either. Why?"


    Orion placed his coffee in the table and stared at her.


    "Because I''m going to keep my promise and train with you all day."


    The day hadn''t started for Amelia, while these two were already going to exchanges blows.