Sorcerer Stabber Orphen Fan Fiction ❯ It's in the Blood ❯ Chapter 5 ( Chapter 6 )

Disclaimer: The usual, I don't own any of the characters in SSO.

This is set after Sorcerous Stabber Orphen: Revenge. This is based off the Anime only and the English ADV versions at that. Warning Spoilers!

WARNING! - Things are going to be getting intense and physical for the next couple of chapters. Please don't flame me too badly.

Chapter 5*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ *~*~*

After he convinced the sorcerers to leave town, Agan paid a call on Cleo. He told Mrs. Everlasting, he wanted to try to make peace with Cleo.

Agan, found that the chit set him on edge whenever she was near him, and it had only been two days. The second part of the deception was foiled because the chit had shown the more damning papers to the apprentice before telling him what it was forcing his ally to lift the illusion early. Also, he found he had a great deal of difficulty keeping to the plan to create a rift between her and those sorcerers, because the bond was apparently deeper than he anticipated. He decided he wouldn't be able to keep the charade up too much longer, so he needed to accelerate the plan to get the chit out of the way and his ally, Garik, agreed to help. The conversation did not go well.

"I don't know what's up with you, but everything I can feel tells me that you're hiding something. If it's not your finances or your past relationships, it's something. I'm going to find out. I will not let you hurt my sister. Everything has been too convenient not to be carefully planned. The experience I've had is that when something is like that it's usually rotten to the core."

"How could I plan meeting your sister? She bumped into me."

"Mother told me you watched Mariabella from afar long before you met her. Which is it?"

"You little bitch. Not that it matters, you'd never get anyone to believe that now" Agan said with a sneer.

"So…. now I see your true self? What do you really want with my sister?"

"I love her and I want to marry her. Isn't that normal?"

"You will not come near her again!" Cleo shouted. She also realized that the buzz she kept hearing whenever she was near Agan, his servants or his stuff, had quadrupled in intensity. She was starting to feel light headed, like she might black out again. She had to consciously fight it.

"She wants me near her," he hissed.

"I'll get her to change her mind. All I need is time." Cleo was aware of a feeling that she wasn't alone with Agan in the room but she couldn't see anyone.

"We marry in three days! Get used to it!"

"Never!!!"

Orphen arrived at the Everlasting household to let Cleo know that he and Majic would be going to leave town for a couple of days, to go to the ruins. Part of him wanted to ask her to go along, like Agan suggested. He knew he didn't want to leave without saying good-bye and letting her know they'd be back soon.

As soon as he entered the house he thought he sensed some illusion magic again, but then he heard Cleo's voice raised in anger, so he put that thought aside. She just couldn't seem to get along with Mariabella's intended. He well knew the ferocity of her wicked tongue, so he hurried to the drawing room. As he was rounded the corner, he heard her scream "Never!" He watched her sort of stumble into a table and fall to the ground, all with no one near her.

From Cleo's perspective, Agan reached up and pushed her just enough so she would crash loudly into the wall and table. As she started to get up, she saw Orphen approaching at a run from the hallway and Agan, now across the room, coming towards her. `How did he get all the way over there?' She stood back up and said, "I can't believe you just pushed me down. How could you strike a woman?"

He and Orphen looked puzzled. Orphen spoke first, "Cleo you fell, I saw you."

"No, he pushed me down."

"Cleo, this isn't like you, quit lying. I saw you fall into the table."

"I didn't just fall," She said defiantly as she looked directly into Orphen's eyes. She saw he didn't believe her. Then she stepped away from Orphen and started to go through the door. At the door she stopped, and whispered to Orphen without looking at him, "I thought I was your partner, I thought you trusted me. Obviously I was wrong." She exited, but when she looked back, Orphen was looking angry and Agan was smiling triumphantly.

After Cleo left, Orphen quickly excused himself. He felt like he'd been kicked in the teeth. `How could she say that to me? She's the one who's been making stuff up. She was just angry she got caught. Well so be it, I'm through with her nonsense.'

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Cleo was in her room when Mariabella knocked and came in.

"Cleo, I know you've taking a dislike to Agan, but isn't there some way you two can come to a truce."

"I want you to be happy and I can see that he makes you happy. I'm just not sure he's what he appears to be. I mean he's seems perfect, which is great, but something doesn't feel right. I'm sorry about all the trouble I've been causing but …

"You love me and you want me safe. I know that. Do you know how much you remind me of Father? He was just like you with any of my boyfriends when I was dating in school. He'd barely talk to them until Mother threatened him, then he'd try to confront them and get them to leave. I miss him so, even though he never liked to sit still, and he was always going from one thing to another, one adventure to another. Just like you do."

Mariabella continued, "I…. well…I've actually been having some doubts myself. I'm not sure I'll be a good wife to him. Agan is a politician and he's always talking about this cause or that. I never have a clue what he's talking about, but he doesn't seem to care that I don't know, he just patiently explains it to me. Patience like that in a man is rare, Cleo."

"Trust me, I know that." Mariabella knew from Cleo's look she was thinking of Orphen, "But Mariabella, you'd be perfect for any man you choose."

"Oh…are you and Orphen at it again?"

"There isn't an Orphen and me anymore, there never was. He doesn't care one way or the other."

"I think he may surprise you."

"I keep hearing that from everyone, Majic, Hartia and Stephanie, but I don't believe it anymore."

"If everyone's saying it, maybe there's something to it. What are you always telling me about legends having some basis in fact? Why don't you believe anymore?"

Cleo shook her head, but refused to be diverted from her topic, "What can I say to convince you to delay the wedding Mariabella?"

"Why do you want me to?"

"To give us both more time to get to know him and make sure he's really the right man."

"Well, we only met about a month ago, maybe a slight delay might be acceptable; however, you have to promise to really give him a chance. You can't go digging up dirt or trying to catch him in lies but you have to honestly try to get to know him. Then we'll talk again. If anything has changed, either your feelings or mine, we'll act accordingly."

"That's fair, I promise I'll try, Mariabella. I love you too much not to." `After what happened today, there's no way you're marrying him. I'm sorry, but I love you too much. I have to find some way to show you what he's really like.'

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Mariabella told Agan she wanted more time. They hadn't known each other very long and she hadn't seen her sister in many months. She asked for more time to spend with her before she became a wife and left her home. He knew the idea to wait wasn't Mariabella's; it was her sister's. The little brat actually found a way to make good on her threat. He fumed, "Plan or no plan, the bitch is gonna pay tonight."

That night, shortly after everyone had gone to bed, Agan returned from the inn in secret to the Everlasting mansion and invaded Cleo's bedroom.

"Get out!"

"Oh no…You crossed the wrong man. Mariabella may have asked for the delay but it stinks of your interference. You're going to play by my rules now or I'm going to have everyone you care about killed. Just because your buddies are sorcerers doesn't mean that they can't be drugged and killed."

"You wouldn't," weakly then stronger as she remembered whom he was speaking of, "you couldn't!"

"Of course the easiest target would be your mother. I could make it look like an accident, but you and I would know what really happened. Even if you told anyone, don't expect your friends to believe you or help. They don't trust you anymore, with your help, I saw to that!"

When he threatened her mom, Cleo grabbed her sword and started to attack him but dropped the sword when he spoke of her new isolation from Orphen and Majic.

"Good, I see you understand. I expect to you be the perfect lady, just like your sister. And so you remember that I'm serious." He punched her in the solar plexus. Then, when she fell to the floor, gasping for breath and almost blacked out, he kicked her in right side several times.