Sorcerer Stabber Orphen Fan Fiction ❯ It's in the Blood ❯ Chapter 11 ( Chapter 12 )

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!

Chapter 11*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* ~*

Once he got back from the ruins, Orphen came in to see Cleo standing by her bed. She saw him and went running for the bathroom door adjoining her room. He swooped her up and put her back on her bed.

"Can't I at least take a bath?"

"I need to go to Alenhatan. The faster you're well, the sooner we'll go. Uh," suddenly slightly insecure, "if you still want to, that is."

"Of course, but I want a bath now. I feel dirty and smelly."

With a smile, he sniffed the air, "That you do."

"I'm glad we agree, now let me up."

"When it's ready" and he looked into the bathroom to see she had already filled the tub with hot water.

"I'll get your mother to help. You stay in bed until she gets here or I'll tie you down."

"Yes, sir" she said with a mock salute and threw a pillow at him. When he glared back at her, she smiled innocently.

As soon as he left the room, Cleo got up and ran to the bath. Mrs. Everlasting entered the room to find her humming happily in the tub. She opened the window to let some fresh air in and stepped back out, to find Orphen hovering. "She'll be fine and the doctor did say she could get up and move about today."

"I know, it's just…"

"You might try telling her."

"Telling her what?"

"If you don't know, you're not ready. When you figure it out, ask me about Cleo's father. I think you'll find some of the parallels interesting. I'll be back up to help her in a few minutes."

Once Mrs. Everlasting left Cleo's room, a brightly colored bird flew in the open window and into the bathroom where Cleo was. He landed on the edge of the bathtub. Cleo immediately recognized the bird as her father's old pet. In the bird's beak was an aged letter, addressed to her, with her father's handwriting. She took it from the bird and started reading. The contents of the letter were shocking.

//Letter//

My dearest daughter, if you are reading this, I am dead, and something must have happened to trigger the delivery of this letter. First, let me tell you that I'll always love you, your sister and mother. I watch over all of you. Next, I must ask that you keep this a secret from everyone. Do not tell your mother, sister, husband (that dual-named sorcerer had better be treating you right) or friends.

I need to let you know some things about my history and yours. You've always known that our family was an old one. What isn't commonly known is that our family line leads directly back to the Heavenly Ones. By now, in your school studies, you may have heard of a type of Heavenly Ones called the Demon Hunters. I am one of these and so are you. The skills of the Demon Hunter are passed from father to son only, girls have never inherited. Yet, as you grew up, I saw signs that you had the personality of a Hunter, very different from the calm personalities of your mother and sister. Any doubts I had vanished once I had the opportunity to observe you from a distance after you received your familiar, Leki. I know you are a Huntress.

What skills, you ask? Well, first, you are immune to damage from all offensive black and white magic spells. That doesn't mean you can't be knocked back from the force of an exploding spell, you just won't take direct damage from it. Next, your already significant skills in swordsmanship will increase, tenfold. Moves you may not have previously been able to do will now seem easy. However, there is still much for you to learn and understand about your abilities. There are other skills which will require additional training before you can utilize them.

My old traveling companions were also either Hunters or Sorcerers. They can give you more information on the skills a hunter may possess. Go to the Tower of Fang, seek the sorcerers, Rox Row or Childman. If they are not available, go to Quinn, the Weapon's Master at the Tower of Fang. These men have my trust and have been my allies for many years. They can help you develop and refine your skills and can direct you to other Hunters. They will also be able to fill in some of the blanks my letter will leave.

I've included a map to where my weapon is hidden. Although many Hunters have used it, including me, none of them have been able to use the weapon's full power. I believe in you and that you will do what one else has been able to. Even so, do not let any sorcerer who could be an ally, especially Krylancelo/Orphen, touch this weapon. It will hurt him. To the point that, if he touched it long enough, it would kill him.

The occurrence, which will precipitate the delivery of this letter, is the re-awakening of an ancient evil. Depending on how acute your skills are, you may be aware of the land buzzing with evil. If you hear a buzz, like a tuning fork placed against your skin in your ear, you are near this evil or someone corrupted by it.

There is a duty, that falls to you. I cannot write the details here, but you must be prepared. Go to the Tower of Fang, and then seek my sword. This sword is the only thing that can completely destroy this ancient evil.

Be careful, my daughter. I love you

When she finished reading, she looked up and the bird was gone. She set the letter aside and completed her bath.

Once dressed, she rummaged through her backpack, which she still hadn't unpacked from her travels, and got her journal out. She tucked the letter away inside and put the journal in her desk. She also came across her Wolven pendant and muttered angrily, "I'm so stupid, I should have been wearing this. Oh well… I'll wear it from now on and, if they ask about it, they can just get over it."

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That night, Orphen was in the room next to Cleo's, having a hard time sleeping. He wanted to get up and check on her. He was so close, he could actually do it. They were leaving the day after tomorrow, for he'd arranged ride for them with a local merchant traveling to Alenhatan. He had just given in and decided to go look in on her when his door opened.

It was Cleo. She was sleepwalking again. She stood at the foot of his bed and muttered, "Got to stop him…" He wondered if she'd been doing the same thing the nights they were apart. He stood up, walked beside her and waved his hands in front of her face, knowing already she was completely out of it. He picked her up, started to take her back to her room and stopped. He didn't want to be away from her, he wanted to keep her close. Having made up his mind, he put her in the bed and climbed in next to her. She immediately snuggled her back up against him and he was asleep in moments. His last conscious thoughts were that it felt damn good having her there and Leki wouldn't be there to blast him in the morning.

He woke up as she started stirring. She opened her eyes and he felt and saw her realize that she wasn't in her own room. `She's gonna explode at me, but it was worth it. This was the first good sleep I've had since Agan struck her, well before that really. Since we returned to Totokonta.' She looked over at him and her eyes got real big but she didn't seem like she was about to hit him. He wanted to kiss her but, as always happened when he thought about it, he froze. The day they arrived in Totokonta, he'd almost kissed her when he'd tackled her, but as soon as the thought crossed his mind he couldn't move, just like today.

She sat up and started to get out of bed. "I'm sorry," she whispered as she stood up and moved towards the doorway.

He got up and she paused, "Why apologize? You didn't do anything wrong."

"For bothering you during the night, I …"

"You were sleepwalking. Usually I put you back in your own bed. Last night I didn't."

"Oh. Um…Why?"

"I could protect you better with you here. You know I will always protect you, right?"

She blushed furiously, nodded, and fled the room.

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Cleo and Orphen walked back to town, with Dortin carrying her pack. Volcan struggled behind them. He was wrapped in bandages from head to toe. Orphen had punished him for keeping silent about Cleo's injuries. Orphen was enjoying Volcan's reaction to him immensely. All he needed to do, right now anyway, was crack his knuckles and Volcan went scurrying for cover.

Hartia and Majic joined them at the inn and gave Volcan and Dortin some supplies to take back up to the house. The four travelers piled in with the gear in the back of the wagon for the ride to Alenhatan. As soon as they were settled, the driver started moving.

Majic pulled out the rubbing of the seal to try to decipher the runes. He started making notes in spite of the rocking of the wagon.

A few hours later, Cleo couldn't seem to get comfortable, "Can't we walk? Anything would be better than sitting and bumping along in this thing."

"We're riding because we want to get to Steph's quickly."

"This is booooring. I've been cooped up for three days. I want to move around."

Hartia covered a smile. He smelled a fight coming between Cleo and Orphen.

"It's because of you we're riding, so be quiet and don't bother me." He went back to working on the rubbings with Majic. She missed the smile he had on his face at her reactions. Things were returning back to normal.

"Because of me?! I'm perfectly all right, as I've been telling you every day for the last couple of days. I feel fine and I want to walk!" She started to stand up in the wagon.

"Sit down."

"I will not, I said I want to walk."

"No."

She started to leap out of the wagon and stopped. Orphen, anticipating her leap out of the wagon, dove for her, but because she stopped, he missed and fell face first in the dirt.

Hartia started laughing, "I give you Krylancelo, the greatest sorcerer the Tower of Fang has ever seen. So graceful."

Quietly, Majic was laughing too and added his own jab, "And these are my teachers. I'm in trouble."

"Cleo!" Orphen shouted from behind the wagon.

If she hadn't been preoccupied, Cleo would have been laughing, but she wasn't paying attention to Orphen. She was looking towards the hill above them, rubbing her ears. Quietly, she said, "Hartia, we've got company." Not taking her eyes off the forest, she reached down where their gear was stowed and grabbed her sword.

Sobering instantly, Hartia followed along her gaze to see figures gathering, like they were about to charge the wagon.

Just then, Orphen caught up to the wagon, furious. "What the hell did you do that for?" Seeing the drawn sword, "… Cleo, put that thing away! Before you hurt someone."

"Krylancelo." Hartia said, with a warning tone in his voice. Orphen followed their gazes.

To Majic, "Stay in the wagon with Cleo." To Cleo, "Stay in the wagon for once!" To the driver, "Go ahead to the top of the hill and wait for us." To Hartia, "Let's go!"

"What's wrong?" asked the driver.

"Bandits, I think."

Hartia jumped out of the wagon to join Orphen as the wagon driver prodded the horse into a gallop. Majic reached up and grabbed Cleo's collar just as the horse lurched forward, causing Cleo to fall flat on her bottom and the sword to fly backwards off the wagon to land between Orphen's feet.

"Great, now she's trying to kill me and I have to carry her sword." Orphen muttered as he glared at the departing wagon.

The bandit's goal was the wagon, not the sorcerers. However, Hartia and Orphen were not about to allow them near the wagon. Hartia cast "Hand of Darkness" on his half and picked them off with his red sorcerous blades. Orphen leveled his targets with "Sword of Light".

Once the spells cleared, Hartia and Orphen saw Cleo and Majic standing by the roadside with their gear. The wagon and driver were gone, having left them on the side of the road.

"Ok, Majic, what happened?"

"Well, Master…" Majic started before Cleo conked him on the head.

"The attack scared him off."

"Uh huh. Majic?"

"Um…." Noticing he's standing in between Cleo and Orphen both glaring at him. He tried to edge out of the line of fire from either of them. "Well, that's pretty much the truth. The only thing she left out was that she told him that it happens often."

"Cleo!"

"Oh. Thanks for bringing back my sword. Well, I guess we're walking after all." Said Cleo with a huge grin, as she took the sword away from Orphen, and started to add it back to Majic's pack. She stopped and attached the sword to her waist instead. "Are we ready to go?" Orphen growled and took a step towards Cleo.

Orphen reached around Cleo to grab the sword away from her. "Give me that!"

"What did you say to me before? Oh, yes….Get a room!" Hartia quipped, trying to distract the two who were getting a little too close for his comfort.

"Drop it, Hartia!" Orphen went right back to Cleo. "You can't carry that now. Give that to me."

"Orphen quit stealing my swords!"

Hartia decided he'd better intervene on Cleo's behalf, before Orphen strangled her, and said, "There's a bit of a mess back here. We should probably clean up. That, and see if we can find out why they attacked."

With a final snatch, which succeeded in getting the sword away from Cleo, Orphen handed to back to Majic, "Don't let her have this again."

He then followed Hartia and started to search the bodies, too. They piled the bodies to the side of the road, searching for clues as they went.

While they were working, Majic suggested, "Cleo, why don't you sit down?"

"No!" Cleo heard her tone and winced. "Sorry, I can't. That's why I wanted out of the wagon."

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing, I'm just sore."

"Yanking you down probably didn't help. Why didn't you just say so?"

"I wasn't sure how Orphen would react, he's been acting….well differently."

"What do you mean?"

"He's always protected us but…he's never been so obvious or open about it. I don't…."

She was interrupted by a shout from Hartia, "I found something." Cleo and Majic walked over towards Hartia. Orphen, who'd been listening to their conversation, muttered to himself, "You little idiot, you don't what? And why didn't you say you were hurting, damn it."

Hartia had found a letter on one of the bandits and read it out loud. "Seek the wagon with five travelers, 4 men and a woman. Retrieve the documents they carry and return to the designated meeting place. Pretty vague, the merchant had a courier's bag. For once you may not have been the target, Krylancelo."

"Oh…that makes me feel so much better." Orphen ground out. "Just in case, we'd better hurry to Alenhatan. Majic, I'd better carry the rubbings from here on out." Not finding anything else of interest, they summoned a magical fire to eliminate the bodies and were about to continue on their journey.

Hartia was still holding the letter and added, "It's signed with just initials, A.M."

Orphen heard Cleo's sharp intake of breath when Hartia said that and heard Majic say "Oh, no. He signed his letters that way." Orphen looked back and saw Cleo covering her mouth, pale as a sheet. She turned to Majic and grabbed her sword again. "Miss Cleo!" Majic cried, as he tried to get the sword back from her.

Orphen hurried to Cleo and Hartia asked, "Am I missing something important here?"

Orphen grabbed the sword out of her hands again. "You don't need this! He'll never come near you again. I won't fail you this time."

"I won't be powerless again!"

"You don't need to be carrying all this weight around. The doctor said you still had to take it really easy. He didn't want us walking or to leave so soon but…."

"I'm fine. I needed to get out of the house. I was going stir crazy."

"I'm certain the doctor didn't want you slinging a sword around."

"I want to help when there's trouble. Don't you realize…." She looked up at Orphen wanting to tell him how hard it was for her to watch him go into danger and know that it was for her sake because she was not capable of defending herself. Having the one she loved risk himself for her when, if the letter is right, it shouldn't be necessary. "Oh never mind!" She grabbed the sword back again and turned to walk down the road.

"Stop! You can't get separated from us, especially now!" He put his hand on her shoulder and felt her trembling. He realized she was more shaken up then she let on. He sighed and reached down into his boot and pulled out his dagger and its sheath. "Here. The sword is too much for you to carry. Until your strength is back, will a dagger do instead?"

While Cleo and Orphen were discussing the sword, Majic walked up to Hartia, "May I see the note?" Hartia handed it to Majic and he pulled out two other pieces of paper and compared the letters. "Damn. It's the same writing. Agan."

Hartia went up to Cleo and Orphen, "We'll protect you, I promise. We won't let him come near you again." He put a hand on both Cleo's and Orphen's shoulders. Orphen looked down into her eyes and nodded, adding his own promise. Majic tapped her on the shoulder to add his.

"The dagger will only be a last line of defense, he won't get that close to you again. I swore that night I'd stop him and I will."

"That's part of the problem, you shouldn't have to. I don't want a line of defense, I need to be able to take care of myself."

"At least let us protect you until you're healed." Majic said

Cleo looked down at the dagger and then up at Orphen, and saw the worry there. She handed the sword back to him and started to take the dagger. He quickly handed the sword to Majic and stooped to fasten the sheath in her boot. He missed her blush when he touched her leg and the dirty look she gave Hartia immediately afterward when he started to laugh.

Orphen stood up and said, "Let's put some distance between us and the location of the attack before we camp tonight."

As they were walking, Hartia had a question, which had been bothering him since the attack or actually, before the attack started.

"Cleo, how did you know they were coming?"

"I guess I just saw them, although, my head kind of hurt too."

"How do you feel now?"

"I'm fine now. The buzzing is gone, and the headache's getting better." She replied.

"We've gone far enough. We're camping here for the night." Orphen announced. Cleo and Hartia stopped walking and Majic dropped the packs.

"What do you mean buzzing?" and "Buzzing again?" Hartia and Majic asked simultaneously.

Realizing she shouldn't have told them about it, Cleo thought quickly "It's really not a bad thing, it only bothers me when there's danger. I'm not sure why it's happening."

"Ok, that's enough. Majic, set up camp, Hartia…go away. Cleo, sit down and rest."

Hartia went to collect firewood for the campfire, partly as an excuse to scout the area. Majic went about setting up camp, after handing Cleo a pillow. Cleo actually listened to Orphen for once, and sat down, rubbing her temples. Orphen to his surprise was not happy to see everyone do what he said.