Sorcerer Stabber Orphen Fan Fiction ❯ It's in the Blood ❯ Chapter 12 ( Chapter 13 )

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 12~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Agan returned to the cave outside Totokonta to meet with Garik.

"My men failed their first attempt to take the party. I also left the clue to make them believe the attackers had a different goal than the bitch."

"Good."

"You never explained, why are we doing this?"

"Because of your mistake, the sorcerers will not allow her out of their sight now. The introduction of that note will make them believe we are after something other than her. Ensure that you instruct your men that any additional attacks should be directed at the black-haired one, since he leads them, and to avoid the Huntress at all costs. As I said, we are going to have to use trickery to separate all of them. If they believe you are after something other than her, they will relax slightly, and that will be enough."

"Separate them from each other, not just her from the rest of group?"

"Right. Based on my research, I may not need her, but another from the group."

"All right. But the bitch is still mine." Agan turned and left.

After Agan left, Garik started to laugh. `You fool, you've out-lived your usefulness. Fortunately, the plans will allow for your elimination without technically breaking the pact.'

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Everyone was sitting around the campfire just finishing the dinner that Majic made.

"Remember when I asked about detecting magical residue on objects?"

"Yes."

"In the lesson, you mentioned that improperly cast, you could erase the residue. I didn't want to try the spell on some letters I had until I'd practiced. When we got back to town, well…frankly, I forgot about them until today. These are the letters. Can you…"

"Majic, drop it. It doesn't matter anymore." Cleo said.

"What letters?" Orphen asked attentive now that Cleo seemed to be evading the topic.

Majic handed Orphen the letters Agan had written to Mariabella, which Cleo had found.

Orphen examined the papers and cast "Reveal Magic". The papers glowed brightly an intense violet (A/N -Think of the color of a black light.) Hartia looked over at Orphen in alarm.

Muttering a curse, Orphen cast "Restore Illusion". The text of the letters morphed into the legal documents Cleo first saw when she'd looked at the papers she'd absconded from Agan's room. "A marriage and death certificate for the same woman…. Montevallo? Poison?" Orphen muttered, mostly to himself.

Hartia interrupted Orphen's mutterings, "Krylancelo, do you realize…"

"Quiet. I know." Orphen cut Hartia off with a hiss.

Majic and Cleo exchanged glances, knowing they were probably being left out of something important. Cleo opened her mouth to ask a question.

"No, I won't answer that and I'm not explaining, so don't start. Unless you want to explain your new jewelry."

"And if I explained?"

"Still no."

"Well, mister high and mighty sorcerer, I know you're trying to protect me but lack of information can kill!! I'm going for a walk." She stood up. Orphen stood and tensed to grab at her if she took off. She stopped, turned away from him. "I need to be away from you, Orphen, and since you won't let me be alone, Hartia, will you join me?"

"Uh, sure." He shot a hesitant glance at Orphen before standing and joining Cleo. Orphen shot a warning glare at Hartia that said `keep your trap shut and your hands to yourself'.

Hartia offered his arm to Cleo, but she didn't accept it, and just walked near him. Once they were out of earshot of the camp, she turned on him.

"Okay, I …" She narrowed her eyes at Hartia and sighed. "You're not going to tell me are you?"

"Cleo," he looked sheepish and ran a hand through his hair. "I can't, not until we've done more research and confirmed it. This situation might have just gotten more dangerous, but might not have. I don't want to guess and be wrong."

"The look you two shared when you saw those letters glow violet didn't leave any doubt. You knew then and you know now."

"You're right. I'm sorry, but the meaning of the different colors of magic is a pretty closely guarded Tower secret. Once I can tell you, I will. I promise."

"Arrggh! Leave me alone! Protect me if you feel must, but put some distance between us!" She pushed Hartia away and stepped a few feet away to lean against a tree. He watched as she slid down the tree to sit with her knees tucked up and wrapped her arms around her legs. She put her head down on her knees and rocked in frustration.

"Cleo, try to understand…"

"Go away!" Then he heard it, what he hoped he wouldn't, quiet sobbing.

Hartia came up to Cleo and stooped down to put his hands on her shoulders. Despite her earlier words, she leaned into him and started crying on his shoulder. "The wagon hurt…damn him, he was right, the sword was heavy….I can't keep putting him in danger…..you and Majic, either….Agan's ruined everything….he's obsessed with killing me and getting Mariabella….Oh my God! Mariabella…I've got to go back and warn her." Cleo tried to stand but the strains of the day were too much for her. She sagged back into Hartia's arms, "Damn him…..I hate being helpless," and she began crying in earnest.

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Orphen watched Hartia and Cleo's retreating forms. He wanted to go try to calm her down, but he also knew he wouldn't tell her what she wanted. `And Hartia, you'd better not let her either.' Besides, he needed to let Majic know what they'd stumbled onto.

Apparently, Majic had been also been waiting until they were out of earshot. He looked at Orphen expectantly. "The spell I first cast shows the type of magic used by color and the strength of the caster by the intensity of the glow." Orphen picked up a rock and cast "Hide thy True Nature". The rock morphed into a gemstone. Then he cast "Reveal that Which is Hidden". The gemstone reverted to its previous form. Finally he cast "Reveal Magic". The rock then glowed with an intense blue light which was not quite as bright as the violet glow from earlier.

"Master, so that means the person who cast the illusion uses a different type of magic and is uh… more powerful than you?"

"Yes. As you know, our magic is in the red and blue hues. Violet is blood or demon-based."

"What?!?"

"It can be stronger. It is forbidden and dangerous, because it corrupts the sorcerer. Also, that type of magic will literally burn out the life-force of the sorcerer from the inside. There shouldn't be any blood sorcerers, the Tower sends Hunters after any sorcerers who lean that way, or any rogues, for that matter."

"When you left, were you hunted by one of the Hunters? For that matter what are the Hunters?"

With a chuckle, "Oh yeah, I was chased. I gave him a good run for his money." In a thought, `I wish.' "The strange thing was, he didn't take me back to the Tower. He questioned me…well, no, it was actually more like he interrogated me, about my goals, how I saw the world, pretty much everything." Orphen smirked, when he saw Majic's look. "Yes, he made me carry the luggage for the short time we traveled together. He taught me survival skills, to think my way out of situations and then how to use weapons instead of magic when all else failed." Orphen remembered, the old man was Childman's friend. He hadn't seen him in over four years. `I wonder what happened to him. He usually checked up on me from time to time.' Orphen continued, "The old man taught me one really good thing, anything in life worth having is worth fighting for."

"Is that why you and Cleo…."

Hartia stepped up with Cleo asleep in his arms, "Wait, Majic, that's my line. Is that why you and Cleo fight so much?"

With a growl, Orphen stood up and gently took Cleo away from Hartia. He saw the tear tracks on her face and looked at Hartia with a question in his eyes.

"She had a good cry." Gesturing to his soaked shirt, "I think she's better now, but she's concerned about her family. I told her the significance of the magic was a Tower secret. Did you?" Nodding towards Majic, who was already up, preparing Cleo's bedroll.

"I explained about blood-based magic and its consequences. We were just getting to the Hunters." Orphen was only half paying attention to the conversation as Hartia and Majic continued. He sat down with Cleo next to her bedroll. `I seem to be doing everything wrong with you right now. The more I try to protect you, the more I end up being the one hurting you. Damn it, when did you become so important to me? I thought you were like a sister, but now the feelings have changed….I want to act one way, and end up acting completely different. I can't cope with these conflicting emotions. I want things back the way there were….or do I? I can't deal with this right now.' He broke away from his thoughts to pick up on Hartia having a hero wannabe moment.

"Oh….That reminds me, there's a new Hunter assigned to the Tower. I'm being considered to be his partner."

"Huh….Master, you told me the Hunters chased sorcerers, now Master Hartia says he's to be a partner with a Hunter. I don't understand. What exactly is a Hunter, then?"

Hartia answered because he could see Orphen wasn't paying attention, "A Hunter is used in extreme circumstances, when a sorcerer goes rogue or is suspected of using blood-based magic. Also, they are used on the rare occasions when a demon is encountered. That actually was their original function. Sometimes they are called Demon Hunters, but they are more commonly used now to go after outlawed sorcerers. They have spell immunity."

"I can see how that would be helpful."

"Yes, I, Hartia, the leading sorcerer of the Tower of Fang, shall be partnered with the new Hunter, and together, we shall vanquish evil across the continent. Hey, that's good. Cool! That'll be my new speech."

"Oh…like you'd really get to say it." Orphen interrupted.

"Krylancelo, put her down. She'll sleep better on her bedroll. You're probably aggravating her bruises."

"In a minute." He started to cast a light sleep spell on her to help her sleep through the night.

"I already tried that, it didn't work."

"Why didn't it work?" Majic asked.

"Could be any number of reasons. On some people, the spell simply doesn't work."

Majic thought, `I thought Master used it on her before. Oh, well, maybe I was wrong. It was a long time ago.'

Reluctantly, Orphen put Cleo onto her bedroll and turned back to Majic and Hartia.

"Majic, in spite of the humor Hartia just interjected, do you understand why Hartia and I are so concerned? Why I don't want this mentioned to Cleo? I think she has a hard enough time dealing with our magic, let alone trying to explain potential blood-based sorcery."

"Wouldn't it be better if she knew how serious this is? She'd be less likely to rebel against you so much." Majic said.

"Although that is true, and it's tempting to tell her, if only for the peace and quiet, this type of sorcery is something the Tower wants kept secret. This is one instance where I can agree with their decision."

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Before they went to sleep, Orphen set up watch schedules. Hartia had first watch, Orphen the second, and Majic had the last.

Hartia was sitting on his bedroll during his watch. He realized they'd unconsciously surrounded Cleo. He was by her head, Orphen to her right, Majic to her left and the fire by their feet. Midway through his watch Hartia observed Cleo get up out of her bedroll and start to move to stand at Orphen's feet. As soon as she moved, Orphen opened his eyes and watched her. She was about to step too close to the fire to get to the foot of Orphen's bedroll when Hartia and Orphen both jumped to their feet and grabbed for her. Orphen reached her first and pulled her away from the fire. She muttered the same thing she'd said each night. "Got to stop him." He sat down on his bedroll, shifted her into his lap and held her close.

Quietly, Hartia asked "Is she asleep?"

"Yes. She's done this almost every night for the last 2 weeks."

Hartia started when Orphen said that. Orphen was still holding Cleo on his lap. When he realized Hartia still wanted to talk, he shifted her back into her bedroll and she murmured again, "Got to stop him." She rolled over on her side to face Majic, which jarred one of her bruises, and woke her up. When she heard Hartia's next words, she remained silent and kept her breathing regular, hoping to find out what had them so worried.

"Krylancelo, we need to talk."

"About which topic? The list is longer than I really want to think about."

"Let's start with why I really left the Tower of Fang to join you."

"I knew you'd have a reason. What else is going on?"

Hartia explained about Lai's visions and that they apparently started the same night that Cleo started her nightly wonderings. "I suspect there is a connection, but I don't know what."

At the mention of a broken seal in Lai's vision, Orphen told Hartia about the source of the rubbings.

"The writings we have are from the seal and the area around it. We have to get that translated quickly, I think that may be the key to all this. Agan tried to convince me not to get the rubbings translated. And now we find he's gotten a damned blood sorcerer on his payroll. How in the hell did that happen? We need to hurry to Alenhatan… Hartia, she said she was worried about her family, will you go back to Totokonta to check on them and let them know what's going on. Don't forget to mention the sorcerer." Hartia saw the worry in Orphen's eyes as he hesitantly reached down to stroke her hair.

"I will. You know, she's stronger than you think. Continue to stifle her, however well intended, and it will drive her away from you."

"I know, but I ….oh, never mind." He continued stroking her hair, and in spite of her curiosity, Cleo fell back asleep.

Orphen and Hartia switched watches. The night was uneventful, except when Cleo got up and switched from her bedroll to Orphen's. When he woke Majic up for his watch, Orphen climbed in his bedroll with Cleo. He shot Majic a look that said `don't say anything'.

Shortly before dawn, Orphen reluctantly shifted Cleo back to her bedroll. He really didn't want to hear Hartia's comments on the sleeping arrangements.

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At first light, Hartia teleported to Totokonta and the Everlasting mansion. As he approached the mansion, he was attacked by two men in similar clothes to the ones who attacked on the road to Alenhatan. He quickly dispatched them and hurried up to the mansion. Tistiny met him at the door, having heard the sounds of battle.

"I came back to warn you. Agan attacked us on the road. Everyone is fine, but Cleo was concerned for you and Mariabella."

"I already expected as much. I have the local militia out. They were watching two suspicious men earlier. I suspect you've taken care of them already."

"How did you know?"

"I learned many things from my husband, he was a merchant and more. Mostly he taught me to be prepared. Join us for breakfast before you return?"

"Uh…sure." Hartia found himself thinking how much she reminded him of Master Childman.

After a very pleasant breakfast with Tistiny and Mariabella, Hartia teleported back to the camp. He was able to reassure Cleo that her mother had everything well in hand. They broke camp, and started walking towards the next village. Everyone was silent, absorbed in their own thoughts.

Orphen kept trying to pick up the pace. The discussion he and Hartia had kept pestering him. Something was really wrong. It didn't make sense, blood-based sorcery and that bastard Agan's goons attacking, not to get Cleo, as he expected, but the rubbings. Why? What is so important about the rubbings? And why were his instincts screaming not to believe that the rubbings were Agan's true goal? Was that just his emotions getting in the way or was it something else?

As much as he wanted to hurry, he realized it might be a good idea to make a copy of the information, and soon. That would mean stopping early. It might slow them down, but it would be better in the long run.

Hartia approached him, "Krylancelo, we need to slow down. Majic and Cleo are falling behind."

Orphen looked back and realized in his musing, he'd gotten quite a ways ahead of everyone. "Damn…Sorry, I just got to thinking."

"That's okay, just pay attention. Are you always like this with them?"

Cleo and Majic had caught up enough that they could hear Hartia's comment. Cleo laughed and said, "No, he's not always like this with us." With an even bigger smile, "He's usually worse." Majic was trying hard not to laugh at what she said as he watched Orphen glare at her.

"I'm sure you can see why I'm moody, with that noise to put up with." Orphen said to Hartia, inwardly smiling at the playful fighting spirit he saw back in Cleo's eyes.

"Noise! I'll give you some noise." Cleo shouted.

"Save your breath for walking, nitwit."

"How much further?"

"We're stopping in the next village."

In a whisper, "Good, I don't know how much farther I can go today." Cleo said wearily.

"What did you say?" Majic asked.

"Don't worry about it."

They continued walking for another hour or so until the village was in sight. Cleo kept dragging behind until Orphen finally realized she was tired, but being too stubborn to say anything. That got his blood boiling.

"Cleo, why didn't you tell us you were getting tired?"

"Why? We're almost there."

"That's no answer. The doctor tells you to take it easy, but no…. you don't follow his orders. Do you want to be stuck in bed again?"

"Of course not. I'm fine. It's nothing a good night's sleep in a bed won't fix."

"And you going straight to bed after you've eaten."

"Geez, you're being a tyrant."

"Fine, but you'll still do what I say!"

When they arrived at the inn, Orphen asked for a common room, where all four of them could stay in the same room. Unfortunately, there were none available, but a suite, with a central room with four bedrooms off of it was. Cleo broke into the conversation, saying that was what they wanted. They went upstairs and claimed their rooms. Cleo's room was at the far side of the main room, Orphen chose the one next to her and Hartia and Majic's rooms were on the opposite side of the main room.

They went back down to the dining area of the inn for dinner. Cleo barely ate because she was so sleepy and she actually almost fell asleep at the table. Orphen picked her up, startling her awake.

"Ohh…. put me down, I can walk."

"Right, that's why you almost fell asleep in your soup."

"I want a bath before I go to bed."

"No."

"What?"

"I said no. You almost fell asleep at the table, imagine what would happen in the bath."

"I feel dirty."

"No."

"I'll just get up and go bathe."

"You do that and I will come in and get you."

"You wouldn't!"

"Try me."

She growled and struggled so much, he almost dropped her. He let her down and she started walking up to the suite. He followed her, to find her digging through her bag to get the items she needed to bathe.

"I said no!"

She sagged and said, "Please, I just want things the way they were." In a thought she added, `Why are you being so different, but cold?'

"I give up, drown." And he walked out of the room.

Cleo sat on her bed and started to cry. She was so tired and tense and she'd wanted a bath to relax her. She just laid down and curled up in a fetal position. She resolved that as soon as they got to Alenhatan, she would go find Quinn or someone who could help her at the Tower of Fang and leave them behind. She had a job to do and Orphen, well, …he wouldn't approve and she didn't want to have him put himself in more danger.

Orphen stood outside the door and listened. He could tell she was crying. `Damn, I hate it when she does that.' He went and asked for a bath. When it was ready, he followed the servants with the tub to her room.

Suddenly, she heard the door open and something heavy brought in that sloshed.

"Well, if you're going to bathe, do it. Be quick about it. If you're not done in 10 minutes, I'm getting you out." Orphen's voice called as he stepped back out the door.

She quickly put a chair in front of the door and got into the bath. She'd barely finished drying off and getting into her nightgown when Orphen tried to open the door. She ran and moved the chair.

"Damn it, Cleo!" He said, as he prepared to kick the door in.

"I moved the chair." She called back. "Thank.."

"Don't do that again! What if something happened? I would have been delayed in getting to you. Don't forget, Agan's still out there, along with his sorcerer buddy."

"I…can't you even allow me to say thank you without shouting at me?"

"Get some sleep, vixen." With that and a grin, he pushed her towards her bed. "And you're welcome."

She'd barely gotten settled in the bed before she was soundly asleep. Orphen walked to the door and called a couple of servants to remove the bath. He watched her for a few moments before going back to the main room of the suite.

Majic was working in a corner of the main room, copying the rubbings and writings. Orphen and Hartia started talking softly and Orphen realized that the room he was in didn't have a clear view of the street.

"We're switching rooms."

"What? Geez... Orphen, relax."

"Your room has a better view of the street."

"Oh, fine then, I'll just turn in. Majic, you need rest too."

Orphen looked at Majic and realized he was looking very tired. "He's right, Majic, turn in. You can continue in the morning."

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Hartia woke up in the middle of the night, to see someone standing at the foot of his bed. He was startled to realize it was Cleo. He got out of the bed and came near her and she murmured, "Got to stop him…" just as she had the night before. It dawned on him that when Cleo went to sleep, Orphen was supposed to be in this room. He wished Lai were here. He was so much better at interpreting these things, because he had the strongest feeling that this was important.

He noticed that she was shivering, because it was cold in the room. `Orphen's going to kill me, but it's too damn cold to take her back to her room till she's warmed up some.' He put Cleo in his bed. He put his pants and a shirt back on and climbed back in bed.

He tried two times to return her to her bed during the night, but she got so agitated when he started to take her out of the room, he just couldn't. Not that she was quietly sleeping. No, she was the most restless sleeper he'd ever encountered. He finally nodded off sometime around dawn.