26 - The Edited Version (Patreon)

The rest of King’s Dream arrived together at the Wayland building and were escorted to Phoenix’s new room that she had decided to take, with or without being adopted. Even if Murinah’s family weren’t a threat, she no longer felt safe in that dorm.

When the door opened, Saiya made her way ahead of the others to take Paul’s vacated spot and attach herself to Phoenix’s arm. Uriel and Dazien both had matching expressions of relief and the latter said gratefully, “Thank the gods you’re alive. I see Lord Wayland was able to successfully track you down and rescue you.”

She hadn’t been aware of that but at least it would give her a good cover story. Unfortunately, her emotions almost gave her away when amber eyes looked up quizzically at the Wayfarer and asked, “You’re confused. What’s wrong?”

The others took seats around the hearth as they listened for Phoenix’s response. They all seemed rather curious about the new room and what Saiya had sensed. Before Phoenix came up with an excuse, however, she asked another question she had been meaning to ask the gentle voxen for quite a while now, “How can you read my emotions so well? Is my aura control really that bad?”

Rayna was the one to speak up, “Nah, you’re a closed book to me and I’m decent. I’ve had a few more years of training it than you after all. Plus, you being an Aurabreaker makes it even harder for us to break through and read things from it. It’s her Perception ability.”

The Healer nodded and gestured to the air in front of them, “I can show your book.”

Phoenix summoned it with a thought and Saiya gently touched it.

Passive Ability: Empathic Life

Type: Perception (magical, life)

Current Caste: Crystal 7

Crystal Effect: Can sense the emotions and resource pools of a target through their aura.

After she finished reading the interesting ability, she looked at each of her companions–not quite sure where to start–but decided to focus on answering Saiya’s original question. So she voiced the thing she actually felt most confused and conflicted about at that moment, “Paul offered to adopt me.”

All of them seemed surprised but it quickly morphed into happiness for her and Dazien said, “That’s wonderful, Phoenix. It is a great honor to be part of a noble house.”

She returned his smile with a small smirk as she joked, “It’s no royal court.”

He grinned and said, “Well, you’re already a Princess. This will just make it a bit more official.”

Saiya leaned a soft head against her shoulder, the long furry ears tickling her neck, as the perceptive voxen asked, “Why are you confused about it? Do you not want to join House Wayland?”

Phoenix paused as she gathered her thoughts to try and turn them into sensible words, “I’m not necessarily against the idea. Paul made good points about the benefits,” she hesitated again as her eyes found Dazien’s, “I’ve been told before though, that being a noble means more responsibility. I’m not sure what will be expected of me or if I can meet the demands of the position.”

They all nodded in understanding. Rayna broke the silence first, “You’ll probably need to talk with Lord Wayland about that. Saiya and I were the youngest children so we were never expected to inherit anything. Plus, nobility in our culture seems very different from the type here in Tulim and its patron nation, Blomsterang.”

Dazien wondered aloud, “If Lord Wayland himself adopts you, will you become heir apparent? He has no other children to inherit but you are also not blood related. I could see other members getting upset by it. Not all Houses care about blood relation, though, nor about a particular line of succession via birth.”

“That’s true,” Rayna agreed, “I said we were the youngest but even in our culture if our older siblings had bowed out or if one of us ended up stronger than them in some respect, we could be made heir by right of choice.”

“Speak with Lord Wayland and with the other members of the family,” Uriel said, finally offering his opinion to the conversation from where he sat on the other side of Saiya, “Make sure you understand the whole picture you’ll be joining.”

“Paul did mention having a sister,” she remembered, “He said she’s been wanting to meet me but didn’t want me feeling overwhelmed. I’m not sure how meeting a single person would be overwhelming…” she trailed off as her eyes met Dazien’s, “Actually, I take that back.”

The group laughed at the party leader’s look of mock offense as the gemite replied with a generous amount of sarcasm, “I’m going to assume you meant that my obvious charm and shining personality are just so dazzling that one can’t help but be awed in my presence.”

She rolled her eyes dramatically but the Defender moved on to another question, “So are we here in this room because of Paul’s offer?”

Phoenix gave an internal wince remembering why she was actually here and that she needed to explain things, even if she did need to give the edited version. She had already partially explained the threat to Dazien so it wouldn’t be much more to piece in the unexpected addition of the crazy Daddy Ruwena.

She began with her own question, “Do you remember how I said that I’d be fine if I just stayed in my room and let Paul handle Arktis? Well, I was very wrong.”

Amethyst eyes darkened as the Defender’s expression became serious, “So she was the one that attacked you? You were kidnapped and then tortured again?”

The others suddenly stared at her and she felt the heat rise in her face at the focused attention as she admitted, “It was Murinah’s father this time. The whole family is insane.”

The bard stood suddenly from her chair and yelled, “They hurt you? How? What did you tell Daze but not us?”

Phoenix’s eyes searched for her leader’s own once more as she recounted what she told Dazien just the night before then added, “Apparently, her dad was wanting revenge for Murinah’s death. He thinks Paul killed her, which I will neither confirm nor deny.”

Uriel got her attention as he asked softly, “How did he plan to take revenge?”

Her expression softened as she looked into the ember eyes that comforted her, so unlike the fiery red coals that Murinah and her father shared; eyes which made her feel like they would engulf her in flames of hatred. She sighed and said, “He shot me with a crossbow bolt, it was poisoned with… I think he called it Creeping Heartvine? That was the part you both heard. Anyways, he portaled straight into my room, killed Tala, and I blacked out after that. When I woke up, he was trying to turn me into one of the Caged monsters the Soul Reapers make.”

The room went silent and Saiya tensed against her side while Rayna looked furious, like the Striker wanted to punch something but also didn’t want to ruin the nice furniture. Phoenix headed off the questions as she quickly implied with the previously offered lie, “That didn't happen though and, like you said, Paul found me. However, the Ruwena family are still free for now. So, this will be my new room,” she gestured around them, “Whether I’m adopted or not, it will be safer here.”

“I apologize, Phoenix,” Dazien’s voice said softly after a moment, “I shouldn’t have left you alone yesterday morning. I underestimated the danger you were in and couldn’t get back to you fast enough.”

“This is Ruwena’s fault. Not yours,” Uriel said firmly. “You were trying to protect and support while they only sought to harm.”

Phoenix agreed, “It wasn’t the first time, Dazien. They would have come for me again either way. Hopefully this time, Paul will have enough evidence and authority to be able to stop them before anyone else gets hurt.”

Paul had a few stops to make today and this first one he was not looking forward to. As he stared up at the tall skyscraper completely covered in plants, he took a deep breath. He hadn’t required air to breathe for decades now but he had always enjoyed the scent of this particular building and the mundane action helped settle his nerves as he stepped into the blessed location.

Making his way through the building and up to the floor his sister worked in wasn’t difficult and as he reached her lab he announced his presence by clearing his throat.

The runeforged glanced up at him and gave a brilliant grin as she asked, “Did you find her? Is she here with you?”

“Ah,” he began awkwardly, “Well, we did find her. She managed to escape and return to the estate. I didn’t bring her though.”

Patricia frowned at him and put gloved hands on her hips as she said, “You promised that I could meet her as soon as she was safe again. I need to be able to know her better in order to help create the right social image and, if you haven’t noticed, your loose tongue has made sure that everyone in the city now knows you have a Wayfarer for a Protégé.”

“I promise I will send her here with the rest of her party tomorrow,” he said, trying to mollify the noblewoman, “I’m planning another stop later to the AOA to get them out of the city for a while.”

Pati’s bright blue eyes, a prominent trait of the Wayland line, narrowed on him, “Is she still in danger?”

“I believe we have a window where the enemy won’t be looking for her but I’ve already gotten my next assignment and want her away during it,” he expounded.

“What mission would the AOA give that you wouldn’t want her near and protected by our House?” his sister asked in confusion.

“It’s not from the AOA,” the paladin said darkly, “It’s a quest, not a mission.”

She stared at him for a long moment before saying, “I see. I know I already told you that I wished you had rededicated to the Cultivator like most in our family–”

“Pati–” the lord tried to interrupt but was quickly shut down.

“But did you have to pick the Avenger? Aside from being a relatively minor deity, he is not exactly a good look for our House, Paul. The House you lead currently.”

“It’s not like he’s a Fallen god,” he countered, “Nor known to be one of the Voidsworn Syndicate.”

“No, but he’s also not represented as a member of the Delegation of Radiance,” she pointed out, moving over to a display of plants in vertical rows and began using a wand to gently water them.

“I don’t regret my choice, Pati,” he repeated, this wasn’t the first time they had argued over it, “Now, I came here to let you know about some developments in the case against House Ruwena.”

The runeforged nodded but didn’t look away from her work and he continued, “Phoenix managed to gain information that the Lord and Lady Ruwena are assisting the Renseres in infiltrating Tulisuda for the Soul Reapers.”

That did make her stop to look at him as she said with wide eyes, “This will mean war, Paul. Civil war within the walls of Tulimeir.”

He nodded solemnly, “I’ll be going to speak with Lord Teras at the Order of Magic’s headquarters after I leave here. He’ll need to be prepared to help organize the Magi who will stand against their Chancellor as well as become the new one when we’ve won.”

Patricia nodded quietly, not giving voice to the concern of what would happen should they not win. He turned to leave as he added, “I was just stopping by to update you on that,” he paused at the door and said over his shoulder, “I also offered to adopt Phoenix.”

“WHAT?!”

Paul stared up at another skyscraper in the northeastern district of Tulimeir which was dedicated to researching and crafting prototypes. A majority of the district’s inhabitants dedicated themselves to the gods Scholar and Crafter with a spattering of those that were devoted to minor deities under them, such as Mentor or Architect.

Most buildings were just level upon level of workshops and laboratories and the current building he stood before was no exception as the headquarters of the OOM branch in Tulimeir. He had only been in the lower level before to drop off certain items that required further study by specialists and he was not looking forward to going through the upper floors to reach the Vice Chancellor’s workshop.

Desperate times called for begrudging compromises, though, so he entered and purposefully made his way toward his destination. The Paladin decided he rather liked his new Regalia’s looks as it did a very good job of clearing a path through the crowds of people and no one even attempted to stop him to ask questions.

Once he got to the floor full of half-made golems and bustling Magi, he made his way to the cinderen in the center of it all, ordering around underlings and talking with a young woman he hadn’t seen since first returning to Tulimeir.

Paul smiled softly at the human, who stood out more for wearing large spectacles over soft brown eyes, and greeted her first, “Hello, Camilla. I’m glad to see you again. You should come by my estate, when you get the time and energy, to meet my Protégé. I believe you two might get along well but do not feel obligated to. Just know you are always welcome to visit.”

The brunette nodded silently without directly looking at him and he took the subtle indication of acceptance as a good sign before turning to the man standing beside her, “I see you’re taking good care of my cousin, Lord Teras.”

“I’d be ten years behind in my work without her, Lord Wayland,” the cinderen said with a grin, “Believe me when I say it is my honor and relief that she puts up with me.”

“Sadly, I didn’t come here for a social visit,” Paul said, trying to not waste any time.

The Vice-Chancellor pointedly looked him up and down taking in the jet-black armor and blood-red cape and said, “I figured it wasn’t. News in the investigation into House Ruwena?”

“The worst it could be,” he admitted, “They are traitors to both Tulimeir and the world. You should prepare for an assault upon the allies of the Renseres.”

Ethan Teras wiped his hands on his leather apron and watched him skeptically, “The Renseres? Paul, the Ruwenas are not exactly known for their… pure actions or intentions. Why would they help those zealots?”

“Apparently, to avoid annihilation and join the Soul Reapers in the attempt to gain more power,” the paladin informed.

“Ah. That does sound more like them,” the cinderen replied and gave a grimace, “This is not going to be pleasant… and during a blood moon, no less,” the man sighed and met his eyes, “Lives will be lost from this.”

“Let us try to avoid that as much as possible by moving quickly,” he said, clasping a hand on his friend’s shoulder, “I’m going to the AOA to organize forces there. Can I count on you to gather the Magi who don't want to see this city fall?”

“You and I both know that the Magi and Adventurers have long held a contentious and often aggressive rivalry but I don’t think either of our organizations want to watch our world burn,” Ethan said gravely, “I will do what I can.”

“Then prepare to fight for Tulisuda.”

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