Sorcerer Stabber Orphen Fan Fiction ❯ It's in the Blood ❯ Chapter 6 ( Chapter 7 )

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 intense and physical for the rest of this chapter. Please don't flame me too badly.

Chapter 6*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ *~*~*

Volcan had been restless that night trying to come up with ways to best that stupid sorcerer. He remembered that Orphen and Majic would be leaving in the morning, to check out some ruins. There might be treasure there and he, the great Volcan, was going to get a share of the treasure. He dragged Dortin out to steal the map away from that evil sorcerer. He got distracted when he saw a light on and two figures in that witch's room.

Muttering about blackmail and getting back at that smarmy sorcerer, Volcan climbed up to the balcony and witnessed Agan punch and kick Cleo. He was so focused on laughing and re-enacting the blows that he fell from the balcony into some thorn bushes below.

Agan stopped kicking Cleo when he was startled to hear and see someone on the balcony outside of Cleo's window. He hurried to the window in time to see Volcan falling over the balcony railing.

With one final hard kick to Cleo's left side, Agan hurriedly exited the house and searched for Volcan. He found Dortin extracting thorns from Volcan's body while Volcan muttered different curses against a certain black sorcerer. Agan gave Volcan a gold coin. "What you saw is our secret."

"Thanks. Hey I've got a deal for you. If you do it again, I'll give you the coin back. I really loved seeing that stupid sorcerer's witch get what's coming to her."

"Deal. Keep the coin anyway." Agan departed.

Dortin shivered and tried to convince Volcan that they need to find and tell Orphen right away. Volcan scoffed. "Why should we tell that two bit sorcerer anything?"

Later that night, Dortin slipped away from Volcan to check on Miss Cleo. She was still doubled over on the floor, in pain. He brought her some strips of cloths so she could tend her injuries. Cleo was coughing up blood and could barely move. Dortin aided her as much as he could.

"Thank you, Dortin."

"Miss Cleo, you need to tell Orphen what happened. I know the problems you've been having, but I'll back you up."

"Did you actually see what happened Dortin?"

"Well, no, but I heard a description from Volcan"

"Then Orphen… err, they won't believe me."

"Miss Cleo, you've got to tell somebody. What about Majic or that other guy, the one who just came back today? Please, promise me you'll try."

Standing with difficulty, Cleo started to get dressed. "I'll try, Dortin. Excuse me." Relieved, Dortin left.

Cleo left the mansion. It was a difficult walk, because if she moved too fast, she got really dizzy. She didn't think anything could hurt as badly as her sides did. She kept going, hoping that Majic would still be up studying. She prayed Orphen wouldn't be around. Part of her mind screamed, `Tell Orphen! This is proof even he would have to believe. Surely he would be able to tell from the injuries that it wasn't self-inflicted or just from a fall.' Crying again, she thought `I can't take that chance, if he refused to believe me this time, it would destroy me.'

Cleo walked into the inn and the common room was empty. She sighed. Majic wasn't up or he would have been down there. She half sat, half collapsed into a chair to rest before trying to go back home.

Hartia had arrived earlier in the day to find Orphen in a particularly foul mood. He'd eaten dinner with him and Majic but still didn't have a clue as to what was wrong. It really felt like there was a rift building between the three companions. Orphen was angry, really angry, and pushing Majic away whenever Majic tried to help. Majic was obviously getting annoyed with his Master, which Hartia had never seen before and, most surprising, Cleo simply wasn't there.

He was musing in a corner of the room when Cleo walked in. She didn't see him, but he was surprised by her appearance. She looked like hell. Her eyes and nose were red, probably from crying, she was as pale as a ghost and visibly shaking. He watched her sag into a chair and decided to approach her.

"Hello, Cleo" Hartia said gently.

Cleo jumped up, startled, and then swayed unsteadily on her feet, using the table for balance. She looked at Hartia, "Oh, hello, Hartia."

`What's up? She rarely calls me by my real name. I usually get Shrimpman or Shrimpy. Why does she look so, well …shattered?' Aloud he continued, "What are you doing out in the middle of the night? Are you just itching for a lecture from Orphen?"

"He doesn't care now. I was looking for Majic"

"Huh!?" `That's not like her. What the hell happened that she would be so sure Orphen wouldn't care about her?'

"Don't worry about it. Do you know if Majic's still up?"

"No, he went to sleep a while ago. Cleo what's wrong? Please talk to me." He reached out and gently held her hand.

"I need to talk to someone and I can't go …"

"I told you before I'd be here for you." He moved closer and put an arm around her shoulder.

"Promise me you will not tell Orphen anything."

"What's wrong?" He realized she was really scared of something and he wasn't about to make a promise he knew he wouldn't keep.

"I…. I shouldn't be here, I know I promised Dortin I'd tell but I can't"

"Cleo don't go. Tell me, we'll work it out" She turned abruptly to leave. When she turned, everything spun and she put her free hand down on the table to steady herself. Once steady, she started for the door. Hartia kept holding on to her hand. When he gently pulled to bring her back, she gasped in pain and fainted. Hartia caught her. To his dismay, he realized she had bindings around her stomach and ribs. He carried her up to his room.

Nerilissa observed Hartia taking her up to his room. She smiled, she'd have to get to know the redhead better but first she knew she could use that to get Orphen's attention.

As Hartia started to examine her, he noticed a trickle of blood coming out of the corner of her mouth. He lifted her shirt high enough to get to the bindings he'd noticed earlier and remove them. He was startled to see the beginnings of numerous bruises along her stomach and sides. He cast a healing spell and the draw on the spell was incredible. `Good Lord, she's got internal injuries, serious ones.` He had to heal those injuries quickly; she was already in serious trouble. `No it was worse than that. She was on the verge of dying from those injuries. What the hell happened to her and why won't she go to Orphen?' He healed all the damage he could before she woke up and then he collapsed in a chair by the bed.

Hartia pointed at her stomach and said, "Start talking."

"It was..Ag..an accident. I fell." She pulled her shirt back down.

"Cleo you don't lie well." As his own words sank in, he remembered the one piece of information Majic had let slip, something about Cleo lying about Mariabella's fiancée. "Tell me."

Cleo's eyes got really big as she watched him make that connection. "Why can't he?" She whispered as she jumped up and ran out of the room. He tried to follow her but discovered he could hardly move himself and he was too shocked to react. The realization was too alarming; the girl who was afraid of nothing, who took after monsters with just a simple sword was terrified. He was only able to make it as far as his door and watch her leave.

Majic opened the door to see Hartia at his door and Cleo running down the hall. "Master Hartia?"

"Go back to sleep Majic"

"Why was Cleo crying? Has Orphen been mean again?"

"I don't think that's it. I think it's worse."

"W…. what?"

"Good night Majic." With that, Hartia closed his door, silently vowing he would look out for her. He tried to call a light in his room only to find he was temporarily spent, magically and physically. That had only happened once before, when he had healed an animal, well Carolina, who had been beaten within an inch of dying. As he collapsed on his bed, his last thought was `What's going on Cleo?'

Majic went to Orphen's door and started to knock. He wanted to let his master know what he'd seen. He remembered the seething anger, which had been indicative of his master's mood today, so he decided to return to bed. He promised himself he'd try to get to the bottom of what happened with Hartia on the road tomorrow.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Garik raged in his chambers, `Everything was going according to plan.' In the morning they were going to be separated. I could have taken her easily, no sorcerers about. But what did that fool, Agan, do? He gave her proof! Worse he let those two trolls see. Although the older one could care less, the younger one told the chit to get help and not just any help, but help from the fighter who turns out to be another blasted sorcerer. The only good news out of the whole mess, is that he healed her saving me the risk of having to go into town early.'

He sighed. He needed her alive and without healing she would have been dead by morning.

`I am going to have to find a way out of this pact. I want to tear him limb from limb.'

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Orphen and Majic prepared to depart the following morning. At breakfast, Nerilissa was serving Orphen.

"Will your red-head friend be joining you today?"

"Yes he'll be going to the ruins with us."

"I'd better get him some extra strong coffee and food to help get him going this morning `cause he was up late last night." She goes back to the kitchen.

Majic saw Master Hartia coming down the stairs from his room at the inn. He was dressed in his Tower robes, instead of the traveling clothes he had asked Majic to freshen last night. He wondered if this meant he wasn't coming. He really did look exhausted.

Not that Majic minded, since his Master would be able to devote more time to teaching without any distractions, but he didn't like the idea of Hartia staying in town with Cleo. He wanted Master and Cleo to be together and Hartia wasn't part of that equation, especially after what he saw last night.

"Hartia are you planning on traveling like that?" Called Orphen.

"I'm not going." Hartia replied in a clipped tone.

Nerilissa comes back with a mug of coffee and hands it to Hartia. "Someone looks like they had a rough night." Nerilissa headed back to the kitchen.

Orphen glares at Hartia. "You do look like hell."

Hartia said, "Magic drain."

Orphen rolled his eyes, "What animal did you save this time?"

"Just a local Vixen." He replied with a slight smile.

"I thought the ruins were the whole reason you came back from the tower. Weren't you told to investigate?"

"No. I've been pretty much acting on my own recently."

"Then why?"

"If you can't figure it out, I'm not telling."

"Is it something about Cleo?" Majic asked.

"Majic, I wasn't talking to you, I was talking to Krylancelo."

"Ok…so is it something about the brat? What?" Orphen's annoyance intensified.

"It's not my place to say, it's hers. Needless to say, I think I'm needed here, since you don't care to stay."

"Leave her alone."

"I think she's been too alone since she arrived home this time."

"I said leave her alone. You don't know everything that been doing on." Orphen finally voiced the thought that had been plaguing him with a mixture of fear and anger. "Is she why you've been coming around so much?"

"I know more than you think, and I'm not going to answer that question."

"Yes, you will."

"I came back to see all of you and to investigate the ruins, not that you've been good company. Now that I'm here, I'm not ready to leave."

"Fine stay. You always were too soft a touch for animals and hopeless causes." Orphen and Majic departed for the ruins.

"Oh…I see little Miss Goody Two Shoes wore you out."

"Just do your job bitch. Leave me and my friends alone."

"Listen here, I wasn't the one who carried Miss Goody Two Shoes up to his room last night."

"You tramp. Stay the hell away from me and don't you dare come near Cleo again. Stay out of our business or you will regret it. You don't want to get on my bad side." He held up the Tower of Fang pendant. "You know what this means don't you."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Once on the road, Majic asked Orphen about something that bothered him. "Master, what did Master Hartia mean by magic drain?"

"White magic is very draining in general. If a sorcerer heals something that was…. well, too seriously injured, the connection to the healing spell can actually pull the magic out of a sorcerer for a time if they're not very careful. It usually comes back in about 12 hours. The feeling is like someone takes your spell, grabs it, and drags you with it. If it's a really serious injury, it can leave the sorcerer physically exhausted too. Hartia's always healing one animal or another."

They fell silent while walking. Majic realized he missed the usual sounds, which accompanied their travels. Breaking the silence, Majic asked, "You've been teaching me illusion magic to conceal myself, can that also be used to change the appearance of inanimate objects?

"Of course."

"Does it leave any trace on the object?"

"Yes, but revealing it is a very difficult spell to master. Do you want to learn it? You have the skill now."

"Yes, Master."

"We'll work on it tonight."

They walked in silence for a while more. Orphen was looking around from time to time like he kept expecting something. He sighed, `Damn it, I didn't think I'd miss her noise. I should be enjoying this. Why do I keep looking for her to come running up? She's the most irritating and annoying brat and I still can't believe she said that to me yesterday.'

As if he was reading his Master's thoughts, Majic spoke up again, "Why did Cleo say she didn't want to come with us?"

"She didn't say anything because I didn't ask."

"But you said you were going to talk to her just before dinner when you went up to the mansion yesterday."

"I changed my mind." Orphen cut off harshly.

"Master? Why?"

"Drop it, Majic."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

They arrived at the ruins shortly before lunch. The ruins were actually laid out in a cutout of the harder rock of a cliff. The remains of the landslide, which uncovered the ruins was just down the hill. Orphen examined the landslide rubble.

He picked up several pieces and examined them; they were blackened like it had been near an explosion. He continued searching and found more charred rocks. Then he found something, which was completely out of place, the remnants of a fuse like what is used with gunpowder.

Majic was exploring the ruins themselves. These were unlike any of the ruins they'd encountered previously on their travels. Any writing he could find was scratched out. Purposely scratched out which didn't make any sense. All the other Heavenly One ruins they'd found simply appeared abandoned. This one appeared to have been purposely obliterated and hidden.

He was moving towards the back of the ruins when something caught his eye.

"Master" he called as he was standing by what appeared to be a casket with a winged figure on it with red gems for eyes and a considerable amount of writing on it.

Orphen hurried over. He started trying to read the runes on the casket but he was only picking up a few words. What he could translate was alarming. "Majic, this casket was sealed by the heavenly ones to keep. …something, I can't read the rest. We need Stephanie."

Majic pulled out some paper and pencils, "Do you want me to take a rubbing of the writings, Master?"

"Good thinking Majic." Orphen continued examining the casket. "This was opened recently. I'd say within the last few weeks, at the most. I wonder what was hidden behind this seal."

"Whatever it was, it had claws. Look at this." Majic pointed to the inside of the casket, which had numerous scratch marks and some writing.

"Copy that writing down. I'm getting a very bad feeling about all of this. We need to get this translated and quickly. Let's get this to Stephanie."

"Master, shouldn't we wait? Mariabella's wedding is in 2 days now."

"Hmmm…. Yes, we'd better wait to leave until after the wedding, if only to make sure Cleo doesn't try to kill the groom."

"You don't mean that, Master"

"No, but… oh, never mind."

"What's wrong Master? You never explained what happened yesterday."

"Majic, I believe I told you I didn't want to talk about that."

"I know Master, but I've…" Majic cringed at the glare he received from his master but steeled himself to continue. "I've been worried about Cleo. She hasn't been herself since we returned home. I first just thought she was missing Leki, but I think it's something more. She was at the inn last night and left Hartia's room crying."

"Why didn't you tell me this earlier?" `Hartia what did you do to her to make her cry? I may be mad at her right now, but that doesn't give you the right to hurt her!'

"When I tried to bring up the topic, you didn't seem interested. I believe you told me to drop it."

"Since when ….no that's Cleo who never does as she's told. Don't take lessons from her Majic."

"Sometimes I think I should, when someone she cares about may be making a mistake she takes action. Even if she's wrong, she still tries."

"So am I making the mistake or Mariabella?"

"I think you know the answer to that better than I, Master. I just know that she was tearing herself up yesterday morning and that the headaches and buzzing that bothered her on the road here and when we arrived are still bothering her."

"Really?" Orphen's eyebrows came together in worry and he sighed, "Let's get back and I'll try to talk to her."

"Thank you master."