Chapter 478: The Shape of What Remains

Orion stared at Sophia for a while, then he cleared his throat.

"I’ll be right back," he said quietly. "We’ll talk."

Sophia nodded.

He turned immediately and unlocked the front door of Eldric’s house.

Cold air rushed in.

So did voices.

Daniel and Caspian, who had been standing at a distance, rushed toward Orion.

"Orion—"

"Is he—"

Orion stepped forward and shifted Eldric carefully.

Daniel took most of the weight with his shoulder and arm.

His hand wrapped around Eldric’s forearm, clumsy but firm.

Caspian hovered close, clearly ready to help, but he hesitated the moment he bent.

His back betrayed him instantly.

He hissed under his breath.

"Careful," Orion said without looking at him. "Don’t—don’t lift from that side."

Caspian shot him an irritated look but straightened slowly.

Daniel adjusted his grip instead.

Eldric’s head lolled against Daniel’s shoulder, faint snores coming out.

"He’s sleeping?" Caspian and Daniel asked at once.

Orion nodded.

"Is there anything more?" Daniel asked Orion worriedly.

"I’m not sure, and that’s why I need you guys to take him to the medical facility, just to be sure there’s nothing wrong," Orion told them. "Have healers look after him to be sure he’s okay."

"Alright... did you get answers from that strange person? This one smells more like Eldric though," Caspian said.

Orion nodded. "That’s because it’s Eldric. But yes, we got answers, but we’ll have to wait for a while before I can share them with you guys."

"I’m not sure I like your tone," Caspian grumbled. "It’s like we’ll be locked in the council hall for days trying to get answers."

Orion chuckled. "Let’s hope that doesn’t happen, though."

Then, after a brief pause, "Also, send a few guards down here."

He glanced over his shoulder toward the dark interior of the house.

"And Mary," he added.

Daniel blinked.

"Mary?"

"We’re going to clean this place," Orion said flatly.

"The parchments?" Caspian asked him.

Orion nodded.

Daniel adjusted Eldric again, careful not to lose his balance.

Caspian moved in close to steady him.

"We’ll be right back," Daniel told him.

Together, awkwardly and slowly, they began to walk away.

Orion watched them until they disappeared into the distance. Then he walked back into Eldric’s home.

Sophia was still on the chair where he had left her, and he was grateful her stubborn self did not move.

Her hands rested in her lap.

One thumb rubbed lightly over the other.

Orion crossed the room and stopped in front of her.

"Tell me," he said. "What did you see?"

She lifted her eyes.

For a second, she only looked at him.

Then she nodded.

"I was... in my bedroom again," she said.

The words came slowly.

As if she was choosing each one carefully.

"The one I saw the last time."

Orion crouched in front of her.

He lowered himself until they were eye level.

She kept her gaze on the wall behind him.

"Like before," she continued quietly. "My mother came into the room."

His chest tightened.

He didn’t interrupt.

"I was sick again," Sophia said. "I could feel it. The heaviness. I couldn’t sit up properly. I couldn’t... move the way I wanted to."

She swallowed.

"I still can’t remember her face."

Orion’s jaw flexed.

"I can’t see it clearly. It’s always... blurred."

She pressed her lips together.

"But she talked to me."

Her fingers tightened in her lap.

"She talked about a task."

Orion leaned forward slightly.

"A task she gave you?"

Sophia nodded.

"She said I failed to do it."

The room felt smaller.

"She said I was supposed to do something," Sophia murmured. "Something important."

She frowned faintly.

"And I can’t remember what it is."

Her voice dipped.

"It’s like it’s... right there. Just at the edge of my head."

She lifted one hand and tapped her temple lightly.

"But it won’t come out."

Orion watched her closely.

"And... there was something else."

She hesitated.

"A green substance. It was in a vial too, and she gave it to me. I remember the feeling that I had taken it before. I don’t know what it is, but the feeling that I hate it stuck."

Her shoulders rose with a shallow breath.

"And I think... I think it’s tied to the task."

She opened her eyes.

"Whatever she wanted me to do... I think the green thing was meant to help me do it."

Orion stayed quiet.

She looked at him now.

"I’ll need to speak with Lysander," Sophia said softly.

Then, after a pause, "Or Madam Tyler."

He nodded.

"Yes. Maybe they can help identify what your mother gave you to drink," he told her, and she nodded.

"Sophia," Orion called out.

She hummed faintly in response.

"According to what Oculum told us..."

Her eyes lifted.

His voice lowered.

"You’re the Luna. And given what I know about the visions and those dreams you’ve had... I hate to say this, but I believe him," Orion told her.

"But how do you feel about it?"

Sophia stared at him.

For a second, there was nothing on her face.

Then she sighed.

A corner of her mouth lifted.

"Well," she said lightly. "Being the Luna just means I’m special."

Orion’s fingers reached out before he could stop himself. He pinched her nose gently.

"Don’t do that."

She blinked.

"Do what?"

"Put on that fake bravado," he said quietly. "Not with me. It wouldn’t work, as you didn’t answer my question too. How do you feel?"

She stared at him.

Then she laughed under her breath.

"Fine," she whispered.

Her shoulders slumped.

Just a little.

"I don’t know what I feel."

"At first," Sophia continued, "I just called the visions dreams."

She looked down at her hands.

"Even when they were strange. Even when they scared me. Even when I woke up shaking."

Her voice softened.

"They were just... dreams."

She inhaled.

"But now... there’s a name for it."

She lifted her eyes again.

"There’s a reason why I have these... visions, and honestly, labels make things heavier," she told him. "Now everything has a reason for happening, and I don’t know why, but there’s this intense pressure now that I can’t fuck this up."

Orion took her hands into his and held them softly. Her hands fit his perfectly.

"Shorty," he called to her. "You know your fears are valid, but you are forgetting that you are not walking this path alone. You have me, you have your friends who would do anything to help you, you have the members of this pack who see you as their leader."

"Use me, shorty. It doesn’t matter if that Oculum said we are similar to the goddess and her trashy lover," Orion said.

Sophia shot him a warning look even as her lips twitched.

Orion chuckled.

He tightened his hold on her hand.

"I swear," Orion said quietly. "I swear... right now... I would do anything to support you."

Sophia stared at him. Her eyes were soft as she gazed into his beautiful orbs. Her lips lifted in a half smile, and then she leaned forward. Her forehead touched his, lightly.

"Did you really think," she whispered, "that you wouldn’t?"

He froze.

She smiled against his skin. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

"We’re in this together," Sophia said softly.

She tilted her head just enough to look at him.

"And if you ever try to walk Dolion’s path..."

His jaw tightened.

"...or even think about not supporting me..."

Her voice lowered as she spoke.

"I’ll bury you alive. And don’t think for once that the grave would be as beautiful as the goddess’s own," she told him.

There was a beat of silence as Orion stared at her.

Then he threw his head back and laughed.

Mary, along with the guards who had come to help, walked in on Orion laughing loudly.