Chapter 602: The First Truth

Life was funny and also strange.

Sometimes it made you feel everything at once—anger, hurt, joy, sadness—and at other times, its experiences made one numb.

Orion stared at the ceiling. He knew, even without turning, that Sophia was right next to him and that he was in the medical facility. He could only imagine what must have gone through her head when he had collapsed.

He sat up slowly as he stared at her. A part of him would have preferred if he didn’t remember what he now did.

He didn’t know how to feel, and honestly, he was thankful that she was asleep now because he wasn’t quite sure how to face her, and given who Sophia was, she would know from just one look at him that something was wrong.

Orion stood up from the bed quietly, careful not to wake Sophia, who was sitting on a chair, her head resting on the bed. He looked out the window and noticed it was almost nighttime.

He had been unconscious for hours... it didn’t feel like it had been hours though. What he saw had flashed before his eyes very quickly.

He picked Sophia up softly, and she sighed into his hold. It brought a smile to his face.

He placed her on the bed and made sure she was comfortable, then he left the room.

A healer saw him as he stepped out, but he brought a finger to his lips, telling her to be quiet.

Orion made his way to one of his favorite spots. He needed the peace and quiet. He climbed up the tree and sat against the bark. It had been a while since he was here. The last time had been during the festival when Sophia tracked him down and forced him to join the festivities.

Orion sighed and looked at the sky.

*Orion,* Noctis said softly.

"You saw it too, didn’t you?" Orion asked him.

*I’m an extension of you... yes, I did.*

"Her mother is Victoria. I don’t know how I even forgot about it... fuck."

*Perhaps it was because it was tied to something that brought a lot of sadness to your pack. Perhaps you forgot because you did not think it was appropriate to be happy about something that was shrouded in a lot of sadness and even the destruction of your pack,* Noctis told him.

Orion sighed and shook his head.

"Why couldn’t it be someone else?" he asked. "Why did it have to be..." He exhaled. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

"Sophia wasn’t wrong in feeling like she knew who Victoria was," Orion told him.

Noctis was quiet for a while.

*Does this change your feelings for her?* he asked softly.

Orion didn’t answer. He just stared blankly at the sky as the clouds moved.

The silence lingered for a while before he spoke up.

"The heart wants what it wants," he said. "And I liked her when we were younger, and I like her even more now... knowing who Sophia is doesn’t change my feelings for her."

*The issue isn’t you then. That’s what you’re scared of. You don’t care who her mother is, you don’t care who her family is or where she comes from. The issue is...*

"The pack when they find out, and also Sophia herself when she recovers her memory," Orion said quietly.

*I’m curious about something though. If she’s Victoria’s daughter, don’t you think Victoria would have searched for her? There should have been something, but we didn’t find any information about Victoria searching for a daughter.*

Orion frowned. "I can ask Kairen about that. Given the fact that Sophia has the gift of visions, I don’t think Victoria would have just let her be."

*The plant... she was using it to get Sophia to see more. But why? It’s not like Sophia needs a booster to see her visions.*

"Do you recognize the plant? I know you said perhaps if I got the real name..."

I can’t say for certain, but the plant bears a similarity to another plant I know, morvithra noctivagus. It’s the only plant I know of that grows on dead bodies, and it was banned because of how dangerous it was. And if it’s that plant, then I doubt Victoria was just giving it to Sophia to boost her visions. Most black magic practitioners use it, especially if they want to place a curse on someone.*

Orion frowned. "A curse?"

*Well... it’s more complicated than that. It’s not really a curse per se, but it’s a sign that you are marked. In Sophia’s case, perhaps Victoria fed it to her to not only boost her visions but also to mark her in preparation for a ritual. Sophia is to be sacrificed because Victoria wanted something from her.*

"A ritual..." Orion said with a frown. "Where the fuck and how the fuck did such a plant even come into existence?"

*The same way the beasts of Nirvana did. Nirvana was affected more by what Dolion did, but perhaps it spread to other parts and we were not aware. But then again, that plant isn’t supposed to be cultivated. No one is supposed to have knowledge of it. It was too powerful, so every source was destroyed, and anyone who cultivated it was punished.*

Orion nodded.

"You were alive when Dolion existed?" he asked Noctis.

*I was,* he told Orion.

Orion didn’t dwell on it. If Noctis was alive then, that meant Noctis had more secrets than Orion could even imagine, and now he was beginning to understand why Noctis had a gag. Perhaps he had seen too much, or perhaps he knew too much.

*Orion,* Noctis called out again.

"Yes."

*Before we decide what you are going to do with the information—not just about Sophia’s mother but the plant too—it should be known that when you met Sophia when she was younger, she already had her wolf.*

Orion blinked in shock. "Really? Wouldn’t that be too young?"

*On paper, yes. But you forget Sophia isn’t like the rest of you all. And if my hunch is correct, Sophia started seeing visions from a young age with the aid of her wolf. And if she can see visions now... her wolf is still very much with her. She just needs to reach out. Perhaps she would recover her memory.*