Chapter 44: Bad note.
(A/N Big thanks to everyone for the Power stones and Golden tickets, they mean a lot. As usual, please don’t hesitate to comment or drop a review. ENJOY)
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Dennis visibly flinched. He knew how ruthless and brutal the Chronos could be; for some reason, he didn’t think the lady was bluffing.
He didn’t notice before, but now that he checked, he realised he couldn’t read how strong she was and that in itself was terrifying.
"My apologies," he said immediately, bowing his head. Pushing his frustrations inwards, he couldn’t gamble, not now.
"Apologies? Why would you apologise, when they’re clearly in the wrong!!" Grandpa Jude said, his voice aggrieved.
The murmur around them grew, the discontent among the Ivory growing.
"Silence!!!" Dennis’ voice boomed, putting an end to their complaints.
"My father, brother and his fiancée just lost their lives; we should honour them with a proper burial, like the young lord said, grief doesn’t grant us amnesty from the rules. We can’t afford to commit treason," He explained in a solemn tone.
"Especially not now," He finished, his voice quieter.
The matter died, and the family soon broke apart, their responsibilities and familial weights driving them away.
Dennis looked at Elara one more time before leaving, his duties calling him.
Grandpa Jude looked at Orion and Elara askance before walking off with a snort.
That ticked Orion, that ticked him so bad, as petty as it sounded, he wanted that old man to regret ever speaking up.
His pride had started acting up, intrusive thoughts coming in.
’Tch’
But he was the one in control, not the emotion. All it took was one order from him to Elara, but he held himself back. He wasn’t their enemy.
He turned back, where he saw Alice staring at him, a complicated expression on her face.
His own expression soon mirrored hers. He could tell she didn’t trust him, and she was right not to. It was obvious his father was involved, one way or the other.
Orion still didn’t understand. If all this was a repercussion of their betrayal and the point was to point their demise towards the terrorist, why appear here at all?
There could have been so many other ways to do this, apart from appearing at the wedding; he could have simply transferred him to the pound himself without all this drama.
But of course, he was starting to properly understand his father, the man loved elaborate and weird plans, and he was sure there was something else he wasn’t clued into.
That aside, the issue remained; the Ivory might never understand what happened here or the mercies they were shown, much less Alice.
The prideful part of him whispered, Leave her, she has been giving mercy, yet she acts like you have wronged her. But he knew better than to act that way; he could sympathise with how she was currently feeling.
He walked forward, his legs carrying him towards her slowly.
"Alice," He whispered.
She flinched back, wariness in her eyes. She wanted to trust him, but she couldn’t. She was scared; she could tell her brother was wary of Elara. Everything about the woman screamed dislike towards anything that wasn’t Orion, and her earlier words painted the whole picture about her.
She turned towards him, courage bubbling up in her. No, this wasn’t courage; she was angry, and tired and frustrated and sad, her emotions were all over the place, and it all culminated in one question.
"Is it true?" She asked, tears in her eyes, a frown marring her face.
Orion’s steps stopped, hesitating; she was volatile now, and whatever reply he gave was sure to be significant.
"Answer, Orion," she growled out, her face an artwork of tears and snort.
The best way to end it would have been to lie and refuse, but he didn’t want to lie, especially not to her; whether his father liked it or not, the truth would eventually come out.
He couldn’t tell the truth either, not now, so he stayed silent.
That was enough for Alice; his silence was answer enough.
She took deep breaths, trying to calm her emotions, but all she succeeded at was bottling it up.
"They will pay, all those who took my father away from me, they will all pay," She said, her voice taking a chilling tone, unbefitting of her stature.
"Whether it be terrorist or not, they’ll pay, not even the Chr-"
She couldn’t finish before Elara interrupted.
"If you have problems with the Chronos, I’d be happy to end it here. As pathetic and stupid as whatever you are planning might be, it’s sure to be a bother in the future; ending it here seems optimal." Elara said in that same stoic voice.
Alice frowned, taking a step back, monologues or not, that woman would probably end her without batting an eye.
Orion could feel the spatial fluctuations around Alice. Elara was likely prepared to end her on the spot, but he was about to call her out when his spatial senses picked something up.
They all looked up, where a huge black dot was coming from.
It only took a few seconds before it arrived at the sky of the estate.
Orion was speechless. It was beautiful, huge and imposing, a Nexcraft.
This one made the one they’d seen with Barnes seem like rusted metal.
This was a beauty, the size was probably enough to house 500 people and more, it was sleek black with a design that screamed luxury, the sound coming off it was subtle enough to deceive whether it was active or not.
It was a proper spaceship brought to life.
"It seems our ride has arrived", Elara said, ignoring Alice. She knew Orion would never want her to harm Alice.
"That is ours?" Orion asked.
"Yes, these animals could never afford it", Elara stated as though speaking a fact.
Orion ignored her insults, his mind on something else.
’Oh dear father, you have a lot to explain,’ He thought, mildly annoyed.
"Shall we leave?" Elara asked.
Orion turned back towards Alice; her face had become plain and stoic; she simply stared at them, but he could feel it, the malice rolling off in waves.
The thought of leaving this place in such a way and condition made him feel guilty, but he had to move on.
It was anti-climactic, but it was reality.
"Yes, let’s go," Orion replied.
The large hatch of the Nexcraft soon opened, a silver head standing at the edge.
Elara picked them up, floating towards it. Orion watched Alice, a guilty expression appearing on his face as he left.
Alice watched him go until he vanished into the depths of the Nexcraft. Her fist was clenched, frustration boiling in her.
Her rational mind could tell there was something deeper behind Orion’s silence, but her grief and anger far outweighed such rationality.
’They’ll pay, they’ll all pay,’ She thought, over and over again with tears falling from her eyes.
At the opening of the Nexcraft, Orion was greeted with a new face.
Large, imposing, built, bulked. Orion struggled to come up with a description for him.
He had the same silver hair and eyes, the Chronos were known for; he was draped in a pure white leotard-like material that covered every inch of his body.
If his goal was to accentuate his imposing muscles, he had succeeded spectacularly.
Orion was left speechless; all members of his family he’d encountered so far had always given off elegant and majestic vibes, but this man was straight up fierce.
His face held a stern and analytical expression as though judging their sins.
"I was instructed to pick and deliver the heir to the Chronos family on my way back home, " the man finally spoke, his voice surprisingly calm and astute.
"That would be me", Orion replied, holding the man’s gaze.
"Very well, welcome aboard, young lord, we’ll be arriving in an hour," the man said with a small bow that seemed almost comical, considering his size.
’He bowed, thought he’d be some arrogant old man,’ Orion thought, intrigued.
They soon found themselves walking inside the craft, the hatch closing behind them.
The man fell into step beside Orion, his imposing size painting a huge contrast between the two.
Orion looked around the interior, and as opposed to what he expected, the interior was surprisingly simple.
It gave off a subtle military aura, like those planes, soldiers board when heading off to war and that piqued his curiosity. Where they at war? If so, where were the soldiers?
"May I know where you were coming from?" Orion asked, trying his best to sound polite; he didn’t know the man well after all.
"No, you may not, young lord, it is classified information." He replied, his tone unchanged.
"May I at least know your name?" Orion asked.
"Zion," He replied simply.
"Nice to meet you, Zion", Orion said with a smile.
"Likewise, young lord," He replied.
Orion was happy to meet more members of his family. His time outside had made him realise he’d been too sheltered.
He might have ended this phase of his journey on a bad note, but he was looking forward to the next.