Orion stopped at the entrance.

"Hey, I'm back."

With the handle still in his hand, he wasn't really understanding why they were waiting there instead of the living room.

"What's happening? Can't we go in?"

Drania pushed him a little to get through, and found herself face to face with the girls.

"Ah!"

She stood there without saying another word.

"How is your body Amelia?"

Not expecting to be asked the moment she saw him, she got a little flustered.

"Y-Yes, thanks to you, I'm fine."

He let go of the door handle, and patted Amelia and Karteira both on their head.

With a warm smile on his face, he said.

"I'm glad you are fine."

"And thank you Karteira, for staying with her."

Passing between both of them, he continued down the corridor, to the men's changing room.

"..."

"Did he just...?"

They both stared at each other, unable to understand why they froze in the first place.

"I kind of want that smile too."

"Drania?! What are you saying?!"

If shock was the word to express how Dramia was feeling, then it would be accurate, yet not.

"What? I also want to be loved you know? Look at these two."

She pointed out at Amelia and Karteira, who had their whole mood changed. They tried to confront Orion at the door, but it backfired in their face before they knew it.

"Anyway, ignore them. And forget about that 'love' thing."

"Eeeeh?"

Dramia entered, grabbed her sister by the arm, and walked past the two infatuated girls, finally entering the living room.

"I know you want that too. We're twins after a-"

"Not a single word. Say more and I'll grind that empty head of yours."

"What do you mean by empty! It's good as it is."

The sound of their banter woke up Amelia and Karteira from their daydream.

"He got us."

"Yes, and it wasn't voluntarily, that's the worst."

"What happened to us?"

Amelia closed the door, and they both entered the living room, mentally defeated.

When they entered, both Drania and Dramia were slumped on one of the couches, in silence.

"Are you alright?"

"I really don't know at this point, maybe?"

When Amelia asked, Drania answered without any trace of her usual playfulness.

"What happened?"

Karteira sat right next to them, wanting to know why they were in this state.

"We've asked Orion what he thought about our speed, and if we could improve it, and before we knew it, he began literally kicking our behind."

"I don't want to ever ask for his opinion, but he spoke some interesting things, so I'll forget about what happened today."

The sisters looked at each other with ideas on how to improve themselves. They began to pump themselves full of motivation now that Orion was nowhere near.

~

While they were all waiting until dinner time, Orion was in the shower.

'What a day. Karteira has been acting weirder by the day, Amelia is a powerhouse of elemental abilities, and the sisters are on the starting line to become stronger.'

'...'

He stopped thinking while he enjoyed the droplets of water falling on his face.

'Tomorrow, I have to return to Ormrdivin. After that, I have the audience with the queen of the lamias.'

'And after all of that, there is that coward Apostle to erase from our continent.'

'Once everything is done... we have to go back to Auro, isn't it? I will have Amelia's wrath on me if I refuse to return.'

'...'

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

He wiped the water of his face and looked at his reflection on the glass.

"Almost 23. I'm close to the end. If I live longer or die early, it will all depends on how I d-"

But he shook his head.

"No, this is not right. It will depends on how well we do. I should rely a little more on them from now one."

"But changing my habits all of the sudden is not going to work, so I'll do that over time."

The running water was stopped, and Orion stepped out of the shower. He took his towel, and hid his body, minimizing another incident like the one that happened recently.

No one was there this time. He quickly dried his body, and walked to his clothes.

'The bracelet. I haven't looked at it in a while now.'

Taking the memento his parents gave him, he looked at the engraving with his name. On the corner, there was this little rectangle that had a different color than the greyish metal.

On it, '15%' was displayed.

'It's getting low, I should recharge it, even though I don't know if doing that helps them at all.'

Orion grasp the bracelet, and formed two ball sized elemental orbs that gravitated around each other.

'Diffusion.'

The two spheres began to rotate faster, and disintegrate into smaller particles that fell all around him.

'Absorption.'

Every single particles were absorbed inside the bracelet.

*Bip*

An almost inaudible noise was heard from it. Orion released his grasp and looked at the new number.

'79%. Good. I won't have to worry about its energy behind depleted for a while.'

The bracelet returned around the wrist of its rightful owner.

'I hope they are doing well inside... I want to see them.'

He put his clothes back on, before exiting the changing room.

~

"Orianne, after seeing their fight, what do you think?"

Reon and Orianne were enjoying their time together, while watching the life of their son through the screen.

Orianne was currently in Reon's arm, enjoying some hugging time.

Only now Reon thought of asking his wife about her opinion on the fight.

"Hmm. On what?"

"I know they are not to our level, or to Elliot yet. I want to know what you think on a scale of 0 to 10 how far they are."

With a finger on her chin, Orianne moved her head so that her gaze crossed Reon's.

"I need to develop a bit more than just saying a number, is that alright?"

He nodded.

"Then, I'll answer that question. Compared to us, I'd say they are a 5 out of 10. Compared to Elliot, it's going to be less than that."

"Orion's abilities are mostly locked by the Shackles, right? If he had been living with us at that time, he would have either inherited my fire element, your lightning element, or both naturally with time."

"His abilities would have been focused on our own experiences rather than surrounding a locking system."

"Which means that, with time, I do think he would have been way stronger than Elliot... if only time wasn't against us in the past."

They both managed to accept that they were witnesses to a future they would normally never see happen.

"Now, you place Amelia in the equation. She's the bearer of the Key, 'The Marked' individual. She by herself, judge to limit or not the 'Bearer of the Shackles', Orion in this case."

"Let's think about two possible situation."

She brought two fingers from each hands, beginning with her right one.

"There's a world were Amelia either hates, despises, or simply ignores Orion. This world would be doom from arrival. There will be no progress whatsoever, and his life would have been one of struggle until he tragically died somewhere."

Orianne bit her lips just imagining such a possibility.

"The second one is the one we are actually seeing. A time where Amelia is clearly in love with Orion, where she would throw herself and the world in fire just for him."

"This is where 'The Marked' is the most important. By giving him trials, and opening her heart, she brings more and more power to him. Why is that do you think? Why do you think he will grow stronger than being taught by us?"

Closing her eyes, she once again looked at Reon from below.

"Because their bond is too strong. She was the one there for him, and he was the one there for her. They grew together, fell in love together, and helped each other. Does that ring a bell?"

Reon nodded.

"Of course. Just like us. The only difference is that we were weaker."

"That's where you are wrong, my dear Reon."

She made a disapproval motion with her finger, while saying clicking her tongue three times.

"Oh? How so?"

"They were also weak. In fact, they still are. But it is the challenges they face together that will define if they are growing steadily, or not enough. Each experiences will have consequences on them, like it did for us."

"But compared to us, they are pressed by the revival of Elliot?"

"Exactly."

Orianne was proud, this is what Orion took from her. The simplicity in explaining what was on her mind.

"It is good to know that we both feel the same way about this. What I had forgotten was that they were weak too in the beginning. It simply feels surreal to see my son grow so fast."

"I feel you on that point."

They both hugged while watching their son imbue more magic to the bracelet.

"There was no way he would forget about us. My son is the best. We can continue spying on his life now."

Giggling with apparent joy, she rubbed her hands together.

"Stop acting like that. What is he going to say next time he'll see us if you act like this."

"That I am his mother? The one and only? That loves him way too much?"

"Alright, alright, I get it. Sorry to have pushed your buttons. You can calm down now."

A wave of sadness suddenly invaded the bracelet. Both Reon and Orianne looked behind them, and back at Orion.

"As always, that one emotion is always transmitted in here. It only happens when he thinks about us."

"And it stirs everything around."

Reon analyzed the whole area, noticing no actual changes.

"Orion..."

"No apologizing anymore. You've done enough of that. The time has changed, if you smile and cheer for him, then he could be receiving it like we feel his worries."

"You're right."

Orianne touched the silhouette of her son on the screen.

"One day, I'll be seeing you again. Until then, give your best."

"That's much better than tears."

~

*Bip*

When Orion opened the door to the living room, he heard the same noise coming from the bracelet.

Wondering why it suddenly made a noise, and ignoring the gazes of the four women in the room, he lifted his left arm, and smiled warmly.

On the bracelet's tiny screen, where the percentage was supposed to be, an unusual symbol had appeared.

'(◕‿◕)♡'

'I know of only one person that could show so much love in such little form.'

'Thank you, mom.'

"Orion? Why are you smiling like that?"

The night had just only fell on Horizon. Orion had already made his changes during his shower. Time was about to calibrate with Triazils.

"Nothing, she thought of my parents for a second. Anyway, how are you feeling right know?"

He scanned the room, looking at each one of them.

"Well, yes? I'm fine."

Amelia scratched her cheek in embarrassment.

"I have rarely felt other than fine."

The ever training Karteira was always fine.

"We're fine too, though a little exhausted."

Dramia spoke for Drania, because she wanted to avoid hearing a loud voice burst her eardrums.

"Good. Because we're going to Ormrdivin tomorrow."

They all knew it was coming, so they all readied themselves.

"But first, dinner. Amelia, what do you have for us tonight?"

"Ah, yes, I'm going to prepare it right now."

She stood up and found Dramia already ready to accompany her to the kitchen.

With a nod they both left the living room, and prepared dinner together. Amelia was having way more fun cooking now that she had a another friend to share what she loved.

Once it was done, the five of them enjoyed dinner, and then went to sleep with a full belly.

The next day.

"Alright, I'm leaving for the Dragon's Den. I'll open a portal for you once I've arrived."

He silently and furtively looked around.

'I guess Florian was too terrorized of the dragons to give it a chance. That is too bad.'

"Be careful Orion. I know there isn't much distance between Lahro and the Talviera Mountain Range, but still."

"Don't worry, I'll be careful."

Orion opened a portal and was about to enter it.

When another person emerged from a portal next to it.

"Am I too late?"

A worried Florian appeared in Horizon.