"Please, sit wherever you want."

Having left the children with another adult in the village, Alyssia led Orion to her house.

"I will, thank you."

Orion respectfully nodded and sat at the table before she sat straight in front of him.

They looked at each other awkwardly for a few seconds until Alyssia opened her mouth.

"What I wanted to discuss-"

But before she could finish her sentence, Orion brought the bracelet out of his pocket and placed it on the table.

"I know this isn't the reason, but I have a strong feeling that this is an item you've been intrigued about."

"Am I correct?"

Orion removed his hand from the bracelet midway across the table, which let Alyssia touch the device that stored the entire survivors of the angel and demon factions within it.

"..."

Her eyes fell on the bracelet, and, instinctively, she slid her fingers on the table toward it.

The slender fingers touched the bracelet before they wrapped themselves around it.

She pulled it toward her and stared at it intently.

"This is..."

There was a strange feeling welling inside her, but she had no idea how to explain it or even understand what it was.

It was an alien feeling that she had never felt before her encounter with Orion.

Then, as she pondered in silence, she finally looked at him.

"You look so much like Alaric... It is quite disturbing."

Dropping what was bothering her, Alyssia frowned. Surprised, Orion recoiled in his chair.

'Fuck...'

Tetra cursed involuntarily, knowing that Alyssia was as sharp as in her memories.

"What do you mean by that?"

"..."

The frown on her face became even more severe.

"That is the wrong question. Though, with just that, I got my answer."

'There we are... She wasn't the leader of this place for nothing.'

Knowing what was going to happen, Tetra grew silent, pitying Orion's fate in her mind.

Confused, Orion leaned forward.

"Why was it the wrong question?"

Her expression relaxed as she nodded.

"Any normal person would wonder who Alaric is. From the beginning, you've never asked 'who' I was and acted as if you knew us."

As her eyes returned to the bracelet, she continued.

"This led me to believe that you, in fact, know about us, which is strange since I definitely never met you."

"But the fact that you look so much like him..."

Her eyes looked a bit lost.

"This is the first time I felt such an eerie feeling."

Alyssia looked perplexed and even a bit afraid.

As silence was forced between them, Orion internally nodded.

'So, nothing happened when she touched the bracelet. I was hoping something would happen, but I suppose it's not that easy.'

Slightly disappointed, he smiled.

"You are correct. I know you and Alaric, though, not as much as you think I do."

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Orion was about to continue, but before that, he wanted to retrieve the bracelet. Leaving it in someone else's hands made him anxious.

He stretched his left hand forward and, with a smile, asked if he could have it returned.

"Before I continue, would you please give me the bracelet back?"

Alyssia looked at the bracelet one last time before noticing the slightly damaged engraved letters on the bracelet.

*ORION*

Even though the second O was slightly damaged and difficult to see as a cut appeared across it, she easily realized how important the item was to him.

'Maybe I can repair the chain...'

Within her kind-hearted mind, she couldn't see him as someone to be wary of. Wearing the same warm smile as she usually did, she handed the bracelet over to him.

"Here. I apologize if I made you uncomfortable by keeping it."

Orion nodded as she leaned forward.

"This is nothing. It's simply an important heirloom to me-"

But, just as his fingers grasped the bracelet, both of them, who were holding a side of it, felt dizzy.

"Ugh..."

Alyssia felt her vision spin before her head met the table.

'Orion! What is happening?!'

Feeling that Orion's consciousness was slipping away, Tetra tried to do something, but it was too late.

He blacked out and planted his head on the table, similarly to Alyssia.

'Damn it... I... let my guard... down!'

Cursing his situation, Orion and Alyssia fell unconscious, both holding a side of the bracelet.

...

"Wake up."

Those two words made Orion and Alyssia open their eyes abruptly.

They were standing up in darkness, which Orion recognized immediately.

In the distance, an aura as bright as the sun approached them.

"Where am I?"

Calmly, Alyssia glanced at her surroundings.

"This place..."

Unable to see anything beside the bright light, she turned to Orion.

"We're inside a sealed space inside the bracelet. Don't worry, you will come out eventually, and time doesn't flow the same in here."

With a nod, she trusted his words. Though, she felt a bit frustrated because of his intense expression.

His face was entirely focused on the light. There was expectation in his eyes, as if this was something he wanted to see once more, and that something had returned to grant his wish.

Then, the bright aura exploded, turning the darkness into a white expanse that stretched infinitely in every direction.

Their eyes fell on the back of a woman who wore an outfit worthy of the Priestess of Light.

What was different this time were the ten angelic wings majestically stretching behind her back and the three halos moving in a gyroscopic motion above her head.

"Is that... me?"

Alyssia noticed that it was herself, and with an utterly shocked face, she took a step forward.

The angelic Alyssia turned her face slightly and smiled.

At that moment, she turned into a pillar of light and disappeared.

"We're fighting against 'Fate' here. We will take every step possible to bend it to our will."

A beam of light traveled the entire space, aimed at Orion. But, another, darker beam appeared from behind him.

"Orion!"

Surprised, Alyssia hurriedly stepped in front of Orion, trying to sacrifice herself to save him.

"It's fine."

As his words entered her ears, the two beams swallowed them.

Alyssia was swallowed by the brightest, purest, and warmest light she had ever felt.

Nothing happened to her, but the same couldn't be said for Orion.

"..."

With his arms stretched to his sides, the two energies clash inside him.

The voice of a male echoed, followed by the other Alyssia.

"We will give you back what you've been missing."

"It is only borrowed power, as your elements... and your family stayed behind."

The implications of those words were acknowledged by Orion.

"My parents... they aren't in the bracelet anymore?"

But his question remained unanswered. Instead, a sense of incredible tranquility took over him.

*FWOOSH*

The two energies were absorbed inside him, and, thanks to his ancestors, he borrowed a part of their magic.

Orion opened and closed his hands repeatedly, feeling the surge of energy inside him.

"Let's try breaking the curse immediately."

He gently placed his hand on his chest.

"..."

Alyssia, who wasn't showing any signs of recovering from her shock, stayed motionless in front of him.

"I knew it wouldn't be that easy."

With a defeated but determined face, Orion shrugged.

The power he had received, albeit powerful, wasn't on par with his previous ability.

To break free from the curse, he needed a stronger light element. Miasma's curse was even more powerful than the one he had inflicted on him before his birth.

Still...

*FLASH*

Orion recovered his racial traits. His angel wings spread behind him, and his hair turned a white color like his father.

Then, he tried to bring out the Abyssal Sovereign form. Instead, his normal demonic trait appeared. Horns, a tail, scales, reptile irises, and two draconic wings formed on him.

"I'm whole again."

Peace returned to Orion as he touched the horns on top of his head.

Feeling the wings move to his will, he nodded, satisfied.

At that point, Alyssia turned around.

"You're..."

He looked at her, returning to his human form after acknowledging the changes.

"Orion... is our descendant."

Her eyes were lost, slowly drifting toward the ground.

"And... oh."

While she was inside the beam of light, the memories of her future self merged with her. She was confused and needed time to process the entire thing.

"Give me a moment."

"..."

Orion looked into the air, feeling his consciousness being pulled away from the device.

...

Both he and Alyssia woke up from their unconscious states.

They both groaned as they straightened.

"My back is killing me."

Alyssia rubbed her painful back, while Orion silently brought the bracelet to his pocket.

'Damn it! You've scared me. How are you doing?'

Tetra immediately spoke to him, genuinely terrified that something had happened to him.

'How long were we unconscious?'

'Around five minutes. So, how are you doing?'

She wasn't going to let it go unless he actually answered her.

'I'm doing fine. Don't worry. In fact, I feel good.'

*Fush*

Two flames suddenly formed in his core, surprising Tetra.

'Those are...!'

The borrowed elements of both Alyssia and Alaric, who stayed deeply anchored in their descendant's soul.

'It's not as grand as what we're used to, but it's still good news.'

With many years in front of him, Orion had the time to find a way to break the curse during that time.

The two elements weren't acting like the void element inside Orion, which could move freely. They were remnants of their former selves, with no remaining will.

They were only there to act as replacements for Orion's lost elements, who stayed in the present.

'That definitely is good! But what happened?'

As she asked this of Orion, who was about to answer her, Alyssia sighed.

Turning their attention to her, Orion and Tetra remained silent.

The air in the room grew heavier as a cloud of hot air escaped her mouth.

"I'm... not usually one to get angry."

Orion shuddered for a split instant, seeing the fury in her eyes.

"But... what was all of that?"

She slammed her fists on the table.

"Infighting for artifacts left by Noah?! Breaking families to pick a side?!"

"Untolerable!"

For a moment, Orion noticed the three halos above her manifest before blinking out of existence.

"We worked so hard to make this place a haven for the orphans, and they destroyed our efforts!"

"Did they never think about the consequences of such ridiculous actions?!"

She was letting everything out, as if the Alyssia talking was the one who had lost everything.

"Orion."

Her eyes settled on him.

"What is it?"

His reaction was purely neutral. He wasn't scared of her in the slightest, knowing that she was simply enraged about knowing her fate.

"I'm sorry, but I'm not letting that happen."

'Fuck...'

Tetra was cursing a lot recently, and this was only the beginning.

'Enri will chew my ear off once she's made aware of all these changes.'

'Let's hope the future won't be affected that much by this development.'

As Orion nodded and gave his approval, Tetra sighed.

This was something Orion wanted, and it happened without him doing anything.

The path toward peace was a treacherous one. One wrong move, and everything they had worked for would disappear.

"I'll tell you what I've seen. In exchange, I want to know when the major fights between our people happened."

She stood up, walked to a drawer, and brought out a notebook and a pen.

"Tell me everything you know. I'll rewrite history just to spite this world in a way that will make it notice nothing."

Orion smiled arrogantly.

The words he whispered to Henrietta previously escaped his mouth once.

"Make the world think everything runs smoothly while altering the events."

"Rewrite destiny and keep the same ending."

"I'll deceive the world if I have to."

His words echoed inside the room, to which Alyssia reacted with the same smile.

"Let's begin."

As she sat back, Alyssia began to tell the story she saw from her future self.

In Orion's core, Tetra fell even more for him, even though she feared the consequences of his choices.

'Let's hope everything will fall into place, like Enri said...'