"Doran," He replied, his eyes widening, the mouth he'd refused to open for hours had been pried open by the woman in front of him, without his consent, his mouth moved by itself before he could even realize.
Iris's eyes widened in astonishment before clenching her fist even more, her knuckles turning white.
'As expected,' she thought.
"What is your goal here?" Aurora asked again.
"Mapping," he replied.
'Again, she did it again, what sort of technique is this, this is beyond mind control, it's like it's bypassing my ability to refuse, she's asking my brain directly'
His fear of the woman increased.
"Mapping what, why, for whom?"
He struggled and tried to stop whatever was happening, but it was futile.
"I was sent to map the forest, I don't know why or for whom," he replied through gritted teeth.
"How did you do it?" she asked again.
"I was given two devices, one to enter the forest and the other, I believe, to map out the forest. All I had to do was move around it undetected."
"And who gave you these instructions?"
This was it, what he'd been waiting for; now all he had to do was answer, and the contract would do its work, he'd be free.
Aurora quickly sensed the shift in his demeanor. He was happy, her eyes contracted sharply, what could make him happy in such a situation, Iris could sense it too, subtly reading her stance in preparation.
"I am part of the mercenary organization …Re….." he stopped, his voice hanging mid-sentence before his whole body started convulsing, his mouth foaming, eyes wide in agony as blue veins cracked across his skin. Then—silence.
Iris quickly stepped forward, her body in front of Aurora, standing protectively. The guards outside immediately burst in when they saw something wrong, forming a barrier around Aurora.
Aurora's eyes narrowed as she watched the last remaining piece of life get snuffed out of the man.
"A mana contract, an incredibly nasty one at that."
'It's impossible to map out the forest, but their confidence must come from somewhere, we'll have to tread carefully, haa… what a pain, please come back quickly Erevan'
SIX MONTHS LATER
For the past six months, Orion's life had become a repetitive cycle, much to the astonishment of those around him as they wondered how a baby could manage such a well-structured life.
His body continued its 'Vacuum Absorption' as he liked to call it, whether asleep or awake, and he could tell something was coming soon, something probably very important in his magical journey, he had an hunch it would be something like an awakening or unfortunately something much worse but he would cross that bridge when he gets there.
If he wasn't asleep absorbing mana, he was in the library reading books he shouldn't be able to understand, probably curious about the strange lines at-least according to Lyrielle's perspective, the two had gotten very close, Orion needed a mode of transportation and Lyrielle was the closest available while she found her younger brother very intriguing and cute, a win win.
Feeding came in intervals between his various activities, much to his chagrin.
All in all, it was an interesting and fulfilling life for a baby, and he was determined to enjoy it while he could.
Right now, Lyrielle could be seen running around carrying baby Orion. He'd already started walking, but his legs were still unstable and unable to carry him long distances. Lyrielle stopped at a corner, catching her breath, looked back, and, after spotting no one, she released a sigh. She turned to her baby brother.
"We did it, Orion, we escaped, now we can visit the library in peace," She said excitedly.
"Lyrii great, Lyrii great," He babbled excitedly while clapping his hands, trying to encourage his favorite mode of transportation.
Lyrielle beamed when she heard his reply, showing her pearly white teeth.
They quickly made their way to the library. Once they got to the door, they quickly checked around and spotted no one. Lyrielle immediately pushed, trying to open the door, but it didn't budge. She turned to see what was wrong. Orion noticed she was struggling and turned to see what was wrong; instead of a door, they were met with a solid, unmoving wall.
A confused, amusing look appeared on both their faces. They were sure there was definitely supposed to be a door right at this spot, specifically the door to their sacred haven, but no matter how much Lyrielle pushed, the wall remained unmoving.
Did they get lost? No, that was impossible, even one-year-old Orion knew the layout of this part of the mansion like the back of his hand, not to mention Lyrielle. Suddenly, they heard a snicker behind them. They turned around to find their pursuer with a smirk on her face.
Isolde saw the look on their faces, smiled, and walked away without speaking a word. Lyrielle hit the wall again, the same thing, and she quickly chased after Isolde with Orion in her arms.
"Isolde, where is the library?" She asked with wide eyes.
"Isolde, the library is gone!" she exclaimed again, like the world was in danger. Orion was certainly intrigued by this development.
Isolde didn't even turn back and kept walking with a smile on her face; she really enjoyed this revenge.
Before long they arrived at a garden outside the mansion where they saw their mother Aurora talking with another maid, this one even more well dressed than Isolde, she stood with an aura of authority and respect like someone built to be perfect, she wore the maid uniform like a a noble lady in a gown with black hair and eyes framing a beautiful face enough to put earth's most beautiful Oirans to shame.
Isolde quickly bowed, "My lady."
She greeted them, the head maid simply nodded at Isolde while Aurora smiled, looking at the two standing beside Isolde, looking like thieves caught in the act.
Lyrielle seemed to have forgotten their earlier dilemma under Aurora's gaze. Orion simply tapped her as if telling her to snap out of it. She quickly remembered their world-ending situation and ran towards her mother.
"Mom! The library is gone, it's gone, it just disappeared."
Aurora just laughed and turned towards the head maid
"I believe that would be all, Cordelia, we'll continue later."
Cordelia simply smiled, looking at her young lady, then bowed and walked away.
Aurora then turned back towards her two children.
"I believe we had a deal, Lyrielle, no library for now, you'll be turning five in a month, and you'll have to undergo your awakening as well as begin your etiquette lesson's, you won't have as much time with Orion as you currently do anymore, you have to start getting used to it"
One of the reasons Orion was skeptical about his supposed awakening was this: children were to undergo their mana awakening at the age of five, when their Nexus would solidify and they would gain the rudimentary ability to start manipulating mana.
Exceptions where people awakened before five have been recorded across various generations but they were very rare and certainly not at the age of one, hence Orion was deeply concerned about his development, it could either be a potential record breaking achievement or just his heart preparing to explode, but his instincts told him, it was going to be the former.
"I know, Mom, but Orion really wanted to visit the library, and I couldn't refuse him. I don't think anyone can refuse such a cute face," she said while playing with her brother's soft cheeks.
"Don't put the blame on your brother, young lady. Orion's needs are not yours to handle. I believe Isolde is plenty capable, am I wrong, Isolde?"
"Of course not, my lady," She quickly replied while puffing out her chest.
"But but.." Lyrielle struggled to come up with a reply.
"Enough, promise me this will be the last time, as much as I love seeing you together with your brother, you both have different parts to play and responsibilities to handle; he's your younger brother, and nothing would ever change that, but you have to get used to being apart from him."
"And remember you are the elder sister, and as such should be the mature one, so promise me you'll be mature and responsible from now on, as your status requires, like your mother is."
Aurora could see the changes occurring on her daughter's face, from sadness to reluctance and then acceptance, and she accepted it with a smile 'As expected of my daughter' she thought.
After accepting her mother's words, she simply walked forward and handed her brother to her mother, albeit with a certain amount of reluctance.
Orion couldn't help but marvel at the masterful way with which his mother handled Lyrielle, all that boundless energy sealed up with a few words. It reminded him of his mother and sister back on earth, he'd be lying to himself if he said he didn't miss them a lot, but he was stuck here now and he had to move on, so he sucked it up and continued living his life, who knows, he might get to meet them some day.
'Wait a minute, I think we are all forgetting about my sacred haven that went whoosh.' Orion's eyes suddenly widened; he was certain the disappearance of his haven had something to do with his mother.