Elena cleared her throat before she spoke, her tone calm but absolute.
"Alright, Orion. You've got three options."
She raised a finger.
"First: a brain wipe. All memories of recent events involving demons, exorcists, and the Order are erased. It's risky - permanent memory damage, mental collapse, or coma aren't uncommon, but you'd get to go back to living as you were. Ignorance is bliss."
"Yeah, no thanks," Orion said instantly, waving a hand. "I'm fond of having a brain."
The flippant tone didn't hide the steel in his voice.
Unfazed, Elena lifted a second finger. "Second: living as a monitored marked individual. You'd be free, technically, but with limits. A control seal or explosive chip in your skull. If you ever try to use Spirit Energy without authorisation or even think about revealing the existence of the supernatural..." she snapped her fingers lightly "Boom. Headless citizen. You'd essentially be on a leash and maybe called in for grunt work or favours if needed."
Orion's lips twitched. "Love the freedom of choice. Really inspiring."
Elena ignored the sarcasm. "Third: you join the Order properly. Training, pay, and full membership. You'd prepare and eventually be examined. If you pass, you'd become a full-fledged exorcist. It's a commitment for life, but it's a path with structure and safety."
He leaned back, arms crossed, eyes flicking between her and the other two. "So, my options are: lose my mind, lose my head, or lose my freedom."
That earned a small, almost guilty smile from Bastion. Kalen's expression stayed stone-cold. Elena tilted her head - she'd expected fear, maybe hesitation, but not sarcasm.
Orion casually walked around the metallic cube they were enclosed in. "Let me guess… if I have potential, you'll ship me off to some academy full of uptight prodigies and military rules. I'll learn the ropes and become an exorcist who doesn't have a life like you guys." He paused. "But if I don't have potential, I'll be fetching coffee and mopping up demon blood for the real exorcists."
The silence that followed was all the confirmation he needed.
He exhaled through his nose. "Right. Thought so."
Elena's brows furrowed slightly. "Then what exactly are you proposing?"
Orion's lips curved. "A fourth option."
Kalen's eyes twitched. "There isn't one."
"There is now," Orion replied easily, meeting Elena's gaze head-on. "I'll cooperate with the Order - but on more humane terms. No chip, no brain surgery, no leash. I want to remain a free individual, but I'd be willing to help in any capacity I could, for compensation, of course."
Bastion actually looked like he might laugh. "You're serious?"
"Dead serious."
"Why?" Elena asked. Her tone wasn't angry; it was probing. "You've seen demons. You've nearly died. Most people would either run to us for safety or try to forget this world exists. Why take a deal like that?"
Orion shrugged, eyes steady. "Because I don't know what I want yet. Maybe I have the potential to become an exorcist, maybe I won't. Maybe I'll hunt demons for cash, maybe I'll go back to being a lazy student. I just want time - time to figure out what I want to do with my life. But I'm not signing my life away to anyone."
Kalen scoffed. "You think you can freeload off the Order and bend the rules as you please? And what makes you think you're worth compromising for?"
"Is it your decision to make, pretty boy?" Orion asked simply.
That made Kalen's jaw tighten, and he turned to Elena. "That would go directly against protocol. He'd essentially be a rogue under protection with nothing binding him to us. For all we know, he could expose us or be working for the Warlock and their group."
She stayed quiet, watching the exchange carefully.
Bastion finally spoke up. "If that's what he wants, then I stand by him. He's my brother. And it's not like I can stop him, he's going to do what he wants anyway."
That drew a glare from Kalen and a faint chuckle from Elena.
"You two really are from the same family," she murmured. Then, after a long pause, she sighed and stood. "Alright. I'll accept your fourth option."
Kalen turned to her sharply. "Elena-"
She raised a hand. "Relax. Don't forget, Kalen - I don't have anyone to answer to." Her voice turned firm again as she faced Orion. "You'll be free to do as you please. Consider yourself an unofficial affiliate of the Order. We'll call if we need you, but I doubt that you'll ever be needed. Without any formal training, we won't even know if you have any potential to be an exorcist."
Orion had a smug look on his face, and in all honesty, he was surprised that she actually accepted. But she wasn't finished just yet
"This agreement will last until you finish high school in the summer. When the school year ends, we'll revisit the three options."
Her eyes hardened. "But understand this, kid - that freedom exists because I am allowing it. Don't make me regret it. And there won't be a fourth option the next time around."
The air around her shimmered. Heat poured off her body, the faint scent of ash filling the room. Her Spirit Energy flared like a miniature star barely contained - walls creaked, the temperature spiked, and the shadows trembled.
Orion felt the weight of it press on his skin, his lungs. Bastion stepped forward, instinctively shielding his younger brother, but Orion stayed still. Sweat trickled down his temple, yet he managed a wry smile.
"Crystal clear, ma'am."
The heat snapped away like a flame snuffed out, leaving an almost eerie stillness in its wake.
Elena studied him - this strange, calm boy with sharp eyes and a tone far too casual for someone facing an exorcist's wrath. There was something off about him. Too steady. Too… composed.
Kalen folded his arms, still frowning. "He's suspicious."
"Definitely," Elena bluntly agreed, still watching Orion. "But I trust his brothers to keep him in check."
Bastion grinned faintly. "He'll be fine. He's smarter than he looks."
Orion gave him a sideways glance. "Smarter than I look, I wish I could say the same for you."
"What was that?" Bastion was the one initiating a scuffle with Orion now.
Elena shook her head with a faint smile she tried to suppress. "You guys really are something else."
Kalen wasn't nearly as amused, openly glaring at the youth.
But Orion simply responded with a smile, his mind already running ahead of them all.
'She doesn't seem to trust me, and the pretty boy definitely doesn't. Rightly so. But they can't read me either. They probably think I'm scared and just buying time. Let them think that.'
He'd made up his mind even before she gave him the options. He didn't want to be moulded into some uniform soldier. He had the Exorcist System - something none of them could see, control, or understand.
That alone made him a wildcard.
'They'd probably hand me some shiny key that leads to a hidden exorcist school or something. Tournaments, rankings, rival prodigies... yeah, no thanks.'
It was fun to read in webnovels, but it wasn't remotely enticing in real life. He'd already had enough of school for a lifetime.
And that didn't change the underlying truth...