3122 Family Schemes (Part 2)
Jirni told them about her vow to never leave one of her children facing danger alone and her quest for Awakening.
Of how the Myrok had turned her down, forcing her to look for an alternative solution. How one of her allies had Awakened her first and Jiza Gernoff had come to threaten Jirni's life, forcing Orion to Awaken as well.
She didn't hide anything from them.
Not the secret training or the fact that they had stolen Quylla's notes about Awakening and Nalrond's teachings about Light Mastery. The only thing Jirni never mentioned was the identity of her benefactor and the means Vastor had used to Awaken Orion.
"I'm fucking going to kill him!" Friya yelled, taking Jirni by surprise. "We trusted that fat bastard and that's how he repays us?"
'Her intelligence goes beyond my expectations.' Jirni furrowed her brows in a mix of annoyance and motherly pride. 'This complicates things a bit. I need to keep Vastor-'
"I'm going to give Lith a piece of my mind and then the beating of a lifetime!" Friya's rant derailed Jirni's train of thought. "All that Tiamat's mass must have squashed his brain into paste to go behind our backs like this."
'Or not.' Jirni inwardly sighed in relief.
"How could he lie to our face for so long?" Quylla joined her sister in her fury. "I thought that he had finally changed!"
"Respectively, he didn't lie to you and he did change." Orion sighed. "Lith did nothing to help us and is unaware of what we've done. We contacted him right after the Myrok turned your mother down and he did the same.
"He wasn't sure I would survive my Awakening and refused to help us until we shared our intentions with you. Lith said that he wouldn't be responsible for the death of one of your parents unless you had the opportunity to discuss our decision with us."
"He did?" Friya and Quylla said in unison, taking a mental note to apologize to Lith later.
"If Lith didn't help you, how did you survive, Dad?" Quylla asked after calming down a bit. "I had just a deep violet core and I would have died if Lith hadn't… been there."
Jirni noticed the lie by omission and that something big lay under the pile of crap but she didn't pry further.
"I won't share the identity of our associate for their own safety." Jirni replied. "I can only tell you that your father made up his mind and accepted the risks before undergoing the Awakening procedure, even going against my wishes."
"It's true." Orion nodded at the girls, anticipating their questions. "No, your mother didn't manipulate me into doing it. It was my choice. Just like she started all this damned thing against my better judgment."
"What thing?" Friya asked.
"Let me finish." Jirni told them about the Myrok's threat on her life last so that they could understand why their parents had gone to such lengths and the reason Friya and Quylla had been kept in the dark about the crisis at hand.
"You were so happy about your marriage, Quylla, and I didn't want to ruin everything for you and keep Phloria's death hanging over your head." Jirni said. "As for you, Friya, you already had that blockhead of Nalrond to worry about."
"Yes!" Morok said clenching his fist and drawing everyone's gaze upon himself. "What are you staring at? Can't a guy celebrate the first time no one blames him for anything in a long-ass family speech?"
"Morok!" Quylla wanted to give him a piece of her mind but decided otherwise. "Please, continue, Mom."
"As I was saying, everything happened because of my choice hence facing its consequences was my responsibility. I've tried to keep you out of it for as long as I could, but at the moment, I don't see a way out.
"That's why I'm asking for your help and that of your husbands."
Quylla and Friya pondered the issue for a while, looking for a peaceful resolution.
'Mom and Dad are rogue Awakened. Unless their friend is a big shot in the Council, no one will meddle in the beef between two humans and an entire Awakened household. If that was an option, however, we wouldn't be here.' Quylla thought.
'I could ask for Faluel's help, but to what end?' Friya thought. 'It would be just the two of us. The Hydra bloodline isn't going to care about this.'
"Our help with what?" Friya asked.
"To face the Myrok and win." Jirni replied. "Your father and I can't do this alone, but with your help, Faluel's, Lith's, and our associate's help, things would be very different. Just to be clear, I'm being honest and straightforward with you.
"I'm not hiding anything from you nor attempting to manipulate you like I'm planning to do with everyone else."
"Even Lith?" Quylla asked, receiving a nod in reply.
"What about us?" Morok asked.
"You have already given us everything we needed from the Tyrant bloodline." Jirni shrugged. "We can use Nalrond's Light Mastery lessons but we don't need to ask his help. If Friya comes, he'll follow."
"Let me get this straight." Friya pinched her nose in frustration. "You asked us to come here to guilt trip us into helping you…"
"No guilt tripping." Jirni shook her head. "I just wanted to ask for your help and explain to you why I might die in a while."
"Okay, fine!" Friya's voice quivered at the thought of Jirni's violent passing. "To ask for our help manipulating everyone around us, including our husbands?"
"Technically, Quylla's husband and your fiancé, but yes." Jirni nodded. "I don't think I can convince Lith to come to my side without your cooperation."
"Well, this is great!" Quylla yelled in outrage. "I have to choose between putting at risk the lives of everyone I care about or letting my mother die. This is exactly what I had in mind for the family reunion."
"Dad, how could you get along with this crazy plan?" Friya asked while her sister paced around the room like a death row inmate before her execution.
"I didn't." Orion crossed his arms over his chest. "I didn't want to Awaken, but with your mother's life on the line, what was I supposed to do? Would you have helped me to Awaken if I asked you?"
"No." Friya hated to admit it but it was the truth.
Quylla had survived only thanks to Menadion's tower and revealing its existence to Jirni and Orion was just too dangerous. One would have exploited it for her schemes and the other would have been conflicted between his loyalty to his daughters and his Kingdom.
"Was I supposed to spend weeks arguing with you two? To have you constantly beg me not to do it? To stand there and do nothing while the clock kept ticking?" Orion continued. "I had to do something and I did the only thing that made sense.
"I trusted my own judgment and Jirni's plan. Now, if you don't want to help us, it's fine. Just please, don't tell anyone about this. I don't like your mother's scheming but if the alternative is her death, I choose her schemes."
3122 Family Schemes (Part 2)
Jirni told them about her vow to never leave one of her children facing danger alone and her quest for Awakening.
Of how the Myrok had turned her down, forcing her to look for an alternative solution. How one of her allies had Awakened her first and Jiza Gernoff had come to threaten Jirni's life, forcing Orion to Awaken as well.
She didn't hide anything from them.
Not the secret training or the fact that they had stolen Quylla's notes about Awakening and Nalrond's teachings about Light Mastery. The only thing Jirni never mentioned was the identity of her benefactor and the means Vastor had used to Awaken Orion.
"I'm fucking going to kill him!" Friya yelled, taking Jirni by surprise. "We trusted that fat bastard and that's how he repays us?"
'Her intelligence goes beyond my expectations.' Jirni furrowed her brows in a mix of annoyance and motherly pride. 'This complicates things a bit. I need to keep Vastor-'
"I'm going to give Lith a piece of my mind and then the beating of a lifetime!" Friya's rant derailed Jirni's train of thought. "All that Tiamat's mass must have squashed his brain into paste to go behind our backs like this."
'Or not.' Jirni inwardly sighed in relief.
"How could he lie to our face for so long?" Quylla joined her sister in her fury. "I thought that he had finally changed!"
"Respectively, he didn't lie to you and he did change." Orion sighed. "Lith did nothing to help us and is unaware of what we've done. We contacted him right after the Myrok turned your mother down and he did the same.
"He wasn't sure I would survive my Awakening and refused to help us until we shared our intentions with you. Lith said that he wouldn't be responsible for the death of one of your parents unless you had the opportunity to discuss our decision with us."
"He did?" Friya and Quylla said in unison, taking a mental note to apologize to Lith later.
"If Lith didn't help you, how did you survive, Dad?" Quylla asked after calming down a bit. "I had just a deep violet core and I would have died if Lith hadn't… been there."
Jirni noticed the lie by omission and that something big lay under the pile of crap but she didn't pry further.
"I won't share the identity of our associate for their own safety." Jirni replied. "I can only tell you that your father made up his mind and accepted the risks before undergoing the Awakening procedure, even going against my wishes."
"It's true." Orion nodded at the girls, anticipating their questions. "No, your mother didn't manipulate me into doing it. It was my choice. Just like she started all this damned thing against my better judgment."
"What thing?" Friya asked.
"Let me finish." Jirni told them about the Myrok's threat on her life last so that they could understand why their parents had gone to such lengths and the reason Friya and Quylla had been kept in the dark about the crisis at hand.
"You were so happy about your marriage, Quylla, and I didn't want to ruin everything for you and keep Phloria's death hanging over your head." Jirni said. "As for you, Friya, you already had that blockhead of Nalrond to worry about."
"Yes!" Morok said clenching his fist and drawing everyone's gaze upon himself. "What are you staring at? Can't a guy celebrate the first time no one blames him for anything in a long-ass family speech?"
"Morok!" Quylla wanted to give him a piece of her mind but decided otherwise. "Please, continue, Mom."
"As I was saying, everything happened because of my choice hence facing its consequences was my responsibility. I've tried to keep you out of it for as long as I could, but at the moment, I don't see a way out.
"That's why I'm asking for your help and that of your husbands."
Quylla and Friya pondered the issue for a while, looking for a peaceful resolution.
'Mom and Dad are rogue Awakened. Unless their friend is a big shot in the Council, no one will meddle in the beef between two humans and an entire Awakened household. If that was an option, however, we wouldn't be here.' Quylla thought.
'I could ask for Faluel's help, but to what end?' Friya thought. 'It would be just the two of us. The Hydra bloodline isn't going to care about this.'
"Our help with what?" Friya asked.
"To face the Myrok and win." Jirni replied. "Your father and I can't do this alone, but with your help, Faluel's, Lith's, and our associate's help, things would be very different. Just to be clear, I'm being honest and straightforward with you.
"I'm not hiding anything from you nor attempting to manipulate you like I'm planning to do with everyone else."
"Even Lith?" Quylla asked, receiving a nod in reply.
"What about us?" Morok asked.
"You have already given us everything we needed from the Tyrant bloodline." Jirni shrugged. "We can use Nalrond's Light Mastery lessons but we don't need to ask his help. If Friya comes, he'll follow."
"Let me get this straight." Friya pinched her nose in frustration. "You asked us to come here to guilt trip us into helping you…"
"No guilt tripping." Jirni shook her head. "I just wanted to ask for your help and explain to you why I might die in a while."
"Okay, fine!" Friya's voice quivered at the thought of Jirni's violent passing. "To ask for our help manipulating everyone around us, including our husbands?"
"Technically, Quylla's husband and your fiancé, but yes." Jirni nodded. "I don't think I can convince Lith to come to my side without your cooperation."
"Well, this is great!" Quylla yelled in outrage. "I have to choose between putting at risk the lives of everyone I care about or letting my mother die. This is exactly what I had in mind for the family reunion."
"Dad, how could you get along with this crazy plan?" Friya asked while her sister paced around the room like a death row inmate before her execution.
"I didn't." Orion crossed his arms over his chest. "I didn't want to Awaken, but with your mother's life on the line, what was I supposed to do? Would you have helped me to Awaken if I asked you?"
"No." Friya hated to admit it but it was the truth.
Quylla had survived only thanks to Menadion's tower and revealing its existence to Jirni and Orion was just too dangerous. One would have exploited it for her schemes and the other would have been conflicted between his loyalty to his daughters and his Kingdom.
"Was I supposed to spend weeks arguing with you two? To have you constantly beg me not to do it? To stand there and do nothing while the clock kept ticking?" Orion continued. "I had to do something and I did the only thing that made sense.
"I trusted my own judgment and Jirni's plan. Now, if you don't want to help us, it's fine. Just please, don't tell anyone about this. I don't like your mother's scheming but if the alternative is her death, I choose her schemes."
