Chapter 260 – Mallory’s Irritation
Ananke, seated upon her throne inside her Gate of Fate and Secrecy, watched over her Blessed with a plicated expression.
Cassius was sleeping soundly now, his chest rising and falling in a steady rhythm. For once, he wasn’t snoring.
And Ananke, against her own will, found herself missing that grating, shrill sound. It was strange. But it was true.
She exhaled through her lips and lifted her divine eyes overhead, watching the sea of fate threads snapping, weaving, or breaking apart continuously.
"I mustn’t forget he’s still an 18-year-old boy." She whispered under her breath, her eyes pained, thinking of Cassius’s state, "I mustn’t. He’s still growing, and I can’t let him break under the pressure."
She would break with him. For Cassius was everything she had, and anything else she’d gained was thanks to him.
And if the day ever came when she had to choose between him and everything else, the answer was obvious.
That was why...
"It’s time." Ananke muttered, eyes still fixed on the threads of fate, "I know you can hear me, Tyche. And I know you’ve been hearing me for a while now. Answer."
No answer came. The Gate of Fate and Secrecy remained pletely still. Just as she’d expected.
Ananke narrowed her eyes in irritation. On a normal day, she’d have tried a few more times.
But she had no patience to spare that day.
"If you keep ignoring me, Tyche, I promise you She will hear of it once we’re all reunited. I’ll tell Her exactly how you let the Last Born suffer this way, devoid of—!"
"You never change, do you?" A voice slithered through the Gate, calm yet playful and fickle, "Ananke, always opening that annoying mouth of yours to plain to Her."
"I’m very proud of it. Are you still bitter about not being chosen First? Grow up, Tyche. It’s been hundreds of years, and an entire timeline destroyed since."
"It feels like yesterday to me."
"Enough useless chatter." Ananke cut in, looking at the vague silhouette of a woman made of intense white light above her, "It’s time for his Second Blessing."
The faceless woman shook her head, her long hair of condensed light rippling like water, "Far too soon. We agreed to wait until he reaches Third Rank. He’ll be strong enough then to bear two Blessings. Why the rush?"
"You’ve been watching him too, haven’t you? You know why I’m rushing, Tyche."
"You panic so easily. He’ll be fine. He has that assassin with him. Which reminds me," her voice dropped a notch, "why wasn’t I told about this arrangement? Why her?"
"She loves him."
"We all do!"
"Not the same way. And he loves her too. Stop playing mother hen for once. This is exactly why you weren’t chosen First. You would have smothered him with your jealousy."
Tyche didn’t answer, glaring at Ananke with open displeasure, despite her featureless face.
"Will you do it or not?" Ananke asked again, impatient.
"I will." Tyche said after a moment, "once he passes my test, of course."
"Are you serious?" Ananke hissed, "You’re putting him through a test?"
"It’s my Blessing, Ananke. Stay out of it, will you? I’ll be the one testing him." She said with finality, "Unlike you, who worries so easily and makes mistakes, I need to make sure he’s ready. And no, you saying he is proves nothing."
"What will the test be?" Ananke asked, knowing well her sister wouldn’t budge.
"I’ve had an annoying little god nipping at my heels lately." Tyche drawled, her voice amused, "I need to teach him a lesson. A good opportunity for our beloved to fight a Blessed other than that Lightning boy."
Ananke said nothing. She fell silent, wondering if this was truly the right choice.
In the end, she shook her head and decided to finish what she’d started. Cassius was going to face this sooner or later, one way or another.
Better sooner, then. Hopefully.
She sighed and turned her attention back to Tyche, "As you wish. But I have one question, Tyche. There are memories I can no longer recall. Do you have them?"
"What memories are you talking about?"
"There’s a mortal named Theophane who hates me. I’ve apparently done something to her. But what?" Ananke frowned, "The memory isn’t with me. Is it with you? Or maybe with Third Sister?"
Tyche made a thoughtful sound before nodding, "I have them."
Ananke sighed in relief, "Did I do something to her?"
"Of course you did. But it was necessary. Without your action, none of this would have been possible."
"What did I do?" The Queen of Fate asked again, frowning, "And when?"
Tyche didn’t respond right away, weighing whether to tell the truth. Eventually, she decided honesty was best.
"You killed her Fate." She said, shrugging, "and, in mortal time, you did it 21 years ago."
Ananke paused, her eyes widening slightly, "...you mean?"
"Indeed." Her sister said, "You made that mortal the Forbidden Seer. The very first to ever exist. And now, sister, gods are swarming toward her, since the Eye of the World officially marked her a Main Heroine. She has infinite potential. Some say she could bee another You. The one you were, before all of this."
Tyche laughed.
"That’s exactly why Third Sister told us not to meddle too much with Fate. Even you, sister, aren’t exempt. Even you."
"Now more than ever, he needs that Second Blessing." Ananke said hurriedly, "and tell me the names of the gods behind Theophane."
Her eyes went dead cold.
"Tell me their names."
...
Morning came, turning the night before into nothing but a memory.
A memory most would never forget. Could not forget.
Cassius managed to wake on time, thanks to Ananke, though his mind was still clouded by sleep.
He stepped into the Realm of Mountains and Rivers, his tired eyes settling directly on his master, Mallory Octavia, standing straight as a spear.
Her arms were crossed over her chest — her favorite stance, Cassius noted — and her silver eyes fixed on him with heavy scrutiny.
It was the kind of look a mother gave when she knew her son had gotten into trouble, even without proof.
Mallory didn’t need proof.
"What happened last night?" She asked directly, cutting straight to the point. "Don’t bother lying, I felt something. And I didn’t like what I felt."
Cassius smiled wryly, rubbing the back of his head, "Some things happened, I’ll admit."
"You don’t need to admit it, I already know. What kind of things?"
He hesitated a moment, then sighed and began to explain.
He told her about Coco’s death, what he’d done to Naomi, and the burial. He didn’t go into detail, just the overall picture, enough for his master to understand.
Mallory listened attentively, her expression never once changing.
Once he finished, the Dean sighed wearily.
"All of that...in one night?"
"It was a long night." Cassius said.
Mallory said nothing to that. She simply stared at him, studying his expression and his physical state.
She approached him, and Cassius held still, as she stopped an inch away.
Leaning in, Mallory looked deeper into his eyes. And there, her own eyes shifted, taking on the draconic slits.
Cassius was startled by the sudden change and nearly stepped back. But she held him firmly in place.
"You’re exhausted." Mallory said, matter-of-fact. "And your mind isn’t sharp right now. Training in this state would amount to nothing."
She clicked her tongue.
"Change of plan, little bastard." Mallory said, cupping Cassius’s cheeks in a way that squished them into an involuntary pout, and leaning even closer.
"W-What are you doing, master?" Cassius managed to say, in that state.
"Tell me, what club did you sign up for?"
"...the Research Club?"
"Do you actually like research?"
"...no?"
"Then why did you choose it?"
"It’s useful. And I’ll meet useful people there."
Mallory sighed loudly, exasperated beyond words. She squeezed his cheeks even harder,
"Little bastard, there’s a reason every strong person has a hobby." Her slits narrowed further, "And a hobby stops being a hobby the moment you’re doing it for reasons like yours."
Cassius didn’t know what to say. Except, "...I don’t have a hobby, master. Or rather...I lost it somewhere along the way."
"What was it?"
"Reading."
"Then you’ll start reading again." Mallory decided, then checked the time, "and we’ll start today. Do you have a genre preference?"
Cassius was pletely lost as to what was happening. But seeing the dragon’s furious expression in front of him, he knew better than to argue.
"...I’ll read anything as long as it’s interesting. But I lean toward romance."
Mallory paused at that, then smiled...
"I have a book for you, little bastard."
"Why do you sound like that?"
"Because you’re going to read it today and give me a review. It’s not long. Only 200 pages."
"In one day???"
"Yes. Can’t you?"
"But master—!"
"Can you, or can’t you, little bastard?"
Cassius clamped his mouth shut at her threatening tone, then nodded slightly, "I can...I think."
Mallory smiled and pulled a book from her space ring.
Cassius read the title:
"Still Alive."
—End of Chapter 260—
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