Kael still stared at the grimoire in Elion's arms, as if trying to understand what it ant—not just in terms of power, but in terms of weight, of legacy. The feeling of being in the midst of sothing too vast to comprehend still weighed on him, but there was also a sparkle in his eyes. The sparkle of soone who knew that a new path was opening up.
Elion closed the grimoire carefully and let out a long sigh, as if it enclosed sothing much older than ti itself. She looked up at Raven, her expression now relaxed. "Thank you."
Raven nodded, but with a slightly mischievous smile. "You know the way back. But... if you want to co back another ti—especially you, cute little king—the door will always be open." She looked directly at Kael, her voice soft as enchanted velvet. "But... it would be better if you ca alone next ti." The wink she gave him next was as cheeky as it was magical.
Kael gasped, completely taken aback. "I... what?"
Before he could even try to understand or react, the temperature of the room changed. A blast of heat swept through the room, and when he turned around, Kael saw Elion with an expression of pure venom on his face. In the palm of her hand, a blood-red fla rose, crackling in threatening silence.
"Raven," Elion said slowly, as if savoring the idea of destruction, "are you really trying to beco a whore barbecue?"
Raven laughed. She didn't back down. She just raised both hands in a theatrical gesture of surrender. "Oh, please, I would never sleep with my best friend's son!" She kept her innocent expression for a second... and then turned slightly toward Kael, winking with that damn boldness in her eyes.
Elion didn't hesitate. The fla in her hand exploded into an intense aura, ready to be unleashed. The books around her recoiled on their own. The river on the ceiling trembled.
"Enough," she growled, "one more joke and I'll wipe you off this earth, Raven."
Raven raised her hands even higher, her smile now replaced by a more sober expression—but only slightly. "Okay, okay. Peace. I'll behave. You know I'm all about respect and decency."
"Decency my ass," muttered Elion, still holding the magic as if deciding whether it was worth it or not. "One more wink and you'll turn to enchanted ash."
Kael, standing between the two, shifted his gaze as if watching a battle between two forces of nature about to collide. "Guys... maybe we should... go?"
Elion took a deep breath, closed his hand, extinguishing the fla with a muffled snap. "Yeah. Let's go."
Raven smiled again—now with less mischief and more tenderness. She approached and lightly touched Elion's shoulder, who accepted the gesture without resistance, albeit with a grumpy expression.
"You couldn't live without ," Raven said softly, with that tone that only old ties allow.
Elion snorted. "Unfortunately."
"You love ."
"Don't get excited."
The two exchanged a long look, made up of centuries of friendship, fights, and reconciliations. A silent truce—but one full of veiled promises.
Raven then turned to Kael, now with a more serious look. "Take care of her. Even if she never asks, even if she says she's fine... you know how to look better than you think."
Kael nodded, still taking it all in. "I... I'll try."
"And co back whenever you want, little king. I promise to behave." She raised two fingers in a sign of oath, but the sparkle in her eyes revealed that no promise from her was too secure.
Elion rolled his eyes. "Let's go. Before I regret not burning you."
With a final wave, Kael followed his mother back through the silent portal, crossing the veil of shadows once more and leaving the fragnt of the First Library as if leaving an ancient dream. The atmosphere of the bar enveloped them again with its distant music and magical scents, and the real world seed less real than the one they had just left.
The night breeze had a tallic, sweet sll, as if the air were still charged with the magical energy that surrounded the hidden bar. Kael and Elion walked out through the twisted stone arches that marked the exit to the street—an enchanted alley between two alleys that did not exist on any map. The muffled sounds of the bar faded behind them, replaced by the expectant silence of a world that seed to hold its breath.
Kael walked a few steps in silence. The grimoire still danced in his mory like a persistent shadow. That living fla, Raven's gaze, the threat in the air between two won who seed to carry centuries on their shoulders. And now, was it all over?
"So..." Kael spoke, breaking the silence as he adjusted the cloak he wore over his travel armor. "What are we going to do now?"
Elion stopped in her tracks. The black grimoire was still in her left hand, though it no longer emitted that insane glow. Without answering, she made a simple gesture with her free hand. The air beside her tore silently, as if it were made of enchanted silk. A portal appeared, oval and small, the exact size of the book.
"My business... is completely finished," she said in a carefree tone of voice. "Ti to retire this plague."
And without ceremony, she threw the grimoire through the portal.
Kael's eyes widened. "You... just threw the most dangerous book I've ever seen into so dinsional hole?!"
The portal closed with a muffled snap. It disappeared as if it had never been there.
"It's a book, Kael. Not a bomb," she said, wiping her hands together as if she had just thrown away ordinary magical trash. "And it only works in the hands of soone who wields chaos magic."
She then turned to him, smiling sideways, and pointed at herself with her thumb. "In other words: only ."
Kael crossed his arms and sighed loudly. "You know... I don't know if I'm more impressed by your confidence or by the fact that you really treat sothing like that as if it were an old umbrella."
"An old umbrella can kill if it falls at the right angle. It all depends on who's holding it."
"Poetic."
"No. Pragmatic."
Kael shook his head, exhausted. "I'm tired."
"Good idea," Elion said without hesitation, as if she had been waiting for that cue. "Then... let's settle this right now."
She turned to the right and pointed her index finger to the end of the street. Between two stone columns with carvings that floated slowly out of the material itself, stood a building that was both rustic and elegant in appearance. A large stone sign floated above the entrance, suspended by static magic. The letters were incandescent light carved into the rock itself, forming the word:
MOTEL
Below that, in secondary writing that rearranged itself according to the language of the viewer, it read: "Rest for exhausted bodies and damaged minds."
Kael stood still, staring at it with a mixed expression of confusion and distrust. "Are you suggesting... we're going to sleep in a motel?"
"Yes," said Elion, as if it were obvious. "And not just any motel. This place is fueled by filtered dreams. Each room adapts to the ntal state of the guest."
"You talk as if it were the most normal thing in the world."
"Kael, you just held a grimoire that carries an eternal fla and saw a sorceress from the ages hit on you. This is as close to 'normal' as you're going to get today."
Kael snorted. "You know that na doesn't help, right? Motel?"
"It's just a word. An old one, even. In so magical cultures, 'motel' cos from 'mo-tell,' an archaic term from Fragnted Elvish that ans 'temporary shelter between planes.' It all depends on the etymology, dear."
"And since when do you care about etymology?"
"Since I need to justify strange choices."
Kael let out an involuntary laugh. "Okay. Let's go."
The walk to the Motel was short. As they approached, the structure seed to change subtly—as if adjusting to their presence. The walls, made of living stone, softened in color, and small lights ca on, hovering like enchanted insects. The front door opened silently on its own, releasing a scent of damp wood, mild spices, and a hint of sothing reminiscent of lavender... or perhaps longing.
As they crossed the motel door, they were greeted by a calm figure who seed accustod to the work—a cute attendant with brown hair rolled into a braid. Her eyes, large and green, studied them with an almost childlike curiosity.
"Welco," her voice said, lodious, as if carrying echoes from countless places at once. "What would you like for your stay?"
Elion stopped in front of the counter, her expression serious and her gaze piercing reality. Without uttering a word, she reached out her hand to the side, as if pulling an invisible string, and her voice resonated directly in the clerk's mind.
"Tell them there's only one double room available. Or I'll kill you."
The clerk blinked, a little confused, but Elion replied loudly, sowhat hesitantly: "Two rooms, separate."
Elion smiled with his eyes closed, a cold and frightening smile that seed to play with the fine line between charm and threat. Kael felt a chill down his spine, almost as if that expression were capable of bending his own will.
The clerk, clearly shaken, stamred, "I... we only have one room with a double bed available..."
Kael looked at the clerk and let out a resigned sigh, with a smile that was half tired, half amused. "All right... She's my mother, after all."
Elion, for her part, crossed her arms, looking at Kael with that look full of ulterior motives, almost triumphant. 'My plan has begun,' she thought.
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