Chapter 474: The Law That Should Not Break
Eldric adjusted his glasses.
It was a small, almost nervous motion—but in the silence that followed Sophia’s question, it felt heavy.
"The matter of the visions," he said slowly, "did not exist for before."
Orion’s eyes narrowed.
"It happened only after I ca back," Eldric continued. "After I took over Eldric’s body."
"Oh?" Orion said.
"At first," Eldric said quietly, "I did not understand what was happening. I assud it was...residue. A consequence of the ritual. A fracture in mory. Or the mind."
His fingers tightened around the thin rim of his glasses.
"But after a while, I beca certain."
He lifted his gaze.
"They are visions."
The word settled uneasily between them.
"And from what I know," Eldric added, "when a person sees a vision...there is no changing the outco."
Sophia’s breath caught at his words, and Eldric stared directly at her as he spoke his next words.
"As cruel as it may sound, the purpose of a vision is not to warn you," he said. "It is to prepare you."
Sophia swallowed. Her throat felt painfully dry. This was different from what she believed the dreams—no, the visions she had seen—were.
Then Eldric turned his head. His attention shifted to Orion.
"As for the issue of the ruins found in the heart of Nirvana," he said, "I am certain you already know."
Orion did not respond.
But his jaw tightened.
"The heart of Nirvana," Eldric continued, "where Ronan and the others went. My pack was situated deep within it."
Eldric gave a faint, almost incredulous breath.
"I was surprised," he admitted. "Genuinely. That Ronan and the others were able to reach that far into Nirvana and even see the ruins of my pack. I’m also surprised that it is still standing enough that they could see it, to be honest."
A shadow crossed his face as he spoke.
Before either of them could comnt, Eldric turned back to Sophia and held her gaze.
"And yes," he said quietly. "It is exactly as you suspected," he told her.
"The Trihydra, the Skylur...every beast you see right now in Nirvana..." He paused before he continued. "There was a ti when they did not exist."
"And the majority of the beasts you and the others encounter now," Eldric continued, "are not natural. As you suspected...they are mutated."
"They have absorbed black magic for generations," Eldric said. "So much of it that their bodies—and their instincts—were rewritten. They are no longer what they once were. They are sothing...else."
"Dolion used every creature of the land he could to make himself stronger. He created armies out of animals when his followers were reduced...when people left these lands and finally ventured to the east, the west, and the south," Eldric told them.
Sophia released a breath at Eldric’s words, one she had no idea she had even been holding.
Orion, however, was staring straight at Eldric.
He nodded slowly.
"I’ve heard sothing similar," Orion said.
Eldric lifted a brow slightly.
"From Madam Tyler," Orion added. "And even from Caspian."
Sophia’s gaze flicked up at the nas.
"They both said the sa thing," Orion continued. "That beasts like the ones in Nirvana shouldn’t exist. It was just speculation, though. They were of the opinion that sothing nasty had twisted the beasts and made them what they are now."
"They weren’t far from the truth," Eldric said with a nod.
"But I still don’t understand sothing," Orion told Eldric, who frowned.
"What don’t you understand?" Eldric asked him.
Orion folded his arms loosely over his chest.
"If you only started seeing visions after you ca back—after you took over Eldric’s body," he said carefully, "how are you so certain that once a vision is seen, it cannot be undone?"
Eldric answered imdiately.
"Because it is the law."
Orion blinked.
Just once.
Then his mouth twisted.
"The law," he repeated flatly.
"Yes."
Orion made a face at that.
"And how exactly do you know it is the law?" Orion asked.
Eldric’s brow furrowed slightly.
"Because we were taught," he said.
Orion tilted his head. "By who? Your forefathers? The goddess herself?"
Eldric clenched his teeth. He hated the way Orion spoke about the goddess like she was the reason everything was happening right now.
"From the ti we were young. From before we were even permitted to touch magic unsupervised," Eldric said, his voice steady.
"It is one of the oldest laws bound to the goddess. Once a vision is seen, it cannot be undone. Once a prophecy is foretold, it must co to pass, no matter how long."
Orion stared at him for a long second.
Then he laughed. It ca out sharp and sudden, and full of disbelief.
"That’s it?" Orion asked incredulously.
Eldric frowned at Orion’s words.
"It is not rely sothing we were told," he replied. "It is sothing that has been observed for centuries."
"By who?" Orion pressed.
"By everyone," Eldric told him.
"Who is everyone?" Orion asked.
"Everyone who walks the path of the goddess," Eldric told him.
Orion released a sigh. He knew one thing—if he continued arguing with Eldric, there would be no end. So instead of arguing, especially without facts, he chose to stop.
"You say visions can’t be changed because soone told you so," Orion said to him.
"That is not—"
"And you say it’s been observed," Orion cut in, "but I’ve seen sothing very different with my own eyes."
"What is it?" Eldric asked him.
"Before I tell you, let’s get sothing straight. Sophia has always had what we referred to as dreams. She saw Zena die, she saw Brynhild die, she also saw sothing about Ronan and the others who went into the heart of Nirvana, and each ti—except maybe for Zena—the others have been prevented. Each outco turned out differently from what was supposed to happen. And these dreams Sophia had—they were visions, right?" Orion asked Eldric.
Eldric nodded. "You already know what she is. You do not need to ask if they are visions."
Orion smiled. "True. But here’s my question. If, according to you, once a vision is seen the outco cannot be undone, how is it that Sophia’s visions always have a different outco? How co she changes it?"
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