(17) Hidden Problems; Development Of Shadows; Gift; The Void Calls

(POV: Kai Conningsworth)

I was going in and out of consciousness for what felt like forever, trying my best to keep the entirety of my memories intact, which wasn't too hard to do at all, and knowing Orion, he must've started pickpocketing for my phone through my clothing to call Derrick... This is probably my second time passing out, too.

The first was in that plane ride from the very depths of hell with that spirit chick, and the second was where I got clocked by Orion; now I'm wondering if this is going to become a new norm for me, too.

I swear to whatever fucking God that is out, if they were the ones giving me this bad juju, I am going to rage so horribly... Meh, never mind about that. I'd rather not face the wrath of the Celestial Chorus just yet.

Instead, I should focus on expanding EnigmaLeaf Enterprise even more at this point. Wait a minute? Now, what is that light?

As I tried to reach out toward that blinding light, I got out of the vision with cold sweat; whatever I tried to reach had the reverse effect of waking me up in some way, and I finally began to look at my surroundings now seeing that I'm inside of a new vehicle, and a voice reached out.

 "So, how was your little reunion with that old friend of yours, Mr. Conningsworth?" That voice that reached out to me was someone I'd known fully well.

"Well, I wasn't expecting my reunion with him to become so chaotic, but after all the time I've spent building up my enterprise, it was something genuinely worthwhile from all of the stress that's been accumulating," I said as I smiled to myself.

Yet, Derrick jabbed me by saying something that stung me a bit mentally.

"Even when you got decked in the face, Mr. Conningsworth? I have to say, aren't you sounding more and more of a masochist, or is that just me? Oh, you needn't ask any of my questions because, of course, you're not." Derrick only shook his head in disappointment, contradicting his own words entirely.

"You know what, Derrick? At some point, I'm going to hire a therapist for my mental health..." Kai let out his thoughts as he's been through so much within a single day. Derrick spoke sarcastically.

"And now you are just saying that, Sir? You needed that way before today, and you decided now is a good time?" his words drove Kai home, but he refused to give his paid worker any more of his thoughts as he rested on the chair and said.

"Please tell me when we are back to the private airliner… I've never felt this tired from talking to you till now." With a brief order from Kai, Derrick smiled while driving and spoke up neutrally.

"Well, of course, sir, just go ahead and rest while I take you to your annual meeting." With that, there was only silence throughout the drive.

Not before Kai spoke up with a question to Derrick.

"Did you give Tristan that present that I've asked of you, Derrick? I think he'll enjoy it. Even though I would have wanted to be there personally to teach him the beginnings of a mage, from my first psychoanalysis of him, I think he would be better off self-studying for the first year... Do you know where they're going so that I can make plans to go there?" Derrick then looked towards Kai through the front mirror of the car and said.

"I did as you've said and gave Tristan the 'gift,' and those three are heading toward Scotland." Kai, who was relaxing, suddenly had his eyes widened in pure shock upon hearing Derrick's last answer.

"Now, what in the actual fuck did you say about them going to Scotland? Now I know that I'm still rocked from that punch in the face, so I must be hearing things wrong—" Derrick interrupted Kai and said. 

"Oh no, Kai, you heard right; they are going to be stepping into a bunch of different mage factions, and the Syndicate would be the least of their worries when they are only focused on becoming the main powerhouse over in Scotland when a certain group from the Nephandi had just popped up out of nowhere to cause who knows what problems and added with the rivalry between the Verbena and The Choristers. Things have been taking a rough turn over there... On the plus side, the Syndicate is able to keep them from going any further with their plans, and not a lot of vampires like to live in Scotland either." Kai, hearing all of that, sunk back into his seat while trying not to burst any veins from frustration. Kai spoke candidly as if it was a matter of fact; he was only talking to himself at this point.

"Let me guess, The Spiral Black Dancers has something to do with the main group of Nephandi. I actually believe that Brazil would've been a safer option, too, than going to Scotland as of now... But I don't think there would be another war between both of those Traditions even if they wanted to. And yet, I am worried about whatever hierarchy of the Nephandi is at command. Luckily, there's an old kook I could call to help out potentially." Hearing everything that Kai was saying, Derrick only shrugged his shoulders and said with a slight grin.

"Honestly, Sir Kai, you're just over-worrying yourself about the situation in Scotland. If anything, I would have to say that all three of them would have a splendid time there." The assurance from Derrick calmed Kai a bit and he expressed to Derrick one last time.

"Alright... I'll trust in that half-baked answer, Derrick." Derrick slightly chuckled a bit, hearing that response as they drove back to the private airline.

(3rd POV: Tristan Devroop Akvash)

Tristan, who was in the bedroom area, decided to briefly play with his shadows for one final time before finally moving toward the kitchen table out of boredom. He wanted a more permanent place to study his anomalous power and, further down the line, to test his luck with finding his sphere of magic, so he opted to use his shadows for now.

He went to a meditating position on the bed and closed his eyes. A moment later, the ever-present shadows and darkness began to compose in a harmonic symphony as the shadows formed off of Tristan of countless streams spreading like a thin layer of webs connecting to the other parts of shade in the room as if absorbing them.

Tristan's body began to change slowly. It may not have been enough for any to notice any physical changes, but this small act gained a wave of curiosity from countless beings that had existed all before creation. And that is a story that will come at another time.

With a deep breath, Tristan exhaled, and the entire performance ended with the streams of shadows quickly shifting back into Tristan's shadow.

"*Phew!!* Now that felt like something I needed to do!!!" Tristan stretched his arms up in the air, and an elongated hand made of shadows next to him gave Tristan a thumbs-up in agreement.

Tristan gazed at the hand, wondering why his life was reaching higher levels of absurdity, but at this point, he decided to roll with it.

"… High five?" Tristan spoke up with a bit of uncertainty as he reached his hand toward the shadow-like hand.

The shadow immediately vibrated with glee when it heard Tristan and, like a snake, reached to the hand raised by Tristan and gave him a high five. Zil began to speak while amused by the situation.

<Looks like you've found a friend here, Tristan… Or an even more solid reminder of your mental health gradually degrading when instead finding friends, you're making them literally~> Tristan felt slighted by what Zil said, but he couldn't help but agree with the comment. He momentarily ignored Zil's remark and looked at the silhouette-like hand vibing around; what made the hand even creepier was the fact it immediately formed an eye made from the black substance with an orange iris in the middle of the palm staring at Tristan.

"So, Mr Hand, how about you settle down and come back to my shadow… Please." As if it was a command from its master, the shadowy limb slithered back to Tristan's shadow. It

Tristan, who was in a meditative position on the bed, got off from it and walked through the door of the room to see what was going on.

On the other side of the door was the hallway he moved through to the kitchen table, and on his left was all of the cluttered mess done by Orion and Kai added to the broken front door.

"At least nothing happened to the chair and the table~," Tristan told himself out loud as he sat in his new spot to await both of them to get here.

"You know what? I've got to find them instead of waiting here like a dumbass…" So, with Tristan's fickle brain, he went off to find them in the only place that he would consider searching, which was outside of the house.

What he found outside when walking through the now doorless house was an expensive Lincoln Continental Mark V with two people at the side of the door talking to someone at the window of the driver seat. Tristan decided to call out to them with a childish yell.

"HEY GUYS!!!! I JUST WANTED TO CHECK IF Y'ALL STILL ALIVE!!!!" He shouted toward the group having their focus turn towards him.

(3rd POV)

Caliel carried away the unconscious mage by his leg, dragging him off to follow Orion; when she went through the now doorless door, she saw a vehicle parked at the front of the small cottage, and when she caught up to Orion, who was halfway there, she asked.

"So, this is the guy, huh?" Orion didn't glance at her but said.

"Well, no shit Cal, this is the guy." Caliel was offended by the small snide and spoke.

"Well, Jesus Orion!?!?! I was only making some small talk~." Orion only shook his head from her response and simply told Cal.

"Just let me do the talking, Cal so that this won't take longer than necessary." Caliel only pouted a bit, hearing his words, but that pout didn't really make her cute when she was dragging along a mage by his leg. Hearing the unconscious mage and his pained moans was not comfortable at all.

They both finally arrived at the front of the driver's seat of the vehicle and saw a middle-aged man through the window. He rolled down the window and said to them. "Just go ahead and put Kai in the back seat." 

Caliel, who heard the guy, said with a grin on her face. "You don't have to tell me twice!!" 

The vehicle was already unlocked when she opened the back seat door and picked up Kai like a sack and carelessly threw him onto the car seat. And said joyously, "There!! That's done, so what now?!?" She was aptly ignored as Orion began to talk to the figure in the driver's seat.

"So, it's been a while, Derrick..." Derrick gave a ceremonious smile to Orion and said.

"So it has Orion, and I can see that your taste in women has become quite a bit more. Hmmm? How will I say it? I would say zesty if I say so." Orion's eye twitched, hearing Derrick's comment, but he only sighed and said with a slight hint of pessimism.

"You could say that problems have been trickling in lately for me, and the thing right next to me is one of them." The thick-skinned fallen only smiled hearing him mentioning her, and she gave an amused whistle, as she spoke up.

"Oh wow, Orion!! Aren't you a sweet one~ for a neglected piece of garbage that should've been left behind in an alleyway as a child~ But hey!! Here we are, Orion!!" Orion still kept a poker face, but both Derrick and Caliel could tell veins were popping up from his forehead but he still opted to ignore Caliel to talk to Derrick.

"Do you see what I am trying to say, Derrick? Honestly, I should be hunting this demon right next to me, but here I am, an imbued coexisting with a demon." Caliel interrupted again.

"You mean Fallen Angel?" But her question fell on deaf ears.

"And I think things are only going to become worse off from here, too, because of this one." Orion pointed toward the purple-haired woman who shamelessly looked away and whistled away from him.

Derrick stared at the demon for a bit, then looked at Orion and asked him genuinely. "No, really, Orion. When is the marriage? Why does it sound like you are already married? The both of you acted so familiar with each other to the point that I don't think it's funny." 

Orion looked to the sky, wondering why this had to happen; his thoughts at this point while Derrick was waiting for him to answer. 'Honestly, to make this even more depressing would be rain at this point.'  

Sadly for Orion, Derrick only gave him a slight smirk that wasn't seen at all while he was distracted with his thoughts. And clouds began to form; Derrick gave a surprised look as soon as he looked up. "Oh my?!? Look at that!! It looks like it's about to rain, Orion; before I leave, I have to give Little Tristan something personally before I get going with Sir Kai to his meeting."

The look on Orion's face at this moment was a look that just wanted to start slamming his head onto concrete to end it all, but it felt like everything was drained out of him at this point. All he said was. "Oh... Ok... Let me just go ahead and-." Orion was interrupted by someone yelling.

"HEY GUYS!!!! I JUST WANTED TO CHECK IF Y'ALL STILL ALIVE!!!!" The voice ranged out in their direction, and seeing who it was, Orion felt like the kid might be the only one trying to make his life a bit easier, even though he was the cause of it.

"Well... I guess I didn't need to find him." Orion said to himself and yelled out to Tristan.

"COME OVER HERE TRISTAN!! SOMEONE WANTS TO GIVE YOU SOMETHING!!" Tristan, upon hearing that, ran at a fast pace toward them within 4 seconds of the forty meters, impressing Orion a bit. Tristan also went directly near the driver's seat, and upon seeing who it was, he said.

"Oh!?!?! It's you again, Derrick!?!? I'm guessing you were here again to pick up Kai?" Derrick smiled and said.

"Well, that's one of the reasons, Tristan, but I am also here to give you a gift from Kai. Hopefully, it's something to help you on your 'journey.' Sir Tristan," Derrick handed him a red ornamented box. When Tristan held on to it, he felt something from it but decided to say something to Derrick.

"Ummm? Thank you, Derrick, for coming all the way here to give me this... And tell Kai my thanks, too, when he wakes up again." Derrick still held his smile when listening to Tristan and said.

"Your welcome Tristan, and I will also tell Kai of your gratitude when he wakes up from his nap... And also, good luck, Tristan. You are going to need it." With his last words, he left off with the three of them standing there wondering why he sounded unnecessarily cryptic.

The first one to get rid of their confusion was Caliel. As she asked Orion, "Orion, you know him more than I do, right? Has he always been like that?" Orion snapped out of it and said to her.

"I usually don't question everything he says, if I have to be honest... But this was probably the most cryptic he's ever been... Anyways, Tristan, are you alright?" Tristan looked back at Orion, still in a daze, but still spoke clearly.

"I guess that I'm fine... But what are we doing out here, as it's about to rain-" Upon Tristan saying that, the rain started to pour on them, making Caliel activate her ability with the wind surrounding her body so that she wouldn't get herself wet. Tristan's shadow flowed out of accidental reflex and formed an umbrella over him.

Both Orion and Caliel stared at him strangely. Orion's eyes were wide open, with his mouth gaping from utter befuddlement seeing Tristan use something that no human should be using naturally.

Caliel was more of a happy camper in seeing something unique, as she immediately went towards Tristan with novelty, seeing the shadow construct. She carefully went up close to the shadow-like umbrella just to take a look; her eyes sparkled, seeing something marvelous in her immortal lifespan. She carefully touched the umbrella with her hand and said.

"With all of the shit I've seen in my life... Never have I imagined seeing something like this, Tristan!?!?? Do you know how many humans can even do this kind of thing?!?!" Tristan was making an expression as if he was trapped like an animal, but he still tried to answer.

"Uhhhh, I don't know?..." Caliel then spoke up with excitement.

"Well, Tristan, none of them are even freaking human at all!?!?!? And with how your shadows act and the composition being different from the shadows I've seen before, from that of the Lasombra!?!? It's almost like magic a mage would use!!! And I cannot stress this enough as using Obtenebration is basically selling yourself in slavery with its uses for most?!" A shocking revelation had been revealed to Tristan hearing about his shadows, and he was still frozen by them finding out this quickly, but he might as well do a bit more as the cat's out of the bag, and there was no way to hide something like this any longer.

"Wow... First, Cal, let me call out something... Mr Hand!!!" Tristan yelled out, making both Orion and Caliel confused until they saw something slithering out of the umbrella. Instead of a hand, what came out was a darkish shadowy snake with deep orange eyes floating around Tristan, and this new form came as a surprise for Tristan.

"Now, wait? Wearn't you a hand before? Now that ruined your original nickname... But am I in some sort of slave contract with something shady with you or any shadows?" Tristan's eyes squinted at the snake, and upon hearing Tristan's question, made the snake's eyes widen in surprise and shook its head in desperation as it darted toward him in blinding speed and wrapped its body unto Tristan's arm, clinging to him like a frantic child. Tristan looked at the snake and then toward Caliel, responding to her.

"Well... I guess that answers my worries for now, but was there anything else you wanted to say, Cal?" Caliel and Orion, who watched the entire scene folding before them, had varying degrees of emotions; Caliel was looking at him as if he were her potential cult leader who could open up a new religion, and Orion just wanted to talk to Tristan inside the house because he was the only one getting wet. So he said with his hand rubbing his forehead.

"Alright, guys, I think it's time for us to go inside... I'm the only one at this point being soaked by the rain, and staying here is getting annoying." Orion said, reminding the both of them, and luckily, Caliel wasn't defensive about it as she looked back at Orion.

"Oh yeah!! That's actually a good idea, Orion; it's getting kind of depressing out here, too; let's go, Tristan!!!" Caliel held Tristan's hand as she walked back to the house, with Orion lagging behind her.

(POV: Scene Change; Back In The House)

All three of them were in the living room, with Tristan sitting down on the couch, Caliel on Tristan's left side, sitting next to him, and Orion standing in front of him, looking at the snake in semi-confusion. He began saying.

"You know, as an imbued, I will usually have my instincts on high alert when seeing something like that, but this is kind of my first time not getting any of that when it comes to those shadows..." Caliel examined Orion strangely when she heard that, and said to to him.

"Honestly, Orion, even though I do find that weird, that isn't entirely the kid's fault either that your instinct had dulled with the lack of hunting that I can see as your conviction from the looks of it has been stagnated..." Her eyes glowed a light purple, looking at Orion carefully over. Caliel then said again.

"But there's something else you wanted to say to Tristan before we prepare to leave?" Orion, unperturbed by Caliel's stare, shook his head yes and looked into Tristan's eyes.

"Tristan... Whatever other secrets you have, try your best not to have them exposed like that again. If it were someone else other than me or the glorified purple-haired wench over there, then things would have taken an entirely different turn of events. I will still have you going to a school in Scotland.

Still, with those abilities of yours, I will be training you of my ways of fighting anything of the supernatural or the typical human, and it will be you who will incorporate my half-assed teachings, Tristan.

Kai will probably be the one teaching you about magic mojo bullshit for you... And only if you feel comfortable around me, you could tell me just a few of your secrets... Also, I'm not going to say something stupid like not to use that shadow ability of yours, but be prepared as that ability will piss off a bunch of vampires as that ability is 'the' status symbol and their pride of power... So make sure to show those shadow blood-sucking cucks that humanity is better than them at their own game." Orion smiled at the end of his speech while Caliel deadpanned toward Orion.

"Really, Orion? Was that last part necessary? I mean, he is also obviously going to be my number one Acolyte and cult leader in the making here." Now it was Orion's turn to deadpan at Caliel, but he didn't argue this time.

"You know what, Tristan, now that is your own choice to make; your father just wanted to make money and, at some point, summoned a demon because he needed help going to Arcadia alongside that monster of a wife of his." Tristan pondered Orion's words for a bit before saying.

"You know... I'm actually thinking about that, and it sounds pretty enticing, but I'm not going to do it right now, as I still need a more permanent place, and I do need to go to school, and I already have an idea of what I want to do..." Caliel softly remarked to Tristan with a grin.

"You could ask me about it anytime, Tristan, when you want to become my fellow cultist... And also I have to say this extra fact about your father, as he initially wasn't even into Occultism... He even tried summoning me through knowledge online and played with random offerings to bring my Apocalyptic form down into the human world.

At first, I was mad that a random mage summoned me, but then that anger subsided when I listened to what the mage wanted to do. We both wanted to go to Arcadia, and he gave me the ability to go there with my true might Instead of inhabiting a random human body... But never mind that I have something I wanted to give you." She stood up from the couch and reached both of her arms up at a 90-degree angle, and two scimitars appeared in her hands.

"These Scimitars were your fathers originally; I had to travel to the sight of where he fell and found these blades stuck in place; he even had the idea of forcing them in place with quintessence and that divinity I've given him as a last resort so that it would be impossible to remove... But he probably didn't realize the flaw in using both different systems was that there were holes to exploit to remove the bindings." She then flipped the Scimitars, having them facing downward, and as soon as she let them go, the blades floated toward Tristan, and when they were both close to him, they disappeared immediately. Confusing Tristan a bit on where they went, Caliel said in detail.

"Don't worry about those blades, as they are alongside you now; you could say that they've linked to you as soon as I brought you to the bedroom a while ago." The original confusion on Tristan's face subsided, but he had to ask while not trying to think about the blades for now.

"When are we leaving for Scotland?" Orion immediately answered with a tired look.

"In 2 days, we are leaving for the airport; we already have your passport in hand with everything needed for identification." Tristan, who was satisfied with the answer, slumped back onto the couch and closed his eyes to relax as best as he could.

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(POV: The Abyss)

In a formless realm that was always shaped to be unpredictable and encompasses the fears of the unknown. Devoided any life except those that dwell in the infinite layers of the unseen darkness, the creatures that stood at the opposite of life, making their very own existences a mockery towards creation, with their goal to plunge all of life into what it was before, into complete nothingness.

And within the confines of the Abyss, a particular creature takes on a form that defies mortal comprehension. Its silhouette is an ever-shifting void of darkness, a swirling amalgamation of liquid shadows that coil and writhe in response to the currents of Abyssal energy. This creature felt something amiss from the Abyss itself. And that was when it felt it, too, an unexpected reaction it hadn't felt ever since the amalgamation met Caine; even though that feeling was abysmally small, the fact there was something that could exert even a nanometre made the creature beyond curious.

It began to move through the Abyss, leaving behind a trail of ever-expanding darkness, a cosmic wake that echoes the Lasombra clan's mastery over shadows. The very fabric of the Abyss seems to respond to its presence. Telling the creature that finding whatever it was couldn't be pinpointed directly. And then, finally, the Antediluvian spoke.

*Well, now, I guess I've found something that can potentially achieve my long-term plans. Whatever it was, I'll be waiting for it to come here directly. I might even try to find a puppet to take control of to even look for it myself, but I know for a fact that we'll be seeing each other quite ₴ØØ₦." The creature's voice echoed across the scope of the void, shaking a part of the void itself, and when it was done with its self-speech, it soon fell right back to sleep into hibernation.

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A/n: Honestly, I've just started school, and my focus has been on that lately, too. And the first Arc is over, now onto the next Arc: Scotland in chaos ;]