Dubious proposal

Orion's final statement loomed within the air. A deafening silence waged between the two, with neither talking. Lux thought about its next words, seeking to convince Orion about its intentions. Orion thought about what genre the tome in front of him was. Somehow, Lux could tell from his wondering expression.

"You could call it wisdom. It's not just one, but many." The boy showed no signs of striking up a conversation, so Lux had to bear the brunt. Lux's idea served its purpose as Orion followed up with a reply.

"Wisdom can tell me how to get revenge, night? Right? Bright? Blight?"

"You've gone too far. It was 'right'."

"So Blight is night? Bright?" Lux needed three lifetimes' worth of patience to hold itself back from slapping Orion with its cover. The boy seemed to go down an endless spiral of self-induced confusion. Whenever he approached the word he looked for, he slipped on his tongue and had to start over. This repeated itself until Orion forgot what he was doing.

"Done?" Lux hung onto the last sliver of self-restraint he had.

"What should I be done myth? Smith?" A blunt object catapulted Orion's frail body away at a considerable speed. After a few rotations that would have impressed a group of grumpy judges, his figure came to a rest. His eyes continued to spin for a while. From his position, the blurry grand tome, which had its first page unveiled, appeared regular-sized. The stress that built up in Lux's head disappeared for some reason.

"What was that-"

"It's 'for'." In an instant, Lux vanished and reappeared in front of him. Its size returned to its grand demeanor.

"You're being quite pru-." Lux flinched, causing Orion to change his choice of words. "-dent. Yes, exactly. Prudent. The wise and screwed. Shrewd Book." Upon his mistake, Orion tucked his body together, preparing for another slap. Instead, Lux stared at him. It didn't have a face, but Orion felt its piercing gaze deep in his bones.

"Returning to my question. How do I get my revenge?" Thinking that both of them were out for this topic, Orion returned to it. Lux didn't join him at first, making him unsure about his choice. After a light sigh, which Orion never expected to hear from a piece of writing, Lux let the matter of his mistakes go.

"This may sound harsh, but you won't." Lux's straightforward voice pierced Orion's heart. Its harsh words were in stark contrast to its sweet echo. "You'd have better luck wanting to rule the world." With every ring of its sound, the thorns in its words permeated deeper. "Like I said, it surprised me that you could still reason."

Orion's clenched his hands into fists, little dents forming from his fingernails. "You are simply too young to understand the disparity separating you from them." Lux slashed at his dreams with its unfiltered messages. "To be honest, surviving the abyss is most likely the greatest of your life's achievements."

"What do you know about me?" Orion didn't want to stand Lux's abuse any longer. Far too long, did he get swept under a rug by those with power. He grew sick and tired of being treated like dust.

"About you? Barely anything. My confidence comes from the knowledge about those you wish to challenge."

"So you did just come here to mock me about my lack of power." He knew he shouldn't have trusted its words without giving it another thought. How could he have let the same mistake blind him as it almost did back then? Orion shook his head, wanting to rid himself of those long-gone memories.

"With all due respect, how did you manage to reach that conclusion twice now? Did you forget it was you who asked me that question?"

"Fine, but so what? No need to punch a dead horse, right? If you are so set on denying me of my aspirations, you could be nicer about it."

"I didn't quite deny you yet, though." Orion looked at Lux with one eyebrow raised. He looked forward to whatever ridiculous justification it would come up with next. "I only said you couldn't get it. What about the two of us?"

To his disbelief, Lux's words made sense. With the help of a being claiming to be a god, supposedly carrying knowledge spanning several eons, he may grasp his dream. Orion wasn't satisfied with just that, but other matters outweighed his residual grump.

As quick as the idea came, he noticed something off about it. Lux's believes on goodhood didn't match up with its intentions.

"If I am so weak and helpless that I can only achieve my goal with your aid, why would you help me then? I think you'd be better off alone."

"You may be weak at the moment, but a child of sin is bound to grow with the right teacher. That reminds me, what did you do to earn that title?" Lux, being a fountain of wisdom, wanted to know more about Orion's situation. The questions plagued him ever since he first saw him.

"You and me both," Orion said, jamming the gears in Lux's conscience. It asked for Orion to repeat himself, but discovered that it understood the first time around.

"What do you mean you don't know? Did you not eat a forbidden fruit, granting you boundless powers? Or maybe had a little something with one of the holy missuses at the lotus garden?" Lux listed all the things he knew to be frowned upon by the guardians.

"It's your turn to have a bright imagination. I really don't know." Orion didn't realize the ire in his tone. Orion also wanted to know, which is why he vowed to ask them at the moment before their retribution. Their complacent attitude toward his lack of knowledge haunted him since then. "You seem to know something about what they called me?"

"More than you, but even I am missing out on that subject." Lux's figure swayed side to side, imitating a human's way of denying. "I can tell you everything I know, though." Lux recalled everything it could.

A child of sin was someone who went against the rules of the guardians. They would be punished after their death since that was the only way for the netherworld's rulers to use their power on them. Ever since the 'Great Divide', no one has persecuted any child of sin, which has turned them into myths of forgotten ages.

No one knew if they still existed to this day, or if they were all eradicated already. Orion's appearance shook the realm, reviving the legends. His mere existence was like a threat to the guardians' long-lasting rule. 'If even a single one survived those dark times…'

"So does that mean that a child of sin is someone powerful?"

"Not quite. Some were just unlucky and broke a rule otherwise easily abided." Lux finished by explaining to Orion what past figures like him did. From the slaughter of almost extinct races to the destruction of entire realms, they spared nothing.

"And there was one who had bad breath." Lux refused to elaborate, leaving Orion in a perpetual state of confusion. "That is all I know. As you can see, even the powerful let their lives at the guardians' might."

Hearing the tales of the statue's victims, Orion refused to think it over again. Instead, he now had even more of a reason to take revenge. Not just for him, but also for those who have fallen to the unjust judgment of their whims. "How will we get my revenge?"

"One after the other. Let me ask you this first. Will you accept my help?" Lux's offer made Orion's mouth water. He believed he would make it on his own too, but refusing the hand reached at him would be foolish. However, it sounded too good to be true. There was no such thing as a free meal.

"What do you want from me?" Orion shot Lux a scrutinizing look. It didn't occur to him that an entity as grand as the one facing him would need something from him. But neither did he trust it to help him for nothing. Its earlier words tore his wishful thinking to shreds.

"At times like this, I want you to be less mentally capable." Before Orion could comment on its rude remark, Lux continued. "I hate to admit it, but you've reached the right conclusion. I need your help, Orion."

"You, an ancient tome with the power to stop time, need the help of me, a boy unable to fend off three, in your eyes insignificant, assassins?" Orion couldn't shake off his suspicions.

"Don't rub wound in my salt: Great, your slurs of words are affecting me."

"What blurs?"

"I will smack you if you don't stop." Like children, they bickered for a while before the conversation returned to normal. The two put on an air of urgency again as if coming back to a business meeting after a short slacking session.

"Orion, the fabric of reality is in grave danger and I need your help to protect it." Lux's revelation rendered Orion speechless, unable to process it.