Having teleported out of the place to the front of a decently large house, Lotus was rather surprised upon feeling a heavy atmosphere in the air. The flame in her hand flickered a couple of times as Peony chuckled, "It'll be all right. Take your mind off of my father if you could too. Being of nature, he dislikes seeing souls as it is in a similar manner as seeing a moving deceased being. Hence, the unfavorable reaction. It is the same with other fairies, so do not mind it too much if you can. They will not refrain from saying unfavorable words seeing you in this form as well or hearing of this event in the future. It is unpleasant to be treated as such during this state for many, but, to change others, you must make yourself stronger and don't give up."
The flame flickered again. This time, her eyes widen in surprise before a smile slowly appeared on her face again, "Yes, I am also not of this world. It was mother and the fairies who saved me. Then, they and father raised me since then."
As the flame continued to flicker, Peony responded, "No. It's best assumed, from the reaction of people that have come after me, that my real parents have had their lives taken by their hands not long after my birth. My descent into this world was their ploy to end me as well. However, I was discovered by some humans who brought me to an illegal orphanage. I escaped before I ran into my mother. As for the orphanage... Although I do hate them, I don't feel that their actions deserves the end of their lives yet. Not when there are still other children who were victims under their hands and still want them to pay for what they've done."
The flame flickered again as they came to an understanding. Peony nodded, "Then, shall we?"
The flames flickered again seemingly brighter.
She entered the room carefully sheltering the blue flame from the soft breeze. Upon entering, she was met by the annoyed look of a familiar tall woman.
"Ah... M-Missus Zigvolt..."
"Hmph! So, you do remember I'm your teacher, after all..." The tall woman glared down upon her with a threatening smile across her face. She suddenly felt a sharp pinch on her ear as the woman continued scolding her, "Did I not tell you to let us know ahead of time when you need something from us? What happened with that?"
"Uh... It was a last-minute occurrence, teacher! There was an occurrence on the morning after the call." She stuttered trying to pacify her teacher.
"An occurrence?" Missus Zigvolt raised a brow curiously, "What happened?"
Peony recounted what had occurred on campus which quickly made her teacher go pale.
"There was an attack on the school?" Her teacher scowled, "The people of Isle of Lament really struck, after all... Is the prince safe? Where was Sebek?"
"Naturally." Peony nodded, "Not only is the prince strong with or without magic, he never overblotted either. So he was never harmed during the crossfire. In fact, Lilia-senpai was also with him during the entire attack. As for Sebek, he was with Silver at the stables. Our classmates said that the two fought against the machines before their target was taken. After they heard that all of the dorm leaders were taken, they made a mad dash back to the dorm without understanding the majority of the situation. It would seem that they were just fine seeing how they ran back to the dorm without fail. Apparently, he was quite frustrated upon hearing that the targets were mostly dorm leaders since he was afraid that something would happen to the prince during his absence."
"So, it would seem that not only was the retainers well enough to run all the way back, but Malleus is unharmed."
The voice that came soon after gave her teacher a start!
It was a rather ambiguous voice that showed no weakness to the private details of the person behind it. However, Peony had already know who it was behind the very walls of the home.
There was a soft sigh as the voice continued, "I hope that everything flows in your favor, princess."
Peony nodded her head softly with a confident smile, "It shall be finished within three days."
"That child... so small that it could be swept away with just a slight breeze."
Hearing this, the floating ball of blue fire softly move to the tip of her fingers giving a quiet flicker.
"What is he saying?"
"It's a greeting, milady." Peony responded respectfully, "It's been a long time since he last greet someone, so he's nearly forgotten to greet others before him."
"I see..." The voice responded, "Let us hope that everything goes well. We wish him the best of luck as well..."
With that, her teacher guided her into a separate room as she placed the soul fire back into her ring when there was a sudden bright light and she found herself in a large stone wall room well-decorated in a number of decorations and intricately designed banners. Before her was one tall figure with flaming blue hair staring at her with a pair of stern eyes piercing at her and dressed in a dark blue and black robe. However, Peony was already prepared to be faced with those eyes. Next to the man across the table was a tall figure with striking green hair and sharp eyes. In a military robe, he sat with an air of intimidation and resolution.
"Princess Peony..." An old woman with a cloak over her body approached from amongst the three cloaked elder women, "Greetings. This is the current captain of the S.T.Y.X and head of the Shroud family."
"Greetings." Peony curtsied politely with an unyielding smile before their omnious gloom about them, "I am Peony Xue, Princess of Fairy Kingdom."
It was nothing like the vibe that shined when they perform. However, Peony did not expect them to appear like that either. The man began with a frown, "Let's get this done. Where is my son?"
"Very well." Peony pulled out the blue flame from her ring, "This is the half of your son's soul... Ortho Shroud."
Seeing the small flickering flame put the father on edge as he narrowed his eyes, "You expect me to believe that this tiny flame is a soul of him?"
"Rather you choose to believe me to or depends on you." Peony stated with a frown, "Just know, that this tiny flame is what is left of his soul... What is left after it was separated by conflict."
"What happened to the other half?"
Peony shook her head, "I have no clear explanation as I was not there to see what conflict it was that caused this separation. It can be done so by means of magic or an error of ritual. But, I suspect that a conflict between a strong curse and an intense turmoil of emotions caused this separation. What can cause such a powerful reaction to affect the soul that can't be touched by mortals can only be something spiritual and difficult to explain with logic."
Upon hearing the word "curse", the man frowned. However, Peony did not stop, "When I took a look with my magic, what I found was that the soul is existing in a partially physical form by feeding off the remaining magic in him. However, because it is so little amount, he now needs to rely on someone to continue supplying him with more for him to keep existing in this form. However, it seems inadequate to what the curse requires. For now, I am creating what is required for Ortho to continue existing in this form..."
She paused as she could see the expression on the man's face continue to grow darker and darker.
"What do you want?" He stated firmly as if exerting the mana around them to pressure on her to shut up.
However, Peony did not budge. Instead, she sighed, "Unless half of the soul gets the blot to feed on, Ortho will vanish with no chance of return or move on. To keep his soul in one piece, requires him to be reunited with his other half."
"Impossible." He stated bluntly.
"It is not impossible." Peony shook her head unperturbed by the harsh gaze of the man before her, "It is a thirty-seventy success rate. However..."
"Don't..."
She took out a white piece she used to play go and continued, "If I were to step in and clear the blot, I can give him a chance to return his soul as a whole. It would be fifty-fifty and it'll raise his chances by twenty percent. However, whether he can merge with his other half again depends on himself."
"Enough!"
A resounding sound could be heard echoing across the room as a sheering pain could be felt across her cheek. The man was already out of his seat with hair of red flame over his head.
"Princess!" Her teacher and the elderly man gasped in shock.
"Don't play around with my children's lives!" The head of the Shroud family glared at her from the other side of the table.
Missus Zigvolt took a swift step forward, but she was stopped as Peony raised a hand calmly. Peony sighed and nodded, "It would seem that this conversation have created confusion."