(3rd POV: Caliel Velzula Montra Orthos Ezarothos->)
[Time: 1:15 P.M.]
A purple-haired lady was busy setting up her room when she felt an energy radiating from the basement. She shook her head as she sensed a spirit down there along with Tristan, different from that other chick who looked like she could devour toddlers for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and thought about the red box that Kai gave Tristan.
"Ohhhh... Tristan, You're a fucking dumbass for opening that box now of all times... I hope he has a safe trip for that Mage initiation to one of the Penumbras, like father-like son... But Orion would be mad about losing his weapons, though? What would he want me to do anyway? Drag Tristan back? Oh hell no, fuck that?!?! Tristan could gain some insight or boons during his time there... He'll probably need it." She said to herself and went back to humming and getting rid of some of the rubbage that was already in the room beforehand.
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(POV: Orion Constantine)
[1:45]
I finally got the car... But some old lady yelled out to me, saying, "Think fast, chuckle nuts!!" And threw plants at me before around 1:00... I think... And I didn't even try to dodge, but now I regret that as I'm itching from that poison Ivy... I'm starting to think that Tristan's familiar is out for me... Now I'll have to ask Tristan about my weapons in his shadow and to keep that crazy swine on a leash... My face is still itching, but at least I got a Ford Escort and am now close to the house.
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(General POV)
A Ford Escape drove to the driveway and was parked at the front of the house. Orion stepped out of the house with a swollen face while playing with the keys in his hand. Still, he felt something was amiss as he opened the door and sensed the only person in the house was that damned Fallen Angel, making his eye twitch, but he decided to find Caliel and asked her what was up, as like almost always, she had to be involved in some way, Orion thought.
He walked to her room and saw her lying in a bed while reading a random book from the Library in the house, Orion called out. "Where's Tristan? Seems like you're doing an absolute shit of a job supervising him."
Caliel, who put her book down and sat up while stretching her back, said to him, "Well, do you want to hear some bad news or pretty bad news?"
Orion looked at her as if she were a horrible caretaker but said nothing else except, "Tell me the news, Caliel..."
Caliel smirked and told him, "Well, Little Tristan took an initiative that every Mage had to take, which was to be transported into the Umbra planes and find their way back to the physical world... And the BAD news for you is that Tristan has all of your firearms and weapons with him on his initiation trip... So yeah, that's pretty sad.
Orion, who felt cold upon hearing Caliel's news, asked her worryingly, "Was it because of the 600 bucks?!? I was going to give it to him next week... The hell, Tristan... And also you, you haven't told me where he went in the house??" Caliel answered.
"I mean, I wouldn't hold it against Tristan to do something like that. But he went to the basement and used that red box... And that red box probably held a spirit that would usually be used as some Mage teacher or guide for [Spheres] from those weed-smoking traditionalists so high off from smoking to the point that they'd rather fuck off to the Umbra than stay a minute on Earth... Honestly, Kai seemed pretty well grounded compared to most of them, and that's not saying much."
Orion looked at her with suspicion, "How would you know all of that without even checking in the basement?"
Caliel shook her head, disappointed in Orion's question, as she said, "Buddy... use your brain cells for once, that's what I did, and Kai, that little weasel, gave him a box that smelled of Mage bullshit from a mile away, and Tristan kept that box well protected in his shadows, and you know, curiosity over a cool looking box, he probably thought that a dark basement was a perfect place to open...
And now his chances of going to the Spirit Wilds or even the Astral planes are thin... This is a perfect lesson for Tristan, as next time, find better areas to open some strange objects up."
Orion squinted his eyes sharply at Caliel for a minute before giving up, "Let's just check the basement and see what went on in there... And also, this is my first time hearing about a basement in this house. Could you show me where that is? I mean, you shouldn't be laying your ass here in a comfy, you vile heathen while reading a book... I mean, seriously!! This is child endangerment and neglect!! We can't be caught with those allegations because people will drag my name along with you..."
Caliel sneered at Orion but begrudgingly agreed, "Fine, fine, FINE!!!! I'll go with you, but I'm telling you, going to the Penumbra may be a bit dangerous depending on which one, but you're overreacting here. Tristan won't have a problem unless he pisses off a higher spirit."
Orion squeezed his eyes shut as hard as he could to the point where his face was turning red, and yelled out, "GO FIND THE BASEMENT, YOU DAMN BLUNDERING INFIDEL!!!"
Caliel jumped off the bed and walked, staring at him like a clown. As she walked past him, she swayed her hips and said, "Alright, Princess Oreo, let's go to the basement for you~."
Orion, with every fiber of his being, was trying his best not to beat her to death as his fists were squeezing tightly, and he followed behind with that same attitude all the way to the basement.
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Caliel and Orion were finally at the basement door; with a smile, Caliel opened the door and spoke to Orion, "Well, ladies first, Orion~"
Orion looked her dead in the eye and decked her in the right cheek with a right hook. The impact of the hook only moved her face a few inches, and she spat out a bit of blood as she spoke again, "*Ptui* I guess I overplayed that joke again, but if you punch me one more time, I'm going to beat the living shit out of you."
When she said that, a little spark of purple appeared from her hands, and the other hand cracked the basement door. They both eyed each other up before Orion sighed and said, "We are not parent material, huh?"
Caliel smirked at Orion and said, "Well, no shit... I screwed up taking care of one, and this should be your first time taking care of a kid, especially a young Mage with abilities that would have many other Mages want to dissect him and prod him of those secrets.
Even though Tristan going to the Penumbra at such a young age is kind of bad—and don't get me wrong, it's more than bad at this point— but he has that Familiar with him, and from that fight with you, he has that adaptability to survive there.
85% of the reason why I'm not worried is because of that Familiar. It's also a learning experience, as the life he'll be living will tread with danger... Or other option he'll become the danger."
She said with an infectious grin at the end, making Orion click his tongue a bit, "Teh~ I'm going first, Caliel. You could go back to your room or follow me downstairs."
Orion walked off into the basement, and Caliel walked behind him with that cheery smile.
Orion looked at the walls and grimaced, "My god... I wonder how many liters of blood are in this wood?" He said this, and Caliel's voice echoed from behind.
"Well, if you ask me, I'd say some of it probably came from an ancient period, and likely because of the properties, this wood was originally flesh created by the Tsimice... But somehow gained properties of wood on a cellular level... Tristan was pretty curious about this wood, too, but he didn't try asking about the specifics and thought this was wood soaked in blood..."
Orion, who heard that, was just done as he said, "Oh well now... That's mildly fucked up. I know a bit about the Tsimice and their hobbies of turning humans, vampires, and Garou into some sort of fleshy ornament... I met a gentlemanly vampire of that clan before, and they only tend to become a problem when they have a goal that is also in the form of a hobby that affects those around them...
At least they became less of a problem, though. I mean, till now, of course, just because of an Earthbound increasing its power... And after seeing Caine in the flesh, I can now see that antediluvians are a thing too, the buggy man of the world of hunters..." He talked as he was now through the hallway and saw a dark-lit room with a person who looked like Kai, who was sitting near a sleeping ten-year-old. Orion yelled out.
"Who the fuck are you?!? There ain't no way your Kai!! Kai would actually try his best to stay away from false allegations of drugging a minor!!" The Kai look-alike, who was looking at the both of them with curiosity, widened his eyes hearing Orion's proclamation and yelled out in desperation.
"WOAH!! WOAH!! WOAH!! WOAH!! HEY NOW!!! I PROMISE YOU, IN MY CREATOR'S NAME, I'M NOT LIKE THAT CHIEF!!!" Kaio backed away from the sleeping Tristan as he waved his arms.
Orion and Caliel walked up to Tristan to check on him and his status while Kaio spoke.
"Well, now... I guess you can call me Kaio, and you don't have to worry about Tristan's physical body, as his body is in a deep sleep because of the ritual, and his soul is in one of the Penumbras, where that should be the most compatible..." Caliel heard that and took a solid guess.
"Let me guess here... His soul probably went to the Shadow Lands if you are talking about compatibility... Honestly, I'm not really that worried if it's that, except for a few entities there...
I also think that Lilith and Grandmother could be walking around, but Lilith has always been stationary in the Underworld. Still, her legion of fate has been around the Shadowlands lately; Grandmother though, she might be quite the problem... I mean, she's not devouring the Shadowlands, as she's busy with The Labyrinth... But why she's appearing in the Shadowlands is unknown."
Orion looked at her with a bug-eyed expression, and Kaio, who had just heard of the information, turned pale. Orion asked her in confusion.
"How.... I mean, how do you know all of this information?" Caliel smirked, but this smirk was a bit gloomy as her eyes wandered off a bit.
"Well, you see, I was trying to find information about the whereabouts of Lucifer but was side tracked with some other information during my time in the Abyss, and I was obsessed with gathering information back then...
I used some means to gather information, as there were cracks in the Underworld, and my body could experience the state of the nonliving realm. I'm pretty sure the other demons could've done a similar feat as me but are too uptight to do so and are more into tearing at each other's throats in the Abyss. I did find some information, but it has been a while since then, and that information can change indefinitely..." She explained, giving both the Spirit and hunter different expressions. Orion started covering his face as he groaned, and the Spirit looked at Caliel with hopeless eyes, feeling like he had shoved him off to a group of Antidiluvians...
Caliel spoke again with confidence, "But then again, I'm not too worried with that Familiar close to him... If she is like one of those unspoken horrors from the void. Then he'd have an easier time in the Shadowlands... Unless Lilith or, again, Grandmother was physically around... But Tristan's goal should be to make it to The Spirit Wilds, and that would just be smooth sailings through there unless he pisses off a Celestine... He's better off looking for a way out in the Shadowlands instead..." Kaio had enough and spoke.
"And why the hell do you believe that Tristan would piss off The Celestines?!?! They are spirits of the highest order, with their true form being unimaginable!!! So wh-!!" Caliel interrupted Kaio.
"I'm more worried about who Tristan is with... If his familiar were to set foot into the Spirit Wilds, she would probably cause even more trouble there than anywhere else. If I am right about that familiar, then she has a form of her own that's hidden somewhere else, and on a random note, if he made a spirit like her go crazy about him somehow, then I don't know about the Celestines... That's all I'm going to say, and I'm no snitch either." Kaio looked at her and shook his head as he understood her sentiment.
(A/n: Personal reasons for being crazy... The rest are on-site as she sees the other Celestines 🔪 But the power she has now isn't really enough, and if she goes all out, then that's where the problem begins... But it's the thought that counts)
"I won't try to look any further with that. Tristan's Rite Of Passage shall be continued then." He announced, with only Orion now kneeling on the ground and laughing hysterically.
"HehehehheehehehehahahHAHAHAHAHH!!!! YOU BETTER COME BACK HERE WITH MY WEAPONS IN PRISTINE CONDITION, TRISTAN!!! I'LL SELL YOU OFF TO A WORKSHOP IN CHINA, YOU STUPID BRAT!!!" He yelled to the ceiling while raising his hands to the sky. Both Kaio and Caliel were actually looking at him with worry, especially Caliel. Kaio asked Caliel with a bit of worry.
Kaio: ..... "Is he going to be alright?"
Caliel: ..... "Probably... He'll get over it."
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(POV: Tristan Devroop Akvash)
[Location: Shadowlands]
I was freefalling in a dark purple pitch sky, and I was wondering why I wasn't even screaming at all; I felt pretty numb, especially with Zil just echoing in my skull like he was having the time of his life.
"AHAHAHAHAH!! SHUT UP ZIL!!! I CAN'T THINK ANYMORE WHILE FALLING OFF WITHOUT A PARACHUTE!!! Oh... I could just create one with my shadow..." I used my shadow and imagined it into a parachute, and it morphed into one, and my falling turned into a slow landing... To my surprise, as it was much easier to shape shadows, I spoke up.
"Wow!! After manipulating that primal energy or mana, it made manipulating shadows pretty easy..." Maybe things weren't going to be too hard till I heard a female voice yelling next to me.
{Well, hello there, handsome~ Isn't this romantic, just the both of us free falling in the sky together~ Just ignore the voice in your head, and this moment is a hundred times better~} Zil, who heard that yelled in my head, expecting to be heard.
'Oh no... My own Avatar is having self-doubts about his helpfulness... But Ana does have pointy hair... But they're pretty soft, too.' When I said that, I reached my hand toward Ana's hair and started stroking it gently, making her blush.
{O- oh- I mean, are you finally giving in to my femme fatale~ you sly dog~} She said while wrapping her arms around my arm... And then I realized something.
"Why do I feel like I'm bigger than before??" Ana looked up at me and said.
{Oh, silly Tristy, you're out of that childish body, and now I get to see what you look like as a soul!! So, of course, you would look like an adult... You look a bit different, too, but similar to how I remember...} She held on tightly, but I let her have that moment of hers while looking around at the desert-like biome...
My eyes turned dim as I realized I was at a place where mages would usually not walk around, or those that I heard or know of would.
"I'm in the Shadow Lands... Well fuck..." I said out loud while Zil was banging something like a piano in my head that went.'DUN DUN DUUUUN!!' And Ana, was just too focused on holding on to me instead of looking around... Feels like I'm cooked..."
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(A/n: over 100,000 words... that's a lot of words for just 25 chapters, honestly. Have a good day y'all.)