154 - Confession

“You should have seen his face,” Elric said, flipping through the pages of Yseult’s book while resting back on Vittoria’s couch, with Arielle and Sir Spendulon on the floor. “Never have I seen someone so confounded in my life.”

“I know. I was there, remember.” Vittoria sounded amused. “Mahmoud also seems to have gained some newfound respect for me.”

“Respect is one way of putting it. He was staring at you with equal parts confusion and hero worship." He licked his thumb before turning the page again. "You have to understand that even Gio hadn’t managed to unravel some of the sealed documents that we found. And you–I mean Arielle–did it with seemingly relative ease. It was incredible. Mahmoud was already an admirer, but this was something they were contemplating getting the Ascendant's help with. So seeing you do it must have been jaw-dropping.”

"Yes, Arielle and I tend to have that effect on people," Vittoria sniffed.

"Do you think he will keep it a secret from Gio?” Arielle asked.

“Mahmoud prefers as little interaction with Gio Li as possible," Elric murmured distractedly. “Most of this looks to be encoded information about some members of the assembly."

“Blackmail material," Vittoria commented.

“Precisely, with evidence stacked within. Interesting. I was wondering how he was getting so many votes on some of his policies when almost no one seemed to like him. I’m sure he was holding onto the worst of these in case one of them tried to out him.”

“But he didn’t get to use it because Arielle stole it from him.” Vittoria turned to Ari with a smile on her face. “Good girl.”

Arielle nodded. Although she was happy that the mission had been successful, she wasn’t truly absorbing what was being said. Instead, she was focused on what had happened in Yseult's estate and the connection between Yseult and the Drift.

How much did Yseult know about what his brother had done? Had he ever met the Drift or even Payn? Were they working together now? How dedicated was the Drift to Yseult’s success?

He couldn’t be that invested if it had been that easy to break the seal in the first place and gain access to the book. There were other countermeasures they could have employed. Dragged the lock deeper into the abyss, within a layer that Arielle could not reach. Or simply wrested control of the orbs from her.

But none of that had happened. It had been almost easy for her to take the lock and open the diary.

For some reason, the thought unsettled her, although likely not as much as it unsettled Yseult. He had looked genuinely shocked. Had he known why she shouldn't have found it, or had he just been assured somewhere in the abyss of his mind that everything would turn out his way?

Arielle often wondered if the Drift had reality-altering powers that helped him stay hidden and fulfil the wishes of his congregation, but so far she had not seen them in play. He had let her have the book despite the fact that he could have stopped her. Why?

“Arielle?”

Her name pulled her from her thoughts, and she looked to Elric.

“How did you find the key?” he asked.

"It was in the abyss," she said, and when Vittoria shot her a sharp glance, she amended, "I didn't utilize my internal abyss, nor did I give it access to my soul."

"Still," Vittoria said. "It was a risk."

"Not really. I knew it was in there and all I did was pull it out."

"How did you know it was in the abyss?" Elric asked.

“Lucky guess,” she said. That was easier than explaining that she knew because she’d read Cornelius’ diary and because of her own personal experience with the Drift, allowing her to connect the dots. She wasn’t even sure she could talk about that. That was part of the danger Cornelius had warned about, wasn’t it? That she couldn't share information about the Drift or she would be endangering whoever she told? And Telip had echoed the same sentiment even if he didn’t know exactly why Plutarch disappeared.

Everyone who was involved with the Drift ended up with very bad luck, disaster, or death falling upon them.

What if Ari truly was endangering them by telling them?

On the other hand, what else could she say right now?

“You’re going to have to give us a little more than that, Arielle,” Vittoria prompted, "Especially since I can tell that you’re trying to think of a convincing lie in that cute little brain of yours."

Drat.

“I’m not sure I can say more.”

“Why not?”

“Because…it’s dangerous for you to know.”

"Dangerous as in someone threatened you to keep the secret?’

“Not a threat per se,” Arielle allowed slowly. “It’s more so a consequence than a threat.”

Vittoria’s eyebrow shot up another inch, and the smile dipped from her face. She uncrossed her legs, balancing her elbows on her muscular thighs and leaning forward. “Sounds like a threat to me. Tell me who it is."

Arielle pursed her lips and shook her head.

“Who is it?" Vittoria repeated, clearly dismissing Arielle's denial.

“I can’t tell you.”

“Who is it, Arielle?”

“I really can’t tell you, Vittoria.”

That got Elric’s attention, and he was no longer sifting through pages of information. He was firmly staring at Ari, worried.

Vittoria said, “We agreed we would no longer lie to each other, Arielle."

"I’m not lying. I’m honest in telling you that I can’t tell you and why I can’t tell you. I'll put you both in danger.”

“Please,” Vittoria scoffed. “You might one day soon surpass me in strength and experience, Arielle, and when that happens, you can start worrying about protecting me, but we’re not quite at the point where I need to hear that from you. You’re a child, one who is easily manipulated. I’m an Archmage who has lived for almost half a millennium. Nothing you tell me will be a threat to me, and if anything, I can eliminate it before it hurts you.”

Arielle looked down at her hands, tracing the lines on her palms and withdrawing a little into herself. She was heavily conflicted. Was Vittoria right? Was she somehow being manipulated again without quite knowing it? Was she misguided in her effort to keep her guardians safe, and would that somehow play into the Drift’s nefarious plans towards her?

Did he have nefarious plans towards her?

“Think about it this way,” Elric spoke up. “By not telling, you’re also keeping us unaware of a possible threat to you, to your family, and to us as well. And we might not be able to stop it in time if we don't even know it might be coming.” He leaned forward, his tone gentler. “Tell us, Arielle. Trust that we can take care of ourselves and take care of you.”

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Arielle bit her lip. She truly did want to tell them. She didn't like keeping secrets, and there were so many things about the Drift she didn't understand, so her mind was constantly churning with questions, a hunger to know more.

A hunger that she was warned might lead her down a dark path, just like with the demon.

Arielle wondered vaguely if her need to know more was perhaps part of the reason she was hesitant to tell Elric and Vittoria, because she didn't want them to stop her. It was more than just about protecting them.

After all, she had told Elric about the Drift at first, and the Church of the Wayward, and nothing bad had happened.

Well, except for him being poisoned by demons and nearly dying, but ultimately she had saved him, and he was alive and well in front of her. She had also told Professor Woden, and nothing bad had happened to him either.

So maybe the risk was outsized. Or maybe Cornelius himself had misunderstood.

Or maybe he was lying to her to protect his brother, and to trap her instead, although it hadn’t seemed that way when he was working valiantly to get her out of the abyss before Payn returned.

This was so confusing. She did feel out of her depth.

Yet, when she opened her mouth, the words got stuck in her throat. She stared at Elric and imagined him once more suffering like he'd suffered from the demonic poisoning or being trapped like Cornelius Draco. Her blood ran cold, goosebumps rising like a phantom was breathing down her neck.

She had nearly lost Elric once, when he was trying to clean up her mess. It terrified her to think of going through that again.

“I’ll only tell one of you,” she announced finally. “Vittoria, I'll tell you, and you’re not allowed to tell anyone else.”

“Okay,” Vittoria accepted without a hitch.

“Wait, I don’t agree to that,” Elric said. “Why Vittoria?”

“Because she likely has more experience than you,” she said. “And more knowledge.”

“She also finds me more expendable," Vittoria quipped. “Because she cares about you more, Elric. Right?”

"Yes,” Arielle admitted. “But only a little bit.” She had gotten close to Vittoria in the past few days, but it still wasn’t the same as the affection that she had for Elric.

Vittoria chuckled. “Well, I appreciate your honesty." She rose. “We’ll talk in my room. Elric, you stay here and keep Sir Spendulon company, alright?”

Elric sent a doubtful look towards the baby dragon, who apparently didn't agree with his new temporary caretaker. The second Arielle got up and started to walk away, he waddled after her.

Vittoria obstructed him with a wall of air, and he began to scratch at it like he would the door. Eventually, he got tired of that, sniffed the air indignantly, and waddled into the kitchen, likely toward Inara.

Sir Spendulon apparently had no other use for Elric, who was watching Ari and Vittoria as they closed the door behind them.

“Alright,” Vittoria said after she pushed noise-cancelling spells to block the leakage of sound. “Tell me the name of the person threatening you and where I can find them.”

“His name is the Abyssal Drift,” Arielle said. “And he’s somewhere in the abyss."

Vittoria’s forehead wrinkled, her eyebrows drawing together in momentary confusion.

“Wait,” she said. “You mean the disciple of the Unmaker? The Primordial?”

Arielle nodded slowly, took a deep breath, and started from the beginning.

She explained how she had been assigned research for her school project and the first incident, where she found writing on the wall. She spoke about the other incidents she had experienced, Plutarch's journal in the library, and how she had gone to the Unmaker's temple and ended up in Elfheim.

That was the part that Vittoria found the hardest to believe. No one just goes to Elfheim, she said, and she thought it might have been a hallucination, so she demanded Arielle explain in detail what she had seen at Elfheim.

Arielle obliged, speaking of the auroras, the curious blend of nature scents, the soft grass, and the forest homes. She even described how she had met the Prince of Elfheim and his pet dragon Heedy, and that was where she had gotten the blue elven orb from.

Vittoria had managed to keep her expressions controlled through much of Arielle’s retelling, limiting her questions and expressions of disbelief.

But after Arielle explained in detail what the Elven prince looked like, what she had done in Elfheim, and the oath she had taken and broken, Vittoria’s eyebrows were near her hairline, her blinks slow and deliberate.

It was hard to tell how she was feeling, but she managed to summarize it with a simple phrase. "I see."

Ari swallowed, shifting from one heel to another.

Vittoria said nothing else for at least half a minute, and Arielle was silent, allowing Vittoria to digest that before she continued.

“You broke an elven oath,” Vittoria finally said.

“Yes," she said. “It was the only way I could tell Elric.”

“Elric knows about this."

“Just about the part of me going to Elfheim,’ she said. “Not about the other parts.” Although she had told Elric to investigate the Church of the Wayward, he hadn't brought it up recently. She didn't know if that was because he hadn't found anything or because he had forgotten.

Was that another trick of the Drift to keep himself hidden? Stealing information from people's minds? After all, the Unknowing was the reported skill of the Unmaker, deleting reality to serve his purpose.

Maybe that was how the Drift granted the wishes of his congregation and evaded detection, but it had to work by certain rules. Otherwise, reality would be too chaotic, and no one would even know of his existence or be able to stop him.

So there had to be a limit.

Vittoria was still thinking.

Ari hoped she hadn’t made a mistake.

Every word she had uttered had been difficult to say, thanks to the clock of doom in her head. But at the same time, it was a relief not to have to handle it alone. And Vittoria was the most powerful person she knew, and the most knowledgeable. If there was anyone who could help her find the Drift, or overcome whatever Yseult's plan was with him, it was her.

“Should I continue?” Arielle asked.

“There’s more?” Vittoria’s voice was higher than usual.

Ari nodded. “In the Helleron forest, I went through an abyssal door in the ruin. I met Cornelius Draco. Or at least an entity claiming to be Cornelius Draco. He’s one of the Congregation of the Church of the Wayward, and he’s stuck there for eternity doing the Drift's wishes. I think he traded his soul for Yseult’s success.”

“I don't understand."

Arielle summoned the journal, passing it through the door. “His journal shows that he made a sacrifice, joined the church, and basically signed his life to the Drift in return for Yseult’s success. It’s probably why Yseult rose so quickly in the ranks through inexplicable means. It might also explain the interesting relationship between Yseult and the High Ascendant, one that defies reason.”

“You think the High Ascendant knows about this?”

Arielle shrugged. “I don’t know. But I’m worried about the implications of all this.”

"Yes, this all is very worrying," Vittoria said, rubbing her chin. "Especially when you add demons into the mix."

Arielle nodded. If what she was saying was true, they were dealing with two powerful groups of entities instead of one. But again, she didn't know the Drift's aim, so there was so much ambiguity there.

“Give me some time,” Vittoria said. “Let me look into it more. I don't know enough about this situation, but I have heard the rumors. I’ll go from there.”

"Okay, but be careful. Everyone who has anything to do with the Drift eventually runs into some problem, and either disappears or dies," Arielle said. "They also tend to have strong Vacu cores, like me." And you. After all, Vittoria’s most dominant core was Vitae, with Luxa and Vacu as her balancers.

Vittoria stared at her, understanding what Ari wasn't saying. She put her hand on her shoulder. “Don’t worry, Arielle. I'll take care of it."

Arielle nodded slowly, but there was still apprehension, a voice in the back of her head telling her that she had made a mistake.

"In the meantime,” Vittoria said. “We'll have to start self-defense lessons. I might have to go hunt down the demon on my own, to prevent them from coming for you, so I want you to know powerful spells in case anything happens."

“Okay," she said. "But what about the hidden ability marker?"

"You’re still worried about that?

“Yes."

“It would make more sense for you to have a hidden ability marker, considering your skill.”

"Yes, but Elric said not having one is still my ultimate defense against anyone accusing me of doing the things that we do."

Vittoria cocked her head and shrugged. "I'll teach you other spells then. I'm sure you'll get creative with it."

Arielle nodded.

For the rest of the day, Arielle had a brief meeting with the dean (or at least an image of him transferred through a messaging orb) where they discussed more deflection tactics and how to study people without their knowledge. He taught Arielle to work on her facial expressions, making it appear more welcoming to those she sought to deceive.

Then, the next day, Vittoria finally allowed Inara, Sir Spendulon, and Arielle out onto the porch. She stated that her traps had matured and the inhabitants of the cabin would not be detected from the porch.

Sir Spendulon took it a step farther and threw himself into the sand, right at the end of the steps. Despite Vittoria’s protest, he began to roll around and practically bury himself in it, making Arielle laugh.

She watched him as Vittoria and Inara disappeared indoors.

Not long after, she heard a whoosh.

And a voice that sounded like her sister, shouting her name.