Chapter 34: Thirteenth Pillar

The door had barely closed behind Marcellus and Maeve when the air beside Luca’s desk folded, briefly, like a page turning, and Seren Veyra was simply standing there.

She hadn’t been there a second ago.

"That---" she said, "was not what I expect to walk in."

"Walk in?" Luca looked at her. "You were already here?"

"I mean I assumed I’d be watching a boy either panic, posture, or be terrified in front of a top ten," She folded her arms with a tablet tucked in her bosom, "Instead I watched him...make you a coffee?"

"He made himself coffee first...mine was incidental," Luca added.

"And you did not find that strange?" she asked.

"I found it very strange, that’s rather the point," he said.

"What do you think we should do?" she asked walking in front of the desk.

"I already told him to keep it scarce, that buys time but not safety," Luca tapped one finger against the desk.

"An unranked heir who suddenly became rank 117, and now has a power that can decide the structure of power for austerity and opulence," Luca scoffed.

"He has house Severan," Seren said.

"House Severan is the reason he needs protecting in the first place," Luca said it flatly. "Severans are not generous, they’re hounds...hounds that might even go after their children if need be."

"At this point, an organization is not something he needs for protection, he needs a position, recognition, placed in a manner that the one who decides to come after him, has to think twice before making a move,"

"A position?" Seren lowered the tablet.

"I don’t think we can assign him as a pillar when the rankings have already been decided, and he’s not even in top hundred at the moment."

"Twelve positions were enough when the strongest were simply...strong," he looked at her and smiled. "He isn’t simply a strong cadet,"

"People will try to own him through whichever part they can, whether it be his family, his force, or anything. Giving him a title does not prevent that; it just makes ownership expensive. And that in itself is what I call positioning," Luca said.

"Right now, it’s just House Severan, and they as I say are hounds. But what if it was IAA, and the Union, along with Severans. Just like the twelve Pillars,"

"The...thirteenth Pillar?" Seren raised her brows.

"There has never been a position like that in three generations," she said.

"And that just contradicts your analogy, a while ago you were saying that you’ll keep the matters quiet." She glanced at the door once.

"Oh, well, there’s nothing we can do about it," Luca shrugged his shoulders.

"..." Seren pinched her brows, and shook her head.

.-.-.-.-.-.

Maeve and Marcellus stood inside the elevator, and the silence was awkward. No, it’s been getting weird and weird for Maeve.

’This...is all above my pay grade,’ she thought.

’Everything...everything about him is fake,’ she was now sure of it. The reports she had got before being assigned as his handler, and assistant.

The rumours, the powers, his personality profile, all of it. All of it was fake.

A boy who grew up as support now suddenly can create powers and heal people? Either his environment was being controlled, and still is even if he’s far from his home. Or he’s just...changed.

’Could be a multiple personality disorder too, but I don’t think his memories change, just the way he behaves does,’ she thought.

"You know you have to press the button for the elevator to move," Marcellus said, breaking the silence. He still had headphones hanging around his neck, but he did not have her phone with him anymore.

"What’s on your mind?" he asked.

"Can I be informal?" Maeve turned around and asked.

"I mean, you never really act formally around me, but sure," Marcellus nodded.

"What’s...what’s your plan? Don’t give me that ’I haven’t really thought about it,’ No, You have. You clearly know what you’re doing and I ...I feel lost, do you have any idea? I’m, I’m not just your handler, I’m trying to build my own career, I don’t want to---to go down while you end up doing something you shouldn’t be---"

"My, so curious~" Marcellus put his hand on his chest, and gave an exaggerated expression.

"..." Maeve furrowed her brows, and tightened the grip of her fist.

She took a step forward, and another.

"Uh..." Marcellus took a step back, and hit the wall of the elevator.

She stopped right till her head touched his chin.

*Bang*

She banged her into the wall, right beside his head. The wall of the elevator bent easily to the force of her fist, and the whole structure shook, and creaked.

"..." Marcellus looked at the bent metal beside his head, then at the small fist still buried in it, then at Maeve’s face. She was close enough that he could feel the heat of her breath.

’Sometimes I forget she’s strong,’ he thought.

The elevator kept shuddering, and then came to a silent hold once again.

"Answer the question." She said flatly.

"Well, I see that you’re trying your best to build your...career? If you do not want to be an assistant, you can choose not to be one, I never stopped you from leaving, or ever forced you to do anything," Marcellus shrugged his shoulder.

"But if not a handler or an assistant, what do you want to be? A global ranked awakener? You can easily achieve that in years. Create a faction of yours? Possible once you rank globally. Live a peaceful life? I can provide you with funds for that. Be in another family and work as their awakener? I can manage that with my influence." Marcellus tilted his head.

"What is your goal? You see, mine is clear. I don’t want my life controlled, I hate that. So I’ll do anything to bring the one who has been controlling my environment down, even if that means going against my own family. But, what about you? I never forced you to work for me, and I’m honestly not fond of such authoritarian positions either, that is why I never once considered you as a mere assistant," he said.

"I---" She was about to speak but Marcellus cut her words off.

"You and I have completely different positions. You can choose to walk off whenever you want. No one will come after you. I don’t have that option. And the worst part is, that I know what happens if I don’t play it right. I know how I can be used over and over again; I’ve felt that enslavement deeply, and I’ll do anything to make sure the same is never repeated."

"I can either be useless, tossed out of the family, face an untimely death so that someone takes my position of heir, or I can make it so that no one...and I mean it. I can just create a value strong enough that no one dares to touch me."

"I don’t create plans. Plans are not like a mental map I can just design to control people around me to do work in my favour. No. Things like this work only in stories, because the author has narrative to control thoughts of people around the main character."

"We live in a world where everyone thinks of themselves as a mastermind. I cannot just create a plan and execute it, I have to control institutional legitimacy. I have to know who wants what from me, and how I can use that to position myself in a manner that keeps me safe."

Maeve’s eyes stayed locked on his as the words settled in silence.

’He’s making himself too expensive for anyone to own...that’s his strategy?’ She was confused.

That was the entire plan. Stripped of every flourish words. And he’s succeeding. Not just barely, but as days pass, things are going to change substantially.

"Your turn," his voice dropped. He sounded extremely mature and gentle for the Marcellus she knew.

"What?" her brows drew together.

"This was my direction," his hand rose slowly, and settled at the small of her back. He drew her half closer until her chest met his. "How far do you actually want to go?"

"You can choose to leave," he continued, thumb moving against the fabric of her shirt. "I give you my word, not a single person within Severan family will stop you."

*Buzzz*

Her phone buzzed in the pocket of her skirt. But she ignored it. Notifications were spamming suddenly.

Marcellus’s other hand rose and rested lightly against the side of her neck. His fingers threaded into the hair at her nape in a loose hold.

"You can take your time deciding what you want," he said in a low voice. "But at least you’re not frustrated anymore."

Maeve’s breath had gone shallow. She could feel the steady beat of his heart against her own ribs.

"You---" She put her hands on his chest and pulled herself away.

"You’re impossible!" She muttered under her breath.

*Buzzz-Buzzz*

"Fuck, what is it now?" She turned around hiding the blush seeping on her neck, and took out her phone.

She unlocked it and clicked on the notifications buzzing.

Marcellus walked close behind her and leaned in to look at the phone.

{----------------

Union Executive Notice

Designation Established

Following executive review and immediate institutional ratification, the Union and IAA has established an additional Pillar Designation.

Thirteenth Pillar. Designated Title: REAPER.

Marcellus Severan.

Effective immediately, the designation grants all rights, access, and institutional standing associated with a Pillar Seat. All matters concerning the Thirteenth Pillar are henceforth subject to the same institutional authority governing the Twelve Pillars.

By order of the Assistant Director of the Union, and IAA.

Seren Veyra.

-----------------}

"...fu-ck..." she muttered.

"Oh well, first step of the plan was easy, it seems." He scoffed.