The Anachronist eventually sat on a sofa beside Sera, both staring at Aiden who is oddly silent, so he could tell that his silence means he wants every bit of truth revealed before he could even think about spilling a tiny bit of information.
"I am Aldric Vane, a scholar before the Amezor's crisis, before then, I was more interested in studying the boundary between worlds" He said silently.
He continued, "And you might think I was marked by Zephyron to wield the sorcerer's power I've been using—but you're wrong. I got this power from an ancient artifact called the Sorcerer's Gore. I am one of the Order's most valuable assets. That's all you need to know."
He paused, letting the weight settle.
"Now, if there's anything we need to know about this Paragon of Destruction, you will tell us. Now."
His tone made it clear: Aiden's free pass to run the show had just expired.
Then Aiden stood up silently and moved gracefully around the room, knowing they both depended on his information.
" The Annihilator was the Paragon of destruction within me, and he seems to have had history with Zephyron, cause he doesn't seem surprised when I told him about our predicament on Earth" Aiden said has he looked them in the Eye then pour a little red wine in an ancient gourd.
But Sera seems more concerned with a particular word that Aiden said " Wait you said was?" She asked as she stood up and moved closer to Aiden.
Then Aiden turned his back to her and said that the mark on his is gone. "Yeah, dude is gone, right after he spilled the beans... I should count myself lucky that I even survived"
But Aldric had another question in mind, one could tell that the little information that Aiden dropped knocked them off balance. "You said he has had history with the Annihilator before?"
"Yes, they crossed part before, they were some sort of nemesis, now would you let me finish?" Aiden asked and responded in a distressed tone that shows they are interrupting him with their early questions.
Aldric and Sera fell silent. Then, as if pulled by an invisible string, they sank back into the sofa. Aiden raised the gourd to his lips, but Aldric's hand shot out.
"Don't!"
Aiden froze.
"Drink that, and you fall into an eternal slumber." Aldric's voice was low but urgent. "That drink isn't for you—it's for sorcerers. It lets them travel between dimensions."
Aiden looked at the drink with disgust and disappointment in his face, then finally looked at Aldric poking the bottle at him, who was a few metres away from him.
"why would you put such a drink in such a close range when you know it could poison your guest!" Aiden responded as he carefully placed the drink back in the table where a lamp stand shades a crimson red light in the room.
" As I was saying, according to Annihilator, Zephyron is known as The Architect of Order across the universe. "
" He does not conquer for power. He does not enslave for order. He conquers because he is searching. "
The tension pierce into the room like a sharp dagger, Sera who seems to have been working under Zephyron also didn't see this coming. Aldric seems rather disturbed by this.
"A dying man desperate for survival—who has the right intentions but the wrong approach, and a mindset that refuses to be stopped—is the most dangerous being of all," Aldric commented in response to what Aiden had said.
" That's not even the beginning of our predicament, Eons ago, Zephyron was wounded—struck by a weapon forged in the heart of a dying star. The wound never healed. It consumes him slowly, century by century. He has been dying for longer than your species has existed."
" Sorry, your species? What do you mean by that" Aldric asked in confusion as he interrupted Aiden with a puzzled expression.
" God ! Can't you comprehend simple explanation? I'm simply putting it the way the paragon explain it, a first person narration"
"Next time, just lead with that. Give us a warning before you dive into whatever narrative technique that was." Aldric's anger arrived softly at first, then settled into his voice like a headache he didn't ask for. "We don't have time for technique-switching. Get to the point." His tone wasn't loud—just tired, sharp, and quietly desperate.
Aiden, looked at Aldric with an expression that clearly seems like he is disgusted and pissed off by what Aldric says, but he decided to ignore him " According to what he said, the mark is giving the High Ends and those that pledge allegiance to him is not just meant to control them"
" Another hidden agenda behind it is to search the whole world, for what could help him recover from this wound, not just our world, he has conquered thousands of worlds, if not millions... searching for cure to his ailment" Aiden explained with silent and solemn voice that seems to dominate the room with a solemn voice.
" So basically, he's not just some blockhead tyrant..." Aldric says with a silent tone before Sera cuts in.
" ... He is just a dying man, looking for a means of survival" Sera cuts in with a silent tone.
" Yeah, but that doesn't change anything, if there is one thing we should be more cautious about, is a dying man looking for every means to survive, let alone a cosmic entity" Aiden responded with a protesting tone.
" This is one hell of an information Aiden, this changes the way we view everything entirely, it will be so helpful, we just have to get it to the order organisation" Sera responded with a soothing sound that speaks complement.
Aldric fell into a deep silence, his mind wandering so far from the room that he seemed to forget anyone else was there. The silence stretched, then settled into the corners like a patient listener. Even the room itself seemed to hold its breath as everyone tried to process the information they had just received—and what it would undo, rewrite, or ruin.
Aldric turned to face Aiden, who appeared to be wandering around the room with no clear purpose. "Aiden, do you—" He stopped mid-sentence as he watched Aiden drift past a third empty shelf. Aldric's planned question evaporated on the spot. His voice dropped into something solemn, but mostly just annoyed. "What the hell are you looking for?"
"Uh, hello? Thirsty over here." Aiden didn't bother glancing at Aldric—his eyes were too busy hunting down every shelf in the room. "Since you're pretending not to get me, I'll just take matters into my own hands. And hopefully find a drink in them."
In less than a minute, a bottle of wine materialised in Aldric's hand and he handed them over to Aiden who was rather pleased by the sight of the bottle of wine.
" So what were you saying?" Aiden took a big gulp of wine, which pleased him enough to bring back his attention to what Aldric wanted to ask.
" Did Annihilator give you any other information about Zephyron?" Aldric asked.
" Information like what?" Aiden asked, trying to figure out what Aldric really meant.
"Like how we can defeat him, or where and how we can reach him."
Sera, who had been silent the whole time, watching the scene unfold, finally cut in to help Aldric clarify what he was trying to say to Aiden—who seemed rather oblivious to their point.
But then, when Sera enlightened what Aldric was trying to say, he then understood. Instead of giving a straight answer, he was silent for a while, eventually deciding to give a response.
" No, not really, the Paragon is not really a chatty kind person, he is a cosmic entity... that's all he says" Aiden responded silently, barely looking at their face, but only stuck his face to the bottle in his grip.
Both Aldric and Sera gave each other a silent glance, one could tell from their disbelief expression on their face, Aldric decided to speak up, but Aiden's voice cut in before he could make a sound.
"One more thing!" Aiden's voice seems louder than earlier, almost like he was red to yell which nearly jumped them.
Aldric responded lazily " Whaaat?"
" Don't let the Order Organisation know about the Paragon yet, I mean Annihilator"
This time, it was Aldric and Sera who exchanged a startled glance. Aiden saw it but simply looked away, feigning ignorance.
What would drive Aiden to say such a thing? Aldric mused. Is he hiding something from us?
The question gnawed at him as he struggled to make sense of the riddle unfolding in front of him.
A/N: Please, don't just read,support with a review and a power stone or two, they will really help to encourage into writing more chapters