War of the Heart

Arcane

When Arcane had been a child and her father had made a bad business deal or lost a gamble, he'd often call life a greedy bugger. She disagreed. Life was a tease, a sadist, an executioner. Life had no mercy, dangling happiness in front of one's face only to snatch it away and shove you into a ditch.

It was with this sentiment that Arcane peered into the Chèr's office, eying the real Tiresias. He read through papers with his tongue stuck out in concentration and put far too much oil in his hair. Suddenly the freckles that she'd once adored seemed ugly and instead of admiring his working as studious she found him to appear rather dumb. How odd it was that Detruienn had inhabited his body better than the person it belonged to did. He rather resembled a puppy whose paws were too large for its pathetically small body.

She had been a fool to believe in a love like that. It was the stuff of novels, not reality, and she should have known that. Deep down she knew it had all been a lie, in fact, Detruienn must be a bit of a pedophile. Funny, that while trying to avoid creeps, she'd waltzed right into the arms of one. Despite this rational conclusion, he haunted her dreams. Some were nightmares. Others paradise.

The worst part was that she was grateful for what they'd had. As twisted as it had been, it had made it clear how fucked up everyone else was too. Godkisser. Baba Mair had known all along and not ever thought to warn her, aside from with an archaic phrase that had slipped out by accident. Medea had known but had been too obsessed with her perfect future. Gadeden had tormented her with flashes of the horrific future without bothering to point towards the elephant in the room. They'd all watched a young girl be preyed upon by a spirit and hadn't raised an eyebrow. Merari had proven herself to be vastly superior by running to Arcane the moment she'd discovered the truth for certain. And Detruienn...? Arcane couldn't help but believe the spirit had wanted to tell her but something was stopping her. Was it the secrecy pact? Maybe. Was Arcane being a fool by defending her? Probably, but her mind wasn't that easy to control.

'Arcane, I'm glad you're here. I have something to discuss with you.'

Arcane grimaced at the Chèr and wheeled herself in. Was this one more person suggesting she should get therapy when they probably needed it more than her?

'From what I've managed to find out, your siblings are living on my estate and being raised by Nancy. I'm not sure quite how this came about, but it's impossible to continue on so many levels. Firstly, Nancy is a walking religious scandal, I can't have my name associated with her. Then there's the fact that they are pricy-'

'Oh yes, I fully understand why you can't be associated with Nancy, that's such a big scandal, especially when compared with the fact that you were possessed by a destruction spirit for months,' Arcane retorted.

'That was fully out of my control, but Nancy knew what she was doing. And my father... No, it just won't do,' he firmly stated.

'I get the impression it was more your father than anything. You should be—'

'Let's move on to other issues. The children should be at school, getting an education. Why are they on my estate then? I have nothing whatsoever to do with them.' He hesitated for a moment, then reluctantly added, 'We're not distantly related... are we?'

'No, we're not,' said Arcane, grossed out by the mere suggestion. 'But my father insists on them being homeschooled. They usually have a governess but...'

They'd decided at the time it was better to leave her in the dark. She'd been ill while the children had been at the palace and since Lilith had blurted out the secret to their father, Arcane had feared they'd tell the governess about their powers. She couldn't exactly tell the Chèr that in case he didn't know. Unfortunately, it dawned upon him.