The Secrets of Lore Seymour

49. The Undeniable Truth

Cyan P.O.V.

I'm finnicking with some equations in the lab that lead nowhere. My mind has been wandering for some time now, probably because the sun has set a while ago. Typically, Draven would have arrived to nag about how I need proper sleep to function, especially me because I hardly function with enough sleep. I would whine about needing to work while I'm in my groove. He'd proceed to nag even more until I got so bothered that I'd lose that groove and leave.

However, Draven and I have, once more, decided to halt communications until further notice. Admittedly, that was mostly my decision after he seemed so adamant in not wanting me to travel to Vexsis. Doesn't he understand that Lore respects his decision? If he pushed to leave me behind, Lore would have listened. This is another chance to prove myself! Especially in Vexsis, somewhere I may be useful. Lore seems to know that if he actually wanted to bring me.

Why does Draven get in the way of that? One minute he's claiming he doesn't want to treat me like a child, the next that's exactly what he's doing! What a blundering blockhead.

Bang!

I jolt at the abrupt opening of the laboratory doors. Unfamiliar giggles echo from the dark entrance followed by Seren's voice, "Shh, shh. Doors be quiet."

...is this sniveling simpleton drunk?

I turn to gawk at Seren tumbling through the lab. He comes closer to the lights illuminating the front of the cathedral. They reveal his watery eyes and rumpled robes that have a few dirt stains that I imagine he got from tripping over his own fumbling feet. He smiles giddily when spotting me, outstretching his hands.

"Cyan!" He bellows, then burps. "You... uh, just the person I'm looking for!"

"I'd prefer if I wasn't," I say, puzzled by how his boisterous laughter ricochets off the walls to painfully intrude my ears.

"You're funny," he states, pointing accusingly at me, or at least trying to. He's swaying like ocean waves in a tsunami. And that bumbling buffoon almost stumbles his way into a batch and very harmful chemicals if not for my cat-like reflexes. I narrowly reach Seren in time, grasping his arm to drag him away from the dangerous shelving.

"I don't know why you drank nor do I care, but I do care about a drunk being in my lab. Be a dear and fuck off, alright?" I smile at the drunkard, who merely blinks at me.

"Cyan," he says, fiercely grasping my shoulders. I'm relieved it wasn't my hands where there's no clothes to protect me. Though my shoulders start to tingle, it's bearable, especially when Seren pleads, "Tell me why you left."

"Ex-fucking-cuse you, cretin?" I knock his hands away and point at the door. "I'm giving you five seconds to vacate the premises before I knock you out and toss you off a very high cliff without a parachute."

He could use magic to survive the fall, but I'd make sure to do it while he's still tipsy to make the odds of his death higher.

A drunk Seren is full of surprises. He drops to his knees, hands clinging to my shirt. They tremble so violently that I feel the vibrations through the fabric. He looks up at me, an unreadable glint in his eyes. Desperation laces his every word; "Please, please tell me why you left. Why did you need Lore's help to escape?"

This bastard reeks of booze. I smelt it the moment he stepped through the doors. He's an absolute mess, drunk out of his fucking mind, and I can't imagine why. Alcohol was never prohibited among the church, but getting this drunk was frowned upon. A lot of damage could be done by a drunk powerful mage.

"Answer me first, why are you wasted? What happened?" I ask, settling beside him, otherwise I'll have to rip my own shirt off to escape his vice grip. I have no intention to tell him the truth, but maybe he'll talk for a bit then pass out. With how much he drank, I'm surprised he managed to make it back at all.