Chapter 554 - Secrets Kept, Secrets Shared.

“So did you enjoy your walk, Eric?”

Eric couldn’t help but smile as his ears rang with the sweetest of melodies, a voice filled with gentle warmth and motherly concern.

“I absolutely did. Very refreshing. Dare I say it, inspirational! The most surprising thing is that I didn’t even get lost.”

“Good. Then perhaps you can tell me what happened to your clothes?”

Eric blinked at this, cheeks flushing only slightly when he realized the problem.

Mach 5 and losing himself in reminiscence and revelation were all well and good for savoring life’s wondrous possibilities… but not so good when one forgot one’s cover.

“Um… yeah. I like to run barefoot?”

Hanna, holding a drowsy looking Maja, gave him a pointed look.

Maja’s eyes widened as she caught sight of her big brother, filling the air with her trills.

“No, I was not hunting for a mate! I was just… exploring our territory,” he hastily assured.

Maja’s hard pout made it clear that she wasn’t buying it.

“Yes, I broke bread and salt, but I was just being polite before we sparred,” he hastily assured, earning a smirk before the little girl imperiously held out her arms, demanding that Eric carry her to bed. So of course he did, with an apologetic whistle to Ella looking up from her picture book, the tension in her features easing to a relieved smile, whereupon she began recounting her evening and just how frustrating it was to be a big sister.

Eric dipped his head. “I agree completely. How are the language lessons coming along?”

“Good,” Ella said in a high pitched voice that had Hanna clapping her hands with joy.

“Wonderful job, darling! You’ll be speaking fluently with your family and friends before you know it!”

Ella looked a bit doubtful but didn’t pull away from Hanna’s hug, instead making space in the nice plush bed she shared with her sister, holding her snugly as doting mother wrapped them both up in linen sheets and comforters, soft teddy bears surrounding the girls before Hanna stroked their brows, turned off the lights, and left with a fondly smiling Eric by her side.

“You’re a good big brother,” she said as she quietly shut the bedroom door.

Eric shrugged. “I try.”

“I know.” She gave Eric’s bluejeans a pointed look. “Now, how about you change into something comfortable. But shower first. You’re tracking mud that smells of the highlands.” She favored him with a pointed look before chuckling softly. “I won’t even ask. Not tonight. I can only hope that you’re stroll provided you with inspiration sufficient to clear yet another one of your peripheral channels… and perhaps serve as further inspiration to your sister as well.”

Eric grinned at her words, relieved to know she was giving him a pass. Yet he couldn’t help but notice the drawn look to her features, the tightness around her eyes that spoke of discomfort, stress, or simple exhaustion.

“Hanna…”

“Yes, Eric?”

Eric swallowed before her solemn gaze, realizing he wasn’t quite sure what to say. “Is everything… alright?”

She blinked, before flashing him a bemused smile. “Isn’t that the question that I should be asking you?”

Eric winked. “I’m fine. Just a bit worried about my foster mother. She looks a bit tired, you see, and I’m so used to her being so filled with lively energy, that I can’t help but worry that maybe a certain guidance counselor—”

Her bemused smile turned to a hard frown. “Stop right there, dear. The last thing I want you to do is start trouble with that man! Far better we all give each other space than risk jeopardy, wrecking each other’s formations. Do you understand?”

Eric dipped his head. “I do.”

“Good.” Her firm manner softened. “It’s alright, Eric. Whatever jostled my… serenity, caught him equally off guard. As was clear to both of us, with the rupture of his storage device.”

Eric winced with guilt, once more forced to accept that even the softest whisper at a nearby target had been enough to jostle the bindings she had striven so hard to stabilize and master.

“I’m still sorry it happened.”

“So am I,” Hanna said in an unguarded moment, before immediately grimacing in apology. “I didn’t mean—”

“I know.”

She snorted, shaking her head. “Look, don’t worry about me. I should be fine with a few days’ focused meditation in the garden.”

Eric gently patted her shoulder. “Which means you shouldn’t be worrying about me and Louise’s peripherals, which, thanks to our breakthrough, we can polish with your help another time. Because so long as we’re all in good health, we have plenty of time, right? And don’t worry about Louise and I getting to school tomorrow. You deserve a relaxing morning to regain your equilibrium.”

Hanna furrowed her brow, mock-glaring at Eric. “I’m the parent here, dear, and I’d be putting you in your place… if you weren’t giving me the advice I most need to hear.” She flashed a sad, yet grateful smile. “Thank you, Eric. Now I just have to break it to the girls.”

“Let me,” Eric urged. “It will be okay. I’ll talk to Ella and Maja tomorrow morning. I’m sure they’ll understand. Louise as well.”

Hanna gave him a pointed look… followed by a fierce hug. “Thank you, Eric. Now go shower! So you won’t have to explain to your father why you smell like sweat, steel, and highland tea.”

Eric chuckled. “On it!”

Eric didn’t trouble himself over what his foster mother, no fool, clearly suspected… even if she had no real idea of how he could have traveled so far, so fast. What mattered was freshening up and gently knocking on Louise’s door, then stepping back politely as his foster sister, dressed in comfy looking sweats and a scowl, abruptly opened it. “What is it?”

As soon as the words left her mouth, she froze, visibly swallowing as she gazed into Eric’s eyes.

“Eric?”

Eric sighed, giving her his gentlest smile. “Hanna’s feeling a bit drained. I told her it would be okay if she spent tomorrow focused on her own cultivation, and that we’d be okay giving her a break and getting to school ourselves.”

Louise, no fool, instantly paled. “Oh no. Is mom alright?”

Eric nodded. “She just needs to take advantage of the morning Qi flow in the garden to center herself. I’m sure she’ll be right as rain, in a day or so.”

Louise bit her lip. “We shouldn’t have pushed her so hard, demanding that she teach us what she could. I know she’s fragile… her foundation, I mean. Fragile as glass.” Her brow furrowed. “And it’s obvious you get it, too. Why are you telling me this? Why isn’t she?”

Eric sighed. “I think she’s already gone to bed. And Louise? I was there, today, when… let’s just call it a ripple in the steady flow of Qi, threw your mom for a loop. Between you and me, I think it jostled things she’s worked for a very long time to keep stable.”

Louise paled and lurched back. “Oh no. Mom’s in trouble!”

“And that’s why we’re going to give her all the time she needs tomorrow, the next day, however long it takes, for her to center herself and stabilize her… bindings. And then I’m sure everything will be fine.”

Louise’s slender hands clenched into tight, angry fists. “I hate the bastard who did this to mom. If I could find him, I’d fucking strangle him!”

Eric gave a sympathetic nod. “Me too. But the best thing we can do for her right now is to let her rest, meditate, and take care of ourselves for the next few mornings.”

Louise blinked, before coming back to herself with a tired sigh. “I… I think you’re right, Eric.” She flashed a weak smile. “So I guess it’s just you and me going to school tomorrow, huh?”

Eric smirked. “I guess so.”

“Don’t worry, bro. I’ll make sure you don’t get lost, getting to class.”

Eric chuckled. “Thanks.”

Louise held his gaze for long, awkward moments.

Eric linked. “Louise?”

She shook her head. “Nothing, Eric. Just… thanks.”

She then closed her bedroom door and Eric made his way back to bed, thoughts racing.

It was obvious to him that his foster mother was in trouble, and she needed a cure. It had been made damn clear to him as well that heading topside in a quest to help would do nothing but trigger an unseen timer and result in any number of high-powered and highly paranoid cultivators looking for the unexpected intruder or spy powerful enough to slip past whatever suppression ward they have surrounding the entire plateau. Then, his only option would be to race for the mystic fruit Eve had marked on his map, the only landmarks he had, really, and that would be it. The end of his adventure. It would also result in a shocking number of missed opportunities, and most importantly, it would do Hanna no good at all.

“Alright. So I need access to high-tier cultivation healing artifacts, treasures, or techniques. So how the hell do I get access to those things without tripping a dozen red flags?”

Eric frowned in thought, before the obvious answer clicked. He had a few guesses, but nothing concrete. And even if he had a few vague ideas, he had no real knowledge of specifics. It was time he had a real conversation with the one experienced veteran of both worlds that he knew who could answer his questions.

*

“Uncle John, can I talk to you?”

The powerfully built former mercenary presently taking his ease on his leather recliner, smiled and put down the braille novel he was clearly enjoying, the etched cover of a similar style to most of the volumes filling the hardwood bookshelves lining all the walls of the study. Novels Eric would love to read himself… when time permitted.

“Sure, Eric. What’s up?”

His warm, almost fatherly smile hardened to a look of concern when he caught Eric’s expression. “Eric?”

Eric stared at the man for long tense moments.

John furrowed his brow, sitting up straight, book discarded like the nothing it was. “What’s wrong, Eric?”

Eric’s eyes abruptly jerked toward the bookcase, lighting up as he caught sight of a deck of playing cards of all things, before making his way to one of a pair of chairs seated before a plexiglass table that had a crystal chess set.

Eric caught the mercenary’s hard stare, smiling wryly as he placed a card, face side down on the table.

“I’m thinking maybe we could play a quick hand, John. We each agree to reveal a card or two… but no more than what were comfortable with. What do you say?”

John gazed at Eric for long moments. He looked down at his bottle, snorted, and headed to what was clearly a mini bar.

“You thirsty, Eric?”

Eric smirked. “Anything’s fine, John. Just make it for taste. Alcohol’s not going to hit me, no matter how strong a drink you make.”

John froze momentarily at that, before favoring Eric with an oddly sympathetic smile. “And that’s one card revealed, I suppose.”

“I suppose so.”

“How about a fizzy?”

“I’d love me a fizzy.”

“Good. Me too.”

John silently returned with a couple of ice cold long necks, clinking bottles before they took a pull.

John then looked down at the hand of three face down cards Eric had placed by both their seats.

This earned a snort. “Three cards to reveal.”

Eric shrugged. “Seemed like a safe starting point. Honestly, I hope I can get away with just one or two.”

John smirked. “Alright. Ask your first question.”

Eric swallowed, heart pounding for some reason as he looked up at the taller man that a tiny part of him wished truly could have been his father.

“If credits were no object, and I wanted to get the highest quality cultivation-aligned healing tincture... or meridian cleansing tincture that I could find, how would I do that, here in the lowlands?”

John blinked at this, now peering at Eric with unnerving intensity. Not as a father, but as a hard-eyed professional making damn sure he understood the possible client, ally, or threat before him.

“Credits are no object, you say?”

“None at all.”

John held Eric’s pained gaze as he slowly flipped up a card. “Jade Syndicate. The main branch is in the heart of the city, less than a mile away from Westwind Academy. I can take you there tomorrow… assuming your Finance Major doesn’t have you orbiting circles around all the major financial points of interest, since it’s about networking as much as anything else, as you should know, if you’re at all savvy about the political side of things.”

Eric smirked. “I’m not. Not even a little bit. And how do I get access to Jade Syndicate? Can I walk in off the street?”

“Hardly,” John snorted. “Both Jade Syndicate and Blue Corp are reserved for the noble elites, descendants of cultivators… and sure, Bronze-Tier ex mercs who refused to be roped into the questionable security of NanDushi’s major Savings and Loan bank, which also serves as its primary commercial bank, conveniently enough, and they can perform all the self-audits they like… our family’s funds are kept safely and firmly with Blue, which my status as an immigrant with a previously established account gives me access to, without anyone losing face over it.”

Eric blinked, then took a relieved breath. “Good. So if I already have a Blue Corp account...”

John smirked, slowly shaking his head. “Won’t do you a lick of good. Blue’s had a change of management since my corp established themselves here. Now, no one’s permitted entrance, whatsoever. Not unless they’re one of NanDushi’s elite, or had a preexisting relationship with this chapter.”

Eric blinked. “No shit.”

“None whatsoever.” He chuckled mirthlessly. “And the way you’re clenching your fists… that’s not what you wanted to hear.”

“Fucking Arlen Ort. It goddamned has to be.”

John stiffened, now peering at Eric way too intensely.

“So. You know how things really are.”

Eric winced internally, hating how quickly John’s fatherly warmth had turned to the cold-eyed gaze of a mercenary sizing up someone he had clearly underestimated.

Eric sighed, deciding to honor the man with the candor he had earned. “Ort’s a treacherous, backstabbing little shit. Prince Caliban Caerulus is the true heir of Blue Federation, and actually keeps his word.”

John straightened at those words and a tiny voice in Eric’s head screamed with dismay. “Fuck! Was that a secret in this timeline? Hadn’t Caliban formally declared himself and his station, here?”

Eric felt his cheeks flush before his foster father’s too probing gaze, before the man chuckled softly, taking a fresh sip of his drink.

“It seems my innocent foster son is actually neck-deep in Sylvan politics.”

Eric smirked, taking a pull as well. “It seems so.”

“Would that be the real reason why you’ve been exiled here?”

Eric sighed at that, deliberately flipping over another one of his cards. “Let’s just say that the army I was capable of raising… it scared some powerful people. Scared them enough to offer my sister and I golden parachutes. And since neither of us are complete idiots and would like a half-life greater than a quark-bomb… I surrendered control of my army and took advantage of the opportunity before us.”

John gazed at Eric for long moments. “Dare I ask just how big a sixteen-year-old’s army could have been?”

Eric chuckled. “Big enough to get me into a spot of trouble. Not that I have any leadership skills. Some might even think it all thanks to an artifact that I since surrendered as part of my… parole. So let’s call it the end of an earlier arc in the story of my life, with nothing to show for my heroic rise and fall, save for a twin sister who is now far safer than she once was, and a few zeroes in an imperial account which it seems that Blue Corp here refuses to recognize. Because by some twisted stroke of something… Blue Corp is hyper-restricted here.”

John gave Eric’s shoulder a sympathetic clap. “Losing command is never an easy thing.”

Eric sighed, taking a thoughtful sip of his drink. “It isn’t. Not that it wasn’t worth it… and at least my second is a worthy successor.”

John snorted, leaning back in his chair, the leather creaking under his mass. “So, someone else now has that artifact of control.”

“You could certainly say that. Fortunately, the troops already love her, and she happily took an Oath of Command so that the powers-that-be are quite pleased with her. So it all worked out in the end. She gets to lead an army, I get exile. And that’s fine, since I found a really cool foster family that, for some strange reason, is offering fresh starts and second chances to damaged kids like me.”

He saluted a now sympathetic-looking John with his bottle.

“So… Jade consortium is where I might go, if I wanted to purchase a meridian cleansing potion?”

John gazed at Eric for long, thoughtful moments. “Hanna told me she thinks you have considerable potential. I’d advise you follow her path before risking tainting you foundation with impurity-laden tinctures. All the more so, if you strained it once already.”

Eric grinned. “Normally, I’d agree. My hope is that Jade Consortium has access to the highest quality tinctures that would shave months or years of time that I would otherwise be forced spend, trying to chip away at hopelessly clogged channels.”

John laughed aloud. “Somehow, I think the odds of any of us getting access to anything like that, down here, without paying an absolute fortune…”

Eric sighed, and affected a shrug. “You could be right, Uncle John. But it doesn’t hurt to see what my options are, does it?”

The man gave Eric a sympathetic pat on his shoulder as he got up from the chair. “It doesn’t, Eric. Not at all. Just promise me that you’ll talk to Hanna before imbibing anything you might purchase from Jade?”

Eric nodded his consent.

“Good. I’m calling it a night. Good talking to you, Eric.”

Eric grinned. “You as well, Uncle John.”