The day bled into evening across the vast Wintercroft estate, painting the sky above the Apex district in magnificent, bruised hues of orange and deep violet.
Within one of the most exclusive areas of the manor, a pristine garden lay bathed in the soft, ethereal glow of the setting sun. This was no mere collection of plants; it was a masterpiece of Aether-infused horticulture, a living sanctuary designed to nurture the very soul of a Talented.
Crystalline flora, with petals like spun glass, pulsed with a gentle inner light, their soft luminescence casting dancing shadows on the perfectly manicured lawn.
The very air shimmered with a faint, golden energy, a visible manifestation of the potent Aether saturating the space. It was thick with a sweet, calming aroma that seemed to seep into one's bones, a fragrance that could soothe a raging heart, refresh a weary body, and sharpen a scattered mind.
This was Elysia's private sanctum, a place designed to enhance the mental state, allowing for a greater and purer concentration of Aether. Access was a privilege reserved for the highest echelons of the Wintercroft family, a symbol of status and power.
It was here that Elysia, Lisanna, Orion, and Lyra had come to spend their time, four figures at the epicenter of a quiet coup that had shattered the foundations of Zenith City.
Once the "deal" had been struck in the ravaged, cratered Field Chamber, a chillingly efficient practicality had taken over.
Theron, Kaelen, Elara, and Alya, swallowing the bitter ashes of their pride, had immediately summoned their most trusted medical teams. The medics had arrived to a scene of utter, surreal devastation: the four most powerful C-Rank heroes in Cascadia were bruised, battered, and spiritually broken. Their elite guards, paragons of strength and discipline, were unconscious heaps against the walls.
And standing calmly amidst the wreckage were two unknowns dressed in the simple, worn attire of the Sump.
The medics, their minds reeling from the impossible sight, had their questions brutally silenced by a single, steel-laced command from Theron. His voice, though strained, carried an authority that brooked no argument, and they could only do their jobs in a state of terrified confusion.
In the midst of that controlled chaos, Theron and Kaelen had presented Orion and Lyra with sleek, black keycards. Forged from a polished, unknown alloy and humming with a faint Aetheric signature, they were master keys—granting unrestricted, unquestioned access to their families' most private training facilities and their ancestral libraries, repositories of knowledge and power accumulated over generations.
There were a thousand questions swirling in the parents' minds, a universe of terrifying implications they had yet to process, but their own injuries and the immediate, desperate need to control the narrative were far more pressing.
Once the humbled nobles had departed to lick their wounds and begin the arduous task of spinning this disaster into something manageable, it was a cheerfully undaunted Lisanna who had suggested they relax and bask in the "afterglow of victory" in Elysia's garden.
Now, hours later, Lyra was sprawled comfortably on the impossibly soft, glowing grass, a picture of casual dominance. In her open palm, a small, nearly invisible sphere of her Aether Energy buzzed with malevolent power. It was a miniature vortex, condensing the very air around it into a tight, shimmering swirl of pure, lethal vibration.
With a thought, she could have expanded it to atomize entire buildings across the city. Instead, she toyed with it, a predator idly sharpening its claws.
She let out an appreciative whistle, the sound sharp in the tranquil air. "Not bad," she conceded, her gaze sweeping over the glowing flora. "A suitable place, if only to clear the annoying, trivial thoughts from my mind."
Orion, standing nearby with his hands clasped behind his back, chuckled lightly. "For something to clear the thoughts from your mind, Lyra? That's quite the achievement. This garden is likely worth more than the entire Sump block we grew up in. Don't take it for granted."
Lyra merely rolled her eyes, and the vibrating vortex in her hand dissipated without a sound, leaving not even a ripple in the air. Her control was absolute.
A short distance away, Elysia and Lisanna had found their own spot on the grass. They sat watching the siblings, a silent, roiling whirlwind of emotions swirling within them.
Lisanna released a long, slow breath, the look of sheer, unadulterated awe returning to her face as she replayed the day's earth-shattering events for the hundredth time.
"You know, Ellie," she began, her voice a soft murmur that barely disturbed the garden's peace, "we saw it. We saw it happen right in front of us. Hours have passed, and we're perfectly fine… better than fine. But it's still… bewildering."
Her golden eyes were fixed on Orion, her expression a mixture of reverence and fascination. "The two of them, just like that, completely dominated the top heroes of two noble houses. They dismantled our parents' pride, decades of accomplishment and power, in a matter of minutes."
Elysia sighed, a long, complicated exhalation. She was unable to keep the grudging admiration out of her own gaze as she watched Orion. "It's what I'd expect from savage brutes from the Sump," she said, but the insult was a hollow shell, lacking its usual venomous sting. "Although… even I can no longer deny the cold, brutal efficiency of using overwhelming force. And now… now things will only grow into a greater, more frantic storm."
She paused, and a strange, almost hungry light flickered in her icy blue eyes. "Haah, only troublesome days ahead."
Lisanna's smile turned bright and knowing as she leveled an intense, searching look at her friend.
The stare was so pointed, so full of meaning, that Elysia's brow furrowed in irritation. "What?"
"It's only been a single day," Lisanna giggled, her voice dancing with mirth. "But they—or really, he—has already changed you. The prim, proper, and predictable Ellie I know would never speak of a 'frantic storm' with that look on her face. You'd be meticulously planning a dozen ways to distance yourself from such chaos, to preserve your family's stability. But now look at you… you're eagerly looking forward to the days ahead."
Elysia crossed her arms defensively, a faint blush dusting her high cheekbones. "Don't be ridiculous," she snorted, turning her head away. "Someone needs to be here to keep you all in check. Otherwise, who knows what moronic ideas each of you will come up with. And as for whether or not he's changing me… he's… he's…"
She trailed off, the heat of her confusing, conflicting feelings rising to the surface again, stealing her words and leaving her speechless.
Lisanna's smile widened into a triumphant grin. A sudden thought, a playful, audacious instinct that felt perfectly natural to her, sparked in her mind like a solar flare.
"Ah, I feel the same way, Ellie!" she exclaimed with theatrical flair. Her eyes flicked over to the siblings, and she called out, her voice ringing with a newfound confidence that would have been unthinkable just this morning. "Orion! Come here, little leader!"
"Lisanna!" Elysia hissed, her eyes widening in mortified shock as a deep, furious blush bloomed across her face, hot and undeniable. "Just what in the name of the First Wave do you think you're doing?"
Lisanna only giggled in response, a carefree, musical sound. "Just wait."
Orion and Lyra both looked over. Lyra shot a curious, knowing glance at her brother, a smirk playing on her lips.
"Time to seal the deal," she murmured, just loud enough for him to hear. "I don't know how you did it or why your Talent can create these… bonds, but you'd have to be brain-dead not to see those two are rapidly falling for you. That little stunt we pulled allowed you to skip several months of tedious courtship rituals. Oh, and with this, maybe miss prissy ice over there will finally take some of the stick out of her ass."
Orion's lips curved into a wry smile as he was already starting to walk toward the girls, his steps unhurried and confident. "Just some of the stick, you think? Not all of it?"
Lyra laughed, a sharp, genuine sound that was rare and startling. "Brother, even when she's on her knees for you, a part of that stick will be permanently glued in there. Now hurry up and go. I'm curious to see your so-called 'results'."
Orion simply shook his head, his smile lingering, and continued his approach. When he reached them, Lisanna's expression was as bright as her own Photokinesis, but there was a clear, undisguised affection in her gaze that went beyond mere awe.
Elysia was desperately trying to maintain her mask of haughty indifference, but the blush staining her cheeks and the softer, uncertain look in her eyes betrayed her completely.
Orion's smile was warm and disarming, a stark contrast to the terrifying power he had displayed earlier. "Just what were you two discussing so intensely?"
Lisanna snorted playfully and, grabbing Elysia's arm, pulled them both to their feet with a surprising strength. She stood before him, a confident, challenging smirk on her face, and wagged a finger.
"So, playboy," she declared, her tone teasing but her eyes sharp and serious. "You're practically at the top of our city in just one night. You beat up our parents until they had no choice but to respect you. Just what," she leaned in slightly, her warm breath ghosting across his face, "are your intentions with us, now?"
She was smiling as if she already knew the answer and was daring him to say it.
Beside her, for the first time in a long, long while, Elysia Wintercroft actually looked nervous.
Orion's response was not verbal. He reached out and gently took both of their hands in his. The moment his skin touched theirs, a jolt—warm, potent, and deeply pleasant—arced through the symbiotic bond connecting them.
Ah…
Soft, involuntary noises escaped both Lisanna and Elysia as that familiar, addictive warmth swirled through their veins, a comforting and powerful sensation that melted their tension and made them subconsciously step closer, drawn to him like moths to a flame.
Looking from one to the other, from Lisanna's radiant eagerness to Elysia's flustered defiance, Orion's charming smile held a new depth, an edge of absolute certainty.
"Isn't it obvious at this point?" he said, his voice a low, confident murmur that vibrated through their clasped hands and straight into their cores. "To date the both of you, grow all of our powers to unfathomable levels… and date other women who will help us reach even greater heights."
The intoxicating warmth momentarily vanished, replaced by a shared, sharp gasp of disbelief.
Elysia's eyes narrowed, her noble temper flaring like a winter storm. "You have quite the nerve," she snapped, her voice dangerously cold, "to make your perversion so blatant while trying to seem romantic."
Even Lisanna pouted, though a hint of conflicted amusement still danced in her eyes. She wagged her other finger. "Like I said, you're really too bold, playboy. You're not worried at all what your words might cause?"
Orion only stepped in closer, deliberately invading their personal space. The sheer proximity, the intensity of his presence magnified a hundredfold by their bond, caused the heat in their annoyed glares to lessen considerably.
He was understanding this Symbiotic Fusion more and more. It was clear that his enhanced charm, a passive effect of the connection, was swaying them, making them willing to tolerate far more than they normally would.
But that didn't mean their own emotions—their pride, their histories, their very personalities—were erased.
Jealousy, envy, possessiveness, desire—all of it was still there, a complex, volatile cocktail simmering just beneath the surface. To counteract that, he knew he needed to take decisive action, to provide a reassurance that went far beyond what a normal relationship could offer.
Lyra's words were right. It was time to seal the deal.
Before today, if he had suggested dating other women, he knew they would have rejected it outright, bond or no bond. But he hadn't just changed their minds; he had completely shattered their perception of reality. He had showcased a power that the strongest people they knew—their own revered parents—couldn't withstand for a single minute.
It was a kind of power that defied all common sense, that transcended the known limits of Talent progression. And most importantly, they knew this explosive, miraculous growth stemmed directly from his bond with them.
If he was this strong with only two, how much more powerful could he become with others?
The thought, insidious and thrilling, planted itself deep within their subconscious. Even Elysia, for all her aristocratic pride, and Lisanna, for all her romantic notions, knew a man like Orion would be impossible for any single person to chain down.
While not openly condoned, it wasn't unheard of for the legendary S-Rank Heroes, those demigods who stood at the absolute peak of the world, to have multiple partners. Power on that scale warped reality, including societal norms.
With his demonstrated power and limitless potential, Orion held a persuasive gravity unique only to him. This opportunity was too perfect to waste. He pressed his advantage.
"I like you two," he said simply, his gaze dropping any pretense of playfulness, becoming utterly sincere. "Now, let's seal the deal of our new relationship with a kiss."
"Seal the… the deal?" Elysia sputtered, her face turning a shade of crimson that rivaled the setting sun. "We haven't discussed anything! You can't just… you—"
Her words began to trail off, failing her as she was unable to refute the undeniable, magnetic pull toward him that was becoming impossible to resist.
Lisanna giggled, a blush of her own deepening on her cheeks as she felt the truth of his words settle in her heart. She nudged her friend. "Well, let's just give this guy a shot, Ellie."
She adopted a joking, prim tone that perfectly mimicked Elysia's usual haughty demeanor. "Hmph. I suppose he has just barely met our standards to be our so-called boyfriend."
Elysia let out a shaky sigh, rolling her eyes as the last bastion of her resistance crumbled into dust.
"I suppose he has," she conceded, her voice barely a whisper against the thundering of her own heart. "Fine. You can kiss us, but—"
She was silenced as Orion closed the final inch of distance and sealed her lips with his.