~ Content Warning:
+ Past manipulation / psychological control
+ Emotional distress and recovery from coercion
+ Family power dynamics
Koba
[Friday, Umbrafall 26, 4310]
Why did all these lights never bother me before? The driver and I have to wear sunglasses inside a tinted car at night is ridiculous. What were my parents and the elders thinking when they chose to set up our sector like this? Looking out the window, I saw umbrellas, sunglasses, and hats of all styles and colors being used by the pedestrians. If you work or live in this sector, it's necessary. All because the Dillard Towers are always lit up. Every night. All night. The only exceptions are the New Year's fireworks display and the annual founding celebration of Irresistible Enterprises' fireworks performance.
The Dillard Towers consisted of five spires that appear to cut into the Solharan skyline. Each tower is named for an element of the zodiac: Metal, Wood, Water, Earth, Fire.
Of course, it was decided that only one element would be suitable to be the residential tower. Fire was the only choice according to Father. So any public spaces that Mother, Minette, and Father use often, the element of Flame is strongly displayed. I must take after Mama Azalea and Papa Sullivan more than I do Mother and Father. While Flame has always been the element I used when I essencecraft, like Mama Azalea and Papa Sullivan, I have always kept a balanced respect for the other elemental expressions as well despite my inability to use them.
Oddly enough after the removal of my bindings and restrictions, I have sensed…an unusual flow cycle developing within me. I haven't mentioned this side effect to my parents but if what I'm sensing within my essence system is what I suspect…I might be capable of multi-element expression. Which is impossible for a witch, even a demon-born witch.My body is still adjusting so this could possibly be a side effect of my body finding proper alignment. I will give myself another month or two and if this side effect doesn't settle, I'll bring it to my parents' attention.
Being driven closer to the approaching the blood red tower, I'm reminded of how my Father, Xerxes Dillard, has always been insistent that I embrace only the essence of Flame and disregard the other elements as inferior. Yet I could not easily go against an instinct my cores embraced. When I scried for what to do I saw that keeping a balanced relationship with all four elements would in the long run boost my cultivation.
Also when I could, I cultivated not just in my publicly known casting methods of Inscription and Technology but also in Fateweaving, Resonance, Veilcraft and Astral secretly. Savran apparently was outright incompatible with me. Resonance, Veilcraft and Astral were difficult to cultivate but I've raised my skill level in them to at least an apprentice level. Fateweaving being easier to cultivate than the three that my assessment had deemed difficult was a surprising but I didn't share my discovery with anyone. A few unknown-trained aces kept to oneself never hurt anyone.
WithFinn as my tutor, he reassessed me and revealed to my shock that my true primary arcane method was Savran. The one method I was previously told I was incompatible with. Finn suspects that I had been bound to keep me from being able to use this method. After that discovery, everything else aptitude-wise has relatively stayed the same.
My strong secondaries just shifted to Inscription, Technology and Fateweaving with Resonance, Veilcraft and Astral becoming more easily accessible but are still difficult for my use in comparison with the other methods. I'm still adjusting and figuring out my Savran casting. Unlike the other methods, I've never trained in it. Thankful, Finn is well versed in Savran so my progress in mastering it will hopefully catch up to my tier-level sooner rather than later.
I have felt my cultivation become more refined in the month I've been learning from him. Him being well-versed in all the arcane methods has been a boon, that I didn't even expect to receive. We dismissed all my other tutors since they were redundant. They were also Father and Mother's spies to influence my cultivation and to report on my progress so their dismissal had been necessary.
There will be consequences for making such a big change in their absence, Father and Mother's, but Papa Sullivan and Momma Azalea told me to let them handle it. That and I quote, "I can be a child and let them protect me." For the first time since I was seven, I felt truly protected and loved.
I was brought out of my thoughts when the car came to a stop beneath the Fire tower's awning. My car door was opened before I could even try to open it myself. In two rows, butlers and maids bowed with their eyes on the ground as they greeted me in chorus. "Welcome home, Scion Dillard." I stepped out of the car, and my new android assistant soon joined me from the other side of the car.
He made sure all my luggage for this weekend stay at home was accounted for, then he primly settled my overcoat on my shoulders before stepping back, waiting for my orders. I loved how this new model acted so formal in public, but once in private…Colt has had the habit of questioning everything I do from the beginning. I am very curious where exactly Papa Sullivan had gotten him from.
Colt informed me quite stoically that he asks such questions so he can better figure out my needs and wants as my assistant, but I suspect he is under the impression I don't actually know what I want or need. I don't know whether to be amused or frustrated with how much I've come to realize he was right that I don't. But together we are learning my preferences and moving forward with the knowledge. One step at a time, I will take back my life.
Somehow when I wasn't paying attention, Colt had circumvented me to check the area and to make sure all unnecessary individuals were kept away from me. I was fighting hard to keep my cool and uninterested expression when I really wanted to smile and chuckle at him maneuvering the tower staff and any business directors who had come over to have a word with the Dillard Scion. The scent of polished marble and curated perfection wrapped around me like it always had when I walked through this foyer.
I gave any staff I crossed paths with a single nod of wordless acknowledgment. In response, they greeted me, "Welcome home, Scion Dillard." My single nod seemed to brighten their day tenfold. I glanced at the android when he shifted to stand a step behind my shoulder. "I'll make a note to send a small gift to the staff on duty tonight as appreciation for their hard work. Is that acceptable, sir?" Colt softly asked, holding up a tablet showing me how much it will cost to do this from my allowance.
"Yes, Colt. This looks good. Just this shift. We will work our way around to everyone. Slow and steady." Colt froze for a second, then his bright smile was hidden behind his tablet. I hadn't told him I had chosen a name for him and couldn't figure out a way to tell him my choice, so I decided to just call him by it to convey that from now on Colt was his name. "Colt understands, sir. Slow and steady. Don't want to attract unwanted attention." Colt regained his previous prim, stoic attitude.
Glancing behind us, he quickly began pushing the elevator button. "Scion Koba, your apartment has been cleansed and prepared…" I shook my head, interrupting him. "I won't be going up to my apartment yet. I promised Third Crown Consort I would eat with her and First Crown Consort tonight. You can take my things up there, then return to wait for me on her floor."
Colt paused mid-press to adjust my schedule, then returned to aggressively pushing the button. I really like this android. He is ten times better than the previous Lustris Innovations android assistant I had. I bet he is a Corevein android. Mother's knock-offs of Corevein Tech products are always of lower quality than the original. After being able to work with Corevein Tech on a few projects to help boost our own tech subsidiary as one of the agreements in the engagement contract between us and the Ajei, I can recognize their work. Letting out a sigh, I rubbed my forehead, not looking forward to having to unravel all the collaborations we had in the works with Ajeivara Holdings.
That is a mess we can put off until Mother and Father return. The elevator doors finally slid open. I stepped inside with Colt, pressing the button for Momma Azalea's floor. Just as the doors began to close, a booted foot stopped them. Colt inched forward as if to push the foot back, but I stopped him. I hope that giving her this little bit of attention now will stave off her throwing a tantrum. I have been avoiding her for almost two months now. I just need to get her up to her floor, then I can hurry off to eat with Mama Azalea and Papa Sullivan. When the doors opened again, in stepped my little sister, Minette.
She was still dressed in her stage persona of Minaiya: lacquered boots, studded jacket, shimmering makeup that made her look carved from a spotlight. Her assistant, Nina, trailed behind her, a tablet clutched to her chest. "Big brother!" Minette sang, stepping into my personal space without asking. "You should have seen the Zepharune crowd. They were feral. Absolutely feral." I wanted to say something, but her overwhelming scent of pink lychee and black currant was sticking to the back of my throat, making me nauseous.
The black currant was sharp, syrupy, and a little spoiled. It was overpowering the sweet lychee tone, making her whole scent smell increasingly rotten. Luckily, Colt, in a maneuver I will have to try out for myself, shifted our positions, thus putting himself between me and Minette. From his pocket, he covertly handed me a scented cloth that smelled like Nyx's dusk-bloomed sandalwood and black tea, saving my nose from her sweetly rotten scent.
Why have I never noticed how her scent smelled so disgusting? Is this something else she had charmed me into thinking differently about? My head throbbed mentally, adding this to the already fucked-up list of ways I was controlled previously. The list seemed to grow every day. I've only been out of isolation for a week. Over the course of this week, I found so many matters are not as I thought they were. Out of all my current friends, I've come to the unsettling conclusion that only two of them are true friends.
They are the only ones who, instead of wanting the gossip about what is going on with Nyxara, want to know why I'm acting differently. It took them one day to see me just observe everything quietly to know something had changed. So I trusted them with part of the truth. That I had been sick due to the backlash from a Velintra.
They didn't look surprised while I was surprised they weren't surprised. They actually told me they were proud that after two years, I finally did the right thing and dissolved the bond since neither I nor Nyxara were apparently ready. They did joke about how I could have just let her complete the bond and we could have worked it out, but maybe it was for the best that we find a few more members for our mating circle before trying to bond again.
When I threw up, they immediately made excuses for us to the academy instructors, then took me back to my apartment. They supported me like the real friends they were. Unquestioning in helping stabilize me while others tried to blow up my phone or Minette tried to come by. I had already moved to an apartment building under the Xi clan's authority, so Minette couldn't threaten her way up to my penthouse apartment like she did on multiple occasions at my last apartment. Technically, it is an apartment I shared with Noxton. Papa Sullivan told me not to ask how Noxton got such a luxurious accommodation under market value with the Xi Clan. All that mattered is that no one from the Dillard Enclave could easily get to or spy on me here.
When I looked at their expressions of concern, I decided to trust them with the whole truth. A gamble that was worth making. I told them about how I had been controlled by the Dillard Enclave, the accusations from Nyxara, and that I was investigating my whole life to find out what is truth and what is a lie. They reacted in shock and rage on my behalf. They immediately swore binding vows to me that they were not my parents' people. That in fact, they were planted by Mama Azalea and Papa Sullivan to help keep my circle of friends balanced.
With a clearer mind, I remembered that these two had always lingered in the background, quiet but attentive, speaking up only when they believed something was the wrong move. If I still decided to go against their advice, behind the scenes, they would quietly mitigate any negative consequences for me. When I pulled them into tight hugs, crying, they were shocked at first.
Then they hugged me back. The hugging quickly shifted into playful wrestling. After Colt broke us apart, they snootily informed me they weren't signing up to be my emotional support system. That I should work on winning Nyxara back, or they could find me a therapist—my choice. We fought another round until we were too exhausted to continue.
Over dinner, they swore their Crest Houses' loyalty to me personally. My first official request was that they help me remove the people in my orbit who didn't need to remain there. They immediately proved that I had not been utilizing their skills enough. The next day, they presented me with a report of who to keep close, to keep on a long leash, and who to dismiss.
I let Colt do the analysis of the report, and by the end of the day, I was approving their plan. They requested to continue handling the matter for me. They promised that by next week, everyone would have an understanding of how the Dillard Scion's social circle should behave and present themselves. That all relevant parties would be updated on the changes immediately. With Robin and Sawyer's assistance in handling my social and political matters, I find myself truly living now.
I'm brought back to the present when Minette's assistant bowed politely. "Scion Dillard." I briskly nodded. The assistant blushed, and Minette just kept talking. She spoke about choreography changes, about wardrobe malfunctions, about a minor scandal that had driven her engagement metrics up by twelve percent. I zoned out until I felt something poking my side. When I glanced down, I saw that Colt was slyly showing me a work order on his tablet screen. The work order was for the installation of a keyed instant teleport circle in the garage for security purposes.
It was classified as necessary for Scion protection. Only the security director and android assistant would need to know about this hidden teleport circle. I pressed my finger to agree. Then sent the document onto Papa Sullivan for review. His additional role as the enclave security director would get this matter handled sooner rather than later. I gave Colt a thumbs up, and Colt subtly returned the gesture. Let this be the last time I unintentionally get trapped in an elevator with Minette.
I watched the numbers tick upward on the elevator display. I tuned Minette out again. No matter what she said. I did not ask questions nor offer commentary. When the elevator doors opened on her floor, she swept out mid-sentence, still talking, expecting—without checking—that I would follow as I always had. I did not move. I waited for the assistant to step out. I gave her an amused smile when I saw her glance over her shoulder in confusion when the doors slid closed with me still inside.
Through the closing doors, I heard Minette ask sharply, "Where is he going?"