Chapter 317: _Take Care of Us

’Please tell me this means Orion is about to wake up.’ Ambrose closed and opened his eyes, expecting a change or something.

That didn’t happen.

The skies in the dreamscape were still actively cracking like glass. These cracks spider-webbed rapidly, bursts of white light exploding out of them.

The frozen winged monkeys around the group suddenly vanished, making Devon and Viktor take a cautious step back.

"What are you doing?!" Viktor yelled, grabbing little Orion in an attempt to pull him far away from the older one. "For Christ’s sake, we’re sorry! I-I’m sorry, okay? I should’ve been more careful with what I watched. I didn’t expect you’d be awake and... and I—"

"Please." Older Orion’s expression remained taut. "This goes beyond one silly zombie movie, Uncle Viktor."

Without warning, the older Orion began glowing with an impossibly bright white light, his arms spreading wide. Ambrose was forced to stumble back even though he didn’t wish to, placing an arm over his face.

At the same time, Viktor’s brows furrowed.

Little Orion began glitching beside him. Like literally glitching in and out of the dreamscape like a faulty hologram.

"O-Orion?" He picked the boy up immediately as Devon and Gabriel rushed to check on him. His teeth ground, eyes darting back to older Orion. "What are you doing to him? Please, just stop this!"

The older Orion didn’t respond, slowly levitating off the ground by a couple of feet.

Aura’s silver eyes narrowed. [He’s... he’s not doing anything.]

’You mean the guy glowing like a freaking nuke?’ Ambrose shot mentally. ’I should accept that this is hopeless.’

[Listen, dumbass.] Aura said with all seriousness. [What’s happening now is symbolic. Older Orion is glowing. Like he’s making his presence in the dreamscape known. He’s here to stay and whatever.]

Her neck snapped to little Orion.

The poor boy was still glitching, clutching hard to Viktor’s shirt as the ice Prince shielded his eyes from the wind.

[But our Orion... he’s glitching out because mentally he’s done. He wants to wake up but can’t because of the older one.] A pause. [That mental tug of war, even if unconscious, is breaking his psyche. And the dreamscape with it.]

Ambrose’s lips parted.

That weirdly enough made a lot of sense.

’So now what?’

[I don’t know... maybe convince older Orion that they really NEED to wake up?]

’He clearly knows about the zombie apocalypse, and that isn’t even moving him.’ Ambrose was on the verge of cursing someone out. ’God, I know he’s also my son, but I feel like smacking him.’

[You’d probably get yeeted out of the dream if you do that, sweetie.]

"Stop this madness." Valentine stepped forward just then. "Is this the protection you preached?" He pointed at little Orion. "He’s terrified. You’re scaring him, and that’s only going to make things worse."

Older Orion thundered. "He won’t be scared if you all didn’t try taking him away!" The words were deafening, uprooting trees and making the wind pick up enough to make the group struggle to stay standing.

Ambrose’s chest tightened.

Underneath the pure rage in the young man’s tone... there was also a hurt that shattered his heart.

"Orion," he inhaled sharply, stepping close again, "please. I-I understand what you’re going through. But think about the seal."

That last word made the older Orion’s features twitch. "Seal?"

"Yes." Ambrose nodded. "There’s a... seal. On Orion’s powers. We still don’t know how it was placed there, but as we speak it’s still actively withering. And it will continue to change reality in ways that’ll not only endanger others. But you as well."

The more he spoke, the harder older Orion’s jaw tightened.

Ambrose took that as a sign to go on. "We’ve been trying to teach Orion restraint. Control over his powers. And before the zombie apocalypse he seemed to be doing alright." His fists balled. "But if you keep him here forever and that seal finally breaks... the whole world will know. And they will come after you."

Older Orion barked a dry laugh. "Is that supposed to be a threat, Dad?" The light he exuded magnified. "We can learn how to control our power right here. Nothing and NO ONE will be a threat to us again."

When Ambrose tried speaking again, he quickly added.

"You could stay," the older Orion’s voice became surprisingly soft. "Help us learn faster. Or... or you could..." his light flickered. "... You could visit occasionally."

[Whatever you’re doing, keep going. That light blinking means he’s torn even if he doesn’t want to admit it.]

Ambrose smiled wryly. "I know. But you know deep down that that won’t work out, buddy."

"You could keep us here forever. Build a thousand more kingdoms. Fill the skies with dragons and the oceans with talking fish." His lips twitched faintly. "God knows your imagination has proven it can."

He took another slow step.

"But you’d still be alone. You wouldn’t be protecting Orion anymore. You’d just be protecting his fear."

Something inside Older Orion visibly wavered.

The brilliant white radiance surrounding him dimmed. Only slightly... But it was enough.

Ambrose moved.

"Rory—"

"Wait!"

Valentine and Aura spoke at the same time.

The pair blinked at one another.

Aura’s ears burned crimson as she immediately looked away.

Valentine merely stared before looking away as well, silently wondering why Ambrose’s AI was turning beet-red around him.

Ignoring both of them, Ambrose closed the remaining distance before anyone could stop him.

His hands reached forward and settled gently on Older Orion’s shoulders.

The young man didn’t retaliate, simply standing there frozen.

"You don’t have to keep carrying this by yourself anymore," Ambrose whispered. "You can trust again."

Older Orion’s lips trembled. "I..." The light surrounding him flickered violently. In a matter of seconds, it died out completely.

Before he even realised what was happening, Ambrose pulled him into a firm embrace.

The young man’s entire body stiffened.

Seconds passed.

Then the stiffness dissolved, a shaky breath escaping him. "I tried." His voice cracked. "I really tried."

"I know."

A broken sniffle left Older Orion before he buried his face against Ambrose’s shoulder.

Ambrose closed his eyes.

"I might be absolutely terrible at this parenting thing." A watery laugh broke past his lips. "But I’ll spend the rest of my life becoming strong enough to protect you."

His arms tightened.

"I swear it."

A pulse rippled through the dream.

Everyone turned.

Little Orion smiled. Before anyone could blink, he disappeared.

The older Orion looked toward the space before smiling too. "I think..." He wiped his eyes. "...he finally believes you."

He looked at every one of them. "Take care of us."

Before anyone could answer, his body dissolved into countless golden particles.

"Goodbye."

The kingdom, dragons and castles vanished alongside him, shattering into a brilliant white.

★★★★★

Ambrose’s eyes flew open first.

He bolted upright on the bed, immediately searching for Orion.

The little boy stirred beside him with a sleepy groan. "Daddy?"

Relief hit so hard Ambrose nearly collapsed.

One after another, Devon, Gabriel, Viktor and Valentine woke as well, each taking a second to realise they were back inside the bedroom.

"It..." Devon laughed breathlessly. "We actually did it."

However, the moment was interrupted when everyone spotted Loki.

They were staring out of the bedroom window, their face completely pale.

"Guys." Their voice came out unusually small. "We have a BIG problem."

Every head whipped toward the window.

The group rushed over, every single one of them going deathly silent.

Viktor breathed. "... Crap."