The Endless Solvent

He reflexively gave his parents a bow, then immediately felt his neck flush in embarrassment. He straightened and didn’t let any of his feelings creep into his expression.

“If it is accountability that these people lack, then allow us to suggest my son provide it,” Lord Venag Teverin said. His father then glanced over at him so Verne took the cue to stand next to his parents.

“How so, my lord?” Professor Kallum asked.

Lord Teverin stood at his full height, his full head of brown hair perfectly styled back. He had tanned skin that perfectly matched such hair along with a strong jaw and wide shoulders accented by shoulder guards of the armor. Looking at the bronzed glory that was his father made him feel a familiar pang of pain. Verne had the colorings that seemed directly inherited from his mother, from the darker hair that bordered on black and equally dark eyes. Both he and his mother also suffered from an unfortunate pallid complexion. “If this Caelisian boy claims he’s able to close Gates he should be given a chance to,” Verne’s father said. “As for the concern of their motives, my son will make sure they stand in line. Everyone is well aware of where our family’s loyalty lies, correct?”

Neither Ral nor Aris said anything. It was Professor Camaz that crossed his arms and spoke up. “And what would you have your son do to ensure this? He is their peer, not their prison warden.”

“He shall do what he must to ensure the safety of the empire,” Lord Teverin said. He regarded Ral with a look that seemed wholly neutral to everyone but Verne. “This boy will have his opportunity to serve the empire. But upon failure the Teverin family will clean up. I believe this solution is satisfactory for everyone?”

Aris’s expression was hidden under bandages and a hood, but Ral didn’t look happy in the slightest. Verne swallowed a bitter lump at his throat and forced himself to stay silent. Even if he said something - even if he insisted - nobody would believe him. He was the son of a duke, a nobleman marinated in Sekrelli beliefs the moment he was born. He was a Parts-damned child that felt uncomfortable eating rune-heated food not that long ago.

But he wanted the Gates closed and the people safe. If this would convince people to let Ral try to do what he claims, Verne had to agree even if it painted him in a bad light. His father was already denouncing Ral as a fraud and giving Verne the ability to strike him down at the first sign of betrayal. It wasn’t what he wanted anyone to think of him.

The assembly continued mainly because Professor Yepla was unhappy about having Verne go. However having Lord Teverin basically announcing to the Academy that his own son should and will go wasn’t anything anyone could argue against. The assembly was unceremoniously dismissed soon after and everyone trickled out, murmuring discussions filling the giant hall along with the shuffling sound of movement. Camaz collected Ral and Aris while Verne stayed with his parents who lingered towards the side of the stage along with their guards. It was only then Verne realized his parent’s long-time porter, Pinnlo, was nowhere to be seen.

“You do understand what’s riding on this,” Lord Teverin said to him when they were out of earshot. There was no greeting before this. “The safety of the realm. The integrity of our family name. Son, you were born to do this.”

Do what? He wanted to ask. Watch his friends like they were criminals? But he saw the look on his mother’s face, the familiar strained look masked by a forced expression of serenity. He knew anything he does wrong ends up being her punishment. So he simply nodded and agreed with his father, not really knowing what he’s agreeing to.

Obeying one’s father should be a reflex. It had always been that way. There was some sort of oppressive tension that radiated from his father for as long as he could remember, coupled with the sad compliance of his mother. Verne thought it was normal to have a father that expects things from their sons, and being the only child only compounded that expectation. He thought having a demanding father came with nobility. As a child he also never thought much about his mother’s meek nature; again, he thought this was normal.

He was old enough to piece it together as a teenager. It bothers Lord Venag Teverin that his own son looks nothing like him. There was also gossip abound, but that was ruthlessly crushed by the duke before it got out of hand - even then, it was enough to anger Lord Teverin. In the end, he was the only child and too much had been invested in Verne for Venag to turn to someone else. So it meant Verne had to excel to render the rumors and speculations into nothingness.

It meant everything Verne did was to prove something under the family name, even so far away from Sekrelli.

In light of all that he’s seen, Verne was tempted to tell his old man to go shove his ego up his ass. There were monsters roaming the land and innocent people being killed - while all the students were actually putting work into fixing the problem, he had to be stuck playing his father’s stupid games.

His mother quietly stepped forward and clasped one of his hands in her own. Her fingers were thin and cold, her hand shook a little. “You have been blessed since you were born,” she said quietly. “And you are meant for great things. I know this. Please… go and do what the Parts meant for you to do.”

He squeezed her fingers warmly. She’s said that all his life, about how he was ‘blessed’ and meant for great things. Lady Attan Teverin truly believes those words, no matter what her husband thinks. Between his father’s suffocating expectations and her quiet beliefs, it somehow made him who he was today… whether he liked it or not.

Verne thought about what Ral and Aris had said about the Parts having a plan for them. Obviously Aris had despised the thought of it. She didn’t want to be a pawn to some being, even if it was a god. Verne was always bewildered at her anger since he had always believed they were all pawns to the Parts since they were born.

Now… Now he had no idea what to believe.

In the midst of turmoil, he held his mother’s cold fingers for long heartbeats. Go and do what the Parts meant for you to do. What if the Parts meant for him to play his father’s games? If he didn’t go with the twins to ‘watch them’, they would never have the chance to prove themselves. Without proof they could be useful against the crisis, their lives would be in danger. Not that long ago he resolved himself to follow where the Solvent led him and his mother’s words reminded him of that.

“I understand,” he said. He made it seem like he was addressing both his parents but really, in his heart, he spoke to his mother. “I won’t disappoint you.”