Jardin Paisible — Late Evening.
It was a big bedroom for the children. Fifteen individual beds,
It smelled of clean linen, old paper, and the faint, comforting scent of tea. The children were tucked into their beds, a row of expectant faces illuminated by the soft glow of a bedside lamp.
"Suddenly, an owl fell from the tree," Johan read, his voice taking on the gentle, measured cadence of a storyteller. "'Mr. Owl, Mr. Owl,' Mother Crow called out. 'Can you help us teach little crow to fly?'"
He paused for effect, glancing up to see wide eyes watching him from every bed.
"'Hu-huhu, of course I will help little crow to fly,' Mr. Owl replied kindly."
Johan closed the book softly.
"And with this new friend and new beginning, the chapter ends."
Amili immediately sat up in bed, her braids bouncing. "Dr. Johan, does little crow learn to fly now?"
Johan raised an eyebrow, a slight smile playing on his lips. "Do you really want spoilers?"
"Come on, Amili!" Daisy groaned from across the room. "Why do you always interrupt the story?"
"But I want to know what happens!" Amili protested.
"Doctor, can I just take the book?" Amili tried a different approach, giving him her most pleading look. "Please?"
"Absolutely not. You'll stay up all night reading."
"Pleeeease?"
"Nooooo."
Johan stood up, tucking the book under his arm with finality. "Okay, that's enough story for tonight. Tomorrow evening, I'll continue from the next chapter."
The room settled into a comfortable murmur of protests and yawns.
"But, doctor, who is he?" Jack asked.
"What? Mr. Owl?" Johan replied, but puzzled.
Suddenly, Jack sat up, "No, he," pointing a finger toward the shadowed doorway where a figure stood hesitating.
Johan turned, as if just remembering.
"Oh, Theo!" Johan said, genuine surprise in his voice. "I didn't introduce him yet, did I?"
"Aa, you didn't, sir," Theo said nervously, stepping slightly into the lamplight.
Johan gestured warmly toward the boy. "Children, this is Theo. He's the newest member of our family."
"Welcome!" the children chorused together, their voices bright and welcoming.
Theo looked overwhelmed by the enthusiasm. He'd expected suspicion, maybe fear—not this instant, unconditional acceptance.
"Thank you," he managed to say, his voice barely above a whisper.
Johan placed a gentle hand on Theo's shoulder. "Listen, all of you. Theo is your new brother now. I expect you to treat him with the same kindness you show each other. Understood?"
"Yes, Doctor Johan!" they replied in unison.
"Good." Johan smiled. "Now, everyone, go to sleep. It's late."
Johan went out of the room. He was going to his room.
In the hallway, Theo stood awkwardly, unsure of what to do or say.
Johan guided him toward the stairs. "Your room is down this hall, third door on the right. Jennifer prepared it this afternoon while you were resting."
"I... thank you," Theo said. "For everything. For saving me. For bringing me here. For—"
"For giving you a home?" Johan finished gently.
Theo nodded, his eyes glistening.
"You don't need to thank me, Theo. What happened to you wasn't your fault. Your mother's actions aren't your burden to carry." Johan's expression was kind but firm. "Here, you're just Theo. Not a Maripian. Not a member of the Diaftis Order. Just a fifteen-year-old boy who deserves a safe place to live."
Johan started walking toward his own room, but sensed Theo still standing in the hallway, staring at him.
He turned back. "What are you still nervous about?"
"I... yeah, but I listened to your story," Theo said hesitantly. "I read your thoughts while you were telling it. The characters—they refer to your—"
"Shh!" Johan quickly cut him off, his voice dropping to a low, urgent whisper. "Don't talk about magic near the children. They don't need to know about any of that yet."
"Oh. Sorry," Theo apologised, looking guilty.
Johan's expression softened. "It's okay. And yes, you're right. The characters in the story all refer to our family. Especially little crow."
"He's also the son of—"
"Now go to sleep, Theo." Johan's tone was gentle but final.
Theo nodded and headed toward his room.
Johan climbed the stairs to the third floor and entered his own bedroom. He sat on the edge of his bed, running a hand through his hair.
The quiet of the mansion felt almost surreal after everything that had happened today.
Then his personal telephone in his room rang.
DRING! DRING!
Johan picked it up immediately. "Hello, this is Dr. Johan Bennet."
"Sir." The voice on the other end was tense, breathless. "There's a massive emergency. We need the help of all available members immediately."
Johan remained calm, assuming it was a routine patrol mission or perhaps a minor incident. "Okay. What's the danger level?"
The officer's response made his blood run cold.
"War."
Johan's eyes widened. "What? War?"
He froze, the phone suddenly feeling heavy in his hand.
For a moment, he couldn't process the word. The Order had protocols, threat levels, and emergency classifications. "War" wasn't a routine designation—it meant catastrophic, nation-level threat.
"Send a portal here," Johan said, his voice tight.
He set down the phone carefully, his mind racing.
I can't take Jennifer. This is life-threatening. If it's really war-level, I need her here to protect the children in case something happens to me.
A portal tore open in his bedroom—swirling blue energy that cast strange shadows on the walls.
An officer stepped partway through, his uniform scorched and bloodied. "Mr. Johan Bennet, we need you at—"
"Tell me the location and situation," Johan interrupted, already reaching for his coat.
"Location: New World Order Headquarters. The Diaftis Order is attacking with elite forces. They've already breached the outer perimeter. We need you and Jennifer Bennet immediately."
Johan's jaw tightened. "No. Jennifer stays here. She's not ready for war-level combat, and someone needs to protect this place."
"But sir, we need—"
"I said no." Johan's voice carried absolute authority. "I'll handle it. Brief me on the way."
He stepped through the portal without looking back.
The bedroom was empty.
Meanwhile, Jennifer's and Richard's team successfully broke the dome.
"Kaeli, shield back!" Richard shouted.
Kaeli immediately formed a mana barrier in front of Richard and his team, protecting them from the backlash of the dome's collapse.
Jennifer's final attack struck Kaeli's shield from the outside. The impact resonated through the barrier, but held.
Jennifer stopped her assault, sensing the shift in energy.
"Now I'm absolutely sure Johan invented this method," Jennifer muttered, recognising her brother's tactical fingerprints all over the technique.
The yellow mana dome shattered from every point simultaneously—not just breaking, but exploding outward in a catastrophic release of stored energy.
Yellow fragments dissolved into light and smoke.
The barrier was gone.
Order members poured into the inner courtyard freely, weapons raised, ready to overwhelm Jecob.
But the magma pillars were still active.
From each tower of molten rock, concentrated beams of searing heat lanced out, cutting through the charging Order members like scythes through wheat.
SZZZZZT! SZZZZZT!
Screams filled the air as multiple officers fell, their bodies charred beyond recognition.
"Spread out!" a commander shouted. "Don't cluster!"
But despite the devastating counter-attack, the advantage had shifted.
The dome was gone. Jecob was exposed. And hundreds of Order members now had a clear line of sight on their target.
Richard raised his Illumina Sword high. "All units—Defend yourself!"
The final assault began.
The Order members charged at the magma towers together, a coordinated assault from every direction.
Mana spheres whistled through the air. Elemental attacks crashed against the volcanic stone. Dimensional rifts tried to swallow the pillars whole.
But in the centre of it all, Jecob stood perfectly still within his orange protective sphere.
He wasn't defending.
He was channelling.
His eyes were closed, his arms spread wide. Massive amounts of mana flowed into him from the ground itself, concentrating in his core. The air around him shimmered and distorted from the sheer heat building up.
The towers weren't the real threat. They were just a distraction.
The real danger was building in the centre, where Jecob was generating enough explosive force to level the entire headquarters—and everyone in it.
Suddenly, more towers erupted from the ground.
Six new pillars of molten magma burst upward, surrounding the original five in a wider circle. The temperature in the courtyard spiked dramatically. Order members staggered back, their skin blistering from the heat alone.
Jennifer saw the threat immediately.
"Everyone back!" she shouted.
But instead of retreating, she drove her daggers into the ground.
Dark energy surged from the blades, spreading through the earth like black lightning. Massive stone spikes erupted from below, piercing through the new magma towers and shattering them before they could fully form.
CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!
The new pillars crumbled, their molten cores spilling harmlessly across the scorched ground.
But the original five towers still stood, and Jecob's power continued to build.
He was preparing himself for one final attack. "Mother, I will do it. I will take your revenge."
Cracks appeared in his face that fell with lava.