The room they were in was one of the most austere in the entire structure.
It wasn’t very large, but it was spacious enough to hold small etings or serve as a resting room for high-ranking expedition mbers.
The walls were natural rock, reinforced with tal plates bolted into place in several sections.
On one side stood a rectangular dark steel table; on the other, a small shelf holding water bottles, a first-aid kit, and several stacked folders.
Two white lamps embedded in the ceiling cast a clean light that contrasted with the mineral dampness saturating the air. At certain monts, the deep echo of the Abyss could even be heard in the distance, as if it were breathing beyond the cavern.
Angel and Ashley were seated side by side. Across from them, on another chair, sat Thomas. For a few seconds, no one said anything.
Thomas lowered his gaze slightly, ran a hand along the back of his neck, and finally spoke.
"One day I just woke up... and my gift had appeared."
Ashley watched him with imdiate attention. Angel did as well, though her expression was more contemplative.
Thomas fell silent for a mont after that sentence, organizing his thoughts.
’I’m not going to explain it that directly. There’s no point in telling them about the system itself. I’ll just give them a general idea of how it works.’
He took a deep breath.
"In simple terms... my gift allows to control won."
Ashley pulled her chin back slightly. She didn’t open her mouth or make any exaggerated gesture, but her surprise was evident in the stillness of her face.
Thomas continued, keeping his gaze forward.
"I can give them orders... and make them swear loyalty to without being able to refuse." He paused briefly. "Basically, they do whatever I tell them."
The room fell silent again. Ashley blinked slowly, as if she needed a few extra seconds to process what she had just heard.
Angel, on the other hand, rested her fingers against her chin and looked at him with curiosity far sharper than shock.
"Is it related to blood in so way?"
Thomas nodded.
"If the woman voluntarily makes a blood contract with , yes. But only that."
Angel narrowed her eyes thoughtfully.
"Then it might be a variation of my own gift."
"Huh?"
Angel kept her hand on her chin.
"I can do sothing similar."
Ashley turned her face toward her, surprised.
"Similar?"
Angel nodded gracefully.
"I can manipulate other people’s bodies through the use of their blood. Not to the extent of forcing them to swear loyalty to , but there is a component of physical submission involved. It wouldn’t be impossible for both gifts to share the sa root."
Thomas shook his head slightly.
"I doubt it."
Angel smiled faintly.
"Perhaps."
Then she leaned back slightly in her chair and said with complete calm:
"Use it on ."
"What?"
Angel crossed one leg over the other with absolute naturalness, her long pale legs standing out against her black dress.
"Your power. I want to see it for myself."
Ashley’s eyes widened a little more, but this ti she said nothing. Thomas frowned.
"We’d have to make a blood contract for it to work."
"I accept," Angel replied without hesitation.
Thomas blinked.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes."
"No, wait, I’m serious." Thomas straightened in his chair. "If it works like it does with the others, you’d be completely bound to . You wouldn’t be able to do anything against ."
Angel let out a small smile.
"Thomas, I’m your mother." Her tone gained a playful edge. "I already do that for free every day."
Thomas made an odd face. He wasn’t sure how to respond to that. Ashley, despite the tension, couldn’t help letting out a small snort of laughter.
Thomas sighed.
"Well..."
He stood up and extended his hand toward her.
"Prick your finger a little. Just enough to draw blood."
Angel complied without complaint. She picked up a short needle resting on the first-aid kit table, pressed it against the tip of her index finger, and let a small red drop erge, hanging from the tip of her finger with almost absurd grace.
Thomas showed her the palm of his hand, holding it steady in front of her. Then he spoke the words in a low but clear voice:
"Swear loyalty to . Swear that you will live for and alone."
Ashley felt a strange tingling at the back of her neck as she heard that.
Angel, anwhile, looked at him with a mix of mischief and maternal amusent. Then, playfully, she brought her index finger toward Thomas’s open palm.
"I swear."
The mont the blood touched his skin, a light appeared in Thomas’s palm.
The glow, faint and soft in tone, ran along his fingers and briefly spread between them, like a silent acceptance.
Thomas felt the bond forming. In front of him, his mother’s statistics appeared.
[SYMBIOTIC BOND COMPLETED]
Entity: Angel Miller
Class: ####
Gift: ####
Rarity: ####
Rank: ####
Status: ERROR
But the mont he tried to focus on the information, sothing failed. The sa effect appeared again. That impossible visual noise.
That phenonon of corrupted, censored, and distorted data.
A kind of interference in the form of a glitch covered entire sections of the information. Thomas imdiately frowned.
"That’s strange..."
Angel tilted her head.
"What is?"
Thomas kept staring ahead, as if trying to understand sothing slipping through his grasp.
"I’ve never seen... I an... I’ve never felt this before," he lied quickly. "I can’t sense all of your information."
Angel looked at him with curiosity, though she remained calm.
"I see..." She uncrossed her legs and adjusted her posture. "Then give an order."
Thomas nodded, still confused.
"Angel, go move that chair to the other side of the room. That’s an order," he emphasized to make sure.
Angel stared at him. Several seconds passed.
She lowered her gaze to her own hands. She slowly opened and closed them, as if checking whether sothing in her body should feel different.
"Should I be feeling sothing?"
Thomas rubbed the back of his neck.
"This is the first ti this has happened. I don’t understand the reason either. Normally none of them can refuse once the contract is made."
Angel remained silent, thinking it over. The playful tone from earlier disappeared from her expression, replaced by sothing far more serious. Finally, she stood up.
"I’ll go speak with my group."
Thomas looked up at her.
"Now?"
"Yes. Wait here for . I won’t take long."
Angel walked to the door and left the room without adding anything else. The door closed softly behind her.
Then the silence returned to the room.
Heavier.
More uncomfortable than before.
’How strange... could it be sothing as simple as her being my mother... or is there sothing deeper?’
He looked at Ashley from where he sat. Her hands were resting on her thighs as she stared at the floor. He hadn’t felt a silence like this since he returned to speak with her.
’It’s a sha she had to find out like this... I wanted to talk everything through calmly and with a plan beforehand. I didn’t account for the unexpected.’
Thomas remained seated for a mont, staring at the closed door, until he finally stood up. He walked around the small table and sat down beside Ashley.
’I hope she doesn’t distance herself from ... or refuse to make the contract with . I genuinely want her help. I’ll explain everything to her.’
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