Symphonic Odyssey
: Vol. Two: Beneath the Hawthorn Tree: Verse Eighty-Three

Two weeks had passed since the knowledge of the events at Galvan manor had been revealed to him, and Cypher had taken the time to sort through what he had learned. Molly’s death still pained him greatly, but now that the initial shock of such sadness had run its course, all he could feel was a strong desire to make the people responsible for her death pay dearly.

He would need to get stronger if he wanted to get his revenge. A Rank-Four Conductor would annihilate him at his current level and thus, he had resolved himself to grow as strong as he could, as quickly as possible. The matter of him being a member of the Galvan family also caused him some concern.

What did Galex mean by that? He was family? If what he said was true and more than just some sentimental attachment because he had once lived in the mansion, it would raise more questions than Cypher could think of at the moment. Alvin had told him that Galex would return to the academy once his matters concerning the attack were resolved.

All he had to do was wait for Galex to return and he would get his answers. In the meantime, Cypher would dedicate every waking moment of his life to growing more powerful. The moment that his grief had cleared up enough, the conflict he had felt regarding the life of a Conductor had shattered in an instant.

He was still against killing innocent people, either by accident or on purpose, and that wasn’t likely to change any time soon. He also, of course, still felt terrible about what he had done to Alex and he would make sure to pay his friend a visit soon.

Despite those issues, however, he was now more resolved than ever before to follow a path that would grant him the strength he needed to push forward. He desperately needed power if he was to succeed.

As he waited for Galex to return, he trained relentlessly in the Zight Vortex, as well as on his battle pressure. It was still weak and he lacked the second half of the training as well since Glenda had halted their training session in order to allow him time to grieve. He had argued with her for quite some time after he had calmed down over the matter, but she refused to budge and would only promise that they’d continue after he spoke with Glaex again.

She had been gone for a week already and in that time Cypher found himself annoyed that his training was being put on hold. Alvin had similarly been absent for several hours each day. But whenever Cypher would ask him about it he was met with only assurances that everything was alright. Whatever Alvin and Glenda were up to they weren’t eager to share it with him.

Most of his training had been on his own and he had seldom left his room during this entire time. With Glenda gone, he had returned to gathering all the knowledge he was lacking, as well as training his centers of power. To that end, he was sitting in the middle of his living room reading the Architect’s Draft while simultaneously using the Zight Vortex. It was extremely risky to do so, as both forms of training required lots of focus but he didn’t particularly care at that moment.

Grief and a lust for revenge were powerful motivations. Cypher would make good use of them while they remained fresh in his mind. He felt certain he could do both and maintain the necessary focus to prevent himself from being injured, but it was very taxing to do so.

If he had had any leftover mental energy to spare, he would have been training his Orrium as well, but he had perfectly calculated exactly how much energy it would take to train both centers of power. On top of that, his Orrium was already far more developed than others his age. For now, he could let training of that organ remain a task for later.

Having his mind so heavily focused on two difficult tasks, he didn’t notice that someone had been knocking at his door until Alvin marched in once again. ‘I might as well set up a bed for him in here at this rate. What good is knocking if you’re just going to barge in anyway?’ Cypher thought to himself as he took notice of his master.

Alvin was not pleased when he saw what Cypher was doing, and he immediately ran forward and shut the book his disciple was reading. “Are you stupid or something? Do you realize how dangerous it is to train two centers of power at the same time? With a single misstep, you could have ruined yourself! Don’t let me catch you doing something like this again, or I’ll have to take matters into my own hands,” Alvin had said as he stood and crossed his arms.

“Forgive me… ‘Master’, but I was handling it just fine. If anything, suddenly interrupting me like that was more dangerous than what I was doing. Just so you know I made sure to strike up a perfect balance so as not to lose focus on either task, don’t worry. Anyway, if you’re here, that must mean that Galex has returned am I right?” Cypher responded, looking closely into his master’s eyes.

His agitation towards Alvin was unreasonable, at least in part. He was upset that his training had been put on hold and nearly halted altogether since Galex had shown up. Right now he needed to get more powerful before anything else and with Alvin and Glenda missing so often, his resentment toward his would-be instructors could only increase.

Alvin sighed and facepalmed as he thought about his reckless disciple, “Well if you’ve found a safe way to do it I suppose I can’t really scold you now can I? You’re just full of surprises aren’t you? Ah, but to answer your question, yes. Galex has returned, he just got here an hour ago. We can leave now if you-” Alvin was cut off once again by his disciple as the boy stood up, put on his shirt, and headed out the door.

Alvin quickly followed and overtook the boy, before leading him to the conference room Galex was once again waiting in. Cypher burst through the door and walked right up to Galex who stood at the window staring out at the mountains. Glenda was there as well, and she moved to Cypher’s side, her hand ever-present upon the hilt of her sword.

“Alright Galex, it’s time for you to give me some answers! What did you mean about us being family?” Cypher was being quite bold considering that Galex towered above him quite a bit. The man, however, was calm now and not an ounce of his previous sadness remained for Cypher to see. Only the cold gaze Galex usually carried awaited him as they made eye contact.

“Done crying I see. Good. Tears will do you no good going forward. Yes, we are family, but not in the way you might suspect,” Galex said in a deep voice as he turned and sat at the table. Cypher soon joined him but his gaze never left the man before him. Alvin was keeping a close watch on the hulking man as he spoke.

There wasn’t much he could do to increase security given the potential threat Galex posed right now. As it was if he made any attempts to do so the council would learn about it. That, of course, meant that the traitor in their midst would also learn of it and at that point, things might get out of control.

Alvin had done his best to inform Sequinnen of the issues they now faced concerning Galex and the Council. The headmaster had taken the news better than Alvin first thought he would, but it was still deeply troubling. The cultists might be plotting behind the scenes but now, at least, Alvin and Sequinnen were able to make moves of their own. For now, it was best to just let this play out and see what happened.

“If you’re worried about me being your father, stop,” continued Galex. “My bloodline ends with me. It is a fact I have come to terms with, so if that is what angers you then you can relax. However, we are still family. Although not by blood, but by marriage. Your mother was my wife’s sister, and her name was Serenade.”

The name sent a shiver down Cypher’s spine and his expression softened ever so slightly. The news that Tyrina had been his aunt left him with a strange cluster of emotions. She had never once treated him with kindness in all her life, however, she hadn’t been as cruel as the other members of the Galvan family had been towards him.

Eiden went without saying. The boy had been a bully to Cypher since he could understand that he was a noble and Cypher wasn’t. The twins had only just started being cruel to him a year before his training with Eiden had begun and while they were new at it, they were vicious and unforgiving in their treatment of him. Galex had been cold, cruel, and distant, but Tyrina always seemed to take a neutral stance when it came to Cypher. Instead of outright disdain, she had always treated him with cold indifference.

“Aunt Tyrina eh?” he said, the phrase sounding strange and unnatural coming from his own mouth. The idea that he shared a bond of blood with her didn’t disgust him as much as the idea of being related to Galex had, but it was still something he didn’t replace any joy in. Still, he was relieved that Galex’s blood didn’t run through his veins and that was a rather large weight off his shoulders.

What interested him more was the name of his mother, his birth mother. Molly had been so very kind towards him, and she had loved and cared for him just the same as Tyrina had loved and cared for her own children. In a perfect world, Molly would have been his birth mother. However, that was not the case and now, she was gone. Nothing would change that.

Still, as much as he loved Molly, the truth of his real parents had always been something Cypher had been curious about. He felt a strange feeling of attachment to them even though he had never known them in his entire life.

“Serenade… What a beautiful name. What was she like? Or, no… what can you tell me about… Ugh!” Cypher was at a loss for what to say. As attached to his birth parents as he was, he still resented them quite heavily for abandoning him all those years ago. He needed answers and justification for that if he was ever to move forward. He had so many questions and it took him a moment before he found the one he needed to know the answer to most of all.

“Why didn’t she want me?” His voice cracked a bit when he asked that, and a look of pity flashed across Galex’s face, but it quickly disappeared before he answered.

“It wasn’t that she didn’t want you Cypher. Quite the opposite, in fact, the day she brought you to our mansion she could barely stand to leave you behind.” Cypher fidgeted in his seat but Galex continued.

“Sit down, I have much to tell you and hopefully, by the end, you’ll understand why she chose to do what she did. Just remember that I don’t have all the answers. Tyrina was closer to your mother than she ever was to me, and those two weren’t close at all before that last night together.”