Ascension Of The Villain

As Clyde burst into Vyan's room with his usual morning ergy, expecting to find his frid deep in the embrace of sleep, the sight that greeted him was far from ordinary.

"Vyan!" Clyde called out, his voice echoing off the walls. "It's time to rise and shine. Sir Jacques is sharping his 'disappointed mtor' glare as we speak. You have already skipped training for three days with the excuse of the epi—"

Clyde paused as Vyan was nowhere to be se. He spun a in confusion, his eyes darting a the room.

"Vyan?" he called out ttatively, as if expecting Vyan to jump out from under the bed.

Th it hit him.

"Hold the parchmt, is Vyan actually up on time?" Clyde muttered incredulously, squinting suspiciously at the sunlit window.

"No way, the sun has not ris from the west either," he muttered to himself, questioning the very laws of nature.

In the last fifte months of knowing Vyan, this has never happed before. There must be only one possibility!

Summoning his magical skills, Clyde teleported to the trance of Vyan's sanctum. He bypassed the elaborate sev-steps security measures that Vyan had put on ever since Iyana invited herself over. Yes, you read it right. Sev.

"Vyan, what is this big idea of spding the tire night here—" he announced upon barging in, only to freeze in his tracks.

There sat Vyan, looking more like a sleep-deprived scholar than the usual disheveled sleeper Clyde knew so well.

His eyes resembled two bloodshot moons in a stormy sky and they were fixed inttly on a weathered scroll that seemed to have se better cturies.

"What on earth—" Clyde began, th caught sight of the muddy footprints leading to Vyan's spot on the study table.

"Where did you go to collect all this mud from?" Clyde cringed.

"Mount Mary," Vyan mumbled.

"Mount Mary?" Clyde shrieked in surprise. "Did you go to excavate some history single-handedly or what?"

Vyan remained undeterred by Clyde's teasing and murmured solemnly, "No, I wt to collect this scroll. It contains a spell to go into the past."

"A spell? Like, rewind-the-clock kind of spell?" Clyde blurted out, eyes widing with both disbelief and a hint of excitemt.

"Not quite. It's like I would be visiting the past as a spectator, that's it."

"As far as I know, didn't this spell go extinct?" Clyde twitched his lips. "Are you sure you found this in that barr mountain? Are we sure it's not a recipe for a really old-fashioned mushroom stew?"

"No jokes, Clyde," Vyan said, finally tearing his eyes away from the scroll to meet Clyde's gaze, his expression deadly serious. "This could change everything."

"Okay, fine, fine," Clyde raised his hands in defse. "But how did you know it could be found on Mount Mary?"

"Goddess Hecate told me."

"Oh, I see— wait, who?!" Clyde's eyes almost popped out of his sockets.

"Goddess—"

"You have a direct link to her?"

"I never told you?" Vyan asked with a bored tone.

"No!" Clyde shouted.

"Huh. I must have only told Bedict th," Vyan muttered.

Clyde seized Vyan by the shoulder and shook him vigorously. "How could you keep such a major secret from me?"

Vyan shot him an annoyed look. "Stop pestering me. Go see if Thea needs you, lover boy."

Clyde's face fell. "No, she is long gone. She fled at dawn."

After tding to Calver village, Vyan had invited Althsa to stay the night at his estate. Though she reluctantly agreed at his insistce, she bolted the momt morning broke.

"That is a shame," Vyan remarked, his eyes back to fixating on the ancit scroll, "I thought it might give you a chance to win her heart."

"Only if life were that simple," Clyde sighed deeply.

"Stay strong, frid," Vyan couraged, his voice devoid of thusiasm.

Clyde scowled and grumbled, "Should I inform Sir Jacques you are skipping training today?"

Vyan gave a curt nod.

"Fine. You will deal with him the next day, not me." With that, Clyde headed for the door, snapping his fingers to clean up the mud on the floor on his way out.

———

"Ah, I am finally done," Vyan exclaimed, a satisfied grin spreading across his face.

After an hour of intse conctration that made his brain feel like it was doing yoga in a sauna, Vyan was now pondering how to test it out.

Selecting a momt wh he was out and about, completely not home, seemed like the safest bet.

After all, he couldn't risk running into himself—the universe had strict rules about meeting your own doppelganger.

"Okay, let's give this a whirl," he muttered nervously.

Closing his eyes, Vyan focused on his mana circuits. Reciting the spell, he expected a zap and whoosh—instead, there was a soul-splitting swirl, a terrifying slip, and a sudd drop that made him regret eating the food Clyde brought him earlier.

Wh he felt a gtle thud that was more graceless than graceful, he braved oping his eyes.

Blinking in the unfamiliar room, he sighed. He was still inside his manor, but in a room that he couldn't quite put his finger on.

"What date is it?" he pondered aloud.

Peering out the window to see it was nighttime, he groaned. "Whatever the date is, it is neither the right time nor location. It's just a stupid random day in the past."

Clearly, the spell worked, ev if the universe rearranged a few details.

Just th, he heard the double doors creaking op, and he dashed to hide under the bed.

He saw porcelain feet walk into the room, and as he noted the purple design of the floor-touching gown, he recognized whose room it was.

Of course, it had to be Iyana's room. Fate loved to throw him into these situations.

Iyana headed into the bathroom, and Vyan was all set to make his escape wh, lo and behold, two maids strutted in like clockwork.

Appartly, it was night routine time, and he was stuck playing a game of hide-and-seek.

Only after Iyana emerged in her night dress did the maids finally bid her goodnight and shuffle out.

Vyan stifled a sigh of relief, siltly cursing his luck.

On the other hand, Iyana tinkered a the room and paid no mind to properly drying her hair. Vyan couldn't help but wince as her damp locks bounced a like mischievous spirits.

Patice is a virtue, Bedict used to say. Well, patice was about the only thing he had left right now.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity of hair-flailing tormt, Iyana settled into bed. Within minutes, the soft symphony of her snoring filled the room.

Vyan counted t more minutes just to be sure she was truly in dreamland before cautiously emerging from his cramped hiding spot.

Her hair, still damp, framed her face in a way that was oddly dearing, but he couldn't help feeling annoyed.

He debated whether he should leave her to her nocturnal peace or... Well, it wasn't like this small, insignificant gesture would d up changing the prest or anything. She wouldn't ev know this happed.

His fingers hovered over her hair, gtly coaxing the dampness away. A small smile tugged at his lips as he watched her sleeping form.

Just as he was about to retreat to the shadows, his heart skipped a beat as her sleepy voice murmured, "Stop."