A Sinner’s Chance

One of the first things I did after getting out of bed was to write a letter to my father. I explained the general situation, but not that I knew that he knew about my past life. Doing so in writing would only give him time to process that I had found out, and I wanted to spring it on him, so I could get a genuine reaction and so that he wouldn't have time to properly formulate an excuse, though it was possible that he had done so already.

I made my way to the main administration building and sent the letter off, paying extra for quick delivery and return. While I was here I also paid a visit to Marian, mostly to talk about the plan me and Arya had thought up, but also to confront her about how Alcrem had heard about my past. I was quite familiar with the route to her room and had a spare key as well, so it posed no problem to enter her room unseen.

I could hear the sound of running water, indicating Marian was probably taking a shower or filling the bath. While I thought about stripping and intruding, it would probably lead to the two of us having sex, something Marian didn't have time for as classes would surely start before we finished.

I lay down on her bed and resigned myself to waiting while staring at the ceiling. It didn't take much longer before I heard the water turn off and eventually footsteps as Marian walked out from the bathroom, drying her hair the rest of her curvaceous figure in plain sight. She paused a moment before smiling as she saw me. "What brings you here so early?" Her tone and eyes revealed the poorly concealed desire she was feeling.

Seeing her I stood up and made my way over before wrapping my arms around her neck and giving her a quick kiss, her freshly cleaned scent tickling my nose as I pulled away. "Probably not for what you're hoping." I said as I moved back and sat on her bed once more, motioning for her to join me. There was no hesitation as Marian sat right next to me and laid her head on my shoulder. "What did you want to talk about then? I assume it's about Arya, since really that seems to be the only trouble you ever have."

"You're not wrong, but there is something else I need to ask first. Did you ever talk to Alcrem about my past life?"

I felt Marian lift her head from my shoulder and look at me while shaking her head. "I haven't mentioned anything about it to anyone, what happened?" I could hear genuine concern in her voice, but I couldn't rule out that some form of brainwashing had taken place.

I sighed as I was unable to learn more information, perhaps it was time to develop a truth serum, something I'd thought about but never done since I hadn't really cared about finding certain truths out until now, if I could make it airborne and hard to detect that would be even better.

I shook my head in answer to Marian. "Nothing much, I just had a fight with Hiroshi, the self-proclaimed Hero, and he knew about my past life and claimed that Alcrem had told him." I didn't mention devouring his Divinity as if for some reason it became a problem, I didn't want her to get wrapped up in it. "I'm also planning on dropping out of school at the end of this year, I'm not really getting anything out of most of the lessons, but more importantly, I'm going to the Yin-Yang clan with Arya, to talk about the dissolution of our engagement."

I could feel Marian tense a moment as she looked at me longingly. "I can't abandon my teacher position yet, and even if we aren't close, I still want to provide some aid to Gabriel and Kali, are you going to leave me behind?"

There was a deep sense of loneliness in her words and expression as she looked at me, but I could only nod. "Once me and Arya have talked things over with her clan, we plan to head into the Forest of Darkness, my biological father reached out and wanted to meet. If all goes well, we should be back in Phoenicia before you finish up the next year, though I doubt it will be completely smooth sailing."

Marian hugged me tightly. "Just when we manage to advance our relationship you plan to leave. Do you think the Gods are conspiring against us? It's unfair."

I gently returned her embrace. "It may feel like that, but it doesn't matter even if they are." One of my hands snaked its way to her abdomen, before reaching further down and resting above the location of the Lust Crest. "So long as this remains, you belong to me and I belong to you, no matter if Gods or Demons try to pull us apart, this is proof of our bond, and I will do everything in my power to ensure it stays."

I could Marian's body temperature rise a bit as she blushed, but as she drew her head away and opened her mouth, the bell began to toll, indicating that classes were soon to start meaning that she needed to make haste to her classroom, so I simply pushed a finger against her lips before giving her a quick kiss and standing up. "I'll come visit soon." I said as I began to make my way out of the room and back towards my residence.

There was plenty I needed to get done before the school year ended as preparation for going to the Yin-Yang clan, classes to attend, paperwork to finish, among a myriad of other tasks that brought the end of the school year closer and closer. Though the largest and most difficult obstacle was getting Alcrem to write about the dissolution and what I could do to reverse it. He was adamant on the whole marrying the Hero thing, despite the fact that I had given clear evidence of the scum that he was. With each correspondence, the little warmth I had towards Alcrem slowly died and became cinders as he refused to budge on the matter.

It was during one such period of me reading a letter from him that Arya, came in fresh from a bath, her fresh and clean scent reinvigorating me as she laid her arms on my shoulders and pressed herself against my back. "I've gotten a strange Skill, can you tell me what it does?" She said as she put her Status Plate in front of me showing her Status as she pointed out the Skill that she thought was strange. Though even without using Seshat's Library I could guess what the Skill did, after all with a name like Photosynthesis, it was pretty obvious what kind of effect it might have.