Seducing the Guideverse With My System — Raising an Anomaly [BL]

Later that day, while everyone else fell asleep in the Hale-Ferguson Residence, Ambrose took a walk out of the room. He rubbed the back of his neck, taking one last glance at Viktor and Devon’s sleeping frames.

Remembering how Valentine and Gabriel were in another room made him sigh.

When they first moved into this house, he never imagined a day where he’d feel like it was getting... overcrowded.

But they’d just have to make it work.

No way in hell was he going into a mortgage for another place.

[Someone’s getting an insomnia streak.] Aura drawled teasingly in his head. [What’s gotten your feathers ruffled? Devon and Viktor’s presence making you hot and needy?]

’You know, ever since you began manifesting physically, you’ve been giving me the ick. Did it come with a lewdity setting?’

[Oh, darling, I’ve always had a little bit of crazy in my programming.]

He paused in front of Orion’s door.

After taking in a couple of breaths, he opened the door just enough to peek his head inside. Spatial awareness swept through the place before his eyes did.

The boy was sound asleep.

Peacefully too.

He was tucked soundly under the bed sheets, snuggling with a stuffed cat Viktor got him a couple of weeks ago. His heart beat at a normal rate... another good sign.

’No world-ending nightmares here.’ He let out a quiet, relieved sound before stepping back, shutting the door. ’God, he’s been through too much for his age. I keep feeling like I’m failing him.’

[There’s only so much you can protect him from, sweetheart.]

’That’s just the thing.’

With a thought, he got the system to pull up the current stats on the seal holding back Orion’s powers.

[CurrentSealIntegrity: 62%.]

’It’s dropped by 5 per cent in barely a day?’ Ambrose face-palmed as he made his way downstairs.

The house was almost eerily quiet, save for the faint ticking of the wall clock in the living room. Ambrose took a look at the time.

It was already past two AM.

’I know I’m supposed to help teach Orion how to control his powers.’ Ambrose made a pause by the kitchen island. ’But that’s just the thing. What if the whole point is that I can’t? W-What if that’s left for him? And then he screws up and—’

[Can you relax?]

’Don’t you tell me to relax when you gave me a potential death penalty if I fail this!’

[Well, actually it’s a permanent erasure from the multiverse. Which... is infinitely worse.]

Ambrose settled onto one of the couches.

He was running out of options.

For an entire month he’d avoided doing what was beginning to cross his mind. But Orion didn’t plunge the world into a zombie apocalypse during said one month.

Enough was fucking enough.

[That man’s probably going to ban you from talking to him entirely at this rate.]

’Well, I better make this shot worth it, no?’ He summoned out the black mask from the system Inventory. ’I’m going through with this, Aura. If anyone should know about this stupid seal and the true nature of Orion’s powers... it should be the man who birthed him.’

He wore the mask without another word.

Closing his eyes, he concentrated, thinking about the mask’s dimension.

Several seconds passed.

It took so long that Ambrose almost began wondering if Aura was right and the jackass had banned him from speaking to him.

That’s until a sharp sting hit the back of his head.

His consciousness got sucked into the empty dimension of the black mask in the very next second.

The darkness greeted him almost immediately.

An endless void stretched in every direction, silent enough that Ambrose could hear his own breathing. There was no ground beneath his feet, no stars overhead.

Only familiar nothingness.

He floated aimlessly through it, turning his head now and then in search of the one person he knew inhabited this impossible place.

"...Hello?" His voice disappeared into the darkness.

No answer came.

Ambrose clicked his tongue. "Really? You’re ghosting me now?"

A familiar chuckle echoed behind him. "I think this should count as cheating at this point."

Ambrose spun around.

Future Ambrose stood several metres away, hands tucked into the pockets of a long black coat that seemed woven from the darkness itself. His silver eyes held the same tired amusement as always.

For a brief second, relief washed over Ambrose. "Sorry."

Future Ambrose arched a brow.

"For disturbing you," Ambrose clarified. "It’s just... a lot happened."

"I know."

The simple response made Ambrose pause. Then his stomach tightened.

"You... saw?"

Future Ambrose nodded once. "The zombie outbreak. The dream...The seal breaking."

Ambrose’s expression hardened almost instantly. "So it was you."

The older man’s silence confirmed it.

"You were the one who sealed Orion’s powers before sending him to me."

"I was."

Something inside Ambrose snapped.

"Then why the hell didn’t you warn me?" He barked. "Do you have any idea what almost happened today? The entire bloody world nearly ended because I had no clue what I was dealing with!"

Future Ambrose didn’t flinch beneath the outburst. "I never expected the seal to deteriorate this quickly." His voice carried something dangerously close to regret. "I thought it’d last years."

He looked away.

"I wanted him to have the normal childhood I couldn’t give him."

Ambrose let out a humourless laugh.

"Normal?" He stepped closer. "He saw monsters before he could properly spell his own name. He got kidnapped by the Void Entity. He’s accidentally caused a global zombie apocalypse. What part of our lives has ever been normal?"

The older man’s shoulders sagged. "You’re right."

Silence settled briefly between them before Ambrose spoke again.

"Then answer me something else."

Future Ambrose looked back at him.

"How?" Ambrose’s fists tightened. "How did Orion become that powerful?"

The older man actually snorted. "Have you stopped to consider how powerful you become?"

Ambrose frowned. "What?"

"Orion didn’t inherit those abilities from nowhere." Future Ambrose’s silver eyes met his. "They manifested because of mine. Because my own powers eventually became something terrifying enough that even reality struggled to contain them."

A cold chill travelled down Ambrose’s spine. Every answer only birthed more questions.

"Then tell me this." His voice became quieter. "What happened? What was so horrible that you sent your own son back through time to me?"

For the first time since they’d met... Future Ambrose hesitated.

His gaze drifted into the endless darkness around them before finally returning.

"Because..." His jaw tightened. "...I didn’t want them to find him."

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