Chapter 52 - Teach Me With One Hand

Performing hand seals with one hand… Tave gave a small, amused smile when Oriana asked him to teach her. It wasn't something many people even attempted. Doing seals with two hands was already hard enough. One hand? That was the domain of maniacs and battle-freaks.

Like the old Tave.

Yeah. That guy had been a freak. Pushed himself to master something ridiculous just because he could, and somehow, pulled it off with precision.

"You know the strengths and weaknesses of doing seals one-handed, right? Lad…"

"Oriana." The girl cut in flatly, smirking. "Just call me Oriana. You've been calling me by name anyway, so don't suddenly act all formal. It's weird. Just keep it casual. It's more comfortable that way."

Tave blinked, then nodded. "Sure… Oriana."

She smiled. "I know how difficult it is," she added, raising her right hand slightly and trying a few hand shapes. "See?"

Her fingers stumbled through the pattern.

Tave, who sat just to her left, a little farther back, leaned in slightly and gently adjusted her pinky.

"You need to anchor pressure here," he said softly. "Actually you need to try using both hands first. Get the rhythm down. Then start removing one. Build it gradually."

Oriana gave a breathy laugh. "You're giving me more pressure, huh? You do realize I can't use my left hand right now."

"Ah, sorry…" Tave said with a sheepish smile.

Then she shifted closer, sliding to his right. She lifted her right hand and gestured toward him, palm open, fingers loose. Clear in what she was asking.

"Here. Help me."

She glanced at him, that usual hint of command slipping into her tone.

"Lend me your left hand."

Tave nodded without hesitation, lifting his left hand and aligning it with hers. His fingers settled around hers with practiced ease, adjusting gently, becoming her missing arm, guiding the flow of the hand seal.

"Like this…" he murmured.

"Ah. Yes, that's better." Oriana giggled softly, her breath brushing the space between them. "But, my hand's cramping already. This is insane…"

Tave laughed softly, feeling the tension ease for the first time in what felt like forever. Somehow, with Oriana here, being herself, joking even with her arm in a sling. Things felt a little more manageable. Like they weren't completely drowning.

And it helped that she was, in truth, a better leader than Orion had ever been.

In the story, if everything followed as it once did. Oriana would eventually rise to become the next City Lord, taking over from their father. That was always her arc. The destined successor. Poised. Intelligent. Strategic.

The problem was, with Orion around, her presence always got overshadowed. His sheer power and influence commanded too much attention. People couldn't look past it.

No matter how reckless he was, how unhinged. Orion was strong, and in this world, strength was everything.

Even the worst personalities could command respect… if they had the power to back it.

***

They spent quite a bit of time like that. Just the two of them by the fire. Oriana genuinely focused as she worked through the complexity of one-handed seals. Tave guided her movements carefully, adjusting finger angles, pressure points. Every now and then, Oriana's hand would slip mid-pattern and she'd let out a soft laugh.

"Sorry, I'm a bit dumb," she muttered with a breathy chuckle.

Tave just smiled and kept guiding.

Their hands moved in tandem, the quiet rhythm of seals filling the space between them, fingers brushing, shifting, aligning.

Then, out of nowhere, she spoke again. Softly.

"Tave…"

He turned to her slightly, raising both eyebrows. "Yes?"

She hesitated.

"How did you know about my sigil?" she asked. Her voice was calm, but there was something behind it. "More than I knew about it… even."

Tave froze for a heartbeat.

His mind raced. How to answer without giving away too much, without hinting at the truth that he knew far more than he ever should.

Maybe it was time to establish an image. The image of a quiet nerd. A guy who reads too much, who studies everything, who over-prepares. Let that be the mask.

"That…" he began slowly, keeping his tone casual, almost awkward. "That's because I used to suck at Gaia Force. Like, really sucks. So… I tried to study everything I could. Just so I could be useful somehow."

Oriana looked at him for a moment, then nodded gently.

"That's good," she said.

"Good… what?"

She smiled again, turning her gaze back toward the fading firelight.

"That it paid off. That you broke through." Her voice was quiet but sincere. "That knowledge. It's going to be valuable. It already is. We wouldn't have made it this far on the expedition without your ridiculous stash of information."

She nodded, clear as day, like she was officially acknowledging him.

Tave gave a small, modest smile and let the compliment settle without brushing it off for once. He accepted it with quiet humility. At least now, people really did appreciate these pathetic Taves.

See? Pathetic x pathetic = extraordinary.

And honestly, in this quiet moment, Tave felt something he hadn't felt in a long time… pride. Because the combination between Orion and Oriana was exactly what he had imagined when he first created them. A force meant to balance chaos and order.

Orion, the one who would stand at the frontlines when the great war came. With his unmatched bravery, wild charisma, and natural presence, he'd draw loyalty like a magnet. He was supposed to be the unstoppable warrior, the symbol of strength.

And Oriana, with her quiet command, her calm but protective nature, and her sharp mind was meant to be the one who brought people together. The real leader. The one who could give structure to the storm. She knew how to listen. How to bind people, not just lead them.

She had always held incredible potential, even in the original storyline. And now, seeing her act on it, genuinely, with clarity and presence. It made him wonder. If Oriana had been given more space to shine earlier… would things have gone differently for this city? For the Dissidia Kingdom?

"Thanks," he said softly, without looking directly at her.

Oriana turned to him, raising a brow with a playful smirk. "For what?" she asked.

"Thanks… for what you did back there." Tave's voice was low, steady, but there was a weight in it. 

"Because you really pushed yourself… to the point of nearly destroying your own core. You didn't stop." 

He paused. "You have to understand how much of a gamble that was. If someone loses their core, they're not just losing access to Gaia Force… they lose everything. Even the worst, their life."

He turned fully to her now, eyes locked on her face, because he meant every word.

She mattered. Not just to the team, but to Deadbay City, to its future.

"And please… next time, don't do that again." His tone softened. "Unless it's absolutely necessary."

He sighed, rubbing the back of his neck.

Well… granted, the situation was already dangerously close to a full-on disaster. But still, Tave said it because he understood the risk better than most.

Until he was too late to notice Oriana's cheeks tinting slightly, a flicker of red catching in the firelight. She turned away sharply.Her posture stiffening in that very specific way.

"I-It's not like I did it for anyone or anything…" she muttered under her breath, barely loud enough to catch. "I just didn't want to clean up your corpse later, okay? That'd be annoying."