chapter 25: Finding a Cure

He made to bow as usual, but she stopped him as usual.

"This child has been through quite the ordeal," she said, even the goddess was moved to tears.

"Please, don't cry, I will save her, I promise" Orion reaffirmed.

"Please do, I want nothing more, than for her to be happy" the goddess stated.

'But first' Orion thought, 'the key is to undo the petrification' he added.

"House of wisdom, how do I undo Miu's petrification magic?" Orion asked, he had a bad feeling of the sort, but he still had to try.

"There is no known cure or undo process to the petrification" the voice responded; this deflated them.

"However, I can tell you the chemical makeup of the petrification substance, and you can devise a cure" the voice suggested.

"Interesting, let's hear it" Orion responded, and the voice explained everything.

A few explanations later.

"Hmm" Orion was intrigued, "Is something the matter?" Guanyin asked. Guanyin was a beautiful woman with long black straight hair, a slender and voluptuous body, and she was about 5'6 ft, she wore a white kimono with sky blue flowers on it.

"These ingredients are not that hard to find" Orion replied.

"Really? So you have them all here?" she asked, "Not yet," he said as he turned to leave.

"Where are you going?" she asked, "To get the ingredients, but don't worry, I won't take long," he said as he left the room.

A few moments later.

"I'm back goddess" he stated as he entered the room with the ingredients and one of the petrified thug bodies, the hands of the statue were smashed and he had several cracks.

"You're back already, and who is this with you?" she asked, "A test subject" he responded.

"I have a theory, I would like to try" he added, putting the statue back together again, he made the portion (which comprised of the ingredients: Blood of a Gorgan, the leaves of a sacred olive, and the back of a Marubus tree) and poured it on the statue, he and Guanyin leaned in, and nothing happened.

"Well, that's disappointing" Guanyin lamented.

"Hang on a minute" Orion made another batch, but this time he infused it with Holy Magic, then he poured it again, they waited and a miracle happened.

Cracks started to form, and at first, they feared the statue would break apart, but soon that proved to not be the case, as the stone broke apart like crust, and the perfectly unarmed thug was released.

"I can finally move" the thug cheered as he broke out completely, only to stare down the menacing face of Orion.

"Oh crap" the thug stared terrified at Orion's gaze and Presence.

"So, you were awake in there the whole time, interesting," Orion said as he moved closer, and the thug stumbled back.

"Tell me, could you see? Could you hear or feel?" Orion asked, but the thug still stared terrified.

"Answer me! Now!" Orion spoke firmly, the thug bowed down on his knees, head touching the ground "N-no sir, I couldn't, I-I was c-conscious, yes, b-but I couldn't s-see anything, it was all black, I couldn't hear or feel anything either, all I felt is that my entire body was suddenly stiff, and I couldn't move" he stuttered, also crying in the process.

"How could you be so cruel? Attempting to do such a thing to a child" Guanyin said, not showing anger or disgust, just sadness and grief, Orion on the other hand was glaring into his soul with his gaze.

"I'm sorry, me and my friend were drunk, we weren't thinking straight" he cried, Orion knew he was telling the truth, and he then handed him a bottle full of the Portion.

"Go pour this on your petrified friends, and leave my sight, or I swear I will make it so you wish you had remained a statue," Orion said, the thug stared at the portion for a while, as he looked up, he realized he was no longer where he was, and was back in the alley, where he and his friend were petrified.

He did as he was told, and as the petrification wore off, he couldn't help but think how fortunate they were, that it was Orion that found them, not another Hero.

Back at the mansion.

Orion was racking his head with all the possibilities of this magic, and he had to admit, despite the intense trauma and suffering it had caused this girl, it was still super useful.

"My lord, she has been cleaned, and is waiting in the dining area," Thyra said with a bow.

"Thyra, how many times do I have to say, it is either you call me Shiro, Megami, or Orion, this royalty thing is unnecessary" Orion corrected her.

"But I can't disrespect you in…" she was interrupted.

"Stop!" he deadpanned, then he approached her, held her waist, and kissed her on her lips in a deep passionate kiss, one that she melted into, "Shiro or Orion, got it?" he smiled.

"Y-yes sir" she stuttered, blushing really hard, he sighed.

'Is this how the other deities saw me?' Orion thought.

Arriving for dinner, he saw Miu and his mother talking, she was making Miu very comfortable.

"I see you've met my mother" his voice called their attention.

"She's a wonderful thing, isn't she" Orion complemented.

Himari blushed and laughed him off "Oh dear, stop that" she laughed.

Anyway, dinner was served, Miu was nervous at first, but all that nervousness faded away once she had a taste of the best food she had ever had.

"Miu, I want to help you," Orion said once dinner was done.

"How do you know my name?" Miu asked in shock.

"I know a lot about everybody, and I want to help you, I know all about your past and all you've been through, and I'm going to save you," Orion said curtained.