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“I… I guess, it just seemed beyond me. And once I’d manage to contain it, I was afraid that if I tried to take it further by actually extinguishing it, I could fail and it could rage, maybe even breach my containment.”

“Your fear of collateral damage, harm coming to others nearby, and of your instincts not being correct impacted your conviction.” He eyed me pointedly. “Your will.”

“I see what you did there. My will.”

“There’s no chance of collateral damage now. Now harm to innocents. So experiment. Push it further than you did last time. Listen toyourpower,yourwill, not that which the True Celestials wish it to be.” He shoved his hand through his long hair, obviously distressed by what had been realized here. “Your will is not bound by them either, just like you’re not directly linked to the Celestial Plane in the inescapable way that I am.”

“They wanted you to teach me their way, though, to try to enforce that, right?”

“It would seem that as you’re uttering the chants and following the teaching path given to all other True Celestials, that it was being used to try to bind you. I believe that was why you couldn’t extinguish the Hellfire while using that method. Your magic, your very being, was fighting it, and you were being weakened by their attempt to bind you.”

Oh my God.“You weren’t just sent to prepare me then. They had this in mind, too.”

“Although I was not made aware, yes, it appears that they meant to attempt to control you and your power.”

“You realize that by telling me to do it my way, you’re going against their orders?” I winced. “Again.”

“I’m well aware.”

“Cassius, you could be severely punished and… I’ll just figure this out on my own time. You can just teach me the way they want and—”

He burst in front of me. “I can’t allow them to succeed in binding you. If we continue in this vein, they could obtain a hold on you. While you are learning and open to said learning,it puts you in a vulnerable state… clearly something they’d been counting on.”

“I don’t need you to save me, or to risk—”

“I’mnot saving you. You don’t need me to save you. Hades,aberration,you don’t technically need anyone. I am merely guiding you away from a disgraceful and very wrong path. They continue to violate free will more so as time marches on. I’m in a position to prevent that here. And you are the greatest of all, a force who could ensure that for others far beyond yourself.”

As I fought to take in the weight of his words, of all of it, the danger and manipulation from the Celestial Plane, the disturbing much bigger picture, I stared at the Hellfire flames still raging.

And I let instinct guide me.

I found myself turning back to the fire.

I steeled myself.

And then I let my power loose, thrusting my palms out, my silver flame erupting.

It swirled around the Hellfire until I had it within my hold, confined by me.

I listened.

I listened very carefully, verydeeplyto both my power and the innate part of me.

And then I watched, utterly enraptured, as white light infused my silver magic.

It threaded around the root of the Hellfire.

I choked out a gasp as the threads started to extinguish the roots, bit by bit, then the white magic traveled up the flames doing the same further along.

“Are you hurting?” Cassius called to me.

“Not at all.”

“Weakening? Feeling an unsettling pull within you?”

“No.”

Why was he asking?