"So what is to happen after this".
Japheth placed a hand on his shoulder and smiled "fall in love Tim".
Timothy raised a brow "I–i'm confused".
"In the next five years what you are to do is fall in love, marry a wife and birth and heir".
"The love part is not necessary but would be nice, you just have to make sure the woman you wed is someone whom you're sure would be a good Empress and mother in your absence until your beir is old enough to sit upon the throne".
"That is what you have to do Tim".
"You're nearly three hundred years of age and yet still celibate and unaware of what the love of a woman is, I can't allow you to continue onwards like this".
This time Timothy was really confused "aren't you the same also".
"Of course not, my travels aren't all work Tim, pleasure is involved quite a bit".
"I have many lovers Tim, many heirs too".
"That...that is disgusting but how does your promiscuity mean that you know of love".
"Simple, I am in all of children's lives and in the lives of their mothers, I love them all dearly , will kill or die for them if i have to and so many other things I can't simply get into".
"I am able to do this without any issues as I make sure not to have more than one lover in each world or realm I visit".
"Wow, you are pure scum".
"I know".
"So did you leave copies of yourself with them".
"What? No, that is disgusting".
"I split my soul into many pieces and left them with each one, the larger whole is what stands before you now which does remind me of another perfectly valid excuse to make up for my loss".
"Just give it up already, no matter what would have happened were you whole or not it would not change the fight a minute old child is what nearly vanquished you".
Japheth had no words to refute Tim's statement so he just silently accepted his defeat, they both walked out of the room and found themselves coming into a room with scrolls filling up multiple shelves which was were Hope currently was.
"Hope?" Tim called out.
She seemed to not have heard his call as she was still so engrossed in the scroll she was reading, Japheth took one look at the scroll and immediately knew what it was so he couldn't help but smile.
"The little one, she's got quite a good eye for things".
"What do you mean".
"Don't worry about it, let's just give her room for now".
Thomas looked at her a bit longer, seeing as up to this point she still hadn't sensed or heard them her mind really was much too deeply engrossed in that scroll so he followed Japheth and left the room. Hope looked up from her scroll seconds after they were gone thinking she had felt a small distance but seeing nothing of the sorts she went back to reading the scroll, meanwhile back in the outside world two of the four great continents were in the midst of preparing the festivities to celebrate this most joyous od days, the kings and queens from each kingdom alongside the dukes, duchesses and other smaller titled rulers belonging to important families were all prepared and on their way to the royal palace with gifts to attend the royal ball being hosted.
The Earleyan continent was quiet in comparison to the others due to both the Emperor and the future ruler of the gods being absent but still kingdoms prepared though at a much slower pace, the Irretrean continent was in the weirdest state out of all four for very good reasons. A division had formed and no one really understood how they were to handle the two paths of progress ahead of them, Hestia had sent her invitations to all the important families and rulers as did the Emperor days ago before today and as expected at first most if not all had laughed and tossed it to the side.
But now things were different, so much more different than they could have ever possibly imagined even in their wildest of dreams and this left them stuck in between two giants. For one thing the Emperors invitation is something of a royal order that cannot be ignored usually in most cases, on the other hand there was Hestia whom was someone that all the rulers knew very well that she and the Emperor were not on good terms, they did not forget the important fact about her own individual power too which could bring the continent to it's knees if unleashed.
Who really could have predicted that she was in possession of a boy capable of rivalling the future ruler of the gods, they understood very well now the confidence she had in sending such an invitation, however she must have did it or known it was unimportant now, just the fact that it was indeed true. On this day previously ordained to have become the most united moment in the history of the Irretrean empire it's greatest division occurred, in the end after careful consideration a quarter of the invited guests chose to attend Hestia's celebratory event while the rest attended the Emperor's.
Hestia might be someone capable of bringing the empire to it's knees but something like that can't happen just yet as she is known for her rationality, the Emperor on the hand was a much scarier case due to the fact he was crazy enough to brand them all with the charge of treason and annihilate most of them while replacing them all in the same week.
They might be important in their roles but most of them weren't at the level of importance where the Emperor would have to be forced to rethink retaliating so easily against them and instead bear with the result of their decision, only eighteen families genuinely held such a level of importance and there was also the fact no guarantee was given to them that Hestia would protect them from the Emperor if they chose to side with her, for all they knew she might just view them as disposable pawns that would be sacrificed in order to progress whatever move she's planning on making in that detestable genius mind of hers.
In the hall of memories stood a dignified Hestia once again looking upon the same particular statue as before with a feel of softness in her eyes, a few more seconds passed and slowly but surely her range of awareness concerning the outside shrunk more and more until it was firmly restricted to just the hall alone yet not a single change in expression was shown on her face, her eyes still kept the same look watching the statue before her.
A vertical thin line was cut in the fabric of space which was then pushed apart like it was a curtain as a figure walked out of it and came and quietly stood beside Hestia watching the statue just as she was in silence.
"He was a truly great man".
"Mhm".
"I still regret not being there to intervene on that day it happened".
"The tower master's duties are endless, I hold no resentment towards you for it no longer".
"It is not your fault either your highness".
Hestia smiled "I wonder if that will ever be true".
Japheth could offer no further words after that and just sighed in his heart–
"You mask it well".
"Hm?" He turned to her slightly confused.
"Your weariness, even rejuvenation magic can't perfectly erase what it is that ails you nor hide it from my eyes".
"Haha, your uncanny ability to see through everything so clearly still amazes me your highness".
"Hm, do please be careful not to overexert yourself lest it eats at you faster".
Japheth froze like a statue processing what she just said, he had to have heard that wrong and might just be jumping to conclusions so he had to confirm it.
"What do you–
"Your life force, it's so weak and dwindling by the second, though I do not know what it is that's devouring it but you seemingly cannot stop it if it's left you in such a state".
Japheth's look of shock couldn't not be contained "how...ahh, the innate gift of a phoenix".
Hestia cracked a small smile at Japheth who simply shook his head in defeat "being laid bare so easily is never a good feeling".
"By the way he's not going anywhere".
Japheth scoffed and just smiled "that is a very bold declaration your highness, his act has fully placed him under my authority".
"Correct, he's still not leaving".
"Is that so".
"Mhm".
"And how are you going to prevent that I wonder, I know your words are never empty so i am curious".
Hestia turned to face him with a serious look on her face as she asked "how would you like the prospects of becoming a demi-god".
A loud thump resounded in his heart and his eyes widened with a mixture of shock and amazement which he managed to get under control to project a look of seriousness in his body language .
"I'm listening"...
Meanwhile at the top of the palace was Emrys with Irmir resting beside him and his sisters and they were all watching over the vast kingdom beneath them, everything looked lively and the sounds of jubilee could be heard from many miles beyond these lands. But surprisingly within the palace there wasn't a great amount of bustling, preparations for the event had already been completed this morning and only tiny little details remained along with the arrivals of the guests and perhaps some more input from the Queen before it all began so for now it was really relatively quiet in there compared to the outside.
"All that joy, it's because of me huh, how unfamiliar".
Rachel bent down and flicked his head playfully and smiled "Such ego, the three other future gods our empire gained exist you know".
"True, but the citizens of Garuda care little about the Empire and the outside world".
Rachel chuckled "mhm, it is most definitely for you"- she rubbed his head gently.
"I know".
"There really isn't a single humble bone in you huh".
"Ehn, it gets scared straight into me sometimes, someone definitely makes sure of that".
Rachel grinned "that's what good older sisters are for, you're welcome".
"Bully" Leah whispered.
"Nope, good sister".
"Uh-huh".
Emrys smiled at his sisters little exchange and then heaved a small sigh "It would be a bit problematic if they begin looking at me as some sort of saviour now".
"Why" Leah questioned.
"Well, I'm not really part of the fated ones so in the end that being has nothing to do with me".
Rachel hugged him from behind and rest her head atop his "maybe, but in the end you eventually will whether you like it or not".
"All of us will and even if we're not fated to defeat him, doesn't mean we can't help a little and ease the burden of the fated ones".
"That's good enough at least right?".
Leah burst out laughing and almost immediately Rachel felt embarrassed as she 'tsked' in annoyance.
"You almost were able to convince me you were serious with that fake motivational speech of yours".
"Raven, our dear eldest could care less if the world went to bits, her real reasons are much more simple".
"She doesn't want our home destroyed and of course us getting hurt, but she's simply just a maniac who fantasizes about fighting his army".
Rachael looked at Leah sternly but she just smirked while trying to control her laughter "I hate you".
"And I love you too".
Both laughed for a while and then settled, Emrys covered his hands in mana which behaved like a torrent of violent flames and took on a hue of violet with some flares of crimson imbued, he moved it around trying to give it shape though that proved a little difficult to accomplish. His sisters watched with interest already impressed with the small but visible progress he was making already, there already was no doubt he was a genius after todays events and he's simply just proving it even more.
"Learning to shape mana though in small quantities usually takes about a week on average".
He looked up and Rachel and asked "how long did yours take".
"Three days, Leah's took half an hour as she's more attuned to shaping compared to I and most others".
A proud look appeared on her face "so it seems you have my record to beat Raven".
He smiled and and nod a little in response as he went back to attempting mana shaping once more, mana more commonly had two states depending on the individual possessing it, temperamental and calm. Both were unchangeable no matter how much mastery one may have over mana and Emrys's mana was at the absolute peak of the temperamental side which clashes with his coolheadedness and making it even more difficult to achieve the task of shaping compared to what it would have been like possessing a calm attribute.
But yet even with all these disadvantages he would overcome and overcome he did, in less than two minutes Emrys had already began shaping mana, he started with making a small ball and then moved higher into making it take a humanoid shape, he moved further into making it take the shape of a wyvern and brought it back down to the shape of a cat then released it. His sisters could not bother hiding the look of amazement on their faces seeing their brother achieve such fluid mana shaping in such a short time, it was quite a joyous feeling watching his growth before their eyes.
"Heh, children blessed by mana are really monsters huh".
"We're both children blessed by mana".
"True, every last member of our family is one and Emrys sits at the top of the blessing hierarchy now it seems".
"I know".
She playfully flicked his head again and then was reminded of something "I almost forgot".
"What attribute did you awaken".
Leah grew interested as did Irmir who finally opened one eye from the rest she had been taking, Emrys began demonstrating as he explained.
"Well, I awakened three it seems".
"First attribute is a strange type of ice magic with two sides, the first looks like a crystal blue flame but it freezes instead and the second is something I refer to as black Ice and it is so much more terrible compared to it's other half".
His sisters looked at him with blank expressions on their faces with their jaws threatening to just drop "you really need knowledge on magic if you can't recognise the type of ice magic you've been blessed with".
"Twin ice, known only to have been possessed by the Ice dragon emperor in the past before he disappeared along with the entirety of the dragon race".
"A record of about twenty beings have awakened the first half of his magic since the time of his disappearance thousands of years ago til this day and no records of anyone possessing the other half have been found yet here you are with both halves".
Rachel laughed "so many people are going to choke and nearly die of jealousy when they discover this".
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Irmir nod her head in agreement as did Leah, being lucky to inherit or gain anything belonging to dragons is always bound to make one become the very centre of jealousy and envy from everyone around them and Emrys had hit a jackpot of jackpots in regards to this.
"Hm, lucky me. The second attribute is Lightning magic but mine is naturally violet".
Both his sisters sighed in small envy "highest tier lighting affinity, that's why it manifests like that at the start and it's only going to get stronger, lucky".
"Oh? Lucky me once again".
"And what is the third".
He was hesitant for a little bit and considered if he should in fact keep this magic a secret even from them but he knew some way eventually he would be found out, either by his aunt or someone else so he decided on giving this path up.
"Necromancy".
Almost immediately it was like a particular chill blessed the air around them, necromancy was a sensitive type of magic to the world and everyone knew that, throughout the entirety of history those whom were able to awaken it have left multiple deep marks on the world but none like the king himself, the stigma surrounding this type of magic though rightfully earned was not something that would ever be able to go away, it is why the few young budding necromancers that have appeared throughout history have all been hunted down mercilessly to the extent that even oracle magic has been employed to stop them before they even occurred and the participants having earned awards you could not believe for doing so.
'Emrys'.
'Yeah, I know Irmir'.
Suddenly both just shrugged "guess there is such a thing as too much luck being bad for you".
"Maybe".
He got hugged by both on each side as if to comfort him "If this gets out then you'll most certainly become public enemy number one".
"Positive".
"Heh, all that praise you were getting a moment ago suddenly turning into chants for your head".
"Mhm-hm".
"How's that ego feeling".
"Absolutely great".
"Of course it is".
The sounds of laughter erupted once more from all of them-
"Us against the world it is then".
"Agreed" Emrys and Leah said simultaneously.
Meanwhile some metres away hiding her presence from her family was Hestia whom was smiling brightly listening to the kids and feeling proud of what their final decision came down to in the end, she wished Maeve was here to see this too. Irmir felt a slight disturbance near her and turned to see Hestia who had now made herself visible, she rest her head down again seeing as it was nothing concerning while Emrys and his sisters had noticed the familiar presence and turned around to meet her.
"Hello aunty"..
She smiled warmly at him "are you okay".
"I am" he replied.
"Do you feel guilty for what happened on that stage".
He shook his head and she smiled again "come on, let's go eat and prepare for our guests".
"Yes mother".
"You two leave first, I want to spend a little more time with Emrys"- they nod and flew down the palace.
Hestia turned to him and smiled "so I guess we know what you are now huh" she mused.
"A future god, yes. Most definitely surprising outcome for me though I prepared myself to turn out special in the end".
She let out a small laugh "Rachel was definitely right about your ego".
"Yes, but I have a defence now".
"Hoh? What".
"It's an influence by my god's nature".
"That....is actually plausible".
He grinned a little and Hestia gave his head a gentle rub "Emrys".
"Yes aunty".
"Would you like for me to become your teacher".
"I would love it".
She smiled "I'm sure your mother took would ask you the same when she returns so do accept her also".
"I will".
"Good, I have another present for you though it's a small one this time"- a blue magic circle was summoned in the air before him and she put her hand into it to pull out a book from her subspace, it was light in pages and looked quite well kept as no signs of erosion could be seen from it's dark cover.
He was handed the book and he took a look at what was written on it - {Unguis Vitae} -
"It has everything you want to know about your claws".
"Ahh, thank you aunty".
She smiled "come, we've kept your sisters waiting long enough"- he complied and prepared to fly down with his aunt but just as they were about to leave his aunt told him to wait as something was coming. Seconds later a great ripple in space began occuring at the palace grounds below them and moments later it turned into a great portal.
Hestia flew down at a steady pace and was right beside her maintaining the same pace, the first to step out through the portal was the general accompanied by her right hand and then the entirety of the ten thousand soldiers who went with her on this two year conquest. The moment they caught sight of Hestia descending before them they got on one knee and bowed with a hand across their chest.
"LONG LIVE YOUR MAJESTY!"
Hestia landed gracefully before them with a welcoming smile on her face "rise" her voice though low and soft was crystal clear to the ears of her subordinates.
"Welcome, I plan so greatly to reward you all for the great success achieved on this conquest but that shall be put off for now".
"Now is the time for you all to return to your friends and families whom have missed you so dearly these past two years of which I know for you felt far longer".
"Go on, celebrate like you never have before as this day calls so dearly for it".
"Go".
"THANK YOU YOUR MAJESTY!".
They burst out immediately like ten thousand meteors falling across the entire kingdom except controlled as they all suddenly changed paths and directions all so they could reach home, the only ones who remained before Hestia now was Maeve and her right hand Aaron.
"Aaron".
"Yes your majesty".
"You're off-duty today".
Almost immediately she could see the light in his eyes dim as hesitation showed on his face, Hestia knew Aaron all too well and about the fact that amongst the few things he hated none could be compared to being taken off-duty, it was like a nightmare for him but as she had her reasons this time her decision would stand.
Aaron too after taking a few moments to understand the look in Hestia's eyes came to terms with the fact she would not be budging this time unlike the last and reluctantly took a bow "understood, your majesty".
A teleportation spell was cast taking him away leaving just Maee, Hestia anf Emrys now, he gracefully came down and stood before her "hello, mother".
Maeve crouched down and smiled as she hugged him dearly, he reciprocated the hug while smiling uncontrollably, the feeling of resonance in this moment was stronger than it had ever been before and had unconsciously released some bits of darkness which was wafting off him. Emrys sensed something pulling at him and looked up to see a beautiful winged little being about five centimetres in height and dressed in white with ethereal like wings gently flapping behind her, he looked confused at first but soon caught sight of a small dark thread around her ankle and connected to his mother's wrist.
"Mother, did you catch a fairy".
Maeve looked to her side and Hestia seemed a bit confused meanwhile a curious Emrys decided to touch the thread which broke to pieces and at the same time he felt a new bond being established with the young fairy, a white marking appeared on the back of his right hand upon it's moment of completion and he just blinked.
'Interesting'.
His mother took his hand to observe the mark which was also visible to Hestia unlike the fairy, she snapped her fingers and a great magic circle appeared in the area around them teleporting everyone into the hall of memories.
"Explain, now".
Maeve sighed "A little fairy has been following my son from the moment I found him but at the time he could not see her, I took her with me when I left because she was quite young and unpredictable".
"Now that he can finally see her too it seems she's established a bond with him after he somehow broke the seal tying her to me".
Hestia was surprised and confused but not for the reason one might think of "you can see fairies?" That was the greatest surprise from all this, the fact that there existed an aspect about her sister that she knew nothing about let alone one this monumental.
"Mhm" replied and absentminded Maeve who was busy trying to make contact with the young fairy but failing as her hand kept phasing through as a result of the bond, she heaved a small sigh and looked at her son whom was looking at the young fairy with curios eyes.
"Since when".
Maeve showed a small mischievous smile "secret".
"Now let's go, I want to meet the little ones" she snapped her fingers and her armour faded away replaced by a wonderful black dress and took her son's hands, Hestia 'tsked' but followed alongside them surprising the many staff and guards who saw Maeve on their way to the dining hall. The ones most surprised however were Leah and Rachel both of whom shot out like rockets to meet her but stopped themselves midway upon remembering their aunt's personality, then to their most pleasant of surprises Maeve herself walked up and hugged them both while showering them with love.
The beautiful sounds of laughter graced the room and just a bit later all were seated at the table and eating while gleefully recounting events that had occurred in the past two years, Emrys whom was seated between his sisters listened and watched with amazement at the endless energy his sisters seemed to have, soon after he and his sisters finished their meals and sensed a small shift in the air, it seemed that right now was the moment for the grown-ups to have their own talks so he and his sisters excused themselves and left the hall.
"Were you told the reason by the emperor for why you were sent back so fast".
"No, but I had no complaints".
"A shared sentiment, now that things have turned out this way it is much preferred not to have any of my people in the lion's den".
Maeve cast a scrutinising eye at her "what...did you do".
She scoffed playfully "immediately pointing at me huh".
"I know you well sister, the emperor may have an insatiable greed but he is no fool to try anything that would threaten his empire, especially when even now he still pays so dearly for his past mistakes".
She sighed in defeat "well you are correct my dear little sister, I did do something*.
"Reveal your son to the world".
"He's a child with the potential rivalling the future ruler of the gods".
Maeve's eyes widened in realisation of what she meant "he's -
"Yes, Emrys is a fated god, one hidden from us concerning what we know of the seated gods".
"The original number was twelve yet thirteen pillars of light descended upon the world as prophesied".
"Most likely a new seat of power was obtained in the heavenly realms by one worthy enough".
But the existence of Emrys switches things up a bit now, it is now most possible now there was an original thirteen seats but his role was as a shadow to the ruler to the ruler of the gods, perhaps to keep one another in check and the fourteenth seat is the youngest one who is part of the original thirteen pillars that descended upon the world".
Maeve nod in agreement "that might be it, perhaps his role as a hidden one is part of what causes that ghost-like nature of his".
"Mhm, it's gotten even stronger after his awakening too it seems as Aaron wasn't able to notice him this time".
"Aaah, why aren't the little ones having problems then even if they've gotten used to the weaker effect".
"Unclear, there might be a subconscious control he's not aware of yet or Leah and Rachel might have underwent a subtle evolution granting them some forn of immunity".
"Wouldn't be surprising".
"Mhm, did you know?"
Hestia turned silent for a few seconds "I....had some theories due to certain events".
"I see".
A period of silence passed between them until finally Hestia decided to drop the news "He's a necromancer".
Maeve was visibly shook by what she had just heard but like clockwork she was back to normal only dawning a small warm smile "I see, one way or another problems would have arisen huh".
"A necromancer and a god, he'll be looked upon as the second coming of that being".
Maeve's facade of calm began showing cracks as her heart contracted in pain at the thought of fate awaiting her son "what if-
"Do not think it Maeve, everything we know of that being suggests he was an outsider and possessed a nature far from divinity and magic as we know it".
"This is just.....a cruelest of coincidences".
She got up and walked over to Maeve's seat then placed her head against hers "and do not worry for him however hypocritical or cold I might sound right now".
"Emrys is strong, much stronger than you'd imagine and as long as he has us, as long as he you then that boy will forever be okay even if the world were to be against him".
"This is the true feelings of his heart as I have read it".
Maeve looked her sister in the eyes and they both smiled "becoming a mother really changes one a lot huh".
"It does, how long has it been since I saw you in this state".
"Since we were kids? Heh".
"Mhm, makes me glad to see you regaining a bit of your original nature".
"Hm, at what point did we switch roles I wonder, you were the original cold one and I was the merry one who looked up to you".
"Hohh? Does that mean you stopped looking up to me at some point huh, that hurts a bit".
"It's not so different now, you're just more of a goal I have to surpass rather than an idol I revered".
"Hm, still never happening by the way".
Maeve simply smiled and said nothing else, moments later Hestia received a mental signal that the guests had already begun appearing one after the other and in style.
"Well, it seems they are here now ".
"Who?".
"My guests, I am hosting a celebratory event for Emrys after all".
"Ah, I shall be making my own preparations then".
"Mhm, I'll give you some extra details when you're done".
Maeve walked out the dining hall and left for her hidden room known only to her, Emrys and her sister. Once she stepped into her place warm memories of her time with her son came flooding into her mind, she smiled and just carried on still somehow coming to terms with the fact that she had really become a mother.
EnD.