The ride, or flight — Arghhh! Damien didn't have the mental strength to figure it out — back to wherever the Verille's came from and where Damien was supposed to have appeared at, was slow and somewhat uneventful.
The many lonely Celestial bodies he came across on the way should have been able to ignite some sort of excitement within him, but honestly, right now, he didn't feel like it.
It was still about two hours... Two hours? Damien wasn't really sure since it was more likely that time ran somewhat separate in deep space compared to world times. Anyways, it was about two hours past—in his mind clock–since they'd left the Aveanii outpost and made way for one of the Lese fringe worlds, as Vanis said.
Xirou, the Verille King, had said something about having to leave a guard post and hurrying after Vanis and the other captured lords and soon having to return before the Aveanii got any ideas. Vanis hadn't said anything much but instead grimly appreciated his uncle for leaving his 'delicate duty' and rushing to their rescue. Xirou, on the other hand, hadn't seemed so bummed about it, citing stuff like 'Stretching my muscles once in a while' and 'getting into a fight where I don't have to explain to Mother why I did it.'
Anyways, Damien stood at the deck of the dimensional ship, which closely resembled those of sea-faring types, and stared into the deep space as the vessel moved. But while his eyes stared, his mind was elsewhere.
He still didn't know how to piece together the information Gray had dropped on him right before they'd left the Destruction plane. Damien's mind was still too swirling to calmly request an answer, so he'd decided to stew in his misery for a while.
The affinity for Destruction had been something he'd been with for a decade now, basically the entirety of his life. It had saved his life more times than he could count. In the early parts of his life— post awakening —when he'd still being clueless and stumbling in the dark, his affinity had lessened their struggles. When he and Keilan had been trapped in their first proto-realm, his sheer destructive ability had saved them countless times from monsters they otherwise shouldn't have been able to fight against, let alone, counter. Now to hear that he didn't have any affinity for it...
Damien sighed and looked down, his eyes trailing an asteroid as it slowly cruised by.
If destruction wasn't his affinity, then what was? Damien thought to himself. And for the second time in a few hours, his mind went back to those two essences he'd called on in his battle against Solaris. He didn't know what they were, but somehow, he felt a sort of connection to them, a connection he'd never had with the element of destruction.
"Gray?" Damien sighed mentally. "I need answers."
Gray was silent for a while, and when Damien was beginning to think the other being wasn't going to answer, a calm voice responded, calmer than Damien was used to.
[Damien, you need to understand: I do not have full knowledge about the intricacies of your existence. I was made to shield you from heavy scrutiny and to help you through huddles you have no way of being able to surpass, all for the sake of plans I have no knowledge about.]
Damien sensed it as Gray sighed.
[However, while the majority knowledge of your existence is unknown to me, I have been able to piece out some things.]
Gray drifted into existence and everything froze, reality ceasing. Damien looked around with shocked eyes, watching as the everything seemed to slow down to a crawl, and then, it all stopped. Frozen.
[Don't be worried,] Damien snapped back at the sudden sound of Gray's voice. [We're in the middle of nowhere, which means there's less of a likelihood anyone is going to look into the recorded memories of this place. Though just to be safe, I'll have to make sure that the possibility of that happening is reduced to less than zero.]
"How?" Damien asked, curious. He knew that Gray was some sort of cleaner—so to speak—but he'd never heard of how he did his things.
[Origin reading: an ability you'll develop when you have enough willpower to push through reality. Not to alarm you, but I didn't freeze time in the normal sense—time still runs normal, at least to those outside. What I did was take us outside of it, like a boat detaching from a ship. Eventually, when we're done, I'll put us back.]
Damien could feel his mind swell from all the information he'd just gotten right now, but he focused on what truly mattered at the moment: his affinity. He could deal with the rest later.
"If I'm not linked to the concept of destruction, then why am I still able to use it?"
[That is something I don't understand, and maybe I never will. As far as I'm aware, there's no way to link yourself with an element you don't have an affinity for.]
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Gray moved to sit on the railings, tucking his tiny shirt tighter.
[There are ways to connect to elements you aren't born with: you can see that with Young Solaris, who became a Sunfire user by consuming a Sun affinity stone. Or the nature wielders who graduate from wielding their specialized element into a more broader one: Life. If you noticed, the one thing all this has in common is that all previous elements were all a sub-section of a more powerful whole. While the base fire element is broader and somewhat more flexible, Sunfire is a special kind of destructive. The nature element is a subsection of the Life affinity, which means it mainly has a greater effect on Nature than on people. Life affinity is more broad and powerful, plus, it is a Grand affinity.]
Damien frowned. Honestly, he'd heard that word too often to simply glaze over it like he used to. While he had some knowledge about the grand affinities, he knew his foundation was sorely lacking.
"I've heard those before: Grand affinities. What are those?"
Gray smiled. [For every Grand Celestial, there is an element over which they hold sole dominion over. Seal of Destruction over the element of Destruction. Throne of Space over the element of Space.] He gave Damien a meaningful smile. [Throne of Life over the essence of life.]
[Like other common elements, Grand elements also have roles they play in the working of reality, but the difference between them and the commons is that their roles are deeper, with more meaning and more impact should they be disrupted, hence their greater effects.]
Gray snapped his fingers, manifesting a crimson lightning on one finger and a blue one over another.
[Put a common lightning user against a Destruction user, and they'll lose every time. A recently ascended Ascendant with a common lightning affinity is likely to lose against a Divine King destruction wielder,] and then he said in a staged whisper. [Xirou is an example.]
[Elements with a greater capacity for destruction all draw essence from the core essence of Destruction, itself. Hence, the GRAND.]
Damien nodded. "So, Life..."
Gray's smile grew. [Yes, you have an affinity for it. Soul too.]
This time Damien had to take a step back. Just in case, he looked around to make sure no one was watching.
"You mean the other element I used?" He asked. "I didn't know what it was, so much so that I was beginning to think it was simply my mind playing tricks on me."
[No,] Gray comforted. [Your mind wasn't fooling you. The soul is a Grand element—A Throne— And is considered one of the most powerful among the Grand Celestials. That's the reason everyone fears a Soul wielder. Fight them and you could be dead before you know it.]
Damien nodded, taking the warning to heart. "So, I have an affinity for two Grand elements," he said, sort of stumped on what more to say. He had zero experience with affinities other than they were things everyone was born with.
[Yes, you have two Grand affinities, which is rare, by the way. Now, I'm going to really advise you to take Merak's warning to heart: do not mouth off to just anyone you see. You could be enslaved for less, and an affinity for two Grand elements could serve as a wafting flavor for those looking for the slightest opportunity.]
"Wait, isn't it common for people to have two Grand affinities?" Damien asked, refusing to comment on the second part of what Gray said. He already knew that and he hated having to be constantly reminded of it.
[Oh, you don't understand how rare it is to develop a Grand affinity, do you? Damien, In a population of one million, only one to a hundred have a high possibility of developing one. Getting two drastically reduces that number, and even when someone gets a second grand affinity, most of them don't survive long.]
Damien frowned. "Why?"
[Haven't you noticed? A common affinity puts a weight on your soul, and a Grand affinity is much more powerful. Most people could survive the weight of one grand affinity, but two? They would be crushed.]
He continued.
[The key to all this is a soul with greater strength, that's why you don't get affected by the raw effects of an aura: your soul is just too powerful to be affected. Also, I don't think you realize this, but your second affinity—the soul—has been subtly influencing your soul for a while now, stabilizing it from all the overdose of potential you've been continuously consuming for years.]
"Why can't I use them then?" Damien said too mentally exhausted to get angry. "I tried healing myself in the battle against the Aveanii Spirit King but what I got instead was a full dose of pain. What's the point of getting some great power If I'm not able to use it?"
Instantly, the other being's mood turned solemn. [Sadly, that is not a situation I can help you with.]
"This again." Damien's mental exhaustion grew. "Why?"
[Remember when I said that there were things about your existence I was not granted knowledge of beforehand?]
Damien nodded.
[Well, this is one of them. Truthfully, I knew nothing of your twin affinities until you unlocked them in that battle. I realize now that the only reason I was allowed knowledge of your issue with destruction is so that I can guide you until such a time arises when you eventually unlock your true affinities.]
Sadly, Damien looked out into the distance, watching as everything moved in a crawl, even the asteroid which had just passed by. Damien could still see it, even though many minuites had passed.
"So that's it then?" He frowned. "I simply have to wait for luck to fall on me to help me unlock my affinities?"
[I didn't say that,] Gray smiled. [This might sound cryptic, but that's the best answer I can muster: the answer to your inquiry can only be found within you.]
Damien stared at Gray with a deadpan gaze. And just to follow up with the joke, he said. "All I have to do is speak to my inner self, don't i?"
Gray stared back, unsmiling. Damien waited a while for the laugh to come, but it didn't.
"Wait, you can't be ser—"
[Sorry, we'll have to cut this short,] Gray said suddenly. [You have a caller.]
Damien cursed just as reality wobbled, and then the whole world seemed to shred, tearing into a dozen different pieces.
When it all cleared, he turned to find himself face to face with Keilan, Vanis standing a small distance behind him. While his brother instantly understood the reason for his agitation, Vanis clearly did not, judging from the raised eyebrow directed at Damien's way.
"It's nothing," he said as a reflex. "What's going on?"
"Come see, Xirou said to let everyone know to get ready. We're approaching our destination."