Arriving back in the Shimmering Islands and in particular Pualani, John was reminded of the passage of time. Much of the clan remained the same, but John still saw how the gardens changed, either due to stylistic choices or the simple growth of trees and other plants taking over a larger area. The Brandle clan’s land had expanded somewhat on the central island, the borders not quite familiar to John.
The biggest indicator of the passage of time, however, was Nitza. He saw her yearly at most, and she had grown from barely being able to walk and talk to her current age of ten years old faster than he could imagine. Why, John had only… moved around most of the continent making treaties with everyone he could. Alright, so the past handful of years hadn’t been entirely devoid of activity, it just felt too fast.
Then again, so did everything. But at least with his own children he had been around them slightly more than half the year. Then they had become adults and John had barely been able to appreciate it.
“Grandpa!” Nitza still scurried towards him and hugged him, wrapping herself around his waist.
“It’s good to see you again, Nitza. Have you been good for your parents?”
“I’m always good,” she protested.
“It’s true,” Tirto agreed, approaching at a more reasonable pace. “Our daughter defied the odds and turned out quite reasonable.”
“What does that mean, huh?” Verusha commented, her hair flaring orange.
Tirto shrugged. “Just that one of us was more notable for getting into trouble. And most of her aunts weren’t really helpful in that regard. It was really an uphill battle.”
Nitza tilted her head. “But I only have three aunties. Only auntie Ursel gets into trouble, right?”
“These days, maybe…” Tirto shook his head. “But that’s only because Melanthina has responsibilities holding her back.”
“Hmph,” Verusha flicked her head. “I thought for a moment you would malign my sister.”
“Of course not,” Tirto said. “She’s far too close to risk that.”
John nodded. “I do sense her around. How is she, anyway?”
“Much better,” Tirto said.
Verusha nodded. “This path… has to have been the right one. We’re all happy, even if it took a while.”
“Well, it certainly would have been a shame if Nitza didn’t exist,” John said, patting her head.
“... Why would I not exist?” Nitza asked.
“Don’t worry about it,” John said.
“Okaaay.” She looked him up and down. “Your energy is weird. Why do you have so many elements?”
John was going to say that she should already know… but that wasn’t necessarily true. She hadn’t been born infused with an element, which put her on a more conservative path of cultivation. The fact that she had begun at her age was already a bit quick, though John couldn’t blame Tirto and Verusha. No doubt she wanted to be able to match up to her cousin Ereli.
“I train in the full cycle of the elements,” John explained simply.
“Oh. Then you’re missing one,” Nitza commented.
“I would need another totem to have the last element,” John explained. “And that requires advancing to a higher Phase.” He didn’t really want to have to explain what his current Phase was, so that was a decent summary.
“Nuh-uh,” Nitza said. “Look,” she pointed her fingers together in front of her, fire wrapping around one, and water around the other. “I don’t even have a totem yet but I can control two elements.”
So much for the easy way out. “Actually, I do have a small amount of light element. It’s just small enough that you probably can’t feel it compared to the rest.”
“Hmm…” Nitza frowned. “If you say so, grandpa.”
John would have to accept that doubt. It wasn’t his job to try to explain deeper cultivation topics before she was ready.
He looked towards Tirto. “As I said in my message, I was hoping to see a leviathan for training.”
“Oh!” Nitza said. “You’re going to go see Carl? I wanna go too!”
“Carl?” John raised an eyebrow.
Tirto shrugged. “She asked if the leviathan had a name, and we said it didn’t. So she named it.”
“I told you we should have come up with our own earlier,” Verusha grinned.
-----
Emilia was smiling as she stood on the ship next to Harta. That was a sight John had missed for too many years. Despite wanting to do well for their children and not force them into anything, there had still been an assumption of sorts that Tirto and Emilia would marry. The parents on both sides saw they got along well, and did a bit more than simply encouraging the relationship. But the people involved had still been young and never really knew what they wanted.
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Tirto and Emilia would have been fine together, but John recognized now that fine wasn’t enough. Verusha was good for Tirto, and the same in turn. Meanwhile, Emilia and Tirto were just as valuable to each other as friends. It had just taken too many years and tears for that to settle in.
The ship cut through the waters, approaching their target- and John could sense it already. He supposed that unlike the older leviathan, a young one didn’t require living in the deepest parts of the sea. However, as they approached John could tell that this one wasn’t exactly small.
It was at least three times the size of their ship, the flagship of the Brandle Clan. What could he say? They grew up so quickly. Not that he had any particular connection to any of the baby leviathans.
“Carl!” Nitza jumped into the sea when they got close, and many others including John followed after. The young woman swam up to the massive creature, more like a small island than a fish or any other sea creature. This one hadn’t been grown over due to a large period of time, and seeing its full form was rather alien. Rocky textured skin covered a body that John could only describe as a few giant manta rays fused together. It was wider than it was long or tall, though in John’s understanding that might change significantly given time.
Compared to the leviathan he was familiar with… this was tiny. Whole squads had been swimming through the veins of the adult leviathan. Which meant that, despite the decade and a half of life this creature had, it was still very much a tiny baby.
Memories washed over John… but no insights came to him. Some of the memories hurt, but that was only because the ones before them had been so good. He tried not to make his emotions too obvious in front of Nitza, though he figured the main reason she wouldn’t notice was the fact that they were underwater. Not that crying was inappropriate, but he also didn’t want his granddaughter to be sad secondhand.
The way the creature swam through the water filled John with a feeling of great power, though ultimately the leviathan was still probably only the equivalent of a Soul Expansion Phase cultivator. A leviathan’s power would grow slowly, after all. That said, John was mainly judging its output. The massive creature most likely had much greater stores of spiritual energy than others. Maybe in another decade or two it would be as strong as the Consolidated Soul Phase. And surely in a few centuries after that, it would grow to match its parent.
Though some of that depended on its survival, and whether it had to compete with its siblings. But that was the business of the Shimmering Islands, and those clans who were managing the children.
John could see how the Brandle clan’s energy was influenced by the leviathan, and the same was true in turn. Though the leviathan did not speak, it was clearly on good terms with them. Hopefully, it would develop into a valuable guardian beast. It wasn’t a spirit like Ciaritzal or Cuah’arn, but it was still elementally infused. Of course, like any beast it required a certain amount of caution- even if Nitza swam up and patted it on the head without a care, others were there watching over her just in case.
But perhaps that was how things were meant to be, responsible adults sheltering children from the dangers of the world- though not so much that they would not be able to handle themselves in the future.
-----
They made a few visits to the leviathan over the course of John’s stay at the Brandle clan, and while he gained some useful insights he didn’t find what he came for. His inspiration for the completion of the Consolidated Soul Phase and his step into the Ascending Soul Phase would have to come from elsewhere. John had a slight worry in the back of his mind that perhaps he hadn’t found it because he was destined to not reach the Ascending Soul Phase. He’d already screwed it up the first time, after all.
But he didn’t have to listen to that little voice. And if it was his destiny, he’d just have to figure out how to change it, wouldn't he? Or maybe he would come to terms with it and try to do what was best for the world, if it couldn’t involve his own greater cultivation.
-----
While John was staying at the Brandle clan, news came from Melanthina and Nik about the failing health of Luctus Tenebach. The news was not unexpected, but it was still disheartening. John quickly made his way to the Tenebach clan, and he was relieved to arrive in time to speak to his grandfather. A cultivator might live a great many years, but when their end came a life of a century could be over in a matter of weeks.
When John arrived, Luctus immediately sensed him and sent for him. The two met privately, with Luctus for the first time lying in bed instead of sitting up regally or standing imposingly.
“I am here, grandfather,” John said.
“Good. I am glad,” Luctus nodded. “You know, my health has been failing for some time. As it turns out, cultivation shrinking and then growing rapidly… well, doing that a few times isn’t great for your longevity.”
“You don’t even look a day over a hundred,” John said.
‘You don’t have to lie to me,” Luctus said. “Maybe a month ago… but I digress. Promise me you’ll take care of the clan. Your family. I don’t care about the name… I’m sure you will take care of them even as John Miller of the Six Elements Crossroads.”
“I will,” John nodded. “Of course I will.”
Luctus smiled. “And that’s why… I can finally let myself go. That kid Nik… he’s good for Melanthina.” Luctus coughed. “Who would have thought… a light cultivator marrying into the Tenebach clan…” he looked at John. “And someone crazy enough to attempt a full cycle of elements.”
“Thank you for believing in me,” John said.
Luctus’ face scrunched up as he vaguely smiled. “What other choice did I have? Well, I wouldn’t have minded Matayal taking over and running things. That was the other option, besides separating from Fortkran.”
“She would have been great,” John nodded.
“Better… to have someone always here,” Luctus said. “Even if… it took an extra generation. Make sure… to support them all.”
Darkness energy was leaking out of his grandfather as if his dantian was a sieve. It didn’t take long for his spiritual energy to drain entirely, and his body failed before that. John stayed for a few more moments, before stepping outside to where Melanthina was waiting.
No words had to pass between them. They’d already known what was going to happen. Most likely, Melanthina had already begun preparations for his funeral.
“It will be difficult,” Melanthina finally said. “Losing a grand pillar such as him.”
John just smiled. “There are plenty who can hold this clan together. Like Crystin. And of course there is you. He was just waiting for you to grow into your own. And while I won’t be here every day, I’ll never be far.”
Ereli approached, walking up to her mother. She looked pointedly towards the room. “He perished.”
“That’s right,” Melanthina acknowledged.
“The clan will mourn,” Ereli said. She walked up to John and her mother, giving each of them a short hug. “Think of good memories.”
John sighed. Well, at least Ereli had moved beyond single word sentences. Not that she ever had trouble with words, exactly. But clearly she didn’t push herself too hard to speak ‘normally’.
Then again, perhaps she was focused more on her balance of light and darkness. She was pretty good at it, but John still imagined it took constant vigilance that kept her from other thoughts. Or she might just be like that. “Thank you,” he said simply.