Chapter 405 – eting with the First Celestial [2]
Sora stepped inside the swirling portal of celestial energy of blue, gold, and white. The space shimred like the haze of an illusion.
In an instant, she found herself in a completely different space.
The ground she was stepping on was made of unknown golden sand, soft to the touch yet glowing as if it were holding the very aning of stars.
The surrounding space was flooded by a swirling, visible mass of energy, moving and twisting like the hissing and snapping of a snake.
Overhead, a srizing sight flooded into the mind of Sora. Her breath was caught in her throat. Unconsciously, her mouth ford an O shape at the canvas.
There, the sun and moon were adorned in a spotless white sky, their lights glaring on her.
The golden light of the sun ward her, while the silvery bluish light of the moon cooled her body. These two effects made her body be in perfect balance between hot and cold; between heaven and hell.
"A woman?" A voice, so old yet so young, bood through Sora’s ears. She shivered, snapping her head toward the sound of the voice.
High in the sky, between the two celestial bodies, a body made of golden-white light with stars shimring all over it was sitting on a thin line created from the very essence of the sun and the moon.
No facial features were on his face except his eyes, his left being sun-shaped, his right half-moon-shaped, while on the forehead was etched a mark of a star.
"Since when did I welco a woman?" the incarnation of Aster spoke. "Oh yes, that little girl ApolloniaofBrightSky, right? Oh, no! I am confusing the epoch. This is Apollonia Shamsi, the first Empress of my bloodline."
"And when it happened..."
He paused, looking clearly at Sora, whose very bloodline was shrieking, urging her to bow as if standing straight was the greatest sin to commit in that place.
She refused to bow. Her eyes held high and cold, lips pursed into a thin hard line while looking at Aster.
Aster seed to laugh, although nothing of it could be seen with his featureless face.
"...the last ti a woman ruled my empire, my dear Sora, everything was destroyed to the ground. The moon, no, my moon, died in the process."
"Now, why should I accept your rule?"
"Why wouldn’t you?" Sora said, standing tall and straight, at least she tried. "I am the Heiress of the Sun, and the only one able to take up the throne."
"If not , then who?"
"I am the Origin of your bloodline, little girl," Aster replied, "and there is sothing you seem to forget, or even be unaware of."
The mont he finished the last words, Sora’s head ducked down, her back inched then cracked, her knees wobbled, creaked, then sank deep into the golden sand below.
Her eyes widened in absolute horror. There was no pressure on her, neither a kind of power forcing her to bow.
Yet she was.
It was as if her very existence was not made to stand tall in front of Aster.
"You are in the presence of a god," Aster continued, making Sora understand one chilling truth right at that instant,
"And you are nothing but a mortal. So bow your head."
No words escaped Sora’s mouth, her mind still dazed.
The First Celestial didn’t bother waiting for her to gather herself. He continued, now looking deeper into his descendant, noticing sothing he hadn’t before.
"Kol’Riku..." Aster tilted his head. "You have received the blessing of the Voice of Existence. Now, isn’t it interesting? Who would have thought a mortal would interest that recluse? And my descendant, no less?"
He barked a laugh, loud and proud, the realm shaking with him.
Sora remained silent, her eyes burning with wrathful fire. She gritted her teeth, balling her fists tightly, bursts of fire escaping the jaw of her mouth.
The fire stead out of her body, moving upward like smoke on a chimney.
She parted her lips. "I will—!"
"I cannot stay in this place for too long. So let’s finish it," Aster said, his voice now more serious. "An event happened, little Sora. An event in a tiline that evolved the destruction of my empire. Where Apollonia disappointed ."
Sora trembled, her mind imdiately going to the mories she had inherited from Lady Sora.
Aster saw it, and smirked. "So you know what I am talking about. Now, how? Oh, Sora... Sora..."
He grinned wider.
"Ah, Providence is such a whore lately. But it’s perfect."
"Apollonia had failed ," Aster said. "She was talented and cunning, her understanding of the Celestial Pathway above normal. But I see in you a more powerful talent, and I see in you a way to take back what I have lost."
"W-What?" Sora managed to ask with a strained face.
"My empire has been broken, the White Phoenix I captured is now free," Aster’s voice filled with hidden fury. "Even the Black Phoenix I especially sealed inside a being has been freed. And all of that because of one and only one being."
The next na landed like a hamr blow on Sora’s mind.
"Protheus."
She forgot to breathe, listening to the words of Aster like a mortal listening to the preaching of her god.
"So here’s the thing, little Sora," he continued, and there, Sora felt like she could lift her head.
She did. She saw a pair of celestial eyes glaring down on her, making her feel like a worthless stone barring the way.
"You will be the 2nd Empress of the Empire," he decreed. "I will bless you with an increase in bloodline purity, enhancing your origin. And I want one thing from you."
He raised his index finger upward, and the sky parted away like a cloak being pulled off.
"I want the Heart of Protheus, the Fla of Humanity."
"No!" Sora bellowed, her voice booming in anger. "I won’t—!"
"Now, who told you you have a choice to begin with?" Aster’s face split into an eerie smile, so wide it seed to touch his eyes.
Sora shivered with imnse dread. Her body froze, unable to move, while her mind started to beco fuzzy and muddled, as if she had passed day and night drinking alcohol.
Soon, the surroundings began to blur, her eyes closing before she completely lost consciousness, the last thing she heard being the cold, arrogant voice of Aster,
"There is no choice for a mortal. Even less one of my own bloodline."
Thud—!
She fell face-first. Aster flicked his finger, and a deep, liquefied golden light erupted before crashing on Sora, seeping inside her body like water on soil.
Aster smiled, then closed his eyes, feeling sothing no mortal could.
Yet anwhile, under the fold of Sora’s clothes, the gifted necklace of Kaden subtly glowed.
...
anwhile, far away from the capital, two young people, man and woman, were running through a field of stony rock.
A silence, only cut by the wind lashing out at their faces, settled between Rea and Kaden.
A silence each one of them got used to.
Since they had departed from Silver City, no words were spoken between them except minimal ones.
Rea seed to like to keep to herself. Sotis Kaden could see her lips moving, as if speaking. He knew it must be with Einar.
He never comnted on it, though sotis he would try to strike up so discussion to cure the boredom of running.
Rea didn’t look enthusiastic about that, though.
So he gave up. And now...
"We will reach the Frosted Bridge in three days if we run fast, and around five days if we take it slow," she said, then fell silent once more.
Now, she mainly spoke to give him information about their way.
Kaden sighed, wondering why he was always associated with weird won.
"Bloody hell!"
They said if you know where you are going, you won’t have a bad trip.
Those sages seed to forget the important question about companions during the trip.
Kaden cursed once more.
—End of Chapter 405—
User Comments
0 comments from readers