After his mother, father, and the Arbiter left, Atticus spent most of the day combing through his mories.
In his first life, he had lived a good fifteen years. He had achieved much. Lived a fulfilling life. Yet it was his relationship with his parents that occupied most of his thoughts.
They had loved him dearly. And he had loved them. mory after mory surfaced, each one carrying a warmth that lingered long after it passed. The more he rembered, the deeper his affection grew. Eventually, a faint guilt began to settle in his chest.
How easy it would be to drop everything and stay. He had suffered, but they had suffered too. He could see it in his mother's eyes. Even in the cold, seemingly emotionless Attimax. Now they finally had their son back, they were happen.
Yet he was already preparing to throw himself into another storm. Did he have that right? Was he being selfish? Ungrateful?
Atticus rubbed a hand across his face. His thoughts were a ss. Yet whenever he tried to convince himself otherwise, the faces of his family surfaced in his mind like a beacon.
Anastasia, Magnus, Avalon… the others. The promise he had made. The goal he had chosen.
Atticus rose from the bed and began pacing the room.
The more he thought about it, the more it felt as though he was being forced to choose between one family and another. It was difficult. Far more difficult than any battle he had fought.
A knock sounded from the door.
Atticus frowned and pulled it open.
"Honey…"
His mother stood there waiting for him. There was a determination in her eyes that imdiately caught his attention.
"Mom?"
"Follow ."
Without waiting for a response, she reached for his hand. The world folded around them, then they vanished.
A mont later, the sound of rushing water filled his ears. Water crashed against stone sowhere below. Cool mist brushed against his skin, carrying with it a familiar chill.
Atticus found himself standing atop a waterfall.
The drop below was vast, swallowed by drifting mist. The sight alone stirred a flood of mories.
"You rember this place?" Ilyshkara asked, a gentle smile on her lips.
"Yes."
The evenings spent sitting beside his mother, talking about nothing in particular while watching the sunset paint the horizon.
How could he forget?
"Co, sit."
Ilyshkara patted the stone beside her. Atticus took a seat. His mother looked at him. Then she kept looking. A few monts passed. Soon, Atticus found himself shifting slightly beneath her gaze.
Why was she staring at him like that?
And why did her eyes seem so vast? Like an endless sea stretching beyond sight. The longer he looked, the smaller he felt. Like a single drop suspended within an ocean.
"Wha—"
"I want you to surrender your fragnts."
Atticus' gaze darkened.
"What are you—"
"It's exactly what I said." Ilyshkara reached over and took his arm. He resisted the urge to pull away. "I want you to give up Solvath's fragnts."
Solvath's power was the reason he had overwheld the Crown. The reason he had stood against the desert creature. It was his path toward absolute strength. To surrender it would be to abandon everything he was working toward.
"…Why?"
Atticus fixed his mother with a cold stare. Sadness flickered through Ilyshkara's eyes, then it hardened into resolve.
"Because I don't trust it."
Her expression grew serious.
"The Primordial Stars. Solvath. All of them. They're too far above us, Atticus. We don't understand how they think. We aren't ant to understand how they think." Her gaze hardened.
"We're talking about bringing back the strongest primordial to ever exist. A being so dangerous that five others joined hands just to bring him down. I don't know what we're bringing back." Her voice softened slightly. "And I don't want my son caught in the middle of it."
So he had been right. His mother truly didn't support it.
"…But Dad wants it, doesn't he?"
Ilyshkara sighed, rubbing her forehead
"Your father ans well. Unfortunately, he also sees danger the way normal people see a slightly interesting road." She scoffed. "If sothing looks suicidal, his first instinct is to walk toward it and see what happens. I've spent eons trying to fix that. I've made absolutely no progress."
"Regardless, this isn't any different. I genuinely think this entire thing is a terrible idea."
"What about your primordial star?" Atticus asked. "You don't trust him?"
"Trust?" Ilyshkara let out a short laugh. "Atticus, I don't even understand him."
She fell silent, then suddenly snapped her fingers.
Atticus felt the world around them shift. The roar of the waterfall dulled, the mist froze, and even the wind seed to vanish. The world had separated from them.
"Listen carefully." Her voice grew serious. "When Solvath created this world alongside the other primordials, he left behind rules that even they can't break. They can't directly interfere with our plane. That's why they need followers. Avatars. People to act on their behalf."
She held his gaze.
"Our primordial. The others. It doesn't matter. We don't know what any of them are truly thinking. We never will. Blindly trusting them because they're on our side would be incredibly stupid."
Atticus quietly absorbed her words. It was a great deal of information, but he understood the heart of it. His mother wasn't trying to stop him because she hated Solvath. She was trying to stop him because she couldn't predict the outco. Because she was afraid. Because she didn't want to lose her son again.
eting her worried eyes, Atticus felt warmth spread through his chest. Part of him wanted to agree, to see her smile. Unfortunately, so things couldn't be compromised.
"No."
Ilyshkara closed her eyes and released a long sigh. When she opened them again, there was disappointnt there. But not surprise. And beneath it all, acceptance.
"…you knew I'd refuse."
Ilyshkara snorted.
"Atticus, before you left, I already knew you were your father's son."
She clicked her tongue under her breath and muttered sothing that sounded suspiciously like an insult.
Atticus wisely pretended not to hear it.
"…so, you approve?"
"Of course I don't."
Despite her words, her expression softened. She reached over and gently cupped his cheek.
"But you're my son." Her thumb brushed lightly against his skin. "My beautiful boy. If you've already made up your mind, then I'll stand behind you. Even when I think you're being an idiot."
Atticus felt warm, and he couldn't help but smile.
"Thank you, Mom."
Ilyshkara imdiately pulled him into a tight embrace.
"I love you, baby."
Atticus wrapped his arms around her just as tightly.
"…I love you too."
He had only just reunited with her. Yet at the sa ti, he had known her his entire life. He ant every word.
A few monts later, Ilyshkara finally released him and stepped back. The warmth in her expression faded, replaced by sothing more serious.
"Alright. Since you've chosen the stupid option, there are a few things you need to know."
Atticus' lips twitched, but he remained silent.
"There is another major fragnt holder besides you in Rion."
Atticus imdiately rebered the na. His father had ntioned him before.
"Bourn."
He pushed aside every other thought and focused as his mother began to explain.
…
In summary, Bourn was the result of years of planning.
After Atticus was sent away, war consud the High Planes. The Rion Sanctum joined forces with Solvath's followers and stood against the combined might of the Elysion and Vealos Sanctums, the Stars of Order and Chaos respectively.
There had been victories. There had been defeats. And there had been countless deaths.
Eventually, the conflict settled into a fragile stalemate. The war never truly ended, but both sides gradually grew dormant, their clashes reduced to occasional skirmishes rather than all-out warfare.
During that ti, without the presence of a Primordial, Solvath's followers were fully absorbed into the Rion Sanctum. Eventually, as the years passed, a new plan erged.
The resurrection of Solvath.
To determine who would serve as the vessel, a sanctum-wide competition was held.
Bourn won.
Every fragnt discovered by the sanctum was entrusted to him, and for years he had been recognized as Solvath's chosen avatar.
Atticus' arrival, however, changed everything. The fragnt in his possession was enough to shake the entire balance.
There could only be one vessel. One Avatar. And unfortunately, neither side was willing to surrender that position.
Atticus understood perfectly what ca next.
Yet of everything his mother told him, one fact shocked him more than anything else.
Bourn's identity.
The first son of the Duke of Man, Kalaxt Ravenstein. And older brother to Attimax Ravenstein.
Bourn Ravenstein was his cousin.
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