"Stop what you're doing to Yimin's Master!"
The Ice Sovereign shook his head. "I'm sorry, but I can't," he said. "That boy must rember. I'm rely jogging his mories a little."
Looking past the fierce dragonoid girl being held down by her Master, the Ice Sovereign refocused on Cassius. "Now, tell , kid, for the past two years, are you sure that the person whom you refer to as your father is actually who you think he is? And what about before that point; can you tell with absolute certainty that your father was actually your father?"
Cassius's blaring headache intensified, as it felt like his head was being split open. He tried with all his might to rember, yet the more he thought about it, the fuzzier and more distorted the mories beca. His father no longer looked like his father, and there were now three versions of who he believed to be the sa person.
The first version was of a man who took on the face and personality of his father but was anything but.
The second version was a version filled with far more mories—spanning over a dozen years—but sothing was not right about this one. With Cassius's affinity with the Illusion and Deception Elents because of his nurous Skills, he could imdiately tell that sothing was off about this one.
As for the third version, it felt the most real and genuine. But it was also the briefest and faintest of fragnted mories—a man that was his father. Moreover, it seed to depict a ti before he even knew how to think properly. He was an infant.
"In truth, young Cassius Steele," said the Ice Sovereign, "the man who you've known as your father for the past two years is a mber of the sa race that wishes to use you for their own benefit—the Dissonants. That Adam Steele is not your father, and based on his silent life readings, it's likely that he's already t his demise at the hands of his own kind."
"This…" Cassius's expression hardened in a heartbeat as the pain emanating from his head increased. "H…How can this be…? But then, all this ti, I've been…"
"That is not yet the end, young Cassius," the Ice Sovereign said as he waved his hands.
The large shiny crystal standing upright in the background started spinning extrely fast, and showing up on each side of the crystal were mories—rapidly flashing mories viewed in the first person.
Cassius held his head, his painfully squinting eyes looking at the crystal in shock. The first version of his father had already been replaced by a hideous, gargantuan organism whose identity he did not know. However, upon glimpsing into the crystal, another version of his father began to fade. It was the version that had accompanied him for 15 years of his life.
And all at once, every single mory Cassius had of this version of his father glitched out. Eventually, his existence in those mories vanished altogether, leaving an empty space everywhere he looked.
At tis, he would just be talking to walls or the air…
No one was there.
Cassius nearly fell off the couch from the pain—a pain so excruciating that it almost outdid the pain experienced by dying thousands of tis. It was unbelievably painful.
"What have y—"
Yimin was about to attack the Ice Sovereign—Lilith, Mora, and Raijin also—but before they could do such a thing, Cassius held them back. Through a deep grimace, he reassured them that he was fine and that the old man was not at fault.
— After a few minutes to regain his bearings —
Cassius opened his haggard eyes from ditation. He petted the girl tearfully hugging him, a slight smile forming on his worn-down face. He then soothed Raijin, Lilith, and Mora with a few rubs as well. After which, he diverted all his attention back to the patiently sitting Ice Sovereign.
"I now understand the first version," Cassius said. "But what of the second version? Why did my every mory of my father suddenly disappear?"
The Ice Sovereign sipped on a freshly brewed cup of icy tea in a laid-back manner. Then he matched the handso young man's gaze and said, "That version and those mories are fake—all created by your actual father to keep you on the path of normality. He even had to alter the sight and mories of billions of other humans to make sure they were able to see what you were seeing."
"Then… My real father is…"
"Yes," said the Ice Sovereign. "The third version is your actual father. And though you have only seen him in person when you were very young and for not very long, he has always been watching over you."
"...Even now…?" Cassius asked, looking all around himself with enhanced eyesight Skills.
The Ice Sovereign's expression beca a bit complicated as he sighed. "No, not right now," he said. "But up until a few days ago, yes, he was there, watching."
Cassius's eyes flashed in confusion. "What changed a few days ago?" he asked.
"Your father stopped by around a week ago to inform that so events on the higher Floors have put in motion sothing beyond even his control," said the Ice Sovereign. "He hadn't gone into great detail, but he referred to it as a 'beacon.'"
"As for what this beacon is or what he ant by it, he did not say." The Ice Sovereign raised his hand and stopped the spinning of the large crystal. "But even if I do not know all the answers, you will one day et him once you begin ascending the Ascension Towers. That much I guarantee you."
Cassius stared at the old man for a good couple of seconds before letting out all the air inside his lungs. "...I see…"
He was disappointed to learn that his real father had just recently passed him by, but he wouldn't let that keep him down.
Returning his gaze to the Ice Sovereign, his expression turned extrely serious. "What of my mother?" he asked. "Is she… Is she still alive?"
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