"Should we enter?" He asked Mahaya with a defeated expression.
"There's not much we can do." She spoke, "Let's enter."
Creak...
Immediately after she spoke, the colossal doors opened inward.
"That's Interesting...?" He entered, recalling the crazed voice from before. "Do you think we'll be meeting someone impressive?"
Maha nodded, "Someone who's stronger than my mother."
"That's a bit scary."
Yadrith entered through the doors; the interior of the palace was a long corridor, separating two large courtyards.
'...I wasn't expecting such an interior; that voice has exquisite taste.' He stared down the corridor while in thought, and at the end was another large entrance. Something about it was calling him, a feeling similar to Miel's mental compulsion. 'The dining hall must be in there.'
He and Mahaya slowly walked down the corridor. There were a few beautiful sights in the courtyards. What stood out to Yadrith was the strange purple trees and pond in the courtyard on his left.
"What's on your mind?" He glanced over at Mahaya.
She didn't answer.
'Well... Alright.' He had forgotten; Mahaya has always been a person of few words. The two continued down the corridor in silence until they finally reached the doors at the end. Just like the ones before, they opened by themselves.
"I've been expecting you."
Bathed in golden light, a figure extended their hand, holding a wine glass. Yadrith squinted his eye and quickly made out the figure's features.
A middle-aged man with blonde hair and silver eyes.
The two entered the dining room and politely stood staring at the long dining table that stretched nearly the length of the dining room. Yadrith looked up at the ornate chandeliers, and then he noticed the wall lined with clocks.
Clocks of many different types, though they seemed to somehow complement the extravagant decor of the hall.
"Come, find a seat next to me and sit." The man spoke calmly.
Mahaya and Yadrith glanced at each other and broke off walking down opposite sides of the table. The two soon made their way down the table, and each pulled a chair, sitting across from each other.
Next to them, in the middle of the table, was the host who had invited them.
"Go on, I've prepared something that may suit both of you."
Yadrith sniffed the air, smelling the fragrant meal veiled by a steel dome. 'Smells good.' He swallowed, lifting the dome. Revealed was a finely plated pasta dish, with different meats mixed in.
He stared at the meal, pleasantly surprised.
'Usually in this situation, it'd be a part of a human's corpse or something.' He looked toward Mahaya; her plate looked to be some type of fish roasted in a dark sauce, with vegetables on the side.
"Haha, I pride myself on my cooking skills. It's one of the things I'm most proud of." The host spoke.
Yadrith lifted his fork and tried the pleasant-smelling pasta... It was great; unexpectedly, he was expecting a catch. He noticed a familiar-tasting meat.
'This is steak? Where did he get a cow from?' Yadrith hadn't seen a single cow during his journey; that could only mean this person had a way of preserving food for long periods of time.
"It's good," Yadrith said, placing his fork down and cleaning his mouth with a tissue.
The host warmly smiled and looked toward Mahaya, who was also enjoying her meal silently.
"I must introduce myself; after all, you must be curious. I am the one known as Teryeon zi Aeloth." Teryeon stared intently at Yadrith.
"Uh... I am Yadrith."
Teryeon raised an eyebrow. "Usually I get an interesting reaction." He stroked his chin.
"I'm not much of a reader..."
After Yadrith's words, the sound of a fork falling could be heard across the table. He looked over, and Mahaya's mouth was parted.
"You... You are the wife of Veerhun?" Mahaya's face was full of surprise as she spoke.
Yadrith questionably gazed at Teryeon, who was a man.
"You are correct; I can see the bloodline of my child coursing through your veins. I'm glad to see he's still doing well for himself... How old are you?"
"I am seventeen." Mahaya spoke softly.
"It's not often that members of our family come together; Ludo must have mentioned me to you at least once... Right?" Teryeon spoke with anticipation.
"Actually..." Mahaya paused. "I've never met my father, and now that you've mentioned his name, I know it." She lowered her gaze.
Teryeon looked at Mahaya silently. "It seems I've misunderstood the situation. I'm sorry."
The three sat in silence.
Letting out a deep breath, Teryeon turned back toward Yadrith. His voice deepened. "Now, I let you in here because of my granddaughter, but I'm curious... What are you? That equilibrium within you is tempting."
Yadrith frowned; he had forgotten. Every time he had met with an Ascendant, they had attempted to kill him for his 'equilibrium.'
"Of course, I don't plan on doing anything to you. But, as I said earlier, I'm curious about how you obtained it."
He only had one answer: "I don't know."
The same one he had told everyone else.
Teryeon placed his hand over his mouth. "Hmm... You're being honest." He went into thought for a few moments. "I think I've somewhat concluded what you are."
"What would that be?" Yadrith asked.
"Let me tell you a story..." Teryeon cleared his throat. "Just a few decades ago, a man with a similar face as yours appeared before me in my palace. I questioned him, of course, saying things such as 'Who are you?' or 'What do you want?'"
Teryeon chuckled.
"He didn't care about what I had to say, and beat me half to death and gave me a choice. My life, or my Regalia. Of course, I chose to keep my life, and he took my Regalia." Teryeon pointed at Yadrith. "I would like to call our meeting a coincidence, but I don't think it is... You're probably related to that man in some way, and he's been puppeteering your life."
Yadrith silently took in his information; something stood out to him. The ability to take a Regalia from someone else was extremely similar to his own. Though, Teryeon's hypothesis about coincidences seemed correct.
Someone was manipulating his life from behind the scenes.
'The only way to confront this person is to get stronger.' He resolved himself and opened his mouth. "What type of Regalia did you have?"
Teryeon chuckled, "I was able to read the future of others. It was a truly dreadful Regalia, and I didn't mind parting with it." He looked at Mahaya. "Though Ludo inherited a similar one... I wonder what type of Regalia you have."
Mahaya stayed silent.
Even Yadrith was a bit curious about what Mahaya's Regalia could possibly be.
Teryeon cleared his throat. "Aside from my sad backstory, I can help you hide that equilibrium... That's probably what that person wanted me to help you with anyway."
"What? I can hide it?"
He nodded. "If you can reach Opening Mind, the first stage of Ethra. You'll be able to hide it from Ascendants." He smiled, lifting from his seat. "Rekh is the power to surpass your bodily limits; only through Ethra can Rekh eventually reach the soul... Then, ascend."
Yadrith understood Teryeon's words:
'Through the extreme of Ethra and Rekh mastery... You can become an Ascendant.'
Teryeon moved toward Yadrith, and placed his hand over Yadrith's shoulder. "I will share my sight with you in a moment; however, that equilibrium may be too much for you to handle."
"What do you mean too much for me to handle?"
"Just prepare yourself." Teryeon sighed.
Yadrith blinked, and immediately his hand shot up to his mouth. The urge to vomit overpowered him as he saw a disgusting aura of darkness formulate around him.
He couldn't even form a thought to describe the dreadful aura. It was like an infinite evil surrounded him, beyond that of even Miel. No, Miel's Rekh couldn't hold a candle to the darkness surrounding him.
Suddenly, he shifted his eye and noticed a bright light. It warmed his soul and made him instinctively happy.
He began to laugh outwardly, appearing to Teryeon and Mahaya as a maniac who had an expression of pure despair and then suddenly one of pure happiness.
The light was kind, filled with all the kindness in the world. Though soon the darkness appeared once more, and his toes curled and he violently jerked.
"P... p—please!" He shouted.
Teryeon lifted his hand, and accordingly the aura vanished.
"Huuh...Huhh..." Yadrith hyperventilated, nearly falling out of the chair. Though, Teryeon held him up.
"You're lucky other Ascendants haven't killed you. That soul of yours screaming death and life contradicts the laws of the world itself. It would even be justified to kill you, I mean... What type of evils have you committed to achieve that level of misfortune? It makes me want to throw up my food, though the fortune, which speaks infinitely of your good will, keeps it in my stomach."
"That's a description that makes me understand it more... So you'll be able to help me hide it?"
Teryeon looked at him. "It should take a few days, but once you reach Opening Mind, I'll be able to seal until then... I'll be catching up with my granddaughter." He smiled and stepped away from Yadrith.
His form began to shift violently, and suddenly, a bright golden glow filled the room, and then, in the place of the former middle-aged man, stood a beautiful woman with blonde hair and silver eyes.
She looked back at Yadrith and smiled. "You must have been curious, right?"
'So at that level you can just change genders on command?' He laughed at the absurdity. "So... How do I go about learning Ethra?"
He asked Teryeon, who was hugging an unamused Mahaya.
"Figure out how to connect your Rekh to your consciousness." She spoke briefly, flicking her hand toward Yadrith.
The space around him violently distorted, and in the next moment he found himself standing in an unfamiliar bedroom that was remarkably clean.
'...'