"The royal seer?" Lucien asked, staring into Viral's eyes with such intensity that Rowan could just barely make out the smell of burning flesh as if a hole were being bored into the king.
"Yes, the most esteemed seer in all the eastern lands, her visions almost prophetic in their accuracy."
As the king responded to Lucien's inquiring call, he lifted himself up off his chair, quickly waving his cape behind him with his left arm and turning towards one of the many willowing hallways that allowed traversal out of the dining hall.
"The seer's room is this way." He added with a quickened pace, pointing down towards the dark hallway.
"Wait, hold on!" Lucien bit out, slamming his hand on the table. "You still haven't told us why we need to see her. Let me remind you that we are your guests, and I can't quite trust you yet."
Lucien's sudden outrage almost flung the heroes back, staggered by the spontaneity of his words.
Rowan in specific was taken aback at Lucien's sudden shift in mood, although he felt a mutual understanding in how difficult it is to simply trust someone.
Although, in Lucien's case, it's a little extreme.
"Oh, I didn't mean to offend, Sir Lucien. Please forgive me."
Viral turned around, extending his chest forward to enter into a high bow, closing his eyes and smiling just a tad bit while crossing his right arm over his chest.
After a few seconds of sitting still, the king began tilting back upwards, opening his eyes to look on at the quiet heroes as his cape's drape along and down his shoulders and back ceased.
"Yes, it is as you say. I should properly explain the seer's role." Viral grinned, pointing his index finger up.
Suddenly, seven blinding lights of different hue blipped into being, manifesting in mere milliseconds.
A vrrrvvvvv buzzed as the orbs circled around his finger, jetting into a single blur of light as they ramped up in speed.
Rowan instinctively covered his face with both hands in response, squinting his eyes to save himself from the white-hot pain that was surging through his retinas.
Eventually, the orbs slammed into each other, turning into one flat plane of crystalline shards to form a cohesive projection.
"We've seen this before..." Elias said, his words slowed by his confusion.
"Yes, I showed this projection to you before in order to present language, but it has utilizations far beyond simple script."
Everybody's faces in the room lit up, a violet red draining out the before vibrant colors that popped out in the form of food and decor.
The only thing or person unaffected was Kaia, her face enshrouded in the same red that sprawled out from her scalp, not very different to how she looked when blush in anger or excitement.
Rowan's eyes caught glimpses of fire, a familiar warmth crawling across his skin as he closed his eyes in flashes of light--so engulfing that they encompassed the entire earth--again reminded him of a deeper, hidden fear that he'd repressed mere moments after coming across it.
After seconds of remembering foretelling of destruction and devastation, Rowan clenched his chest, his heart pounding against and weakening the integrity of his ribcage.
The physical ramifications from his hastened heartbeat forcing him to bite down on his lower lip, his canine teeth dug into flesh, blood beginning to trickle down to the lowest extremities of his chin.
Rowan reeled a little bit in response, squinting his eyes while he fell to his knees, the clattering of his tattered clothing shaking against the floor evidencing the fear seizing his limbs.
Rowan looked down upon the ground, taking note of the disparity between the images flashing in his head and the real, solid state of the world around him.
Reassurances of his security quelled Rowan's seizing ever so slightly, his heartbeat slowly reducing its pace to match his emotional state.
The other heroes--while not as extreme--exhibited similar signs: Lucien staring in wide-eyed terror, Kaia silenced with grit teeth, Elias maintaining his balance by propping himself using the dining table, and Liora heaving large gasps of air with buckets of sweat dripping from her face.
Unprovoked, Lucien swatted at the air, pushing his hand forward as if he were reaching for something.
"Wait, don't do that!" The king yelled, his body transitioning into a blur as the ground keeled to his might.
Clasp!
Just barely, the king grabbed Lucien's hand, half contracted into a grab.
Lucien's wrist pulled back, and his fingers loosened ever so slightly, the glistening of a familiar white thin strand prompting him to immediately remember his past experience.
"What..." Lucien muttered, his fist finally loosening to a complete relaxation.
The king released his grip, stepping back slowly to maintained Lucien's quelled state of being.
"That's your soul thread, tethered by the projection arcana I have just cast." The king remarked, smacking his hand on the edge of the arcana that had been projecting images of the world's destruction, the exact same foretelling observed in the knowledge scroll he showed them.
Lucien shuddered in response to the king's words, shakily throwing his hands back as fast as he could to best lower the possibility of accidentally brushing up against it.
"This thing--the pain I felt when I tugged on it with the god sphere... thank you." Lucien muttered, his face turning pale from the fear.
The king simply nodded his head, acknowledging Lucien's thanks but still staying on topic.
"That was one of Nerethis' prophecies, said to play out seven years from now. Not only has she foreseen a conflict so great that millions would lay dead in just a single day's battle; she has also foreseen the destruction of the Way and reality itself." The king's face was now far more somber, the solemnity of his expression bleeding into the screen as the violet red darkened to match the coloration of blood.
The crisping stagnation in the air stuck to Rowan's nostrils, the atmosphere tranquilizing to any thoughts he may have wished to express.
Despite this, the king still waited a few seconds for any wandering questions, finally giving up after the heroes turned to look at each other but could only nod in content.
"But that alone was not why you were summoned here. No, she says you are required for a purpose even greater than that, one that neither her nor I could ever know."