Seeing his reaction she bent down in laughter, supporting herself by holding his hand, “ha ha ha, you should see your face, ha ha ha, I never knew my big strong boy could blush. You know, I will have to argue that now is the best time to ask you about it, so let’s not change the topic, and we shall discuss your lack of a partner or many partners if that is what you desire.”

“Hmph… I’m not a child, mother.”

“What? You are now a big macho man who doesn’t need a woman? I remember 842,000 years ago, you had this unholy crush on a Wood Nymph, gosh it was so embarrassing seeing your star-struck eyes and your goofy smile.”

Rowan wanted to speak, and then he paused, he raised his hand and he placed it down, before he forced himself to speak, “First, how do you know I had a crush on a Wood Nymph, are those things not supposed to be around 10 inches tall? No, scratch that, I would rather not dig more into this subject.”

“Come on Rowan, indulge your poor mother, and shapeshifting was one of your many gifts… so I recall you also like taking other forms, if you know what I mean.” She winked at him.

Rowan scoffed, “I can’t be with you. I cannot believe my mother, an Empyrean, is a pervert.” he looked away, but by the curve of his lips he was smiling. 𝚍ｎ𝚘ｖ𝚕.𝚝

“There it is, that smile that breaks my heart and fills it with joy. I will never forgive him for making your existence a living hell.” The anger in her eyes burned so hot that it shook all of reality before she pushed it back and smiled, “You are doing every available female in the universe a disservice by keeping that smile hidden, you know. What? Do you think your status as an Empyrean means that you can’t sleep with as many women as you want, or that it makes you a eunuch?”

Rowan sighed and went with it, “Well, as you said, what if I want to be a strong macho man who doesn’t need any bitch*s?”

“Language!” She smacked his head, but she had to stand on tiptoes to do so, after all, the glorious Empyrean of life was 5’5 (1.65 meters). Rowan had no doubt she could be as colossal in size as she wanted, but she appeared to prefer this diminutive size.

He huffed, “Seriously, mom, it’s no longer funny.”

“Okay, I will stop playing with you. You have my noble blood, don’t you dare bring any skank to my doorsteps.”

“Well, as that’s what you want, I will make sure I do the opposite!”

“Don’t you dare?”

“How will you stop me?”

“you…you… you are no son of mine.”she turned away sulking and Rowan walked up and placed his hand on her shoulder, and it was shaking, he nearly panicked thinking she was crying and then he turned her around and she broke down in laughter.

Rowan could not help it and joined her in laughter, their happiness seemed to feed on each other and they both laughed, seemingly forgetting the depressing topic they had been discussing a while back.

This was his mother. Able to bring life even inside hell.

It didn’t last for long, however,

The void trembled, and he heard the angered roar of the Third Prince, “Elura, you fu*king whore. Get back here!”

Elura continued speaking without acknowledging him, but her demeanor became serious, “Your brothers and your sisters’ light were ripped off and fashioned into the true abominations called the gods of Trion. You must kill them all and return their lights to your brethren. You see, your father never lied to me at first, his plans were feasible, and he would have given my children ascension from their primal nature, but after seeing the potential of my brood, he lusted for more and refused to return the light he took from them. I don’t know his purpose, but he has a plan, and after seeing what he kept doing to you, I knew I had to change something.”

Light and color was beginning to bleach into the surrounding universe, and Elura continued speaking, “I cannot tell you about your father, but I have left many hints for you, with the new information I just gave you about him, and everything you know of me, you should be able to figure out whom he truly is soon enough, but now we are running out of time.”

“Get back here!” Another loud roar emerged from the distance.

She looked up and her eyes turned white, and the voice of the Third Prince faded, and the color entering the universe slowed,

“I know I’m throwing a lot of information to you very quickly, and you will need to scrutinize every single word I have given you. You have a sharp weapon, yes?”

A slight pain echoed in his hearts and he nodded slowly,

She smiled a pained smile, and she began shedding a bloody tear, “Oh, my dear boy, I know you believe your many Empyrean hearts make you cold, but it is, in fact, the opposite, you have been shown so much in so little time, that it has become numb, and I’m about to inflict more damage to that battered heart, and one day I hope you will forgive me for it.”

She pointed to her heart, “Right here, Rowan, make it quick. Don’t think about what you need to do, it’s the only way to free up a page from your Singularity.”

For a short while, Rowan paused in shock, it did not help that now he had only a single consciousness pillar, and he could not push his emotions into other consciousness, he had to face everything head on. Every messy emotion and all the information floating in his head left him confused and distraught.

His mother’s voice was like a whip crack, “Rowan, do it this instant, I cannot hold him back any longer.”

Rowan saw himself holding his mother by the back of her neck with his left hand, while a blade that was red like blood settled over her chest, about to be driven into her heart by his right hand.

“I am so sorry, child, I’m sorry. It shouldn’t be you, but you must.” she smiled at him.

Rowan stilled and said, “First I want to ask you one question, where do Elura Shards come from?”