Diane looked at him with stars in her eyes and she eagerly listened to every single word he spoke, although she appeared slightly despondent, she still swallowed her argument and weakly replied, “well, if you think so. I have always wanted to do more.”
Rowan laughed, “you have done more than enough to help me. You should remember that my body still remains here. What you are looking at is just my shadow. Stay with your family. Protect my people, and when I wake up, I shall bring you to see the ends of the universe.” 𝚍ｎ𝚘ｖ𝚕．𝚘𝚛𝚐
She pouted, “do you promise?” while holding out her little finger, a universal gesture that could be understood by everyone. Rowan brought up one of his fading fingers and linked with hers, “I promise.”
Diane cheered and jumped up, she just became eighteen, and she now had long golden hair similar to Rowan and her ecstatic movements scattered her hair all around her like a waterfall.
Eva must have a preternatural connection with Rowan as the moment Rowan opened his hands, the hairband that Diane gifted him back then inside the Trailer Motor on their journey to the underground city appeared in his palm.
He gestured for her to turn around, and she eagerly did, and she began to laugh when Rowan was struggling with her hair before helping him with it.
“Creator… It is time.” Eva appeared before the family of three and smiled at them as they all bowed towards her.
Rowan stood up and addressed the three of them, “Thank you for making me one of your family… It is my honor.”
Leaving the blushing Trevor and the smiling Olga and Diane, he asked Eva to bring him to the highest point of the palace in order for him to see the universe once more.
Eva took him into the shadows and they appeared at the tip of a spear of a Divine Statue built at the front of the Palace. She made a panel of darkness and Rowan stood upon it, and he viewed the immensity of the universe laid out before him.
He sighed as he admired the beauty of the stars for they almost seemed like they were singing a song, as with every light they emitted gave out a pulse of Aether that only the enlightened could see, and at this moment Rowan would swear on all creation that this was the most beautiful sight he had ever witnessed.
The sheer immensity of it all humbled him, “This all seems like it could go on forever doesn’t it?”
“Others may think it to be so,”? Eva replied, “But you have seen it all, you have seen the edges of the universe and beyond it. Mortal man may look at the stars and gaze at its endlessness, but you are not that fortunate to have blissful ignorance. You understand what it all holds. You understand where it is heading.”
” I can dream, can’t I?” Rowan chuckled,” There is so much here for everyone, why must we fight for more? Just because we are capable of something, does it mean we should do it?”
” Creator, it is because you have these thoughts that is what makes it important for you to not stop moving. This universe is beset by Evil, Greed, Lust, Anger, Sloth, Wrath, all the evils a thousand suns cannot shed light upon, and all these evil have been deified and personified. They all walk the universe, and they shall take, and they shall burn until there is nothing left. Our enemies are the same. The greed and lust for our powers would drive them to hunt us to our extinction, and when that is done they shall look at creation and go after it. Your father is a symptom of a larger malady… so, Creator, it is not enough until you hold every light in the universe in your hands, and make of it, the utopia you dream of.”
Rowan nodded,” I will not stop until my enemies all fall, and the lights of creation are all mine.”
Eva manifested the Tome and it hovered before Rowan. He could detect the familiar presence of his bloodline on it. It appeared like a gigantic golden book with a rough cover as if it were covered by dragon scales.
In the center of the Tome was an oval indentation that was filled with a milky glow, and was faintly pulsing with the wave of Aether flowing through the universe. Rowan was struck by the similarities between this Tome and the Primordial Record; the design was most likely taken from the enigmatic singularity.
He had been trying to make contact with the Primordial Record ever since he left Vraegar’s body, and although he could detect the singularity, it refused to answer his call. It would appear that the privilege of controlling it did not fall to the mere reflection of Rowan.
About to begin his possession of the Tome, he saw a golden light approaching from deep within space,
“is that… Suriel?”
“Yes, he pleaded for the chance to become your arbiter, bringing you into this new journey you are about to embark on.”
Rowan smiled, “I am very proud of him… let him know that.”
With a dull grunt, Rowan pushed his fist into the center of his head and as if he seized his brains, he began pulling it out.
Whatever was inside his fist acted like a massive magnet, and his body was iron filings. His entire body shrank and contracted into his fist, leaving behind a single glowing eye that zipped across into the Tome, entering the oval indentation in the center. The milky glow covered the eye and the Tome began releasing a low and constant vibration.
“Two seconds left.” Eva shook her head, “Cutting it a little too close for comfort.” She dragged the Tome closer to her side and waited for Suriel to arrive.
In a few moments, a conflagration of flames appeared behind her like an erupting volcano and Suriel came out of the flames, he went down on one knee, and held both his hands outstretched.
Eva placed the Tome in his hands with the message, “He is proud of you.” She turned and vanished into the darkness. Suriel spent a few moments bowing before the darkness she departed into before he unfurled his glorious wings.