Book 5, chapter 31

It is often said that good food, strong drinks a group of your closest friends call make most problems go away. That wasn't entirely true, but for the next ten or so hours, Zee, her team, and her family certainly did their best to drink enough alcohol to make a lizard go blind.

Even with their imminent departure looming, the mood was festive. Cylia went above and beyond preparing food, though Zee suspected Bastion played no small part in preparing it.

Zee wasn't sure about the others, but she ate so much fried meat and steamed herbs that she thought she was going to burst.

By the time the pie was carried out, she didn't know if she could fit another crumb. At Least until the sweet, vibrant smell of Ailee plume washed over her.

Her hunger returned with a vengeance as the pie, made with incredibly potent spiritual herbs and fruits was set in-front of her. 

"That's some delicious pie," Bastion said excitedly, taking a bite.

The others looked just as excited as a slice of pie was handed to each of them. 

Cylia gave bastion a warm smile.

"I'm glad you like it. It's quite delicious, but the flavor is only a happy coincidence. Eating it will remove impurities from your body, strengthen your foundation, and even help stabilize your soul," Cylia said.

Bastion brightened further. 

"All of that from one little fruit? They must be incredibly valuable?" Bastion asked.

Everyone, her mother included, laughed.

"What's so funny?" Bastion asked with furrowed brows.

Zee patted him on the arm.

"Don't worry about it Bass. But just in case, I will remind you that the nightmare mushrooms will make you go unconscious if you try to enter the planar space without permission," Zee warned.

"Now, that is an unfounded accusation. I would never steal a highly valuable herb when people weren't looking," Bastion pouted, appearing hurt by her accusation. 

His tone, as well as his foe hurt expression, made the others burst out laughing again.

Zee was aware Bastion wouldn't actually steal from her parents, but that didn't make it any less fun to tease him.

The others seemed just as amused.

Still grinning, Malden pointed a curved claw at Bastion.

"Hey lover boy, what are you going to do with your business while we are gone?" Malden asked. 

Bastion glanced at Yukna, who gave him a slight nod, before looking over to Alister sitting in a lawn chair next to Nathan.

"About that.. Alister, that was the important thing I was hoping to discuss with you. I was going to wait until later, but since Maldy so graciously brought it up, why not? I was hoping to ask you about taking over the drunken lizard corporation while we are away?" Bastion said. 

Alister raised his brows.

"That sounds like a lot of work on my end. Running a business of that size, and complexity is no easy feat," Alister said thoughtfully.

Bastion nodded.

"Yukna and I are prepared to make you an equal partner. Since the emperor gave me a license, our contacts have grown to over fifteen planets across the empire, and are growing more by the day. The Viotti clan could use our channels to broaden your market and increase your profits," Bastion said.

Appearing thoughtful, Alister waved Bastion towards the house.

"Shall we discuss this in private?" Alister asked.

Bastion nodded.

Then her dad, Yukna, and Bastion disappeared into the house. 

Zee glanced over at her mother.

"Mom, are you not going to join them?" Zee asked curiously.

Cylia only shook her head.

"Your father has it in hand. Lately, I do not involve myself much with the tedium of running the clan business. I am on the edge of a breakthrough, and will soon seclude myself to form my inner world," Cylia said, some trepidation in her voice.

Zees' eyes widened at the proclamation.

She knew her mother was peak D grade, but hadn't been aware she was preparing to push for the Celestial grade so soon.

"How long until you make the attempt?" Zee asked excitedly.

"Not long, maybe half a year. I already have the natural treasures I need to start the process. All I need to do now is finish the final step of my core and body tempering," Cylia said.

Everyone listened intently. This was the first time any of them had heard someone so openly discussing the steps to reach the celestial grade. This was an incredible opportunity to learn more.

Cylia smiled at their attention.

"At the pace all of you are progressing, it won't be long before you reach D grade and start tempering your body and later refining your core. In the meantime, I urge you all to consider which concept to temper your body with," Cylia said.

Zee glanced at the others, who looked just as clueless as she was.

"Uh, Mom, what do you mean by choosing a concept to temper our bodies with?" Zee asked.

Cylia gave them all a once-over.

"I suppose I should have expected you wouldn't know about that. Each of you grasps insights, some of you more concepts than others. For example, Allison has embers of ash and tinder. Once she reaches early D grade, she will need to make a choice. To either temper her body with ash or tinder. 

Each will have drawbacks and benefits. Think of it like this. Tempering your body with your concept increases your affinity for that concept," Cylia said.

Malden raised a paw. "Why can't we use multiple concepts, like combining sand and wind?" Malden asked, with a gleam in his slitted yellow eyes.

Cylia tucked a lock of silky black hair behind one ear.

"That is fairly simple. Suffice it to say, mixing your concepts when tempering your body will give you lackluster results at best. Generally, tempering your body with multiple concepts will combine all of your concepts, giving you an affinity for something you do not control. This will throw your path into the wind, forcing you to change all your plans, and may even prevent you from refining your core," Cylia said.

Allison perked up excitedly.

"And what if I combine the concept of tinder and ash together, using the concept of fire to temper my body?" Allison asked.

Cylia smiled.

"I am so happy you asked. For you, combining them both, and using the higher-tier concept of fire, is a good idea. That path is much more difficult, but your body tempering will be much more effective than simply using a lesser concept like tinder or ash," Cylia said.

Zee bit her lip nervously.

"What about me? Which of my concepts do you think would be the best to temper my body?" Zee asked, uncertainly.

Her mother furrowed her brows thoughtfully. 

"That's tough to say. Your path is something that will be extremely difficult, no matter which concept you choose. Combining gravity, space, soul and spirit is out of the question. It touches on the beginning and the end, bordering on the concept of the apocalypse. Let's just thank the heavens that you are not cultivating the concept of time as well," Cylia said.

Her mother's words rang loudly in her mind, bringing up a certain phrase. During her vision when gaining the concept of ebb and flow, it spoke of the beginning and the end. Was this what her mother was talking about? 

Julian had talked about when trying to convince her not to proceed down her current path. The lost concepts, time, space, and soul.

Zee had an ominous premonition, as a chill ran up her spine. The world river churned around her, undulating with increasing ferocity. An icy wind whipped at her hair, and a deep sense of impending doom drew closer.

Her mother's words made the world river go mad, crashing around her and making her hair stand on end. Time seemed to slow around her, the others freezing in motion as the heart of fire beat loudly in her chest.

Storm clouds crackled overhead, and the wind whipped at her hair. A deep sense of terror gripped her as a boundless wrath focused on her. She couldn't move, her body frozen under the vast pressure above.

She could see her death looming, feeling the hatred in the clouds. It was the wrath of the heavens, descending to punish her for trying to grasp at a concept she shouldn't. Zee was locked in terror, as she gazed up at the building clouds above. Lightning crashed, and a boundless fury filled the air. Zee was unable to move a muscle, but even more concerning was the fact that everyone else looked frozen like statues.

All except one. The living book, Raina, was the only thing that didn't seem to have trouble under the pressure. It flapped over, its cover vibrating as it opened its pages.

An incredibly complex ritual diagram blossomed in the air, searing itself into the cliff wall, the grass, and even the estate behind her.

Zee had been making inroads into rituals over the past few years, but she couldn't make heads or tails of this one. It was so advanced, channeling so much power with the focal point being the book hovering next to her.

Zee shivered, as a ghostly figure of a hunched old man appeared in front of her. He didn't look like much, being rail thin, and wearing a drab brown librarian's robe.

His gray hair was tied in a cue with a leather strap, and his wrinkled face was set in a frown. He looked completely unphased by the descending clouds, his expression.

Tarnival let out a thoughtful hum as he raised a thin hand to the sky. It looked like he would be knocked over by a small gust of wind, but a bottomless strength oozed from his spectral form.

Above, the swirling clouds froze, unable to descend further, as a ritual spanning the sky wrapped it in a net of power.

The clouds roiled furiously, struggling to free itself from its newfound prison. All the while, it seemed to glare at the old geezer.

"How troublesome," Tarnival said, glancing back at her.

"Tar, is that you?" Zee asked, her heart leaping in her chest. He looked an awful lot like a ghostly avatar. Tarnival snorted. "Of course, it's not me brat! This is just a soul wisp i bound to the book in case you got into too much trouble." He glared at her. "How in the nine hells did you conjure heavenly wrath on yourself?" Tarnival asked.

Zee scowled.

"I didn't do anything! And what do you mean in case I get in trouble? I have nearly died plenty of times, and this is the first you come out?" Zee asked.

Even as just a soul wisp, it was still easy to read his expression. Tarnival rolled his eyes.

"I didn't infuse a wisp of my power into the living book to get you out of every little fight you get in. Besides, this is a one-time thing before my soul wisp runs out of power," Tarnival said.

Zee glared but decided it wasn't worth the argument. She was much more concerned about the roiling storm clouds still struggling to free themselves from his net.

"What do we do about that?" Zee asked, pointing towards the clouds above.

The old geezer shrugged. 

"Conjuring heavenly wrath as an E-grade cultivator means death. That is why I sacrificed my soul wisp to appear. Remind me again why this is happening?" Tarnival asked.

She scowled. "I don't know! I was contemplating the beginning, and the end, and how that tied into the apocalypse. Then those angry clouds descended," Zee said, wondering why the others were still frozen like statues.

Tarnival nodded slowly. "So, it was like that after all," 

Zee raised her hands in exasperation.

"Please explain," Zee asked.

Tarnival gestured to the clouds angrily crackling above.

"Not sure how you did it, but you must have tried to grasp at the core concept of the universe, the apocalypse and this is the price," Tarnival said.

Zee blanched at his words.

"But I didn't do anything," Zee said.

Tarnival grunted as he watched the clouds.

"It doesn't matter what you did or didn't do. The fact of the matter is, I can sense all three lost concepts on you. Time, soul, and space," Tarnival said.

Zee frowned.

"Time? I don't cultivate the concept of time," Zee said.

Tarnival actually smiled. He gestured to the frozen people around them. "It is not myself, nor the clouds above doing this. This is all you, and that bloodline talent of yours," Tarnival said.

She frowned, noticing that his spectral form was flickering. 

"What does this mean for me?" Zee asked.

Tarnival shrugged. "It means you are going to have a very difficult time forming your core. Given your circumstances, I suspect the heavens will descend and try to erase you from existence," Tarnival said.

Zee swallowed hard at his casual declaration. "Will you be there to protect me again?" Zee asked, fear gripping her as she sensed the power in the clouds above. At her current strength, she would be annihilated if that hit.

"No, I will not. As I said before, my appearance is a one-time thing. My soul wisp is fading as we speak. When forming your core, you will have to fight back the heavenly wrath on your own," Tarnival said.

His form flickered again, fading in and out. "Anyway, our time is up. Don't mention my appearance to anyone, not even your friends. It's been a pain as always brat. Do take care not to be killed when forming your core. It would be a shame to waste all this effort," Tarnival said.

Before she could ask him why not to talk about what happened, the old geezer waved his hand. The ritual spanning the sky flashed, releasing a surge of power. It forced the clouds above to swirl, funneling down. They rushed into his flickering form, disappearing without a trace.

Having absorbed the storm, his spectral form shattered like breaking glass falling apart. As his form shattered, she heard his departing words.

"Watch yourself, brat. With the emergence of the eternal throne that makes three. Three thrones and one eternity. The end draws closer, beware the apocalypse," Tarnival said.

With his final words echoing in her mind, his presence disappeared, thankfully along with the angry clouds. The living book fell from the air, bouncing on the grass, as if too exhausted to fly anymore. She reached down and picked it up, sensing a weak nudge from the book.

Raina seemed fine, just exhausted.

Zee glanced around, troubled. Oddly, her spatial ripple skill had stopped working. Everyone was frozen mid-motion, as though they were extremely lifelike statues. 

Zee wasn't sure what to do now. Was it really her bloodline talent causing this odd situation? She had never had this happen before. The heart of fire usually slowed her perception of time, but it had never done something like this. 

Zee's worry was for naught. All of a sudden, everything went back to normal like nothing had happened.

Her mother continued talking, and the others sipped on their drinks as though they hadn't sensed anything amiss. It didn't even look like anyone had noticed her near-death experience.

Zee glanced down at her glass, wondering if she was going crazy. Did that just happen? 

"Oh, that happened alright," Dern said, sounding a bit rattled in her mind.

Zee let out a soft sigh.

Of course, it did. She wasn't lucky enough to be going crazy. But then again, that would have been the easy way out. 

Cylia's calm voice drifted back to her ears, but she tuned it out.

Zee was more concerned about Tarnival's parting words.

What did he mean by the apocalypse drawing closer? His warning was incredibly ominous. Given he referenced the eternal throne, it must be related.

How did the emergence of the eternal throne relate to the end and the apocalypse? And more curious, Tarnival had mentioned two other thrones.

Zee knew far too little about the upcoming events. No one would tell her anything, even though she was expected to collect keys and help find that place.

Her mother spoke, but Zee wasn't listening. Zee was deep in thought. The more she learned, the more she was realizing that the eternal throne had larger ramifications. Why else would such a powerful faction like the Ashary, and the Kul a Var be so determined to take control?

The question was, how was she going to survive? The fact that she had two keys already put a target on her back, not to mention the fact her aura was stained with taboo.

It was a good thing she had a competent team to fall back on. Zee shook away her troubling thoughts, focusing back on the others who were still talking. That was right, she didn't have to go at this alone. She had friends and family to rely on.