Faye's hand tightened slightly on Jack's back, her green eyes reflecting concern as she observed the weight of the revelation settling onto him like snow accumulating during a winter storm.
"Ophion is your direct ancestor," Ren said, his voice carrying the clinical tone of someone stating a fact.
"The first of the Shattered Kings. The one who defied hierarchy before hierarchy even existed as a concept. He spoke to you in your Madness state because the amplified consciousness temporarily stripped away the barriers between your current awareness and your ancestral blood. Your descent from him is not distant or diluted. It runs through your core like molten metal through stone, inseparable and fundamental. He told you what you are, and the revelation broke something inside your mind because your mind was not prepared to comprehend the full scope of what your bloodline contains."
