Deep below an ashen sky amongst millions of burned through trees was a circle of phantom-like figures, each dressed in a long white robe embroidered with long chocolate vines, emerald green leaves wrapping around each priest's head in the form of a laurel.
In the centre stood a hazy figure wearing a white toga slung only partially over both shoulders, revealing some of his caramel skin. Tentatively the man reached down towards the altar at the centre of the circle, his WIll carving through the world like an icebreaker.
With his left hand he softly grasped and picked up the burned wood bowl containing a single drop of pure gold liquid and with his right he picked up the remains of what looked like a rusted and dilapidated golden crown.
The Sovereign of Hunger tightened his grip and brought the crown above the bowl and with a surge of his will, shattered the Divine artifact then crumbling it into dust which leisurely drifted down into the ichor.
His golden eyes shifting, The Sovereign of Hunger looked towards a young girl who lay motionless on a second, pure jade white altar. The girl's eyes were shut and her consciousness suppressed as she slept.
"Asterion… Asterion… Asterion…" The priests chanted around the pair, reverent at the descendants of their God summoning them from across time.
Slowly, The Sovereign brought the now glittering bowl to the young girl, and after gently tilting her head up, poured the golden ichor down her throat.
The scorched trees around the ritual swayed slightly, an awakening of a long dead WIll briefly manifesting before shrinking back, settling deep within the dormant, unformed soul of the young girl.
Hazily, the girl opened her eyes, her vision blurry as a soft, feminine voice whispered gently in her ear.
[You have offered Heart God's Crown and Lineage to the Gods.]
[The Gods are dead, and cannot hear you.]
[Your Soul bares the Ember of Divnity.]
[You are a descendent of Heart God.]
[Heart God stirs from her eternal slumber.]
[She sends a blessing and gift from beyond the grave.]
[Lua, receive your blessing.]
[Ember of Divinity has evolved.]
[Heart has evolved.]
[You have acquired an attribute, True Heart]
[You have acquired an attribute, Soul Bound]
Then, the soft voice shifted slightly, its mocking mimicry of Weaver's lullaby shifting into something more familiar.
[...When you're ready, come find me, you'll know where… Here is one last gift, my daughter.]
[You have received a memory, Winter's Warmth.]
The sparkles making up the memory shuddered, unsure of where to settle given the lack of a soul core, yet, with the guiding hand of WIll, they settled into the girl's spirit, patiently awaiting the day of her soul core forming.
Cautions and oblivious to the changes occurring within the sleeping girl, the Sovereign, reached out and activated the mass circle of sorcery embedded within the jade flood of the ruined temple.
The consecutive teal circles lit up, the ancient sorcery pushing against the golden strings of Fate with obstinate force. And after a brief struggle, the strings acquiesced, shifting slightly to accommodate the Sovereign's desires. And thus, a miracle occurred.
Above the two alters, a flicker of light appears, gradually taking form into a bright river of timeless water before slitting into two images, one river bright and flowing, the other dead and still.
The Dreamspawn reached out, his golden eyes narrowing as he plunged his hand into the phantom apparition of the Great River of Time and pulled away, in his bare hand rested a large radiant crystal that gave off a feeling of sublime, awesome, indescribable power.
The crystal emitted soft light like a miniature sun. Reality itself seemed to ripple and shine around it. Drawing back, the Dreamspawn smiled victoriously, this after all would be the key to his survival once he left to Luna.
Even a creature such as himself would not so carelessly entangle with an Unholy. The Sovereign's ire, briefly drawn from the quickly diminishing phantom of the great river, missed as a small drop of golden water dropped on the girl, soaking deep into her forehead and concealing itself.
"Asterion… Asterion… Asterion… Re…" The priest's chanting broke away as their timeless ghosts melted away into a cool, icy mist. Asterion smiled in satisfaction to himself, this divine miracle having played out nearly perfectly, all it cost him was a daughter, one which would be handed off to Vale's vassal for safekeeping as per their agreement.
What Saint White Feather did with her, well, that was of no concern to him anymore. Suddenly without warning, Asteiron raised his head, turning sideways to peer into the darkness beneath the trees, his hazy image wavering slightly. "Someone prying at me?" he laughed, amused. "Must be rather bold…"
He trailed off, his eyes shifting to his daughter as he picked her up, tugging on his tether and pulling himself into the Realm of War and this temporary hazy projection carrying his daughter back to his true form.
*******
Saint Tyris paced through the ivory corridors of her castle in her sanctuary, her amber eyes idly tracing the vines that ran with the walls. Once she reached her family's private garden within the walls her eyes naturally landed on the large Sacred tree growing as the centre piece.
It was a normal sight for the tree to reside in this spot, what wasn't normal however, was the rate at which said tree had bloomed. Whilst previously its canopy stretched to occupy around half of the total airspace within the garden.
But now, it utterly towered above the garden, its vast and great canopy visible from beyond the castile's walls. Reports had additionally come in that on Ship Wreak island, the young sacred tree had bloomed as well, growing to a full mature height.
Tyris narrowed her eyes dangerously. "Has the third one returned…?" She asked herself. Of course, she had never personally met the Original Dreamspawn, as he liked to be called, but she did take in his daughter as her own.
He however, had already spent her as a bargaining chip, using her to receive some sort of special memory forged by The King of Swords himself although the latter refused to ever speak about what its purpose truly was.
Neither was Tyris willing to give up her daughter, she had raised Lua after all and would not easily surrender her to one who had long since abandoned her, Sovereigns be damned. However, the return of a Sovereign or not, the sudden growth of these trees were most definitely related to the Heart God descendants.
'It's been two years… Did she find something?' Despite the usual attitude to Legacy children being to drop them out the nest the 'fun way' there was not a day that went by when Tyris didn't greatly regret that decision regarding her oldest. It was a mistake she did not repeat with the younger, directly transporting Telle to the Sanctuary herself, after all, losing one child was more than enough.
Lightning crackled in the air and cut through the stem of a fruit, dropping it directly into Tyris' expecting hand. Taking care not to crush the delicate fruit, she brought it to her mouth and took a greedy bite.
While her flaw may stunt a large majority of her emotions, it didn't mean she couldn't indulge in a tasty treat. "It's not like the tree has any other uses." She self justified with a contented smile, but before long it gradually diminished into her usual passive expression. 'I'll have to inform His Majesty regardless.'
Shutting her eyes, she tugged on her tether and pulled herself back into the Realm of War.
*******
With a sound like space shattering a great forging hammer was brought down upon a deep glowing blade, the blade's shape moulding to fit the forger's desire. Anvil stared coldly down upon this infant blade, finishing his work before drenching the blade in a bucket of water beside his anvil.
Raising the steaming steel to his grey eyes, he scanned the new blade. "How disappointing." His voice came out like the shattering of steel, before almost carelessly tossing the blade into the air where it paused briefly, as if suddenly gaining sentience then shot off into the distance, burying itself deep within the soil surrounding Bastion.
Morgan's deep vermillion eyes lifted as her father discarded another failed blade. In all honesty she couldn't much fathom such disregard for one's work, it was a Transcendent blade after all, one nearly all Masters and even some Saints would drool for the opportunity to posses.
She had even seen some Supreme blades thrown to the wayside after their forging. Suffice to say her father was one picky smith. "Why have you come here?" He asked in an emotionless tone, not even turning to face her as he spoke.
"Saint Sky Tide has noticed an anomaly regarding the Sacred trees that grow within the Chained Isles and was concerned that they may be related to the Dreamspawn." Morgan relayed Sky Tide's message to Anvil.
Of course, ferrying a message from a Saint was not the true purpose as to why she was here, but instead she hoped to glean some hidden information from her father.
Anvil paused at her words, worldlessly setting down his forging hammer and shifting his gaze upwards towards the shattered moon that gazed down over Bastion's zone. His steely grey eyes reflected the moonlight for a long moment before he spoke.
"He has not escaped his seal on Luna." Anvil spoke curtly, delivering his judgement with little ceremony. Then, without considering the matter more, he picked up his hammer and some fresh steel and went back to forging.
Morgan stared silently at her fathers broad back, annoyed that he said so little. Wincing slightly, as if fearing verbal punishment, she opened her mouth, "If not related to the Dreamspawn, shouldn't we still investigate this manner." Morgan began. "The lineage of the Heart God is only possessed by one person after all, and their relation to the trees definitely links the two together. Could this not be the work of some nightmare creature?"
Anvil lay down his hammer once again, turning to face Morgan before leaning back against his anvil and crossing his arms. He studied her for a moment, like a patient parent explaining something complex to their child. Morgan grimaced, now expecting some kind of lesson.
"You are right. The Heart God lineage is responsible for the changes occurring to the Sacred trees, but it is the doing of the Dreamspawn's daughter, not himself." Anvil explained.
Morgan stilled, "He has a daughter?" that was rather hard to believe given the third Sovereign's lack of humanity and the general air of wrongness that lingered around him.
"Lua." Anvil replied. "She was given over to Valor to adopt in exchange for a memory I forged for him. And afterwards, I handed her to Sky Tide to adopt personally into the White Feather Clan.
"...Why?" Morgan tilted her head. It made no sense, why would they give up an important piece like Lua to Sky Tide, surely it would be a better investment for Valor to foster her personally.
"Because it would be better suited, the child was innocent and unlike the last daughter of Immortal Flame, doesn't harbour any grievances towards us, nor did I partially wish to be around the Dreamspawn's… Spawn. So I gave her to Tyris to raise." Anvil explained. "And quite the boon it ended up being, she conquered her First Nightmare and obtained a Divine Aspect, shame she is stuck in whatever zone she is in."
Morgan swayed slightly, no longer as confident on her feet. 'A divine aspect… a real one' she had always heard rumors of course from those who claim to possess one, but the lies had always been found out eventually. 'Still, this made her own Supreme aspect suddenly feel far weaker.'
Swallowing the sudden bitterness in her mouth, she raised her gaze to meet her father. "What benefits do Divine Aspects give?" She asked tentatively.
"General power boosts compared to others, as seen with each consecutive rank, and the ability to increase the number of soul cores one possesses."
"They can form extra cores!?" Morgan exclaimed and Anvil nodded. "...Does Song know about this?" She asked.
"Most likely."
Morgan paused for a while, her strategic mind racing through the different possible options to proceed with once the Heiress of White Feather awakened. "Do you know anyone else who possesses a Divine Aspect?" She broached.
"Your brother." Anvil replied, his mood souring slightly, the expressed steelyness of his will intensifying. "And most likely Broken Sword's daughter."
Morgan nodded slowly, then bowed as her father turned away, before leaving the forge and journeying up through the castle to find her uncle waiting with Sky Tide in the throne room. "His majesty understands the situation and relayed that it is not in relation to the Dreamspawn."
Although Sky Tide was a hard to read person, Morgan could distinguish the slightest hint of relief creeping through her indifference. "Understood." She merely nodded then left.
Morgan stood, dazed by the curt departure. "Dont take it too seriously." Madoc leaned in, "She has been concerned over the disappearance of her eldest daughter for a while now.
"Evidently." Morgan grumbled under her breath then, having some business to take care of in the NQSC, walked towards the Gateway and stepped through the shimmering crimson portal.