Chapter 1491: Curse & Cassiopeia’s Awakening

Eventually, Phei would have to explore the true nature of both.

For now, a familiar voice drew him away from the question:

"Master." Cassiopeia’s greeting came softly from behind him, blending with the evening breeze.

He turned as she approached with the contemplation easing from his face when she crossed the polished rooftop floor to stand beside him.

The soft drape of her gown moved with her in quiet, graceful lines, the pale silk settled close along the curve of her waist and her hips and drawing the eye along the full, gentle rise of her breasts before falling in a long, elegant sweep to the floor. The dress hugged her body closely enough that every step revealed the soft sway of her hips and the smooth line of her figure beneath the silk, her shoulders bare above the gentle neckline.

She rested both hands upon the balustrade and looked toward the final brilliance of the sunset, content to share the view without speaking further.

The sky had deepened into a magnificent violet, its lingering streaks of amber stretching across the distant waters while the sun finally surrendered the last of its golden radiance to the horizon.

Far below, lights continued awakening among distant buildings, their scattered brilliance gradually joining the glow of the city as evening settled over Hell’s Paradise Island.

Cassiopeia watched that beautiful farewell quietly while Phei reached for her hand, slipping his fingers gently between hers.

Her skin was warm beneath his touch, and the faint scent of her hair drifted to him on the breeze as she stood close at his side. She turned her hand in his and let her fingers rest lightly against his palm, the soft weight of her breast brushed his arm as she leaned into the contact.

The pale silk of her gown clung closer to the curve of her waist and the gentle rise of her hips with the shift, and for a moment she simply stood there, quiet and yielding beneath his touch, as if the evening itself had placed her there for him to keep.

Her gaze lowered to their intertwined hands before she turned toward him, a faint smile appearing upon her face as she allowed him to hold her.

"How are you feeling now my dear?" he asked, studying her expression for any discomfort she might be reluctant to mention.

Cassiopeia considered the question, her eyes returned toward the horizon before she shook her head.

"I can’t really say, Master." She noticed his concern and smiled a little more. "But I suppose we’ll find out at the end of the road, won’t we?" Phei nodded, his thumb moving slowly over the back of her hand.

Since returning from the Endless Forest, she had struggled to describe the changes happening within her, and he could understand why the question had no easy answer.

Of course, Cassiopeia was perfectly healthy.

The restlessness troubling her had begun when the Primordial Lotus descended and she stood among those closest to Phei, directly beneath the sacred energies pouring over his awakening.

World Essence had crashed upon her first before it spread into the Endless Forest in immeasurable torrents, mingling with the other sacred powers gathered beneath those extraordinary heavens.

At such proximity, Cassiopeia had been caught beneath the full weight of their descent.

The surging energies had pressed against her body, poured through her body and borne down upon her Soul itself.

Even the powerful beings standing nearby like Eira and others had been stunned by the magnitude of what descended that night. Cassiopeia possessed no cultivation whatsoever when she had stood amid that overwhelming concentration descent of those sacred energies. The sacred radiance of the World Essence and then later by the other energies like Life Essence and Genesis Light itself as Phei was being anointed by the Lotus, had all engulfed her, their crushing abundance reaching far beyond into the very depths of her Soul.

The effects had lingered after the Lotus vanished.

Deep within her, something disturbed and touched by those sacred torrents had begun to stir, bringing a restlessness that came and went without warning.

Sometimes she felt entirely herself; at other times, the sensation swelled until she could scarcely ignore it, though she could neither understand what was happening nor discern what those energies had roused.

She struggled even to describe it.

Something deep within her seemed to be approaching wakefulness, leaving her to wonder what would emerge when that slumber finally broke.

The unfamiliar sensations offered her little understanding, however keenly she felt them.

As the day passed and the World Essence surrounding Hell’s Paradise Island continued to deepen, those changes became more noticeable. Phei had already consulted Eira and the System.

Both agreed that Cassiopeia was entering the earliest stages of awakening, although neither could tell him precisely how it would unfold beyond that beginning.

As far as the Legacy Families understood, the true awakening could not properly occur until the Destined Day.

For generations, they had made preparations, rituals and sacrifices around that appointed time, awaiting the loosening of the restrictions upon their ancient existences. Their hopes for awakening their Souls, their Progenitors from which they were descendants of, the dormant Bloodlines and their true power.

Yet Cassiopeia had begun changing before that day arrived.

The Primordial Lotus, the overwhelming abundance of World Essence and the sacred energies accompanying in Phei’s awakening appeared to have weakened the restraints upon her Soul.

What should have remained dormant was stirring ahead of its appointed hour.

Eira and the System could recognize those early changes, but their agreement offered him little certainty about what Cassiopeia would face as her awakening advanced.

Phei had undergone enough transformations of his own to know how frightening even a magnificent change could become when he understood so little of what was happening.

Watching Cassiopeia endure that uncertainty troubled him more than contemplating his own inheritances had. She continued gazing toward the darkening horizon, her fingers resting comfortably within his while the last warmth of daylight withdrew from the world, and he wanted to make certain she reached whatever awaited her safely.

He gently tightened his hold on her.

Cassiopeia glanced toward him and returned his smile, settling beside him in a silence he found wonderfully comfortable.

The evening breeze carried the faint fragrance of the world and soft gentleness of the myriads of energies flowing in it, drifting across the balcony as the island gathered beneath its growing abundance of lights.

Phei kept her hand in his, though her awakening had drawn his thoughts toward another mystery surrounding the Legacy Families.

Waiting for the Destined Day had become something akin to a curse upon them.

No, it was in fact as curse!

Their ancient Souls remained bound to lives far beneath what they had once possessed, while their Bloodlines and powers awaited the lifting of those restraints. Entire families had spent generations upon Earth preparing for the return of existences whose might scarcely resembled their present condition, with hopes and ambitions reaching far beyond the lives they now endured.

Some of their preparations demanded sacrifices, drawing their very children into arrangements made to awaken some ancient Souls and powers that had yet to return. Some looked toward the Destined Day for restoration; others longed for the strength it promised them.

All were awaiting the recovery of something lost, and the lives built around that expectation had begun with an exile whose cause remained obscure to Phei.

He looked toward the darkening heavens, the first stars reflected within his golden-amethyst eyes as the final amber traces disappeared beyond the horizon.

He had heard enough about the Legacy Families to know their presence upon Earth was hardly ordinary. They had come from a place that stood far beyond what the present Earth Realm could comfortably contain.

Now their descendants remained here, subject to restrictions imposed long before their birth.

Phei could scarcely imagine what had brought so many powerful Bloodlines to this little Earth Realm, much less why the consequences had endured through generations.

Exile might suggest punishment, but he knew too little to decide whether they had committed something to deserve it or whether the truth lay elsewhere.

The fragments of history he had encountered explained their bitterness and their longing for the Destined Day without revealing what had first condemned them to wait.

His fingers rested gently around Cassiopeia’s hand as he gazed into the vast violet and black above the island.

Whatever was beginning within her Soul had made those ancient restrictions far more immediate to him, while their origin remained as elusive as ever.

For what reason had the Legacy Families been exiled from what was so easily called the World of Power?