Chapter 287: Akasha Meets... Akashi

"You couldn’t have..." Akasha said as he reappeared in a vast field, letting his words trail off as he took in the scenery.

"I don’t know, maybe let me enter on my own?"

The field stretched beyond the reach of his vision, with flowers soaking up every hue the light could offer and then creating a few more.

Their stems swayed in a breeze scented with sap and fresh water, over gentle hills that rose and fell but never quite became mountains.

Overhead, the sky... well, it was peculiar to say the least.

Because in that very moment, it showed him—the long purple-and-white hair, the luminous brown skin, and the abyssal black eyes with the infinity mark beneath the left one—not a reflection delayed by glass, but a live projection of Akasha as he stood.

As his gaze finally drank in the glorious realm, a place that seemed to hum with eternal peace, it landed on the one person he’d been both dreading and, though he wouldn’t say it out loud, quietly eager to see.

Far off, a thousand kilometers away, a lone woman sat suspended in the sky.

And... it was Akashi.

She carried herself with an otherworldly stillness that made even the flowers below her seem plain in comparison.

Her light brown skin caught the glow of the field and gave it back in a softer, warmer hue.

Long black hair spilled in a smooth, unbroken cascade, untouched by all but the gentlest breath of the high air.

With a pure black infinity symbol beneath her left eye, her face held a beauty that didn’t seek to be cataloged.

On her shoulder sat a black bird unlike any he had seen... well, anywhere.

Aethea, in her true form, held a presence so dark it seemed to catch and hold other colors in the subtle shift of each feather, her talons resting with deliberate, ceremonial precision against Akashi’s dress.

When Akasha met the bird’s gaze, he didn’t see mere irises....

No, within her eyes were shifting layers of realities sliding over one another—worlds, the fabric of time, and almost-worlds piled in endless succession—until his own recent collision of universes felt like just one small tile in a floor that stretched on without end.

Hearing Akasha’s words, Akashi didn’t really take in anything he said.

She was caught in a feeling she couldn’t quite put into words.

’He’s finally here...’ she thought, the corners of her lips lifting into a radiant smile.

’After 700 Eras... you’ve finally come.’

Time itself felt meaningless compared to the eternity she had endured, waiting for the moment she could finally feel her son’s presence.

Watching him intently, as though he might vanish at any second, she suddenly found herself no longer separated by a thousand kilometers.

In the blink of an eye, she stood right in front of him, pulling him into a tight embrace before he could even register the movement.

"My baby boy."

The words brushed his shoulder. Aethea hovered in the sky, her black wings shifting slightly, mythical eyes gleaming with curiosity as she watched.

’That... was rather like his grandfather,’ she thought, never imagining Akasha would destroy an entire universe.

Well, not literally, but considering the life she’d seen him live, it was rare to witness him wiping out whole cosmologies.

To Aethea, it was a real surprise—and it made her realize how much she’d missed seeing such feats.

’Oh... Pantheos will surely bring some fine entertainment,’ she mused, focusing on Akasha’s utterly blank face.

In this moment, Akashi had her head buried against his chest, black hair spilling over the dark coat, arms locked around him as if everything else in this glorious realm was only background noise.

However, despite all of this, Akasha stood utterly still.

He didn’t lift his hands to return the hug, and his jaw stayed tight.

The deep, endless black of his eyes remained vacant, and for a long moment in that stillness there was nothing in him—no thought, no feeling—just the press of her forehead against his chest.

Akasha’s feelings for his mother were nothing short of conflicted.

He had always longed for a family, and back on Earth, in his lowest moments, he craved nothing more than his mother’s warmth and comfort.

But the day he learned he truly had a mother, all those emotions spiraled into chaos.

Now, in this moment, the only thing he wanted before deciding how to see her truly was a clear understanding.

Yet, he couldn’t bring himself to ask directly.

It wasn’t because he was going back on his word, but because deep inside, he was feeling something entirely foreign.

’Why?’ he finally thought to himself, the question echoing endlessly in his mind.

The instant Akashi’s hand met his, it wasn’t just a comforting, motherly warmth that spread through him.

There was a spark, a strange familiarity, as if some part of him had instantly recognized something deep within her—the way a broken circuit instinctively knows the rest of its own line.

It was as if the person pressed against his chest felt less like a blood relative and more like a missing piece of himself finally walking back into the room....

A bond deeper than the one he shared with Luna, deeper even than the one he shared with Yume.

He glanced down at the top of her head, letting out a sigh that drifted softly into her hair.

Slowly, he leaned back, the hug loosening as his hands rested lightly on her shoulders, just long enough to make the parting feel deliberate and clean.

"Explain..." The single word hung in the air while he took the last step back, putting space between them.

"Explain to me why, as my mother, you’ve never revealed yourself to me."

As his eyes narrowed, he glanced at Aethea momentarily before he continued.

"And what the hell is this feeling between us?"

In that moment, the brightness of the entire realm thinned as if the place had overheard Akasha’s words.

Akashi’s shoulders slumped, the smile she’d been holding fading into an exaggerated pout far too big for the question he’d asked.

"Right..." She tapped two fingers against her lips, as if recalling something.

"You don’t like your own mommy." Her pout grew deeper as she turned her head slightly away, black hair spilling across her light brown skin.

"How rude..."

She left him standing in the dimmed flowers and walked in midair back toward Aethea, each step unhurried as Aethea’s layered eyes tracked her return.

HUMMM!!!!

When she caught up to her, Akashi gave a single wave.

Two couches seemed to materialize out of nowhere, yet looked as though they had always been a part of the skies.

She took one, settled into it with her spine straight, and gestured to the empty seat as if Akasha were a guest who had finally remembered his manners.

Seeing her actions, Akasha’s expression relaxed slightly.

’She’s... truly full of it, huh?’ He thought to himself, and instead of speaking outwardly about it, he crossed the distance with a single blink.

Akashi’s smile returned, a bit subdued, as she gave him a nod.

"Go on." She said as a bowl of fruit appeared across her lap.

She turned a grape between her fingers without eating it yet.

"Look over your recent changes. I’m sure a few people are waiting to see your new star."