Akhenamen’s new Laws felt so…strange…he released a breath his body now seemingly able to breathe from his entire body, not that he actually needed any air at all.

  ?

  It was like an ancient slumbering beast. Squeezing his fingers of flesh and touching his body…finally…finally…

  ?

  “I can feel…I…I can FEEL! AHAHAHAH!”

  ?

  His laugh created a shockwave, shattered the space around him…his Laws instantly started to impose his will over the area…

  ?

  Making every mortal close by start to laugh, unable to stop, small glowing mushrooms appearing under Akhenamen’s feet, blurry green shapes, Cygilites summoned by his Law moving around.

  ?

  Unknown to him, Akhenamen was, for the first time in his life, doing the very same acts that made every ruler groan in annoyance when they learned an Authority had entered their realm.

  ?

  Authorities had the natural ability to impose their will through their laws on the world itself. So an Authority having mastered a Law related to wind could create actual tempest and country shattering tornadoes just from breathing during their sleep.

  ?

  Akhenamen’s laws and aspects could summon entire armies, forests of divers and various mushroom species never seen before or shatter matter itself.

  ?

  And right now…he was laughing outloud, finally feeling and being able to…smell. To smell. To taste! He could do it once more! The immense ecstasy he felt had never been greater. Other than maybe his wedding and the birth of his children!

  ?

  The more he laughed, the mushrooms spread, now covering the entirety of Selinad. Some glowing and gently humming Akhenamen’s laughter. Some are constantly changing shapes and colours. Some even being more Treant than mushrooms, looking like massive walking mushroom golems releasing constant spores with too many effects to know them all.

  ?

  To be fair, Selinad did now look even more mesmerising. The mushrooms truly add to the “buried city” look. Cygilites legions are ready to guard Akhenamen at a moment's notice. Looking like simple silver statues right now, but ready to awaken at any moment.

  ?

  However, soon, reality seemed to go back to normal…Lune’s body glowing a bright white light, which erased Akhenamen’s influence over reality, bringing everything back to normal… Lune’s smile showed she was quite amused by her brother’s joy. He had seemed like a very collected and firm individual when they met. He most likely was…but she was glad to see he could feel joy and happiness.

  ?

  Too many of her siblings acted more like machines than actual sentient beings. The weight of their duty is sometimes too heavy for their shoulders.

  ?

  “I’m glad to see your happiness, dear brother. Why such joy?”

  ?

  “I can feel it! Finally…the wind against my body…the smell in the air …even the humidity against my skin, the cold of the shadows…finally. I had missed it all…so much.”

  ?

  Akhenamen’s laughter died down to a chuckle before he fully calmed down…while his face was still very much faceless, he radiated…peace and joy. Yet deep within him…Lune could feel and see the resoluteness and firmness of his heart. She had not pried into his private matters…so she had no idea what had happened within his mindscape. But clearly, it was an event that had marked him.

  ?

  “You must have questions, right?”

  ?

  “Of course. First, while I’m deeply thankful you came…why?”

  ?

  “To make sure some idiots didn’t try to hurt one of my young siblings. Not that he would have allowed them…but better be safe, even if I do not fully understand the Oldest.”

  ?

  Guessing Akhenamen’s following question, she continued.

  ?

  “The Oldest is the title given to the oldest Aspect. It is the Aspect of Time. Sorlas the Blue.”

  ?

  “Is he..?”

  ?

  “No, he is also a Singularity like me…there has never been a rank ten Transcendent other than the Universe itself.”

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  ?

  “I see… I know it is sentient. Why has it never contacted me yet?”

  ?

  “You’re too weak for now. Don’t expect to even be able to hear her voice until the rank of Dominion; anything below and her looking in your vague direction could shatter you.”

  ?

  “I see. What about…my duty? Not that I’m in any hurry…but the events of today have made me wonder why I have yet to be called.”

  ?

  Lune smirked a bit. A weird sight on a bunny face…

  ?

  “You’re simply not needed. Or not strong enough to end the civilisations that our mother wishes you to eliminate. I know there’s at least one she’s complaining about right now…but well…as I said, contacting you would kill you, she must be waiting for you to be a Dominion.”

  ?

  “Thanks for telling me this, Lune.”

  ?

  “Call me sister.”

  ?

  “Uh…very well. Sister…feels weird. Never had a sibling before. So…what about you? What is your duty?”

  ?

  “Mine? Less dangerous than yours. I must simply create any and all moons… alongside ruling over the tides of the oceans and seas of every world. And I also deal with childbirth.”

  ?

  “Does that mean…”

  ?

  “Yes, I allow the birth of every being in our Universe. However, I’m not the one who grants them life. That is another one of our siblings. And yes…I also… allowed and made the birth of Jacob and Rose possible. Even Lan.”

  ?

  Akhenamen felt almost scared. He felt like his sister knew everything about him. She most likely did.

  ?

  “Why did you seem not know of my story before?”

  ?

  “Because I did not… After I realised your soul had been transplanted inside your current body, I searched through my memories for your identity.”

  ?

  “Wait… so you know who my birth parents were?”

  ?

  “Yes, I do. Do you wish for me to show them to you?”

  ?

  “That would be… interesting. Not that it would change anything… The woman who adopted me will always be my mother. But yes… I would like to at least know their faces and names.”

  ?

  Lune lifted one of her hands as a small moon appeared, acting like some crystal ball, showing David as a baby, held by the arms of a well-built woman; she had a few scars here and there, but she was clearly a beautiful woman. Brown hair draped over her shoulders, a tired but resolute look on her face. Eyes like hazelnuts.

  ?

  “Your mother’s name was Victoria; she was a sergeant in the military.”

  ?

  Surprisingly, the voice did not come from Lune, but a strange elven woman; she looked like the most elvish of elves. Long golden hair, blue eyes sparkling like water under the sun, long ears, and she towered above even the tallest and biggest human at around ten feet tall.

  ?

  She also did have long elk like antlers like him. However, hers were made of wood and covered in moss, vines, flowers, and he could even see a strange birth standing on one of the tips.

  ?

  A constant aura of warmth and light surrounded her. Akhnamen did not take long to figure out who she should be. Not even noticing that at his left, an anthropomorphic dragon had appeared, scales of blue, eyes completely blank as if blind.

  ?

  A beautiful armoured robe of gold covering his lower body, his upper body fully naked and showing off the gaping hole in his chest, inside which his heart had been replaced by an assemblage of gears and clocks. His neck was quite long, and his face a bit flatter than someone would have expected of a dragon.

  ?

  “Are you… The Aspect of Life?”

  ?

  “YES! I’m SO HAPPY! We have a new sibling for our little tea parties! And it’s a little brother!”

  ?

  Life’s voice was strange, as if mixing every gender and every language ever made. From a mouse’s squeak to hundreds of human voices speaking English, French, Spanish, Common, etc. Akhenamen’s eyes focused on her… peering past the elven body, he saw a… an elven woman?

  ?

  “Eheh, you tried to see my true form, didn’t you? Well tried, but you were born precisely 13 345 567 567 years too soon to be my equal. Wait, I didn’t even present myself. I am Quin, Aspect of Life! Light! And a few other things…”

  ?

  Akhenamen’s mind couldn’t help but realise that Quin was born around 240 000 years after the Universe’s creation, as it was believed to be around 13,8 billions of years. So Quin might be amongst the oldest beings alive.

  ?

  “I’m glad to meet you, Quin. I am Akhenamen, Aspect of the End.”

  ?

  “I know! … hey, grumpy dragon. It’s rare to see you out of your hourglass realm! What a delightful event!”

  ?

  “Hello, Life.”

  ?

  Sorlas turned toward Akhenamen, nodding gently, taking a puff of his pipe, apparently having the same addiction as his eldest son.

  ?

  “Hello, End, I am Sorlas the Blue, Aspect of Time, but please, do not be like our… unserious siblings. Our Duty is more important than our name. So simply call me Time.”

  ?

  “Very well, Time, I am Akhenamen, but you may call me End, if you wish.”

  ?

  Sorlas nodded, his body suddenly flickering as if it was glitching out of reality before going back to normal.

  ?

  “Do not be surprised, one of my chosen was simply taking down some rebellious children.”

  ?

  “Dragons act like Sorlas' anchor on a world for him to keep Time functioning somewhere.”

  ?

  Lune explained, staring at Akhenamen with a small smile as if predicting one of his inner thoughts, her voice reaching his mind alone.

  ?

  “Yes, Earth also has dragons hidden on it.”

  ?

  “Well… I am glad to meet you all. But why such a visit?”

  ?

  “We were simply curious about our new sibling. One that is so young… it is rare. Even the… others… would be curious enough to meet you. Not that those traitors deserve anything but our wrath. It is good you’re the Aspect of the End, you’ll be able to exterminate those betrayers.”

  ?

  Akhenamen was shocked by Quin’s absolute spite and hate. Her eyes, once a mesmerising sky blue, had turned into blazing suns eager to incinerate every traitor they stared at. This must have been easy to see as the Aspect of Life just smiled awkwardly and calmed herself down.

  ?

  “Sorry. I can get a bit… caught up in my emotions. It must be confusing, too. How to explain…”

  ?

  It was Sorlas who continued Quin’s words.

  ?

  “As you may be aware, there are a dozen of us Aspects. At our highest, we should be around a hundred, from what I can see of our future. We and two more of our siblings take our duties seriously. Even if some of us could do with some more professionalism. The last two members of our little “tea party”, as Light calls it, are Death and Star.”

  ?

  “Death could not come, as you may expect, Death is... busy. He never stays in one place for more than a few instants to harvest the souls of that planet. And Star is constantly on the move, sometimes even outside our mother, building and crafting her planets.”

  ?

  “But some of our siblings… have decided they did not wish to use their aspects to protect and make this universe function properly. Instead, they use them to increase their own personal powers. Waging wars against each other and even against us. All to try and “take” our aspect.”

  ?

  “They can do that?”

  ?

  “No, but they believe they could one day do it. As you may guess, they would no doubt kill you if they met you. However, our mother was wise enough to put you on Zenthia, where most of us have our eyes because of recent events you must no doubt be aware of.”

  ?

  “I am, yes… but why have they not attacked you? You seem to say that one of you is always away, and until my arrival, there were only five of you. Why not attack six against four?”

  ?

  “That is because having an aspect brings immense power but not invincibility. There are other Singularities we are allied with, not Aspects like us, but Singularities nonetheless. Our alliance is far stronger than theirs. That is why they do not attack.”

  ?

  Akhenamen nodded, picking up a teacup Lune had placed in front of him. Taking a sip from his brand new mouth, he was disappointed he couldn’t learn more about his birth parents before the “family reunion” he was in.

  ?

  “Lan… Jacob… Rose… I hope… your death is peaceful. Just wait a bit more… I will bring you all back soon.”