Chapter 38
Bloodlines
Looking at the door, I noticed how different it was to the rest of the Corridor of Memories. Whilst the corridor was white, sterile and pristine, the door was stony and looked as though it was about to fall apart any second. Stroking the door, I saw it open slightly before opening more fully. Walking through, I found myself in a mysterious shrine with a sinister crimson altar in the middle. Hearing the door close behind me, I then saw a strange figure sitting on the altar. As I walked to the altar, I felt a very strong feeling of dread. Approaching the altar, I then had a very acute realisation of who the figure sitting on the altar was- it was Lapis. Turning to face me, Lapis then smiled and rushed over to me, calmly stroking my cheek. "I knew you'd return to us eventually, Your Majesty.", Lapis said, a red infinity symbol shining in her right eye. "Oh no. Z got to you too, didn't he?", I said. "You have no reason to blame yourself. I asked him to. Besides, if it means serving you as your knight forevermore, then I would gladly sacrifice my humanity if it meant I would be able to always stay as your loyal knight.", Lapis said. "But it doesn't mean you have to turn your back on humanity and become a Consul though.", I said. "To be honest though, I'd always been planning to become Consul L III right when I learned what you went through. YHVH really did have no reason to subject you to absolutely horrid treatment.", Lapis said. Looking longingly and lovingly into my eyes, Lapis then kissed my lips, the red infinity symbol in her eye disappearing. "Lapis, you do know I'm already married, don't you?", I said. "Oh, what's a casual tryst between good friends? Besides, though Her Majesty may be your official and main wife, you were recommended by His Majesty Emeritus to take concubines; I am one of them.", Lapis said.
After a brief silence, I then said, "Lapis, where is this place?". "Oh, this is the Shrine of the Eikons. The Ancients and the Fallen decided to build it here on Earth (or the Cyber Space recreation of it anyway) as a testament to the Eight Wardens, Keepers of the One Law.", Lapis said. Stroking my cheek again, Lapis then said, "Of course. You certainly are Odin's Dominant.". "What do you mean?", I asked. "There are eight tribes, capable of spawning Dominants from them. Both of us are from the Motes of Darkness, making us possible Dominants of the Eikon Odin.", Lapis said. "It's just from what I read, I thought the Motes were exclusively confined to Valisthea. Is that not the case?", I asked. "Well, the Motes used the technology created by the Fallen to escape the Twins when the Blight set in; it's just that some of them ended up travelling through the Multiverse and interbred with the locals of the universes they travelled to. Incidentally, Lady Corrin is also a Mote of Darkness, as are your parents Lord Ragna and Lady Velvet. Byleth is a Mote of Fire, Flynn is a Mote of Light, Tager is a Mote of Earth, Yumi is a Mote of Ice, Eunie is a Mote of Wind and Shiden is a Mote of Thunder, making them the current Dominants of Phoenix, Bahamut, Titan, Shiva, Garuda and Ramuh. You meanwhile are both the Dominant of Odin and Our Sovereign.", Lapis explained. "But I don't deserve the position.", I said. "Don't be silly. Of course you do.", Lapis said.
Suddenly, Lapis disappeared, leaving the door behind her visible. Deciding to press on, I opened the door, only to see to my great surprise a beautiful golden throne with a purple throne next to it. "Wait, are these-?", I asked before Blanc behind me said, "Of course they are, Your Majesty. They are the Twin Thrones- the Throne of the Sovereign and the Throne of the Maiden, reserved for you and Framme and only you two alone. Or, well, that should have been the case.". Turning to face her, I said, "What do you mean?". "Well, if it wasn't for you nominating Yuito to become the Sovereign instead, you would have actually been properly coronated as Our Sovereign with Framme beside you as the Maiden.", Blanc said. "Well, I swore an oath to defend the Multiverse against all that would harm it and I felt that me becoming the Sovereign would be a prime example of that. Besides, I didn't really deserve the power of becoming the Multiverse's uncontested ruler anyway.", I said. "Classic case of imposter syndrome; you don't believe that you deserve any of your achievements or any higher position in society. But it's not too late. Come with me and all the Multiverse shall bow to you.", Blanc said. "Blanc, these are the words of a tyrant.", I said. "No, they are the words of a God. No, scratch that, the Supreme Being and the Ruler of All Things.", Blanc said, a mad smile on her face. I hesitated, making sure to consider what she was saying. Though I felt I didn't deserve the position, maybe becoming the Sovereign was the only way to stop the Multiverse from collapsing. "Well, I can't force you. Find me again when you've made up your mind.", Blanc said, before teleporting away in a sinister crimson glow.
Walking over to the two thrones, I then had a vision- now I was witnessing my 18-year old self fighting against various angelic monstrosities in a town surrounded by beautiful blue grass. "You ingrate! You defied our Lord through the sin that was your unholy birth and for that you shall pay with your life!", the Beloved roared at the other me. "N-No, that's not true.", the other me said. "The Beloved speaks the truth.", a Grace said. I then fell to my knees in horror as a black and dark red energy coalesced around the other me, transforming him into a gargantuan black knight draped in obsidian armour with a blue mantle and a horned helmet riding a six-legged horse and brandishing a mighty lance. "The Dominant of Odin has awoken! Kill him!", a Forgiven Dissonance screeched before the other me erased it from existence with a black and dark red burst of dark magic; a violent "battle" followed wherein the other me literally went berserk and absolutely slaughtered the coterie of angelic monstrosities gathered. The vision then shifted to another- this time of Alfred, Diamant, Ivy and Timerra gathered around an unconscious me in a hospital bed hooked up to an IV. "It surely is a miracle, how Our Sovereign arrived to Lythos and saved it from the angelic monsters attacking it.", Timerra said, indicating the unconscious me sleeping in the bed. "It certainly is. Even more miraculous is how Queen Lumera was able to properly transfer her blood to His Majesty allowing him to recover and lead Aionios as its Supreme Ruler.", Ivy said, a mad smile on her face. The vision then shifted again to the other me approaching a bed with two people sleeping in it whilst brandishing a dagger. The other me also seemed to be under a trance. I watched in horror as the other me stabbed at one of the people in the bed; he had purple hair and sleeping next to him was a girl with messy purple hair. "Bernie?", I asked in horrified realisation as the vision changed again to the other me sitting in a chair with Noah, Mio, Eunie, Taion, Lanz and Sena sitting across from me. "Why? Why don't you want to fulfil your purpose as Our Sovereign?", Lanz asked. "I just don't think I deserve the position. After all, I didn't really earn it. Yuito is much worthier than me.", the other me said. "Bullshit.", Eunie said. "It's true though. I shouldn't be the Sovereign.", the other me said. Angered at this, Noah said, "So it's OK to you if you just abandon the people who depend on you then? You were brought here to Aionios to rule it; regardless of your feelings on the matter, it was you who was chosen by fate to rule us. So shape up already and stop being so sparking selfless!". "Noah, I didn't mean-.", the other me said before Mio said, "No-one else was chosen except you. You really can't afford to be selfless here. YHVH is threatening to destroy the Multiverse and if it succeeds then many people will die. Besides, it's not like you wouldn't deserve it, seeking revenge on it for its sins.". "But revenge is wrong. Being selfish is wrong too and is completely unjustified.", the other me said. Angered at this, Mio then slapped the other me with such force that it caused my other self's cheek to bleed. "Let me make myself clear: you were brought here to become Our Sovereign. You really can't afford to keep holding yourself back from the greatest purpose that anyone could aspire to. So why? Why can't you just be selfish for once in your sparking life?!", Taion asked angrily.
After the vision faded, I found myself in a strange arena. "Wait, is this-? No, it can't be.", I said. Much to my shock, I saw the gargantuan black knight again, his spear jammed into YHVH's bosom. Both of them seemed weirdly frozen in time. On the other end of the arena, I saw a strange figure form from the strange black and dark red energy leaking from the knight. I watched as the figure then take my shape, much to my shock. Suddenly, the figure then rushed at me, forming a strange black and dark red katana in its hand. I dodged the attack only for the figure to then send a dark red projectile at me without missing so much as a single beat. Firing up a Tao mandala, I then formed a gravitational field around myself only for the projectile to pass through the field and just me by a hair's breath. "Who are you? What do you want?", I asked the figure. "Who am I, you ask? Why don't you ask yourself?", the figure said. "What do you mean?", I asked. "Maybe they were right. Maybe you don't deserve to become the Sovereign after all.", the figure said. Incensed at this, I snarled, "Alright, that's it!", before rushing at the figure. Forming a pale green sword from the Anchor's power, I then unleashed an equally pale green beam of energy at the figure, only for it to disperse the energy with a single slash from its sword. Firing up Tao mandalas in both of my hands, I then fired a barrage of fireballs, icicles, stones and razor sharp blades of wind at the figure only for it to slice away the barrage like a boss. I then watched as the Crest of the Sovereign appeared in its right eye before unleashing a very strange field of energy that caused my Tao mandalas to disappear. "Stop holding back, pussy. If you don't, you won't be able to stop YHVH from destroying everything.", the figure said. "You arsehole, who the Hell do you think you are?", I asked angrily. I then dodged another barrage- this time of dark summoned swords before a stroke of realisation came over me. "Oh, that's right. You want me to learn by example, don't you?", I thought. Taking a deep breath, I then activated the Crest of the Sovereign in my own right eye before a cascade of black and red darkness welled up inside me. The darkness covered my robes, turning them into a suit of black and red armour laden with spikes as a black and dark red katana formed in my right hand. "Seems you've relearned how to semi-prime. But still can you defeat me, faker?", the figure said. "I am no faker!", I roared before rushing at the figure, unleashing a brutal onslaught with the katana. The figure then turned into Yuito before unleashing a purple field of psychokinetic energy that I braved through as the dark energy surrounding me turned into that of a phoenix. Roaring, I then unleashed the dark energy surrounding me, watching in anger as the figure was burned by the dark fire. "That's right. I am the Sovereign, not you.", I said right as the figure disappeared, only for the Crest of the Sovereign, the dark red armour I was wearing and the katana in my hand to disappear as well, leaving me with just my robes. "Why? Why can't I properly control it?", I asked, angry. Pushing up my glasses, I then found myself back in my garden again. "Well, that was weird.", I said, walking back into the kitchen.
The story continues in the next chapter.
