There was a quiet welcome at home. Surprisingly, no one made a fuss even though he'd been away for fifty years.
Even Sia just hugged him for a while before entering the room for practice.
Enigma seemed hesitant, as if she wanted to say something. But in the end, she just kissed him, a bit too strongly and left to the sea of flowers. She too seemed to be working on her path.
He found Isadora not fishing as he expected but quietly meditating at the bottom of a lake.
Her aura was considerably stronger than what it had been earlier. The same could be said for the rest.
Come to think of it, even Sarah was training by mixing the powers of light, time and life.
They did train a lot. But for some reason, Varian felt a sense of disturbance. "No." "Huh?" Isadora opened her eyes, the lake splitting into two. Not a single drop of water on her clothes, she looked at him in surprise before jumping on him.
"Princess." Varian caught her with a chuckle and spun her around.
"How long will I stay a princess?" Isadora snorted and looked down as he held her up in his arms.
The title of 'Princess' and 'Queen' was a point of contention between Isadora and Sarah. It led to little fights that Varian wisely stayed away from most of the time. "You're the princess forever, always young and cheerful."
"So you mean the Queen is going to be old?" Isadora smirked, a glint in her eyes.
"…" Varian raised his hand and slapped her butt.
"Hey!" "If you only stopped being so childish! Even Primula is not like this. Speaking of," Varian tilted his head and scanned the world. A frown formed on his brows as he asked. "Where is Primula? Aurora too. They didn't go around running, did they?"
Isadora's expression sank and her breath halted.
Varian's grip on her loosened and she slid down, coming face to face with him. Shaking her by the shoulder, he asked in a raspy voice. "Where are they?"
Isadora turned her head to the side and sighed helplessly.
Varian's grip on her shoulders increased for a moment before he pulled back. Recalling how everyone was training and Enigma's hesitant expression, he said with a bitter expression. "So something happened. Something none of you could stop. So you're all training."
Isadora trembled, her face paling and fists clenching. It hurt to think of what happened. But it hurt as much to see Varian like this.
"I've tried." The princess hung her head. "A few days after you left, during the calamity that destroyed the satellite galaxies, Primula started weeping. We stopped her from leaving but she grew hysterical, wanting to see someone."
Varian covered his eyes, the scenes of that day flashing through his head. Eshala Starlight. A mad woman who loved her daughter so much that she gave up even the slivers for them.
All she wanted was to meet Primula and see her happy. She couldn't even get a glimpse of her daughter until she died. "Primula grew hysterical, unlike anything before. We closed off Hortus that day. It was too dangerous to venture out. I stopped her from going out. I thought things would get better soon. I was wrong. Her mental state only grew worse." Isadora closed her eyes with a pained look.
"A few months and nothing changed. I started to fear she'd be broken. So…"
Varian guessed what happened. "You took her out."
Isadora nodded, biting her her to the point it bled. "There was no danger as long as they didn't provoke anyone. The order collapsed anyway and no one would want to bother a divine ranker at this point. I followed them out."
Varian frowned. Collapse of order? What did that mean? But he didn't interrupt.
"Primula grieved near a place with very high concentration of energy. We couldn't even get close to it. But she was still depressed. Aurora decided to take her around and cheer her up. I let them go."
Varian started to wonder how things could go wrong. Aurora and Primula were his family. Even if they didn't know Primula, they'd still know Aurora. No divine ranker would want to mess with someone backed by the rulers of the alliance.
As if the story had reached a dark end, Isadora's voice grew faint, depressing and grieving. "Aurora was captured. So was Primula. We tried to search but nothing came out of it except the power of the kidnapper."
Isadora's shoulders shook and she collapsed into Varian's arms. Clutching his shirt, she shed hot tears that wet his chest. "Rank 2…it's a rank 2! I can't beat a rank 2! I can't save Primula! I can't save Aurora! I…I…hate myself!"
Varian gritted his teeth, fists clenching as he hugged her tight. His eyes turned red and his breathing grew ragged.
He was so close to getting outside and destroying every divine ranker he came across.
But no. It wouldn't change things. The experience in Elysium taught him that blind persistence wasn't enough. He needed to know more.
Splash!
Plunging into the cool lake water, Varian calmed his head.
"I'll go out and check."
"No." Sia appeared from the woods, gripping his hand. "Sia," Varian said in a patient but strong tone. "I'm just going to check. I will hide my presence as much as possible. Trust me, I'd rather not go out if I had a choice."
"No, Varian." Sia's voice was desperate and her grip grew tighter. "It's dangerous outside. Too dangerous for you of all people! They'll come after you! For the slivers!"
Varian frowned. Except for the God Emperor, there's no one could do such a thing. So, why did Sia use 'they'? Which bunch had enough courage to against the will of the alliance's rulers?
"Who are they?" He asked. "The new rulers of the confederation."
"Huh?" Varian blinked, tilting his head.
Confederation? What was that?
Sia opened her mouth, realizing he didn't know what's common knowledge outside. Pursing her lips, she said in a bitter tone. "The rulers vanished after that day. Everyone says they died. The alliance was soon split by the strong divine rankers. The only reason it stays is Jai Empire. But a faction among them wants to conquer the Empire. They might really do it. Once that happens, the confederation will collapse from infighting.
The alliance…no longer exists."