On top of a vast white sea.
Stellar radiance washed over it like the morning sun, with its surface releasing waves of radiance as its complexity seemed utterly unfathomable!
Countless sparkling suns and stars dwelled underneath this white sea as on top of it, Achilles unwittingly had tears drop from his eyes while he looked at the figure of a man.
A man he knew all too well.
His dark, unkempt hair.
That smile on his face that always seemed to say that everything would always be okay.
The wrinkles on his face from working too many hours.
He wore garments that Achilles did not recognize, a long white robe that had eight golden bands covering his body, but…
Undoubtedly, that was…his father.
And his brown eyes seemed to smile with even greater happiness at seeing Achilles as a voice he had not heard in what seemed like forever echoed out.
A voice that only further confirmed everything for him as he jumped across the sea and flung himself to embrace his father!
His father who had died long ago!
And yet he did not want to ask why or how what was happening right now was possible.
He just wanted to let it be.
On the endless white sea, his father smiled while patting his head, his deep voice continuing to echo out.
"You must have had it hard before your initial Existence Awakening. For you to have arrived here…your existence must have reached a somewhat adequate level?"
The voice of his father that he always knew, which was filled with love and care, rang out, but the things it spoke of were too grand.
The words instantly woke him up as he wiped his tears away while taking a step back, looking at his father with difficulty as he asked.
"What is this? Are you really…?"
A dreadful question he already knew the answer to.
And yet he still had to ask as his father nodded with sadness in his eyes and looked out across the expanse of the white stellar sea around them.
"I have been dead for many, many years, my son. Dead, but still alive enough to have a shred of my memory raise you for as long as it persisted. And now, even this body you see before you is a continuation of a memory- but this one is meant to finally tell you about the power you hold. I had hoped…to spare you from this. I had even hoped that you would never awaken it. I had hoped everything would end with me. But alas…"
His expression was heavy as every word he uttered felt like a bomb smashing down, Achilles stepping back even further as his heart beat loudly!
His father had been dead for many years? His memory raised him? What even…?!
He had so many questions, but his heart began to feel a sense of pain he did not understand while listening to his father.
The power to assimilate anything and everything.
His father just said that he hoped Achilles would never awaken it.
He looked towards his father for answers, and his figure slowly became serious as an air of wonder and majesty began to surround him.
His eyes alone became sharp and straight, and they bore a tremendous weight of power and authority even though they did not express any energy at all.
As if his eyes were naturally .
Filled with an innate authority that overlooked countless things.
"My son…you are unlike any other creature of complexity as you…stem from a Lineage lost in the weavings of time."
He only just began to speak, and yet the things he said were already enough to cause Achilles' mind to buzz as he continued!
"A Lineage that has been hunted down to extinction by friends and enemies alike due to its capability. A lineage that only became stronger each time it was brought to extinction. I…was the Eighth, and you, my son, are Ninth of our Lineage. The Ninth, and the last one. Those that came before you…were Emperor Kings that ruled over lands more Ancient than time. Our name, as much as our enemies will try to erase it from existence, is one that is etched in the Annals of History. Adrastia…"
The stellar sea began to tremble the moment that the last word was uttered!
"You are Achilles Adrastia Maxwell. I named you the day you were born, but I never wanted you to toil and fight in the same endless fight as your Forefathers. But since it has come to this, my son, what will happen is now inevitable. Just like our lineage and what it stands for- Adrastia, the Inevitable Ones! Anything that we seek, we can devour and obtain. Whether it be other lifeforms or anything your mind can imagine. Since your Existence has woken up, I cannot do anything else but prepare you for what is coming, and to let you know just what the Lineage you have been born into means!"
His power to assimilate. It was not an ability factor he awaked like all other Advanced Humans!
He stumbled down onto the stellar white sea as brilliance splashed around him, his father continuing to stare out into the expanse of this sea as if he were saddened that his son had to be put in the same position as he was.
And yet, since it had already happened, he could only do his best to prepare him!
"You are the last of a Lineage of Emperor Kings since the earliest of times. We ruled fairly. We set balance. But Existence is boundless, and those that can arise from it are even more so. Gradually, those who wanted to set their own balance arose, and schemes rose alongside them. Our power was too great and inviolable as in the end, even those closest to us turned their backs against us in search of their own grander existence. Histories and Records became distorted over time through countless wars. Friends became enemies, and the list of enemies grew. Those who killed our followers, we extinguished. Those who managed to kill the Emperor Kings that came before us…were killed by the Emperor Kings that came after. For you, my son…"
"I do not impose on you the same doctrine my father imposed on me. You need not hunt down the ones that killed me as this will only set you on a path of peril. After my Existence was shattered, I came to this Ancient Plane filled with other complex Existences as there seemed to be a secret here. Whatever it was, it managed to preserve a shred of my being until eventually, you were born. No, I will not impose anything on you in this Ancient Plane…but all I ask is for you to live free and happy. Live free…but remember that you, Achilles Adrastia Maxwell, are the Ninth Emperor King of the Adrastia Lineage. Eventually, they will sense your glory. Eventually, they will sense your existence. Before they do, my son, you must truly be…Adrastia!"
The stellar white sea seethed and trembled as unfathomable words were handed down!