There were situations that were normal and believable, and then there was what was happening right now in the Kingdom of Neon.
"This is not possible…"
The figure of King Darrun Flamewake stood before one of Neon's Nuclear Power Plants, a facility that fused Evolutius Crystals with nuclear science to generate terrifying levels of power, enough to light up vast portions of the city.
He had come to study it, to learn how ancient technologies could be merged with the new to create something even more fantastical. His Titan Dwarves had already begun constructing Sentinels that would patrol Neon's streets and borders for protection.
But right now, all he could do was stare.
The swirling Sacred Pools of Thalassara shimmered before him, and the voice of Achilles echoed in his mind.
He still couldn't believe it.
Yet, he made no move to reach out toward the dazzling blue circles of light that pulsed with radiance. He, like many of the Titan Dwarves, was proud of his lineage. They wouldn't abandon who they were, not so easily. Not even for power.
Because the wonders of the Thalassarian Lineage… were only beginning to unfold.
Across the Kingdom of Neon.
Millions of humans looked around themselves in wonder. The vast majority, those who weren't yet awakened, were now seeing a rare chance to gain power. For years, they'd envied the Advanced Humans who could bend reality and conjure marvels.
And then they saw her.
An elderly woman stepped into one of the pools. Moments later, she emerged with wings sprouting from her feet, her body rejuvenated, glowing with serene, graceful strength. Then, with the eyes of the world upon her, she flew, literally soared, into the skies.
More and more surged toward the pools in disbelief, awe, and wild hope.
It was like dangling gold bars to poor farmers!
The Kingdom of Neon was on the brink of having more advanced humans than anywhere else on this Plane.
And the name of the one who made it possible… was not forgotten.
It was...King Primal!
Achilles watched and felt the tremors of change through Ecological Empathy IV.
"The things you do are becoming more and more unreal…"
Behind him, Rose's voice was soft. Her arms were wrapped around his chest, her hand raised, fingers brushing the rivers of starlight still cascading into his body.
The light of stars itself flowed past her skin and into his body.
Achilles knew what she meant.
Just days ago, she'd been hospitalized, her life hanging by a thread, poisoned by a Body Modification Evolutius Beast. And now, they were here. Sitting atop the tallest tower in a floating kingdom, he was being baptized in starlight, and she was touching it like it belonged to her.
Her voice trembled, laced with joy, remembrance, and heartbreak all at once.
"I wish our parents were here to see this. To know that after everything, the pain, the struggle, we made it. That their Rose would touch the light of stars, that their Achilles would grow into a King… one who gives others the chance to become something greater."
Her words carried a bittersweet edge, full of gratitude and sorrow.
She was happy to have this.
But why couldn't her parents be here to witness it?
Why had they, and Achilles' parents, been taken?
Why did they have to die?
She would have given anything for them to see this.
To see their faces again.
To be wrapped in their love as the world shifted around them.
Achilles felt it, her emotions, raw and heavy. He didn't speak. He didn't try to soothe her with hollow words.
Instead, he wrapped his hands over hers, letting her embrace ground him.
His purple-gold eyes flickered with that same deep ache.
Sometimes, you didn't need to say anything. Sometimes, you just had to feel.
Because there's no way to make death feel right.
You can't fix that kind of emotion!
And so Achilles stayed.
While wonders bloomed all around them, night cloaking their floating landmass in sapphire hues, the river of stars continued to pour from the skies above.
Serene. Profound. Unfathomably peaceful.
But such wonder never came without consequence.
Tens of thousands of miles away from the Kingdom of Neon, the Everburn Aerie Continent rumbled.
And just over a thousand miles away, the Thalassphere Arx of the Atlantian Behemoth Tribe stirred.
They rode monsters, Leviathans, Krakens, Armored Plesiosaurs, Serpent Whales.
The Thalassphere Arx itself wasn't land, it was a floating sea continent, suspended in the skies, and now… its waters were buzzing.
A deep, auric sound echoed, not from any beast, but from the continent itself.
From the Thalassphere Arx.
In its depths, within waves of glowing cerulean water, a cathedral of bioluminescent coral shimmered.
Inside, an Atlantian woman in ocean-blue robes knelt before a pulsing blue heart, from which countless strings of light extended and dissolved into the water around her.
She looked like an oracle, fragile, sacred. Her face was pale with shock.
Moments later, massive figures shot through the waters like missiles, gathering in the cathedral's depths. Atlantians of immense stature and power.
One stepped forward, holding a trident of shining blue-gold. His hair flowed like cascading waves, and his presence radiated Astral Core Ascension.
His roar thundered with urgency, echoed by the alarmed gazes of the others. The entire continent shook. And they felt it.
Something was terribly wrong.
The Sea Oracle turned, her voice solemn as she addressed the gathered Ascended Atlantians.
"The Heart of the Sea… senses a threat. One that could consume its identity and erase its legend, if left unchecked."
Shock rippled through the crowd.
"What? Where?" the blue-gold haired Atlantian asked, his expression shadowed by disbelief.
The Oracle's eyes lifted to a distant point on the horizon.
"The Heart of the Sea has passed down a prophecy. This is the first prophecy since the Long Slumber. It was meant to guide us toward reclaiming our Planar Destiny, to help us etch the legacy of the Thalassphere Arx across the plane. To follow the will of the Primordial Light of Darkness."
But something had changed.
The prophecy had come too early.
And instead of guidance, it brought a warning.
A terrifying enemy had emerged, one who threatened the very Heart of the Sea!