"I know you have a question to ask. Feel free Asher. I don't bite." Grandpa Winks joked good humouredly. Asher slightly bowed after receiving his master's permission. He asked humbly, "The eternal throne, Reiki, he seems to have the ability to manipulate time. How is that possible?"
His question would have surprised Maia if she were still here. Simply because the eternal throne wasn't as simple as she thought. What she thought was a memory scape, a glimpse into the past if you will, was actually 'a step into the past' (author's note- loved that book by the way). Even the eternal throne had no idea he possessed this ability. To the best of his sealed knowledge, he was only accessing the memories of the masters he had before. As for why he didn't know, it was very obviously related to his sealed memories. He must have been manipulated into believing memory peeping was his ability when he was basically a time machine.
On initial scrutiny, his question seemed silly. Time was a difficult law to grasp, but even humans, gods and devils alike had managed to grasp its essence at some point. Questioning an origin divine artefact's ability to manipulate time seemed to rather question the intelligence of the inquisitor. However, any person who was well informed about origin divine artefacts would find this false, and the question brilliant. Origin divine artefacts were powerful, yes, but not omnipotent. Each origin divine artefact possessed power over a major law, and just that law. The Book of Order controlled order and the Chaotic Flames was the overseer of chaos. But that was it. They had no mastery over any other laws, even the basic elements. As the heir to the law of order, the eternal throne should not be capable of controlling two laws- edict and time.
"Under normal circumstances, no he shouldn't have such an ability. But he does. Reiki wasn't chosen as heir for no reason. Even without the Book of Order's power, Reiki is mighty powerful in his own right. Back then, he was one out of four other origin artefacts that could stand toe to toe with the Book of Order and the Chaotic Flames. Reiki didn't really inherit the power of order. The Book of Order still has its control over this elusive law intact, yet it isn't a monopoly. What Reiki did was to study under the Book of Order for millions of years, through time stop of course, and comprehend a simpler minor law of order. One which he named 'the edict'. Reiki is still the origin artefact of time. And his mastery of the edict proves that origin artefacts may never be capable of grasping more than one origin law, but can control a minor law if they try hard enough. It was Reiki that travelled back in time to warn the Book of Order of the impending doom the Chaotic Flames will bring. It was he who told the Book of Order that she would be on the losing end. It was he who passed some of his power to the Book of Order, allowing her to halt time for an instant and severely injure the Chaotic Flames, forcing him to go into a deep slumber. It was Reiki that bought us time. It was he who was known as the Scheming Emperor, the first origin artefact to possess a title. It was Reiki whose foresight enabled us to see what was ahead, and what was to come. And it was the Scheming Emperor who decided that it would be best to seal his memories."
Asher listened in amazement as Reiki's achievements were listed one after the other. Who would have thought that the pivotal character in the power struggle between the Book of Order and the Chaotic Flames were none of the two, but the eternal throne. The handsome, naïve looking man wasn't just one of the oldest existences in the entire Universe, but he was also one of the strongest. And from the Cold Emperor's words, his true strength wasn't related to his ability to manipulate time or freely use edict- what many wielders called inner energy- but his impressive thinking. He was definitely not called the Scheming Emperor for no reason. To think the young dude with the innocent looking face and eyes had such a moniker. One really couldn't judge a book by its cover. In this case, a throne by its colour. But when a person considered that the eternal throne was actually black in colour, it made sense to judge it by its colour.
"Have our spies confirmed the assassin's information?" Grandpa Winks suddenly asked, effectively bringing Asher's mind back to the present. His wondering mind quickly stringed some words together as he quickly replied, "Yes master. His words are very likely to be the truth."
Grandpa Winks wrinkled his brow in worry, "If this is true, then it isn't to our advantage at all. What is the surety behind their words?"
"40 percent confident master." Asher replied. "Then we have no choice but to take it seriously." Asher nodded at his master's words with his head slightly bowed. 40 percent might seem like a really low percentile to inform a decision. It wasn't even 50 percent. But if one only based his/her decisions on absolute situations, that person would die real soon. Even if it was a 10 percent chance, they would have to take it, especially with the kind of information that they had received.
"Should we contact his family?" Asher asked. "No. At least it isn't time yet." Grandpa Winks insisted. "Yes master" Asher obediently acknowledged his master's words, as he always did.
"I wonder if there would ever be a day that you would go against me Asher." Grandpa Winks thought out loud. "Never master" Asher frantically denied the possibility of that ever happening.
"Relax Asher. I don't doubt you." Grandpa Winks chuckled happily upon seeing his subordinate panic. It was a pleasant sight for the Emperor, for Asher rarely lost his cool.
"Thank you for your trust master. We are Eternals. Our will is eternal. We will rise with the Supreme One. The Universe cannot bind us. For we are its binders." Asher solemnly swore the pledge of the eternals.
"I think we should change our pledge." Asher's brows twitched at his master's words. Grandpa Winks smiled at the subtle change and said, "Back to the matter at hand. About the information we received, it must be kept confidential. No one. Absolutely no one, must know where the Book of Order rests."