About at the same time Mane used Gungnir, countless changes were happening in various parts of the universe. But Zandor itself wasn't an exception.
"This is…" Butler Fin dropped the glass he was holding in amazement when he felt the changes in the planet's energy. He could feel it – energy so pure and true. It was primal energy belonging to one of the origin elements.
"He finally undid his father's curse" Butler Fin smiled and sat down. The glass of wine that was falling initially had magically appeared in his hands once again. He took a sip of the wine and relished the changes that were happening in the universe – changes brought by the one who was set to inherit it when he grew into his power.
Right about then, someone barged into the room. The intruder was a green eyed man with brown hair. This man was handsome and had a bright personality – usually. But right now he didn't look as bubbly as he usually did.
"Ray, why do you always cause trouble wherever you go? You have broken the door" the newcomer was Mane's father, Ray. Normally his green eyes were hidden and displayed as brown due to the contact lenses he wore, but this time he was so anxious that he had forgotten to put on his lenses.
"It's my house. It can break whatever I want" Ray waved Butler Fin's complaints aside and quickly rushed to the seat next to his guardian. His speed made it look like teleportation. He disappeared from one end of the room and reappeared in the seat next to the butler.
"You should have at the very least, wiped the shaving cream off your face" Butler Fin shook his head and sighed. There was a bitter smile on his face as he watched Ray with a chin full of shaving cream. What made his appearance worse was that some parts of his face had been shaved so the shaving cream occupied only a half of his face.
"I'm a god now. Why can't I just wave my hand and magically get rid of all my hair" Ray grumbled and picked up a cleaning cloth. He cleaned his face quickly and asked, "Is it okay now?"
Butler Fin's lips twitched as he struggled to hold his laughter in. Now that the shaving cream was off, Ray's face could be clearly seen. The sideburns on one side of his face had been cleanly shaved but the other side wasn't done. His chin was partially shaved and his moustache was uneven. Finally, he couldn't hold it in and began to laugh.
"You look like a kitten that just lost half its whiskers" the Sensor God laughed heartily. Ray was infected by his laughter and joined in. The duo fooled around for a few more minutes, until Ray finally got to the reason he came.
"Did you feel that?" Ray asked. He stared at his guardian directly in his eyes.
"I thought you had even forgotten your purpose for coming" Butler Fin smiled and said.
"How could I forget? It involves my son. So, did you feel it?" Ray asked again.
"I did" Butler Fin replied in the affirmative.
"That's great! I thought I had done enough harm to strip him of that power for all eternity" Ray sighed in relief and relaxed in the chair he sat in. He slumped into it lazily and almost purred.
"You are connected to him by blood. The feeling should even be stronger than mine. So why would you rush all the way here to confirm it?" Butler Fin asked. If there were any changes to Mane's abilities, those connected to his blood should have felt it. Ray didn't need to come to him for something so trivial.
"I just needed to be sure" Ray whispered. His voice was so low that if Butler Fin wasn't a Sensor God, he wouldn't have heard it.
"It was never your fault to begin with" Butler Fin sighed and comforted Ray. He understood Ray's anxiety. Ray hated his father when he was younger. His hatred was so strong that he ignored the prompting of his bloodline and chased after different laws. Even when lightning lowered its head to serve him, Ray abandoned it and pursued a law born of lightning itself – fire. As the parent element, and to that extent an element of origin, that was a huge insult. It was like rejecting the offer of a CEO, only to accept the same offer from the CEO's assistant. Because of his rejection, an inhibition was placed on his bloodline – a curse. Although he was from a lightning bloodline, the inhibition made it difficult for anyone born to him to receive the approval of the element he disgraced easily. They had to prove themselves first.
Although Ray advised Mane to pursue the law of lightning, even he was unsure of whether his son would gain its approval or not. After all, it was a very proud element; and its pride was besmirched when Ray abandoned it. As Ray watched Mane struggle to grasp the elemental law of lightning, he grew worried. His son was very talented, so he should naturally have no issues connecting with the element of his bloodline; and it should be even easier, since Alexis also possessed a powerful lightning bloodline herself. But Mane was struggling to grasp the law, and Ray felt it was his fault. If Mane, the most talented of his generation couldn't grasp the law, lightning may very well be lost from their bloodline eventually. Yet the energy fluctuations from the East swept away his worries. That energy he felt was so pure and so rich. It was even purer than his father's lightning! He could feel it in his bloodline, the excitement of an elemental awakening!
"It was his mother's blood that helped him" Butler Fin said, seeing that Ray was silent.
"How so?" Ray asked
"Although you rejected your bloodline, she didn't reject hers. And that power was also passed on to Mane"
"So you're saying that if not for the fact that he has Alexis' bloodline, he would have never been able to break the curse" Ray asked seriously.
Butler Fin nodded solemnly and said, "That's exactly right. If it were to be anyone else, someone who didn't have Alexis' blood as well, he/she wouldn't have been able to reconnect with lightning".
"I didn't think it was that bad" Ray sighed bitterly.
"Of course you didn't. At that time you did everything without thinking and never considered the consequences of your actions. It made you a brilliant fighter, but the downside was that you burnt many bridges, some of which were extremely strong and proud. Those days I used to wonder how you were a Spiritualist. In my books, you were too stupid and silly to be worthy of your intelligence" Butler Fin roughly chided.
"You didn't mince your words at all" Ray smiled wryly.
"Of course not. You didn't understand your actions then; and when you finally did, it was too late. Thankfully, Alexis was willing to marry an idiot like you or else your father's power would have been lost forever. You may not like him, but his power has to be present in this universe for peace to reign" Butler Fin took another sip of his wine and said.
"Yeah. I was a big idiot back then" Ray agreed. Showing disdain for an element was basically saying that neither you nor your bloodline needed it. That would bring about a curse on your bloodline, prohibiting all who are born to you from gaining the acknowledgement of that element. But that was only feasible with extremely powerful and pure elements – elements like lightning. Ray was the only one amongst his father's children to possess the lightning bloodline. The others had a myriad of gifts very different from their father's. That was why his father valued him so. To his father, if anything ever happened to him, Ray would be the one to lead his clan. But Ray refused, and striped himself of lightning. It was a brash decision, but he took it anyway. He never regretted it until he had a son. As he held his son in his arms, he understood that his son may never be able to inherit the grand power of lightning and was dismayed. He had made the decision to abandon lightning, but his son wasn't even going to get the chance to make his own decision. His father had made his decision for him. Thankfully Alexis' bloodline was strong as well, giving Mane as good a chance as any he could get, to awaken lightning.
"He must have felt it" Ray said
"Of course he did. That power started with him. Mane's may be stronger, but he would still feel it" Butler Fin sighed and downed the rest of the wine in a large gulp. Just like Ray, Butler Fin was referring to one person. He was the Olympian God King – Zeus.
"Oh it seems Alexis is calling. I better go answer it. Thanks Mentor" the unassuming bracelet on Ray's hand lit up. He got up and rushed out of the room. It took him less than a second to do so.
"Hah" Butler Fin sighed once Ray was gone. His breezy look was replaced with a serious one.
"He was in trouble, and that was why he awakened it. What could have happened for him to be triggered so" he agreed not to spy on Mane so he didn't? But he felt the power of a spear that didn't belong to this world. It was a weapon that was used by one of the strongest Elder Gods in existence – a god who fought in the war against the Origin Artefacts. Although it was only the spirit of the weapon, he was confident that it belonged to 'him'
"That was definitely Gungnir – Odin's spear"