Though the urge to go embrace his mother was nearly overwhelming his will he considered the situation at hand and stuck to his aunt's instructions instead as he flew to her, his sisters rushed to hug him almost as soon as he was atop the tower. By how their bodies were still trembling a little bit it was obvious the situation of before of which he had found himself in was still affecting them, he smiled and then reminded them of the eyes staring at them but they seemed to care not for it. Feeling a little defeated he took things into his own hands and teleported both his sisters back to their seats, in the eyes of those watching all they had seen was little pillar of dark light appear instantly besides them before they could comprehend.
Emrys showed an apologizing look to his surprised sisters and then took a respectful bow at the Emperor as he walked away to seat besides his aunt who gave a gentle rub to his head-
'Were you scared' she asked through a mental link she had established moments ago with him.
'Not at all aunty'.
She smiled and said nothing else, her gaze glued to her sister's form, searching, scrutinizing for just the slightest sign of there being a problem with her somewhere and when she found none her heart felt sated, each pair of generals along with their firsts in command knelt before their respective emperors and gave their greetings.
Each welcomed their subordinates greetings and asked some trivia questions about their conquest then ordered that they return to where the mages went with the worlds, Maeve cast her son a glance for a split second before walking back into the portal which had underwent a little shift. The four portals closed behind them and wasting no time Hestia got up and told her respectful goodbyes to the four rulers then beckoned her family to return with her, Leah and Rachel gave their goodbyes to the Emperor and walked towards their mother.
"Already? Are you not taking the boy to complete the final procedures" Rhea questioned.
"I will do it myself ".
Rhea smiled "of course".
She led her family down the tower and out the door to meet Irmir waiting readily, Hestia cast a spell prompting a great magic circle to appear beneath them which teleported everyone back home. Shortly after the tower pulsed with magic and cast a planet wide healing magic waking up the unconscious masses and healing what little damages both physical and mental that was left by Hope's power on them, a door to the tower was opened and out were led the twelve fated ones alongside four cloaked figures prompting three of the Emperors to fly out to meet them on the ground.
Each held an egg of different sizes in their hands and on the back of their hands was a single inscribed rune, Hope watched from the sidelines her thoughts at this time known only to herself. The Emperors along with their subordinates whom had escorted them here took each fated one belonging to them and left this space in a huge pillars of light which teleported them back to their continents leaving only Hope and Timothy behind.
Timothy flew down to meet the cloaked beings "Is she not to undertake the same procedure as the others" he asked.
The four gave no answer to his question and instead parted ways for him "our master is ready to meet you both".
Timothy scrunched his brows for a moment and called towards Hope "come child".
She complied and flew down to meet him as they walked through the tower's doorway which led them to a fairly wide hallway with a single simple door at the end and no way behind them both, as someone who had been in the tower Timothy knew quite well that this was not what that doorway was supposed to lead them to usually and quickly summarised that this was the work of it's master.
He prepared himself mentally and looked down at Hope who was staring intently at the door before them-
'Are you alright child' he asked through a link.
She nod softly and he cracked a small smile then began walking with her towards the door, he opened the door to be met wtih what seemed to be the inside of a warm moderate cottage with a fireplace and a steaming hot cup of tea on side table. The door gently closed behind them after they had walked in and vanished which slightly alarmed them both, Timothy and Hope sat down on the three seater couch and waited in silence for the next three minutes before they heard the sound of a door opening up on the wall before them.
A small black cat with four green eyes and two tails walked into the room and jumped on a couch to sit, he looked at the the two guests in the room and seeing the bewildered looks in their eyes he couldn't help himself and just rolled over as he began laughing out loud which startled them both even further. The transformation was dispelled and what sat before them now was a most gorgeous man, he looked to be in his youthful twenties, his skin was fair and without blemish with an innate dim heavenly glow to it's feel, he had two eyes which were green and ripe full of life, long straight raven black hair that reached all the way to his waist and ears half as pointy as an elfs.
His laughter came to an abrupt halt when he saw the look in Hope's eyes and felt the silliness leaving his body in an instant replaced by a feeling of shame "My first impression, it's ruined" he covered his face with his hands. A few seconds later in a desperate attempt to salvage what little of his dignity he had left he manifested an air of dignified aura around him and put his charming looks to good use as he began his introductions.
"Do forgive my childish display of earlier, my name is Japheth Lo, current master of the tower and currently the most powerful known mage in the universe".
"A pleasure meeting you Hope, I've quite a few surprises to present you after I'm done talking with him".
A doorway opened up right besides him and Hope already understood the hint she was being given and walked right up to it.
"My mages have been instructed to grant you permission to anywhere you like in the tower, and if you can't decide where you wish to go or want you want I already made preparations for that too my dear".
"We'll come see you when we're done".
She gave a small polite bow in thanks and walked into the portal which closed behind her soon after, Japheth turned towards Timothy and for the next few seconds silence ensued between them with either waiting for the other to make the first move, finally Japheth bit the bullet and decided to speak first so as to ease his dearest friend of his palpable tension.
"How long has it been".
"Nearly two centuries".
"Heh, too long then".
"Mhm".
Japheth smiled and got up as did Timothy, the embraced each other and laughed heartily "oh how I have missed you Timothy".
"As have I Japheth".
They separated and returned to their seats as they began discussing and jesting about a number of different matters from their pasts to their full-time jobs, all the draining and entertaining aspects which caused for a lively atmosphere in the entire cottage.
"Haha, oh it's still so funny to see, dearest Tmothy the king of sloth when we were younger taking up this much responsibility and not actually doing a bad job at it".
Timothy covered his face in slight embarrassment at being reminded of his former self "ugh, don't remind me, else I fight hard everyday not to abscond and return to my old self"
Japheth laughed "And I would not blame you if eventually you end up losing that battle".
"But knowing you Timothy I already know that it is impossible to abandon your people, not even if your death was certain".
"Amongst the four rulers you are definitely the most kind".
Timothy smiled "is that a compliment".
"Heh, in a way it is".
"Hohh? I'll take it then, getting complimented by the tower master is definitely not something one gets to receive easily I'd imagine".
Both laughed a little more and soon after silence graced the cottage once more, nothing other than the flickering sparks from the fireplace could be heard, Timothy watched as a solemn look appeared on Japheth's face and the smile faded away from his face replaced now by a bit of worry.
"Why do you look so down all of a sudden, is it something I did?".
Japheth was quick to refute him"no no, no Timothy, it is nothing you have done. It is rather the other way around".
"Huh?".
He looked up and stared straight into Timothy's eyes "I'm sorry Tim, the day of your coronation, I wanted so terribly to be there on the day my closest friend and brother took up the mantle of Emperor".
"And for years it has been eating at me, as I too was undergoing the training process of ascending into tower master I could not be allowed to do anything else so I left you there all alone on that day".
"If only my responsibilities did not restrict me I would have gone back in time ages ago to that day".
He ran a hand through his hair and leaned back as he heaved a sigh of exasperation "oh man, you probably resented me a little bit for that huh, I'm sure you thought I had abandoned you".
Timothy looked on silently as Japheth sat there staring at the ceiling and then smiled "you know I hold no resentment towards you for something that minor, that's never been me".
"And do you want to know something, on that day more than anything else the greatest source of joy I had was the thought that in that moment you were right there achieving the dream you've always wanted".
"So why would I ever resent you".
"But oh you should have seen mother on that day, she was full of praises for you about how you were simply acing all your tests and your progress was the fastest out of all tower masters before you bar Merlin of course".
"She was like—
"Enough"
It was soft, almost like a whisper but the power contained in it was chilling to the core, Timothy was stiff with fear when look into the eyes of Japheth which all of a sudden seemed all too distant and indifferent but somehow lost, he closed his eyes and the suffocating feeling faded away.
"It should have been you" he muttered in a very low tone.
"From the very beginning it should have been you".
Timothy just smiled "I do not regret the actions I took that day, I know quite well I wouldn't have been anywhere near good as you".
"No— he looked at him -"you would simply have been so much better".
'I guess this is fate after all, one way or another neither you or I could run from it Tim' he thought to himself.
"Oh no, I much sure of it. I have just barely enough talent for politics let alone the type you have to contend with when considering the beings you interact with".
Japheth held his chin in thought for a few moments "okay you might be correct on that front I'll admit, you did suck terribly when it came to such matters".
"I can't even be offended though I wish I could, but couldn't you just have left me with a small praise at least, I mean I don't remember being THAT bad".
"Really? Do you remember—
"No, no no thank you very much I do not remember, don't you even dare bring that up".
Japheth laughed and playfully put his arms up in surrender"alright alright, I won't bring it up".
Both laughed a bit more and then turned silent once more, Timothy sighed and called to him "Japheth".
"Hm?".
"Can you please help me, I do not want that child taken away from me and I'd do anything to keep her".
Japheth smiled and leaned back into his couch "the girl's case is a sensitive one but nothing I can't wave off with a bit of effort unlike that boy".
"Though do forgive me because I will not be doing so easily".
Timothy's heart sank a bit as an ominous feeling began growing in his heart "may I ask why".
"Because I need you for something, hence why I shall be making a deal instead of just waving off her case".
He turned his head towards Timothy and smiled "do forgive me again Tim, but I see no other way to have you agree to what it is I desire of you".
Timothy closed his eyes, the ominous feeling in his heart growing stronger as did his worry but he held steadfast and pushed the feeling aside for now and hung onto that last string of hope that it was not in any way what he was dreading.
"What is your proposal Japheth".
"Become the new tower master".
It struck like lightning in his mind and just as he was about to ask why Japheth raised his hand motioning for him to stop as he had further to say.
"Let me finish Tim, become tower master in the next 20 years or so, in-between this time frame I shall prepare you in every possible way in order to ascend into this role".
"In return Hope shall be given unto you and shall also be recognised as the tower master's student so endless benefits shall be given unto her to aid her growth".
"And no Tim, there is no room for negotiation as this is final".
Timothy balled his fist as anger began rising inside of him "why, why are you doing this Japheth, after everything that happened, even hearing me say I hold no grudges towards you and yet you force this choice upon me".
"Why!? Your guilt possibly could not be that great and I've—
"I'm dying Tim".
It was like his mind just stopped working for a few moments trying to process the new information it had just collected, "what?" his voice was so soft and his tone so low.
"I'm dying" Japheth looked him in the eyes and showed a defeated smile.
"No one else in the tower knows about my condition, you're the only person I've told now".
Timothy covered his face with both hands, his mind was in complete and utter chaos as nothing right now was making sense to him "you—you're the tower master, most powerful mage of the current age with the resources left by Merlin right at your fingertips yet here you are telling me that you're dying?"
"How is that—how is that even possible, as I understand nothing short of a demi-god should be able to oppose and defeat the tower master's power in the mortal universe right?"
"Correct".
"But most of the demi-gods including Merlin have been absent for thousands of years haven't they? The last time one appeared according to legend was when that monster was on this world right before his disappearance".
Japheth nod his head in acknowledgment "worry not Tim, the demi-gods are not back yet and they aren't the cause of my current situation".
Timothy's eyes were wide open in flabbergast "how is that supposed to be comforting at all, better yet how is it also possible the tower hasn't healed you yet, it is the power of Merlin!".
"Though that may be so it is only a tiny fraction that the wizard left before he disappeared, what I faced is beyond what this tiny fraction could overcome".
"And besides if it were not the tower drastically slowing down the effects I would actually be in a far worse state than I am now, perhaps dead even so there's that at least".
Timothy held a hand to his head "this is simply too much, everything is just going so wrong for me today and i do not know why".
"I'm sorry Tim".
Japheth gave him some minutes all to himself to get his thoughts in order and fully allow everything settle in, when Timothy once again regained his composure or some semblance of it at least he felt relief.
"What did you face Japheth".
There was no reply for a few seconds, he just sat there with his closed and running the event through his head until he had enough and sighed.
"I do not know, it seems I can't even physically recreate or describe whom it was i faced though i know i faced him, it does not even feel like a memory i have though it exists, even if I could project it I get the feeling that no one would be able to see it but me".
"I have such little information concerning that being, one of them being the fact he called himself a Nephilim and I found it's point of birth by accident".
"That thing was but a few seconds year old child, the only thing I know after this was that it was searching for something as per the orders it was given and asked if I knew what it was".
"A Fallen fragment".
"Perhaps I should thank the fact he was but a child and that is why I know even up to this extent".
Timothy seemed a little confused so he asked "from the way you've been talking it does not seem like a hostile force so how did you come to get into conflict with it?".
"Ah that? Well once it found me not be a useful source of information it tried to leave but I did not allow it".
"As tower master one of my main duties is to filter through and assess whatever may be deemed a potential threat to our universe and if correct in the assessment then I have every right to either obliterate it or detain and reform if possible".
"That thing was simply too close to our universe that I could not simply allow it free roam so I had to assess it's full intentions fully and find out if it's task could pose some problems".
"And it seemed that for I as someone who was of no interest to it anymore he did not take too kindly to being held back from continuing it's mission so it lashed out".
"The power it struck with confirmed my suspicions even further that it could not be allowed free roam this close to our universe so as per my duties I had every right to either obliterate or contain the entity".
"I pulled us to a sealed world to contain him but things did not go as planned, he proved himself everything as strong as I was even with the towers support in my attempts to contain it which as you'd imagine was shocking for me too".
"And though I've never really liked excuses for failure the burden of keeping the universe unaffected while trying to also contain such a being like that kept me on the defensive and losing front always".
"At some point I had to bite the bullet and disregard protecting the realms to focus on killing that thing assuring myself that I could fix whatever number of realms that may fall when all was said and done".
"That too was a mistake on my part in the end, there was definitely something strange about the nature of it's power and I realised it all too late".
"Either way I lost".
"Or to be more accurate, I would have lost if not for my last ditch effort I gambled on, it seems that due to it being a newborn and having never experienced pain it had no concept of it, so when I ended up causing hurt to it for the first time it ran and our battle came to an end".
"My body was in a terrible state but it was nothing the tower couldn't fix with some effort, the real problem was when it came to fixing the realms damaged by our battle".
"The nature of it's power was unlike any I had ever experienced through my countless travels, so potent with a feeling you could almost mistake for the divine but also corrupted".
"Most types of reversal and cancellation spells that I know were barely affecting what it had done".
"Using raw time especially on such a scale as I'd have had to was far too dangerous, taxing and beyond my capabilities even with the tower's support so I went with something else".
"Borrowing the nature of another strange beast I am contracted to I was able to devour all traces of it's power left behind into my own and attain a portion of it's nature temporarily which I in turn used in casting a better reversal to restore all that was lost".
"The end, everybody lived happily ever after".
Timothy frowned "not the mood for this Japheth, what part is supposed to explain why you're dying now".
"Fine fine, there are some nuances I left out concerning the steps taken to reverse what was done amongst some other things, the important thing was the power I made my own".
"Though it did grant me access to it's nature though temporarily, the power itself was permanent and it made me far greater than I was before but with a price".
"It was poisoning me and at a very fast rate at first before the tower intervened, it's not simply just poison but that's the best way I can describe it's effects for now".
"Once it is done spreading to every last bit of me I will be gone from the world, it's not death simple time magic could fix either as I can tell but one where perhaps I will need an actual demi-god or the goddess herself to save me both of which is very much not happening".
"A maximum of 20 years at the maximum is what the tower can keep me alive for not counting any more unfortunate events that could potentially occur during this time".
"And that's it".
Thomas was silent and lost in thought for some minutes before sighing "and this being you met, what guarantee do you have that it won't come back for vengeance or something of the sorts".
"None" he answered quickly without the slightest bit of hesitation.
Thomas sighed again "is there really no other choice".
This time Japheth wasn't quick to reply as the weight of what he was doing was once again settling in with him but his resolve was already made a long time ago "there is none" he answered softly.
He balled his fist and stared straight at Japheth "you know there is a possibility that this time I might actually come to hold a great resentment towards you for this".
"I am aware, I have also accepted this fact" he showed a defeated smile.
Thomas closed his eyes for a few seconds and opened them, his gaze showing nothing but resolve.
"I accept your offer".
An inscription was manifested before them which bound Thomas's words into an unbreakable contract and left it's mark on the left side of his chest, with this Thomas had now been officially recognised as the next heir of the tower and news of it would soon break to it's residents which would serve to give them perhaps the biggest and most unexpected shocks of their lives.
EnD.