"We are here"
Deus' eyes were still blurry, but he could still make out the grand hall revealed to him.
I was expecting luxury, but this much gold is outrageous
Practically every single object had some sort of golden feature. There was so much gold used to build the hall they were in that even if you have all of the planet in your possession, it would still be difficult to acquire as much gold as there is in this one room. And most of the gold wasnt even from the room itself, but contained in the massive gateway leading to - what Deus could tell - the place the meeting would take place in.
Aurelia started walking towards the huge door.
"They call my father {Midas} for a reason. He definitely favors gold over anything else."
Once she knocked on the giant gate, it seemed to dissolve into the floor. From what Deus could see with his blurry vision, there was no mechanism that allowed it to do that. He had no idea how it moved one bit.
Inside, it looked to be a royal throne room. With a long red carpet on the floor, different jewels planted into the golden ground. Two luxury thrones were at the end of the carpet. No one occupying them at the moment.
"They should be coming soon... Probably" Aurelia said.
***
A few minutes later the entire room started to shake violently. Deus wasn't able to keep his balance and fell to the ground cursing. Luckily, awakened have more durable bodies than the normal, so Deus was unharmed for the most part. But that wasn't even the most troublesome part. A wave of energy passed over the both of them. As soon as it touched him, Deus' entire body started to itch viciously. Whatever he tried, the pain stayed.
Through his impaired vision, Deus saw a silhouette of a man sitting on the leftmost throne.
Deus suddenly felt his heart drop. The irrationality of the situation suddenly hit him. He was stuck between the princess of the Empire and the Emperor. Physically disabled at the moment as well. Seems like a place someone could be disposed of easily. Right?
That is precisely what Deus feared, but if they wanted him dead, why didn't they do it earlier without taking him all the way to the palace? The only conclusion Deus came to is the the Emperor wanted to make some sort of deal with him. He was the second ever {Astral} awakened after all. One of the only two in existence.
"I know you might be confused why you were called to this palace. I intend to answer the questions, just after we test you." The Emperor said with a fierce smile on his face.
Seconds after hearing that, Deus started to feel sick. So sick his bodily functions started to shut down. That along with the continuous itching of his skin, His conscience started to wane. And as he was falling to the ground, Aurelia came up to him and said.
"I'm sorry about this. I'm sure you will pass the test. My father insisted on it."
She then caught Deus and laid him across the floor.
"Why did you do this, Father? He might die. And the entire empire will feel the effects. He is an {Astral} awakened as well."
"If he becomes your guardian, he must at least have the strength to survive a simple curse. It's easy to overcome anyway"
After hearing that, Aurelia suddenly went silent. The Emperor was dead set on the collaboration of the two {Astral} beings. He would do everything in his power to make a stronger being, even as far as matchmaking his daughter to someone random. She already accepted that fact anyway, she could even gain some benefit out of the situation anyway. Her father obviously wanted them to marry. And she had already expected that from the moment the mystic for saw a male {Astral} awakening at the same time as her.
Deus was stuck in the same situation as well. Having no choice in his future just for the reason of being an {Astral} awakened. His {Numen} was still unknown at the moment, apart from his government provided watch explaining why he was in pain, nothing past that was known. The same applies to Aurelia as well.
Flaws don't activate fully until the first usage of your ability, so new awakened are safe for the most part, but one of the worst possibilities would be and accidental ability activation. Especially for higher ranked {Numen} holders who have stronger flaws to counteract the strength of their abilties, a simple mistake could kill them instantly. Depending on the flaw you have. People like Deus and Aurelia were in the constant fear of that exact thing.
***
Inside Deus' mindscape, an endless void inside the mind, he was trying to fight off a said "simple" curse. But as it turns out, it was not as easy to push off as one had said.
From what Deus could feel, since he suddenly awoke inside his mind, he had felt an endless desire to rest. To sleep. But in his mind, he felt a primal fear at the thought of it. And he had a feeling that if he would fall asleep, he would cease to exist. As simple as that.
I have a guess why the Emperer said it was simple. It's the ease of understanding. Anyone coming under the effect would immediately feel it. Partly because it locks you inside your mind, but nevermind that.
While Deus was laying on the ground looking dead, Aurelia was walking around in the throne room stressing. She was incredibly close to losing her one chance to escape from her overprotective parents. Who were so careful it was almost tyrannical. It took her years of convincing for them to allow her out of the palace. And even when she did, she had a gigantic envoy following her every move.
And with the mystic's prediction about Deus, the second {Astral}, awakening the same year as her. Her parents went and allowed her to attend the academy. Under normal circumstances they would never do that, with the laws of the academy only allowing students and teachers in, limiting the amount of protection they can give the future queen. But with someone the same age and rank as Aurelia accompanying her as a guard. The Emperor and Empress would be significantly more relaxed.