In his grand lavish room, Xavier woke up light-headed with a mild headache. Seeing that Xavier had finally woken up, Anastasia hurriedly ran to his assistance, helping Xavier get out of his bed properly.
"Why do you seem so worried Miss Anastasia?", Xavier questioned a bit curious.
To which Anastasia answered, "It's nothing, I'm just happy to see that you are alright".
Xavier was taken aback by Miss Anastasia's overly caring demeanor, but the moment was cut short. Alcmena, sitting at a distance and watching the exchange, suddenly burst into laughter.
"You seem to have lost a few brain cells, kiddo!" he teased, grinning widely.
Flustered, Xavier shot back, "Shut it, you ugly cat!"
"Who are you calling an ugly cat?!" Alcmena snapped, his tone shifting from playful to sharp.
Sensing the rising tension, Anastasia quickly intervened, her voice calm and soothing. "Xavier, are you hungry? You should eat something."
Still fuming, Xavier muttered, "No, I'm not hungry."
Alcmena scoffed and smirked. "Get over it, kid. No need to spread your bad vibes around my woman."
Xavier, under his breath, grumbled, "You're the one spreading bad vibes with that stench of yours."
"I heard that!" Alcmena growled, his sharp ears catching his murmur.
Rolling his eyes back, Xavier then questioned Anastasia, asking, "Oh by the way Miss Anastasia! Is Grandpa here today?".
"I haven't seen him in a while now".
Anastasia replied, "Lord Graviil? Oh he's at his officer right now. If you would like, I could take you to him".
But Xavier immediately cut Anastasia mid-sentence, telling her, "No need to do that. I'll go see him myself". Xavier then ran out of his room, grabbing the Visor of Time, as Anastasia and Alcmena were left behind in disbelief.
"That brat...", Alcmena murmured to himself in frustration.
"You sure care about him a lot, don't you?" Anastasia teased, her eyes sparkling with amusement.
Alcmena let out a long sigh before replying, "It'd be a lie to say I don't."
Anastasia giggled softly. "That explains it," she said. "You two act like a father and son."
Alcmena paused, reflecting for a moment. Father and son, huh? he mused to himself. After a brief silence, he shrugged and said, "I guess you could say that."
Xavier who ran through the palace's hallways, greeting many servants and guards along the way, finally reached his grandfather's officer room which was heavily guarded by knights.
"Good evening, Young Lord", One of the knights greeted. "How have you doing today?".
"I've been doing great!", Xavier replied.
Another knight stepped forward, his tone respectful yet curious. "Young Lord, are you here to meet with Lord Graviil by any chance?"
"Yes I am!", Xavier answered cheerfully.
As the door to Graviil's office opened, Xavier eagerly rushed inside, only to freeze in surprise at the sight of Violet already there.
"Xavier!" Violet exclaimed, throwing her arms around him in a tight hug. "How have you been? Are you feeling alright?"
Xavier laughed nervously, caught off guard by her enthusiasm. "I'm doing great, big Sis. How about you?"
"Fantastic!" Violet grinned, her eyes gleaming with joy.
Graviil, watching his grandchildren with fondness, chuckled softly. "You seem to be doing well, Xavier," he said with a gentle smile.
"What brings you here?" he asked, his eyes twinkling with curiosity.
Xavier shifted slightly before responding, "I just wanted to check on you, Grandpa. It's been a while since we've had a chance to talk."
Graviil's smile grew warmer. "I appreciate that, Xavier. I'm sorry I haven't been able to spend much time with you both lately."
He sighed, glancing at the piles of paperwork on his desk. "Work's been overwhelming lately—it's doubled from the usual load, and I've been buried in it."
"You don't need to apologize, Grandpa!" Xavier said, a bright smile spreading across his face.
"Exactly," Violet chimed in, with a smile. "We know you're really busy, so there's no need to feel bad about it."
Graviil then began to laugh hearing their response. He then stopped the paperwork he was doing, pushing it and the others aside, as he stated to his 2 beloved grandchildren, "Well, since you've come all this way to see me. Why don't we make it worth wild?".
Graviil rose from his chair and walked over to Xavier and Violet. Settling onto a nearby couch, he gently lifted Xavier and placed him on his lap, while Violet sat closely beside him on the plush, lavish cushions.
Placing his hand on Xavier's head, Graviil asked Xavier with a bright smile, "Xavier, have you ever wondered about the history behind the Ivanovich, and why we are born with unique colored hair?".
"No not really", Xavier answered.
To which Graviil stated, "Well to start, the Ivanovich family have been a royal family for many thousands to millions of years, just like the other 3 grand families".
"But the thing that makes us different from the other royal families, is that we weren't originally a family born with gifted powers".
In utter shock, Xavier exclaimed, "Wait, really?! How's that even possible?".
Graviil chuckled and replied, "To answer your question, we only began to be born with powers, after a great being had blessed our bloodline".
"A great being?", Xavier questioned perplexed.
"Yes, a great being," Graviil replied, his voice calm but reverent. "One day, this being chose our family to be its vessel, bestowing upon us its divine, holy powers."
Xavier, now intrigued, leaned forward. "Who is this great being?" he asked eagerly.
Graviil's expression grew serious as he answered, "This mysterious being is a god, known as The Purest One."
Pausing for a moment, he added, "Though, in our family, we often refer to it as The Highest Will."
"The Highest Will?", Xavier murmured a bit confused. "That sounds so awesome!".
"I know right!", Graviil exclaimed excitedly as well, which made Violet begin to laugh in amusement.
A bit embarrassed, Graviil quickly regained his composure. "Anyway," he continued, "The Highest Will is one of the two first beings created by Origine, long before the four great races existed. Not much is known about it outside of our family."
Xavier, intrigued, leaned in and asked, "Who's the other being created by Origine?"
Graviil responded casually, "Oh, that would be the Lord of the Outer Space, Voidless."
Xavier, utterly astonished, exclaimed, "Then that means this being, known as the Highest Will, must be incredibly powerful, right?"
Graviil replied, "We Ivanovich referred to the Highest Will as the third member of the Trinity of Supreme Beings. However, many historians and noble families don't agree with this claim that our family holds."
"But we continue to uphold this belief, as we are the only lower beings to have ever made contact with the Highest Will and witnessed its omnipotent, divine powers firsthand."
Xavier sat there, his eyes sparkling with curiosity and excitement at what his grandfather was about to say next. Graviil continued his tale, explaining to Xavier that, The Highest Will, was the Father of Divinity, God of Holiness, and The Spirit of Authority.
The Highest Will had bestowed upon them a divine gift known as Divine LionHeart, an ability that granted access to all forms of divine and holy powers.
The second blessing, The Eyes of Supreme Authority, allowed its bearer to command anything they desired, only limited by their imagination. When combined with Divine LionHeart, these blessings made the Ivanovich family one of the greatest and most powerful in all of human history.
Xavier then asked Graviil, "Do you have both of those gifted abilities?"
Graviil, looking a bit shy, replied, "I don't have the Eyes of Supreme Authority, since I wasn't born with it. But in return, I was born with a unique ability of my own—the power to manipulate light to a greater extent than Divine LionHeart. It's called The Absolute Light."
"When I combine my gifted ability, The Absolute Light, with the Divine LionHeart I inherited, it makes up for not having the Eyes of Supreme Authority."
Violet, with a playful tone, chimed in, "I wouldn't feel too bad about it. The last person born with the Eyes of Supreme Authority lived over 10,000 years ago!"
"So it's not very much something we can gain even if we wanted to".
Xavier then asked Violet, "Do you possess The Eyes of Supreme Authority, Big Sis?".
Violet jokingly replied, "If I did possess the Eyes of Supreme Authority, I would have shown it to you already, Xavier".
"So no, I do not possess the Eyes of Supreme Authority", she continued.
A bit surprised, Xavier apologized to Violet for being rude and inconsiderate. But Violet merely rubbed his hair, saying, "It's okay, Xavier. You don't need to be sorry".
"Plus it's not like don't have my own unique gifted ability like Grandpa to compensate for my lack in not possessing the Eyes of Supreme Authority".
"Wait?", Xavier exclaimed, taken a back. "You do?".
"Yes I do!", Violet replied enthusiastically. "And it's called, Divine Banishment".
"It gives me the ability to temporarily block someone's access to their gifted ability, and in some cases, even permanently disable it. However, meeting the conditions for a permanent block is quite challenging."
Returning to her point, Violet added, "Since Divine LionHeart grants its user control over holy abilities, we essentially possess near-immortality, along with divine regeneration that heals any wounds we sustain."
"And that's one of the main reasons why I was chosen by the great Divine Saintest, Lady Tessia, one of the great ancient rulers of the Elvin kingdom, to be her vessel", Violet continued with a proud smile.
"You're so cool, big Sis", Xavier said in astonishment.
Violet's nose metaphorically sharpened like a pencil as she felt a surge of pride, thanks to her little brother Xavier's praises.
Graviil then began to chuckle at Violet and Xavier's bond, as it made him very happy to see how much of a strong relationship they had.
Continuing his story, Graviil then told Xavier, that what Violet had said about The Eyes of Supreme Authority being a very rare gifted ability for an Ivanovish to be born with. The only current person to possess it alongside the Divine LionHeart, is Aleksander.
"Big brother Aleksander has them both?", Xavier questioned baffled by the revelation.
"Yes he does", Graviil anwsered.
Violet jokingly remarked, "Why are you so surprised, Xavier? It's Aleksander we're talking about here for eath's sake. He's a born Herrscher, after all."
"I see your point," Xavier replied, pausing for a moment in thought.
Graviil then added, "Yes, Aleksander is indeed a special case. He's the chosen one of our clan, beloved by the heavens, and blessed with tremendous potential."
"But that same blessing is also his greatest limitation. No matter how powerful one becomes, they are still mortal at the core."
"That's why your older brother has a seal placed on him—to prevent him from accessing his full power, as doing so could severely harm him."
"And even if he reaches the level of a Herrscher again, I doubt that would be the full extent of his power. His potential goes far beyond what any mortal—or even a Herrscher—can contain."
"For Aleksander to truly reach his potential, he would need to ascend beyond the realm and level of a mortal being and Herrscher. And potentially step into the realm of the Supreme Gods".
"On top of that, he still struggles with using the Eyes of Supreme Authority. It requires the user to be in a state of complete calmness, free from any emotions. If he tries to use it while feeling anything but calm, the ability could endanger those around him—and even himself. In some cases, it might prevent him from using the ability at all."
"That's a heavy restriction", Violet remarked surprised.
Xavier sat there wondering to himself, how his brother could be so strong. And felt very curious, wanting to know more about what this divine being, The Highest Will, could be.
Noticing how deep in thought Xavier seemed, Graviil gently regained his attention. "Take a look at our family flag," he said, gesturing to the banner flapping in the wind just outside the office window.
The family flag displayed two angelic beings with white wings and golden hair, dressed in flowing white garments adorned with blue ribbons that draped over their shoulders and cascaded down to their waists. The angels held a red and gold crown, which they gently placed upon the head of a majestic white and silver lion, standing proudly at the center of the flag.
"That white-silver lion right there is what the Highest Will was described in our family records to look like when he appeared to them", Graviil said smiling, to a now very astonished and excited Xavier.
"He looks so cool, Grandpa!", Xavier exclaimed in enthusiasm.
Graviil smiled and explained, "Not just that, to answer the very first question I asked. The reason we are born with silver hair is because it's a symbol of the covenant our family has made with the Highest Will".
"Though we should have had, a more silver-white hair. But since we are absolutely pure like the Highest Will, our hair was only able to become silver like this".
Xavier's mouth dropped, as he stood there utterly captivated by the majestic silver-white lion's appearance, which he had never really batted an eye at. But now knowing the story behind it, he couldn't get his eyes off it.
At that moment Aleksander walked into the room, his hands filled with numerous pieces of paperwork, as he said, "Grandfather, I completed the documents you needed me to fill out".
Seeing his elder brother after a while, Xavier ran to Aleksander excitedly, and shouted, "Big brother!".
Ensuring that none of the papers would fall on Xavier and harm him, Aleksander activated the Eyes of Supreme Authority. With a silent command, he directed the paperwork to gently lift and float over to his grandfather's desk, settling there in an orderly manner.
Aleksander then picked up his little brother like the child he was, and said with a big smile, "What's up, Xavier?".
"How have you been doing?", he continued.
"I've been doing amazing, big Brother!", Xavier responded enthusiastically.
"That's great to hear, Xavier", Aleksander replied cheerfully.
Remembering that Xavier's birthday was nearing, Graviil asked Xavier what he would want for his birthday. Xavier took some time to think, and answered, "I want a big cake of a white dragon!".
Graviil laughed in response, promising that he would make sure that they would get the world's largest dragon-shaped cake ever made into human history for his birthday, with the help of Russia's utmost top chiefs.
"Yeyy!", Xavier excitedly shouted. "I can't wait".
As Xavier bid Aleksander, Violet, and Graviil a bye, running out of the room eagerly excited for his dragon cake. Aleksander's entire demeanor changed to a more cold and serious tone, as he asked his Graviil, "Grandpa, do you still plan on really letting the Flashstride get away scot-free after trying to assassinate one of your grandchildren?".
Graviil took a deep sigh, and answered, "Listen, Aleksander, it wasn't the Flashstride who ordered Xavier's assassination, but one of their family member, Prince Magnus".
"I know how you feel right now, but not letting this heat die out right now will only make things worse, especially for Xavier. As I wouldn't want him thinking that he is responsible for starting a war between two powerful countries".
"So let's just accept their apology and let them deal with their reckless family member. I already have my hands full trying to track down everything Percival is up to," Graviil said, his tone edged with frustration.
He paused for a moment, taking a deep breath before murmuring to himself, "I never thought it would be this hard to take down that bastard."
"His influence and political power are immense—too great, even for a king like me, to defeat without risking the start of a worldwide war."