Ceres sat silently and stiffly before her brother and sister-in-law.
She could easily tell that something had happened between them. There seemed to be a stifling heavy air around them, but at the same time, they seemed closer than ever. And she could tell that whatever happened between them was most definitely related to how her brother had changed.
Physically, there was nothing really different about him aside from his brown hair growing a shade or two darker. However, she could feel a sharpness and a cold indifference about him that she had never felt before.
Ceres thought that she was already used to how much her brother had changed from before his coma, but this change was just so completely different that she thought she was looking at an entirely different person.
Caelum, however, knew that this was not the case at all. In fact, if anything, he had only returned to his original personality. A personality that existed long before the one that Ceres knew of. Erta herself, despite being aware of this, was still treading lightly.
Although she did say she will forever stand by his side, that did not mean that she would just accept everything he does. And right now, the thing she hated the most about Caelum was how he no longer cared about his own world.
She understood that he had been greatly disappointed by the other Avatars, but to so easily forsake them now after he had already spent time and effort in trying to nurture them is just wrong in her opinion. His mind, in her opinion, was very unstable and volatile. Perhaps a remnants scar of the divine darkness that tried to corrode them in Bathory's dungeon.
But perhaps even with the Life Covenant, only Caelum could really understand the depths of his indifference and the reason for his detachment.
"I heard you had news?"
Caelum's voice brought them back to the purpose of this meeting. It was a deep sound that reminded one of a prowling beast patiently stalking its prey. It lacked any sort of emotion in it as though his mind had completely shackled everything else and honed in on a singular purpose.
Ceres was honestly growing more and more afraid of her brother. Even when they had fought before, he had never been this way. It was like she was not even speaking to a human anymore.
But despite seeing the slight tremble in his sister's eyes, Caelum did not care. His only focus was to move forward.
Reynor had told him that she was safe and that she had news for him. He was assuming that it was about the humans of Terra who seemed to know about the House of Grace. Although he had his theories, he would like more information before he acted on his suppositions.
However, Ceres' words were of an entirely different matter. Or perhaps it was not so distant from the topic at hand at all.
"I've awakened."
Erta was pleasantly surprised because she knew Ceres was still not as used to mana as Erta would have liked her to be before they left for the dungeon in Nostram City.
For her to have awakened and still be looking perfectly healthy could only mean that she had either a cathartic experience that led to her awakening or an enlightenment.
As Erta congratulated Ceres happily, Caelum was instead completely calm. He and Erta both knew for a long while now that Ceres was a True Avatar Candidate. It was really only a matter of time for her to awaken. So instead of celebrating as though it was a miracle, he could only think that it was about time it happened.
"Ciel, show me her aspects."
{[Name: Ceres Ilina Grace]
[Race: Human]
[Stigmata: Prima Astella]
[Potential: True Avatar Candidate]}
[Aspects: Astel Heart]
[Status: Awaiting baptism from the Ancestor of Grace}
"Who is the Ancestor of Grace?"
[Father, the Ancestor of Grace has yet to be born in the Myriad Worlds.]
"Then how do we get the baptism she needs?"
[We can only wait for the Ancestor of Grace to be born.]
Ciel's voice echoed out in the room to let Ceres hear their conversation as well. It was the first time Ceres was participating in such a thing so she was understandably quite shocked.
But what she was most surprised about was the shard of crystal floating in front of her listing all of her details. And as she read through it, she could not help but stare at her potential.
"Brother, what does 'True Avatar Candidate' mean?"
"It means that you're among the strongest of the Avatars of the Imaginary Tree. And when I'm gone, one of the True Avatar candidates will be chosen to succeed me as the new True Avatar of the Imaginary Tree, or at least that's how it should be."
His last words were another cloud of confusion for Ceres, but Caelum really could not explain it any other way. He still remembers what Ciel said.
Caelum was the only True Avatar that the Imaginary Tree will ever have.
Those words may seem like nothing to others. After all, as long as a True Avatar lives, then it was only natural that they are the only True Avatar of their Anchor. There can only be one True Avatar at a time after all. But both Caelum and Erta understood the nuance in Ciel's words.
The Imaginary Tree will only ever have Caelum Grace. If for any reason he dies, then the Imaginary Tree shall never have a True Avatar again no matter how many True Avatar Candidates there are. Unless, of course, Caelum is resurrected.
Ceres might not have understood what he meant with those last few words, but she grasped the gist of it. She was there when Caelum and Erta explained the truth of the Great War to the Avatars that they were training.
At that time, she did not know why she was being forced by the two to join, but now she understood. It was because they already knew she would awaken at some point in the future and be among the strongest Avatars that would lead the rest.
Ceres never had any doubts that her brother was the strongest person on Earth, even stronger than Erta. So she did not have any delusions about succeeding him as the True Avatar. In her mind, no one was worthier of leading all the Avatars than her own brother.
And that was why she also understood the great disappointment Caelum had when the results of the training were abysmal. Which General would ever be happy to see the army they had invested a lot of time and resources on be nothing more than cannon fodder?
While Ceres was thinking this, Erta was instead focused on the same thing as Caelum. She had never seen or heard such a status before.
Needing the baptism of an Ancestor meant that Ceres' power will be limited until the Ancestor of Grace is born. And that was the main point of concern.
Ceres was the only other hope they had of having a strong force capable of resisting the enemies besides Caelum and Erta themselves. They needed someone that people could rally toward to the point that they will be inspired to grow stronger.
Caelum and Erta had already tried once before and they knew that they could not inspire such changes. So even if Caelum had already lost all hope, Erta herself placed her hopes on Ceres. But this matter just got complicated.
And since the Ancestor of Grace had not been born yet, the only recourse she could think of was to find the people who are most likely to be born as the Ancestor of Grace.
"Ciel, do you have an idea of who is most likely to be born as the Ancestor of Grace? Even just the standards that need to be met."
[No, Mother. Such a thing is impossible even for me. I can feel the Imaginary Tree knows the answer to that question, but it is preventing me from gleaning any insight on the matter.]
"I might have an idea, my lady."
The sudden voice shocked them. Erta and Ceres turned to the direction of the door in an instant. It was still closed with no signs of opening, and yet there was a man standing in the room just in front of the door as though he had just entered.
Reynor had never used his ability in front Erta before so she never realised just how amazing his stealth was. And while he had used his ability in front of Ceres before, that was when she had not awakened yet.
This room was supposedly occupied by the three most powerful beings on Earth and yet Reynor so easily bypassed their senses. It was a testament to how powerful he was, especially after Caelum had healed him completely.
Only Caelum did not bother looking as he had already noticed Reynor's presence from the moment he entered the room. He just left him alone to do his job.
"I apologise for intruding, Lady Ceres, Lady Erta…, my lord."
"I thought you'd only be watching. So what idea do you have?"
Reynor smiled bitterly. He thought he was being cautious. When he felt the change in Caelum, he secretly snuck in with them. He was not really trying to protect Ceres from Caelum since he knew Caelum would never do anything to his sister.
It was just that he felt it was his duty to be present regardless. But it seemed Caelum had seen through him from the very beginning, even right through his concealment ability which he was incredibly proud of. In the end, he could only blame his own incompetence and spoke his mind.
"My lord, I believe it's about time you returned to the estate. The Pillar of Grace has been away long enough."