"So… they're better at manipulating myst than us?" Damian uttered with a raised eyebrow.
"Yes, and also no," Lavinia shrugged calmly as she explained: "Our usage of myst is somewhat of a 'brute force' application, compared to theirs. They look down at us for it, but…" she chuckled as a bloodthirsty glance shot through her eyes, "…brute force can be quite effective."
Damian smirked as he looked at his mother's expression. He could imagine what she meant. Being able to do beautiful and amazing things with myst was nice, but if an Eldkin could destroy it all with a massive fireball, then was it really better?
"Anyway," Lavinia continued with her explanation after settling back down. "While our usage of myst can be far more destructive than theirs, we could also never engineer something like the awakening process. The Xelthari needed a way to quickly propagate their creations throughout the human population, so that's where the awakening came into play."
She smirked at Damian before continuing, "I can imagine you're not particularly interested in the details, but suffice it to say that the awakening is powered by myst. The ability to convert a human or unawakened Eldkin to an awakened Eldkin is hidden in all of our blood, but the words of awakening are what activate and power the change."
"Hehe," Damian chuckled, pulling his mother a little closer to him, using the arms he had wrapped around her waist. "I'm sure the scientific details are fascinating, Mom, but yeah, little Lili will probably be more interested."
Lavinia snorted but didn't seem to mind his disinterest or the way he pulled her closer.
"That said," Damian continued curiously. "Can you explain why a born Eldkin still needs to be awakened? Before all this, I just thought it was a quirk of our species, but… it seems a little strange now."
"Eh, it basically is like that," Lavinia frowned thoughtfully. "I doubt they created us with this intention, but perhaps it's a byproduct of giving us the ability to awaken others. Whatever the case, our reproductive cells are only marginally affected by the awakening. They will carry some markers of their parent's kintype, but… honestly, an unawakened Eldkin is genetically closer to a human than an awakened Eldkin."
"Are you saying there are essentially three related species?" Damian asked, now feeling a little surreal. "Humans, unawakened Eldkin, and awakened Eldkin?"
Lavinia nodded slowly, "That's an apt way of putting it." Suddenly, she smirked and looked at him strangely. "Of course, all of this is just as much a secret as the very fact the Eldkin were created in the first place, so lips sealed, mister."
Damian chuckled and nodded, "Of course."
"Good," his mother sighed, a hint of relief seeping out despite her trust in Damian. Leaking any of this information would be very bad for all of them, especially with the recent events.
She settled into his chest with a small smile, her large, motherly breasts and revealing gothic dress giving Damian quite the show. 'I wonder if she's doing that on purpose…' he wondered as his eyes were inevitably glued to the heaving, pale mounds in front of him.
Somewhere on his lower body, a certain extremity was getting a little overly excited… but Damian gritted his teeth and exercised an immense amount of self-control by pushing the rebellious soldier back down. He wouldn't embarrass himself and his mother with a weak mind.
If it was unclear whether she had previously been aware of his struggles, it became quite obvious when her smile widened, and her eyes shimmered with mischief.
"So, now that I've explained the words of awakening," she continued, as if nothing had happened, "let me tell you a little about the bond between scion and progenitor… or primogenitor, I suppose, although…" she looked back at Damian's face curiously, "I'm not actually sure if there's a difference."
Damian shrugged helplessly, having even less of a clue than she did.
"Well, anyway, my examination of that corpse's genome should tell me more," Lavinia turned back around and continued. To Damian's shock, she suddenly dropped a bomb he was not expecting. "First of all, you should know that creating a bond is actually optional during an awakening."
Damian flinched a little. This time, he was truly caught off guard. "W— What…? Seriously?"
The time of imprinting, where a progenitor had influence over their scion, was a known institution. It was something anyone who wanted to awaken had to deal with… but apparently, it was all fake?
"Seriously," Laivnia chuckled at his shocked expression, enjoying the effect she had on him. "The bond is created by applying myst through the words of awakening, but awakening and bond creation are two separate processes. If you just leave part of the words of awakening out, then…" she snapped her fingers, "…no bond."
"Huh…" Damian muttered, still a little shocked by the revelation. After recovering a little, he raised an eyebrow and asked, "I guess this is kept a secret for the control?"
Even if everything about the Eldkin's origins were kept secret, they could still reveal a better understanding of the words of awakening.
"Hehe, of course," Lavinia chuckled. "If everyone knew you could awaken without falling under your progenitor's influence, no one would want a traditional awakening anymore… but the years of imprinting are an important part of our society."
"Right…" Damian nodded, not really disagreeing with her. But then, a realization struck, and he smirked slightly. "Oh man, Luna is not going to like this…"
He wouldn't keep this a secret from her, just like he wouldn't keep secrets from any of his loved ones. That said, it changed little for Luna's awakening. It would be his mother awakening her, and even if she created the bond, it would still be between Damian and Luna, but without Damian there, he wouldn't be able to influence her, anyway.
"Hmpf," Lavinia waved her hand dismissively. "That little doo-gooder will have to realize some things can't be changed. Even if she can turn Eryndor into a paradise, she can't do anything that would upset the Cooperative's leadership as a whole. They'd have her dead before she could enjoy her paradise."
"I'm sure she'll realize that…" he muttered with a hint of anxiety, more meant as a prayer to silent gods than an actual fact.
During the next few hours, Lavinia taught Damian anything and everything related to the awakening and the bond between progenitor and scion. She also made him promise never to awaken someone without the bond, as this was another piece of information that could not be leaked.
After they were done, Damian and Lavinia went their separate ways again. Lavinia continued her research into Damian's new kintype, while Damian went to spend some more time with Luna and Lilith, now that he still could.
Soon, the days started passing, and the moment of Damian's departure quickly approached…