That evening, everyone who knew of Damian's survival, except for Lex, gathered in the mansion's walled-off garden, where Damian and Luna intended to enter into a kinship.
The couple was standing under an arch in front of Lavinia, who held her catalyst, the midnight crucible, in both hands.
Among the guests, Uncle Theon and Ylva looked at the proceedings with fond expressions. They had both known Damian for his entire life and genuinely loved him. Thus, they enjoyed seeing him happy.
Lilith, on the other hand, refused to take her narrowed glare off of Luna. Jealousy burned in her eyes and exuded from her every moment. Yet… she didn't interfere… mostly because she spent that time coming up with schemes to test Luna's love.
In the end, Lilith wasn't jealous that Luna and Damian were performing the kinship ceremony at all, but that she wasn't first. She had no doubt she'd be next, but to justify the egregious oversight of her being second, Luna's love for her big brother would have to be true and deep.
Finally, besides the joyous couple, Lavinia looked content. She had her doubts that this would all work out, but she wasn't worried about it. In the end, Damian would be fine… she'd make sure of it.
Lavinia looked from Damian and Luna and raised an eyebrow. "You two are aware none of this will be official until Damian's survival becomes public knowledge? Which might take a very long time?"
Even after Damian's return to the city in several years, they would likely continue to keep his survival a secret for as long as possible, and they were both aware of this.
They nodded, their eyes locked onto each other, Damian with a small grin and Luna with a loving smile. "It's official enough," Luna answered softly. "Damian and our child are my only family now. So long as we are kin in our own eyes, that's good enough for me."
Damian, of course, had no objections to what she said and nodded.
"Fair enough," Lavinia nodded before looking at Luna with surprising warmth. "But I hope you'll consider me as your family from today forward, Luna. As mother to my first grandchild, you can be sure I'll treat you like it either way."
Luna glanced at Lavinia with a complicated expression. She still remembered the moment when Lavinia had almost killed her, with the child in her stomach having been the only thing that saved her. Yet… she couldn't deny she felt the desire for family. For a pack.
"We'll see…" she muttered noncommittally. Fortunately, that was good enough for her soon-to-be mother-in-law.
After everyone spoke some words, Lavinia waved her hand and willed the myst to create a mark on the back of Damian and Luna's hands.
With the kinship formed, the couple kissed passionately, and Damian carried her back to his room to celebrate their love. They spend that night imprinting every single inch of each other's bodies into their memory to last them for the coming years…
***
The following morning, Lex left the Lady Matriarch's mansion and met his parents. After they made sure he was okay, Lex regaled them with a believable story about his time being trained by Lavinia.
Amazed and fascinated by his experience, the loving couple accepted his story as fact and started escorting him to the Moroi parking garage at the edge of the estate.
Yet, their journey was not meant to be peaceful. Just before reaching their destination, they came across two groups of young Moroi boys and girls… who were beating the shit out of each other.
"Take it back, you designer-clad dumpster fire!" one eighteen-year-old man roared, his blue eyes blazing with fury. His blond hair fluttered as he attacked someone of similar age with a whistling right hook.
"Forget it!" the other laughed loudly, demeaningly. "That so-called young master was a wastrel! We're better for being rid of him!" The second man defended against the first's attack while around them, their cohorts engaged in their own battles.
"You know as well as I do that's bullshit!" the first cried out, attacking again as bloodred light started covering his fists. As soon as he did that, his opponent started grinning victoriously… until a third party interfered.
Suddenly, the first man's fist was grabbed and stopped, and the gathered myst fizzled out while another fist flew straight at the second man's chin.
"What the—" was as much as the second man could get out before being sent flying, his jaw crunching as he roared in pain.
After interfering, Lex turned to the stunned first man with a small smirk. "Don't get so emotional you forget the rules, Lucian. Using myst outside of official battles is illegal on the estate… don't give him a win because you couldn't keep your cool."
"You— Who are you…?" Lucian muttered, his fury making way for confusion. He didn't recognize this man, and he was surprised by the ease with which they stopped his fist. How did he even know his name?
Releasing Lucian's hand, Lex chuckled and turned around to go back to his shocked parents. "Just a concerned Moroi." He waved his hand in goodbye. "Anyway, keep the memory of our young master alive, alright? Just remember, he probably wouldn't want you to lose yourself in your anger."
Before Lucian could recover from his surprise, Lex and his parents were gone again. Soon, their car flew up from the parking lot and disappeared into the distance. Their destination: the Astralgate.
***
A few hours later, Lex stood in front of a massive stone ring inside an underground, heavily guarded facility.
More than a dozen other people of similar age stood around him, looking up at the ring in awe. Lex was no different. Just like them, this was the first time he became confronted with the true age of the universe.
This stone ring was one of the countless Astralgates scattered across the equally countless planets across their galaxy… and their age was unknown.
They had been built by a society that no one remembered and, at the very least, was no longer using them. However, their abandonment benefited the humans, Xelthari and Zhra'Karn, who now used these gates to expand beyond their respective home worlds.
At least, this was presumably once the case for humans, whose homeworld was lost to history. Most of the human societies encountered by the Xelthari and Zhra'Karn had no clue that these Astralgates existed, and the gates were usually buried or hidden.
Yet, how else could the human species be found on so many different planets? Surely, they must have used these gates at one point.
Perhaps the truth would never be known, but whatever the case, the human race had already been largely supplanted by the Eldkins nowadays, who use the Astralgates as much as any other species.
Today, it was Lex's turn to use Eryndor's Astralgate and travel to another planet, orbiting another star altogether.
Or, rather, it was Damian's turn…