Neil wandered the halls of the manor aimlessly, what his father had revealed to them during breakfast replayed in his head over and over again. He did not even realise that the guests were already arriving, the cacophony of sounds did not reach.
"Neil, Neil!"
Startled he turned around to see his mother looking at him with worry in her eyes.
"uh, yes mother do you need anything?"
His mother shook her head and extended a hand out to him.
"Come with me, let's take a walk."
He took the hand and let his mother lead the way, she took him to the upper levels of the manor where his and Kyle's quarters were located. She led him to his room and walked over to his bed, sitting down next to each other.
"What do you think?"
His mother finally asked after a moment of silence. He took a moment to respond still gathering his thoughts, he exhaled heavily and his shoulders relaxed.
"I think that we are doomed, I thought they were were just rumors but to actually learn that the Conspiracy has infiltrated every country in the world makes me shiver."
He paused and stared at his trembling hands.
"My main concern is that how long has it been since they infiltrated the human hierachy. 10 years? 100? A thousand? We do not know anything, that is why we have been suffering such huge casualties whenever we clashed because they know all of our secrets, it just makes you wonder what is it they are really after. "
His mother turned to him with a questioning gaze.
" What do you mean by that?"
He turned and met her gaze head on.
"They have yet to throw the world into chaos despite having infiltrated every government of the world, it makes you wonder why they have yet to act."
At his words he could see his mother visibly shudder, and she brought a hand to her mouth.
"By the gods, you have a point."
She remained quiet for a while, he too retracted to his thoughts. The human world was now inside the Conspiracy's palm, every world leader knew this but the question was who out of all the leaders could be trusted. Beside him his mother sighed softly and she placed her hand on top of his.
"Nevermind all that for now, tell me are you okay?"
She asked in a gentle voice, he could see her concern written all over her face. He was fine, truly. He trusted Kyle to lead the family, it was his decision to let him lead the family and he had made peace with it but it seems his parents thought otherwise.
"I am okay, now go on father is waiting. I will follow you shortly I have to get dressed for the ceremony."
He stood up and led her out of the room, closing the door he quickly got dressed for the occasion. The maids had already prepared his clothes and he had bathed before breakfast so it was a matter of getting dressed and heading out towards their spacious garden that was now looking even more lavish and welcome the arriving guests.
Neil, now dressed up and looking like elegant like a true noble stood at the gates with Kyle, the nobles parked their cars outside where a valet showed them to the parking lot right beside the manor and then they entered the gates on foot.
Kyle and Neil saw many familiar faces, after all the guests were all well known people in the world. Among the list of familiar faces were, lord Alistair Vanderholt the king of Vanderholt accompanied by his wife queen Charlotte and their three children, Prince Alistair Jr, Prince Gregory and Princess Clara their cousins.
At a certain point two women arrived, Neil knew both of these women very well. It was princess Evangeline Cindra, the heiress of house Cindra. She walked beside her mother Queen Immaculate Cindra. They were a great house like his, direct descendants of one of the 12 champions and the rulers of the country Cindra. Her father was the late king of Cindra, who had passed on a few months ago.
Neil and the princess exchanged a quick glance that did not go unnoticed by Kyle who smiled and nudged at him.
"it's not too late to fix things between you two."
Neil breathed in heavily, he resisted the urge to run his hand through his combed back hair.
"We are way too different now, she is about be crowned queen of Cindra in a few weeks. Surely she must find a capable young man to marry."
Kyle shook his head in disagreement.
"You are the most capable young man I know, do not sell yourself short brother. And besides her eyes spoke a different story."
Kyle's soft spoken words lingered in the air, Neil sighed softly turning to his brother:
"I don't think you should be doing this, especially not today."
It was a family custom that had been engraved in them, but since today was Kyle's inauguration he was not supposed to welcome the guests.
"I could not let you do it alone, we always do this together."
The boy had not changed, he was always like this and if anything sometimes Neil thought maybe it was an act of pity towards the useless elder brother.
By ten o'clock every single one of the guests invited had shown up, and the ceremony was about to begin.
Now that everyone had arrived, Neil went to join his family on the platform. There decor was beautiful, one would have mistaken today's ceremony for a royal inauguration.
His father stood before the crowd with a smile, he wore a military clothing, decorated with many badges he had acquired overr the years. The rest of tghe family sat behind him facing the crowd, his father's deep voice resounding through out the garden.
"Esteemed guests, I welcome you to the Thorne manor. I have invited you all to come and bear witness as I finally resign from my role as Commander and patriarch of the Thorne family."
All of the guests present already knew what was going on, but some could not believe the reality that was unfolding before their eyes. His father, Ryan, paused and his eyes moved through the crowd inspecting all of them before adding:
"Do not be sad my friends, I am not announcing my death here."
His words earned him a few laughs among the crowd, easing the tension aby a small margin. He went on to give a speech about how proud he was to have shared the world stage with his peers, Neil on the other hand was furiously fighting the urge to sleep.
" look at this old fool blabbering on about his glory days, let me not waste anymore of your precious time."
Ryan turned to his family and gave a smile before gesturing for Kyle to join him, Kyle got up and gave Neil a slight nod before walking towards Ryan. Ryan opened his arms and Kyle embraced him, he then turned to the crowd with a smile.
" I present to you my second born son, Kyle."
Kyle gave a deep bow to the crowd, Neil stared at his back with a smile. He could see Kyle shaking a bit, it seemed like the nerves had got to him again.
"This is the young man that will succeed me as the patriarch of House Thorne and the Commander of Vanderholt's military."
Neil could see the countless questions in the eyes of their esteemed guests, very few people knew that Neil had failed to awaken his system. So they all wondered why was the firstborn not the one to inherit House Thorne.
But despite their confusion they all clapped hands at Kyle's introduction, Kyle stepped forward with a gentle smile. He had stopped shaking, his gaze was now calm and calculated. It appeared as though he had just stepped onto a battle field, his eyes scanning the crowd as he began talking.
"Esteemed guests, I am honored to have you all attend today's ceremony. Taking home off from your busy lives and traveling all the way to Vanderholt, Today I inherit House Thorne and I join the ranks of the 12 rulers , as the new king of war-"
A dense crushing pressure descended upon the garden, but it seemed to be a small portion of the crushing pressure descending upon Kyle.
" Who dares! "
Ryan was about to act when Kyle forcefully raised his hand against the crusfhing pressure being exerted upon him, Ryan stayed his hand but his eyes had locked on the one responsible for the sudden attack.
"System, unlock status level 3."
A small wind kicked up at the bottom of his feet, and then he slowly raised his head revealing his now crimson eyes. From his body came a dense pressure equal to the one that had been crushing him, but unlike the one that had been crushing him. His pressure was filled with bloodlust making the rest of the guests feel uneasy.
"Remarkable strength for one so young."
A woman who appeared to be in her mid thirties, with raven black hair, and eyes. She was dressed in a beautiful scarlet gown and wore no jewelry except for the necklace on her neck. The woman was Livia Ravenbourne, the barroness of Ravenbourne.
She was the source of the crushing pressure that had descended on Kyle and the garden, the pressure withdrew and Kyle also withdrew his. His eyes reverted to their natural color, warpath system bearers could be seen through their crimson eyes whenever they unlocked their status and the different shades of crimson indicated the descendants bloodline purity.
Inheritors of the warpath system bad a bloody aura whenever it was unleashed, although every skilled veteran of different system paths could also build up bloodlust over time the effects were not the same as the one relesead by warpath system bearers.
"I appreciate your kind words but please refrain from releasing your aura in these premises, we Thornes do not take kindly to threats."
Kyle's words were soft yet piercing, his gaze towards barroness Livia was cold. The barroness smirked and held his gaze for a moment before responding
"understood, although it was not a threat I was merely testing your ability. One cannot claim a rank among the 12 rulers without the strength to back it up, so i hope you forgive my little test of strength."
Kyle nodded, Ryan clapped twice and grabbing everyone's attention. A maid walked on to the stage carrying a bowl filled with water, arrived before the two and knelt lifting the bowl over her head.
"I, Ryan Thorne, head of the house pass on my duties to my son, Kyle Thorne. I relinquish my duties as the head of the house in front of all the heads of the Great houses, may this Passover be blessed by the Great gods."
He then washed his hands and took off his signet which had their crest of two swords crossed
and handed it to Kyle, Kyle then took the water his father hand washed his hands with and drank some of it while pouring the rest on his head. He handed the maid the bowl and then wore the signet on his finger, and showed it to the crowd.
"It is done."
Ryan's voice thundered and the guests clapped in unison, it was now time for the rest of the family to join them. Grace and his mother Anita went to stand next to their husbands after a kiss on Kyle's hand, neil did the same and stood next to his brother with a calm gaze.
It was finally over, he only had to endure a few hours of celebration before returning to his everyday life. His father announced that it was time for a celebration, everything was already prepared and the drinks, food and music.
"You look you can fall asleep at any moment, endure for a few more hours Neil. And I think there is someone who is eager to share a dance with you."
Kyle whispered to him, his eyes scanned the crowd until they landed on a particular individual. Her eyes were already on him, her soft gaze seemed to be hiding a lot of unspoken feelings.
"I would rather retreat to the warmth of my room."
Neil responded, earning a chuckle from Kyle. In a few moments the atmosphere in the garden changed from solemn to Lively. The guests had formed small circles engaging in conversations and possibly building new alliances.
Neil sat by himself with a glass of wine in hand, he knew most of the people present but all of them were very important people in the world. Everyone present was a system bearer, it was highly unlikely for a child born of direct descent to not inherit a system but fate decided otherwise in his case.
"Have you been avoiding me Neil?"
A soft soothing voice drifted into his ears from behind, Neil did not even bother to look since he knew who it was.
"I have been seated here the whole time."
He responded without looking, princess Evangeline Cindra sat next to him. He could feel her gaze on him, she was one of the few people who knew her secret. After a while she finally spoke:
"I am going to get married right before I ascend the throne."
Neil turned to her with a small smile
"congratulations."
Evangeline's small hand touched his elbow, her eyes peering directly into his. Her eyes glowed faintly with a white light, and all of a sudden there was silence. The garden was empty and quiet, she stood in front of Neil with teary eyes.
"Congratulations? Really?"
Neil exhaled slowly and his smile broke
"I do not know what else to do or say Eva."
Evangeline wiped a lone tear, and looked at the sky. She had used her main system ability illusion crafting, dragging both her and Neil an illusion. This was an ability available to those with the Dreamweaver path system,
" You can start by telling me to refuse the marriage."
Neil shook his head slowly, leaving Evangeline confused.
"What do you mean?"
She asked, Neil pulled her into his embrace.
"I want you to be happy, you cannot be happy with me. I am broken."
His words tore through the empty garden, Evangeline trembled in his arms but before they could speak any further the illusion broke.
Confused they both looked at each, and then they finally felt it. Their instincts immediately screamed, but the invisible pressure made it impossible to move not only for them but for everyone in the garden.
The sky darkened, and the world went hush as if it was holding its breath for a grand arrival. The air cracked and sky shattered like glass, a streak of pure darkness was headed for the garden, descending like divine judgement.
It was not a falling star, or a meteor-- it was a man. He stopped right above the garden descending slowly and landing like a feather on the stage.
He stood before the crowd naked, his long raven black hair flowing behind him like a stream of darkness. His eyes housed stars, and in the eyes of everyone present he was perfect without a flaw.
The pressure they felt slowly retracted, and they could all breathe again, even the world started breathing once more.
The man on stage had a curious gaze, his eyes wandered through the guests until they landed on Neil.
""I found you."
These soft spoken words lingered in the air, Neil shuddered. The man's gaze was on him, he was not even sure if it was correct to call the being on stage a man. It felt like a god had descended into the mortal world, Neil was pretty much convinced this being was not a Conspirer.
He hasd been to the battlefield once as a child and he remembered the feeling he got from The Conspiracy, it was vile and wrong. As for the being in front of him, it was simply unfathomable.
Neil could feel the gazes of everyone in the garden land on him, he too was confused. What was the being talking about? Heavy silence filled the garden as everyone awaited his explanation.
"You hid yourself pretty well among the mortals, that is why it took me such a long time to finally find you."
The being spoke again, and Neil's confusion couldn't get any worse. What was the being talking about? But he had confirmed one thing the being was not human nor conspire it was something more.
"What is the meaning of this? You dare interrupt my son's ceremony and then you proceed to speak cryptic nonsense? Who are you?!"
Ryan roared as he released his aura, his eyes turned crimson and a heavy wind kicked up around him. Thick bloodlust enveloped the garden but most of it was directed to the being on stage, with a wave of its hand the bloodlust and the aura dissipated into thin air.
"No interruptions."
The being did not even spare Ryan a look, he started floating towards Neil. Ryan was left in shock, the being had done more than dismiss his aura it had overrided his system and shut it down.
"You hid yourself in the outer reaches of the universe, and yet you forget that the thread that binds our fates was your doing. I was drawn here, but it seems you have not yet met the conditions of awakening. I will help you awaken, and then I will return when you have ripened."
He hovered above ground in the center of the garden, his starry gaze scanning his surroundings until they landed on Kyle who was standing with 9 of the 12 rulers.
" You come dance with me. "