I instinctively hold my breath, even though there's no actual air in this dreamy dimension. What did my father just say? Did I hear right? Me, a Divementis prince?
I stare at my father, then at those three Divementis who came to accompany him today. Who are they anyway? Did they invade my dream just to confirm that I'm indeed what my father claims I am? I have no reason to think that he would be lying, but still... it's hard to believe.
"You know that he's mine, you saw the results of the DNA test," my father says calmly and gives me a strange look. It's not a disgusted or disappointed look, though. There's a hint of... pride? No, my eyes must be playing tricks on me.
"That may be, but he's still a half-breed that shouldn't exist in the first place," one of the Divementis looks at me with contempt. "Besides, he has no claim to the throne if he can't even access the Archive."
"Actually, he can," my father answers with a victorious smirk. "I let him roam the dreamscape on his own a few days ago to see what he would do and not only did he discover the Archive, he managed to access it. The system even recognised him as the Supreme Administrator as if it was me."
That leaves the three Divementis speechless. It's obvious they didn't expect that. My father moves closer to me which makes me flinch. I want to say something, but I just gasp for the illusionary air instead. All of this is... too unreal.
"His looks might be Celestial, but his brain is that of a Divementis," my father continues. "He learns quickly, just as someone from the royal bloodline would. He even managed to defend himself against our Enemy which isn't something an average Divementis would be able to do."
The three Divementis look at each other, frowning.
"Aefener needs to stand before the Divementis Council first," another Divementis insists. "Even if he's Your Majesty's son, there are procedures to follow if we are to accept him."
"You will address him by his rightful title," my father clicks his tongue.
"His Highness Prince Aefener," the Divementis makes a correction, not daring to disobey their sovereign. That title feels wrong somehow. I'm not a prince, I'm an emperor!
The three Divementis give me their last scrutinous look, then bow submissively and disappear with a flicker. It's only me and my father now. We stay quiet for a whileâmy father considering his next words, me trying to calm my wildly beating heart and trembling wings.
"I understand this must be a huge surprise for you, Aefener," he addresses me by my name for the very first time and tries to slowly cut the distance between us. "It's true, I'm no ordinary Divementis. I rule whatever is left of our once glorious empire."
"What's your name?" I ask. I realise only now that I actually don't know. I know only his fake human name.
"Althorion Lorthane Serthorius Dralthor Morvandus," he articulates carefully, using the Divementis pronunciation that doesn't sound alien to me at all.
"Ehm...," I bite my lip because I forgot it immediately.
"Your mother called me Orion," he benevolently gives me a shortened version. "She found it funny to call me after a star and that part is in my first name anyway so I didn't mind. Still, I would prefer you call me 'father.'"
I'm sceptical about that, but I guess it would be weird to call him by the nickname my Mom used. I keep staring at him, unsure what to do or say. It's difficult to process that my father isn't only an alien from another dimension; he's royalty on top of that. Does it make me a double royal I wonder?
"You earned to have another question answered when you managed to enter the Archive," my father gives me a hint. "Ask away."
I have so many things to ask. What's the Archive? Who or what is the Enemy? How many Divementis live in Japan? How did the Divementis manage to transform so many humans into entirely different species? Does the Draconian dimension look the same as in our game? What's expected of the transformed players? How do I fit in?
However, the question that leaves my lips has nothing to do with any of that.
"I want to know about Mom," I blurt out. "How did you two meet? Why did you break up? Where were you when they deported me to the EU? And how was I even born in the first place when I'm being constantly told that human and Divementis genes aren't compatible?"
"Okay, that will take a while," he conjures an armchair and a sofa with a simple hand gesture. He takes the armchair and nods at me to take the sofa.
I slowly sit down and spread my wings comfortably to the sides. He's being unnaturally considerate tonight and even took my wings into account when making this imaginary furniture. Still, I glare at him suspiciously. Who knows what he's really up to?
"I had to be strict with you when we first met," he says, noticing that I don't trust him a bit. "I managed to covertly hire humans to steal your feather from the Draconian embassy, but my subjects suspected that I was up to something. When I told them that I wanted to personally attend the New York conference, their suspicions only grew."
"You tried to hide the truth about me from your own people?" I narrow my eyes. "Why?"
"Because if I didn't get to you first to test your powers, they wouldn't have hesitated to kill you," he says darkly. "Fortunately, I managed to confirm that you indeed inherited the Divementis royal bloodline."
"What kind of sick test was that?" my face darkens. "You gave me a nosebleed and made me faint."
"A normal Divementis would have died instantly from that attack, Aefener," he sets the record straight, not sugarcoating it. "If I didn't go for the most brutal test and didn't promise to carry it out myself, the Divementis were prepared to abduct you after the conference."
"W-what?" I flinch. "B-but..."
"A weak half-breed wouldn't be allowed to live even if you are my son, the Divementis doctrine forbids diluting our gift," he explains. "Only by proving to them that your telepathic powers are worthy of the royal bloodline, I could protect you."
"How did you even know I would survive that?" I shake my head.
"I didn't, but I hoped," he says honestly. "Human and Divementis genes shouldn't be compatible, we thoroughly examined that. Still, somehow you are here, despite all the odds. Amelia... she... Out of all humans, I hoped that if anyone would be strong enough to pass on my royal genes, it would be her. And I was right."
"Yet, you abandoned her," I accuse him and I take a deep breath. I'm still uneasy about the fact that he would kill me mercilessly if I wasn't a strong enough telepath according to the Divementis standards.
"I assure you that I did not," he insists, "and, for the record, I didn't know that she was pregnant. As you already guessed, we're telepaths, not empaths. Embryos don't have thoughts, so I couldn't know. Amelia didn't know either at that time or I would have been able to read it in her mind. As for the reason why we broke up in the end, she didn't agree with the course the Divementis wanted to take with Draconia Online and she had enough of hiding our relationship."
"Hiding?" I tilt my head.
"Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think that Celestials aren't thrilled about you dating a human either," he points out. "While you're lucky enough that they do tolerate your lover, the same can't be said for the Divementis, so we had to keep our relationship secret. Fortunately, I'm not as anxiously guarded as you inside our premises. We could make it work even if Amelia hated it."
"Did you love her?" I ask directly because I just need to know. Do the Divementis even have the same idea of love?
"Do you seriously think I would bother to plan secret meetings and lie to my subjects if I didn't love her?" he clicks his tongue, clearly offended by my accusation. "Amelia was the only person I have ever loved, despite her being human. She was really special and she wasn't afraid of me at all."
"But you still broke up in the end," I say feebly.
"I let her go exactly because I loved her," he states firmly. "My subjects started to suspect that something was going on between us. If she stayed any longer and we were found out... I fear that not even me, the Divementis Emperor, could have stopped them from harming her."
I clutch my hands into fists and feel my eyes water.
"She still died," I murmur. "Did you investigate the real cause?"
"Her body was claimed by the Japanese government," my father sighs and I can see that it's genuinely painful for him. "They suspected that the brain tumour was caused by her testing experimental VR headsets excessively."
"And was that the case? I mean... really?" I gulp.
"Yes and no," he shakes his head. "Even twenty years ago, VR headsets were perfectly safe to use. However, Amelia stole an unfinished copy of Draconia Online. After she left, she was testing the game for two years without the Divementis supervision and it initiated a genetic transformation of her body. The game was far from being finished at that time, though. Instead of a proper transformation, it gave her cancer."
"I vaguely remember playing Draconia Online when I was a child," I get startled.
"Your brain is half-Divementis, I suppose you were safe from side effects," he calms me down. "Besides, Amelia couldn't know. I bet she sincerely believed that she was reliving your migraines. Do you remember what race you played as?"
"A Celestial," I say proudly with a tone suggesting 'what else.'
"I see, no wonder you became the race ruler," my father smiles slightly. "I won't lie to you, Aefener. You being both the heir to the Divementis throne and the Celestial Emperor able to wield powerful magic is a big deal. You could help us win the war and make a real difference. That's part of the reason why my people will be forced to acknowledge you. Losing you would mean losing a huge asset."
"I'm not an asset, I'm a person," I hate that he thinks of me that way. "And what did your people mean by standing before the Divementis Council?"
"That...," my father starts, but I suddenly sense the familiar feeling of my imaginary body losing its form, "is the topic for another meeting," he quickly finishes a sentence because my real body is inevitably waking up.