My father doesn't push me to leave the Divementis premises, but he insists I must get comfortable with stretching my consciousness. To a certain extent, it does resemble mental flying so I even start to enjoy it a little bit. Still, my body doesn't move during the meditation and my wings soon get sore.
"I have to stretch," I refuse to continue after lunch. "I'm not able to focus with sore wings."
"Your physical needs are indeed Celestial," my father observes. "The Divementis don't require excessive physical activity. Advin, take the Crown Prince outside for a flying session. I'll catch up with some minor tasks in the meantime."
I'm relieved that I'm allowed outside because I was afraid my father would try to overdo it with training. My cousin leads us outside and, in just a few minutes, I'm happily spreading my wings. I send a quick telepathic message to Liana to join me and she eagerly does so. I bet she needs a break as well since our government stands primarily on her now.
"Li, how are you managing?" I ask and I start hovering to have a quick chat with her. "Are Celestials listening to you?"
"They are because it's been a direct order from you," she nods. "We're currently trying to tell all Celestials the whole story without startling them too much. As for the Dragonkin, Deminas is sending Fefnir to Japan to act as his deputy."
"Fefnir is coming?!" I get excited. "Who's going to hold the fort in Prague?"
"Artisa," Liana says. "She proved to be very reliable and I bet she will be happy to get rid of Fefnir."
"Is he bothering her?" I roll my eyes. The last time I saw those two, Fefnir's interest in Artisa was super obviousâto Artisa's annoyance.
"Fefnir volunteered, actually," Liana smirks. "I heard that Artisa beat him up pretty badly when he tried to court her so he must be embarrassed."
Gotrid chuckles, but he doesn't comment on it. Since the ratio of male to female in the Dragonkin population is 3:1, Dragonkin ladies can be pretty picky about their suitors. Not wanting to embarrass Fefnir further, I change the topic.
"We should practice spells," I suggest. "The training with my father is Divementis, but I can't forget about levelling up my spellcasting."
"Wouldn't that exhaust you, Your Majesty?" Liana worries.
"Nope, I've been sitting the whole day so I have so much mana to burn!" I say enthusiastically. "I want to do something that's purely Celestial for a change. Let's do magic!"
Calling it magic is inaccurate, though, as my father already tried to explain to Erik. Celestial bodies naturally produce energy we call mana that can, in combination with willpower, affect matter itself. Telekinesis is essentially just the ability to move matter with one's mind which ultimately means that I'm moving atoms to do my bidding.
Of course, not that anyone who isn't a Celestial can actually understand how that works. Moreover, while every Celestial can do telekinesis (probably even little children once we start having them), delicate manipulation of matter is something we have to train. Right now, the average level of my subjects is around twenty which is hardly enough for fighting tough monsters, not to mention the Enemy.
I fly up as high as the Divementis shield lets me and hover. Practising spells on the ground might be easier, but we need to be able to cast spells while flapping our wings and when many things can potentially distract us.
I carefully channel a portion of my mana, just enough for this particular spell I want to test and try to condense moisture from the air above me. I can't produce water out of nothing, that would defy the laws of physics, but I can easily collect water droplets from around me. It's the same as using the Ice Barrier, only this one particular spell doesn't involve lowering the temperature and concentrating the spell into a single spot.
I don't expect to succeed because I failed a few times before, but when I feel the water condensing, I gain confidence and push on. My father's training surprisingly comes in handy here. When I stretch my consciousness, I can draw water droplets from far away, much further than a normal Celestial would be able to do.
"Love, whatever you're doing right now, you'd better stop it before...!" Gotrid's alarmed voice disrupts my concentration, but it's too late.
I look up and there's a black cloud gathering above us. I admire it for exactly two seconds before raindrops hit my feathers and I panic. Celestials are scared of getting soaked since we can develop hypothermia easily. At first, it's only drizzle, but it soon develops into a proper downpour.
Not knowing how to stop it, I order everyone to retreat. It doesn't look very dignified because we fly back in a frenzy, but it is what it is. By the time we reach the nearest shelter, everyone is dripping wet and cursing.
"Are you kidding me?!" Liana is furious and isn't afraid to scold me. "We have yet to master repulsion spells, Your Majesty!"
"I'm so sorry!" I frantically apologise to everyone because it's a sad sight to see graceful Celestials resembling wet chickens.
Son, where are you?! my father sends me a telepathic message. Are you the cause of this sudden rain? The cloud is just above our premises, it's suspicious. Disperse it this instant!
I chew my lip because I have no idea how to do it instantly. One way could be dispersing it with air currents but for that, I need to get closer. I spread my wings, but both Gotrid and Liana catch my wrists.
"You're not flying anywhere soaked like this!" my Viceroy forbids me. "We need to dry ourselves before we catch a cold."
"I think it's clearing on its own already," Gotrid points up.
I sigh in relief. I might have created a rain cloud, but it seems I didn't gather enough matter for it to last. It's indeed dispersing before our eyes. I hope nearby humans haven't noticed this unusual weather phenomenon.
Everybody flatters their wings as much as they can to get rid of excess water. The guards conjure fireballs to keep us warm, so I don't think we're in danger of hypothermia, but my maids are still mad when we finally get to our accommodation.
"Soren, take care of Liana for me," I order the guard captain who didn't come with us and stayed behind to hold the fort. "Dry her wings even if she protests."
"That's not necces-...," Liana protests all the same, but I command Soren to take her to her apartment immediately. Soren looks very pleased about his task and even winks at meâa silent thanks. That's one thing taken care of.
I make sure that everybody from my entourage has someone who will help them with drying. When we finally get to our apartment as well, away from prying eyes, I start stripping Gotrid's wet robe. If he catches a cold, it's going to be my fault entirely.
"Love, you're the priority," he objects.
The maids roll their eyes, divide us and take care of us both at the same time.
"We really need to learn those repulsion spells," Gotrid sighs. "This rain might have been caused by you on purpose, but there will be times when we will have to fight in bad weather conditions."
I couldn't agree more. After drying our wings and changing clothes, we head back to the labs. I expect my father to scold me and it looks like he would very much love to do so, but he lets it go in the end. It's as if he doesn't dare to do anything that could potentially damage our fragile relationship.
We sit on the meditation cushions and I automatically hug Gotrid with my right wing. I feel much calmer and safer with him by my side during my telepathic ventures. He does act as an anchor just as my father promised he would. Gotrid smiles at me encouragingly as I take a deep breath and my mind wanders.
I carefully inspect the Divementis premises once more and gently touch the Divementis I randomly encounter. Most of them flinch, but when they make sure that my father is tutoring me, they relax and open up to me a little.
Good, let them get used to your presence, he instructs me. As their prince, your presence should be comforting to them. They are uneasy only because they read your Celestial thinking.
Is it really that different? I doubt.
You have no idea, he laughs. Your sensory perception is Divementis, but the way you think about things is so hopelessly Celestial. That's okay, though. We shouldn't forget that you're also the embodiment of magic. Whether we like it or not, it's an undeniable truth we have to come to terms with.
Do you know what makes me the embodiment of magic? I ask, but I suspect the answer.
Unfortunately, no, he has to disappoint me. Truth be told, we didn't anticipate that the real embodiment of magic would emerge with the Great Evolution. We have no idea what makes the embodiment of magic so adept at magic.
I feel one with mana, I try to give him a feeble explanation. I don't know either.
That you do, it's the thing that makes you immortal, he confirms. Your mana circle is so well-developed that it showers your cells with rejuvenating energy all the time. You even have the ability to store extra mana in your feathers. Still, knowing all that brings us no closer to 'why'.
Are there no Celestial records that would maybe explain that?
The Celestial Imperial Library was destroyed when Assiath fell, my father says. Celestial technology isn't compatible with ours so we didn't bother saving any data crystals. Besides, there wasn't time for that. We hardly managed to secure the Celestial gene imprints the late Celestial Emperor entrusted to us.
Can you show me what he looked like? I suddenly get super curious.
I didn't meet him in person, my mother did, but I can show you his picture from the Divementis Archive, he pulls a mental image and projects it directly into my mind.
I'm taken aback. While his face isn't as androgynous as mine because that's a Divementis trait, the late Celestial Emperor had very handsome features and possessed the same hair and wing colour as me.
Did he have more partners just as the lore says? I'm burning with curiosity.
Emperor Asteraoth indeed had a harem consisting of twelve consorts, my father recalls.
T-twelve?! I'm left speechless. Erik and Gotrid can never hear about this or I'm toast. I'm lucky that Gotrid can't follow our telepathic exchange because we switched to the Divementis language which feels much more natural to use during full telepathic immersion.
But you're half Divementis, my father adds quickly. You bond to your partners so deeply that, while having polyamorous tendencies, you wouldn't handle such a number.
I'm not taking more partners, two is just right for me, I say adamantly.
Anyway, let's continue, he prompts me. We won't have much time tomorrow with the Japanese delegation coming.
I continue my venture under his tutoring until a familiar mind touches me. It's a mind I can't resist because it belongs to the person I love. I pull my consciousness back and open my eyes. Erik is squatting in front of me, smiling widely. He's the type to smile a lot, at least when it comes to me, but it's been some time since I've seen him so relaxed.
I melt in his embrace and shower him with my love. While I was training my telepathy, he's been training hard in VR. He's working towards becoming a Celestial. Hopefully, in a few months, we will share the sky. He will have hundreds of years to live and I want to spend them with him and Gotrid. We have to win this war.