After some time, another thought surfaced.
This one was more personal.
Lucien opened his eyes.
"Senior Alan."
Alanthuriel looked toward him.
"Did you help me because you thought I could become an Omniarch?"
Alanthuriel's expression changed.
Then, unexpectedly, he smiled.
It was a tired expression.
"I wondered when you would ask that."
Lucien waited.
Alanthuriel looked at him for a long moment before shaking his head.
"Our first meeting was not something I arranged."
Lucien remembered the Stillness Prison.
He had been vastly weaker then.
His Omnigenesis Vessel had not even existed.
The inner universe had been nothing like what it was now.
Alanthuriel could not have looked at that version of Lucien and somehow known where everything would lead.
"Our paths crossed because circumstances placed us in the same place," Alanthuriel continued. "Call it fate if you prefer."
He paused.
"I knew you were unusual long before I understood how unusual."
Lucien smiled slightly.
