The soft hum of Azure's wind carried over the estate as Lucien's clone lowered himself to sit beside Aelira. His presence was calm, but it radiated authority so palpable that even the shadows seemed to hesitate in his vicinity.
"How has it been, daughter?" he asked, his crimson eyes softening as he looked down at her.
Aelira, unable to contain herself, leapt forward and hugged him tightly. "I missed you, Papa!" she said, her voice muffled against his robe.
The clone's hands moved automatically to rub her head, his touch warm and grounding. "Since the White Flash, the structure of existence has changed… for the good of the omniverse," he said quietly, looking toward the horizon. A faint glow emanated from the blue skies, reflections of distant stars touching the water. "You've had it a little rough, Ali."
Aelira looked up at him, eyes shining with both tears and determination. "Papa… when will I meet my siblings?"
The clone smiled faintly, a calm yet commanding expression that carried centuries of experience. "It was before I arrived on Azure Blue. More than fifty years ago, before the White Flash. I found a carriage… filled with the dead. But then I heard you crying. That same day, I took you in."
Aelira's eyes glimmered. "No matter what… you're still my father." She raised her chin, and a shadow of vengeance crossed her features. "Someday, when I travel the world on my own, I'll find the family that discarded me… that allowed my parents to die. If they are corrupted… I will kill them myself."
The clone nodded approvingly, his crimson gaze locked on hers. "Remember this, Aelira. Let it be your motto: an eye for an eye, blood for blood. If you can't strike now… one day, you must. And return it tenfold."
"Ok, Papa," she whispered, her voice unwavering now, filled with determination.
A faint breeze shifted behind them, and Lucien's clone's eyes twitched slightly. "Ah… if it isn't the little monkey."
From the shadow, a figure leapt lightly, landing gracefully beside them. A golden-haired monkey, perched on a pillar that seemed impossibly heavy for any normal creature. Its eyes glimmered with ancient wisdom. "Guru," the clone muttered, smiling.
"Hey, my boy Lucien," Guru said, his voice rich with mischief, but his stance radiated power that could rival realms.
"Guru, you weren't speaking like that when I last met you," the clone replied dryly.
From another angle, a tall figure appeared beside the monkey. Blue hair streaked with black, slit silver eyes glowing faintly. Vealion, the mythic rebel who had fought alongside Guru against Heaven a thousand years ago, nodded. "Yeah, he's been like this since the White Flash… trying to fit in with the new era."
Aelira blinked, her youthful curiosity showing through. "Hey, Uncle Guru!" she chirped.
"Hey, Aelira. I got a heavenly peach for you," Guru said with a flourish, holding out a glowing golden fruit.
The clone raised an eyebrow. "Can you stop feeding her this… trash? She's been immune for forty years. You've been giving her these since she was three in the original timeline."
Guru shrugged, grinning. "Bro… chill out. She loves it."
Lucien's clone smirked faintly. "Whatever, monkey…" He rose to his feet, straightening his robe. "We're going to my home planet. I want Aelira to meet her siblings. And we have someone to deal with — Fein. He's been experimenting on students at the academy. He nearly took my children. He's broken a few of the era's laws while he was at it. You're coming with us."
Guru's golden hair glimmered as he adjusted his stance. "When do we leave?"
Vealion's silver eyes narrowed in anticipation. "Yeah… when?"
Lucien's clone snapped his fingers once. The world beneath Azure Blue seemed to tilt for a fraction of a heartbeat. When their eyes refocused, they were looking down at the sprawling cityscape of Aetherion far below. "Now," he said simply.
Descent to Lunis
The five figures — Lucien's clone, Aelira, Umbra coiling protectively around her, Guru, and Vealion — began their descent. Their motion was silent yet absolute, a shift in reality itself carrying them effortlessly across the void between Azure Blue and the mortal realm.
They materialized atop a skyscraper in Lunis, a city that shimmered like glass towers meeting the heavens. The air was thick with latent energy — subtle, almost imperceptible.
Powerful entities within the city stirred. None could detect them fully — only a faint ripple in the energy of the world made their instincts flare.
At the Dreamveil Estate, Selene sat perfectly still, porcelain teacup in hand. The afternoon sunlight danced across her flawless skin. Yet her silver eyes narrowed slightly, her senses alert.
"Lucien?" she whispered, almost breathless.
Though this was his clone, the consciousness within was indistinguishable from the man she had loved, the man who had mastered the White, the void, the creation itself. Through her connection — the mirrored six bond, the power of Void Luminance, the shared essence of the Dreamveil bloodline — she could feel him.
Every motion. Every thought. Every intention.
Her heart did not leap. It simply recognized the inevitability of his presence.
Her lips curved into a calm, almost imperceptible smile. "Even if you are a copy… you are still him."
The clone's attention, however, was on the city of Lunis and the distant threat he had set his sights upon. Fein's intrusion at Aetherion Academy had left a mark, and he was not one to leave matters unresolved.
Umbra hissed softly, its thousand eyes scanning the city for potential threats.
Aelira clutched the dragon's scaled neck gently, feeling a strength that dwarfed her own yet felt familiar and safe.
Guru adjusted his golden pillar, his grin widening. "Heh… I like this era already."
Vealion's eyes glinted faintly. "This isn't a game anymore. Whoever senses this… they know we've arrived."
The clone's crimson eyes swept over the cityscape, then rested on Aelira. "Your siblings await, daughter. But before reunions, there are lessons that must be enforced. Fein underestimated the legacy of creation. He will pay."
Umbra's black wings stretched across the rooftop, casting an inky shadow over the city. The End of All Things was awake, alert, and ready.
Selene's voice echoed faintly in his consciousness, a tether that reminded him of home, of blood, and of inevitability.
"Yes," he whispered to himself, lips curling into a determined smile. "Even a clone carries the will of the True Sole Exception…Myself Of Course. Let the Gotterdammerung continue."
The stage was set.
Azure Blue. Lunis. Aetherion.
Every thread of fate now intertwined.
The first moves of the next era were about to unfold.