Chapter 1883: Cleansing Reality (3) There were a few things that could surprise Eva, who was now a Nascent Primordial, and this news was one of them. Rowan watched her shocked expression, and for a moment, he felt a sense of sadness. How long was it when his Lady of Shadows had this light and glow in her eyes? What about Lost, would he ever see him again, or was the fusion with Eva permanent? He had given too much on his search for greater powers, and Rowan could not help in moments like this when he felt intense regret. Some would say that certain powers were not worth the price, and Rowan firmly agrees with this sentiment, but it would seem that for him, the lines of acceptable practices had become blurred over the years, and he had been constantly shifting the goal posts from one point to another to accommodate his shifting mentality. In Eosah’s Reality, Rowan was barely a million years old. Still, with the manipulations of time and the fact that his Incarnation had lived in some dimensions where time had been extremely stretched or compressed, he had accumulated trillions of years of life, and all of those years weighed down on him. Even for an immortal, time could still change them, and Rowan had not been living in a vacuum; several factors had been key to impacting his gradual transformation over the years, until it reached a point where he had sacrificed those closest to him to achieve the ultimate goal of ending the Primordials. A perfect memory and comprehension can be a curse, for what was the definition of an individual if not the accumulation of their life experiences? "I can see that look in your eyes, Rowan," Eva’s shocked expression finally eased into contemplation, "For someone as wise and powerful as you, there are times when you remind me that there is still a mortal man inside the core of your being." Her eyes began to glow like the sun, and faint white flames licked across her skin. Placing a burning hand on Rowan’s chest so he could feel the weight of her presence, Eva locked eyes with him, "Life is about change and transformation, Rowan, and you are not the only one permitted to change. This is our choice, and you have to respect our decision and believe in yourself more. You are better than this, Rowan. No matter the setbacks you have faced or are presently facing, you should push forward knowing you are the best option we have." She smirked, "I could have done better if I had your talent, but destiny is a fickle mistress." Feeling the heat of her hand on his chest, Rowan smiled and placed his hand over her own, "Heavy is the head that bears the crown, Eva, even if I don’t want to worry about the decisions I made in the past, memory still weighs down on me." "And we would not trust you with our destinies if it didn’t, Rowan. Do not punish the best parts of yourself." Eva smiled and, standing on tiptoes, kissed his cheek, "Now, do not dare leave me in suspense any longer. What happened to drive away the Primordials, and is it related to the slight gaps in my memory that I cannot peer into?" Rowan was surprised, "You can detect the previous change in Reality? I did not think that was possible; perhaps it is your connection with Primordial Light that led to a deep discernment of spirit." "I was going to bring this matter up to you in the future, but I could never have realized the importance." Eva’s eyes tightened. "Did you make a deal with the Primordials? If you sacrifice yourself for us, Rowan, I will never forgive you!" The hand Rowan had over Eva’s squeezed tight, and he spoke through gritted teeth, "I will never bargain with the Primordials." A bit surprised at the heat in his voice, Eva pulled back and looked more deeply at Rowan, speaking softly, "What happened to Reality, Rowan?" He sighed and looked away, "Let’s go to the meeting hall, there are a lot of things to speak about, and I would rather do it once." Eva watched Rowan flying into the living castle, and she glanced at the heavens, towards the eighth lines of radiance above and the shattered fragments of the Primordial faces. She swallowed as the sense of anticipation rose in her heart and followed him. ® The descent of the Avatars of Eos’s bloodline had already drawn the attention of everyone related to this matter into the castle. Rowan entered the meeting hall to meet old members of the gathering and new faces. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢 Noctis, wearing his humanoid form, his body covered by black living tattoos that moved across his skin as if they were alive. His eyes were dull as if he was sleepwalking, but Rowan knew that he was most likely suffering from the backlash of both the events happening in the Realm of Death and Eos forcefully severing the threads that bound Eosah’s Reality to any powers outside of it. Beside Noctis was a surprising new addition: the living castle itself, shaped like a woman, but her form was only humanoid; what made up her body was stone and metal. She carefully selected this material, having consulted Rowan in the past for the best ores to use when crafting her body. The living castle Algorth, who preferred to go by the name Sheba, had a different sense of beauty than others, and she valued her body made of stone and metal over one of flesh. Technically, Sheba did not need to remain in the form of a castle any longer. With the many nodes she had created that linked her new humanoid body to her castle, she could draw in the entirety of Algorth into her body, but she preferred that the castle remain her primary body while the humanoid form served as her avatar. Like Noctis, Sheba had great potential. After all, they were the first children of Eosah’s Reality. The benefits they had enjoyed were many times more potent than what any other living being inside this Reality had access to. Rowan saw that reaching the ninth-dimensional level would not be a difficult test for her to overcome. Sitting directly opposite Noctis and Sheba was Circe and her friend Archimedes, the lightning Kirin, now wearing a humanoid form that resembled a boy of twelve. Rowan found it a bit funny that the first time he met the Lightning Kirin, he had thought she was female. Vraegar and Eva sat beside each other, whispering to themselves, the dragon gesticulating excitedly. Eva had been a core part of his circles when he was growing up, and reuniting with her gave him a sense of familiar comfort. Telmus and his daughter Staff were also present, and although the new Primordial had ensured that all presence of his powers had been snuffed out, making him resemble a normal man, his Aura still had an intensely magnetic quality that drew the eyes of everyone at the table, as Rowan noticed they could not help but throw glances at Telmus. With a slight cough, Rowan announced himself and sat at the head of the table, he nodded at Telmus first, before glancing into the eyes of everyone and he opened his mouth to speak.