Chapter 989 Do Not Weep For Me Elura's tone broker no space for arguments, and Rowan opened his mouth to protest but she placed a hand on his shoulders to stop him, and she unexpectedly drew him to herself, hugging him tight, she spoke in his ears, softly, "Let me finish with what I have to say. Rowan, I am dead, and some part of you can understand that this is the truth, and so no matter how much you wish to lay your head in my care to rest, you can never do so." Rowan wanted to push himself away from her, but she held him more firmly and continued speaking, "It was always so hard to blind your eyes to the truth, I should know, it is my everlasting shame that I tried to do the same, I followed the instructions of my Maker, and found a way to hold a portion of you so that I could create a bargaining chip, something to tie you to her side. As if that would ever work, you have always been wild and untamed like the breeze. For a time I believed that you could never be caught, but your enemies were too powerful, the game was rigged against you from the start. You don't know how amazing it is that you are here, now, before my gaze, shining and splendor despite all the odds." 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎 Rowan could feel tears from his mother's eyes flowing down his back, "Oh, my dear son, I am so proud of you. You went through and survived what no one should ever hope to survive and you prevailed. Yet, your heart is broken, but I should not be surprised, you got it from her, but you are more, where she is helplessly consumed by her past, you still have the power to reshape your future. You will have to let me go, so you can continue on your path, I just need to remind you that you can find another… you can find a new place to lay your head." Rowan shook his head, like a child who could not talk, and held his mother closer. Elura sighed, "You know that I speak the truth, Elura is your ally, but her plans for you should not be what you should follow, she is not deserving, no one in creation is deserving of controlling your path. Who in all of creation is worthy to stand before my son?! Let them step forth and be shamed before the least of your feats. Your Path remains yours alone, and no matter if her intentions for letting me see you again may seem rooted in good, ultimately it serves her agenda," His mother suddenly laughed, surprising Rowan, "She thinks that in the end, she would be the one in control, and yet she does not understand who you are. My Maker is surprised at how much I was able to hold back from her, how shortsighted, your freedom and power bamboozle their mind. Haa!" A note of anger entered her voice, "No matter how much I tried to fight against her wishes, I am still her creature, how could I have ever succeeded against her power? So she scrubbed through what was left of my memories, hoping to find, to recreate the miracle of your existence. They all discounted you Rowan, all of them. The Reflections, Elura, … you were small, weak, ignorant, and they had never imagined that my little green-haired boy with his heart filled with dreams would be able to fight back against them all and win. Elura desperately searches for the flaws in my design, and she forgot that everything I was able to do was with your help." Elura looked at the setting sun again, the shadows of darkness were already stretching across the earth, and the sun above had only a small part of itself shining above the hills, "I do not have much time left," Elura gasped, "When we last met I had thought that it would be the last time I set my eye on you child, but…" Rowan growled, "No!" He held out his left hand, and for the first time since he recreated his flesh, he activated his innate Telekinetic ability, purple lightning sparks ran down his arms as a faint gigantic shadow of his palm appeared over the setting sun and he… held it. The sun overhead was not real, it was nothing but a concept, and the spell Elura created to bring back her long-dead shade to life was tied to this concept, so it should be impossible for anything to manipulate the workings of this spell, for there was nothing to touch. Rowan had not fully explored the limits of his Telekinetic powers and what he did was instinctual, he did not want his mother to leave him, spell be damned. Smoke poured out of his blackening flesh as Rowan was holding back a weight that could not even be measured, his bones made loud creaking sounds, and if not for the extreme power up he got inside the Tenebris armor, his flesh would have collapsed to dust. He groaned, 'This is good, this moment here with her is everything, I will not allow it to end, she will not leave me again, I now have power, I have broken a universe, why can I not have everything I want?' Gritting his teeth he pulled, and the faint purple hand that was wreathed with lightning in a stunning move of madness, dragged the setting sun upwards, but this was too much and Rowan collapsed to the ground, every single bone in his body broken. He was healing extremely quickly but holding on to this spell was incurring damages so massive it overwhelmed his healing powers. He coughed blood and grinned at the astonished look on his mother's face, "See, I can hold, I do not need another place to rest when I have you." Elura looked at the collapsed body of Rowan and wanted to weep, but she did not want the last memory her son had of her to be one of sorrow, so she smiled and clapped her hands. Rowan's heart swelled, for such a simple gesture, the happiness it brought him was unmatched, but the hand that he held outstretched began to collapse, "Old Man!" he yelled, "Help me. Halt your dimension, and leave this place in twilight. I shall pledge my…" "Don't," Elura placed her hands over his mouth, "I do not want to return like this. You of all should know my son, that whatever will be… will be. You have made me proud beyond measure, and every time I look at you, it amazes me that I am your mother." She touched Rowan's chest and a stream of Aetherium began to enter his body, and weaved into it were memories. "Mother stop, doing this would disperse the spell, there is a price for your return," Rowan cried out but Elura did not stop, she smiled and continued, leaving Rowan grasping two fading threads leaving his hands—The setting sun and the memories entering his mind. The body of his mother began to fade and unexpectedly a drop of tear fell down his eyes, "Do not weep for me child, for this is what I want." Her body brightened until she shone brighter than any star in any universe, and then there was darkness and the lonely sound of weeping.