"Did you know that long ago there were many ancestral lineages?" Celestia said, reclining on a silk pillow in the temple's private dining room while elegantly tearing into a piece of smoked fish. "Not just my lineage of ancestral cats."
Nathael, seated across from her with a steaming cup of tea between his hands, nodded without looking up. More than a month had passed since they arrived at Mount Kunlun, and in that time, his world had changed irreversibly. Under Xi Wangmu's tutelage, he had learned that magic is merely one form of energy, and that there are infinite energies in the vast ocean of the Omniverse. His already extraordinary understanding had expanded to limits even Sabine, his mother, could not have imagined. His always-supernatural talent had grown at a meteoric rate. Now, he did not merely channel ancestral magic… he listened to it. He felt it breathe.
Xi Wangmu had told him that, in other worlds, power is not always magical. Sometimes it is technological, sometimes spiritual, sometimes pure will. And that, if he ever crossed into the Omniverse, he must learn to adapt, to absorb those sources and transform them.
Celestia chewed with delight.
"Millennia ago," she continued, her mouth slightly full, "there were ancestral dragons, as wise as their wizard companions. Ancestral cranes that could sing the dawn in unison with the gods. Even ancestral basilisks, whose gaze did not kill… but revealed the deepest truth of the soul."
She licked a paw, her sapphire-blue eyes shining with a mixture of nostalgia and pride.
"But in the end… only my lineage survived."
Nathael smiled and reached out, gently stroking her neck. Celestia purred, closing her eyes for a moment, letting her companion's warmth envelop her.
"That means you are the strongest lineage," Nathael said, tenderly.
Celestia's eyes snapped open, she puffed out her chest with a comically proud expression, and nodded firmly.
"Of course!" she meowed. "It's only natural. Though…" her expression turned melancholy, "it's a pity there are no other ancestral lineages left. I would have loved to face an ancestral dragon. The ones now don't count. They're just beasts without reasoning ability. A few swipes of my claws… and we'd have dragon skin to sell. We could finance an entire island."
Nathael laughed softly and stood, walking toward the balcony overlooking the immensity of Mount Kunlun. Night was falling gently, tinting the sky purple and gold. Celestia followed silently and leaped into his arms, settling with her tail wrapped around her paws.
For a while, both gazed at the landscape: jade temples illuminated by moonlight, stone bridges that seemed to float among the clouds, and the endless silhouette of the mountain range like the spine of the world.
"How are you doing with the bracelet?" Celestia asked, breaking the silence.
Nathael glanced down at his right wrist, where the silver bracelet rested, pulsing with a slow, steady rhythm like the heartbeat of a sleeping heart. He raised his left hand and, with a fluid, precise gesture, traced runes in the air around the bracelet. The lines glowed with silvery light, forming a complex spiral of floating symbols.
"These…" he said, "are the coordinates of our world."
He moved his fingers slightly, and the runes changed. Now the symbols were older, more cryptic, as if written on the very skin of the cosmos.
"And these…" he continued, "are the original coordinates the bracelet had when it was found. A small, backward world, yes. But peaceful. Of course, that was millennia ago. Everything could have changed. Or at least… I think so."
"Xi Wangmu explained something important to me," Nathael added, his voice graver. "Time flows differently in the Omniverse. A day here can be years… or seconds… in other worlds. And most importantly: never reveal the coordinates of our world. Though the trees protect it from external threats, if someone obtains the coordinates… they could target our reality directly. We would be a mark."
Celestia nodded, her ears slightly raised.
"By the way, your mother sent a letter," she said, changing the subject. "Replying to the one you sent a week ago."
Nathael tensed slightly.
"Has she told the family yet?"
"Something like this had to be known," Celestia said. "It will undoubtedly cause a stir among the members. Though I don't know if the Matriarch has announced it to everyone yet. Perhaps only to the elders."
She paused, then continued.
"But there's more. The Matriarch asks that you send her the exact locations of the other ancestral trees. She says they must act soon. Send our members to care for and feed them. If they weaken further, the global shield will collapse."
Nathael nodded thoughtfully.
"Send her the coordinates," he said. "Let the best from the secondary branch go. Have them take supplies, grimoires, everything necessary."
"Did she mention Anneliese or Williams?" Nathael asked softly. "Or our wish to set out to find them?"
Celestia shook her head.
"She only says the decision is ours."
Nathael gazed at the horizon, where the first stars began to appear in the twilight sky.
"It's time," he said firmly.
He gently set Celestia on the floor and stood from the balcony.
"Celestia… prepare our things. We leave tomorrow."
Celestia meowed, a spark of excitement in her eyes.
"I've been waiting for this eagerly."
That night, while Celestia drafted a new letter to Sabine with the coordinates of the ancestral trees, Nathael met Xi Wangmu in the temple's central garden. The Queen Mother walked among flowers that glowed with their own light, her golden robe billowing as if woven from stars.
"I've been thinking about something," Nathael said after greeting her with a bow. "How much longer will the ancestral trees hold before cracks begin to form?"
Xi Wangmu stopped and looked at him with her ancient eyes, full of wisdom and sorrow.
"Perhaps three… or four years," she said. "But with your family's help, that time could be extended. If the Grauheim nourish the trees with their materials and magic… the shield will strengthen."
Nathael nodded, relieved.
"Do you have a planned first stop?" Xi Wangmu asked.
"I was thinking of going to the coordinates the bracelet originally had," Nathael replied. "That isolated world."
Xi Wangmu shook her head.
"That world is perfect for starting anew… but not for searching. Your father and sister are not there. They were taken to a world that is somewhat more… active. More chaotic."
She paused, then smiled softly.
"I have coordinates that could serve as a reference point. An acquaintance of mine lives there. She is native to that world and, like me and the ancestral trees, protects her reality from dimensional threats. Though her multiverse is unstable, violent, full of realities that are born and die in seconds. She protects her world—Earth. And if anyone has seen Williams or Anneliese… it will likely be her."
Nathael considered it for a moment, then nodded.
"I accept."
As they walked back toward the temple, Xi Wangmu stopped again.
"Nathael…" she said, her voice lower. "As a remnant of my true self, and now that I have fulfilled my mission… I likely have only a year left before I disappear completely."
Nathael looked at her, surprised and with a pang of sadness in his chest.
"That is why," she continued, "I confirm what I already told you. You are the heir. From now on, you are the new master of the Primordial Heaven Sect. You have all the permissions, all the powers, all the knowledge this mountain can offer you."
Nathael bowed his head in deep respect.
"Thank you, Queen Mother."
"And when you have time," she added with a smile, "take a look at the library. There are scrolls dating back before the Great War. Some could help you become even stronger."
"I will," Nathael promised.
Just as he was about to say goodbye and return to his temporary residence, Xi Wangmu stopped him one last time.
"By the way…" she said, and from her sleeve drew a small object wrapped in black silk. "When Bjorn took the bracelet, consumed by his thirst for vengeance, he left this behind."
She tossed the object to Nathael, who caught it with one hand.
Unwrapping it, his eyes widened.
It was the soul-tracking artifact.
"I had forgotten," he murmured, with a mix of astonishment and relief. "Dumbledore wanted it."
"Now you have it," Xi Wangmu said, with an enigmatic smile. "Use it well."
Nathael nodded and bowed again.
"Thank you."
He returned to his residence with a lighter heart. Upon entering, he found Celestia rolling up a scroll with a familiar seal.
"I just sent the letter to the Matriarch," she said without looking at him.
Nathael approached and showed her the artifact.
Celestia looked at it, and her eyes lit up.
"By the stars!" she meowed joyfully. "One less problem! This artifact secures our deal with Dumbledore… and consequently, the Philosopher's Stone."
Then she frowned thoughtfully.
"It's a shame we can't exchange it for the Philosopher's Stone right now," she said. "Dumbledore told us he would give us the Stone at the end of the school year… that is, late June. And now it's early February."
Nathael sighed but smiled.
"The Stone's energy would have been useful… but we'll make do. Besides…" he looked at Celestia with a mischievous smile, "as you always say, Celestia… we are very strong."
Celestia raised her head proudly, tail erect, eyes shining with the confidence she always exuded.
"That is correct."