Chapter 12: 12
Two hours later, I'm freshened up, well fed, still of course in the tight embrace of my mother, the little one is deep in sleep in one of the many rooms in what I have come to realize is a palace that is not a palace. It was archaic, massive and immensely beautiful, bar the lack of wasteful gold and silver pieces, it was decorated with a simple decor of platinum and gray atop extremely old but sturdy wood.
The Patriarch has a whole wing to himself, the north wing, the innermost part of this extraordinary massive building that contained every single generation of the Elen family. Though very few lived in it, apparently, it was ever moving, teleporting away at random and into the most dangerous of places, sometimes deep in the Northern Whale Sea, other times, buried beneath the Catacombs of The Great Sand Conquerors of the West, or bizarrely enough, it could be found floating high above the clouds, at the same height as The Celestial Central Continent. In truth, the whole building was alive and moved whenever it felt like it, unless instructed otherwise by the Patriarch, it did as it pleased, it truly was a thing of wonder.
The Patriarch himself was a middle aged man, well, that's how he appeared to be, even though he was over hundreds of years old, his exact age was something I did not bother to concern myself with. As we both had ourselves a staring contest, his goatee and mustached twitching every so often, I couldn't help but marvel at how ordinary he looked. Fair skinned, short black hair that may as well have once been a bird nest and honey brown eyes, he looked like very much like someone who would never amount to much, yet, here he stood before me as the Patriarch of one of the most powerful Family in all of Rhe-at.
Neither of us said a word, no, he hadn't replied my greeting, nor that of mother, not even father's boisterous voice was enough to snap him out of his staring trance thus it was here we stood, long enough that my feet begun to ache and I begun to wonder to myself if the Patriarch was brain dead, if he was and no one else but myself knows bout it, then the Elen Family is doomed.
"You met him, didn't you? Lord Elen. Your soul bears the mark of his presence, it's no wonder you live. Still, to think he'd favor you enough to grant you a second chance at life. I must admit, I'm a tad envious of you".
I say nothing, there's nothing I could possibly say anyway. He asked, he answered and he concluded, what a guy.
"Come come, come sit. Young Ed, you too, come sit all of you, it's been awhile". As though the stare down had never happened, the Patriarch of the Elen Family invites us to sit, and sit we did.
"Asher, I understand your need to be with your son, but could you give us a moment with each other? Just me, Ed and the boy".
Without missing a beat, mother replies with a solid, "no", her face cold as ice, the tone strong like steel, her gaze unrelenting, daring the middle aged looking Patriach to ask her to leave her son again.
He relented, with a sigh, he turned to me, his eyes as neutral as they where since our stare down, he asked, "what do you remember?".
It took me a second to understand his meaning, "nothing, only... lights".
"I expected as much. Sigh, the old thing has refused to answer our summons for a while now, a very long while. We thought he was dead... or worse". That caught my interest, what could possibly be worse than death?.
The Patriarch continued, "after being silent for a whole century, I'd never have thought he would grant one of his own another chance at life. Is this his form of apology? Or is there something more to it? Things are never so simple in this Family".
"Perhaps there's more, perhaps there's nothing else, still, it has nothing to do with my son. His death at least has helped us to confirm that the old fogey is hale and hearty, I believe my son deserves some reward, a lifebound artifact sounds quite appropriate ".
Father cut short the revering monologue of the Patriarch and went directly for the kill. It wasn't anything surprising, the Elen Family was just like so, fishing in bloody, muddy and clear waters, as long as there was benefits to be gained, they'd probably sell their souls, this trait of theirs did not fit a Family that was said to be in decline and was hunted throughout Rhe-at.
Whilst there was hierarchy in the Family, it was quite lax, as the descendant of the Family would cuss and address their progenitor without much respect, even the Patriarch suffered this same fate, yet this unruly trait built a powerful cohesion in the family, created amongst them a bond stronger than that of a wolf's pack.
"Shame on you Edward, using your son's death for material gains, shame on you truly, you dishonor this family". The Patriarch of course wouldn't oh so willingly lose a treasure so easily. This family was one that loves to take, but giving out was a very different issue, they truly hated to suffer a loss.
"I agree with my husband, my son spent three years with Ancestor Elen, without him, you'd still be in the dark about Elen's wellbeing". Mother says softly as she holds me to her bosom, all my effort to free myself fell short, I had resigned myself to this fate.
"Come now Andrei, cough it up quick", dad chuckled heartily. At least he was smiling again, been looked like grim reaper all buffed up earlier today upon my... coming back to life.
"Fine! On one condition though, child, what else do you remember apart from lights? As long as you can recall anything else, something that can help me know of that old fogeys location, you get two... no, three treasures from the family's vault". The Patriarch whose name I have come to know is Andrei looked at my imploringly as he offered his condition.
Three lifebound artifacts where no joke, they where incredibly rare, it was easier to acquire Emperor level artifact than lifebound artifacts. Lifebound artifacts have the ability to grow in power with their lifebound partners, not even Saint level treasure have such ability, and this dude was willing to give out three for just she measly clue? Truly a generous folk I must admit. The fact that he is so generous must mean he has a lot more, how powerful is this family?.
"What if I can't recall anything else?", I ask gingerly.
"Then you lose some pretty neat treasures. how bout this for incentive, you get to pick any three treasures of your choice, as long as you recall anything other than lights".
'My my, how bout that?'. Since things had come to this, I absolutely had to give it my all.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone