566 Family Talk I
Michael recalled what Alice told him when he objected to meeting his mother before, and he agreed with her point of view. He had to talk to his mother.
Even if it was just once, Michael would have to confront his mother. It was necessary to find out what he could do to rescue his brother, and how dangerous it could be. Last but not least, Michael had many questions that had to be answered. Not only about his brother's rescue, but related to their past.
"Hesta is alive, and you and father have been with her for a while now, right?" Michael asked the moment he barged into his mother's cabin. He tried to stay calm but seeing his mother turned this simple task into mission impossible.
He controlled his erratic breathing and circulated origin energy through his body to keep his calm.
"Huh? Michael? W-What are you doing here?" His mother turned to him, startled, "I didn't expect you to come and find me so soon."
Evalynn stared at her son, his vibrant golden eyes glaring back at her.
She hesitated. Her lips felt incredibly dry all of a sudden and no word escaped her lips until it was clear that Michael was not going to answer her question first.
"You. You asked about Hesta? She is alive. We managed to find and stabilize her after she went off the grid. She is not currently with us though. She left the Nest."
"The Nest? I don't know what that means," Michael shrugged, "Either way. Why is it necessary to initiate the reincarnation ritual for my brother? I can roughly understand that the family's curse is going to feast on his living soul within the next year. I sensed something similar when I used my Soultrait to look into the coffin."
He pointed at the Miniature Coffin Keychain as he recalled the chaotic mass of Danny's Living Soul that was preserved inside.
His mother glanced sadly at the Miniature Coffin Keychain, "Usually it's not necessary for us to do something like that for individuals who haven't even ascended to a Higher Lifeform, but since his soul did not enter the Cycle on its own, we have to help him. It's a good thing that the curse weighing down on Daniel is rather weak. That is probably also why his Living Soul could survive this long without sustaining any permanent damage."
Evalynn nibbled on her lower lip after she finished her last sentence. Her eyes appraised Michael's reaction over and over again, trying to get a good look at her estranged son.
"How have you been?" She asked, at last.
Michael raised an eyebrow, but all he could do was sigh deeply.
"It's a bit too late to ask that. I came here for answers, and I will decide what to do after I hear the truth," Michael's voice grew cold, "If I sense that you lied to me, I will never talk to you again after today."
Evalynn's lips parted but she shut her mouth and pressed her lips together in a thin line before a sound could escape. She always knew that it wasn't going to be easy. The moment she left Michael and Danny in the Golden Sun Province to fend for themselves, Evalynn knew that reuniting with them would be a challenge. Despite that, she and her husband accepted the challenge. They left their lads to figure out life and grow into adults without the love and care of parents.
So it was no surprise that they grew up loathing their family. Evalynn could see that clearly.
"What is the Hellbound Cataclysm? You mentioned that if you cannot perform the reincarnation ritual to 'rescue' Danny, his soul will be devoured by the curse and it will evolve into the Hellbound Cataclysm. So what exactly is that?"
A single tear trickled down his mother's cheek, but Michael remained calm. As calm as possible, that is.
"After we heard that your brother…died… we sensed that something was wrong, but we were busy at that time and it took us a while to reach you from our location. I think you remember that we messaged you about resurrecting Danny, right? We wanted to summon your brother in the Origin Expanse by giving up some of our achievements and treasures to nurture his soul and transfer it to another vessel later," Another tear trickled down her face.
"Unfortunately…that didn't work out well. I don't know how you did it, but you succeeded to summon Danny. You spent several months close to him, allowing the presence of your Curse to stimulate and ignite the remnants of our family's curse within your brother. I didn't know about that before because we haven't received a report about a new high-ranked Curse User, but your curse is extremely powerful. You have far more Cursed Seals within you than most Cursed Children I have met. That is extraordinary…but also dangerous."
The information Michael received from his mother was helpful, but she was taking her time to answer his question. He wanted to know about the Hellbound Cataclysm. However, he listened to her nonetheless. The details he got to know today should help him at some point in time.
"Under normal circumstances, a Hellbound Cataclysm cannot happen even if a curse devours the soul of its deceased owner. However, because Daniel was stuck in a limbo between death and life for too long as a Summon, right next to someone like you at that, the remnants of his curse must have been reformed and reconstructed. The weak Curse that didn't even possess a single Cursed Seal mutated and began to devour your brother. The only reason he is fine is because of this weird keychain. It restrains the curse's effect temporarily and preserves your brother's soul."
"That's our great fortune because a Hellbound Cataclysm is a terrific threat that can manage to destroy entire stellar systems if left unattended. Once unleashed, it will tear apart the fabric of space and time, creating links to other dimensions where horrifying beings reside. The dangers of the Origin Expanse are nothing compared to the Cataclysmic Portals!"
There were still many things Michael didn't understand but he made a bunch of mental notes while conversing with his mother. It was essential to research some terms and verify a handful of information, but Michael could roughly understand what happened and why 'the Nest', or whatever organization, wanted Danny's Living Soul.
To prevent a threat strong enough to destroy entire stellar systems, they had to cleanse Danny's Living Soul and put him back into the Cycle.
"So, they sent you to discover his Living Soul? Why?"
If Danny's Living Soul was truly this dangerous, why would they send his mother? She might be a powerful being at the Peak of Tier-6, but the universe was vast and his mother didn't even know until a few days ago that her younger son had her oldest son's Living Soul. She didn't recognize him, after all.
"Danny's Curse is the most attuned to my Soul as his mother and the Curse User who had been with him the longest. That's how I managed to keep track of his Living Soul's coordinates," Evalynn explained, before she weakly added, "The Navi-Curse Compass can only detect Cursed Souls without a vessel."
'Does that mean my Soul is the most attuned to my mother as well? What does that even mean?'
"Your Curse is different. I don't know what happened, but you must have had some encounters with Cursed Children, Chaos Beasts, or something like that. Or maybe your Soultrait is highly compatible with your Curse, thus unlocking three Cursed Seals long before your vessel was ready for it."
Michael realized that his mother didn't know that he possessed several Soultraits as he listened to her come up with possible explanations. But thinking about it, Michael figured that it didn't matter.
'Many said that Extraction is an ancient power. It has probably fused with my Curse or altered it in some way. Is that it? I could use the three unsealed Cursed Seals to awaken True Extraction.'
He had a few encounters with beings who recognized him as a Cursed Child. Michael presumed that Cursed Children were the offspring of a powerful Curse User. That would make sense.
One way or another, Michael didn't want to listen to his mother for long. He still had many queries abandoned to ask, but there was one particular question that was the most important for Danny's rescue.
"Does that mean that I can treat Danny's Living Soul like a normal Living Soul, or do I have to be more careful because his Living Soul is a Cursed Soul with the characteristics of a Living Soul?"
That was actually a crucial point. If he couldn't prevent the Hellbound Cataclysm by transferring Danny's Living Soul into the Soul Grimoire until he found a suitable vessel for his brother, Michael would have to think of another solution.
He only had one more year abandoned before the restraints of the Miniature Coffin Keychain would be lifted. By then, his brother's soul would be damaged and devoured at last. The Hellbound Cataclysm couldn't be stopped easily after that, and Danny's Living Soul would be lost for all eternity.
Michael didn't want either of that, but that was only obvious.
"I told you that you cannot save him anymore. You need to let him go to save the rest of this stellar system. A lesser stellar system such as the solar system won't manage to survive the Hellbound Cataclysm for more than 48 hours. You need to get your act together!" Evalynn was on the verge of shouting.
However, Michael could only frown deeply.
"Can you stop changing the topic, and start answering my queries properly, please?!?"
