Sunday, July 3rd, 2044
Tullamarine Airport, Melbourne, Australia
When Keith disembarked his private plane together with Yingying, a heartfelt smile appeared on his face and he rushed forward to hug the lady who was waiting to receive him.
"Mother." He tightly helped her in his arms as he twirled around with her, which brought a sweet smile to her face. "I missed you."
"I know." She smiled some more as she inhaled his scent, and then just stayed rooted in his arms for a good few minutes when he put her back on her feet.
Keith had no shame in admitting that during the time he had been away from home, she was the person whom he missed the most, and now, having her in his arms, and feeling her holding him back, provided him with a sense of security that always cleared his mind and made him feel happy from the depths of his heart.
After separating from Venessa, his eyes turned to look at Sibyl, who was attentively standing behind her Master, wearing a light smile on her lips.
She had not changed much in appearance in the last few years, but he could tell that she had gotten much stronger than before.
He scanned her body when he pulled her in his arms and was pleased to see that she was on the verge of entering the late stage of the True Profound Realm.
He planted a kiss on her cheek, which made her smile some more, and then she led them to the vehicles that were waiting for them.
It was early in the morning, and tonight Keith and Venessa were going to attend the Football World Cup Final that was being held in Melbourne.
Netheria had exited the tournament in the Semi-Finals on Thursday at the hands of Brazil, and tonight the two finalists, Brazil and Persia, would vie for the iconic golden trophy and the glory.
He would be meeting a lot of familiar faces tonight, and there was one, he was very much looking forward to.
The singer who was going to perform at the FIFA World Cup Final Opening Ceremony was none other than the beautiful and talented Heroine of Destiny, his dear friend, Alana Storm, whose real name was Alana Parker.
And then there was the Lady of the Night, who was going to be present there too with several of his acquaintances from the Underworld.
However, right now, none of them was on his mind.
Sibyl drove them to a villa that his mother owned in Toorak, and Venessa immediately pulled him inside the house.
She had come here on Friday after he had sent a message to her. He wanted to spend some time alone with her, and Venessa was more than happy to drop whatever she had on her hands to come to Australia.
And right before she left for the airport to pick him up, she had prepared breakfast for him, knowing well that her child had missed the taste of her hands.
Venessa just kept watching him as he ate everything she had prepared for him. And there was this infectious smile on her face that threatened to never leave.
Under his insistence, she did eat a little, but she was not hungry at all and just kept her eyes on him.
"You have grown taller." She commented, and he chuckled at her.
"I have, by an inch." He admitted as he sipped on the juice and smiled at her. "So have you, and you have grown more beautiful as well."
"Don't lie to me." She said, and he shrugged at her words.
"Well, it's hard to grow more beautiful than you already are. But I am not lying, Mother." He smiled at her.
Being in the Primal Harmony phase of the Primal Desolation Realm had indeed enhanced her beauty a little. And she had indeed grown taller by a couple of inches, which was the same for Amelia after the Aura refined their bodies during the Earth Refinement Phase of the Primal Desolation Realm.
Since the physical growth was proportional all around, the gain in height did not bring about any glaring changes to their appearances that would harm their charm.
"Am I going to keep gaining in height?" She calmly asked.
"Yes."
His answer made her frown, but his next words answered her questions.
"Your current height, which is 6'1", is barely the average height for an Ashaya in the Primal Desolation Realm. As we keep growing stronger, our bodies will keep growing as well."
"So we are going to become Giants?" She smirked at him.
"A Giant in a Giant's world is not considered a Giant, Mother." He laughed at her question and then continued with his meal.
"But there must be a cap on physical growth." She curiously looked at him.
"There is. And it depends from race to race. Some Divine Races can even control their Physical growth and age. If they wish, they can stay in a ten-year-old body for as long as they want, and they can become physically smaller or bigger within their Race's specified range."
"Interesting. So how do they determine the age of someone if they can control their physical growth?"
"By their Aura. The essence of life in their body. There are special artefacts in existence that can help identify the age of a person by scanning their Aura. And if they are of the same Race, or fall in the same category of Races, such as the Divine Races, the stronger one can generally identify the age of the weaker one without the need of a Magical Artefact."
"How tall can an Ashaya grow?" She asked, curious as a little child.
"The average height would be around 10 feet and the limit would be 13 feet."
"Is that small or big?"
"The Ashaya and other basest Races on average are on the smaller side. There are exceptions, of course." He informed her.
"How tall can someone from the tallest race grow?"
Keith stopped eating and raised his head to look her in the eyes.
"I don't want to spoil the surprise. You will find out the answer to that one day. And trust me, you would appreciate it that I did not spoil it for you."
He could not help his laugh when he watched his mother pout at his words and fold her arms on her chest.
"Want to see magic?" He playfully asked, and his mother smirked at him, showing him her hand upon which a fireball suddenly appeared. "Fire. Interesting." He smiled slightly. It was not simple magic as Venessa seemed to have an inborn affinity o the Fire Element by how effortlessly she had formed that fireball. "But not this Magic, Mother."
His words piqued her curiosity and she dispersed the fireball in her hand.
"Show me." She demanded, and Yingying and Sibyl too ardently waited for him to show what he had in mind.
The three ladies curiously looked at the vial that suddenly appeared in his hand which was half-filled with a sparkling emerald liquid.
"Here." He offered it to Sibyl with a light smile. "Drink it."
Though curious, she did not ask any questions and simply grabbed the vial from his hand, deciding to drink it.
Sibyl knew that Keith would never do anything harmful to anyone present at the table, and the thought never even crossed her mind.
The moment she lifted the stopper, an intoxicating scent engulfed their senses, exciting every cell inside their bodies, and making them tremble in sensations that they had never experienced before.
"Hurry up." He spoke, breaking them free of their dazed state, and Sibyl immediately drank all of the viscous contents of the vial.
Venessa and Yingying curiously looked at the silver-haired lady, and then their eyes started widening in surprise at the phenomenon that took place.
The woman who looked to be in her forties started de-ageing right before their eyes, and five minutes later, there was this beautiful lady in her mid-twenties, in her absolute prime, seated in the same seat.
Sibyl too had sensed the changes in her body and the growth in height, and watching her look at her hands and pull up her sleeves to look at her arms in confusion, brought tears to Venessa's eyes.
Her Shadow, the one who had been by her side the longest, was now young as the times she recalled from when she was a child.
She stood up from her seat and then pulled her Shadow up before hugging her tightly.
"Master..." Sibyl was still in disbelief, and it made Venessa giggle, and then she immediately pulled her behind her, leading her to the closest mirror inside the house.
Keith smiled and then finished up his breakfast, ignoring his Shadow who was still wearing a shocked expression on her face.
Yingying has seen how Minami had changed overnight, but the changes in Sibyl were way too drastic, and it took a while before she managed to calm down her heart.
"Keith!"
He laughed when he found his mother rushing towards him, and stood up to grab her in his arms.
"Thank you! Thank you!" She excitedly said before pulling him into a deep kiss.
There were not many people whom Venessa cared about in her life. But if she had to pick the person she cherished the most after Keith, it was undoubtedly Sibyl.
When he separated from her, he looked at the silver-haired lady who was standing in the doorway, trying her best to hold back her tears, and he proceeded to walk over to her and pull her in a tight hug.
"So, did you like the magic?" He playfully asked.
"It better be permanent!" His mother sternly said, to which he lightly laughed.
"It is." He finally nodded to the relief of all of them, and the silver-haired lady buried her face in his chest, overwhelmed by her emotions.
