Chapter 145: The Lord of Dreams Awakens
From the moment Jovian found himself sealed inside the prisons of the Dark Thorn Pantheon, he had sent the signal to Akasha with quiet confidence, certain that his captivity would last only a short while.
However, he had no way of knowing that Akasha had already entered an evolution far deeper than any previous one—an evolution that was finally unlocking the first true stage of what he was always meant to become.
As the days stretched into months and the months into years, that initial hope slowly eroded.
Until four full years of silence passed, bringing the total time since anyone on Kalpa had last seen Lord Dream to nine short... but long years.
----
Far beyond the reach of ordinary existence, within a secluded realm of timeless beauty, Akashi reclined against a low couch of light.
At the same time, she plucked pieces of luminous fruit from a floating palette.
Sweet juice clung to her fingers as she watched the vast open sky of her domain.
Beside her sat Aethea, her pale skin glowing faintly in the dim light, black hair spilling in a sleek cascade, the small infinity symbol beneath her left eye catching the light now and then.
Delicate feathers edged her shoulders and brushed the tips of her ears, never quite pronounced yet impossible to overlook.
High above them, projecting live in the skies, floated a massive cocoon of deep purple light, a clean white infinity symbol etched across its surface.
Luna and Yume lay draped across the upper curve of the cocoon in quiet, their presence soft against the slowly pulsing shell.
Like always... Akashi never went a moment without keeping her eye on Akasha, and she knew the time was finally here.
Aethea’s black eyes stayed fixed on the cocoon, her voice calm with the weight of long observation.
"Well, what’s it been, thirty-eight years? He’s stepped onto the path of the Lesser Unus," she said, her tone measured and thoughtful.
"But... whether he can actually bear the weight of what’s to come is still anyone’s guess, isn’t it?"
Akashi smiled, her expression warm and utterly at ease as she took another bite of fruit.
There was a quiet, unshakable confidence in her voice—the kind only a mother certain of her child’s future could carry.
"When are you going to stop doubting my baby boy?" she asked, her eyes narrowing just slightly.
"I’ve already told you, he’ll be ready. And he’s going to go beyond anything any of us can imagine. I can feel it."
She tilted her head, admiring the deep purple shell with a quiet sense of pride.
"Besides, he’s already unlike any other Unus."
"If he keeps going down the path of the Infinite Dreaming Unus... who in any existence could stand against him? Well, maybe my second eldest sister and Father, but that’s about it."
Aethea let out a quiet, amused laugh, the feathers along her shoulders ruffling gently.
"Pfft, you forget so quickly. What about your mothers, Nia, Vaeloria, and Raven?" She paused, as though deep in thought, her expression turning playful.
"Or... that Nullen?"
Akashi scoffed, waving a dismissive hand as if brushing the names away like stray petals. She shifted the conversation without lingering on the steepness of the road ahead.
"Tsk, what truly matters is that we are one step closer to finally heading home."
Aethea nodded once, a rare trace of genuine anticipation softening her usual composure.
"Indeed... and I cannot wait to see his reaction when he finally looks upon the wider world."
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Far away, back on Kalpa, time itself came to a complete halt across the entire world.
Every gentle breeze froze in mid-motion, every wave on every ocean hung motionless, and the seven suns stood fixed in the sky, locked in place as if the universe had paused its breath.
On both the Topside and the Underside, life came to a complete and absolute halt as if the world itself had drawn a single long breath.
HUMMMMMMM!!!!!!
And high above Lucid Winter’s Peak, the deep purple cocoon that had sealed Akasha for nine years began to rise, its light intensifying until the white infinity symbol across its surface burned like a second star.
Luna and Yume jerked awake at the same moment, both of them already smiling as the familiar pulse of his presence surged stronger than ever before.
Yume’s blue-streaked hair drifted in the suddenly still air.
"Um... Mistress, should we move? It does not feel entirely safe."
CRRRACCCKLEEEEE!!!!
Before Luna could answer, a jagged bolt of pure white lightning tore open the air directly before them, crackling with a force that stung the skin and made the world feel electrified and raw.
In the next moment, letters seared themselves into the frozen haze, glowing and shivering in the cold.
Don’t move... You will benefit later. – Mommy Dream~
Luna and Yume exchanged a glance—startled, their eyes stretching wide in disbelief.
Then, as if the tension had been a dam, laughter burst out of both of them, bright and bubbling, sweeping away the heaviness that had pressed down on their shoulders.
They both shrugged, almost in unison, the gesture casual and oddly defiant. Whatever else might come, they weren’t about to flinch—not when the world itself seemed to be changing around them.
Then, with no warning—
BOOOOOOOM!
—the cocoon erupted outward, shards of iridescent light scattering in every direction.
HUMMMMMMM!!!!!!
A wave of pure purple radiance surged from the blast, sweeping over Kalpa in a single, silent pulse.
The glow lingered for a heartbeat, then slowly faded, leaving the world changed in ways no one could yet name.
When the last of the radiance ebbed away, Akasha hovered in the center of the lingering light, curled in a loose fetal position, every line of his form serene and weightless.
Luna and Yume, still standing where the light had washed over them, felt a strange warmth flowing through their veins.
Their skin gleamed, impossibly smooth; their features sharpened, a subtle power now radiating from every glance and gesture.
Even their presence seemed deeper, as if the world itself bent slightly to their existence.
Akasha slowly unfurled, limbs stretching as if waking from a dream, the last traces of light swirling around him like a gentle current.
Since being born into this new world, he had never shown his true appearance, as Luna initially believed it was a matter of perception.
In reality, it was because his identity as an Unus had yet to take shape fully. But now, in this moment, he shed all pretenses and no longer hid behind any racial disguise.
And... the true beginning stage of what he was had finally surfaced.
His skin shimmered with a gentle, luminous brown, the purple afterglow painting him in an ethereal haze.
Hair spilled in a cascade of purple and snow-white, framing a face so striking it ached to look at—features carved with impossible precision, beauty that felt almost dangerous.
He had no horns, no wings now; only the sharp points of his ears, and when his lips parted, a glint of fangs flashed—subtle, predatory.
Beneath his left eye, a clean purple infinity symbol caught the light, marking him as something more than even he knew in this moment.
Seeing this, Luna’s breath left her in a sharp, audible rush, chest tightening as if the world had stopped turning.
And instantly, her lust began to leak—a heat that left her weak-kneed, stunned, and bare to the bone. It was more than attraction; it was as if her soul itself leaned forward, hungry, unable to look away.
"Oh... fuck," she breathed, barely finding her voice. "Love... what... the hell have you become?"
Even Yume, always the one in control, felt the same tidal wave slam through her. Her cheeks flushed, heart thudding as she stared, wonder and hunger tangled in her eyes.
"Master... this is unfair," she managed, her tone wavering between awe and playful complaint.
Akasha’s eyes snapped open, light flaring within them like the birth of a new star.
For several long seconds, his gaze flickered, unfocused—thousands of images racing behind his eyes: battles raging, possibilities fracturing and reforming with every heartbeat.
Symbols and threads tangled and untangled in an endless dance.
Then, at last, his gaze stilled, settling into eyes of deep purple and white—beautiful, strange, and almost human.
In this moment, he ignored the world around him, focusing on the notifications flooding his vision.