Acceptance

Hand in hand with Katy, Seth departed the temporary hiding spot of the kings’ company, heading back the way they came.

Katy’s head was slightly lowered as she followed after Seth, remaining silent for the first five minutes until she couldn’t take it anymore and said hesitantly: “Sorry.”

Seth stopped and turned around, raising Katy’s lowered head and making her look into his eyes.

“I understand you want to be with me, but that’s no reason for stupidly choosing something that will end up killing you.”

Katy tried to lower her head again to avoid Seth’s gaze, but his hand held firmly onto her jaw, forcing her to maintain eye contact. Unable to hide, she grasped Seth’s hand and said softly but with deep conviction: “Even if I were to remain with them, it’s still not sure that I can survive. Like this, at least, I get to spend my last days the way I want them to. With you.”

Seth sighed, and his hard look eased up slightly. Releasing her jaw and caressing her cheek, he whispered: “You really are a stubborn woman, you know that?”

Freed from his hard grasp, Katy lowered her head, thinking Seth was about to criticize her decision again, but Seth changed his tone immediately. “But I can’t say I don’t find that attractive. Well, you can rest assured since none of us will die. Get ready; you might feel like throwing up in a moment.”

“Huh?” asked Katy, raising her head to look up, only for her vision to suddenly blur. When it recovered, Katy retched as she tightly held Seth’s clothes.

Seth massaged her back and said: “Since you’re not an ascended, but a simple human and the distance was quite large, the teleportation nausea is quite strong. Still, you’ll be fine in a minute or two. Do you want to lie down?”

Katy nodded, and Seth helped her lie down until her stomach calmed down. As soon as she could speak, Katy grasped Seth’s sleeve and asked: “Teleportation? Ascended?”

“Teleportation is the process of moving from one place to another instantly. It’s a bit more complicated, but you won’t understand even if I explain it now, and yes, I am an ascended.”

Katy’s eyes grew wider as she tried to process what Seth was saying, but the spinning headache from the teleportation did nothing to help. When her thoughts and sickness finally settled, more than five minutes had passed.

“Were you the one who saved me back then? In that alley?” asked Katy.

“I was. Can you stand up?”

After nodding and standing with Seth’s help, Katy looked him up and down and said: “Thank you. Does this mean you’re from Oath?”

“Yes and no.” Replied Seth before moving away from her and reverting his looks to normal. “I used to be an ascended with the academy, but now I am part of the new Kingdom of Endora, formerly known as the Kingdom of Blood.”

Katy’s face froze, her mind in shambles as she watched Seth’s appearance change entirely in front of her very eyes. She lifted her hand absentmindedly, gently caressing his face, as she asked: “How?”

Seth sighed and grasped her hand before saying: “This is my true appearance. Sorry for hiding it from you. Things are… complicated, to say the least.”

Seeing Katy’s eyes starting to turn red, like she was about to cry, Seth pulled her in his arms and started caressing her back. The two spent a few moments hugging in silence until Katy muttered: “You can let me go now.”

Seth released her from the hug and asked: “Are you feeling better?”

Katy looked once more at Seth’s unfamiliar face before lowering her eyes as she nodded. “I’m fine. Seth. Can I ask you something?”

After Seth nodded, Katy asked: “I guess you must be a spy from the Blood Kingdom. Now that you have left King Icas’s group, does that mean you’re going to return there?”

“It’s called Endora now, and yes, I’ll be returning home now.” Replied Seth.

“I see.” Replied Katy with a sigh, closing her eyes to prevent herself from crying.

Seth chuckled and said: “I was going to ask you if you want to come with me. I can promise you that the Kingdom of Endora is much more beautiful than Wrath.”

Katy looked up again, staring into his clear eyes as she said: “I want to, but I can’t abandon my parents. Can we take them as well? You also said you already have someone….”

Seth smiled and nodded, not getting too much into the subject before saying: “We’ll talk about it later. Before we head back to the Capital of Wrath, I need to ensure Ronald’s troops find the hiding place and that everyone will believe me dead. Wait here, and I’ll return in less than an hour.”

Katy nodded silently, and Seth teleported away.

After entering the village, Seth brainwashed the village chief into thinking Otis had arrived half-dead in the village and asked him to deliver the information about the hiding place to any soldiers that might pass by before succumbing to his injuries and dying.

After faking Otis’s death, Seth teleported back to where he left Katy.

“Alright. It’s all done. Are you ready?”

Katy looked at Seth, but after not spotting any means of transportation, she asked hesitantly: “We’re going to do that again?”

“Of course. A carriage will be too slow.” Replied Seth with a chuckle.

Katy nodded with a sigh, and they teleported again. The two kept teleporting, with small breaks to allow Katy to recover, until Seth was drained entirely of space energy, and they stopped so that he could recover.

Laying into a patch of soft and tall grass, Katy looked at the sunny sky above and asked: “Seth, when you rejected me, was it really because of a woman or because you were a spy?”

Seth stopped cultivating, opening his eyes to look towards Katy. Seeing her somewhat lost look as she gazed at the sky above, he sighed and said: “Neither really.”

“Then?” asked Katy, turning her head to look back at Seth.

“Because you are a normal human, without any affinity to cultivate towards ascension.” Seeing Katy frown, Seth continued. “You might not know, but ascended have the potential to live forever, while humans only live for at most 70 years, and that’s if they are lucky.”

Katy realized what Seth was trying to say and said: “I see. That means you will remain young while I slowly grow old and die….”

“That’s right. We could never be together as long as you remain a simple human. That’s why, Katy, I wanted to ask you. What do you think about becoming an ascended?”

Katy frowned and asked: “Didn’t you say I can’t become one?”

“Normally, yes, since you don’t have the affinity for it, but I have a way to grant you an affinity, so to speak.”

Katy looked into Seth’s eyes and asked: “But you didn’t consider that from the beginning… Why? Why did you suddenly change your mind?”

“Because life as an ascended is also not for everyone. The temptation of power, the influence of the energies, and immortality will slowly corrupt anyone.” Seth sighed and continued: “I initially wanted to disappear from your life, allowing you to live a simple life as a human, but a few things made me reconsider.”

“It first happened when I saw you fight those thugs in that alley. The will and determination you showed in the face of certain death are a few qualities an ascended needs to not completely lose himself on the path of ascension. That made me think that becoming an ascended might not be that bad for you.”

“Still. That was not enough for me to take you by my side until you chose to relinquish your life to save mine. That’s what made me decide to at least give you this choice. The choice to join me in becoming an ascended or to remain human.”

Seeing that Katy’s eyes were starting to get excited and she was about to speak, Seth stopped her and said: “But before, there are a few things you must know. It was not a lie when I told you that I have someone. In fact, I cultivate a type of energy that requires me to have sex with multiple women, and I already have a few women I plan to marry upon my return home. There will also be more in the future.”

Seth could see her excitement starting to die down. However, he still continued: “So keep in mind, before you make your choice of either becoming an ascended or continuing to live your life as a human, that if you want to be with me, you will have to accept the fact that you will share me with a lot of women.”

Seeing that Katy fell into deep thought, Seth returned to recover his energy, allowing her the time to carefully consider her decision.

Once his energy recovered, Seth started a new round of teleportations. Katy remained silent the entire way, slowly getting used to the dizziness.

Seth stopped their journey once the sun set, creating a small tent with a simple but comfortable bed for Katy to rest in. He also got some food from his storage space, which he placed on a small table for her to eat.

“Eat and rest well. Once you wake up, we’ll resume our journey.” Said Seth before starting to walk out, only for his shirt to get grabbed from behind by Katy.

“Can you sit and eat with me?” asked Katy.

Seth smiled wryly and said: “Ascended don’t really -“

“Please.” Interrupted Katy, a pleading look in her eyes. Seth nodded and sat down across from her.

Halfway through their meal, Katy lifted her eyes from the food in front of her and said: “I don’t know about the ascended thing and how to feel about you having so many women, but I do know that I want you, Seth.”

“When I thought we were leaving the camp to walk towards our death, I was neither scared nor sad, but somewhat happy. I thought, ‘At least we’ll both die together, so I can have him in death.’”

“So, when you asked me to decide whether to remain with you or return to my normal life, there was only a single option for me, but can I make a selfish request?”

Once Seth nodded, Katy took a deep breath and said: “Please promise me that once I join you in this eternity, you won’t abandon me. I want nothing more than an eternity with you. But if I have to live forever without you, I would prefer my life would have ended in that alley.”