Riven stood in the corridor staring at the empty space where Kieran had vanished, his mind still trying to process what he'd just witnessed. The First Star had simply blinked out of existence, demonstrating power that transcended anything the books had prepared him for.
'Tomorrow. The forced awakening is tomorrow, not in a few days like I thought. Less than twenty four hours from now.'
The revelation sat in his chest like ice, making it hard to breathe properly. He needed to move, needed to do something other than stand frozen in shock.
"Esme," he said, his voice steadier than he felt. "Let's head back to my chambers."
She bowed slightly, falling into step behind him as they began walking through the corridors. But Riven's mind was racing too fast to simply return to his room and wait for tomorrow. He needed more information, needed to understand the full context of what he was stepping into.
A new realization struck him as they walked past another set of guards who bowed and murmured "Seventh Star" in unison. During all his reading he had never actually done a deep dive into the family itself. He had learned about Desolara and Aster and cultivation but not about the Astravar structure beyond Patriarch Hugo and his six successful sons.
'Who else matters in this family? What hierarchy governs their vast estate and resources? What other powers might be watching when I fail or succeed tomorrow?'
He slowed his pace, turning slightly toward Esme as they walked.
"Esme, I need to ask you some questions. Quite a few actually. Would that be acceptable?"
She turned toward him though her face remained hidden behind that cascade of lemon green hair. "Of course, Seventh Star. I'm here to serve. Ask whatever you need."
They continued walking as he spoke, moving through corridors at a measured pace that gave them privacy between the stationed guards.
"My situation, failing to awaken twice, is that unusual? Is it something that happens often or am I some kind of anomaly?"
Esme was quiet for a moment, clearly choosing her words carefully. "It's not common, Seventh Star, but it does happen. The right age to awaken is fifteen. That's when the body is most receptive to Aster integration. Most people awaken naturally around that time, though some manage it earlier or slightly later."
"And if someone doesn't awaken by fifteen?" Riven asked, though he suspected he already knew the answer.
"Then the family performs a forced awakening," Esme said quietly. "It's a more intense process, using the full power of the stellar shard fragment to trigger what should have happened naturally. If that fails..."
She trailed off, but Riven heard what she didn't say.
'If the forced awakening fails, that's it. No second chances. No trying again later. The body has missed its window and that window doesn't reopen.'
"You're fifteen now, Seventh Star," Esme continued. "Two months past your birthday. This forced awakening tomorrow is your last real chance. If your body doesn't respond to the shard's full power, then it likely never will."
The words settled over him like a weight. He had no definitive timeline from anyone in authority, no decree from Patriarch Hugo about when this would happen. Just Esme's explanation of how it worked and Kieran's casual mention that it was tomorrow. The uncertainty made it worse somehow.
'So tomorrow is it. My final chance. And I only know because my brother happened to mention it, not because anyone officially told me.'
He pushed that dark thought aside and moved to his next question. "Tell me about the family structure. Aside from Patriarch Hugo and my six brothers, who else matters? Who else holds power or influence that I should be aware of?"
Esme's posture shifted slightly, surprise evident even through her hidden face. "Seventh Star, the fever really did affect your memory significantly. You truly don't remember the family hierarchy?"
"It's all fragmented," Riven lied smoothly. "Pieces are there but the structure is unclear. Help me understand it properly."
They passed through a gallery where ancient weapons hung on walls, swords and spears that looked like they had seen actual combat rather than being merely decorative. Another servant bowed as they approached, pressed fist to chest, murmured "Seventh Star" with practiced reverence.
The greeting followed him like an echo. They kept walking, kept moving deeper into the estate's network of corridors while Esme launched into what felt like a systematic lecture.
"The Astravar family hierarchy is quite structured, Seventh Star. At the very top is the position of Patriarch, which Lord Hugo Von Astravar currently holds. His word is final on all matters and his authority guides the family's direction. However, he does not rule alone."
'So there are checks even on the Patriarch,' Riven thought, surprised. 'Not absolute authority after all.'
They turned another corner, passing through a section of the estate Riven had not yet explored. The corridors here felt older somehow, the stone walls bearing less decoration, fewer tapestries and suits of armor, just ancient rock that had stood for generations.
"Directly alongside the Patriarch," Esme continued, her voice taking on unusual gravity, "is the Council of Grand Elders. These are Lord Hugo's biological aunts and uncles, his parents' generation. They hold actual power, almost equal to the Patriarch himself. While Lord Hugo's word is final, there are major decisions he cannot make alone. Territory expansion, war declarations, succession matters, resource allocation to the main branches, these require the Grand Elders' approval."
'So Hugo isn't untouchable,' Riven processed. 'There's a generation above him that can veto his decisions on critical matters. That's actual power sharing, not just advisory.'
"The Grand Elders debate and vote on these major family matters," Esme explained as they walked. "Lord Hugo must convince them or compromise with them. It creates balance, prevents any single person from wielding unchecked authority over the entire family."
'That makes more sense actually,' Riven thought. 'An organization this vast, spanning how much territory, can't function under one person's whims. Even if that person is powerful beyond measure.'
"Below them," Esme continued, "is the Circle of Elders. These are Lord Hugo's direct siblings, your father's brothers and sisters. They have powers equal to governors. The Astravar territory spans fifteen major cities across the West, Seventh Star. Each Elder manages multiple cities, overseeing everything from military deployments to trade operations to civil administration."
'Fifteen major cities,' Riven's mind reeled. 'That's not a family estate, that's a nation. And Hugo's siblings each govern portions of it like regional rulers.'
They emerged into a courtyard filled with flowering plants Riven did not recognize, colors too vivid to seem natural, probably mutated by ambient Aster into something more than ordinary flora. The afternoon sun painted everything in golden light.
"So the Elders are essentially governors," Riven said, wanting to confirm his understanding. "Real administrative power over cities and regions, not just ceremonial titles."
"Exactly, Seventh Star," Esme confirmed. "They command garrisons, collect taxes, enforce family law, manage resources. Lord Hugo sets overall direction but the Elders execute it across the territory. Without them, the family's holdings would be impossible to manage."
'A hierarchy that actually makes sense for governing a region this size,' Riven thought. 'Grand Elders to check the Patriarch on major decisions, Elders to govern the cities, and presumably layers below that for smaller administrative units.'
"Now, Seventh Star," Esme's voice shifted again, taking on an almost conspiratorial quality. "Something you should understand about the Astravar family. We're not only blessed in combat capability but also in fertility. It's honestly remarkable. One Astravar man could father twenty children, sometimes more. The bloodline spreads prolifically."
'Twenty children. That's not blessed, that's biologically absurd. Though I suppose in a world where cosmic energy mutates people maybe fertility gets enhanced too.'
"Because the family can grow so rapidly," Esme continued as they crossed the courtyard toward another set of corridors, "there are no restrictions on who can have children. Everyone has liberty to spread the bloodline and family name. Servants, soldiers, scholars, as long as one parent carries Astravar blood the children are considered part of the family."
'So the family is probably massive. Not just Hugo's seven sons but potentially hundreds of Astravar descendants scattered through the estate and beyond. That explains the numbers advantage the history book mentioned.'
They entered another corridor, this one lined with portraits of previous generations, their violet hair and intense gazes tracking visitors across time.
"However," Esme's tone shifted to emphasize importance, "only the Patriarch's direct children are recognized and given the stage to rise above all others in the family. Only his sons and daughters get titles like the Seven Stars. Only they have access to the best resources and training and opportunities. This is how the family protects the purity of its power, by ensuring that the main line, the direct descent from Patriarch to heir, maintains the strongest bloodline."
'So there's a main family and branch families. Hugo's seven sons are main line, everyone else is secondary no matter how talented. That creates clear hierarchy but also probably massive resentment.'
Esme paused then, her entire posture changing in a way that suggested she was about to reveal something significant.
"Seventh Star," she said carefully. "There's one more thing you should know. One position in the family hierarchy that stands above all others."
Riven stopped walking, interest piqued. "Above the Patriarch? I thought his authority was final on most matters."
"In practice, yes," Esme agreed, also stopping. They stood in the gallery of portraits, dozens of dead Astravar watching their conversation. "But in principle, there's one person whose word even Lord Hugo and the Grand Elders must respect. We call this position the Omega, currently held by your grandfather, the former Patriarch, Lord Hugo's father."
The words landed like physical impact.
'There's someone above Hugo. Someone even the Grand Elders defer to. What kind of power does that require?'
"All twelve families have an Omega," Esme continued, her voice carrying unusual reverence. "Someone who has touched power so immense it transcends what normal Patriarchs and Elders hold. You need to understand how cultivation works at the highest levels to grasp what this means."
She paused, gathering her thoughts, then continued with what felt like carefully memorized information.
"When someone reaches the Seventh Realm, which is the Celestial Realm, they also breakthrough the Tenth Gate, the Sovereign Gate. This combination represents what we call Patriarch stage. It's the peak of Gate cultivation, meaning your Gate level won't rise anymore. You've hit the absolute ceiling there."
'So that's the baseline for being Patriarch,' Riven thought. 'Seventh Realm, Tenth Gate. That's what it takes to lead a family like this.'
They began walking again, moving through the gallery as Esme continued her explanation.
"However," Esme's tone shifted to emphasize what came next, "even though Gate cultivation has peaked, Realm advancement continues, and the Seventh Realm is still considered relatively weak in the grand scheme. Every Patriarch has hit this peak and is now focused entirely on pushing their Realm higher. But the progression becomes extraordinarily slow."
She elaborated with numbers that made Riven's head spin. "The leap from Seventh Realm to Eighth Realm takes more than fifty years of dedicated cultivation, and that's with access to Primordial Sources and optimal conditions. From Eighth Realm to Ninth Realm takes an additional fifty years minimum, sometimes a full century depending on talent and resources and cosmic fortune."
'Fifty to a hundred years per Realm. That's not cultivation, that's geological time scales. You'd spend a human lifetime just trying to take one step forward.'
"But Seventh Star," Esme's voice dropped even lower, carrying awe that transcended her usual careful neutrality. "When a cultivator reaches the Ninth Realm, something fundamental changes. They immediately cease to be mortal. Their entire being is elevated from what we consider normal existence. Concepts like aging and sickness and injury mean nothing to them anymore. They can't get sick, can't grow old, can't be wounded in ways that matter."
She paused to let that sink in before continuing. "They become what the world calls the natural and purest state of Aster itself. No longer human using cosmic energy but cosmic energy wearing human form. They transcend mortality entirely and become what we call an Omega."
'Ninth Realm equals immortality. Not just long lived or hard to kill but actually beyond mortality. That's not power, that's ascension, that's becoming something else entirely.'
They turned another corner, the corridors growing more familiar as they approached the wing that housed Riven's chambers.
"Your grandfather," Esme said quietly, "Lord Hugo's father, the previous Patriarch, reached the Ninth Realm approximately thirty years ago. He's currently in seclusion, training, pushing toward the Tenth Realm, toward Convergence, though whether any mortal has ever achieved that remains unclear."
'He's still training? At Ninth Realm, after transcending mortality, he's still cultivating? What's even left to achieve?'
But the question answered itself.
'The Tenth Realm. Convergence. Becoming a living nexus of all Aster states. If Ninth Realm is transcending mortality then Tenth Realm is probably transcending reality itself.'
"So when you thought Lord Hugo was as powerful as it gets," Esme said, somehow reading his thoughts or just understanding the natural progression of shock, "you were wrong. There's at least one person in this family who exists on a completely different scale. Your grandfather, the Omega, has transcended mortal limits entirely."
They reached the doors to Riven's chambers but he did not immediately enter, standing in the corridor as he processed the implications.
'I thought facing Hugo's judgment was the worst thing I had to worry about. But there's someone above him. Someone who's lived decades as an immortal being. Someone who probably has perspectives and powers I can't even conceptualize.'
"Thank you, Esme," he said finally. "That's extremely valuable context. One more question though. About the awakening ceremony itself. What exactly happens? Walk me through the process."
Esme shifted slightly, her posture indicating she was moving from revelation to instruction.
"The ceremony is actually quite simple in structure, Seventh Star, though obviously significant in impact. Lord Hugo will be there. The Patriarch must witness all awakening attempts of his direct children. And the Grand Elders will attend. And the Circle of Elders as well. It's a formal family event."
'So I get an audience. Not enough pressure just trying to awaken, I get to do it in front of Hugo and his entire generation of relatives. Wonderful. Absolutely wonderful.'
"The process itself is straightforward," Esme continued. "You'll enter the Awakening Chamber. That's where the shard fragment your family claimed is kept, the piece of the original stellar shard that grants Astravar bloodline abilities. You'll be required to touch it, skin contact, and the shard will trigger the awakening process if your body is ready to accept it."
'Touch a fragment of cosmic catastrophe and hope it likes me. Simple, except I've done this twice already and it apparently rejected me both times. Why would the third attempt be different?'
"After the awakening triggers," Esme said, "assuming it's successful, you'll then be required to touch the talent crystal. This will reveal your innate cultivation talent through color, red through white. Everyone who awakens must have their talent measured. It determines training allocation and resource distribution and future expectations."
'So even if I awaken I immediately get categorized. Immediately slotted into hierarchy based on color I can't control.'
"And that's all," Esme finished. "Touch the shard, awaken, touch the crystal, reveal talent. The entire ceremony takes perhaps ten minutes. But those ten minutes will determine everything about your future in this family."
Riven stood there for a long moment, staring at his chamber doors, processing everything she had told him. The hierarchy with Hugo sharing power with the Grand Elders, the Circle of Elders governing fifteen major cities like regional governors, the Omega grandfather who had transcended mortality itself, the proliferation of Astravar bloodline creating vast extended family with only the main line truly mattering, the awakening ceremony that was simple in execution but devastating in implication.
And the cold reality that tomorrow was his final chance. Fifteen was the age. Tomorrow was the forced awakening. If it failed, the window closed permanently.
'As simple as it sounds, this is going to be the most impactful event that could happen to me in this life. Maybe in both lives combined. More than jumping off that bridge, more than drowning in the Meridian, because those were things that happened to me. This is something I have to do.'
"Am I ready?" he said aloud, not really asking Esme but unable to keep the question internal.
"I don't know, Seventh Star," she answered honestly. "But ready or not, the ceremony happens tomorrow."
Tomorrow. His final chance. Tomorrow.
'I'm not ready. How could anyone be ready for this? But will I do it anyway? Yes. Because I didn't die to become useless a second time. I didn't choose drowning over my parents' control just to accept Hugo's control instead.'
He opened the doors to his chambers, Esme following him inside. The exquisite room with its painted ceilings and silk curtains felt almost mundane now after everything he had learned.
"That will be all for now, Esme. Thank you."
She bowed and retreated, closing the doors softly behind her, leaving Riven alone with his racing thoughts.
He moved to the window, looking out at estate grounds that stretched away into afternoon light turning toward evening. Somewhere out there was the Awakening Chamber. Somewhere that fragment of stellar shard waited, humming with primordial energy, indifferent to whether he succeeded or failed.
Somewhere across fifteen major cities, the Elders governed territories larger than some countries. Somewhere in this estate, the Grand Elders deliberated on matters that required even Hugo to seek their approval. Somewhere in seclusion, an immortal grandfather pushed toward power that transcended reality itself.
And tomorrow, Riven would touch cosmic fire for the last time.
'Ready or not, here it comes. The moment everything changes or confirms that nothing ever could. My final chance.'
But even as anxiety churned in his gut, even as fear pressed down on his shoulders like physical weight, Riven felt something else stirring beneath it all.
Determination.
He had jumped once, chosen void over cage, preferred death to continued existence under others' control. The question now was whether he would jump again, metaphorically this time. Would he touch that shard despite knowing this was absolutely his last opportunity?
'Yes,' he thought simply. 'Because what's the alternative? Accept defeat before trying? Let fear win without even putting up a fight?'
He pressed his palm against cool glass and tried to find in this borrowed flesh some spark of defiance or courage or simple stubborn refusal to quit.
'I've accepted the position. Accepted being called Seventh Star. Accepted living in this estate. But acceptance isn't the same as surrender. I can acknowledge reality without letting it define my future.'
The distinction felt important, maybe crucial.
'I'm not going to be as miserable as Levin was. I'm not going to let this life become another exercise in meeting others' expectations while my own desires atrophy into nothing. I've already died once choosing void over compliance. I won't make that choice again but I also won't accept chains just because they're made of different material.'
The resolve crystallized with sudden clarity.
'I'm going to live this life on my terms. I'm Riven now, fine, accepted, but I'm Riven who gets to decide what that means. Not Hugo. Not six successful brothers. Not bloodline legacy or cosmic systems or any other external force that thinks it owns my path.'
He would awaken or he would not. Would possess talent or would not. Would meet expectations or fail them spectacularly. But whatever happened would happen because he chose it, because he walked toward it with eyes open and will engaged, not because he passively accepted whatever fate others decided he deserved.
'Even if it means going rogue. Even if succeeding requires breaking every rule and tradition they have. Even if the only way forward is burning down everything they expect and building something new from the ashes. I'll do it. I'll live this life, my life, on my own terms and none other.'
The resolve felt good. Felt right. Felt like the first genuine choice he had made since waking in this body.
'I decide how this story goes. Not Hugo. Not the system. Not bloodline or hierarchy or any other structure that thinks it controls me. I matter now. My choices. My will. My path. No one else's. Just mine.'
The evening deepened, shadows lengthening across the grounds. The single moon would rise soon, casting silver light across Desolara's transformed landscape.
Tomorrow would bring the Awakening Chamber. Would bring stellar shard and talent crystal and Hugo's judgment. His last chance to prove anything.
'The Seventh Star will ignite,' Riven thought, determination settling over him like armor. 'Not because bloodline guarantees it. Not because Hugo demands it. Not because six brothers set standards. But because I choose it. Because I refuse any alternative. Because this life is mine and I'll live it on my terms even if that means breaking every rule they have.'
He turned from the window and moved to his bed. Tomorrow would come whether he was ready or not. Whether he slept or stayed awake worrying. Whether he felt confident or terrified.
All he could do was choose to face it. Choose to try. Choose to walk into that chamber and touch cosmic fire with whatever courage remained to someone who had failed twice already and was facing his absolute final opportunity.
'One more night,' he thought as he climbed into bed that was too large and too comfortable. 'One more night of restless sleep. And then the Awakening Chamber. And then we learn if the Renegade Star is prophecy or just wishful thinking. One last chance. That's all I get. That's all anyone gets.'
Sleep came eventually, restless and filled with dreams of combat too fast to see, of stellar shards humming with primordial energy, of judgment from powers he could not fully comprehend, of Kieran's warm smile and promise of protection, of violet hair and the weight of being measured against standards designed for gods while inhabiting flesh that had failed twice already and had only one chance left.
But beneath the anxiety and fear and uncertainty ran current of something else. Something that felt almost like excitement. Almost like hope. Almost like the kind of desperate crazy determination that made people jump off bridges or touch cosmic fire or believe that impossible just meant hard rather than unachievable.
Tomorrow would answer everything.
Whether determination meant anything in a world where power was measurable and bloodlines were immutable and talent determined destiny with crystalline certainty.
Whether the window that should have opened naturally at fifteen would respond to being forced open, or slam shut permanently.
Riven Astravar slept, and tomorrow approached, bearing ceremony and judgment and the moment when everything would finally be decided, for better or catastrophically worse, for awakening or ending, for ignition or final confirmation that some bodies simply refused to burn no matter how much fuel you poured on them.
His last chance. His only remaining chance. Tomorrow.