Last Born Of The Desdemona

Chapter 466: Chapter 466: I Love Life

Chapter 466 – I Love Life

Many times lately, Cassius had been rendered speechless. And many of those times, if not all of them, were because of knowledge he had never thought possible.

Here he was, learning that not only was Cassius Desdemona never supposed to exist, but that the whole Desdemona family had paid a stupidly high price to make his existence possible.

So even before he was who he was, his existence had begun with sacrifices.

Sacrifices from Desdemona and his ancestors. Sacrifices from Ananke, who saved him from certain Death. Sacrifices from his own mother, who swallowed the pain of pregnancy for three bloody years – a pain no man could ever understand, and before which every man should be humble – all in order to welcome him into this world.

Sacrifices upon Sacrifices.

That was how the Last Born of the Desdemona drew his first breath.

So now, sitting there on the sun with an Error, Cassius was almost tempted to reflect on his own life. But why would he?

There was no need, truly.

Everything was laid bare in front of him. He knew how he came to be, and he knew what his purpose was in this life.

The purpose Kaden and his family had given him.

"Oh, is that it?" he whispered slowly, his voice steady, yet subtly shaking.

At that moment, he would have loved to hear Ananke’s soothing voice, but Blanche didn’t allow any of them into her Territory.

So, more alone than he had ever been, he tried to speak. "My purposes... are to save my family and help Kaden in his endeavor, you mean?"

"You could see them as such," Blanche replied, her voice filled with power. "And I believe, Lightbringer, that is the very least you can do for them, don’t you think? They gave you all of this. They gave you their love, a part of themselves, and their powers. And Kaden rewound this world, and everything around it, because he couldn’t bear to see you fail. Not only because of his goal, mind you, for I know that man well enough, but also, and I loathe to admit this now, because he surely came to like you. Maybe because he saw an echo of himself in you. Maybe for some other reason entirely, but he did."

Cassius only listened, looking at Blanche with steady crimson-pink eyes.

"Do you understand now, Lightbringer?" she continued.

"I do." He nodded. "And I am grateful for all of that, for I know I certainly wouldn’t be here if not for them and their sacrifices. But just as Albert Desdemona once told me, and just as Kaden would have said to me, they took a gamble, a bloody gambit, I would say, by choosing me and placing their faith in me. But at the end of the day, the choices I make to achieve what they want me to accomplish remain in my own hands."

He paused, his voice hoarse.

"And that, that is my freedom."

The White Phoenix arched a flaming eyebrow, a faint smile threatening to spread across her face.

"So I wouldn’t say those are my purposes. Because saying that would mean my entire life revolves around those two things, and respectfully, I refuse to build my whole existence around them." He smiled gently. "I love my family, the Desdemona. And even the Hood. I love Isolde, my wife. I love my friends, and I even love that little girl, Cassie Isolde, the first proof that my wife was growing up. I love reading and writing. I love braiding, and I love my sister, whom I’m eager to meet again and hug with everything I have within me. I love going on adventures, and I love my Sect and the people who populate it. I love Helene, a beautiful soul who sees herself as wretched. I love my master, who I’m quite certain will give me a damn good beating once I’m out of this Sun..."

Blanche couldn’t hold it in this time.

She laughed.

"...I love my goddesses, and I love them for who they are, not for what they do for me. And most importantly, I love annoying the people I love, and being there for them. Have you noticed something, dear White?"

"Noticed what? Tell me, Lightbringer."

"That most of the things I love have almost nothing to do with why my existence was made possible in the first place." His smile blossomed. "These are little things that most people in this entire world would never know about me. Yet these are the very things that make me, Cassius Desdemona, a living person with goals and aspirations of my own."

"Goals and aspirations are born from the things you love, aren’t they?"

"That’s exactly why I will save my family. Not because I was born to do so, but because I love them." He nodded, and the White Phoenix’s eyes widened slightly. "And I will help Kaden, not because I’m under any obligation to do so, but because he’s my friend, and I want to help him. Those are my goals, and as you said, they were born from the things I love."

The White Phoenix stared at Cassius in silence.

She looked into his eyes, bright and filled with certainty, then at his fine features, and saw in them the reflection of the most beautiful man.

’Your beauty followed you through every reincarnation, at least, you lovely bastard.’

But then she looked further, at his Sun Core, and smiled faintly.

This was the first time Cassius was Cassius Desdemona, and this was his best performance yet.

Should she really believe him this time?

Blanche desperately wished to, but something in her heart, an old fear, stopped her from taking that step.

So she would give him what he needed, and even help him if it came down to it, but her choice would remain Emrys Stormblessed, for that man deserved a chance to show her why his Birth was worthy of being Recorded by the World.

"This reminds me of something you once told me, when you burned yourself trying to reach the Sun," Blanche whispered, now looking at Cassius with a certain amiability in her eyes. "You told me that, before anything else, you love life. And for you, life isn’t truly life without your wife and those closest to you. So you will fight to save them, because in saving them, you are also saving your own life."

Cassius’s eyes widened for a heartbeat before he laughed. "Well, that’s the kind of thing I would indeed say."

"Indeed." She nodded. "And it’s interesting that you just said the same thing, but in a different way." Then she shook her head, smiling wryly. "At least that’s one thing I can’t fault you on. You have been very consistent about the core of who you are, Cassius, throughout all your different lives."

"You mean a handsome, lovely man?"

"A handsome, lovely bastard," she corrected.

"Sounds the same to my ears," he replied with a faint smile, and Blanche only shook her head.

Silence filled the Sun, which was something phenomenally wrong, and Cassius used that silence to close his eyes.

He took that time to steady himself and remember everything he had learned today.

There were still many questions left unanswered, but for the first time, Cassius had a broad picture of what was waiting for him. And knowing that made it easier to tell whether he was walking the right path or not.

’Nothing has changed, except the scale and the depth of it. I still need to get stronger, and I still need to take the Third Book. Now I just need the other two books as well.’

But he was up against Errors, Gods, and... Holders. Tier 0 beings with power equal to or beyond Desdemona’s.

These were his enemies, and they were monstrous enough to send a shiver of fear and anxiety through his soul.

However, Cassius stayed as steady as he could.

’One step,’ he whispered, taking a deep breath. ’Just one step forward. I know where I want to go, I just need to find the way to get there. And that’s a slow process, Cassius. Take a breath, and just do what you can right now: take the next step.’

Always the next. And by the time he became aware of it, he would have reached his destination.

So, with all of that in mind, Cassius Desdemona opened his eyes again, shining almost as brightly as the sun around him.

He fixed them on the White Phoenix, and with a subtle smile that let Blanche know some bullshit was coming...

"Dear beautiful Phoenix, have you ever thought about adopting a son?"

[Goddamnit, Cassius!] The System immediately cried out.

—End of Chapter 466—