The Dawn of the New World

Jin Wang looked around the room racking his brain trying to find something that could prove Albus wrong but it all added up, at least in theory.

Hyde, still as skeptical as ever, scoffed after a brief moment, "Does this place look like it has been around for ten thousand years? It looks like these things were thrown together just a few hours ago."

Albus shook his head, groaning inwardly at his brother's ignorance. But before he could explain Jin Wang spoke up.

"If what he says is correct then it doesn't matter. This place would exist out of time. It could be both the oldest or the newest structure to currently exist. Time has no real meaning here or rather, it would have as much meaning as you would be willing to give it."

Hyde could only scowl in response, "Then how is he talking to us? If time doesn't exist then that means there is only one iteration of this place in all of the past, present, and future. Everything would be happening all at once and we should be seeing him standing in front of us in reality."

To this, even Jin Wang did not have an answer. He looked to Albus who was more than willing to explain.

"You are correct. That's why once a subject leaves the room the room, it automatically moves to a different time and place in history. I can try and explain in a bit more depth but I fear it would be quite technical."

He didn't say for whom but everyone understood that he was referring to Hyde.

Jin Wang nodded along, putting two and two together inwardly but he still couldn't believe Albus outright. So he turned to the devil he knew.

"What is your history with this brother of yours?"

Hyde almost spat in his face, "He is NOT my brother!"

"Alright, not him, with the Albus that you knew. What happened? Were you two particularly close? There were thirty-one of you so there must have been some disagreements. Tell me a bit about what it was like."

Expectantly, Jin Wang's questions actually calmed Hyde quite a bit as he dove head-first into his memories.

"It was like any other family for the most part, despite our differences. We weren't related by blood or cause, in fact, each one of us came from a different section of the galaxy. Some only met father when they were fully grown adults while others like me were brought in at a much younger age."

"We had different backgrounds and upbringings so the only thing that really kept us together were our titles and responsibilities that came with them."

He paused for a moment before looking towards Albus who chose to only listen in silence.

"He was the second."

"Second what?" Jin Wang questioned.

"The second of the Holy Sons. The Second in our ranks, the second one to be found and brought in. To many of us, he was the closest thing we had to a real family."

"The Emperor was cold and ruthless, constantly pushing us towards the tipping point, trying to pin us against one another, trying to find our weaknesses. To him, we were nothing more than tools created for the sole purpose of serving the Empire."

"But Albus saw us as actual individuals. Where most others either worshipped us like gods or feared us like the devil, he treated us like people."

"Despite being the most loved by both the people of the Imperium and father himself, not a single of us held any enmity towards him. Because he was our home away from home," Hyde finished with a despondent smile recalling the time they had spent together.

Jin Wang was a little resultant but he needed to know more.

"You said he died. When and how?"

Hyde's expression worsened. He stood up with some effort, refusing to break eye contact with the "Imposter".

"We each had our own territories to govern which were spread out around the galaxy and because of that, it was exceptionally rare for all of us to meet in person. Outside of emergencies, the only time we got together was at the start of a new millennium."

"A great parade was thrown once every thousand years on Solum that lasted for fourteen days and nights. It was the start of the 31st Millennium but I still remember it like it was yesterday because after that nothing was ever the same. I made landfall two days before the parade and heard the news, Albus was dead."

"At first none of us brothers believed it, thinking it to be a sick joke or a trick because we knew the truth that not many others did. Despite being known as the kindest and wisest of us all, none of us could best him in single combat."

"But then his Legion's flagship arrived at the spaceports and we saw it for ourselves. A single wound on his chest, he was stabbed through the heart."

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