Limitless Path

The four of them had just slightly freshened up and now moved through the spacious, and very luxurious, hallways of Sera's home. The dragon girl led them to a massive dining room that had room for multiple tables and could likely seat a thousand if it was fully furnished, but now only had one table. Still, that table was massive and had quite a few people present at it, causing Sera to tsk slightly when they walked in. Likely she had been hoping for a little more informal affair with just her parents and close relatives, but this looked like it was a decent few members of the more extended family gathered up.

"Just try not to start a fight at dinner. That's normally frowned on," Sera muttered to them as she led the way to their places at the table. There were a lot of scrutinizing looks, including outright glares, as they made their way to their place and sat down, but Sera ignored all of them like they didn't matter. Beth didn't care for the looks and glared right back, which didn't lower the hostility any, but she felt like she could beat the asses of many of the people at the table. Hell, she could likely kick the asses of many of the people at the table at once.

Sera's parents weren't present when they first came in and sat down, and their entrance was rather obvious, as the rest of the table rose when they entered. Beth and Sera both stayed seated, talking idly about something of little consequence, Blood took her queue from them, and Val wouldn't be required to stand based on her clan and position. It earned them even more dirty looks, which made Beth have to work to suppress a laugh; none of these losers would be nearly as hostile if Tera were there or decided to correct a little disrespect to her favorite granddaughter.

Sera's parents were a mixed bag; her father was handsome in a rugged way, with only one or two scales visible around the edges of his clothing. Beth assumed he had a rather high level of humanization, though she also knew that sapient beasts could pretend to be higher or lower through a number of tricks. Sera's mother, on the other hand, displayed a large swathe of draconic features, coupled with the fact that Beth could really see where Sera got her beauty from. Her mother was the taller of the two parents and was far better looking, though Beth thought some of that might just be her own proclivities talking. Sera's mother also had plenty of curves, showing that Sera had directly inherited that as well, though Sera even put her mother to shame in that department.

"Seraphinalla," her father said. "I see you have returned. And brought friends?"

"Daughter," Sera's mother said.

"I brought my fiancée," Sera said, timing it for when her father had taken a sip of water after sitting, though he did just barely manage to not do a spit-take. Sera continued, "I also brought along her bond, as well as her bond's lover, who also just happens to be the leader of the Young Scions and the heir of the Milky Way Kresnik Clan."

"Daughter," her mother said in a warning tone.

"Yes, mother dearest?" Sera said in a slightly mocking voice.

"We will talk about this later," her father said, cutting off the conversation.

The dinner after that was awkward, at least for everybody else at the table. Beth ignored the tension and enjoyed the food, talking with her other three companions and largely ignoring everyone else at the table, with the others mirroring her. Beth was getting the feeling of a complicated relationship between Sera and her parents, not that she had expected much different, and that feeling didn't change when viewing the rest of the members of the clan present at the table. While nobody was acting openly hostile, as long as glaring wasn't considered part of acting, there were a lot of strong looks and a lot of whispered conversations that Beth was sure they were meant to hear part of. She was already dreaming of getting this done and getting the hell out of here; she had so many better things to be doing with her and Sera's time rather than playing petty politics with Sera's family.

The dinner would have been incredibly awkward if Beth had cared about these people's opinions, but they had already fallen very low in her opinion, so she didn't sweat it at all. Sera also seemed very used to ignoring the rest of her family or only exchanging barbs with them when she felt like it. Blood was never bothered by anything, and Val was an old hand at politics and was able to navigate such an awkward affair with ease. They talked quietly while eating and mostly ignored Sera's parents, who sat at the head of the table and ate in silence. When all the dishes had been cleared away, Sera's father stood up and commanded silence. Beth was a little amused on scanning the man, as he didn't seem to be hiding his power and was displaying as having done forty rebirths. Surely he wasn't the strongest in the clan.

"Attention," he said, a bit unnecessarily, as everyone had quieted when he rose. "Today, our erstwhile daughter has returned, though who can say for how long? We welcome her back to the clan after her absence. We see she has improved in power, and perhaps in skill? We shall speak with her of our plans now that dinner is concluded. We shall see the senior members of the clan and the Elders tomorrow for discussion."

With that, Sera's parents turned and walked off, not even waiting for an acknowledgement nor to confirm that Sera and the others were following. Sera gestured them to come with her, walking after her parents down a series of opulent hallways the grew ever more grand until they were at what Beth estimated was the back of the building. They entered a suite with its own foyer, one the size of the common room at the one-gold-a-night suite that Beth was used to renting at the CRA Halls. They moved from there to a cavernous sitting room that sparkled with gold and gems, with massive furniture of rare, dark woods that were likely worth more each than most people made in a decade. Sera's parents sat on chairs at the far end of the room, Beth not able to get the image of them holding court even in their own rooms out of her mind. The four of them sat on couches across from Sera's parents, with Sera sprawling out indolently and putting her legs up on the table.

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"I see your time away hasn't improved your manners," Sera's mother said.

"Oh, so it really is gonna be like that, huh?" Sera asked, glaring at her mother.

"And these…others you've brought with you," her father began.

"Hey, yeah, sorry for interrupting," Beth said. "Can we maybe, I don't know, get introduced. I'm already kind of tired of thinking of you as 'Sera's parents' rather than knowing who you are."

"This is not your place to talk," Sera's father said. Beth just looked over at Sera, who looked back at her, and Beth raised her shoulders before gesturing at Sera's father.

"Sure, do what you want," Sera said, which confused her parents, but Val just facepalmed while Blood watched with mild interest.

Beth shrugged and leaned forward, not even bothering to get up, and punched out, shattering the space in front of her as a white flame raced forward from her fist to strike at Sera's dad. She watched both Sera's parents' eyes widen in real time as they first dismissed the flame but then immediately realized what the attack actually represented. Sera's dad hastily blocked, and should have been able to easily nullify an attack from someone so many rebirths beneath himself, but was still rocked back in his chair by the attack. An Ideal was a higher level of concept than something like a Mana Physique or humanization; it wouldn't let Beth actually defeat Sera's parents at their relative power levels, but it was already something they couldn't just ignore casually. Sera's father had to spend a few moments patting out the fire from his hands and forearm before he could get it to disappear.

"Sera, this…" her mother started, but then seemed to be at a total loss.

"So, this is my girlfriend and fiancee, Elizabeth Bell," Sera started.

"It's just Beth," Beth jumped in to correct.

"Right, Beth," Sera continued. "She's already fully realized her Ideal, meaning only rebirths separate her from Exalted. On top of that, she is the protégé of an Exalted, works for a different Exalted, is friendly with a third Exalted, is lovers with a fourth Exalted, and is close with two Manumitted. I didn't bring her here to needle you; I brought her and these others along so the Black Dragon Clan has a chance to make a connection with people with even greater connections and potential than us."

"Yes, I see," Sera's father said, clearing his throat. "I apologize for the late introduction; I am Astarnomus and this is my wife, Saertim. We welcome you to the Black Dragon Clan, and we hope for a pleasant stay."

"I'm Beth and this is my bond, Blood," Beth said. "I'll let Val introduce herself."

"I am Vallenna Ameriah Sanguinia, daughter of Ashval and direct descendant of Altera Sanguinia, our clan's great ancestor. I'm also the current officially designated heir of the clan, with leadership authority within the clan," Val said calmly.

"Such a prestigious guest. We welcome you to our home," Saertim said with a seated bow, her tone conveying nothing but sincerity.

"My thanks," Val replied mildly, nodding to Sera's parents.

"Your mother and I will have to discuss this…engagement," Astarnomus said, leaning back. "We weren't quite aware of what you had been up to. You should check in with us more often."

"It's fine," Sera said dismissively, waving a hand in the air before her.

"I would still like to congratulate you on building your Mana Physique, considering you are rebirth ten right now," Sera's mother said, giving her daughter a small, genuine smile. "Not everyone has such an easy time with that feat. Would you care to share the details of what you have accomplished?"

"It's a rather good Physique, that's all I'll say," Sera replied with a shrug, giving her mother just as small of a smile in return.

"Well, it's…good to see you again, my daughter," Sera's father said after a slightly awkward pause. "If you feel up to it, you should attend the meeting of the council tomorrow. We have much business to discuss."

"I'll think about it," Sera said, standing and gesturing for the others to follow her.

The group walked out, following Sera down the hallway and through the building back to her suite, where they were greeted by Miranda, who had been tidying up the place. Beth was quite sure the servant was a spy, though for who, she wasn't a hundred percent sure on, but the suite was already spotless. There was no need for her to be in there sweeping and dusting, and Sera dismissed her after they entered, though she wasn't overtly hostile about it. The group sat around in her living room, waiting for a moment before discussing their plans.

"So, that went, uh, well," Beth said, looking up at Sera. When they were seating next to each other, Sera still towered over her, though Beth enjoyed her girlfriend's height.

"It wasn't any different than what I expected," Sera said. She then smiled down at Beth, saying, "But your display was so good. That really set them back, probably more than you realize. They never break character or look surprised, even for show; to see them so shocked by you expressing a fully realized Ideal was so funny and such a thrill."

"Not to sidetrack too hard, but why do people keep mentioning my Ideal is 'fully realized'?" Beth asked.

"Ascended is usually when people start really working on their Ideal," Val said, taking over for the explanation. "People will work on their Ideal for decades, often centuries, and some people will understand a part of it. Whether it's the principle it's related to, or the kind of idea that they are centering themselves around to form the Ideal. It sometimes leads to Ascended with partially expressed Ideals, but you just skipped all those steps. That's what people often make the distinction when they discuss it, they're emphasizing the fact that yours it a complete Ideal and not just a nascent one."

"Okay, understood," Beth said. "But, now, back to Sera's parents…"

"Right, they were pretty surprised," Sera said with a laugh, hugging Beth tighter to her. "I think they didn't even fully process my little spiel about all the Exalted and Manumitted we know, though I'm sure that'll come back up later when they have some time to think about everything. The fact you made Enlightened means you can easily make Ascended and even progress to the top, considering how young you still are while at rebirth ten. Already knowing that, to see you express a fully realized Ideal, they would have instantly understood that you are future Exalted, or likely even more in the making."

"Why even more?" asked Blood lazily, having curled up on the other couch and put her head in Val's lap.

"Please," Sera said with a slight eyeroll. "If Beth can make a fully formed Ideal, basically thirty-nine rebirths early, there's a very, very high chance she will be able to understand the principles behind becoming a Manumitted. That chance is made even because, although she still has to work on her Ideal and using and understanding it, she can start working towards the principles behind Manumitted right now. One really needs an Ideal, or needs their Ideal fully realized, to start to work towards the next step. It's usually exclusively the realm of Exalted, but Beth already hit the qualifications at rebirth ten."

"That's that whole 'blending into the universe' thing that Zane was talking about, right?" Beth interrupted to ask.

"Right. It's something that's even harder than an Ideal, so don't think it'll be a cakewalk, but you can already start probing that concept now, as opposed to having to do another thirty-nine rebirths, realize your Ideal, become an Exalted, and so on before thinking about it," Sera answered. "Again, it's hard, so saying you can just work on it now is a little, uh, reductive, I guess would be the word? It's a little reductive, but you can start at the very least thinking about those concepts right now and working towards understanding them. So, yes, my parents would view you as a powerful Exalted yourself, even with you only being Enlightened, because you can not only easily achieve Exalted, it's likely you will go even further."

"Well, it got them off your case, so I'm happy to be held up to whatever standard," Beth said, shrugging before nestling tighter against Sera.

"I kinda have a desire to do something crazy just to piss them off, but I think we'll take it easy for this first meeting," Sera said with a slightly dark chuckle.

"I'm done for crazy," Beth said with a gleam in her eye.

"Please. I'm not," Val said, waving a negative as she ran the fingers of her other hand through Blood's mane.