Ash shook his head like he was clearing a dream. He looked around. Rhea still had her hand over her mouth in shock. Han Wei was still watching him and Zhao was sipping his beer like he didn't have a care in the world.
Ash laughed.
"So there it is. It's all out now." He leaned back. "Yeah, I'm the disgraced heir of a noble family who doesn't want anything to do with me anymore."
"Disgraced how?" Rhea found her voice.
Ash laughed bitterly. "My birth, I guess."
Rhea's expression shifted. She opened her mouth to say something.
"It's fine," Ash said before she could. "It's all in the past. Right now I've got as much relation to them as any of you. Can't lie though, I'm relieved to get this off my chest." He looked at Han Wei. "You already knew, didn't you."
Han Wei nodded. "Yes."
"Figured." Ash set his glass down. "Alright then, let's talk about you two. How did you hide your powers? I had no clue."
"Experience," Han Wei said simply.
"Lots of practice too," Zhao added. "So you can control it. Otherwise you end up like…" he pointed at Ash.
"Me?" Ash asked.
"Yeah. For both of us you're like a walking beacon. The pulse coming off you is so strong it's almost blinding sometimes. Boy you need to learn to suppress it."
Rhea cut in. "Wait, what? Why couldn't I sense anything?"
Zhao looked at her. "Because you're not at the tier where you'd notice it yet, young lady."
"So what tier are you two even at?" Ash asked.
Zhao laughed. Han Wei said nothing for a moment, then spoke.
"That's not what matters right now. What matters is that you learn to suppress and control your power. Because if what happened is what I think happened, you're in far more danger than you've ever been."
Ash laughed. "We were in danger just a while ago."
Neither Han Wei nor Zhao laughed this time.
"The ones who might come after you," Han Wei said quietly, "are the kind who could take out a squadron of Stellarguards alone, Ash."
Rhea made a choked sound.
"So whatever that orb was," Ash said slowly, "it's that valuable."
"More than you know. And it's not just an orb." Han Wei set his glass down. "It's a fragment."
"Fragment of what?" Ash questioned.
"The one that is called Primordial Orb."
"Each of the four families holds a fragment of the Primordial Orb. You can only complete it by merging all four fragments together. It's almost like a myth because nobody currently alive has ever seen the complete thing."
"Not even my great grandfather's great grandfather," Zhao said. "Apparently it's only happened once in all of history."
"Then how come I've never heard of it?" Ash asked.
"Most haven't. Even the young heirs of the families only see their own fragment during the ceremony held every thirty years. They guard it closely and keep it secret."
Ash looked between them. "Wait. How do you two know about it then?"
Zhao grinned. "We were there for the last ceremony."
Ash and Rhea said it at the same time.
"Just who are you guys?"
Both Han Wei and Zhao chuckled. Even Han Wei had a smile on his face.
"Years ago," Han Wei said, "we served one of the families. That's how we know."
Ash stared at him for a long moment then leaned back. "Right. At this point nothing's going to shock me." He rubbed his face. "Okay. The Primordial Orb. Who made it and why?"
"That I don't know much about," Han Wei said. "But the legend says the ancestors of the four families created it to battle a calamity of the highest order. Someone from one of the families merged with it and managed to defeat it. And years later when he was close to death he broke the orb into four fragments and gave one to each family to safeguard. You can't complete it if even one fragment is missing. Every thirty years they bring all the fragments together during the Ceremony and see if any of the heirs can complete it."
As for who it chooses," Zhao added, "it merges with whoever it deems worthy. More specifically, into a certain someone's Helix Core." He grinned. "Right, Ash?"
"So you're implying what I absorbed was one of the fragments." Ash shook his head. "That's absurd. You said they keep it safeguarded. How did it end up in this junkyard of a system?"
"I don't know the full picture," Han Wei said. "But from what you've described and from what I'm seeing, it's more than likely to be the Qiu-Lan fragment. The pilot you found was one of theirs, that much is clear." He paused. "As for how it got there, the ceremony is in two months. They move the fragments from where they're kept to where the ceremony is held. That transfer is their most vulnerable window. If someone was going to make a move, that would be when."
"Which brings us right back to you," Zhao said. He stood up, walked over to Ash and placed both hands on his shoulders. "You've put a dent in everyone's plans. The families and whoever was after it." He looked at him steadily, "And it seems I get to witness a once in a lifetime miracle."
He held Ash's gaze.
"The Primordial Orb, boy. The one who can complete it, That's you."