Had it not been for the palpable air of melancholy now present, Aldrec's confession would have elicited a more powerful reaction than Jenius' somber nod.
"Mericlou was the catalyst for the prophecy, and now that our love has been consummated, it's only a matter of time. Skori, that sequencer-" he gestured to the device "-will give you data on the layout of this house, and how the runes work. Vinta will live for a hundred years after I'm gone; by then you should be safe to live wherever you please."
"Why have you brought us to this room?" Tescadji said, awed as the rest of the family had been over the beauty of the house, how little of it he had been privy to see in the short time they had been here.
"I must show you something," Aldrec said, his voice hollow with faded disgust as he ascended the steps to the raised platform. The shower of petal-like lights once again surrounded him, blown by an invisible breeze. Despite his sorrow, he still managed to smile. "I must show it not only to you, but to the world. I weary of it. I weary of its prejudices. And unless there is an intervention, those same prejudices will worsen the situation before it gets better."
"How do you suppose we fix it, then?" Sedriil said, holding the still-devastated Alaema close beside him, as Garen did with Noroa. "I mean, we're only androids."
"It won't be you who 'fixes it,'" Aldrec explained as the shower of petals increased in thickness, flowing about his body as if he were suspended in the midst of some invisible snow globe. "It is said in legends that when High elves spoke, the world listened. Now, you will understand what those legends meant."
And then, his common form tore apart, revealing his true terrible beauty to all present, in sudden and devastating glory. The family gasped, and Jenius nearly panicked, forcing Tescadji to hold him back from attempting to break down the door.
The petals spun and whirled, as their light increased in intensity, transforming into a blinding brilliance. The light exposed previously unseen runes etched in the walls of the silence room. They burned white hot, and cast a brightness that engulfed the chamber in a sea of white.
A stream of pictures came unbidden into the minds of all who were present in that brilliance, flashing one by one, like a slide show, each image suffused with palpable emotion. Frozen in a magical trance, Tescadji, Jenius, Skori, Sedriil, Alaema, Noroa, and Garen watched as their progressions moved like a living storybook.