"He was a visionary," Akasha added with a smile, "not looking toward tomorrow, but always five years and beyond from the present. When Serenity showed me that book I looked at what I had been doing and was humbled. How different would things be now had things gone differently and his vision had been put into place when and where it was intended? Though I don't believe he would have seen Setri coming, I can at least lay claim to that and build from there for a modern and vibrant Clysperis that he would most certainly be proud of. I cannot wait," she said touching a wall, "to see his foreign vision and my domestic vision combine into something wonderful; something that will take care of our People for generations to come."
"Though I know my People are excited to host you, I can imagine deliberations going on in capitals across Midaranye at this very moment, they'll be seeking to debase me as the "voice of Midaranye," casting me in the same light as the Occident I speak out against with such furor and devotion. I don't care what they think though, I've withstood a misinformation campaign from the boy in King's robes for quite some time after all, and I know a true friend when they stand before me. You're a man who's stood his ground against friend and enemy alike, never showing bias, always sticking to your values and defending what you believe in with every ounce of strength your nation possesses. You know when a friend needs to hear that they're wrong, even if they don't see it themselves, and you've always sided with justice from the information available to me. I do believe your Empire is just as much a staunch defender of Ma'at as my own Kingdom."
"But," Akasha glanced to the side, "I know neither my father nor the gods would wish for Clysperis to be static: for something which remains static for too long may be considered dead, do you not agree? It's why I forbade my People from employing indentured servitude for even a single day longer and why my Kingdom has entered into its first international agreements. Time changes, the seasons change, there are changes which happen across the span of a single day; the living are never static, from moment to moment they are changing from what they were before into something better than what they were before. I took the Throne believing that taking on the world around us, preserving each and every aspect of what Clysperis was at that moment as if to spite others, was the right path, but my father saw that evolution was the only true course this nation could, and should, take. Thus here we are today, in the hall of my father, and I hope that together we may give birth to that era he wished to see in this life."
After spending some more time walking about the grounds of the Temple they would rejoin those at Khemnen Palace, ready to conduct the work before them. "Though many things remain before us to be discussed I do not dread it," Akasha said as they disembarked their vehicle, "for I know with all certainty I am amongst friends. I only apologize that it was so difficult for us to restore things to their proper path. Is there something you feel would be most important to tackle first as we begin this marathon?" Akasha asked Peter.
