I woke up tangled in warmth and soft sheets. My cheek was pressed against his chest and my arm was draped over his waist as if I was afraid he'd disappear the moment I loosened my grip. The morning light filtered through the curtains in thin golden lines and for a few seconds I just lay there, listening.
We spent the entire night together. I didn't even remember when we fell asleep off. It was the forty-seventh day since the Second Epoch Cycle had begun. I kept track of days like that now. Everything since the Cycle started felt like it needed to be recorded like that.
His hand rested lazily on my back and the other tucked under my head. I was clinging to him without even realizing it. I could hear his heartbeat beneath my ear and for a moment, I just focused on that sound.
It felt… relieving.
Ever since he lost his heart in the Obsidian Runic Spire, I've grown used to silence when I rested against him. I told myself I didn't mind but now that it was back and I could hear it again, I realized how much I had missed it. Well, even though I didn't get to hear it much since I got a physical body.
I shifted slightly, pressing my ear more firmly against his chest just to make sure I wasn't imagining it.
"How do you endure so much?"
He didn't answer right away, and I continued before he could deflect like he always did.
"You lived without a heart for ages. Your Body Reconstruction couldn't recreate one because your pseudo-cores replaced it. That kind of pain… it wasn't just physical, was it? How did you endure that every single day?"
I tilted my head up to look at him, expecting his usual calm expression. Instead, I found him staring at me with a look I didn't see often.
To everyone else, he's terrifying. He's tall, composed, and his face is almost always frozen in that calm neutral expression that made even enemies hesitate. But to me—and to the others he loved and cared about—he was an open book if you knew where to look. He showed everything through the smallest reactions. Right now, he looked… happy.
He didn't answer my question. He just kept staring at me like he was trying to memorize my face all over again.
"Why are you staring at me like that?"
"You're beautiful. It's amazing how you always look this good. We've been together for years and yet every time I wake up next to you, it feels like I'm seeing you for the first time again."
I went silent.
Normally, I would have teased him. I would have thrown some sarcastic comment back at him or accused him of getting sentimental in his old age. But this time, nothing came out. My face felt warm and I suddenly found the pattern on the bedsheets extremely interesting.
He chuckled softly, clearly enjoying my reaction.
"You're cute when you're flustered. Usually you'd have a teasing reply ready, but now you can't even think of one."
I hated him for that. And I loved him for it too. He knew me inside and out. With a face like his, that calm voice, and words that sounded like they came straight out of some romantic epic, who wouldn't be speechless? He was cheating by being this handsome and this smooth at the same time.
He shifted slightly, adjusting his grip around me so I was more comfortably tucked into his side.
"I wonder how our daughter is going to look in the future."
"Daughter?"
"Being born from two Ancient Races would make her overpowered from the start. Would she inherit your teasing, casual personality or my— actually, what do I have?"
I snorted before I could stop myself.
"You're suicidal and secretive. And why are you already thinking about having kids? And why a daughter and not a son?"
"Honey, I don't really mind if I have sons or daughters. At the end of the day, once they come of age, they'll leave and explore the world… or the universe if they get the chance. And then I'll have an eternity with my Beloveds."
I listened to him, half amused and half unsettled. He was talking about it like it was already a certainty.
"With you, Phae, we could conquer a planet, act like gods for a while, and then just… watch. We wait for them to cause a world war then eradicate them as punishment. I'd collect their souls and give them to Ely. She'd create new beings for her realm and I'd help her guide them through countless civilizations. We'd be gods to them."
I stared at him as he continued painting scenarios like they were just casual weekend plans.
"Then I'd go with Narisva into space. We could have a picnic near a black hole. Or, we could cause a supernova by collapsing a few stars. And if other races tried to attack us, we could fight them off just to see how strong they really are."
I let out a disbelieving laugh. He was completely serious about this, by the way.
"With Asenane, we could fly around different worlds and freeze them for fun. We could turn one into a giant snowboarding planet. Imagine taking our family there just to try winter sports."
I buried my face into his chest for a moment. Seriously, is he delusional after what we did?
"You're insane."
He ignored that and kept talking.
"Adelasta would probably just stay home and bury herself in work like always. I'd help her when she asked and when I got bored, I'd drag her out to see how mortals live. We could go on dates disguised as mortals and just live normally for a few days."
I lifted my head again and stared at him.
"We're not even continental-level threats yet and you're already talking about universal-level feats."
He looked down at me and gave me a content smile that made my chest ache.
"It feels good to dream, doesn't it?"
I couldn't argue with that.
"Sooner or later, Spheraphase will exile us once we become too powerful for it to control. And when that happens, we'll finally be free to explore the universe and figure out how everything really works."
I watched his face as he spoke. He really believed we'd make it that far. I poked his chest lightly.
"Don't die before that happens. Especially with your suicidal tendencies."
"I'll try not to."
"That's not a satisfying answer."
"It's the best I can give."
I sighed but I didn't push him further. Instead, I settled back against him, pressing my ear to his chest again, listening to that steady heartbeat that I never thought I'd hear again.
I was just starting to drift back into that comfortable half-sleep the mattress dipped suddenly behind me. I didn't even need to turn around to know who it was.
"You two had fun without me, huh?"
I groaned and buried my face deeper into Veneri's chest.
"Ely, you can't just teleport into our bed like that."
She ignored me completely and slid under the sheets anyway. Her cold feet brushed against my leg, making me flinch.
"You didn't even invite me. I was left all alone while you two were being all lovey-dovey in here."
I finally turned my head enough to glare at her. Her silver hair was a mess and her eyes were still half-lidded.
"You can't exactly do intimate stuff until you get married, so…"
I shrugged lazily, still wrapped in Veneri's arms. In response to that. She groaned loudly, throwing her arm over her face.
"That doesn't mean I can't do intimate stuff. You make it sound like I'm banned from all forms of affection until I sign some contract."
Veneri, who had been silently watching the two of us with that faintly amused expression of his, suddenly went quiet in a different way. After a few seconds, he spoke.
"The other Pentarchs have already made it to their respective realms."
Ely blinked and sat up slightly. "Already? That was fast."
"Each of them safely made it. The connections through the Sapphire Bond are clear."
I shifted slightly so I could look up at him.
"Do they… act differently from you?"
"Each Pentarch has a personality. They're all me but they think differently. They interpret situations through the lens of the Divinity they represent."
"So they're like… separate people?"
"Not exactly, Ely. They can't turn against each other. At the core, they're still bound to me and I'm bound to them. I can communicate with them through the Sapphire Bond at any time. I can access their thoughts and experiences if I want."
I glanced at Ely and smirked faintly. "You know, I can do something similar with my fragments, The only difference is that my fragments all act like me. They don't diverge like his Pentarchs do. I don't really control them consciously. They just… do things. It's like watching myself from different angles."
"That's because they're extensions of you, not independent interpretations of your Divinity," Veneri explained calmly. His hand absentmindedly traced patterns on my back as he spoke. "They function independently because they're complete copies of your cognitive pattern. Ely, fragments are useful but what you really need are avatars."
Ely frowned, clearly confused by the word. "Avatars?"
I propped myself up slightly on my elbow.
"Explain."
He shifted slightly, making room as Ely leaned closer. The three of us were now tangled under the sheets in a way that would've looked scandalous to anyone else.
"An avatar, if I remember correctly from the memories of my first life, is a fully realized extension of your existence that embodies a specific aspect of your power. Unlike fragments, avatars aren't just copies. They're specialized and can operate even if your main body is compromised."
Ely's eyes widened slowly. "So… like having extra lives?"
"In a simplified sense, yeah. But more than that. You possess eight elements. If you create eight avatars with each representing one element, you'll be able to exist through them simultaneously. Even if one body is destroyed, the others remain. It makes you increasingly difficult to kill."
She stared at him in shock.
"I don't even know how to begin doing something like that."
I nudged her lightly with my knee. "We'll learn. I didn't know how to split fragments at first either and now I can do it without thinking."
She glanced at me with uncertainty still flickering in her eyes. "You really think it's a good idea?"
"It is. Imagine being able to control fire in one place, water in another, and wind somewhere else all at the same time. Also, it will make you able to master your elements better. And it would make you much harder to defeat. Anyone trying to fight you would have to contend with eight different elemental manifestations instead of just one physical form."
Ely slowly sank back into the pillows, processing everything.
"That sounds… amazing. And terrifying."
I laughed quietly and shifted closer to her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.
"Welcome to our lives. Everything we do is amazing and terrifying at the same time."
She huffed but leaned into me anyway, and soon we were both pressed against Veneri with one on each side and his arms loosely embracing us. For a moment, none of us spoke. The room was quiet except for the faint hum of distant city noise and the steady rhythm of his heartbeat between us.
I glanced up at him and caught him looking down at us with that same soft expression from earlier. It made my stomach flutter.
"You're smiling again."
"I like moments like this. Well, before everything gets complicated again."
Ely yawned and curled closer to his other side.
"You say that like things aren't already complicated."
His hand rested on her head before drifting back to my back. I closed my eyes for a moment, letting myself enjoy the warmth of both of them.