Time literally stood still.
The pigeons froze mid-flutter while distant pedestrians moved like delayed echoes of themselves. Even the sound of the wind stretched thin, turning into a long, low murmur that barely resembled what it used to be. Veneri noticed it immediately. His eyes shifted once toward the warped surroundings before returning to Greshina, who was still leaning over him.
"This isn't me. So you can manipulate time now?"
Greshina looked at him like he had just asked the most obvious question in existence, then scoffed quietly. She adjusted her position slightly but made no effort to get off him.
"You're really clueless sometimes, you know that? When someone becomes a Deity, anything they do involving their Divinity will naturally affect either Time or Space. It depends on what their power governs. In my case, I don't 'manipulate time' directly. I invoked a Codex. The one I'm using right now is called The Seven Minute Replay."
He was curious clearly listening more carefully now so she explained further,
"It has four enchantments. It allows me to make someone experience their entire life flashing before their eyes, assuming they're vulnerable enough or weaker than me. At the same time, when I activate it, time in the real world slows down."
She tapped lightly against his chest as she added:
"Seven minutes pass outside. But for me and anyone I choose to include, it stretches into seven hours. During those seven hours, I can access memories. Yours, theirs, anyone's I decide to look into. And the final enchantment lets me actually move towards them through those memories. Meaning I can teleport to where they experienced the memory both physically or through astral projection."
There was a brief pause before Veneri scoffed.
"That's the most overpowered Codex I've ever heard."
Greshina immediately scoffed and leaned back just enough to look at him properly before replying,
"Oh, don't even start with that. Your Codex literally lets you become invisible for nineteen hours and not just visually invisible. You're completely undetectable by any sentient being unless you choose otherwise or start fighting. And you're calling mine overpowered?"
"When you say it like that… yeah, mine sounds overpowered."
She gave him a look that clearly said 'exactly', then relaxed slightly, though she still hadn't moved off him.
"So what do you actually want from me?"
"I'm here to help. Don't you want answers? About why your memories of your past life are missing. Why the Krepsunas are suddenly attacking everything. And why this Second Epoch Cycle exists."
That made him pause properly this time.
"You're saying you know something."
Greshina gave a small shrug and replied, "I know enough."
"Fine. I'll go along with your plan. For now."
"Good boy."
"Don't start."
She ignored that entirely.
"Can you let me go now?"
Greshina didn't even hesitate before replying,
"No."
"You're serious?"
"Very serious."
"You're enjoying this, aren't you?"
"Maybe a little. Anyway, it's been seventy days since the Second Epoch Cycle began. But before anything else, there's something I need to tell you."
Veneri didn't speak. He just watched her.
"You're going to die in this Second Epoch Cycle."
"…"
"I can feel it. As a Deity of Death, I can sense when someone is marked. You have that presence in you, Veneri. It's certain. And because I still have feelings for you, I'm not going to claim you. I'm not going to let you just die like that. That's why I have to follow my plan."
She expected shock, anger or at least confusion. Instead, Veneri just looked at her.
"Why aren't you reacting?"
"Because I'm used to dying. And I already anticipated something like this. That's why I split myself into Pentarchs. My Time Pentarch is already working on a solution. There's a chance he's already found a way around it."
Greshina stared at him, then said, more firmly this time,
"You're still going to die."
Veneri nodded like he already knew that.
"I know. I died once during the First Epoch Cycle too. The Primordials brought me back. And if this plan fails, then I'll just die again—"
"No. I'm not letting you die."
"Why are you so obsessed with me after all these years?"
"What?"
"You left me for sixty years. They experimented on me over and over again. They used me to find cures for most diseases on Earth and when you made everyone immortal and gave them eternal youth, I stopped being useful but they didn't stop. They kept going anyway. So tell me… why?"
"You remember parts of it, huh? But you don't remember why I did it. You don't even remember what happened after."
Did you erase my memories?"
"Yes. Thyrexxa knows more about the future than she lets on. When she transmigrated you to Spheraphase, she didn't fully restore those memories."
"Why would you remove most of my memories in the first place?"
"Because it was necessary. For now, you need to relax. Or is it that you've been wanting to kiss me this whole time?"
Veneri blinked once, clearly caught off guard by the sudden shift in the topic.
"Even after all these years, you still—"
"I'm sorry."
"Wait what?"
"I'm sorry for what you went through for those sixty years. I'm sorry for making you feel empty. For making you feel like you were just… something to be used. I loved you and I still do. I know it's going to take time for you to accept me again but I'm not giving up. I didn't give up back in high school on Earth, and I'm not going to give up now."
Veneri was quiet for a moment.
"I never hated you, Greshina. But my love for you has faded so—"
He stopped when he saw her expression. Her smile caught him off guard completely. Her entire expression lit up in a way that felt so different from everything else she had shown so far.
"That's progress."