Narisva walked across the moon's surface casually with her hands behind her back while Veneri followed beside her. The low gravity made every step look almost dreamlike as moon dust drifted up slowly around them. She suddenly stopped in front of the American flag planted on the surface. Veneri already knew she was about to do something stupid.
Narisva stared at the flag for a few moments before speaking dramatically. She altered space itself around them, making them able to speak while the holograms heard them.
"One small step for mankind… one giant step for Celestial supremacy."
Veneri immediately started laughing.
"That is NOT the line!"
"It is now."
She pulled the American flag out of the moon carefully and looked at it with visible curiosity.
"I didn't expect humans to actually place this thing here. I thought you people were exaggerating."
"You literally watched the historical recordings yesterday."
"I thought it was propaganda."
"And yet you think Flat Earthers are annoying."
Narisva eventually placed the American flag back exactly where it was before taking out another one from her inventory.
The flag of Dynasty Starisnova unfolded beautifully in the darkness of space. The black fabric shimmered with spatial energy while the emblem of a massive black hole surrounded by six glowing stars reflected faintly against the lunar surface. Narisva planted it proudly into the moon.
"There. Now history is complete. Humanity made it to the moon and then aliens did it better."
"You're going to start an interstellar political incident."
"I already fixed their moon. They owe me."
Veneri pointed towards Earth itself. The massive blue planet floated beautifully in the darkness. Humanity collectively witnessed the clearest view of Earth ever recorded.
"There. Flat Earthers are finished."
Narisva looked at him strangely.
"You say that like they will suddenly become intelligent."
"Fair point."
"They'll probably say the moon is fake now."
Veneri sighed heavily.
"They absolutely will."
Narisva then casually opened a massive portal beside them that connected directly to Earth. The portal revealed New York City on the other side. Humanity watching the broadcast completely lost their minds again. Narisva faced the holograms and pointed at the portal.
"If any of you wish to visit the moon, simply ask me politely and I shall bring you here. Though if you litter, I will throw you into space."
The holograms shut off.
The two of them finally sat down on the moon's surface while Earth glowed beautifully before them. Narisva formed a transparent spatial bubble around them, allowing atmosphere and sound to exist inside it. For the first time since entering space, they could finally speak normally again. Narisva stared quietly at Earth.
"Space really is beautiful. It's simpler than Spheraphase. Empty… but peaceful."
Veneri leaned back on his hands.
"You sound like someone who owns the place."
"I practically do."
"Nari… are you at the Deity level?"
Narisva immediately avoided eye contact. Veneri slowly narrowed his eyes.
"You are. I KNEW IT!"
Narisva sighed.
"You were not supposed to figure it out this quickly."
"How was I NOT supposed to figure it out?! When you first ascended to Divine Rank you literally vaporized the oceans on Erna Moon and cracked the thing in half. Half, Nari. Not even normal Deities casually do nonsense like that."
Narisva coughed awkwardly.
"In hindsight… perhaps that was excessive."
"Excessive?! The Frozen God got destroyed like a bug!"
"Well he annoyed me for leading to your death."
Veneri stared at her with the expression of a man realizing his beloved had secretly been a cosmic horror the entire relationship. Then realization fully clicked together.
"Spheraphase is suppressing you the same way it suppressed Peroncerea, isn't it?"
Narisva finally nodded slowly. She looked strangely nervous.
"Yes. Are you mad?"
Veneri looked so shocked by the question that she almost regretted asking it.
"Mad? Why would I be mad?!"
"You know… because I'm stronger than you?"
Veneri stared at her for a full three seconds and flicked her forehead using all his strength. A gigantic shockwave exploded across the moon's surface and sent dust flying for kilometers. Narisva grabbed her forehead immediately.
"Ow!"
"Why would I be jealous of my girlfriend being stronger than me?! Do you think my ego is that fragile?!"
"You're a man."
"And?"
"You know… pride."
"My life goal is literally to be dominated by beautiful women. Why would this discourage me?! This is my victory!"
Narisva stared at him blankly.
"What?"
Veneri pointed at her dramatically again.
"You are an absurdly beautiful cosmic Goddess capable of destroying planets and somehow you're in love with me. How exactly am I losing in this scenario?!"
Inside her mind, Elest sighed deeply.
[I told you so.]
Narisva immediately argued mentally.
[Shut up.]
[I specifically told you he would not care.]
[You're being annoying.]
[He is literally celebrating.]
Veneri was still ranting.
"If anything, this means I can act more spoiled now because my girlfriend can protect me from literally anything."
Narisva's face slowly turned red.
"You are saying this with zero shame…"
"Correct."
"You're supposed to act cool and masculine."
"I am masculine. I'm secure enough in my masculinity to admit I enjoy terrifyingly powerful women."
Elest burst out laughing inside Narisva's soul.
[Oh, he's definitely your soulmate.]
[Stop talking!]
Narisva covered her face with both hands while Veneri kept grinning proudly. Then she suddenly leaned against him quietly.
"You really don't mind?"
Veneri immediately wrapped an arm around her shoulders.
"Nari, if you became the strongest being in existence tomorrow, my first thought would be how cool my beloved is."
"You're really unfair sometimes."
"And you're really hot sometimes."
"Sometimes?"
"Okay, all the time. I was trying to sound mysterious."
Narisva ended up laughing so hard that even Earth could probably hear it if space allowed sound.
°°°°°°°
The moon was silent around them.
An endless gray wasteland stretched beneath their feet while the Earth glowed in the distance like a giant marble made of oceans and light. Compared to the chaos of Spheraphase, the scene almost felt peaceful.
Narisva sat beside him with her knees pulled slightly to her chest. Her long starry hair drifted around her body. The Starisnova flag they planted nearby fluttered despite there being no wind at all, held upright by Spatial Energy. She looked down for a while before finally speaking.
"If you die again like you did during the First Epoch Cycle, I am going to lose my mind. I am not exaggerating. Last time it happened, I isolated myself from everyone and trained until I forgot what sleep felt like. I stopped talking properly to people. I stopped caring about politics, kingdoms, friendships, all of it. The only thing I focused on was becoming stronger because I hated the fact that I could not protect someone important to me. If it happens again, I will go insane."
Narisva continued speaking while staring at the Earth.
"When I made the contract with Elest after my parents died, he trapped me inside my personal dimension for three hundred years. Three hundred years, Veneri. Do you understand how long that feels for a Celestial who was still emotionally unstable? Every day was just training, Spatial calculations, Heavenly Body Creation, gravitational laws, singularity formation, universal compression, star manipulation over and over again."
She laughed weakly.
"At some point, I forgot how to talk casually. Elest was insufferable too. He kept throwing stars at me whenever I made mistakes."
Inside her mind, Elest immediately protested.
[I only did that because you kept collapsing miniature stars every three days!]
[You literally threw a neutron star at my head once.]
[It built character.]
Veneri snorted so hard he almost choked.
"What kind of teacher does that?"
[A good one,] Elest replied proudly inside her mind.
Narisva rolled her eyes before continuing.
"By the time the training ended, I was already at the Deity Rank. My understanding of space was already beyond what Spheraphase allowed. But when I returned, only months had passed outside my dimension and the world immediately restricted me. The Ascension Curse affected me almost instantly."
She slowly opened her palm. A tiny black hole formed above it, spinning quietly.
"I was too strong for the balance of the world. So, Spheraphase forced limitations on me. Elest helped me stabilize my power and I made that vow to never involve myself in politics because I didn't care anymore. Then Spheraphase used that vow against me to restrict me even further."
The miniature black hole vanished.
"But now I absorbed the spirit. I broke the vow. I surpassed the restriction. I'm officially a Primordial Deity of the Second Tier now. And honestly… I was scared you would hate that."
Veneri stared at her for three whole seconds before looking offended.
"Narisva Starisnova, what kind of nonsense are you saying right now?"
"What?"
"Your first concern was whether I would feel insecure?"
"Yes?"
Veneri grabbed both her cheeks immediately.
"That is the dumbest thing I have ever heard from you and I watched you eat nineteen donuts in one sitting yesterday."
"They were good."
"That is not the point."
He squished her cheeks harder. Elest stared at him through the soul connection.
"You becoming stronger is a blessing. Do you understand how relaxing that is for me? I can finally say stupid things knowing someone can protect me from the consequences."
"You already say stupid things."
"Exactly. Now I can do it safer."
Narisva tried holding back her laughter but failed instantly. He flicked her forehead again.
"Ow!"
The shockwave shot across the lunar surface and blasted dust kilometers away. Far on Earth, several satellites malfunctioned simultaneously. Veneri ignored that.
"You are unbelievable sometimes. After that confession last night, did you honestly think I would suddenly become insecure because you reached Primordial Deity Rank?"
Narisva crossed her arms and muttered quietly.
"Most men would."
"Well, most men are cowards."
Veneri wrapped an arm around Narisva and pulled her closer while both of them looked at Earth again. After a while, he spoke more softly.
"I'm serious though. I don't care if you become stronger than me. I care if you stop smiling. That's the part I hate. I already died once. I know what it did to everyone. I know what it did to you. I'm not saying I'll never risk myself again because honestly that would be a lie. But I'm trying, Nari. I really am."
She rested her head on his shoulder.
"You better keep trying because I am not emotionally surviving another tragedy arc."
"That bad?"
"You have no idea. At one point I almost destroyed a City because someone reminded me of you."
"That's honestly kind of romantic."
"No, it was concerning."
"Still romantic though."
She laughed again and closed her eyes. For a while, neither of them spoke. They just sat together on the moon under the stars while Earth glowed in front of them like a fragile little jewel suspended in darkness.