Adelasta stood silently within the memory. Unlike normal memories viewed through divine means, this one felt strangely vivid to the point that she almost expected the ocean wind brushing past her to actually touch her skin. What was more concerning however, was the uncomfortable sensation crawling beneath her body.
Her Existence Divinity was active for some reason.
Normally, her Divinity only reacted to threats, destruction or abnormalities. Yet right now, faint crimson energy lingered quietly beneath her skin as though something inside the memory itself had triggered it. She did not know why.
Still, before she could think about it too deeply, the memory changed. The beach vanished. Darkness swallowed everything.
A cave appeared. Warm firelight flickered softly against stone walls while the sound of rain echoed faintly outside. The place looked surprisingly comfortable despite being simple. Blankets were scattered near the fire and strange instruments resting against the cave walls like decorations. Whoever lived here clearly spent enough time turning survival into something cozy.
Adela immediately spotted Veneri.
He sat near the fire with his arms crossed, staring into the flames with the exact expression he always wore whenever reality became unnecessarily complicated. His face looked calmer here, though she could still see traces of exhaustion beneath it.
The woman sat comfortably beside the fire poking at burning wood with a stick while humming quietly to herself. Her white dress looked absurdly clean for someone apparently living in a cave. Her vivid green eyes carried an unusual calmness that somehow felt ancient.
Also, she was very beautiful. Adela narrowed her eyes harder. She was not jealous. Probably.
Veneri finally sighed and rubbed his forehead.
"Alright. Let me summarize this because I genuinely need confirmation that I am not hallucinating."
Melody smiled brightly.
"Go ahead."
He pointed vaguely around them.
"Right now, I am apparently in Regnum Musicae, which is a hidden realm with three islands."
"Correct."
"And currently, we are in Modernia, which is apparently where all Musicum Instrumentum are kept when a Musica dies. Musica are a human subrace living in this world and you saved them from slavery during the Destras Cataclysm."
"Correct again."
"And you," he said slowly, "are the latest reincarnation of Melody."
Melody gave a small dramatic bow from where she sat.
"The one and only."
"The same Melody who once wielded the Orchestral Violex."
"Mhmm."
"The same Primordial Goddess blessed by Time."
"Also correct."
"And the Orchestral Violex is literally made from Temporal Energy."
"Bingo."
Veneri stared at her for several seconds and sighed.
"That somehow sounds even more ridiculous when I say it out loud."
Melody laughed softly.
"You are taking this surprisingly well."
"I grew up in Richinaria. My baseline for ridiculous stopped existing years ago. New problem though. My sister and wife came here with me. I need to find them."
Melody immediately waved her hand dismissively.
"Oh, do not worry too much about them. They will be here in 160 years."
"Excuse me?"
"Time difference. For them, it will barely feel like anything."
Veneri looked deeply offended by existence.
"A HUNDRED AND SIXTY YEARS?"
"Technically less for them."
"That is not helping!"
Melody poked the fire again.
"For now, you should focus on me."
"That sounded significantly worse than you intended."
"Oh. That came out wrong."
Adela crossed her arms. It absolutely did. Too bad she couldn't speak in this memory. Veneri sighed heavily.
"Why exactly am I here? And please tell me this is not random cosmic nonsense."
"Oh, this one is actually your grandfather's fault."
Veneri immediately looked tired.
"Of course it is."
"When Vasreveilder created Regnum Musicae for my people, he asked me for a favor. You."
"Me?"
"He told me that one day, an Aeterium would come to this realm. When that happened, I was to alter time long enough to train him."
Veneri looked mildly horrified.
"Train?"
"In Magecraft."
He groaned loudly.
"Oh, come on."
"I have been waiting centuries for this."
He pointed accusingly at the ceiling of the cave as though Vasreveilder could somehow hear him.
"Why does that grandfather of mine insist on interfering with literally everything? Why is he somehow involved in every problem during the Second Epoch Cycle? 160 years is absurd you know. Do you know how long that actually is?"
"If you refuse, I simply will not give you the Orchestral Violex."
"Excuse me?"
She smiled pleasantly.
"And when you leave this realm, you die."
Veneri stared at her for several seconds.
"You are weirdly comfortable threatening people."
"It is called motivation. So?"
He sighed heavily.
"Fine. Where do I start?"
"There is no need to rush. Tomorrow morning, I will give you a tour of Modernia. It's mostly a graveyard."
"A graveyard?"
"A very interesting graveyard. Still worth seeing though."
Veneri stared into the fire and sighed like a man realizing destiny had once again ruined his life, which it had.
"Why does my life always become weird?"
°°°°°°
The memory glitched again.
The cave disappeared into mist before reforming into a rainy morning beneath endless gray skies. Gentle rain poured over Modernia in soft waves while cold wind blew across rocky ground that stretched farther than Adelasta could see. The entire island felt strangely empty, carrying the kind of silence only places touched by death seemed to possess.
Adela immediately noticed the difference. Modernia felt nothing like Concerto. Concerto felt alive.
This place did not.
Melody walked ahead casually through the rain, holding an enormous leaf above herself like some oversized cover she had clearly stolen from nature without apology. Despite the weather, she looked completely relaxed while humming quietly to herself, occasionally stepping around puddles with surprising elegance. Somehow, even carrying a giant leaf, she still looked graceful.
Meanwhile, Veneri looked calm. He simply walked forward with a translucent barrier surrounding his body while rain harmlessly slid away from him.
Melody glanced back.
"You know, normal people use umbrellas. I think that's what your Transmigrators call it."
"I'm a mage."
"That sounds unnecessarily arrogant."
"If mysticism exists, I'm using it."
Melody sighed dramatically.
"You are no fun."
"You are literally carrying a leaf."
Adela almost laughed. That's when she noticed it.
This island was absolutely a graveyard. Everywhere she looked were thousands and thousands of tombstones.
Entire fields stretched endlessly across the rocky landscape while strange musical instruments floated silently above every grave. Violins drifted gently in the air like spirits. Harps shimmered faintly beneath rainwater. Brass instruments hovered motionlessly while pianos rested impossibly untouched by weather despite being exposed to open skies. Every tombstone carried inscriptions written in Latin, glowing faintly beneath the rain as if refusing to fade.
Adela slowly walked closer to one. Even without fully understanding Latin, she understood enough. Unlike Spheraphasian graveyards that often carried sorrow or fear, this place felt strangely warm despite the sadness lingering inside it. Nobody here felt forgotten.
Eventually, they reached the center of the island. There, standing tall against the gray skies was a beautiful gigantic statue.
A woman stood carved from white stone while holding a violin gracefully against her shoulder. Even through the rain, the craftsmanship looked impossibly detailed to the point where the statue almost felt alive.
At its base, Latin words glowed in emerald.
["Hic Iacet Melodia, Vates Errans, Quae Tempus Citharae Flexit et Populum Suum Ad Libertatem Ducebat."]
"Here lies Melody, the Wandering Bard, who bent Time through her lure and led her people to freedom."
Adela quietly watched the memory as Melody herself stood beneath her own statue. Melody smiled awkwardly.
"You know, watching your own funeral is a very strange experience."
"You watched your funeral?"
"As a soul. Perks of being blessed by Time. The Musica really loved me. They cried a lot. Honestly, it felt a little embarrassing."
Veneri looked toward the endless graves surrounding them.
"How long?"
"Over twenty thousand years."
"And they still worship you like this?"
Melody sighed softly.
"They are too loyal. They have stagnated."
"What do you mean?"
Melody looked across the island.
"They built a peaceful civilization. Nobody suffers anymore but… they stopped moving forward."
Rain continued falling around them quietly.
"The Musica only live ninety to one hundred years. Compared to other races, that is nothing. We have the shortest lifespan of any race in Spheraphase."
She crouched slightly beside one grave.
"And because of our biology, we cannot have many children. Most Musica can only have two children maximum. Many are infertile."
A sad smile crossed her face.
"That is one of the reasons we were enslaved. We were weak with no physical strength or absurd Divinities. Music was all we had. Imagine being the weakest Human subrace while surrounded by immortal monsters."
"That sounds unfair."
"It was. But at least it ended. Vasreveilder saved us."
Veneri immediately looked suspicious.
"My grandfather?"
"He helped me create this realm. He isolated my people from the world. For the first time in history… the Musica became safe."
Veneri looked at the horizon while lightning shone in the distant.
"I guess I understand why you owe him now."
Melody smiled softly.
"I owe him everything."
"You said reincarnation earlier. How exactly does that work exactly?"
"As a Primordial Goddess blessed by Time, I reincarnate endlessly."
"Endlessly?"
"Pretty much."
Then she pointed at herself proudly.
"This is my two-thousand three-hundredth reincarnation. I stopped counting after two thousand so this is an estimation."
Adela blinked too. Even she found that absurd.
"I can only live around one hundred years every reincarnation. After that, Time moves me elsewhere. I'm fifty right now. My soul will dissolve into the blind currents of Time and I'll reincarnate in another world after this last life. I'll forget everything."
Veneri looked strangely uncomfortable.
"That sounds sad."
"Not really. I stopped fearing it a long time ago. The reason I lasted this long is because of the Orchestral Violex. It anchors my soul. Without it, I would have disappeared ages ago."
She turned at him, clapped her hands once and smiled brightly.
"Anyway! I promised Vasreveilder something. I am training you on how to be a better mage. By the time I am done with you, you will become the strongest mage alive."
Veneri frowned.
"What about my father?"
Melody immediately looked smug.
"I was the second strongest mage after your father, but I guess they didn't put that in the history books. Who cares about second anyway?"
Veneri looked horrified.
"I am about to suffer, aren't I?"
Melody smiled sweetly.
"Immensely."