The air above the Underworld was still, heavy with ozone. The rift had closed, the last traces of divine presence burned away. What remained was the scent of ash and clean rain.
Hespera drifted through the silence, wings folded tight against her back. Every motion felt deliberate now. Every thought came in order. For the first time in centuries, her mind was quiet.
Below, the Gremory estate shimmered like an ember in the dark. She could hear laughter faintly through the wards. It sounded normal. Too normal.
She landed in the courtyard, the soles of her boots hitting stone without a sound. The guards didn't notice her at first — the kind of stealth that came from being beyond notice. When one finally looked up, his eyes widened.
"Lady Hespera?"
She gave a small wave. "Evening."
He froze, then stumbled over his words. "You—you shouldn't— we thought you—"
"Dead?" she offered helpfully. "It's a habit."
The guard nodded weakly as she walked past him toward the mansion.
Inside, the scent of tea and sugar filled the hall. The atmosphere was warm, domestic — almost offensively so after the chaos she'd just erased. She followed the sound of voices to the sitting room.
Koneko was sprawled on a couch with a plate of shortcakes. Kuroka was sitting cross-legged on the rug, tail flicking lazily while teasing Rias about something that made Akeno snicker. Gasper hovered by the window, half-hidden behind the curtains, humming to himself. Baraqiel was talking quietly with Sirzechs near the fireplace.
When Hespera stepped into the room, the conversation stopped dead.
Rias was the first to stand. "Hespera—"
"Relax," she said, lifting a hand. "No divine smiting today."
Kuroka's head snapped around so fast it startled even her sister. Her tail froze mid-flick, then twitched twice.
"...Hespera?" she whispered.
Hespera smiled, small and real. "Hi, kitten."
Kuroka crossed the room in three steps and slammed into her with enough force to rattle the teacups on the table. Hespera staggered, then wrapped her arms around her, steady as ever.
"Still warm," Kuroka mumbled into her shoulder.
"Still psycho," Hespera murmured back. "You like that about me."
Koneko stood beside them, watching quietly. "You really fixed it," she said, her tone half disbelief, half awe.
"I had motivation," Hespera said. "You two are terrible at staying out of trouble."
Koneko's mouth twitched. "You love us."
"Unfortunately, yes."
Akeno approached slowly, uncertain. "The sky stopped shaking when you left. Does that mean it's over?"
"It's over," Hespera said. "The council won't be bothering anyone again."
Rias frowned slightly. "Won't be bothering or can't?"
Hespera tilted her head, eyes glinting. "Let's just say they're experiencing a permanent vacation. Destination: humility."
Sirzechs gave her a long look, reading the tone correctly. "So the balance is back."
"For now," she said. "If it tips again, I'll nudge it. Gently. Probably."
Kuroka finally pulled back, eyes glistening but smiling anyway. "You really can't stop, can you?"
Hespera brushed a strand of hair behind Kuroka's ear. "If I stop, someone else tries to play god. Then I have to get up again. It's exhausting."
"You could stay," Kuroka said softly. "Here. With us."
Hespera's expression softened. "That's the first sensible idea anyone's had all millennium."
Nyx's voice came from the doorway. "Don't get too comfortable. You still owe me a date."
Hespera didn't even turn around. "You mean the one where you made me eat starlight salad and called it romantic?"
"It was romantic," Nyx said, stepping into the room. "You're just uncultured."
Kuroka eyed her warily. "You're the night goddess she mentioned, aren't you?"
Nyx smiled faintly. "And you're the cat she almost destroyed creation over."
"Sounds about right," Kuroka muttered.
Ophis appeared next, simply there, the air bending around her presence. Great Red followed in a shimmer of crimson scale and light, his humanoid projection leaning casually against the wall. The room felt suddenly smaller, like the weight of myth had squeezed in through the door.
Rias pinched the bridge of her nose. "Every time you people visit, the air feels like it's about to explode."
"That's just him," Hespera said, jerking a thumb toward Great Red.
The dragon grinned. "Jealous?"
"Of your volume? Never."
Nyx snorted. "You two are unbearable."
Ophis looked between them, expression unreadable. "You finished what you started."
"I did," Hespera said. "They're gone."
"Permanently?"
"As mortals. Let them earn their wings the hard way."
Ophis gave a small nod. "Acceptable."
Great Red crossed his arms. "You've changed."
Hespera glanced down at her hands. "Yeah. Guess I finally figured out there's more to existence than deleting people."
Kuroka nudged her side. "Growth."
"Don't say that word," Hespera said. "Makes me sound responsible."
Nyx walked over and brushed a thumb along her jawline, her tone low. "You earned some peace, Eveningstar."
Hespera caught her wrist, smiling faintly. "Peace is boring."
"You could try pretending," Nyx said.
"Maybe later," Hespera said, then turned back toward Kuroka and Koneko. "For now, I'm staying."
Koneko blinked. "Here?"
"Here," Hespera confirmed. "I'm tired of floating around like some cosmic boogeyman. I'll teach Koneko how to actually punch through a spell barrier, make Kuroka stop sleeping on rooftops, and maybe get Rias to stop overthinking every political meeting."
Rias folded her arms. "That last one's impossible."
"I like impossible," Hespera said.
The tension in the room finally broke. Laughter filled the space again, awkward at first, then genuine.
Great Red phased out, muttering something about needing a nap the size of a continent. Ophis followed, silent as always. Nyx lingered a little longer, eyes locked on Hespera before vanishing into a curl of shadow.
That left the devils.
Hespera sat on the couch like she belonged there. Kuroka curled against her side, tail flicking lazily. Koneko perched on the armrest, expression neutral but relaxed.
Rias poured more tea, setting a cup in front of her. "So what does someone like you do when there's no apocalypse left?"
Hespera sipped the tea, thoughtful. "Eat cake. Maybe sleep. Maybe adopt a hobby."
Koneko raised an eyebrow. "Like what?"
"Knitting," she said with complete seriousness. "Or gardening. Something wholesome that confuses everyone who knows me."
Kuroka laughed softly. "You'd burn the plants."
"Probably," Hespera said, deadpan. "Still, worth trying."
The room fell quiet for a moment. Outside, the rebuilt sky glowed a clean blue. The universe, for once, wasn't collapsing.
Hespera leaned back, eyes half-closed. "You know," she said, voice softer, "I spent ages thinking everything had to be cosmic. That every emotion needed a consequence. Turns out, I just needed quiet."
Kuroka rested her head against her shoulder. "You finally got it."
"Yeah," Hespera murmured. "Let's see how long it lasts."
She smiled again — small, calm, just a hint of the psycho edge underneath. "If anyone ruins it, I'll erase them."
Koneko sighed. "You were doing so well."
"Old habits," Hespera said, sipping her tea.
Rias rolled her eyes. "So, when are you going to fix that "World Tree infection" problem?"
"Hmm," Hespera thought. "Probably after I get my due rest. I feel that once I heal Yggdrasil, I won't have much time here. I would like to spend as much time with my friends and family before I'm forced to leave."
Everyone in the room looked at her in bewilderment— what did this psycho girl talking about.
Kuroka laid her head on Hespera's lap and looked up at her mate with questions in her eyes. "Nya, what do you mean by "leave"? It sounds like you're going somewhere we can't follow."
The others nodded in agreement. Rias even glared daggers at her with suspicion.
Rias crossed her arms, eyes narrowing slightly. "You're not seriously saying that after everything, you're just going to disappear again, are you?"
Her tone wasn't angry—more guarded, the kind of edge she used when she thought someone was lying to protect everyone else.
"You've got that look," she added, leaning forward. "The one people get before they do something reckless and call it 'necessary.' So, tell me, you sexy psychpath… what aren't you saying?"
Hespera didn't answer right away. Her eyes flicked to the translucent system window hovering in front of her — the one that had been patiently waiting since the moment she broke out of her cocoon. The others couldn't see it; they never could. The "rewind" had done more than reset reality — it had pulled Pandora Unbound back into the old System she thought was gone.
She skimmed the glowing text again.
System Notification:
[Ethereal Transcendence Unlocked]
You are no longer bound to a single world, dimension, or universe. Existing beyond the fabric of reality itself, you may traverse planes, timelines, and cosmic realms at will.
Hespera hummed under her breath. "Well… that's new."
Technically, she'd expected this. Unlocking every racial skill tied to being a Chaos Dragon, Abyss Phoenix, and Reaper tribrid was inevitable. Still, seeing it written out like that made it real. She leaned back slightly, eyes half-lidded, a slow grin curling across her face.
"So," she muttered to herself, "I finally broke the universe's leash. Cute."
Then her expression softened into something deceptively thoughtful. I wonder if I can bring my lovers with me this time… maybe Ophis, too.
The idea made her smile wider — too calm, too casual for what it implied. The kind of smile that made everyone else in the room uneasy without knowing why.
The idea made Hespera's smile widen — calm, lazy, and way too casual for what it implied. The kind of smile that made everyone in the room instinctively tense without knowing why.
"Gah, she's doing that creepy smile again! Someone make her stop!" Rias muttered, crossing her arms — though the faint blush creeping up her neck betrayed her. Why does crazy have to look that good?
Akeno chuckled softly, eyes glinting with amusement. "Just admit you find it attractive, Rias. It's less painful that way."
Kuroka and Ophis, meanwhile, tilted their heads in perfect sync, identical faint smiles forming.
"Cute," they said together.
Hespera blinked away the system window and looked up to find everyone still staring at her.
"What?" she said innocently. "Did I say something insane out loud again?"
Rias exhaled, pinching the bridge of her nose. "You smiled like you were planning another apocalypse — again. Then you went quiet. That's never a good sign."
"I was multitasking," Hespera said. "It's called emotional efficiency."
Kuroka was still curled on her lap, eyes narrowing suspiciously. "So? What was that look for, nya?"
"Nothing bad," Hespera said, brushing her fingers lazily through Kuroka's hair. "Just… logistics."
Rias folded her arms. "Logistics for what, exactly?"
Hespera hesitated, then shrugged. "Fine. The short version: I unlocked a new ability called Ethereal Transcendence. Basically, it lets me travel anywhere — planes, timelines, dimensions. I'm no longer tied to this one universe." She smiled faintly. "Cool, right?"
The room went dead quiet. Even Akeno stopped smirking.
"So… you can just leave?" Rias asked slowly.
"Technically, yes," Hespera said. "Practically, no one should — but apparently I can."
"That's what you meant earlier," Kuroka said softly, sitting up a little. "When you said you wouldn't have much time here."
"Yeah." Hespera leaned back, voice even but heavy underneath. "Once I fix the infection in Yggdrasil, I'll have to move on. My existence here is… problematic."
Rias frowned. "Problematic how?"
Hespera looked at her calmly. "Because I don't belong here anymore. As the Blessed of Chaos — the first child of the Origin Primordial — I leak chaos energy just by breathing. This universe was never designed to hold that much instability. The longer I stay, the more reality bends."
Akeno blinked. "Bends how?"
Hespera's smile turned sharp. "Time skips breakfast."
"…what?"
"Exactly."
Kuroka sat up fully now, her tail twitching. "So you're saying you'll break the world if you hang around too long?"
"Eventually, yeah," Hespera admitted without hesitation. "Not on purpose, obviously. But universes have limits, and I'm a walking exception."
Koneko tilted her head. "So you're like a bug in reality."
Hespera gave her a proud nod. "A very sexy bug."
That earned a weak laugh from Akeno, though the tension didn't really lift.
Rias studied her for a long moment. "And this other universe — the one you're going to. You don't even know what's there?"
"No idea," Hespera said, unbothered. "Could be peaceful. Could be hell. Maybe both. Chaos likes variety."
Nyx, who had been listening quietly near the window, finally spoke. "And you plan to just go without telling anyone? Again?"
Hespera gave her a side look. "Not this time. I'm telling you now."
Kuroka's voice softened. "You really have to go, don't you?"
"Yeah." Hespera's smile dimmed but didn't fade. "This world doesn't need me anymore. You all do fine without me."
Kuroka's tail flicked against her leg, irritated. "That's not the point, nya."
"I know." Hespera brushed her knuckles along Kuroka's cheek, tone light again. "But hey — I'm not dying this time. That's progress."
Rias shook her head, muttering, "You really have no concept of normal conversation."
"Correct," Hespera said cheerfully. "But I'm adorable, so it balances out. And besides, it's not like I plan on going alone," she said, her tone was calm, but the edge under it was unmistakable. "I'm taking Kuroka. And Nyx."
Kuroka's ears flattened. "You're serious?"
"I don't joke about theft," Hespera said dryly. "Especially when I'm stealing my lovers from reality."
Rias groaned softly. "Of course she'd call it that."
Ophis, standing by the window, finally spoke. "And me?"
Hespera turned toward her adopted mother, a faint smile forming. "Only if you want to come. You've already spent forever caged between nothing and everything. I don't want to drag you into another void unless you choose it."
Ophis studied her in silence. "My silence. Is very precious. So I'll follow."
"Fair point," Hespera said.
Nyx slipped an arm around her from behind, resting her chin on Hespera's shoulder. "So it's decided then. Wherever you go, we follow."
Hespera's grin widened, equal parts fond and terrifying. "Good. Because I wasn't planning to ask twice." What's mine, stays mine~.
The air in the room shifted — not dangerous, but charged. Kuroka's tail twitched, Nyx's smile deepened, and even Ophis looked faintly amused.
Rias muttered under her breath, "She really is a beautiful nightmare."
Hespera stretched lazily, utterly unbothered. "Flattery will get you everywhere, Princess.~"
The laughter that followed was small, tired, and real — the kind that only comes after the end of the world.