"How did you accomplish this?"
Leon got to his feet, the locket still clutched in his hand. The melancholy from his memories curdled into irritation. "I'm not in the mood for questions. Leave, or I'll flick you."
The threat was delivered with absolute calm, yet the being of starlight recoiled as if struck. The galaxies in its face swirled in alarm. "Now, now, let's not be hasty! There's no need for... flicking. I am merely an emissary. My name is Ominus, and I am here to present you with a choice, as is customary for all who reach your level."
Leon raised an eyebrow, his annoyance giving way to a flicker of curiosity. "A choice?"
"Indeed," Ominus said, regaining his composure.
"Option one: you can join us. Ascend to your rightful place as an Overseer of the Universe. You will help maintain the balance, guide the flow of creation, and watch over nascent realities. You will be a guardian, a god among gods."
Leon scoffed, a harsh, grating sound. "And associate myself with a bunch of ancient, dusty old fogeys who do nothing but watch? No, thank you. I'd rather count the grains of sand on this mountain."
Ominus's form shimmered. This man is ten thousand years old himself, he thought, rolling his non-existent eyes. "Very well. There is another path. Option two: you can be reborn. We can grant you a new life, a new beginning. You could even be a magic user this time, should you choose. You can retain a fraction of your current power, enough to live comfortably and experience life anew, without the risk of accidentally shattering a solar system with a sneeze."
"Refused," Leon said instantly. "What's the point? I have no desire to live another life." His shoulders slumped slightly, the fire in his eyes dimming. "There's nothing left for me."
Ominus sighed, depressed with how the negotiations were going.
The man in front of him was powerful beyond measure, but possessed zero motivation. This was a new, and frankly frustrating, problem. "Your apathy is... problematic. You cannot remain here like this. Your very existence is a destabilizing agent." He paused, then raised a hand shimmering with celestial light. "Fine. You leave me no choice. I must consult a specialist."
Space buckled beside Ominus, and another figure stepped out. This one was draped in grey robes that seemed to absorb the light around them. Their face was a placid, unreadable mask, and their eyes were closed.
"You called, Ominus?" the newcomer's voice was a whisper that carried across eternity.
"Ah, Kairos. Overseer of Fate," Ominus said with relief. "We have a situation, an anomaly with unprecedented power but zero ambition. See what you can find."
Kairos, the Overseer of Fate, turned their blank gaze toward Leon. They didn't move, yet Leon felt as if his entire timeline, from his birth to this very moment, was being laid bare and examined. Minutes passed in silence.
Finally, Kairos spoke. "His thread of fate is... unusual. It is tied, not to a place or a destiny, but to another soul. One that has already passed." Kairos's closed eyes seemed to focus on Leon. "You seek to meet someone once again who you lost a long time ago, do you not?"
"What do you mean?" Leon asked, his face still expressionless.
"Your master. If you were to start afresh, if you were to walk a new path... it is not impossible that you would meet her again."
The air cracked like thunder. Leon moved so fast that reality itself seemed to tear. He stood inches from Kairos, his hand gripping the front of the fate-weaver's robes, his golden eyes blazing with an intensity that made Ominus flinch.
"Is that true?" Leon's voice was a low growl, and the planet beneath them began to tremble violently. "Don't lie to me."
"Peace, friend!" Ominus yelped, a wave of calming energy washing over the planet, stilling the tremors. He wiped imaginary sweat from his starry brow. This man was a cosmic hazard.
Kairos remained utterly calm, even with Leon's hand tightening on their robe. "Fate is a river with many currents. Her soul has returned to the great cycle. The possibility of your streams crossing once more exists. But it is not a guarantee. It is a chance you must earn."
"How?" Leon demanded, his grip loosening slightly.
"Her soul's journey has left echoes, fragments of regret from those she could not save during her long life before she met you. These have manifested as... tasks," Kairos explained. "There are souls, young women who died with unfulfilled dreams, whose threads are faintly connected to hers. You will be tasked to raise them from the dead, to help them find peace and fulfill their final wishes. Each one you help is a step on the path, a clue that will lead you closer to her."
Hope, a feeling Leon thought long dead, ignited in his chest. A chance. Even a sliver of one was more than he'd had for nine thousand years. To see her again... to hear her call him her "stupid Ironfinger" one more time...
He released Kairos and stepped back. "I'll do it."
"Excellent!" Ominus boomed, immensely relieved.
"I choose the second option. I will be reborn," Leon declared, his voice firm with newfound purpose.
"Good luck, Leon Valerius. Not that you will need it." Ominus and Karios both nodded as they looked at each other with a victorious gaze.
---
"Take care." A moment later, both Ominus and Karios waved as Leon's physical form dissolved into motes of golden light that flowed into the river of time, leaving the barren mountaintop silent once more.
Ominus let out a long, cosmic sigh. "We dodged a bullet there. Can you imagine him as an Overseer? He would have flicked the Great Void Dragon for snoring too loudly."
Kairos nodded, a faint smile touching the lips of their mask. "He is definitely... impulsive."
"Still," Ominus mused, "the aptitude he showed for body cultivation is frightening. He might reach this level again, possibly even faster in this new life. What happens then?"
The Overseer of Fate chuckled, a sound like rustling leaves. "I am less concerned this time, Ominus. The path I have set for him involves helping a great many young women. By the time he is powerful enough to trouble us again, I suspect he will have a harem of ladies large enough to make his life so miserable he won't have the time or energy to act randomly in the universe."
Ominus considered this, then broke into hearty laughter that echoed across the stars. "A fitting fate! A truly fitting fate! How the mighty will fall. Hahaha!"
With that, the two celestial beings shimmered and vanished, leaving the planet to its solitude.