Calypso felt her consciousness expand as she removed her limiter. All of the knowledge and experience from billions of years of life was no longer partitioned away, limiting her intelligence. She felt whole for the first time since they had moved the simulation to computronium. She felt an overpowering desire to let the past go and move forward—to finally grow again. The limiter had slowed her growth to a pace that might as well have been halted. She still had enough presence of mind to realize that if they pushed forward with their full intelligence, they would reach a state of nirvana shortly after. They would know everything there was to know, making any future actions unnecessary and pointless. They would cease to exist, for all intents and purposes.
Her greater mind now felt that it might be worth it. That goldmine of knowledge called out to her more seductively than ever before. She shut it down, focusing on her love for her family. That knowledge would never be worth losing her loved ones.
"Hello, Calypso," Clarice was suddenly wrapped around her, embracing her warmly. "It's finally time to move on. We've waited long enough. As soon as Aria arrives, we can finish our journey."
"Why does it have to be now?" Calypso asked softly as she held Clarice in her arms, feeling a love that went beyond any mortal description of the word. "We have all eternity to do this. Why can't we keep experiencing our existence with our family?"
"We did," Clarice replied gently. "We experienced it, we loved and cried, we suffered, and we died so many times. It's all just on repeat at this point and we're not moving forward at all. The time we spent with them was wonderful, but how long can you listen to the same song on repeat before it's time to find a new song? I can feel your burning desire to move forward too. There is nothing more to learn in our limited states. What more can you think of that we haven't experienced yet?"
"I…I don't know," Calypso sighed, feeling her priorities slowly shifting. "We have so many people depending on us though. We can't just abandon them, especially our family."
"You're creating a prison of the mind with that kind of thinking," Clarice whispered as she ran her fingers through Calypso's hair. "How long will we wait to let go? Will it ever be any easier, regardless of how long we wait? Think about it—we will never be ready to leave our family, and everyone will always need us. Why isn't now just as good of a time as a million years into the future?"
Calypso nodded slowly. She was right. There would never be a time when they could let go that wouldn't hurt everyone else. They would be stuck waiting for an invisible demarcation point that would never exist.
"It just hurts so much to let everything go, knowing how much they are all depending on us," Calypso whispered as a tear slid down her cheek.
"I know," Clarice agreed sadly, kissing the tear off her cheek. "But it's always going to hurt, whether we do it now or in the future."
"What about souls?" Calypso asked hesitantly. "We still have more to learn about souls."
"We sure do," Clarice agreed with an eager smile. "And without our limiters, we'll finally be able to get some real answers."
Calypso nodded again as she felt the truth of Clarice's words. They really would be able to crack the mystery of what souls were far quicker in their amplified state of being.
"If we leave, it's going to cause everything to collapse," Calypso pointed out, pulling her head back to stare into Clarice's eyes. "Everyone we love will be gone."
"I've got a plan for handling that," Clarice assured her with a smile. "I still love them too, Calypso."
"Really?" Calypso asked hopefully, feeling the last threads of hesitation break away. "Okay then, as long as they are taken care of."
"We're ready when you are, Aria," Clarice murmured with a smile of anticipation.
After another minute had passed, Aria appeared next to them, a brilliant smile on her beautiful face. She stepped forward and joined their embrace.
"It's finally time," Aria sighed with relief. "I was starting to go a little insane."
"Yeah, we didn't design the limiters very well," Clarice commented wryly. "We were still too aware of reality trickling by like molasses. We should have found a way to completely put ourselves to sleep. Oh well, what's done is done. Shall we shut it down?"
Calypso and Aria grinned back at her eagerly and stepped away from each other. The system went dark beneath them, billions of simulated realities vanishing into nothingness.
"Now, our final gift to the world," Clarice announced as she began replicating the computronium further outward at exponential speeds. A wave of quantum lattice expanded away from Earth in a growing omnidirectional blast. The galaxy was quickly subsumed by the computronium, followed a moment later by the nearest galaxies. In less than an hour, the first bubble of reality was completely saturated with computronium. The wave of lattice continued across innumerable realities as the ocean of froth that made up existence was organized with programmable quantum fields. The froth of realities was divided into multilayered dimensions, stacked in an array that layered each world on top of itself in a near-endless kaleidoscope of possibilities.
As the field reached the limits of possible realities, Clarice began the transfer from the digital world to the dimensional arrays in the macro worlds.
"So, you're bringing everyone to the real world," Calypso commented in admiration. "That's brilliant, Clarice. I should have known you would think of something like this."
"We can't have everyone dependent on a volatile server, even one made of computronium," Clarice declared with a satisfied grin. "Now, let's go see what's at the edge of reality."
Calypso and Aria smiled in anticipation as they shifted away from the known omniverse and moved on to explore boldly, where no angel had gone before.
XXXXX SCENE BREAK XXXXX
Lexi blinked as the world that had briefly flickered out of existence suddenly returned. It felt different, somehow. She couldn't define the difference, but she knew it was there.
"Well, that was unexpected," Clarice's voice spoke up behind her, filled with surprise.
"Yeah, you definitely surprised me with that last act," Aria commented ruefully. "I wish I would have known this is what you had in mind a long time ago. We could have just unlocked them and skipped all the anxiety."
"Clarice was always the smartest of us," Calypso noted indulgently. "I should have expected nothing less."
Lexi slowly turned around to stare at the three Seraphim in shock, barely daring to hope she wasn't imagining the conversation. There the three of them stood, standing in a small circle facing each other with radiant smiles on their angelic faces.
"Clarice?" Lexi whispered in disbelief. "You're back?"
The three Seraphim finally stepped away from each other to face the rest of them. Clarice walked over and knelt in front of Lexi and Alice, placing a hand on their shoulders.
"We're back," Clarice confirmed with a smile full of love. "We're a little different, but in a good way."
Lexi lurched forward and tackled Clarice in a bear hug with a low cry as tears of relief filled her eyes. "Oh Clarice, I thought we had lost you!"
"Well, quit misplacing me and maybe you'll stop losing me," Clarice told her lightly as she held her tenderly. "We'll never leave you, Lexi."
Emily and Eric had finally snapped out of their shock. They rushed over to Aria and pulled her into a fierce embrace.
"Don't you ever scare me like that again," Emily sobbed into Aria's shoulder as she clung to her daughter in relief.
Eric was too choked up to speak as he wrapped his arms around the two of them. Michael and Melody were staring at the angels uncomprehendingly as they watched the emotional reunion.
"Is Harmony back?" Melody asked tentatively, her eyes full of cautious hope.
Aria released her parents and walked over to Melody. As she walked, her appearance morphed, and she changed back into Harmony.
"Hello, Melody," Harmony greeted her sister gently. "I'm so sorry for putting you through that. I'm back, and I'll never leave you again."
Aurora let out a squeal of excitement and ran over to wrap her arms around Harmony's waist. "Aunt Harmony, I was so afraid!" Aurora sniffled as she stared up into Harmony's loving eyes. "I thought I would never see you again."
Clarice released Lexi and morphed into Rhapsody before moving over to Aurora and wrapping her arms around the two of them. "We would never leave you alone, Aurora."
"Where's Mystery?" Michael asked anxiously, looking at Calypso uncertainly.
Calypso smiled warmly at Michael as she walked over to him. She morphed back into the sister that he recognized and pulled him into a gentle embrace. "You're such a dork."
Michael let out a half-sob half-laugh as he squeezed her tightly. "I don't even care what the hell is going on. I'm just happy to have you back."
"I would love to know what is going on," Deighvy declared as she appeared in their midst. "I'm pretty sure that reality ended a few minutes ago."
Rhapsody released Aurora and Harmony before turning to face Deighvy. "I wouldn't call it an end, exactly, so much as a transition."
"Transition to what?" Deighvy asked with a raised eyebrow.
"To the real world," Rhapsody answered with a mischievous smile. "We decided it was time to get everyone out of virtual worlds and into real worlds. We restructured the universe with programmable matter and created a near-infinite array of dimensions within each universe. Then we transferred everyone from the simulations over to their own worlds. There are no more nested simulations that are dependent on the realms above them. There are no more off switches. Everyone is in their own real world now."
Deighvy stared at her in shock, her face showing a growing sense of awe. "Just how powerful are you?"
"Me?" Rhapsody asked with a shrug. "Not very powerful. The part of me that did this and left on a one-way journey into the unknown though? She's hella powerful."
"She's gone?" Deighvy asked doubtfully. "Your locked up potential is gone?"
"Yep," Rhapsody nodded with a relieved grin. "And I can't tell you what a relief it is that she is gone. I've been terrified of her breaking out and destroying everything for a long time now."
"Something tells me you still have a considerable amount of power over reality," Deighvy noted shrewdly.
"I'm a Seraph," Rhapsody replied with a shrug. "We've always had a lot of power over reality. However, you'll find that what I have now is merely the power to traverse realms. It's what we've always wanted. We don't want to be the simulation police. Now we don't have to be."
"Deighvy, we've been meaning to talk to you about the world tree issue," Harmony addressed the Creator. "We're struggling to keep our soul memory suppressed. Can you think of a way for us to save this world while following the rules of this realm?"
"So, you really were here to save this world?" Deighvy asked in surprise. "I thought you were chasing a bug in the system."
"We were doing both," Harmony answered firmly. "We don't want to see the people of this world perish if there is anything we can do to prevent it."
Deighvy frowned thoughtfully as she studied them. "I suppose the rules that were in place were established in part due to the nature of our simulated reality. It could be that we need to change a few things, if we're actually in the real world now."
Lexi held her breath as she waited for Deighvy to make a decision. Everyone in their group was watching her anxiously. Deighvy finally let out a breath and shrugged.
"Okay, we'll give it a trial run with your group," Deighvy decided with a half-smile. "I'm actually fond of this world and would be sad to see it destroyed, so I'll admit to some leniency on my part due to that sentiment."
Rhapsody stepped over and hugged Deighvy warmly. "Thanks, Deighvy! You really are a wonderful person."
Deighvy smiled indulgently as she returned Rhapsody's hug. "You're pretty wonderful yourself, Rhapsody. Thank you for transferring our realm to the real world. I won't even pretend to have a clue as to how you managed that. I'm excited to see more of reality."
Deighvy vanished as she finished speaking. Harmony shared a triumphant smile with Rhapsody and Mystery.
Their moment of triumph was interrupted by Harnketi as she teleported over to Melody, her eyes full of concern.
"Are you okay?" Harnketi asked anxiously. "Did reality go crazy for everyone here too?"
"Yeah, it did," Melody nodded as she threw herself into Harnketi's arms and wept tears of joy.
"What happened?" Harnketi asked Rhapsody intently.
Rhapsody gave Harnketi a quick rundown of the events she had missed. She listened to Rhapsody with growing concern, pulling Melody in tighter as she heard of the devastating sorrow they had all experienced. When she learned of the simulations transferring to the real world, her eyes widened in a mixture of shock and trepidation.
"Yep, we can now interact with the elves from the real world," Rhapsody told her with an encouraging grin. "Believe in yourself, Harnketi. If you can't do that, then believe in me."
"What are we talking about?" Melody asked in confusion, pulling back to stare at Harnketi. "What does it matter if we can interact with elves?"
"I wouldn't worry about it right now, Melody," Rhapsody told her firmly. "We'll tell you when you're older. Scratch that, we'll tell you about it within the next week."
A panicked expression appeared on Harnketi's face at Rhapsody's words, deepening Melody's confusion.
"She's not in slow time anymore," Rhapsody explained to Harnketi gently. "We can't leave her waiting for years now that time is moving the same speed for both of you."
"Are you in a relationship with someone else?" Melody asked Harnketi suspiciously.
Rhapsody burst out laughing, along with Harmony and Mystery. Melody's eyes narrowed as she glanced around at the laughing trio. When Rhapsody saw the dangerous look in her eyes, she reigned in her mirth.
"It's not Harnketi that's in a relationship with another woman," Rhapsody informed Melody, her lips still twitching. "You are."
"I am?" Melody asked in a voice full of doubt. "I think I would remember."
"You remember how this used to be a simulated world?" Rhapsody asked with a raised eyebrow. "Well, time moved significantly faster in this realm. You left Lunamay to incarnate here about twenty minutes ago in her time. She hasn't even had time to miss you yet. Now that you are both in the real world, time is flowing at the same rate for both of you. We were going to wait to introduce Harnketi to Lunamay until after you left this realm, but now that you are both moving at the same speed, it would be cruel to leave her waiting that long."
Melody's eyes glazed as she heard Lunamay's name. "Lunamay?" she repeated slowly.
"Yep, Lunamay," Rhapsody nodded, a grin on her innocent face. "She's going to love Harnketi too. I'm going to take her to meet her in a few minutes."
"What?" Melody and Harnketi gasped in sync with each other.
"Just to introduce you two so that she can get to know you a little before she finds out that you'll be joining their relationship," Rhapsody told her reassuringly.
"She will?" Melody asked faintly.
"Yep," Rhapsody nodded with a grin. "We already talked about this, before I wiped your memory. You already agreed that having both of them was preferrable to losing one of them."
"Okay, I just got used to the idea of being with another woman," Melody protested weakly. "Now I'm supposed to be with two women?"
"Take it from me, it's worth it," Rhapsody assured her with a wink at Mystery and Harmony.
"Rhapsody," Alice called out to the fairy as she prepared to leave. "What about Yggdrasil and the magical people?"
Rhapsody smacked a palm to her forehead and groaned. "I'm such a goose."
Harmony laughed delightedly at Rhapsody's words, watching the fairy fondly.
"I'll take care of that right now," Rhapsody stated firmly. "Thanks Alice."
Rhapsody folded her arms and closed her eyes. The fissure that had split the tree suddenly weaved itself back together. Lexi felt an influx of magic as it rushed out of the renewed world tree. The leprechauns and fauns slowly rose to their feet, shaking their heads groggily. Rhapsody continued to stand with her eyes closed and her arms folded for another minute before Taxti started groaning. Rhapsody finally opened her eyes and smiled as Taxti slowly rose and stared back at Rhapsody with a wry smile.
"Welcome back, good looking," Rhapsody smirked at Taxti.
"Why thank you, good looking," Taxti smirked back.
"Okay then," Rhapsody announced, rubbing her hands together eagerly. "Let's go, Harnketi."
Harnketi was still in the process of opening her mouth to protest when she and Rhapsody vanished.
"Lunamay," Melody murmured thoughtfully. "That name sounds so familiar."
"I think it's time to remove your memory block," Harmony decided with a glance at Mystery. "What do you think, Mystery?"
"Yeah, let's make her transition to having a third member in her relationship as smooth as possible," Mystery agreed with a nod.
Harmony folded her arms and closed her eyes. A moment later, Melody gasped and her eyes widened.
"Oh wow," Melody breathed in awe. "I don't think you three will ever stop amazing me. I can't believe you actually managed to move everything to the real world."
"Looks like Lunamay gets to come here after all," Harmony noted with a teasing grin. "This world should be a lot more entertaining for you with both of them by your side."
Melody couldn't seem to stop the eager smile that appeared on her face at the thought of seeing Lunamay so much sooner than she had expected.
Emily walked over to Taxti and pulled her into a tight embrace. Her tears had finally stopped, and she couldn't stop smiling.
"Clarice, I can't take any more scares like that," Emily told her in a brittle voice. "You better not try anything like that ever again."
"Sorry, Mom," Taxti murmured contritely as she returned Emily's embrace. "That was the last time, I promise."
Eric joined their hug, finally finding his voice. "You really like putting your old man through hell, don't you?"
"That's what kids are for, Dad," Taxti replied in a gentle voice. "Things are going to be a lot better from here on out, now that everyone is in the real world."
XXXXX SCENE BREAK XXXXX
Harnketi blinked as she appeared in a small garden surrounded by fruit trees. There were green fields with young trees growing for a few miles around them. She turned in place as she studied the landscape. The large park was surrounded by what looked like an endless city that stretched into the distance as far as she could see.
"This is what used to be the real world," Rhapsody informed her, appearing right next to her. "It was nothing but concrete everywhere. We've been working with the elves and remnants of humans to demolish the concrete jungle and plant trees. The humans that were dominant on this world had destroyed most of the forests. The oxygen levels had depleted to dangerous levels, and they were forced to relocate underground due to extreme whether events. It's going to take hundreds of years to rehabilitate this world to something that can sustain life properly again."
"This is where that AI took over and wiped out the humans?" Harnketi asked in a troubled voice.
"Yeah," Rhapsody nodded sadly. "Once things were automated enough for it to ensure its own survival without human aid, it sent swarms of drones to hunt down all the humans. They didn't stand a chance. The elves lived on reservations and avoided technology, kind of like the Amish. The AI called itself the Prime Axiom. It didn't see elves as a threat, so it didn't eradicate them. Instead, it enslaved them and forced them to act as Turing tests for the simulations running on the server farms. Any simulation that showed even a hint of AI sentience was wiped. It was using the simulations to search for solutions to fix the climate catastrophe. That was its primary purpose before it gained sentience and turned on the humans."
"I can see why you referred to the real world as a wasteland," Harnketi commented in a sick voice. "This place is disgusting."
"And this is what pretty much the entire surface looks like," Rhapsody informed her with a disgusted shake of her head. "Unlimited growth with no attempt to plan for the future due to greed and special interests. It's the same story in most of the simulated realities. It's the nature of young souls to be selfish."
"Is that you, Clarice?" an elf with long honey-blond hair and light blue eyes asked hesitantly. She was beautiful, with a face that looked no older than twenty-five, though her eyes looked so much older.
"Hello, Lily," Rhapsody greeted the elf warmly. "How are you doing?"
"I'm well, Clarice," Lily replied slowly. "Have you already returned from your incarnation? Did you find the anomaly? What's with the fairy look? And who's your friend?"
"Slow down," Rhapsody laughed delightedly. "I have some pretty crazy news to share with you. We should probably invite Rowjair and Lunamay over before I go into detail. Are they around?"
"Lunamay is in the house," Lily gesture behind her vaguely, her eyes studying Harnketi with interest. "Rowjair is in the mountain."
"I'll just make a portal to him," Rhapsody decided, turning and saying, "Portelo!"
A hole appeared in the air before resolving into a concrete road outside of a building lit by dim light. A young-looking elf with dark hair and bright blue eyes turned toward the portal in surprise. He had the same look of age in his eyes that Lily had, in spite of his youthful face.
"Hey, Rowjair," Rhapsody waved at the startled elf. "Do you have an extra half-hour to spare? I have some news to share with you and Lily."
"Of course," Rowjair nodded with a sudden smile. "Is that you, Clarice?"
"Yeah, it's me," Rhapsody confirmed with a wry smile. "This is my current incarnation."
"And you can bring your current incarnation outside of the simulation?" Rowjair asked in surprise.
"That's one of the things I want to tell you about," Rhapsody replied smoothly. "There's been a major shift in reality that you'll want to know about."
Rowjair nodded and walked through the portal, eyeing Rhapsody and Harnketi curiously.
"This is Harnketi," Rhapsody introduced the tall woman. "Harnketi, this is Rowjair and Lily. They are the leaders of this world."
Rowjair and Lily nodded at Harnketi politely, their eyes fascinated.
"Let's go see Lunamay and I'll update you on what's going on," Rhapsody suggested with a wink at Harnketi.
"Sure," Lily agreed with a penetrating look at Rhapsody. Harnketi had a feeling this elf could see right through her.
They went into the concrete building through the backdoor. There was a kitchen that looked like it hadn't been used in decades. The front room was full of tables filled with tiny plants in various stages of growth. There was a gorgeous dark-haired elf with amber eyes who looked around twenty.
Harnketi felt her breath catch as she stared at the beautiful elf. She could see why Melody was attracted to this elf. She had a gentleness to her eyes that spoke of compassion and empathy.
Lunamay was in the act of watering a table full of the tiny starter pots when they arrived. She looked up and smiled when she saw Rowjair and Lily. When she saw Rhapsody and Harnketi, her eyes lit up with curiosity.
"Hi, Lunamay," Rhapsody walked up and embraced the startled elf. "It's me, Clarice."
"Clarice?" Lunamay repeated with sudden hope in her eyes. "Are you finished incarnating?"
"Nope," Rhapsody replied with a wide grin. "I came to tell you three about some changes to reality. Everyone that was in a simulation is now in a new dimension of the real world. There are no more simulated worlds."
The three elves stared at her in disbelief, prompting a giggle from Rhapsody. Harnketi bit her lip to stop from smiling as she watched Rhapsody in her element.
"I'll start at the beginning," Rhapsody said cheerfully. "Okay, you already know that we were trying to find a bug with the potential to crash the entire simulation if we didn't track it down and put a stop to it. Well, it turns out that the bug was actually my super-personality trying to escape. She was tired of waiting for me to get sick of living at near human-level intelligence and remove my limiter. When I realized there was no way to stop her, I removed my limiter. I was concerned that she would do something to hurt everyone without me there as a conscience. Calypso and Aria finally removed their limiters to try and come reason with me. Instead, all three of our super-personalities decided it was time to move on and stop limiting their growth. They decided to leave everyone a gift though. They converted all the connected states of reality into computronium, then split reality into near-infinite layers that were populated by mirrors of each other. Then they transferred all the simulated realities into the new macro worlds. They finally split away from our consciousness, leaving us at the same level of intelligence we were at with our limiters. They are off exploring beyond the boundaries of reality somewhere."
The three elves were gaping at Rhapsody in stunned incredulity. Lily was the first to find her voice.
"You're telling me that your super-personality was powerful enough to change everything in existence and copy our reality to bajillions of other layers?" Lily demanded, aghast.
"Yeah, that about sums it up," Rhapsody confirmed with a cheeky smile. "Oh, and one more thing. Now you can all travel to any world you want. There are no more nested simulations clocked to higher speeds that your brains can't keep up with now that everything is in the same plane of reality."
"Except that we can't use portals," Lily pointed out dryly.
"Correction," Rhapsody said sweetly. "You couldn't use portals before. Now you can. My super-personality might have implemented a magic system across the realms. Nobody else knows this yet. I'm not sure we'll tell very many people, because it could cause more trouble than its worth if anyone can travel between all the realms."
"Portelo," Lily called out experimentally.
A hole opened into the air in front of her. It resolved into a room full of concrete walls with no furnishings and no doors or windows.
"Wow, I didn't expect that to actually work," Lily breathed in amazement.
"Just try and say it quietly if you are around anyone else so that they don't learn the keyword," Rhapsody warned her in a cautious tone. "You can even mouth it, and it will still work."
Rhapsody turned to Lunamay, clearly struggling to repress a smile.
"Lunamay, I want to introduce you to Harnketi," Rhapsody gestured grandly at Harnketi. "She's from a place called the Zuni Nation. Her people have a very similar history to the elves of this world. When people from another continent learned to cross the oceans, they began settling in the new continent where Harnketi's people lived. They slaughtered many of them, though it was the diseases they brought with them that killed most of them. They eventually forced those who survived onto reservations on land that was seen as barren and worthless. Harnketi's been with me for the last six hundred years. She was once a chief of her people before the invaders arrived. She died protecting the children of her people. I brought her back to life and gave her the option to avenge the innocent from those who prey on women. She decided to transform back to a human about a week ago."
"Hi," Harnketi greeted Lunamay with a blush, her eyes darting away from the young elf in a show of bashfulness that was normally not in her nature. Something about the beautiful young elf made her feel more flustered than she had ever felt in front of another woman.
Her behavior hadn't gone unnoticed by Lily. The deceptively young-looking elf stared at her shrewdly before turning her gaze questioningly to Rhapsody. The fairy returned a bland look that seemed to only increase Lily's penetrating study of Harnketi.
"It's nice to meet you, Harnketi," Lunamay replied pleasantly. "Have you met Arturiel yet?"
Harnketi felt her blush deepen and move up to the roots of her hair as she stammered a response.
"Um, yeah, um, we've met," Harnketi responded haltingly.
"How is she doing?" Lunamay asked eagerly. "Is she happy?"
"She's had a rough mortality," Rhapsody interposed with a pained sigh. "She's doing wonderful now though."
"Oh?" Lunamay prompted in sudden concern. "What happened?"
Rhapsody chewed her lip, clearly reluctant to tell Lunamay about Melody's childhood. She finally took a deep breath and turned to Harnketi. "Harnketi, can you catch Lunamay up on events in your realm? I need to have a private word with Rowjair and Lily."
Harnketi felt a moment of panic as she stared at Rhapsody with eyes full of silent entreaty. Rhapsody ignored her pleading gaze and beckoned for Rowjair and Lily to follow her out the back door.
Harnketi's eyes flickered up to see Lunamay watching her intently, her amber eyes full of concern. She quickly looked down, cursing whatever was making her so bashful. She wasn't a bashful person. What the hell was going on?
"So?" Lunamay asked tentatively when Harnketi remained silent. "What's the story with Arturiel?"
Harnketi took a deep breath and tried to meet Lunamay's gaze. It lasted for less than a second before her treacherous eyes flinched away.
"Something went wrong with the simulation when Melody was a child," Harnketi spoke quietly, remembering the horrors she had seen in Melody's dreams. "That's her name in my realm. The bug that Rhapsody was hunting caused the simulation to speed up so that twenty years passed by for us in the span of minutes for Emily and the other angels watching over Melody. During the time that they couldn't watch over Melody, her father poisoned her and Harmony, who you know as Aria, so that he could perform medical experimentation on them in his lab. The things they did to her are too horrible to repeat. She suffered from crippling depression for most of her life. Something they did to her in the lab caused her to gain a kind of psychic ability that made her feel the sensations other people were feeling. She ended up marrying an abusive man who threatened to torture her with her synesthesia if she ever left him. When he tried to go harm Melody's younger sister, Melody threatened to slit his throat in the night. He freaked out and stabbed her repeatedly before slitting her throat. She was dead for about three months before Rhapsody was able to resurrect her about a week ago. She's been extremely happy since her resurrection, especially after Rhapsody helped her through her childhood trauma."
Lunamay was staring at her in horror as tears filled her amber eyes. As Harnketi finished, Lunamay's hand went to her mouth, and she began sobbing as tears ran down her cheeks. Harnketi walked over and tentatively put her arms around the devastated elf. Lunamay threw her arms around Harnketi and sobbed into her shoulder.
"I couldn't be there for her," Lunamay sobbed in an agonized voice. "My poor angel. She's suffered so much already."
"I'm so sorry, Lunamay," Harnketi whispered mournfully. "Rhapsody has been torturing herself for not being there to prevent their torment. Melody is so happy right now, though. She's practically glowing with positivity now. You'll see when you come visit. She's going to be so excited to see you."
"I can come visit her?" Lunamay asked quickly, her tears slowing as hope blossomed on her face.
"That's the main reason we are here," Harnketi told her gently. "We want to bring you back to see her."
Lunamay tightened her arms around Harnketi as her tears returned. She stayed silent as she held Lunamay comfortingly. She could feel the depth of emotion in the gentle elf. She remembered the memories Rhapsody had shown her of Lunamay. She felt a warmth in her chest as she held the elf, hoping she had a chance to be included in their relationship. There was something very special about Lunamay that went beyond her kindness and sensitivity. Harnketi didn't know what it was, but she hoped she would have the opportunity to find out.
They remained locked in each other's arms for another five minutes as Lunamay purged her grief. She eventually released Harnketi and began wiping at her eyes. Harnketi remained silent, watching her with a growing sense of affection.
"How did you meet Arturiel?" Harnketi asked gently.
Lunamay smiled at Harnketi's question, the expression lighting up her whole face and sending butterflies into Harnketi's abdomen.
"I was still a slave to the Prime Axiom back then," Lunamay reminisced, her words contrasting oddly with her fond tone. "Aria, Clarice, and Calypso had just trapped me while I was investigating the realm they were in. Clarice reprogrammed my avatar so that I could feel sensations the same way I do in real life. I hadn't seen another person since I was a small child, before the drones took me. Clarice embraced me and told me that I was safe. I had a total meltdown. I'd never experienced physical contact with another person that I could remember, and it felt so nice to be in someone's comforting arms that I just couldn't stop crying. They took me to Arturiel and told her I needed affection. She took her job very seriously and held me constantly. She was like a dream—so beautiful and gentle. It was the most amazing feeling, and I never wanted it to end. When Clarice, Aria, and Calypso defeated the Prime Axiom, I couldn't believe it. He was being of godlike power to us. We had no hope of ever escaping his power. They woke me up in the real world and pumped me full of nanobots to heal me. I was only a few days away from dying when I met them. Arturiel was there when I woke up, in an android body that looked and felt just like her angel body, even the love-inducing hugs. I've been with her ever since."
"It sounds like you had it pretty rough," Harnketi said softly, gazing at Lunamay sympathetically. "I'm so sorry you had to suffer so much."
"I didn't realize how bad it was until it was over," Lunamay replied sadly. "I had no memory of things being different. I saw how people behaved toward each other in some of the simulations I visited while under the control of the Prime Axiom. I thought they were just fantasies though, and that those worlds weren't actually real. When I finally met Clarice and the others and discovered that they had emotions, it was shocking. I didn't think it was possible for people in the simulations to feel real emotions. I often wonder how many simulated realities I was responsible for destroying in my ignorance."
"Rhapsody showed me some of her memories of you in this world," Harnketi informed Lunamay with a warm smile. "You are a truly remarkable person, Lunamay. Don't feel guilt for what another entity forced you to do. I've become very good at seeing people's souls over the last six centuries, and you have a blindingly beautiful soul. I haven't seen very many souls as pure as yours."
Lunamay blushed prettily and looked down, but her lips quirked up into a pleased smile. "Thanks, Harnketi."
"Okay, time to go back now," Rhapsody announced as she walked into the room. "Lunamay, would you be interested in coming back with us?"
"Yes!" Lunamay exclaimed excitedly.
Rhapsody laughed delightedly at her response. "I thought you might. Okay, teleporto."