At the shore of Lake Morveth, Vivia studied the leaf resting gently in her palm. Zerath was doing the same, observing the black ash on his hand.
"Just where were you two?" Silas raised a brow.
"Heaven," Zerath said,
The other four exchanged glances, then looked at the two as though they had completely lost their minds.
"There exists a round trip to Heaven where you don't have to die first?" Judith couldn't quite suppress her sarcasm.
Vivia's brows twitched. "It's a little hard to explain, but…I think we met God."
The four exchanged glances, then looked back at the two as though they had completely lost their minds. Again.
"Who did you meet again?" Silas asked.
"God."
"The royal prince and princess met God?"
"Yes."
"Even the members of the Great Three haven't been blessed by a tiny glimpse of God even once - but you two did."
"There's actually quite a bit of history there."
Arzan suddenly gasped, pointing ahead. "L-Look over there!"
Everyone turned and sure enough, a Shifting Vein hovered just off Lake Morveth's coast. Vivia and Zerath's prayers had clearly worked.
"So that story was actually true?" Even Finnian - the one who had originally put forward that theory - looked genuinely stunned. It had been more of a guess from his part. Something of a gamble.
He dropped to his knees and rather comfortably, took Vivia's hand in his. "My lady met the God who created the Aetherios!?"
"I think so…Not that He admitted it outright," she cleared her throat.
Both Arzan and Finnian's eyes lit up like the brightest stars in the sky. Nothing tempted the wizards and syrevars across the realms deeper than the mystery of the world they lived in. They devoted their lives perfecting their magic and understanding how their world functioned. Explain the unexplained. To learn that these two stood before God - the strongest entity who laid the foundations of their realms and magic - Arzan and Finnian looked as though they had been handed the treasure trove of knowledge.
Judith reached over and smacked Finnian on his head, then dragged him back by his collar. "Calm down your excitement, you masochist."
He looked up at her. "I wonder why Lady Judith wasn't allowed, but Princess was?"
"I don't particularly care. Not like I'm much of a fan of God's in the first place. Your plan worked. That's all that matters."
Silas promptly pulled Arzan away as well, whose sparkling eyes burning with approximately a thousand questions, were starting to blind Zerath by now.
"You're free to climb on top of his head and ask whatever you want - but only after we return to Rudaheim. We should leave now."
Finnian returned to his original calm and breezy composure and turned to stare at the leaf in Vivia's hand with curiousity.
"This leaf…"
"I think it's from the Aetherios. God was sitting on one of its branches. I'm not sure why I have it though…"
Finnian pressed a trembling hand to his chest and had almost snatched the leaf from her - but he barely held himself back. Judith's perilous shadow looming over him from behind had probably helped.
Zerath glanced at the Shifting Vein once and pressed his lips thoughtfully. He then looked at Arzan. "Do you have a pouch with you?"
He nodded and produced one empty one from his robe. Zerath carefully poured ash into it.
"Hold onto that for now."
"I-I'll put my life on the line to protect it!"
"That won't be necessary, Arzan," he smiled.
He then looked at Silas. "Before we leave, I'd like to talk to Clairette privately. It won't take long."
He shrugged, and so did Judith.
Zerath helped Vivia to her feet and walked deeper into the forest. Once they were out of sight, Zerath took her hand and pulled her into his embrace.
"I didn't want to leave without talking to you. So much happened today…But I know what you're thinking about. Whatever the truth looks to you right now, you'll not blame yourself for it. Promise me that."
She stiffened slightly. Her face rested against his chest, and the soft thump of his heartbeats strangely brimmed her eyes with tears.
"It's hard, Zerath…I became who I am today because of her. I wanted to dance and make her proud. I wanted to spread her name throughout the Human Realm and proudly say that I'm her disciple. I never even got the chance to properly thank her. And now I find out that she is-"
"No," he stopped her there. "No matter what He said, I'll only believe the truth once I see Master with my own eyes. I want you to do that too. He said so, right? There're things we must find on our own."
"But it doesn't change that Master risked her life to give me another chance. I don't knowvwhat to do about that…" she clutched his shirt, letting her tears fall quietly.
Zerath held her face in between his palms and pressed his forehead against hers.
"Just as how we looked at her as our parent as much as our master, she looked at us as her children too. A parent's unconditional love has no boundaries. Yes, she performed a dangerous ritual - but you got to live, Vivia. You can still live a fulfilling life. You can still dance and laugh. We got to meet because of Master. She gave you that second chance to live your life to the fullest, not for you to feel burdened by it."
She buried her face against him again, his words settling around her like something warm.
He rested his chin upon her head and smiled. "That night at Rudaheim when we shared a chamber with Eurus. You said you have so many things to do. You want to dance, visit different cities, eat new food, meet new people, find a loving husband-"
"Ahem!" She cleared her throat, embarrassed.
When did I say something like that?
He chuckled. "I think I've managed to fulfill at least one of your wishes."
"We're not married," She coughed, her cheeks lightly warming.
"We're engaged though. Remember the beautiful brooch you pinned yourself? It's still there."
The sight of the golden brooch pinned on his coat brought back the pleasant memories of the festival.
"...That counts as trickery actually."
"Quite neat, won't you agree?"
Her grimace made him chuckle, and he pinched her nose softly. After a quiet moment, he said, "You can still do all the things you want to do because Master made that choice. You must live your life to the fullest, Vivia. That's what I want. That's what she wants you to do too."
Her eyes lifted to his. Meeting his shimmering golden orbs, every last trace of anguish locking her heart into misery seemed to gradually loosen.
He shifted slightly to the right, and she felt a soft press of his lips across her lashes, drawing away her guilty tears. Those same, beautiful lashes trembled as another peck tickled her cheek like the gentle flutter of a leaf.
Eyes half-closed, Zerath's handsome face blurred along the edges. Beneath her deafening heartbeats that drummed like the wildest tempo, the only thing consuming her was of his fingers quietly grazing against her jaw slowly lifting her chin upward. Slow, unhurried.
Pressing his lips onto hers ever so gently.