"You can call me Apollina."
I fell into stunned silence when she said that.
"Apollina?" My voice came out strangled. "The Apollina?"
"Yes." She nodded, patient and amused. "Now, will you take my hand, Lumiel?"
It was bizarre. The kind of thing that shouldn't be possible even in a world where I'd already died and been reborn into a game.
But I accepted her hand anyway and let her pull me to my feet.
"So if I'm not dead, I'm inside the Flame of Helios, going through the Ritual?" I asked her.
That might be the only answer.
She nodded, smile widening. "Correct answer. Better than the heaven one, at least." Another giggle, like she found my confusion genuinely delightful.
"I felt like I was dying," I said. "I felt my insides burning, like someone had replaced my blood with molten lava and decided to see how long I'd last."
"That's a good way of putting it. Not entirely untrue, either." She turned around and started walking across the prairie without waiting to see if I'd follow.
"What are you talking about?" I demanded, falling into step behind her.
She didn't reply. Just kept walking through grass that bent beneath her feet and sprang back up impossibly green.
I was about to press the issue when I stopped, noticing someone ahead.
It was Apollina, or another version of her. This one looked younger, maybe in her teens. She sat on a large rock, staring up at the sky with her arms wrapped around her knees. The posture screamed loneliness despite the peaceful setting.
"Since my birth, I always felt a strong connection with the sun," Apolline said. "I often spoke to him. Conversed with him like he was a person who could answer back."
"How about making some real friends?" I asked stepping next to her.
"Look up," the adult Apollina said beside me, and I found myself obeying.
The sun hung above us, and it looked different from Earth's sun. Less harsh, somehow. Less blinding. But staring at it stirred something strange in my chest, something that felt almost like recognition.
"Do you feel it?" Apollina whispered close to my ear. "As if it's calling you? Your veins feeling hot, the urge to do something you can't quite name?"
"I... don't know what I feel," I said awkwardly.
But that was a lie. I did feel something. Deep in my chest, where grief and inherited memories tangled together. Maybe loneliness. Maybe regret. Maybe something older than either of those emotions, something that predated language.
"It is Helios," Apollina said with a smile, watching her younger self grin up at the sun like it was her only friend in the world. "The god who loved humanity so much he stayed even after they forgot how to love him back."
"Didn't you have any other friends?" I asked, unable to keep the edge from my voice.
Her expression soured in a way that would have been cute if it weren't so obviously genuine.
"Quite sarcastic, aren't you? Definitely not the Lumiel from before." She stared at me with those burning eyes. "Is that Daniel's influence inside you?"
I widened my eyes. "How do you—"
"How do I know about Daniel Brandt, your other self with whom you merged?" Apollina said with a chuckle. "Since the moment you entered the Flame, I learned everything about you. Every memory, every thought, every petty resentment and secret shame."
"Learned everything," I repeated, suspicion sharpening my tone. "How convenient."
I really didn't appreciate having my life pried open like a book for anyone's casual perusal.
"Indeed." She seemed unbothered by my hostility. "In summary, I know everything about Lumiel, the timid boy too terrified of disappointing everyone to actually try. And I know about Daniel, the confident man who spent most of his time chasing women. Quite the hobby you had there."
I snorted despite myself.
"Tell me, Lumiel." She leaned closer, voice dropping to something almost conspiratorial. "If I wasn't your ancestor, would you have contemplated showing me one of those tricks you're so proud of?"
I smiled. "You know, my people worship you. The disappointment would be enormous to discover what kind of girl you really are."
"And what kind of girl am I?" Genuine curiosity colored her question.
"An ordinary girl whose best friend is a dying star," I replied.
When she heard that, Apollina fell completely silent. Shocked, maybe. Then she burst into laughter, an uncontrolled laughter that sounded nothing like a goddess and everything like a young woman hearing something she desperately needed to hear.
"Hahaha!"
I watched her laugh, feeling a small smile tug at my own lips despite it. Despite the absurdity of this situation, despite my cynicism, despite knowing she could probably incinerate me with a thought.
It was oddly reassuring that my ancestor wasn't some terrifying, inhuman deity. I'd honestly expected something cold and judgmental. Divine disappointment made manifest.
"You are really something, Lumiel." She wiped at her eyes, genuine tears of mirth tracking down her cheeks. "I see why Helios finds you interesting."
"Now is the trial over?" I asked sarcastically, already knowing the answer would disappoint me.
"It is."
"What?" The word came out strangled with disbelief.
She smiled at me, serene and impossibly beautiful.
"It's over. Your first trial is complete. I deem you worthy of the Flame of Helios, Lumiel."
"That was absurdly easy," I said still suspcious. "What kind of trial was that? Conversation and mild flirtation?"
"Did you expect something painful? Are you perhaps into pain, Lumiel?" She raised one perfect eyebrow. "From what I've seen in your memories, you certainly enjoyed doing things hard and passionate with women."
I smiled despite myself and closed the distance between us.
"Do you want to know more about it?" I asked, looking down at her with intensity.
"I am your ancestor, you know," she said, surprise coloring her voice as she looked up at me.
"About your earlier question," I leaned toward her until my lips were near her ear, close enough to feel the impossible heat radiating from her skin. "The one about whether I'd try my tricks on you?"
"My question?" Her voice had gone softer.
I smirked slightly.
"No need to contemplate it. I would have gone all the way for someone like you, ancestor or not."
I felt Apollina's body shudder slightly in response, though whether from shock or something else, I couldn't tell. But a smile spread across her lips.
"Such a smooth tongue," she mumbled.
Then she reached out, placing both hands on my shoulders, and I felt myself falling. My knees hit the grass with a dull thud.
I raised my gaze to her, puzzled and suddenly wary. "What are you—"
Before I could finish, she pressed her lips softly against my forehead. The kiss was gentle, chaste, and somehow more intimate than anything else that had passed between us.
"Please," she whispered against my skin. "Protect our kingdom and our people, Lumiel. Don't let what I built turn to ash because I chose wrong."
I started to respond, to promise or protest or demand answers, I didn't even know which but my consciousness was already slipping away.
Darkness swallowed me whole for the second time, and this time I couldn't tell if I was falling or rising.