"And I assume you are planning on intervening in Rania and Roselia's current falling out?"
A deep voice reverberated across the Ruins, sending faint tremors through the still fabric of dead narratives.
Fragments of forgotten stories drifted through the empty expanse like shattered glass.
"I'm just waiting," Anathasia replied calmly. "I still have other matters to deal with."
"I suppose that is true," the voice said after a pause.
"You already have a family, after all."
The Ruins remained silent.
Collapsed worlds lay scattered across the void, remnants of stories that had once existed before fading into nothing.
"However… is it truly necessary for you to intervene in such matters?" the voice continued.
"Is it not—"
"You don't understand."
Anathasia cut the voice off before it could finish.
"You may be the writer… the actual author."
Her gaze shifted toward the source of the voice.
A crack had formed in the empty space before her, glowing with a faint white light.
"But you would never understand what it's like to live inside what you wrote."
The light flickered.
"I'm their teacher. Their mentor."
Anathasia placed a hand on her hip, staring directly at the crack with an unwavering expression.
"So just watch from outside."
"I'll take care of everything."
"…Alright, Author?"
At her words, the voice fell silent.
The crack in the void slowly began to mend itself.
"Your husband has already pleaded for you to allow him to share your responsibilities," the voice said at last.
"And yet… you remain stubborn."
The crack flickered faintly one final time.
"You are no longer alone."
"There is no reason for you to continue carrying such burdens."
Then the light disappeared completely.
Silence reclaimed the Ruins.
Anathasia remained standing alone, surrounded by the remnants of collapsed narratives and the fading echoes of stories that would never be told again.
"Recreator."
A deep voice echoed from behind her.
Anathasia stopped.
From the shadows behind her, multiple heads slowly rose. An endless, shapeless mass loomed over the Ruins like a cosmic leviathan, its vast form towering above the broken remains of forgotten worlds.
"What is it?" Anathasia glanced over her shoulder.
"Kagariel?"
The entity did not answer immediately.
Instead, one of its many heads turned toward the place where the crack had appeared moments ago.
"That voice…"
"Is the same one responsible for the existence of The Constant," Anathasia replied calmly.
A brief pause followed.
"More specifically—The THAT WHICH IS NOT."
"And the reason for The Constant's ascension into Absolute Nulity."
The cosmic leviathan remained silent, its heads slowly inclining as it examined the empty space where the crack had once been.
"Why did the Author appear before you… Recreator?" it finally asked.
"Concern, perhaps."
"Concern?"
One of its heads tilted slightly.
Anathasia let out a quiet laugh and gently shook her head.
"What happened before the Great Collapse was a major mistake on their end."
She paused briefly before continuing.
"Whether you believe me or not… they're not a tyrant."
"They're simply… flawed."
Another moment of silence passed.
"Which is why I replaced their position as Creator," Anathasia added casually.
"And also why they never truly objected."
She waved her hand dismissively.
"I still have my daughters to take care of."
"So I'll be taking my leave."
Her form began to dissolve into fragments of light.
Moments later, she vanished completely.
The Ruins fell silent once more.
Back on Earth
After a random invitation from Robert, all eight of us ended up gathering at his place.
A beach house on the far side of the city.
The four of us pulled into the parking space on the wide lawn in front of his house. Parked nearby were several other cars, including a sleek black SUV that probably belonged to Noah or Mei.
And a few other luxury cars lined up outside the property.
Looks like everyone had already arrived.
Anathasia and the girls stepped out first. Lena and Francesca wandered toward the flowerbed, staring out at the sea.
My wife, on the other hand…
"Don't these cost, like, a little over ten million or something?" she said, raising an eyebrow as I stepped out of the car, my eyes following hers.
"Oh yeah. A GTR R35," I shrugged, tucking the keys into my pocket before grabbing the things we brought from the back seat.
As I walked over to her, a familiar voice suddenly spoke up.
"Already worth almost nine digits and still worried about something like that?"
We both turned.
"Noah…"
Our eyes dropped to the baby in his arms.
"…Aww, congrats on being a dad."
Anathasia and I said it in unison as we walked over.
For some reason, the baby immediately burst into tears the moment Anathasia tried to touch her.
Anathasia froze, her hand hovering mid-air. Her expression slowly darkened.
Noah stifled a laugh.
"Too bad," he said casually. "Guess Sayaka doesn't like you."
But the moment the baby saw me, the crying stopped.
Her tiny eyes widened.
Then she reached for me with her little hands.
Noah blinked.
His eyes slowly widened as he watched his own daughter trying to crawl closer to me.
"Huh… looks like she likes you," Noah muttered, glancing down at his daughter before looking back at me.
He raised an eyebrow.
"Where are my nieces anyway?"
I gestured toward the two girls standing by the flowerbed, taking pictures of the sea.
"Over there, doing… well, girl things."
For a second, he paused.
His eyes shifted from me… to Anathasia, who was staring down at her hands and muttering things to herself… then back to me again.
"…Your genes are insane, man. It's almost unfair."
I stared at him flatly.
"What?"
—
A few minutes later, we finally made our way into Robert's backyard where everyone was partying.
Some old classmates I knew. Some I didn't.
Hinami. Mei. And Joseph who now looked like a real CEO.
Meanwhile, Anathasia and I stood by the barbecue table, munching on ribs while we watched everyone else do their thing.
Lena and Francesca were down by the shore, taking more pictures.
As I handed Anathasia another rib, someone suddenly approached.
An unfamiliar face.
A guy in an open orange Hawaiian shirt, getting a little too close to her.
"Hey there, are you one of Robert's college friends?"
"I noticed you were—"
Before he could finish, Anathasia casually held up her hand, showing off the ring I'd given her twenty years ago.
Almost instantly, the man's smile froze.
But then he kept going anyway.
"So you're married, huh… but I don't see—"
"He's standing right beside me. Are you blind?" Anathasia cut him off again, gesturing toward me as I handed her another pork rib, which she casually took.
"I'm married. Buzz off or I'll make you think twice about getting born."
She took a bite of the rib.
The guy went silent.
His eyes slowly shifted toward me.
I gave him a small smile.
For some reason, his face immediately paled the moment our eyes met.
Then he turned around and walked away without another word.
"Some guys just don't know how to take the hint," Anathasia muttered beside me, still munching on the pork rib I gave her.
A few minutes later, Lena walked up to us.
Her expression was blank as always.
"Where's your little sister?" I asked while handing Anathasia a tissue.
"She's with Uncle Noah," Lena replied quietly.
"Uncle Joseph wants Mom and Dad to come."
"It's something urgent."
Despite her words, her tone remained completely flat.
She turned and started walking toward the house, clearly expecting us to follow.
For a brief moment, Anathasia and I exchanged a glance before nodding and following behind her.
The music outside continued blasting as we climbed the stairs to the second floor.
But the moment we reached the hallway—
A voice.
A familiar one.
Muttering from somewhere ahead.
"I'm sorry… I didn't know…"
"I won't do it again… please don't kill me…"
The words were faint.
Anathasia and I froze.
My heart started pounding as I stared down the hallway.
The sounds were coming from a dimly lit room at the far end, its door slightly open.
Lena stopped a few steps ahead of us and glanced back.
"Uncle Robert's over there."
The voice continued, now mixed with gurgling sounds and broken sentences.
I slowly walked toward the door.
It creaked softly as I pushed it open.
Inside the room, Robert stood in the middle of it.
Blood dripped slowly from his clenched hands as he breathed heavily.
"Robert…? What's—"
Then I saw him.
The man from earlier.
Still wearing the orange Hawaiian shirt.
His face was swollen and bloodied beyond recognition as he slumped against the wall.
"What's going on here?"
Robert stiffened slightly before turning toward me.
He casually wiped the blood from his knuckles and gave me a smile.
"This is the same guy who tried hitting on your wife, isn't he?"
Anathasia stepped into the room behind me.
Her eyes scanned the scene before settling on the unconscious man.
Her expression went completely blank.
"I just figured I'd teach him a lesson about actions having consequences," Robert continued casually.
The man remained motionless on the floor.
His shirt soaked in blood.