Morning in the Gardens of Asphodelia felt unnaturally beautiful, almost as though the realm itself understood what was coming.
The lake surrounding the palace shimmered brighter than usual. Mist drifted low over the waters while the great oak near the shore cast long shadows across the roots where everyone had gathered in uneasy silence. Sirithiele's five children stood near the lake in ceremonial garments. Behind them stood descendants, attendants and guardians of the lake, all keeping their distance out of respect. Even they seemed to sense this was more than a farewell.
Eldrigan, Peroncerea and Qalis stood together beneath the oak, watching the palace bridge in silence. Qalis folded her arms and looked at the palace.
"They've been gone all night."
Peroncerea glanced at her with a look.
"You sound jealous."
Qalis rolled her eyes. "I sound curious."
Eldrigan muttered, "That does not sound like curiosity."
She ignored him.
None of them knew what Veneri and Sirithiele had done from moonrise until dawn. None of them asked. Somehow it felt too personal and sacred to pry into. But looking at the sky, the lake and the strange peace in the air, all three of them understood one thing.
Whatever happened last night definitely changed something.
Sirithiele appeared first, walking with a radiance that made her seem almost younger than she had the day before. Her blue hair moved in the breeze and the halo of water behind her turned in slow, luminous circles. Beside her walked Veneri. He wore a smile, though it looked carefully held together. Something in his eyes carried a sadness he was trying not to show, but he masked it well enough that only those who knew him closely would have noticed. Sirithiele, on the other hand, was very happy.
They approached the shore together and one of her daughters stepped forward.
"Mother..."
Sirithiele lifted her hand gently and silence immediately followed. She looked over her gathered children, then at the descendants behind them, then at the lake she had ruled for millennia. Her gaze lingered for a long while before she smiled.
"I have made a decision regarding the next heir of the Gardens of Asphodelia."
Murmurs stirred at once. Even her own children looked surprised.
"I have thought about this for a very long time, and I have come to a decision. I am letting Vastarael here handle it."
Her children stared. One son looked like he had forgotten how blinking worked. Another seemed deeply offended by reality itself. All eyes slowly turned to Veneri who only shrugged.
"It was not my decision, you know. It was hers."
That somehow made it worse. One of Sirithiele's daughters looked from him to her mother and asked, almost helplessly:
"This handsome stranger?"
"Yes."
The daughter looked as though she had a thousand questions and no language left to ask them. Sirithiele looked entirely too amused.
"My time has come. In a few minutes, my Destiny will take over, and I will be completely gone. However, I still have three things left on my bucket list. The first item was deciding who inherits the Gardens of Asphodelia and that is being handled by him. The second and third items are a secret. I will reveal them when it is time."
One son exhaled. "Mother..."
"No. It is more dramatic this way."
Even in grief, a few of her children almost laughed. Then she looked over them all with unmistakable tenderness.
"You are all very old now, my children. You have children and grandchildren. Some of you have great-grandchildren. You can survive one afternoon without me parenting you."
This time even a few wet smiles appeared. Then she turned to Veneri, and somehow the entire atmosphere narrowed around just the two of them.
"For now, I would like to spend my last moments dancing with this handsome stranger you all met yesterday. Will you grant me one final dance, Vastarael Blossom Richinaria?"
He looked at her hand for only a second before taking it.
"Of course."
Together they stepped onto the lake and walked over its surface as though it was frozen. Each footstep sent rings of light through the water. Everyone watched in silence as they reached the center of the lake and stopped beneath a sun inching toward noon. Sirithiele placed one hand on his shoulder as he rested one at her waist.
Then slowly, without music, they began to dance.
They moved in slow circles over the lake. It was graceful in a way none of the others expected from Veneri, almost as though some forgotten part of him had remembered how. Out in the middle of the water, Sirithiele leaned close during the dance and whispered something only Veneri could hear. He laughed and he actually spun her around. She laughed in surprise as she let him spin her.
The sun climbed higher and still they danced as if movement itself could slow time. Sirithiele rested one hand against Veneri's shoulder and smiled up at him in a way that made his chest ache. She leaned closer as they moved and spoke softly, almost like she was confessing something she had held onto for ages.
"You know, I always wanted to be that one woman."
He looked at her.
"What woman?"
"The woman who influences someone's life even to the very end. I want to be the kind of person whose presence keeps echoing long after she is gone. And so, I am going to do that today."
"Sirithiele..."
"It's time for the last two items on my bucket list."
Her body was fading. Veneri's steps faltered.
"What are you doing?"
She kept dancing as if nothing was wrong. The Divine Energy within the waters erupted. Golden currents surged upwards. The entire lake began glowing. Divine Energy gathered from every current, every spring and every hidden source across the Gardens of Asphodelia rushed into his body.
"What are you doing?!"
Sirithiele smiled.
"I'm helping you."
Her blue halo had begun breaking apart into fragments of light.
"This lake has gathered Divine Energy for millennia from the whole realm. Every prayer, every blessing is all in here. I'm using Forced Ascension on you."
"No!"
"With this... you should reach the Seventh Enlightenment."
The brilliance from the impact reacted so violently that the shore vanished behind gold. Eldrigan staggered back. Peroncerea raised Miasma around herself instinctively. Qalis cursed and covered them in darkness to keep the purification from burning through them. Even from the shore they could barely see them. The could only spot silhouettes. And still in the center of it, they danced.
Sirithiele was fading more. Her arms half made of light now. Her voice grew softer.
"My last bucket list item... is giving you the third and fourth Time Fragments, Temporis and Horalium."
Two types of light emerged from within her dissolving body. One was emerald and the other was silver-blue. Veneri's face was full of shock but she kept smiling.
"There is one more reason Master Vasreveilder made me ruler. He wanted me... to use my body... my power... my soul... to awaken them."
The Time Fragments began orbiting them. Space warped. The lake churned. Even the sun itself seemed distorted.
"I have to force your ascension to the Seventh Enlightenment."
His whole expression broke.
"No. Stop, please!"
She shook her head.
"It is only enough for one Pentarch but that is enough for me."
He grabbed her shoulders.
"You'll erase yourself! Do you understand what you are doing?! Time Fragments can only be activated by those with Time Divinity, not you! I accepted your death! You had a chance to be reborn somewhere else in the universe as a Deity! If you do this... you will never come back and-"
She touched his lips.
"Do not worry about me. This is my decision. Even if I am never reborn, at least I can help you."
He shook his head.
"Stop. Please stop."
Their feet still moved. They were still dancing even while reality broke around them.
"I am so glad I saw you again, Veneri."
Tears had formed in his eyes. He looked furious with grief and helplessness. She smiled through fading light with a few tears escaping her eyes.
"You gave me a beautiful ending. Goodbye, Veneri."
"Sirithiele-"
But she was already dissolving. Light particles rose from her skin. Her form broke into fragments of light. He tried to hold her but his hands passed through light.
"No. No!"
He reached for her again but she was vanishing in his arms, still smiling. Soon, she was gone, scattered into countless golden particles. And in that moment, the Time Fragments entered him. A blinding emerald-gold light shone so violently the entire city was blinded. The shore disappeared. The sky disappeared. Everything disappeared.
Eldrigan and the others were forced to their knees. Their Miasma cracked under the pressure. The palace trembled. The lake rose up from the impact. And in the center of it, Veneri called her name one last time.
The light swallowed him and everything went dark.