On the other side of the Hidden Citadel, the Love Pentarch of Veneri camped out in the meadows outside the military city of Ledatic Siliportem with Greshina, Phaenora, Elyonari and Veylonar, Ely's twin brother.
The whole place felt strangely calm for somewhere that was basically waiting to become part of tomorrow's disaster. Celadille kept inside under Edarea Avinaris' watch. Apparently Edarea already knew they were here and had deliberately placed them in the city of Militia for protection, which would have sounded thoughtful if the end goal was not to feed Celadille to her pet. That part was still weird but this was Spheraphase, and weird was practically a civic tradition.
They had pitched camp outside instead of going in. The meadows were soft under the fake night sky. Phaenora was asleep and Elyonari was too. Veylonar had gone out early as well, probably because he had decided the best strategy for tomorrow was to sleep before his brain got the chance to argue with him. Even Jack and Luciana, two of Veneri's subordinates, were asleep together, curled into each other like the world had not yet given them a reason not to trust the night.
Only Greshina and Veneri were still awake.
They sat side by side in the grass, staring up at the fake sky in silence for a while. Greshina was the one who broke the silence first.
"Ever since I came to Spheraphase, I always wanted to see you again."
Veneri did not look at her right away. He just listened.
"I wanted to apologize for leaving you behind. Millennia passed so fast I don't even keep count anymore. And then when I finally saw you again, I didn't know what to say."
That landed heavier than she probably meant it to. The truth was, neither of them had ever really been good at saying the right thing when it mattered. They had always done better with action and the messy reality of being around each other. But this was different.
"And tomorrow, we're facing Edarea Avinaris."
That was its own kind of sentence too.
Everything about tomorrow seemed to keep circling back to the same ugly truth. It was coming whether anyone liked it or not. But the group here in Ledatic Siliportem had no idea about Veneri's real plan. He had hidden it from them better than anyone else and for one simple reason: they were the last people he wanted to drag into that knowledge too early.
If they knew, they would either worry themselves to pieces or try to stop him. So he had kept them in the dark, which was honestly starting to feel like one of his more consistent hobbies.
"I'm glad I met you again."
Greshina turned her head to look at him then, though he still kept his eyes on the fake sky for another second before speaking again.
"I was mad at you when I transmigrated to Spheraphase. Still kind of am, I guess. I don't even know how to feel about it anymore."
That honesty made her go still.
"Do I still love you? Do I still hate you for what you did to me on Earth? I don't know."
Greshina stayed quiet because there was no good answer for that. There never had been. Their entire relationship had become a knot of old hurt, old affection and too many years of distance. The funny part was that even now, after all this time, it still hurt in their new lives.
Then he glanced at her.
"Still, the time we spent together here has been fun. You taught Ely how to use her Life Divinity. You also gave me a chance to experience love. And even though I still don't have all my memories back, I know you did it to protect me."
Greshina scoffed softly, like she hated how easily he could still see through her.
"You say that like you know me."
"I do know you."
That was when Vastarael, or Veneri depending on how much of himself he was using at the moment, asked the question he had been circling for a while.
"Do you still love me?"
Greshina went perfectly still.
For a moment she looked insulted by how direct he was being, which was almost funny considering how many times they had wasted being indirect. Then the embarrassment hit her. She looked away for a second before answering.
"Yes," she admitted it so quietly it was almost swallowed by the wind.
He nodded once and answered just as plainly.
"I don't."
The hurt on her face was evident. He saw it, of course. He was not cruel enough to miss it but he did not take it back either because that would have been the easier lie. He was done making easy things out of hard truths.
"It's been too long for me. Falling for you again is going to take a lot of time."
That made her stare at him like he had just slapped her with a philosophical brick.
"So, this time, you're going to have to make me fall for you again the same way you did on Earth."
Greshina exhaled sharply, almost laughing and almost furious at the same time.
"You're a monster."
"Yep."
"You're being cruel."
"Also yes."
"I'll never forgive you for what you did to me on Earth, Greshina. But I can accept it. I can move on. So, when the time is right, we start as friends like we once did on Earth."
Greshina blinked at him, clearly thrown off by how casually he had just proposed rebuilding something that had once been a wound.
"Friends?"
"Yes."
"That's your big romantic plan?"
"That's my realistic plan."
She made an annoyed face. He almost smiled. Then he leaned back into the grass and looked up at the fake sky again.
"We're in Spheraphase now with new bodies and new identities. I'm not Veneri anymore. I'm Vastarael Richinaria. The reason they all call me Veneri is because Phaenora used that nickname and they got used to it."
That made her eyes flick back to him.
"And you are still Greshina Emberforge, but you need a new name now. It's time to abandon the Earth name forever and start anew."
Greshina stared at him for a long time, then let out a long breath through her nose like she was trying very hard not to be offended by the idea and failing.
"So that's it? You're just telling me to stop being who I was?"
"No. I'm telling you to stop living like Earth still owes you."
That shut her up. He went on before she could interrupt.
"Stop thinking about the past on Earth. I stopped doing that long ago. Our Seventh Iteration of Earth is gone forever. We can't go back to who we were then."
The way he said it made it clear he had already buried that version of himself a long time ago, whether he liked it or not. Earth was not a place they could return to, at least not in their era. That life was done. What remained was what they chose to become after it.
Greshina sat with that for a while.
"Fine. I'll accept it. But after this battle, you better be alive."
He gave her a small, immediate nod.
"I promise."
It was the kind of promise that should have sounded comforting.
It did not because he was lying.
He knew exactly what tomorrow would take from him. He knew that after it was over, he would no longer be able to see them again. So he gave her the promise anyway. Sometimes people did not need the truth right then. Sometimes they just needed the shape of hope long enough to survive the night.
Greshina looked relieved, and that made the lie sting worse. Neither of them said it out loud.
And on the grass, with all that history between them and all that tomorrow waiting ahead, Veneri and Greshina sat like two people who had once loved each other badly, lost each other completely and somehow still found enough left between them to talk like the damage had not been the end of the story.
Everything was going to end in the 100th day.