The Askran markets is filled with citizens and variety of stalls. From creating sweet treats to crafting pinwheels, and from baking freshly-made goods to performing magic... It was very packed. Children bursts out laughing as they ran towards and past Kaori, who is devotedly holding the God Lazarus' arm. A tender smile plastered across his face when he noticed a young girl handing out a sky-blue gladiolus to the sand-beige. She crouched down to the little girl's height and her quite-pale hands accepted it as she graciously takes it. "Thank you!" She smiled, causing the little girl to giggle and run off.
As they walked into the gardens of Askr, Lazarus separates his arm away from Kaori. "Kaori, my dear Goddess-to-be..." He found a white lily and hands it over to her, "This is for you."
"A... Lily?" She asked, and he chuckled and shakes his head in response. "Not just a lily. This is a daylily. They really do remind me of you, you know. They're subservient, and obedient... Just like you." Lazarus gave her a gentle smile, making Kaori smile too.
"Lazarus... You’re too kind." she complimented.
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Kaori's almost-lifeless yellow tired eyes fluttered as she groggily sits herself up from the cold-hard brown stoned floor. Her nightdress became rags, and her long, sand-beige hair is messy. "I was dreaming..." She murmured to herself.
The Northern Tower.
That's where Lazarus sent her. What's even heartbreaking is that today was supposed to be the deification. Her deification, where Lazarus was meant to deificating her to become a Goddess - to rule alongside him. But that is never going to happen.
What's even more heartbreaking is the fact that Kaori can hear the musicians performing the music she had composed and chose, and citizens of different kingdoms are invited to witness and celebrate the ceremony. She did it all for Lazarus. No one. Just. Lazarus.
"A daylily may brighten the open fields with its fleeting beauty," a young, soft feminine voice came, and Kaori tilts her head up, her shocking orange eyes widened, "but it will never be as revered as the azalea that flourishes under careful tending." The figure turns herself to face her.
Destiny, the Goddess of Destiny, stands before her. Her long, lustrous lilac hair cascades in soft waves, delicate plaits woven with fine mesh to hold shimmering pearls, sparkles, and pale pink azaleas. A faint, gossamer bridal veil trails lightly behind her, framing her pristine white wedding dress. The lace sleeves cling elegantly to her arms, while the gentle dip of the neckline offers just a glimpse of her décolletage. Her serene pink eyes, soft and sweet, gaze down at Kaori's fiery red ones—a stark contrast to the fury trembling within her.
"Des...tiny...?" Kaori uttered in shock.
"Ah. I see that you're finally awake." She turned her head around to face the former Summoner from the window. Kaori couldn't believe it. The Goddess of Destiny to giggle and smile sweetly at the former, making the former Summoner clench her teeth in anger.
"Wh-What are you doing here?!" Kaori spoke, her voice shaky, and Destiny continues to beam a sweet smile at the former, "What have you done with Lazarus?!"
"Kaori." Destiny spoke and frowned, "I think you should be the one to explain your actions towards my husband." The sand-beige turned her head away from her best friend, not wanting her to see her guilt. "I... I have no words for what I did to your husband, Prince Takumi—" she shakily explains.
"Takumi?" The lilac-haired tilts her head in confusion and sneered cynically, "Wow... You really are as pea-brained as ever. I was referring to Lazarus, you clueless girl..." Kaori is left stunned. "What...?"
"Don't you understand?" Destiny opened her arms out and begins to explain, "Lord Lazarus belongs with the most powerful and revered lady of the land. Who eles would be more fitting to stand beside him than me?" She slowly walked towards Kaori's sitting position, her white heels clacking against the stone-cold floors. "In fact, it is simply abhorrent that you of all people would seek to seize my rightful place as an all-powerful deity. If you have any common sense, you would have broken your engagement a long time ago. Now. Because of you, my name has been dragged through the mud. Everyone sees me as nothing but a widow, who has lost her innocence and had a miscarriage. So, allow me to ask you this: What is your plan to undo this mistake?" Destiny tilts her head once again. Kaori clenches her teeth again, her fists closing.
"Is that what made you furious?! What about your husband, Prince Takumi?! He treated you with love and kindness from the bottom of his heart, and from the very beginning!" Kaori countered, making the Goddess of Destiny to shrug.
"Isn't that how all men in general treat me?" she asked, her voice dripping with feigned innocence. "Should I then return the affection of every man who claims to love me? Shall I become a woman who gives her heart and devotion to anyone who desires it?" She laughs wickedly, her pink eyes glowing maliciously.
Kaori couldn't stop her hands from trembling so much from the news. "Then... Do you even love Lazarus?" she questioned, "And if so, then why did you initially refuse his engagement proposal? In fact, you were the one who encouraged me to spend time with him and—"
"Enough of your foolish question," Destiny interrupts, her tone icy. "Lazarus was never more than a pretender—he may be the God of Aspirations, but in truth, he's merely a God of empty promises and words, crafting illusions of devotion to the needy while concealing his hunger for power. And now, look where he stands. Everything has changed. After today's deification ceremony, Lazarus will no longer be the God of the lowly. He will rule over all kingdoms, and as his wife, I shall reign at his side as his rightful Goddess."
Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
"I must admit, though..." the lilac-haired girl sighed, "It is a shame that Takumi had to die... But since he couldn't make me the most powerful Goddess in all the land, his failure has justified his death perfectly..."
"Are you serious... Him—a mortal, who you made him into a God to rule alongside you... You tossed him aside?!" Kaori yelled.
"Didn't you hear me?" Destiny placed her hands on her knees to meet Kaori's floored level, "I wish to be the highest Goddess of all kingdoms. And as such, Lazarus has observed everything in me to make me his Goddess." She stood up and looks outside, where the fresh, bright air meets her beautiful facial appearance. "He has earned the right to have me as his Goddess, and paid the price to meet my worth."
Kaori shakes her head in disbelief. She refused to believe every word of it. "Lazarus... Meant... everything to me... He was more precious to me than my own life!" she expressed her frustration, her right hand clenching to her where her heart is, "But you... You don't even love Lazarus! And all you are obsessed with is status, power and popularity... AND FOR THAT, YOU DRIVE A WEDGE BETWEEN ME AND LAZARUS?!"
Destiny smiled wickedly at Kaori, "Is that what you really think?"
Silence.
"AH-HAHAHAHA!" Destiny bursts out laughing, covering her mouth with one of her hands whilst glancing sickly-sweetly at Kaori, "You are definitely not wrong. All of those may be all I want, but to tell you the truth—it was Lazarus, who approached and begged me to be his, and informed me that I have never left his heart at all. Whilst the times he held you in his arms, he actually thought of me."
"..." Kaori is left stunned, her shocked orange eyes returning to be widened.
"Actually, he did tell me all about you. Lazarus mentioned that your height reminded him of someone still too young for such responsibilities, and he said your hair color was... unremarkable. He compared your appearance to something rough, like a cow's, while praising my figure for being more refined. He says I'm delicate and that he wants to protect me, and he adores my lilac hair with the soft, pale pink azaleas, as it reminds him of how he sees me: as a princess and a true Goddess in his eyes." Destiny explained, "My poor, misled best-friend... Has anyone ever wanted you so desperately?"
Kaori is left shaken. All the memories of when Lazarus confronted her for shaming him and embarrassing him, they all flooded back to her mind. He really did led her on to being involved in this mess... Her trembling body stood up, ready to confront to Destiny once again, but the lilacette sighs and turns to Kaori, holding her cheek. "You may dedicate your life to a man and sacrifice everything for him, but chances are, you won't be receiving anything in return. I'll offer you this advice, though: men can be ungrateful and unreliable, and they don't always deserve your trust. For women like us, our path is to make ourselves strong and valuable, so that we can give our devotion to something or someone truly deserving."
The sand-beige haired summoner slumped to the grounds in disbelief. "No... Lazarus wouldn't do that to me..." Tears begin to prick in her turned blue eyes.
"Awk, Kaori, dear. Your precious Lazarus is currently into me at the moment, but, in time..." Destiny stares outside, "He will surely get bored of me, and will begin to recall the fond moments of you and him, especially your five years of endless loyal devotion. I'm afraid that I am not one to leave loose ends, dear friend. So I'd like you..." She turns her whole body around and gleefully smiles, "to make it painless for my own experience, please." Before Kaori could speak, she felt something impaling her from the back of her heart. ′A... sword...?′ she thought when her eyes darted down to a blade piercing her heart, then turned to a cloaked soldier who held the sword.
"She is my bestest friend ever." Destiny spoke with a smile and walked away from the cold, dreaded Northern Tower, leaving her once closest friend to her death.
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"Why..." Kaori uttered weakly as blood begins to leak out from her wounded body. "This is injustice... Why... was my sacrifice wasted? Why... was it all for nothing? Where did it... all go wrong?" Tears begin to form and fall from her blue eyes that's about to go lifeless... "I wish... to go back... in time... and... fix... everything..." She breathed her last, her voice unable to utter a word anymore.
"The Code of Retribution. You will atone for your wrongful punishments, and receive your just rewards for your virtuous actions."
That's the sort of life I wanted... That's how it should be laid out. So why is it.. that I have sacrificed everything, and gained nothing in return?
"Do you think you have the ability?"
The ability... to... what?
"Do you think you have the ability to follow the Code of Retribution?"
I have... Of course, I have the ability to do so...
"As you wish..."
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Kaori's eyes widened as she jolted up from her bed. Everything looked so modern... "I'm... I'm in the modern world...?" She observes the room she is in - a bunkbed where she is lying on the top bunk, a glass working desk with a gaming chair and laptop underneath her bunkbed, white wardrobe with drawers and a mirror, shelves containing her figurines and books... She looks at her slightly tanned hands. "My hands look pretty small." Noticing the mirror, she gets down from the bunkbed’s ladder and looks at herself in the mirror. "Is that...!"
There she was. Kaori Amitola. A young girl who is only 16 years of age, and has slightly longer sand-beige hair. Her eyes are brown. "My younger self..." She lifts her hands up and observes them once more. "I've gone back in time..." She ponders out loud. Then, a vibration buzzed on her desk. "Hm? My phone...?" She turns to the noise and approaches it, lifting it up. The screen on her phone turns white. So white, that it blinds her eyes.
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"Oooh! You're here? Then the ritual actually worked?" A feminine voice spoke, then clears her throat by clenching one of her fists and gently side-punches her chest. "Ahem... Oh Great Hero from another world! Thou hast come so far to fulfill your role in our legend! For our kingdom now stands on the very brink of ruin, and thou..."
Kaori blankly stares at the red-headed ponytail girl. It was Anna. The red-headed Commander of the Order of Heroes. Kaori definitely remembers her. But it seemed that Anna certainly does not remember her.
"Um..." Kaori uttered awkwardly. Anna frowns as she closely observes her. Kaori now dons a white cloak with gold accent decorations on each edge of her coat, with a blue shirt, white skirt and black and red boots. However, her right arm looks different. It is now a rusty-turquoise with brown rings to indicate that they are her bone joints.
"Hold on. Are you really our Great Hero? You don't look like the thee-and-thou type." Anna frowns. "I... I'm not, really...?" Kaori scratches the back of her sand-beige head awkwardly, "In fact..." She has to play along to avoid suspicion. Anna is already suspicious of her origins... "W-Where am I exactly?"
"What's that? You want to know where you are? And how you got here?" The Commander repeated her questions, "Fair enough. You're in—"