“Well, well, well. Knew you were going to be an important folk, being the adopted daughter of Aetherius, but I didn’t peg you as killing the Overgod important.” Sam, the handle-bar mustached bartender exclaimed when Telos sidled up to the beautiful dark wooden bar. Originally it had been a construct of ice that with a few tweaks of authority, had transformed nicely into wood. That one encounter summed up the gist of all of the interactions Telos had with the Masters from Solace.

Without the Tower of Aetherius, and Solace, they were now essentially homeless until they could find a way to other worlds. Most of them were powerful enough that they could do it on their own, but some saw this as a chance to reinvent themselves on one of the universes oldest planets, Grief. A world without Towers would face many challenges, from aging, lack of cultivation resources, and lack of imported treasures. Grief, for all of its problems, was an ancient world with high ambient energy levels, where even someone in second or third rank could stave off the ravages of time for years.

Telos politely talked to each of the masters, but she did so on autopilot. The only people she felt a deep connection with were the current and former members of her party, or those who had already gone on to the next world, like Callie and Pete. There wasn’t even a point in visiting Earth, everyone she knew and loved had died years ago. I could time travel, but for what purpose? I can walk in my own memories if I want to relive something.

The sun had traveled from late afternoon to beneath the horizon when Kallos stepped next to her and the two leaned contently against one another, observing the clear sky.

~There’s a whole Universe out there we never explored together, does that bother you?~

-I never even thought of exploring this Universe as a worthwhile endeavor, darling. Like Belial, I was obsessed with the idea of gnosis and ascension to Pleroma until I met you. You are the one who taught me that whether this world is a cage or not, it is still an experience. From the lowest hell to highest of heavens, there is something to make us grow in new ways. Yet no, I don’t regret leaving this existence for a higher one. A universe of firsts awaits us, and there’s no one I’d rather be with for them.- The thoughts Kallos sent caused a warmth to fill Telos, and a faint brush of red to touch her cheeks.

~I’ve been thinking about it. It all seems so orchestrated. My reincarnation, meeting you, Arkaziel, everything. In my curiosity, I looked into the past to see how heavily Chaos and Sophia put their hands on the scale.~

-And?- When Telos hesitated, Kallos pressed fore the answer.

~Chronos, unlike Aetherius and Nyx, was in on it with Sophia. Only he didn’t know it was Chaos who killed Ananke, or I’m sure he wouldn’t have worked with either. Arkaziel’s birth alone took Chronos two thousand, one hundred and seventy-three loops to get right. Ensuring you were in Solace to make a connection with me took him thousands of loops, and there’s signs of someone else has tampered with time, only they are far more powerful than Chronos ever was.~

Kallos laughed incredulously, until she realized it was no joking matter.

-Why? I didn’t teach you that much, and did my soul-gift of Resonance truly make that much of a difference for you? Why Arkaziel? What about Bobbi?-

In the darkness above Grief, shooting stars filled the sky.

~Our connection and your ability to Resonate amplified all of my gains, and played a very large part in my awakening. Arkaziel’s Beast Cultivation, combined with Resonate, made my gains exponential, and in turn fueled both his and your own. Yet any Beast Cultivator would’ve provided me that benefit, Arkaziel’s true strength lay in his being a Master of Duality. Until I gained access to Binah, I didn’t even realize he had such an ability, or that it had made my understanding of duality, such as with Aether and Nether, or Ethereal and Void, so much easier. Combine that with my Autopotence that Chronos tried to awake through my Core and it seems almost impossible that I wouldn’t awaken to the Path of Eternal Becoming. Yet do you know how many times Chronos looped my life between my reincarnation and before he was reunited with Ananke?~

Telos watched the stars shoot across the sky. Beautiful trails of yellow, green, and blues filled the twilight, which seemed to grow a bit darker at Telos’ gaze, emphasizing the beauty of the celestial phenomenon.

-How many times?- Kallos asked, expecting a low number.

~Seven hundred and seventy seven,~ Telos shared with a small laugh.

-No wonder things seemed so easy. How did we not notice it?- Telos felt an emotion she was well familiar with flare within Kallos. As the daughter of an Aeon she had vast powers not available to most Nephelim, and she’d never had a clue that their lives had been manipulated, let alone the severity of it. Rage, shame, and spite clashed against the bliss of ignorance. Shouldn’t she have been privy to such widescale temporal alterations? Especially ones that involved her.

~Sophia and Chaos empowered Chronos through manipulation of the dimensional matrix itself. Sophia created divine veils, Chaos essentially functioned as a random number generator for existence, while Nyarlathotep created problems for the Aeons to be preoccupied with, and not even Bythos noticed what they were doing. Maybe. It’s also possible Bythos and Sige wanted me to awaken, I can’t rule that out. I could find out, but they would sense my probing, and why poke the ant nest?~ Telos exhaled, but her eyes stayed on the shower of stars in the sky.

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

-A convoluted intrigue culminating in you, Arkaziel, and I. You never answered my question about Bobbi, darling.-

~I would love to tell you it was only Chronos again, but my subconscious desires may have played a part in addition to Chronos. I wanted Ark to have a companion, like you are to me. Someone to mellow out his impulsive and reckless nature. Between my desires and Chronos’ StarMane breeding program, stars aligned. Bobbi’s gift with Culinary Alchemy is hard to gage the effectiveness of, even for me. More than anything, I think, it reminds me to continue physical traditions like eating food.~

Kallos leaned over and brushed a kiss against Telos’ cheek.

“We’re here now, my love, and a whole new world awaits. Are you going to look backward, or forward?”

“Forward, for sure. I just… I wanted to take stock of how we got here, now that I can see through the deceptions of Chaos and Sophia, and the time-fuckery of Chronos. I’m tired of other people meddling in my life, more than anything else. The worst part is I can’t even rule out that some of these manipulations are my own. Does future-me have the right to mess with past me? Vice versa? It makes me less angry than when Chronos or Chaos did it.” Telos groaned unhappily.

“What about this Judge?” Kallos looked far away, searching for traces of the still unmet entity through the Cosmic Song. Kallos found no more trace of the Judge than Telos did, and both sighed at the same time.

“Jinx,” Telos said with a grin.

“We will find them, and they will provide us with answers.” Kallos vowed darkly.

When the two lovebirds finally returned their attention to the party everyone had drifted off. Only Arkaziel, Bobbi, Werylin, Tasmin, and a fox-folk Telos didn’t recognize at first remained. The kitsune seemed to be in the prime of their life, but a simple listen to the Cosmic Song informed Telos this was one of Ascyn’s children she’d played with on the farm, so long ago.

“Astryl, you were so tiny last time I saw you. Thank you for staying this late, I would have been sad to miss seeing you again,” Telos offered with a sincere smile, which made the male kitsune squirm with embarrassment.

“Mom and Dad thought I ought to give you this, and I wanted to say good-bye. They say you won’t be coming back to Grief again?” Astryl held out a complex work of origami. The paper itself glowed with the soft light of the moon, and it had been folded hundreds of times to create a dragon, not like Arkaziel.

“It’s beautiful. I still have a whole slew of the origami you made for me when I was in Solace,” Telos gestured and the air above her head filled with a flock of birds that seemed to fly on their own, but all of which fell back into Telos’ Inner World after a minute. “I really enjoyed my time playing with you and your family, memories that I’ll cherish as we step away from this world.” Once, Telos might have had to swallow or been choked up by emotion, but even though she felt deeply and touched, her control had grown in the hundreds of years that had passed for her since Solace.

“We are leaving, though, and not just Grief. This whole Universe. So it’s going to come down to brave warriors like you to ensure tomorrow’s a brighter day. You can do that, right?” Astryl’s aura, and essence, didn’t scream farmer at Telos, but knight. Maybe he’d be a hero, and save whatever reincarnation poor Rick the Trapmaster had next.

“I can! I mean, I will!” Astryl practically shouted.

“Then take this, in exchange for your thoughtful gift.” Telos held her hand out, and a shield and longsword materialized. Both looked to be made out of ice, but were indestructible, and carried a bevy of enchantments suited to someone on the path to become a Paladin might need.

“I… are you sure? I gave you a paper dragon,” Astryl questioned, hesitating as he tried to discern if it was appropriate for him to accept the gift, which he very much wanted to.

“You put hours of work into making the dragon, didn’t you? If anything, my gift is substandard, I forged them in less than an hour.” Telos had actually done it on the fly, while they talked, but Astryl didn’t need to know that.

“I don’t know about that, but thank you, auntie.” Astryl winked, and then absconded with the shield and sword before anyone could try and separate them from him. Not that anyone would. Except maybe his parents, but that was on Ascyn.

“You always give more than you receive. Is that the definition of kindness?” Tasmin, Werylin’s descendant and formerly a necromancer, questioned. Tasmin now had the glowing blue eyes of an Aetherial Elf, and a flute strapped to his hip.

“Another change in paths?” Telos pointed to the instrument.

“Werylin’s tales of minstrels and bards made me curious, and the more I learned, the more I wanted to be one. There’s other candidates to become Speakers of the Words of Creation better suited than me, and I think I’d like to travel this world now that the threat of Oizys seeking revenge is gone. Thank you for being you, Telos. Most people would kill a hostile necromancer, but you not only spared me, but removed the curse from my soul, and helped us all find a new purpose and path, and got us out of the Tower.” Tasmin offered sincere gratitude. “I’m not that good yet, but here…”

The elf offered a recording crystal, that a quick scan showed contained music.

“Thank you, Tasmin. Enjoy your travels, and may fortune bless you,” with the last, Telos moved faster than Tasmin could even perceive, and booped his nose with her index finger, as she imparted a boon of fortune upon the young elf.

In a whirlwind, Telos moved to hug Werylin, before she blurred back to stand next to Kallos.

“I know I decreed no more gods, free will, blah blah blah, but.. Clan Amaryllis helped me a lot, so, enjoy my favor.” Telos grinned, but Werylin stared at her in confusion and silence for long moments.

“What favor?” Werylin asked dubiously.

“Guess you’ll just have to find out, huh? Oh, don’t look like that, it’s nothing bad. You were a good companion, Werylin. Sorry you got saddled with being a politician again, retire and go learn music with Tasmin when you can.” Telos gave the only advice she thought Werylin might follow, but she suspected he’d work himself ragged politically for a century or two before he remembered to enjoy life. How quickly he’d lost the reverence for life since his resurrection.

“I’ll honor your suggestion as I’m able to. Good luck out there, wherever you end up.”

“If you get tired of this world… think of us, and maybe a doorway like this one will open.”

With the words and a pulse of power from the Third Eye of Ein Sof, a rift in dimensions opened.

“Goodbye,” Telos murmured to a universe, while Arkaziel and Bobbi hopped through the gate with excitement. Telos and Kallos, hand in hand, walked through it with a mixture of giddy anticipation and uncertainty for a new dawn.