His energy levels are returning to normal after the power drain.

Solis doesn’t know why he feels mostly depressed by that fact.

The last four months in Ruewreath passed largely uneventful, the one thing of note being that, as his mind and body began to heal- Prentis called it trauma processing, Solis began having dreams again. Memories, really. Memories about him.

In the early days, fresh out of Vriseon Prison, Solis didn’t want to think about him at all. Why would he? Cyndras was gone. It had been centuries since he had lived. Solis was here now, in The Heavenly Realm, alone, but he was still alive and somehow that meant he had to find a reason to keep going. Clinging onto his dead lover like he could will him back into existence wasn’t going to do him any favors. It hadn’t then.

After slowly regaining his strength under Prentis’ careful, steady hands, Solis’ dreams begin to take on a life of their own, his memories clear and potent as they sweep him up, pulling at him like tendrils under the sea.

Sometimes it’s okay to wake up gasping, to meditate and ground himself, to stay awake through another chilly dawn. He makes it through. Other times, Solis relives a memory so vivid that the moment it rips itself away, he wakes up screaming, holding on with bloody fingers to a life that isn’t real.

Solis has come to accept several things over the course of the last few months. He isn’t fully satisfied with the list, but he repeats it in his mind occasionally when he has quiet meals with Prentis, or sits outside to watch the Chorus play in the orchard.

Cyn is dead. They punished me for loving him. I did not deserve that. Cyndras did not deserve to die. Love is not a sin…

Solis also accepts that, while he can never go back and change things, and his heart feels like a stone in his chest that he’s dragging along, he still loves Cyndras, and he does want to know if he’s okay.

It could be morbid curiosity that compels him to uncover the fate of his Prince, or just the unwillingness to accept that he is truly dead and gone, but Solis knows that with every breath in his body and despite all the hells he has endured in his name, that man was the best thing to ever happen to him and he would rather die himself than not know what became of his soul after six-hundred years.

Punishment be damned.

So, when all is calm in The Heavenly Realm and Solis has a chance to sneak away, he travels by himself to a place he’s never been, to speak with a god he has only met once, on the worst day of his life.

Stratoveria is on the outskirts of The Heavenly Realm, in the distant north. A tangled mass of brambles and vines grow from the earth, wriggling and twisting in a grotesque display that resembles a pit of snakes. Solis touches down just outside the misty fortress gate, knowing that the god of life and death will sense him the moment he arrives.

It is so dark and full of gloom, Solis can barely see two steps ahead of him. That, coupled with the ominous, rolling black fog that vanishes the bottom third of his body, Solis has no issue agreeing with the rumors; that Leviathyn enjoys making the other gods extremely uneasy.

“Hello?” Solis calls into the void, undeterred. “I am here to ask you something very important. My name is Solis-”

“Sssssolisssss…”

The voice comes from behind him, but when he turns he sees nothing. Leviathyn is clearly up to his old tricks.

“Yes. We met once, or… I think we did? In The Mortal Realm.”

“Yesssss,” he hears Leviathyn chuckle. “The day that boy died in your arms. I assume you are here to ask me what happened to him…”

Solis turns again, struggling to see through the darkness. Eventually, he makes out a slightly distorted form just ahead. The shape of a man, or perhaps a woman. Either way, they exist as a faceless swirl. Solis tries to take a step closer, but the shadow seems to move with him, always a careful distance away.

Solis plants his feet and takes a steadying breath. There is a chance Leviathyn will go to the other gods with this, but he highly doubts it. The keeper of Stratoveria is the oldest in The Heavenly Realm, after Aeris, of course, but somehow has made friends with no one, content on being recalcitrant neighbors with the rest of the realm.

Solis has never heard of a time when Leviathyn was seen outside of his domain, except of course that rumor Euthos spread; that he would travel to Ixotus just to reanimate the dragon bones and cause a riot in The Heavenly Realm as the gods tried to tame the undead creatures. Solis had always found that tale amusing, enjoying the thought of Aeris, and maybe even Tstovin ,panicking about the living corpses scaling the tiles of their fancy palace roofs.

Whether or not Leviathyn will tell the others, Solis has already made his bed. He will lie in it, even if it turns out to be a coffin.

“The boy who died,” he says, chest aching. “Did he ever come back? His soul, I mean… did he reincarnate?”

There was not an infinite number of souls, that would be impossible. Solis should know. The universe had a set amount of energy, which could be neither destroyed or added to, only changed. Human souls, their life force; a kind of cosmic energy, were recycled in an endless wheel. It made a lot of sense to Solis. Mortals lived such short lives, afterall. A soul could leave a body and be integrated back into the universe before being reborn once more. Occasionally, it would take time, some souls had grace periods, but the soul itself remained the same. And more importantly, recognisable.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

As the god of life and death, Leviathyn was not only aware of the cycle of reincarnation, with an intimate understanding of who was who, but the god could alter things in the mortal world; take a human’s remaining lifespan and add those years to another soul. Solis didn’t and would never understand how Leviathyn knew who should live and who should die, he was simply grateful that his own job was to do with stars instead.

“You’re very brave for coming here…” Leviathyn said, “I didn’t expect that. Did you not learn your lesson? Did the gods not teach it to you?”

Solis frowned, “What lesson?”

He hears a hissing, echoing laugh.

“Clearly, you haven’t learned a thing. How fortunate!”

Solis was beginning to have a headache from the sound of the creature’s laugh. It felt like it was scratching around in his brain, trying to pry something loose.

“Please,” he begs. “Just tell me what I want to know. Is he alive?”

Leviathyn is quiet for a moment, then Solis hears a whispered-

“That one’s been alive many times, many times indeed, my oh my. Sssolisss… that fairy living in the tree stump will give you a better answer. All I can tell you is; if you want the boy to live, do not look for him. Let him go.”

Solis sets his jaw.

“I can’t.”

I don’t know how-

He hears Leviathyn’s skittering laugh one more time, and then the shadow before him disperses entirely. When Solis hears the god’s voice again, it is coming from everywhere, every shadow.

“Foolishhhh… learn not to trust so easily, boy. Now, leave.”

And then Solis is alone.

He comes to his senses quickly, which he is surprised by, because the knowledge that Cyndras has lived many times and that his soul could be alive out there in The Mortal Realm right now, should really screw with his head more than it does. Maybe some part of Solis already knew. Already prayed.

The “fairy living in the tree stump” is actually a god living in a lake. The tree is a hollow thing, a great big oak, taller than a mountain, and the home of one of the least problematic gods in Solis’ opinion; Kulao.

He had only met the man in passing at certain events, and rarely spoke with him one on one. That is why Solis is just a bit surprised when he sets foot on the bridge that leads to Atrimor, and is immediately met with the god-in-question’s smiling face.

“Solis! My dear, how are you?! You seem to be doing well! Is there a reason for your visit? A social call? A bit of advice of a romantic nature? Come, come! I’ll send my Chorus to fetch us some tea and you can tell me all about it on the lake!”

That was how Solis found himself sitting in a little boat, on a picturesque lake filled with lotuses, drinking tea with the god of love.

A god who, perhaps more than any other, owed him a few explanations.

After getting situated and when Solis finally found a break in Kulao’s speech, he asked, point blank, what he wanted to know. The god of love smiled, but lowered his gaze with a sigh.

“I was wondering when you were going to come visit me.” Kulao said.

Solis blinked. “So, you know?”

“Hm? Oh, yes, of course. I am not only the god of love, but I am also the god of fate! I understood your passion for the mortal Prince, he was quite lovely. Unfortunately, it was not meant to be.”

“Why not?”

Solis was holding his teacup so hard he could feel it cracking…

Kulao stared at him, a slightly pitying expression on his face. Solis thought he had gotten used to the gods looking at him like that, but apparently not.

“Solis, it was not only my decision, the universe was in bad shape after his death and it was determined to be the safest course of action to sever that string entirely.”

Confused, Solis asked; “String?”

Kulao blinked-

“Of course! Silly me, you probably don’t even know! Here, let me show you!”

Then the god extended his hands out in front of him, facing each other, and Solis watched the tiny threads glow to life between his palms, like a tangled, messy web.

“Fate-string!” Kulao wiggled his fingers gleefully, the cords vibrating as he did.

“What… do they do?”

“It’s really very simple,” the god explained. “You see, each string ties a soul’s fate to another. It’s not always romantic either, fate-lines connect all sorts; children, enemies, friends, even strangers! If your life has been altered or impacted in a significant way by another person, you will have a fate-string in common.”

Solis was mesmerized, staring at the glowing web, and his voice was quiet and hesitant as he said-

“So, he and I… our fate-line?”

Kulao nodded, “I do not create people’s fate, but I can occasionally alter it. Splicing or splitting cords is not necessarily in my job description, that would be like Leviathyn killing someone on a whim, completely randomly. Unfortunately, there are times when the greater good takes precedence. The gods met, Solis, back then. We came to the decision that it was safest to sever his fate-string where it met yours.”

“But, what does that mean?!”

Solis was close to crying.

Kulao remained steady and nodded, gazing at him with a pinched frown.

“Your soul and his no longer have any connection. It would be dangerous to try and find him again, so I do not recommend it. Besides, love between a mortal and a god has never ended well. Such is the way of the world. Say, have you ever heard of what happened between Sichor and her intended? That loudmouth Euthos spread endless rumors back in the day, but the reality is far from the gossip. Oh, you poor dear… sit back, rest a while. I’ll tell you the story of Sichor and Lamollie. Perhaps, it will make you feel a little less alone."