Things were very different from before. Of course, so many of Cyn’s memories are disjointed and hazy, behind a layer of time and fog. Solis’ recollections are the same. It’s obvious they have changed as people, so it makes sense that their love looks like something almost brand new.

With Solis feeling most comfortable at Ruewreath, Prentis agrees to let the two of them, plus Iphis, stay for the meantime until something more permanent can be arranged.

Cyndras returns from Vriseon that evening and walks through the orchard. He finds Solis sitting by the large window in their shared bedroom, and even though Solis clearly cannot bring himself to ask, Cyndras knows the other god knows where he was, and what he was doing.

The setting sun flickers through the window, casting a gentle glow across the room and Solis’ face. Cyndras places a steadying, grounding hand on his shoulder, feels the other man sigh, and then carefully places a finger under Solis’ chin and brings his gaze up to him.

The god of stars looks at him softly, wholly in love, but Cyndras still wonders if a part of Solis can’t help but view him as a stranger. In a way, he supposes he is.

“Come to bed?” He whispers, and Solis nods slowly.

They hold each other until it is dark outside, neither willing to close their eyes; Solis because he is afraid to fall asleep and wake up alone, and Cyn because he is unsure what to say to settle the unanswered questions between them. Maybe nothing needs to be said. Maybe they just need time.

The next morning, Solis wakes in a panic when he doesn’t feel Cyn’s warmth at his side. Cyndras has to jump quickly back in bed, abandoning the tea he was setting out in favor of cuddling and soothing his lover’s raging fears.

Cyn feels a knife plunging deep into his chest whenever he listens to Solis weep, and shake apart in his arms, crying out desperately-

“You were gone! Y-You… I didn’t know where you were!”

They relearn everything.

Cyn waits for Solis to wake, and they set up tea together.

Finding each other again in this new life wasn’t the end, there was work to be done. How could they heal several thousands of years worth of wounds overnight? It was impossible. Cyndras was slightly impatient, a bit anxious to get to where everything was okay. Still, he went at Solis’ pace, and found that it really wasn’t all that difficult. Days passed much more happily with his lover at his side…

Their first time in their heavenly bodies was a slow affair, neither wanting to rush. Cyndras was able to put aside his concern over what Solis would think of his brand new skin, and Solis was able to set down his grief. For the first time in too many years, there was no need to worry; they were together, all expectations pushed aside in favor of discovering what it meant to be close again.

To Cyn, Solis was different in subtle ways; more hesitant and reserved, and always getting lost in his own head. Cyn’s differences, on the other hand, were stark and mapped out delicately with touches and soft looks from the god of stars, as they lay side by side in a silence parted only by heartbeats.

Unlike in the past, Solis was now the smaller of the two, but only just; a few inches shorter than Cyn and lithe, delicately built with petite features and hands. Cyndras’ new body was taller, sturdy and sleek, with defined muscles and strength in places he’d never had it before. The god of stars was soft and pale, while the god of death was sun-kissed and covered from the neck down with darker markings in a mosaic pattern, similar to the swirls of a galaxy. Solis mapped it many times, retracing his steps at the end to find his way back to his lover’s lips, where he placed a delicate, grateful kiss.

The two spent a long time staring into each other’s eyes, long enough that they began to notice their own reflections.

“You’re so beautiful,” Solis would whisper, again and again.

And Cyndras would think to himself; no, that is you that you are seeing in my eyes…

And then Solis took Cyn’s face in his hands, looked closely at him, and said with tears brimming;

“I wanted to give up so many times. I tried so many times to be apart from you, but in the end, your love changed me in ways that I could not undo. Cyndras, my Prince, my love… I want you to keep ruining me this way. Ruin me in every way, and until I die, I will only worship you.”

Solis was crying by the time Cyn opened him up and slipped inside. It was impossible to tell if they were happy tears or heartbroken ones, but Solis still whimpered and cried out for more- for everything, and Cyndras blessed his lover with a kiss, giving him it all.

Without needing to abide by rules like sleeping and eating, the two made love for days, only resurfacing once they’d begun to satisfy their desires, and even then, Solis and Cyn were more or less glued at the hip. Everywhere they went, they went together, never wanting to let the other out of their sight. At times it bordered on unhealthy; their attachment and lingering fear, but the reasons behind both were understandable, so no one spoke ill of the newly proclaimed Heavenly Couple.

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Rumors floated, some true, some wildly not, but Solis felt that every single one, if he cared to hear them, were music to his ears. Each was proof of his Prince being in his life again, of their love and commitment to each other for eternity. Solis would have to thank Euthos for being the bane of The Heavenly Realm. The racy gossip genuinely tended to make his day…

There was one person, however, who did not enjoy the rumors of sounds coming from Solis and Cyn’s bedroom, seemingly at all hours, or the wildly inaccurate idea that Solis was carrying the Prince’s child, having altered a portion of his anatomy in secret. There was one in the realm who could not sit still when he heard these words, his skin tingling and throat closing as a silent scream lay still and dying at the center of his heart.

One normal day, just like any other, Solis and Cyndras were in the back garden of Ruewreath, sitting under the shade of a beautiful willow tree. It was a lovely, warm day, and Solis was laying with his head nestled comfortably on Cyndras’ lap, the god of death stroking fingers through that sunny-blonde hair, as birds chirped and a nearby fountain gurgled and bubbled rhythmically.

Half asleep, Solis was happily daydreaming when he heard Cyndras speaking in low tones to some of Prentis’ chorus. After a few words were exchanged, Solis finally opened his eyes and lazily looked up. Three Chorus members and one of Prentis’ few and far between Seraphs, were standing near with their heads bowed low, stricken expressions immediately causing Solis to sit up in alarm.

“Darling,” Cyndras said, placing a light hand on his back. “Something has happened to Iphis.”

Solis could only blink. Iphis? He had last seen the Seraph only two days prior, clomping around in the forest outside Ruewreath. He had muttered something about traveling somewhere, but wasn’t very clear and had mostly already walked off while Solis tried to understand what he was saying.

“What? Did he get hurt?”

If Iphis was injured, Solis would definitely bring him straight to Prentis and help him receive the best care. After all, Iphis had not only been his close friend for years, but ever since Solis had returned from his banishment in Quokwin so many centuries ago, around the time he’d purposefully forgotten about Cyn, Iphis had also been Solis’ one and only Seraph; the soldiers of the gods.

Iphis really was loyal to a fault… if he’d been hurt, he’d probably apologize for not being able to be ready and present if Solis needed him-

“He’s died.”

Solis looked from Cyn, to the Chorus, then back again. He must not be understanding.

“What do you mean? He’s-”

Cyn met his eyes. Oh, right. Cyndras was the god of… he was the…

He must have felt it happen. The look in his eyes told Solis that much.

And suddenly, all of Solis’ plans; to give Iphis more time off and freedom to explore if that’s what he wanted, to take his opinions into consideration when building his and Cyndras’ home someday… all the conversations Solis still hadn’t had with the man, that he thought he had plenty of time for.

That was all… gone?

“What-” Solis’ throat was tight, and as Prentis’ Chorus bowed again and carefully shuffled off, Cyn turned to him and placed a warm hand on his shoulder.

“What happened?”

Solis was grateful that Cyn told him plainly, with no pitying looks nor missing details. Solis needed to hear it all.

According to the Chorus, Khalkeus had been notified by her Seraphs of a breach in one of her armories. Before they could stop him, Iphis had broken in undetected and rifled through all of the weapons before leaving without taking anything. Thinking it odd, Khalkeus managed to track him all the way to Akacia, but when they were almost there, they saw Iphis’ silhouette standing on the ledge. He jumped straight into the volcano from which all gods are born before anyone could even call out his name.

This happened today, just under an hour ago. Solis had been lying here in Cyndras’ arms under the shade of a willow tree as his friend and protector had killed himself. Why hadn’t Solis known?

“He was my best friend…” the god of stars wept, shaking, his face pressed into Cyndras’ chest. “Why would he do this?”

Cyn put his arms around him gently.

“It is alright to cry, my love.” He said, “And it is alright to be angry at him for leaving in this way. As for why he chose to do it, unfortunately we may never know.”

Except, Cyndras did know. He had known the why for a while. It was just a statement of fact, like; the sky was blue and the grass was green…

Iphis was in love with Solis.

Cyn also knew that Solis didn’t know. Previously, he’d seen no reason to tell him when Solis had no similar feelings for his Seraph. Now, with Iphis dead, and Solis miserable, he thought again of revealing it, but in the end decided not to. He didn’t want to make Solis’ suffering worse, nor confuse him with more questions that he would never have answered.

Cyndras couldn’t fault Iphis for loving Solis. It really was a very easy thing to do… and, knowing what Cyn did of the Seraph’s life, it made sense. To Iphis, loving the god of stars was like breathing. When he could no longer do either, death was the only alternative in his eyes.

It was heartbreaking. Cyn longed to be able to look into his lover’s tearstained eyes and know that someday he would heal from this wound, but he had no guarantee of that. Like most wounds, it would heal with time, but the deeper trauma and the pain of the scar, might stay with Solis forever. The fact that Iphis could love Solis so much and still not see that his death would hurt the god deeply, was a testament to how little Iphis really thought of himself.

Cyndras wished he could have known of the man’s plan to die. He wished he could have stopped him. But, he’d only felt Iphis’ soul passing right at the moment it had happened, and without another universe-altering miracle like the one he’d managed to pull to bring Solis back from the dead, there really was nothing to do except grieve.

It was hard for Solis, since he blamed himself, positive it was something he had or hadn’t done which tipped his Seraph over the edge. In a way it was true, yet Cyndras believed there was no point hurting him with that knowledge; the truth that, if Solis had only felt the same, Iphis would have jumped at the chance to be his.

For Solis, for a long time, there was only the past to reflect on… despite him being unable to see it all.