Asterius does not sleep the night before the ceremony, so he is the only one awake when it happens.
Dawn is still an hour away, and the house is only lit by a single candle flickering weakly in Asterius’s hands. Even though he’s felt it once before it’s still jarring, a sudden sense of falling and a missed breath accompanied by a deep sense of wrong.
Another god has died.
[It is done.] The System announces, even though he can feel the sudden hole in the power of Celestia. [Flos, the Goddess of Spring is dead.]
She is only mentioned twice in the novel, the first is a single line about her death, and the second is to praise Maria for being a better goddess than her. Flos's death is sudden and unexpected, and it's her untimely demise that allows Maria to Ascend not as the Royal Sun but as another divine instead. He had thought it was overly convenient in the novel, but now he’s certain there’s foul play afoot.
[System does not how she died.]
‘And no one ever will’, he bets, closing his eyes for a second to mourn for the poor goddess who was sacrificed for this twisted plot.
“Master?”
Asterius lets the curtain fall back over the window, turning to face the dark room. He can’t see Cadeyrn, but his red silted eyes glow faintly in the dark, locked onto his form. He gives the demon a small smile. The day had barely begun and he already wanted it to be over. But this was the important opening chapter, he can’t afford a single mistake.
“We need to get ready,” he says shifting his gaze to watch the dying candle in his hands, “at dawn the mortal-born god will Ascend.”
----------------------------------------
[So all Host needs to do it-]
‘System please,’ he begs in his thoughts, sending it a pleading look, ‘We have been over this hundreds of times already.’
[This is the last time!] The System promises like it hadn’t said that the last two dozen times already, [And System is just looking out for Host!] it defends, message darkening and starting to bold, [System is only trying to be a good System for Host-!]
‘Okay!’ he relents, shifting his gaze away from the text box and towards the other guests, ‘Okay. One more time.’
The System immediately brightens up and starts launching into the overly familiar explanation, [This is Host’s second official mission! Host needs to perform three tasks to complete the mission:]
[First- Host must complete his duties as the one summoning Maria to the heavens.]
[Second- Have at least two important characters complain and/or warn Maria about you.]
[Thirdly - Get acquainted with the Female Lead.]
‘Thank you System,’ he thinks, and even though the floating pile of code knows he’s being sarcastic it still gives him a [😊].
“Starling?”
Asterius snaps to attention, turning quickly to warily watch Sanctus approach. The High Seraphim smiles at him brightly, and casually wraps his arm around Asterius, settling his palm against his waist and pushing into his back. It takes every ounce of his control to not shiver at the touch.
“What do you want?” he means for it to come out determined but it's more of a breathless whisper.
Sanctus chuckles, leaning down so close that Asterius can feel his breath fanning over his pointed ear, “Just making sure my little Starling was ready for his big day.” And the hand on his waist tightens slightly, a wave of uncomfortable heat washing over him, “Remember you are the one who did this, so it’s only right you are the one who will help fix it.”
“I’ll do my job,” he agrees, shifting his gaze from the stonework under his feet towards the looming gazebo hanging over them.
The ancient stonework was covered in twisting vines and was currently being used as a roast for hundreds of small angels, eagerly crowding around to watch the proceedings.
For the first time in 20 years, they weren’t meeting in the Palace of the Sun, but rather in the Temple of Ascension. It was a sacred space located in the middle of the 1st ring of Celestia and was the location every Ascension took place in, (or well the place every Ascension was meant to take place in, but Ascensions were not always so neat).
It is still dark out, but a lingering gray-yellow haze is beginning to tint the surroundings, dawn is quickly approaching. Probably best he got in position before the ceremony started.
The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
He carefully moves out of Sanctus’s hold, breathing a sigh of relief when the seraphim lets him go. Walking calmly forward he stops right before the complex runic circle carved on the ground, letting his eyes trace the seemingly nonsense patterns. Maybe it’s his godly form, but what should appear as random squiggles actually make some sense.
The System is quick to warn him about starting too long, so he shifts his gaze up instead. He briefly locks eyes with Cadeyrn, who’s lingering on the edge of the temple, eyes carefully watching him with a heavy gaze. He glances away quickly before he can linger too long on what that look means. It’s embarrassing, but even after 20 years he had never managed to fully get rid of his crush.
[Host it's time!] and the runic circle under his feet starts to glow a faint gold. [The Female Lead is coming!]
Asterius takes a deep breath, quieting all the worries in his head, letting his control slip, the Weave of Fate shimmering into view around him. The strings are more solid, no longer a faint transparent suggestion of threads, but solid, physical lines of silver fate.
He focuses on the familiar thread, its so easy to summon it, he had regularly been attending to this string after all. It's almost a completely different string than the one that was loosely formed with his prophecy. No longer was it a simple thin thread, now it was heavily corded, thick like a rope, twisting and looping in the air all around him. Over the years it has been tied in clumsy and beautiful knots, shaped like flowers and stars. It is the second most beautiful fate thread he had ever seen. And just gazing at it causes a smile to creep up his face. He had spent so long watching over Maria, it felt unreal to think she would finally be here.
“Maria Flowers,” he calls, voice ringing with the metallic chime of his true voice as he reaches through the heavens and down towards the mortal plane, “It is time for you to return home.”
The runic circle glows brighter, a sourceless wind picking up around him, which causes the Weave to ripple and shift like a rolling sea. “As foretold by the stars,” and the stars in his hair let out an echoing chime, “your fate has been realized.”
The wind goes eerily still, as the air buzzes visibly with the charge of magic. Asterius reaches into the space in-between, the fate thread that connects them twining around his hands.
"Ascend!" And he pulls.
With a sharp chime, there’s a blast of force, a sparking static of Primordial Creation, and the sharp feeling of a puzzle piece finally finding its place.
Something brushes past him and Asterius reaches up on instinct to check the object. A pastel pink rose petal rests softly in his hands. The next breath he takes is full of the coiling sweet smell of blooming flowers, and as he looks up he finds the scenery completely changed. The stonework is covered in flower petals and the once well-trimmed and perfectly neat garden is now teeming with bursting flowers of every size and shape. The vines crawling up the temple's walls now adorned with chittering excited angels and thick purple wisteria blooms. And in the center of the flower explosion is a familiar face.
Tan freckled cheeks and a mane of chocolate curls decorated with dandelions and rose petals. Dressed in a simple yellow sundress, stained apron, and well-worn farmer's boots. Obviously startled but keeping a large warm smile on her face – Maria, the one and only Female Lead.
----------------------------------------
Asterius steps back, even though he wants to talk to the female lead, to see if she really is doing well [Host you know she’s well!], he still forces himself to step away. He was Asterius, the main villain, not Maria's over-protective brother (and that thought only conjures images of his real sister, oh how he wants to go home-). This was the main plot now, and he wouldn’t be able to get away with just warnings for his misbehavior anymore.
Sanctus steps into his place, warmly greeting the baffled Maria, and calmly explaining to her why she's here and her true origins. The overly sweet false scene sends shivers up his back and makes his skin crawl in disgust. Asterius doubts a single thing that he's telling her is true, and he's personally seen how far Sanctus will go for his goals. He knows from the novel that Sanctus would never hurt the female lead (at least physically), but it doesn’t stop the worry.
[Host needs to let the plot play out!] The System scolds, blocking his view of Maria, [Host has already completed one task! Just two more!]
‘On it,’ he agrees, turning on his heel and walking away, putting extra effort into looking aloof and full of himself.
Within 30 minutes of him settling against one of the pillars holding up the gazebo, the System happily announces that he completed the second task.
He should be happy. He's one step closer to finishing this book and going home, but it twists something in him to know that he can no longer watch over her like he once did. After today Asterius will just be the villain to her.
[Host-]
'Yes, I know,' he thinks before the System can finish, he's already heard this lecture before, 'I'm the villain and I shouldn't get attached to the Female Lead, I know System.'
It's quiet for a beat and Asterius just lets himself breathe, shoving down all the twisting dark feelings growing in his chest. Gently he runs his fingers along one of the wisteria flowers next to him, the petals almost seem to sparkle in the morning sunlight.
‘Well now we just need to wait,’ he laments in his thoughts, letting a tiny piece of the weave leak out of him, ‘maybe I can just view a few fates until-,’
[That is odd.]
‘System please do not say things like that,’ he thinks desperately, trying to calm his suddenly racing heart, trying to not make it obvious that he’s glancing around nervously, ‘What’s wrong now?’
[Well….] and the System pauses for a good few seconds like it is thinking, [Host’s mission is already cleared.]
‘Cleared?’ He questions, glancing over at the Female Lead, who is happily chatting with Ilona and Solfried. ‘How? She hasn’t even looked at me all evening?’
[This is why System said it was “odd”. But System has double and triple checked, Host has already completed the assigned mission.]
‘So, you’re saying I don’t need to stick around until the early hours of the morning to give the poor tired female lead both a jump scare and a near heart attack? That I don’t have to bullshit my way through a vague and ominous speech about electing the right king? That I don’t need to stay here?’
[No.] The System confirms, shifting its screen like it is shaking its head no, [Host’s next mission has already been assigned so-]
‘So, I’m free!’ he thinks happily, unable to stop the smile blooming on his face. Finally, a good piece of news! Now all he needed to do was find Cadeyrn and-
“Watch where you’re going Gehennan trash!”
-and teach some immature gods their place.