The man held a rake whose tines had been worn smooth by use.
The woman carried a hoe whose blade had been sharpened so many times it had changed shape.
Both had white-blue hair that seemed to contain the color of sky just before dawn, that liminal moment when night admitted defeat but day hadn't quite claimed victory.
The moment they appeared, others materialized beside them…all wearing similar farmer's clothing, all carrying tools of cultivation rather than destruction!
Seven more figures resolved from possibility into presence, until nine stood in total above the gathering of existence's most powerful beings.
And the moment all nine had fully manifested, a calm and clear aura billowed out from each of them.
The power that radiated from these simply-dressed figures didn't assault reality or challenge other authorities!
It simply was, with the patient certainty of seasons changing, of seeds growing, of harvest inevitably following planting.
