Name: [Vastarael Richinaria.]
Alias: [Veneri]
Age: [???]
Title: [Monarch of Richinaria], [Monarch of Beauty], [Leader of Sentina Erideae]
Species: [Aeterium (Nexus Bloodline)]
Affiliation: [Dynasty Richinaria]
Status: [Divine Rank, Second Enlightenment. 19%]
Pinnacle Tethers: [Sapphire Materialization (Protection Touched)], [Omniphage (Water Touched)]
Base Tethers: [Circlecraft (Protection Touched)], [Rune Drawing (Protection Touched)], [Sapphire Bond (Love Touched)], [Peony Creation (Love Touched)], [Mystic Eyes (Water Touched)],[Soul and Body Reconstruction (Water Touched)], [Limitless (Water Touched)], [Soul Vision (Water Touched)], [Memory Implantation and Extraction (Justice Touched)], [Inventory]
Major Divinities: [Time]
Minor Divinities: [Protection, Love, Justice, Water]
Codex: [Prince of Anqerise]
Artifacts: [Calimostria], [Divine Mystic Book of Altherion], [Fool's Copy], [Bowl of Wisdom]
Overwrite: [None.]
Divine Transformation: [???]
Boon: [Ethereal Beauty]
Bane: [Trouble in Paradise]
Destiny: [Suffering Before Reward]
Fate: [Favored By Fate's Touch.]
------
Vastarael could barely lift a finger but even in this weakened state, his fingers moved with a delicate touch as he summoned the floating projection of his new profile. Narisva leaned in. Her usually cocky expression faded, replaced by pure, unfiltered disbelief.
"Wait. Darling, you rewrote your entire framework?"
He had Pinnacle Tethers that rivaled the strength of Divinities. His Base Tethers operated with terrifying efficiency, now requiring only half the required energy. Every aspect of his body, mind and soul had been honed into a latticework of ruthless precision. And it hadn't even been public knowledge.
"No wonder it nearly killed you. You fused your Tethers with your Divinities. That's... insane. That's like taking the laws of existence and handwriting your own versions."
Vastarael gave a faint smile, though he was still visibly exhausted.
"It felt like burning the core of my soul and sculpting it again from ash. Time is a Causality Divinity after all. I used it to do al of this."
Her hand hovered over the projection, stopping at the line that read:
[Fate: Favored By Fate's Touch.]
She pointed at it. "What does this even mean?"
Vastarael shrugged weakly, resting his head back on the pillow. "I don't know yet. Only that it was marked on me after the Primordials let me go. I didn't choose it… it just appeared."
Narisva studied him for a long moment.
"This is different. This isn't just Enlightenment. This is someone who was supposed to die but was rewritten into someone impossible."
Her eyes trailed down until they locked onto another line that made her pause entirely.
[Status: Second Enlightenment. 19%.]
"You advanced already?"
Vastarael nodded slowly. "Right before I collapsed. I think… the pressure of my Tethers syncing with my Divinities forced the shift."
Narisva leaned back slightly, crossing her arms, but her expression betrayed her pride. A a pause, a small smirk played at the corners of her mouth.
"Me too," she muttered like it was a guilty confession.
"Wait what?"
She turned away slightly, clearly refusing to give him the satisfaction of seeing her smile.
"Second Enlightenment. I broke through a few hours after you blacked out. Phaenora called me... ridiculous."
"How?! You were barely brushing the limits last time I checked."
She didn't answer. Instead, she gave a little toss of her head. "Doesn't matter. All that does matter is, when you get better, we're fighting."
"Seriously?"
"I want to see what this codex 'Prince of Anqerise' can do."
She had seen him at his weakest, held him while his body was stitched back together by the last threads of his Reconstruction Tether. Now, she wanted to see the other side. He laughed softly, wincing a little from the soreness still lingering in his chest but there was warmth there.
"Alright, Nari. When I can walk without trembling, I'll give you the fight of your life."
"Good, and no holding back. I want you to give it your all. And so will I."
The door creaked open and the light from the corridor spilled into the quiet room. Elyonari stepped in first, her glowing eyes scanning the dimly lit space with a flicker of urgency, only for that tension to melt into pure relief the moment her gaze fell on Vastarael sitting weakly against the headboard.
But just as Elyonari's foot lifted to sprint to him, a slender hand brushed past her shoulder.
Adelasta.
She walked forward with a slow, controlled pace, but there was nothing calm about her presence. Her movements were precise yet trembling. Vastarael opened his mouth about to call her name but before a single syllable could form, her hand came down on his cheek with a ferocity that shattered the entire room's silence.
A thunderous shockwave exploded from the point of impact, rattling the window panes and distorting the air and flaring out like a miniature storm. Objects shook violently and for a brief second, the room felt as though it tilted from the force. Even Narisva winced where she stood near the side of the bed, her fingers tightening around the now-empty porridge bowl. Elyonari's hands darted to her sides, instinctively reaching for her Divinity to stabilize the distortion but it passed, leaving behind nothing but silence and a sharp, burning red print on Vastarael's cheek.
Adelasta didn't move.
Her arm dropped to her side slowly. Her lips parted. Her eyes were swimming with tears that refused to fall. Instead, they shimmered at the edges, contained by the same unbearable will that had kept her standing alone for a month straight without collapsing. But her voice was a different story. It cracked on the first word.
"You bastard..."
"You didn't breathe. For ten minutes, Vastarael. Ten minutes... You stopped breathing and we couldn't bring you back."
She clutched her cloak tightly with both fists, her knuckles whitening.
"You think I care about strength right now? You think I care about some stupid Enlightenment test when I thought I was going to lose you?! I waited and waited and kept waiting, hoping maybe you'd wake up. And then I had to watch you while Narisva kept lying that it was just recovery."
Vastarael didn't respond. He had never seen her like this. She was always composed but now, it was like all that steel had turned to glass beneath the weight of every suppressed emotion she had refused to let show.
"I held your body when it went cold. You didn't even know that, did you? I held you because I thought... I thought that was the last time."
Her voice collapsed completely by the end, and her breath hitched. Still, no tears fell. She wouldn't let them. But everyone in the room felt them. Elyonari could barely take another second.
With a growl, she stepped forward and shoved Adelasta with no hesitation. She snapped, grabbing the stunned woman by the shoulders and literally throwing her into Vastarael's arms.
"You fucking idiot! You can't keep doing this!"
Adelasta stumbled, braced to hit him but instead froze, her face only inches from his chest. Vastarael instinctively reached out to steady her, and the contact alone made her tense like she'd touched a hot blade.
"You always act like it's his fault you feel things. You bottle it all up like you're the only one who bleeds! Then you snap and blame him when you can't deal with i?! I've had enough of that, Adelasta!"
Her voice kept rising and her usually tranquil aura flared into a dangerous crescendo. Even Vastarael's weakened body tensed at the pressure, his instincts screaming that the atmosphere had become too volatile.
"Elyonari," Narisva warned with a quiet breath but even she was struggling. "You'll erase the…"
"I don't care!" Elyonari barked back, pointing at Adelasta. "She acts like she's immune to heartbreak and pain and then lashes out the second someone reaches her! I am not happy with Darling either for that he did but you should've seen her when he passed out. She broke, Narisva. She screamed but only when no one was watching!"
Adelasta, still in his arms, was shaking now. Elyonari's voice pierced the room like arrows.
"You slap him, insult him, blame him for making you feel something and it's valid, but you've been dying inside this whole time! And I'm so tired of pretending like that's okay! You always make it seem like you're holding everyone else up but guess what? We carried you this time!"
Vastarael's hand instinctively reached for Adelasta's head but she just clung tighter to him, burying her face into his chest, finally letting the smallest, tiniest sob escape. Even Elyonari stopped. She exhaled sharply, her eyes glistening as she stepped forward and leaned down, wrapping both of them into a trembling hug.
"I was scared too. You were the first person who ever made me feel grounded. As an elf, I can't keep pretending I'm the voice of calm when the people I love are falling apart in front of me."
Narisva blinked slowly, watching the three of them fold into each other's warmth.