When a goddess comes back to life, you'd expect the whole world to celebrate.
Fireworks in the sky, angels descending with trumpets, a celestial choir singing some epic song.
But no.
In our case, what happened was… the tavern roof catching fire. Again.
"LIRIEL, WHAT DID YOU DO!?" shouted Torin, running with a bucket of water.
"I just tried to rekindle the fireplace with a divine touch."
"You threw a mini-sun into the middle of the room!"
"It's the same principle, just more efficient."
Elara sighed, burying her face in her hands. "Not even five minutes with a new body and you've already almost burned down the city."
"It's divine instinct," Liriel said proudly.
"It's stupidity," I muttered, trying to help Torin with the buckets.
After a few minutes, we managed to put out the fire.
Torin, soaked and furious, pointed a finger at her. "If another wall starts glowing, I'm kicking you all out."
"I promise nothing," Liriel replied with a grin.
The most surprising thing was seeing her there — solid, alive, laughing.
After so long as a spirit, it seemed like she breathed differently.
Her eyes still held that mischievous sparkle, but now there was something more — a silent weight of someone who had seen too much and came back anyway.
Celine was there too, still weak, watching everything from a distance.
The former goddess of order looked uncomfortable amid mortal chaos.
Elara, trying to lighten the mood, handed her a cup.
"Drink up, it's Torin's wine. They say it cures even divine trauma."
Celine looked at the cup, hesitated. "It smells like solvent."
"That's the mortal essence," replied Vespera, drinking straight from the bottle.
It was a confusing, noisy, almost joyful night.
For a brief moment, it felt like the world was truly at peace.
But of course, that wouldn't last.
I woke up to the sound of thunder.
The sky outside was unnaturally golden, as if the sun had lost control.
I ran outside and saw — the Celestial Palace, high above, beginning to crumble.
Columns were shattering, and whole pieces of solid cloud were falling like meteors.
Elara ran out right behind me. "What's happening?!"
"I don't know, but it doesn't look like a holiday."
Liriel appeared at the door, already in armor, hair blowing in the wind.
"The throne hasn't completely dissolved. The residual energy is collapsing the entire plane."
"In summary?" I asked.
"Heaven's falling."
Vespera looked up, whistling. "That explains the noise."
Celine appeared at the window, pale. "The palace is connected to my essence. If it collapses, the link breaks and the balance goes out the window."
"So we go up there and fix it?" I asked, already knowing the answer.
"Exactly."
I sighed. "Of course. Nothing simpler than climbing a collapsing paradise."
We ascended through the old celestial portal, which still glowed faintly.
This time, the path wasn't as beautiful as before. The sky was torn, the clouds scorched, and the air trembled with unstable energy.
"It looks like a melting painting," murmured Elara, sweating.
"Don't stare at the rifts too long. They show you what you fear," warned Liriel.
"And what do you see?" I asked.
She gave a faint smile. "You, being stubborn."
"Is that fear or observation?"
"Both."
At the top, the palace was disintegrating. Entire sections floated and collided, creating whirlwinds of light.
It was beautiful and terrifying at the same time.
Celine stopped for a moment, looking around. "I recognize every stone here. Every hallway. Every prayer heard."
"Then it's time to say goodbye," said Liriel.
"I don't want to lose this."
"And I don't want to lose the world below."
The two looked at each other — reflections of one another.
Then Liriel smiled. "Let's do this together."
In the center of the main hall, the heart of the throne still pulsed.
It was a massive golden core, surrounded by living chains.
With every beat, a wave of energy swept across everything.
"If that thing explodes, it'll take half the mortal plane with it," said Elara, reading the runes.
"If it doesn't explode, heaven falls completely," replied Liriel.
"So… it's us against the divine heart?" asked Vespera, already pulling her bow.
"Basically," I confirmed. "Just another normal day."
Celine approached, placing her hand on the core. "It's trying to call me back."
Liriel did the same. "And it's trying to repel me. It knows I'm no longer a complete goddess."
Elara opened the grimoire. "I can stabilize it for a while, but you two need to channel opposite energies. Order and chaos, together."
Liriel looked at Celine. "Can you keep up with me?"
"You've always been hard to keep up with."
"I'll bring flowers to your grave if you can't."
"Charming as ever."
The two raised their hands.
The entire hall lit up, and the core began to scream — yes, scream — as if it were alive.
Vespera and I stepped back, shielding Elara, who was struggling to keep the spell active.
"Is this going to work?" I asked.
"Technically? 37% chance."
"And the other 63?"
"We fall from the sky and die."
"Excellent."
The ground trembled. The columns began to fall.
Celine shouted, "I can't hold it!"
"Then let go!"
"If I let go, it'll destroy everything!"
"Then hold on!"
Liriel moved quickly, placing her hand on Celine's chest.
"Share it with me."
"You can't handle—"
"I've handled worse. Like you giving me orders."
The energy of the two merged, forming an explosion of blue and golden light.
The core glowed intensely — and began to disintegrate.
"It's working!" shouted Elara.
"Or killing us slowly!" Vespera shot back.
The entire palace started to collapse.
Chunks of solid cloud and golden marble fell around us. The floor cracked.
Liriel looked at me — and smiled. "I think it's time for the fun part."
"What fun part!?"
She grabbed my hand. "The falling part!"
The final explosion hurled us all out of the palace.
Suddenly, we were in free fall, plunging through clouds and lightning, no ground in sight.
Vespera screamed, "I TOLD YOU THIS WOULD HAPPEN!"
Elara held the grimoire, trying to cast something. "MAYBE I CAN CREATE A BUBBLE OF—"
"NO MAYBE, WOMAN!"
Liriel, falling beside me, looked at me with her hair floating like fire.
"Ready to land?"
"Define 'ready'!"
She laughed. "Trust me."
"Last time you said that, I almost turned into mush!"
"And you survived!"
Suddenly, the sky opened up — and below us was Vaelor.
More precisely… the roof of Torin's tavern.
"No, no, NO!" I shouted.
But it was too late.
BOOOOOM.
Through the smoke and chaos, I heard the unmistakable voice of the owner:
"I GIVE UP! YOU'RE A DIVINE PLAGUE!"
When the dust settled, we were all alive.
Elara coughed, covered in soot.
Vespera, with her bow broken, laughed uncontrollably.
"Of all the places to fall, we had to fall HERE."
Liriel stood up, fixing her hair as if nothing had happened.
"At least the roof broke our fall."
"You call that breaking? I call it destruction," said Torin, furious.
"Dramatic as always."
Celine, lying on a broken table, slowly opened her eyes.
"The core… is it gone?"
Liriel nodded. "Yes. The throne is destroyed. The balance now depends only on us."
"So the heavens…?"
"Are going to need some renovation."
Elara looked toward the horizon, where the clouds glowed in soft golden tones.
"The sky looks like… it's breathing."
"Maybe it is," I replied. "Finally free."
Liriel turned to me. "See? We survived."
"By a miracle."
"Or sheer stubbornness."
She smiled. "Those two are synonyms for us."
Torin came in again, holding a broom.
"Next time you decide to save the world, let me know so I can reinforce the roof!"
"Promise next time we'll fall into the barn," said Vespera.
"Don't help," I muttered.
Liriel laughed, leaning against the counter.
Celine approached her, still dizzy. "You could have left me. The balance would've held."
"And the world would've lost someone who understands what it means to change."
"I still don't understand."
"Then you'll have time to learn. It's the price of being alive."
The two looked at each other for a moment — and for the first time, it seemed there was peace between them.
That night, the whole group stayed outside, under the rebuilt sky.
The air smelled of rain and the smoke of a fire long extinguished.
Liriel looked at me and spoke softly:
"You know, sometimes I think life is just a series of falls… until we learn to laugh in the middle of the descent."
"And have you learned?"
"With you, yes."
For a moment, the world seemed suspended. No sound, no urgency. Just us — the chaos, the calm, and the strange certainty that even falling from heaven, we still had somewhere to land.
And high above, among the lingering clouds of the palace, a final golden spark shone and faded.
The throne, now empty, finally rested.
But the echo of its voice — and of the two goddesses' choice — would still resonate for a long time.