Tap, tap tap, tap...

She moved through the crowd, her white garments blending seamlessly with the thousands of others who had gathered here. The sun beat down on the sprawling encampment, on the sea of people of all races, humans or beasts, who had come from every corner of the world.

She was just one among many, a figure in white, her face veiled, her head covered, her hands clutching a small pouch of pebbles she had collected from the plain the night before.

When she reached the wall, she stopped. Around her, others were already throwing. Some with force and some quietly, most had waited their entire lives for this moment.

She reached into her pouch and began. One pebble. Then another. Then another. Seven in total, each one aimed at the wall surface, each one carrying a weight that had nothing to do with its size.

The pebbles struck the wall with small, sharp sounds, tik, tik, tik, and fell to the ground below, joining the countless others that had been thrown before hers.

She didn’t linger. When the last pebble left her hand, she turned and walked away, merging back into the river of pilgrims that flowed through the narrow pass.

Her steps were unhurried. She had done what she came to do and was now simply waiting for the next thing.

A man fell into step beside her. He was tall, taller than most of the people around them, his head rising above the crowd. His hair was white, neatly combed, and his garments were the same simple white as hers, the same simple white as everyone else’s.

"Finally we found each other, hmm?" The woman didn’t look at him as she spoke, her eyes still fixed on the path ahead. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

The man scoffed with a low, amused sound. "You are pretty. You could simply ask people, and they would drive you half the distance of the world."

"And you are strong." The woman finally turned her head, fixing him with a sharp glare. "You could simply walk half the distance of the world."

The man didn’t answer. He simply smiled at her fondly and the woman looked away, a faint blush creeping up the parts of her cheeks that were visible beneath her veil.

"Do you feel bad about the children?" The man asked gently now.

"They can handle it." The woman shrugged.

"What a great improvement, my dear Madam."

"Shut up."

"I love you."

"..."

"..."

"I love you too. Drink water."

***

Lazuardi descended from the grey sky like a bolt of silver lightning, his humanoid form already dissolving mid-air, his body expanding and reshaping itself into the massive, serpentine form of a dragon.

His scales were the color of iridescent lapis lazuli and his eyes were blazing urgently. He had been delayed by something he couldn’t control but clearly was determined to make up for it now.

He landed on the dry basin, his claws gouging furrows into the stone. Without pausing, he turned toward the black water tornado that was still spinning, still roaring, still held in check by Serayu’s wind magic, and roared.

The sound brought out winter and ice, slamming into the tornado with the force of a polar gale. The black water froze solid in mid-spin, a twisted sculpture of corrupted ice that glittered darkly under the grey sky.

The two rift openings froze over as well, their edges rimed with frost, their dark depths temporarily plugged by a wall of frozen magic.

Lazuardi lifted his hand. It was trembling from holding everything solid.

"I’m sorry. My young patient was in emergency surgery. I couldn’t leave her." He said, voice rough. "Where is Oathran?"

The reservoir had been moved upstream. The situation, impossibly and miraculously, was controlled. Baswara was done managing the water, Lazuardi could feel his presence somewhere upstreams. Jenggala was done reinforcing the temporary dam even more.

The evacuation was still underway and the helicopters were still circling. But the immediate crisis had been halted.

"He burst into the rift, trying to close it from the other side." Serayu had transformed back into her human form, her sleek scales replaced by a woman’s weary face, her voice tight. She paused, her eyes meeting Lazuardi’s. "There is someone you need to see, the goddess who bore his child."

"I know her, he brought her to me when they found out she’s pregnant. I have seen the news too." Lazuardi said steadily. "Bring her to me, I will mend her arm."

"No." Serayu said flatly. "Her arm is already mended when we checked. Just make sure the child is alright."

She paused, her expression shifting into something more complicated. "Also... help us convince her not to follow Oathran into the rift."

Lazuardi blinked. His eyes, still blazing with the residual ice of his magic, went wide with disbelief.

"Huh?"

Meanwhile, not far from them, in the cramped, makeshift control area where Damon had established the temporary base of operations, Lilyca looked up at Cecilia with those unsettling silver-white eyes.

The young Saintess had been quietly observing everything. Now, with the immediate crisis stabilizing and the adults buzzing around like worried bees, she asked the obvious question.

"Lesser Goddess, are you going to enter the rift?"

Cecilia turned to her. Her young voice was truly without guile that it cut through the noise of Arkai and Eastiel’s frantic protests, both of them hovering nearby, trying very hard to talk sense into a woman who had clearly left sense behind somewhere around the fifteenth mana potion.

"Yes, Saintess," Cecilia answered gently. "I am going to drag my husband out of there myself."

She paused, her eyes flickering with surprise. Lilyca had called her that before, in the real world. But to hear it again, here, in this alternate universe, was strangely grounding. She chuckled, "But these people will not let me."

"Goddess, just let this old man and his youngins go to fetch him back. You stay here..." Baswara said in a low rumble of concern, his eyes soft and worried. He had seen too many reckless young people throw themselves into danger.

"Goddess, Lazuardi is in the basin. He’s here to check on the baby," Serayu suddenly landed beside them.

Cecilia straightened. "Yes. Bring me to him."

Before she could move, a small hand grasped hers. She turned to see Lilyca smiling up at her. "Lesser Goddess, I won’t stop you. The other side is scary. You need to bring your husband back soon..."

Cecilia’s eyes faltered. The other side was scary, and Oathran was alone. She smiled warmly, her eyes glittering from unshed tears. "Thank you, Saintess Lilyca Celeste."

Serayu stepped forward and lifted Cecilia into her arms. She jumped into the sky and carried her back down to the dry basin where Lazuardi was still standing guard over the frozen rifts.

Arkai and Eastiel followed immediately, their feet pounding against the broken concrete. Baswara and Jenggala followed as well.

Lazuardi turned as they approached. His eyes swept over Cecilia and his expression shifted from professional calm to something that looked like relief and exasperation.

"You reckless woman!" He spat the words, his eyes faltered when he saw Cecilia bundled in warmer clothes. "Come closer. Let me check on you."

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Bonus Chapter for a review! Enjoy ♥️♥️♥️