Hysilens' eyelashes fluttered. Her deep blue eyes opened, creating small bubbles into the sea.
"Tian… memories…"
She kept everything Kiana said in mind.
Shi Tian's integration of Amphoreus' memories are bound to create "mutations". His experience with Nihility is one of the worst. Hysilens was fortunate Kiana was there to settle it. She is strong enough to settle it even with a 'Memetic Entity' status. Her divine mind wasn't her strongest trump card; her authorities tied to the Cocoon are.
"What he did was bad… but I hope you can help him."
Kiana's words are unnecessary. Hysilens already resolved herself to do so.
From the moment she heard he was still alive, that flame regained its spark. She wanted to know the answers from him, but more importantly…
She wants to see him again.
"Caesar…"
*****
"My samsara cannot be challenged…"
"Muu..?"
Castorice woke up to an unfamiliar place. The lack of gravity gave her the sensation of swimming into the sea—one she hadn't done in a long time.
Her skull-like hair braid floated freely amidst the starry background. Her close-fitting white dress had its hems drooping down to the Moon's surface.
"No."
A clear voice rippled in this zero-gravity environment.
She looked around and saw the world stopped in its place. Everything around Castorice was frozen.
Only two people possess a color.
One was a gigantic female figure. In her back was the void transformed into a kaleidoscope-like glass.
"Your divinity is not omnipotent.It can be challenged. Most importantly…"
The other figure was a man with long purple hair. His starry-like golden pupils emitted a dazzling glow, though it was dwarfed by the brilliance of the "sword" he held.
"...it is destined to end in my hands."
A deafening sound spread from his position.
"Hu..!"
Before Castorice knew it, she found herself back to the vast expanse of flowers.
"Sleeping while standing is bad, big sis."
A girl similar in appearance tugged at her dress. She sat on a wheelchair, bearing Castorice's appearance. Her black half-mask set the two apart.
"Polyxia… my bad."
Castorice's soft retort left her younger sister, Polyxia, without words. She could not bring herself to scold this gentle sister of hers.
"Five years…"
Everything that happened to them still feels like a dream.
Ten years ago, Castorice arrived in Okhema. As the prophesied Demigod of Death, she was fought over by the Elder Council and Aglaea. Ultimately, Castorice detested the impurity of the Elders and chose to serve by Aglaea's side. She saw what the golden seamstress sought:
Amphoreus' new tomorrow.
Never had she seen a wish as earnest as Aglaea's. Her selflessness knows no bounds.
Castorice's career with Aglaea lasted for five years. The arrival of a midget ended it.
"Do you want to face your past?"
She went straight to the point.
"I will assist you in doing so."
At that time, Castorice was extremely vigilant. She wasn't dumb enough to fall onto a stranger's schemes.
"Who are you?"
"Okhema's former ruler, the so-called Imperator."
Cerydra's self-introduction ended it all.
From Aglaea alone, Cerydra was someone who can be trusted… at times. It was irrefutable she fought for the best of Amphoreus, kick-starting the Flame-Chase Journey with Phagousa's fall.
After a prolonged internal conflict, Castorice left with Cerydra. Her backstory was completely revealed.
Amphoreus is a massive cycle, not just in the Flame Reaver's endless regressions, but also the events prior to the zeroth-cycle Flame Reaver.
The Titans of today are the Demigods of yesterday. The Era Nova is a time where everything gets resetted back to the universe's beginning. The Demigods prior to Phainon's batch became the Titans of these fifteen million cycles.
Castorice's origin was a Demigod of that past batch. She, along with her sister, Polyxia, were chosen as Death's Demigod. However, this position came with a twist.
One of the sisters must die to inherit this Coreflame.
It was Castorice who chose to die. Polyxia lived on due to her choice—as the next cycle's Titan of Death.
However, her actions greatly deviated from the norm. Polyxia found ways to revive Castorice at the cost of herself. She separated the Death Titan's authority into two: life and death. Polyxia gave the latter authority to Castorice, hence she was revived.
This action led to the River of Souls, Amphoreus' underworld, to cease functioning later on. The souls of this world are stuck between limbo, unable to truly pass on. Such was the effect of the Death Titan's incompleteness.
Cerydra helped Castorice complete this journey, reunite with Polyxia, and become this era's Death Demigod. The River of Souls functioned once again under their supervision.
She stroked the silver circlet bracelet on her right arm. Polyxia also had one on her left arm.
"A gift… could that man be…"
Cerydra gave them these gifts from an old friend. Polyxia's consciousness, which was on the verge of giving up, stabilized the moment they wore these bracelets. That was how Polyxia maintained her current human form.
Castorice's mind went to the man with starry eyes. The scene of him cutting down the void with a single strike wasn't present in her dream, yet she still felt its magnitude.
His words clung deeply to her mind; of the supposed shattering of a god's samsara.
"Divinity eventually comes to an end…"
*****
Cyrene woke up from another dream. She wasn't as startled as the beginning. Ever since she received the [Author] card a few months ago, she occasionally dreamed of Shi Tian's memories.
One person that stood out the most was a Miss Pink Elf. She was the one who taught Shi Tian about wishes—of her wishes.
Cyrene stared at the mirror. Her child-like self was reflected. The image of the Miss Pink Fairy overlapped in her eyes.
"Hey~! Did you miss me?"
She paused right after reenacting her lines. Her head tilted to the right. Her right hand placed under her chin—in a thinking position.
"If I come across her… Well~"
Cyrene left it to fate. A faint expectation emerged in her heart. The man... Shi Tian, she knew more about him with each passing dream. His gift towards her, the [Author] tarot card, fully represented him.
"His story is surely a romantic one, writing its chapters as he wills…"
*****
A/N: Romantic in this context refers to the idealized version of reality. It is not the adjective of love this time. Cyrene refers to Tian's will to write an ending that completely belongs to him. An ending that satisfies him. That's where they differ. Cyrene writes a story nobody has seen... a tragic story, since they are powerless to change about it. For me, it's a way of 'coping' (i.e., being optimistic).
Nevertheless, this fic is written. Tragedies has to say goodbye...