"Isn't it a bit ironic that you're the one talking about a deeper relationship with God?" The teasing female voice spoke once more, this time in an indiscernible language.
In that instant, an expanse of darkness rushed from the mysterious lady, enveloping the young girl, the trio, and even the entire restaurant in an illusory darkness.
Points of white light and spiraling colorful lights swirled about in the darkness, painting the scene as if it was the cosmos.
At this point, only the smiling lady and Vael were present in this strange, warped space.
She was sitting on what appeared to be nothing, her legs crossed. She was twirling one of the reddish strands of her on her finger as she examined her rather casual outfit. The lights of the space illuminated her bronze skin wonderfully, making her appear quite majestic.
She then lifted her head to look at Vael, who was wearing a leather jacket and navy blue pants. His pink hair with silver streaks blew slightly as a slight shadow was cast on his face from a particularly large overhead swirling light.
"You…why did you come here?" Vael asked, expressing a demeanor of annoyance.
"If I recall, you were supposed to be in the cosmos searching for the Remnants of the Constellations?"
The lady stopped twirling her hair.
"That was thousands of years ago. I realized long ago that such a thing was a fruitless effort."
Vael narrowed his gaze.
"So, why are you on Earth? Isn't there another Saint that you should be worrying about? Don't tell me you're trying to avoid him…"
After saying this, he sized the lady up.
"I wouldn't be surprised, given how weakened you are. If not for Unveiling, I wouldn't have recognized you."
Keeping her smile, the lady replied, "Avoiding isn't the right word. I'd say a better word would be 'preparing'."
"By the way, that Saint isn't on Earth right now." Her smile became less obvious. "He's searching for another pesky being past the galaxy in the name of your 'God'."
"What?" Vael immediately raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"
"Don't play dumb," The lady mocked. "Or have you been out of the loop for too long?"
"You should know that the existence that brought those humans here didn't do so coincidentally. You should know that the reason why is because of an Accommodation in preparation of a certain event."
She put her hands on her lap as her smile completely left her face.
"And because of this, you will see the scene begin to shift greatly in all aspects. You will see that Saint begin to come to Earth and move very soon with the help of that existence. Every scene—political, economical, supernatural—will completely shatter behind the curtains as the general population continue their lives obliviously. What happens afterwards isn't good for anyone that resides in this galaxy."
"That's why I'm on Earth, preparing. The other existences are making their move, and I will also be making mine with the help of our—" She stopped herself suddenly as she covered her mouth with her hand.
"No, my Goddess. Heh, I'm still not used to it…"
Vael paused for a second, trying to digest the lady's words. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, as if he was holding the weight of his next words.
Opening his eyes again, he began to speak. He ignored the lady's last words.
"How will you prepare? There's no available allies anywhere. If what you're saying is correct, then there's no hope. Everything has been said and done, and it has been for millennia."
"You should already know that because of such a thing, you have been weakened, and I have left the scene entirely. But it seems like you're still trying to cling onto a false sense of hope."
"I know you said you'll seek the help of the Goddess, but that's just wishful thinking. I thought you had abandoned that side of you."
"After all, the Goddess has long perished, along with 'Her' Demigoddess."
The lady snickered as her lips curled up. She slowly began to chuckle softly.
"Hehe…"
Suddenly, she bursted out into a loud, demeaning laugh. However, Vael knew this was to conceal deeper emotions that she intentionally made him unable to see.
"Hahahaha! Being in retirement really made you delusional!" She moved her hair that was covering her eyes out of the way as she continued speaking.
"I already said that the existence caused that Anomaly because of an Accommodation. What other reason could there be for Them to cause the Remnants of the Constellations? They had already finished their refinement!"
"And, what do you think that They can accommodate? The Second and Third Dimensions are way too hard, in this case. The spots are already taken."
Vael widened his eyes, as if he came to an epiphany. He then narrowed them as he sighed.
"I know that those things are in preparation for that event. But how does this spell out for hope? How does this imply that the Goddess and Demigoddess are still alive?"
"After all, the humans who were transported don't know anything about Ethereon. What are you seeing?"
"Are you going to try and seek help from the higher realms once more?" Vael asked with a serious tone as his gaze softened. His voice had a strange mixture of disbelief and curiosity.
The lady kept her teasing smile.
"No. I know that the higher realms are completely unreliable. Instead, my preparations lie within a certain someone on this planet."
Vael's mouth twitched.
"Elaborate."
The lady didn't hesitate to continue.
"She lives in Morpheus, and has just become a Dreamlander. She is a very strange fellow. She has quite strange looks."
"Heh, but that's not the relevant part. The part that's most important is that the Demigoddess has been trying to speak to her."
Vael's heart sank. His body froze, if only for a moment, as he tried to process these words.
But he couldn't process them properly.
"You're lying."
The lady chuckled.
"I'm not, and you know that I'm not lying."
Vael knew that she was correct. His Unveiling confirming her words hit his soul like a truck. Immediately, he began to think of ways to rationalize this information.
"So the Demigoddess is alive? But wasn't She killed? I even felt Her presence completely fading away along with the other constellations!"
"How did she come back alive? Was it because of this woman? No…nobody below the level of a Luminary would be able to hold the Demigoddess, even Her remnants…"
"Is it an Ethereal Artifact? No…it would've been sealed long ago. Her presence would've been easily felt."
"Who is this lady, and how is she able to have the Demigoddess talk to her without getting tracked?"
"Who is this person?" Vael spoke in a hurried manner as he was searching for answers.
"She's not a strong person. In fact, she probably only just became a Celestial." The lady replied.
"In our terms, she's a nobody."
Vael took on a confused countenance as he placed his hand to his chin.
"And yet, the Demigoddess is contacting her…"
"Correct." The lady stood up as she confirmed his thoughts.
"By the way, you said that I was weakened, but you don't seem to be in the best shape either." She continued as she sized Vael up.
"You've gotten quite rusty from retirement."
"If that's what you call it, then so be it." He replied as he still looked as if he was in thought.
"Are you content with that, though?" The lady asked, her tone switching from a teasing one to that of strange curiosity.
Vael closed his eyes once more, giving a gentle smile as he did so.
"I'm not completely sure."
The lady tilted her head to the side slightly, however he elaborated.
"I don't know if I can say that I'm content with everything I did. There are regrets that I have, and there are choices that I shouldn't have made."
His mouth moved more slowly as he continued.
"But I can say that I've been more aware of myself during this period."
"Caring for others, giving to others when you have lost everything…"
"I can say that it has helped me understand myself, and helped me ground my entire being in humanity."
With a wavering voice, he sighed and said,
"After all, life gives, and life takes."
As Vael opened his eyes, the lady met his gaze. She made eye contact intently.
Noticing this, Vael asked a question as his lips curled up. His face tilted downwards slightly as the light from the stars illuminated half of his face.
"In that case, are you content with what you're doing?"
The lady nodded.
"Of course. I am the Attendant, after all."
"That's good," Vael replied, keeping his smile. "As long as you're happy with your actions."
"But you should know that if something happens to the Demigoddess again, you'll fall into the same pit of despair as you lose your sense of purpose."
"As for me, even when—or if—I go down your path again, I will always be able to return. I'll rest peacefully knowing that I found meaning in the things that I've done that are separate from the battles of cosmic beings. I feel like that's closer to the domain of humanity."
"Are you saying that I should also follow your path?" The lady narrowed her eyes as she questioned Vael.
"I wouldn't advise against it. After all, you have a candidate." Vael responded as his mind flashed back to the young girl that was beside her.
"This is only a part of my role as an Attendant. I'm not going down your path." She replied, her tone serious.
"So be it," Vael deepened his voice, reflecting her seriousness. "I hope you don't regret it." He knew there was a reason why the lady asked about his contentment regarding his life.
The lady chuckled softly, as if she knew that he had read her emotional state at that moment.
"After living for so long, regret merely becomes an obstacle in the way of proper action. Only a fool would live entangled by regret, unable to move under the mass of naturally occurring mistakes."
"At the end of the day, the universe continues to work emotionlessly and apathetically. It is not concerned about how you feel regarding your action or inaction. It is only concerned about your actions."
Vael curled his lips up slightly.
"As always, you're extremely meticulous and dedicated. And as always, we will never agree on certain things. I guess this is just the fate of belonging to these two contradictory yet interconnected dimensions…"
He focused his gaze on the lady again as his thoughts became clear.
"Who is the name of this woman? And how were you able to reach her so quickly without getting intercepted by the Dreamlanders or the Royal family?"
The lady began to twirl her hair again as she thought back on the beautiful, dark-skinned blonde woman. She had left a fine imprint on her, an impression that couldn't be forgotten.
"Don't worry about how I was able to reach her. Just know that I was able to build up some connections while also using the help of the aura from the Demigoddess."
"As for her name…"
Once again, a beautiful, teasing smile appeared on the lady's face. She had enjoyed the look of anticipation on Vael's face—as if she was taking in every moment of suspense.
"It's Miss Astra Sera."
Vael rubbed his forehead as he narrowed his eyes in thought. He felt a strange sense of familiarity with this name—like he had heard it before—but not quite. He couldn't place it anywhere.
"As expected, you feel the same way." The lady reflected his thoughts, still keeping a teasing smile on her face.
"Anyway," Satisfied, the lady's figure began to fade. "I've finished what I've needed to do here. My partner and I won't be on Earth for much longer."
"I just hope that you will take my words seriously and start what you have to do."
Vael didn't respond. Instead, he just gazed at the lady's fading figure with a gentle expression.
The curve on her lips became less exaggerated as her figure had almost completely vanished. Almost hesitating, she moved her mouth slowly to say the words:
"Let's meet again soon, the missing Saint of Life."
With that, her figure had completely disappeared, leaving Vael alone in the space that resembled the depth of outer space and its mysteries.
He sighed as he recollected his memories.
"The Saint of Space-Time…"
"A terrifying woman."
…
In the restaurant, the trio's thoughts suddenly turned to normal as they all instinctively looked at the table where the woman sat.
There, they saw a peculiar sight:
Both women were gone!
"What?" Emilia and Aria couldn't help but gasp—expressing their thoughts out loud as they examined the restaurant to see if there were any other abnormalities.
"She's gone, just like that? What happened?" Xavier too looked around as his face took on a baffled expression.
However they couldn't find anything wrong with the restaurant. The faint fog that draped the floors, the families, friends, and couples enjoying their food, the smell of the various sauces, spices and flavors that were vaguely different from what they were used to, the dreamy atmosphere coupled with the cold breeze simulated by air conditioning. Each one of these things had proceeded on like normal, like nothing ever happened!
Confused, they all looked at Vael. He was still standing in his original spot, holding a nonchalant expression.
Without even turning his head toward them, he moved his mouth to speak to them directly.
"She's an old friend of mine."
"It's just that…" He held his breath, as if he was hesitating slightly.
"She believes in a dead Goddess." Reading the trio's emotions perfectly, he said with a soft tone.