Light reformed before my eyes, slow and gentle like dawn breaking after the longest night.

When my vision cleared, I found myself standing in the middle of a vast meadow that stretched endlessly in every direction. The air shimmered faintly, filled with golden dust motes that drifted like lazy stars. The grass beneath my boots was soft as silk, each blade humming with quiet life.

Flowers of every shape and color carpeted the landscape crimson blossoms that breathed warmth like embers, pale violets that glittered with dew even in the sunlight, silver roses whose petals whispered like windchimes when the breeze passed. It was beauty so pure it almost hurt to look at.

Above me, the sky was impossibly wide, painted in hues of dawn and dusk at once, streaks of gold melting into lilac and deep blue. It didn't feel real. It felt like I'd stepped into the dream of a god.

Then I saw them.

Three orbs floated gently above a field of golden lilies, one black, one red, and one green. Each pulsed softly, alive, like heartbeats made of light. Their presence filled the air with emotion, warm, almost childlike joy.

I could feel it even from here. That pure, overwhelming happiness.

It washed over me like sunlight through glass, and despite myself, a small smile tugged at my lips.

"…Well," I murmured, tucking my hands into my pockets as I took a step forward, "someone's in a good mood."

The air shimmered faintly as I took a slow breath, the scent of flowers washing over me sweet, cool, and strangely alive. All around, the meadow stretched endlessly, painted in every color imaginable.

Blossoms glowed softly under an unseen sun, petals swaying to a breeze that didn't exist. It was serene, impossibly so, like the world itself was holding its breath.

But as I looked around, a thought tugged at the back of my mind, this wasn't what her realm was supposed to look like.

The last time I'd stood here, it had been nothing but ruin. A black, forsaken city.A starless, midnight sky that swallowed all light. Cracked obsidian ground beneath my boots, whispering like broken glass.

That was the domain I remembered the desolation fitting of the Goddess of Life and Death. Not this vibrant field blooming with impossible life.

I sighed quietly, my mood dipping somewhere between curiosity and disbelief.

"Quite the redecorating job," I muttered.

For a moment, I just stood there, taking it in. Then, with a soft exhale, I started walking toward the golden orb, its light pulsing softly like a heartbeat.

"…Let's see what you've got for me this time," I murmured, my reflection warping across its radiant surface as I drew closer.

Just as my fingers brushed the edge of the golden light, a voice soft, wistful, and painfully familiar drifted through the meadow.

And unbeknownst to me, a single tear slipped from my eyes.

"Ah… how I miss those days."

I froze. The air stilled. Every petal in the endless field seemed to pause mid-sway. Slowly, I turned around.

She stood there, the Goddess, and for a moment, everything else ceased to exist.

Her hair flowed down her back in a silken cascade, half obsidian black, half purest white, like night and dawn divided down the middle.

Her eyes shimmered with both sorrow and warmth, galaxies of light and darkness dancing within them. She was breathtaking, not beautiful in a mortal way, but something beyond comprehension. Too perfect. Too divine.

I opened my mouth, but before I could say anything, she lifted a hand, graceful, weightless.

"Don't speak," she said softly, a faint, melancholic smile touching her lips. "This is only a recording."

The words settled in the air like dust, and suddenly, I understood the faint translucence of her figure, the way her aura didn't quite touch the world around her.

For a long time, she said nothing else. She simply stood there, gazing at me as if memorizing every detail every flaw, every scar, every moment that had passed since the last time we'd met.

There was something achingly human in her silence. Something that almost hurt to see.

When she finally moved, it was slow, deliberate. Her bare feet glided over the meadow, not bending a single blade of grass as she approached.

"I called you here," she said, her voice quiet but certain, "just to see your face one last time."

Something in my chest twisted. I wanted to ask why, but the words refused to come.

"This will be the last time you see me, Sebastian."

Her tone was calm. The kind that only comes when the end has already been accepted.

"I know you have questions," she continued, stopping just before me. "And I wish I had time to answer them. But you must remember what I told you before… about reaching the S-Rank."

Her eyes softened, sadness flickering across them like the fading light of dusk.

"You must grow stronger," she whispered. "You must be ready for when the war with the gods begins. Ready to protect the ones you love. Don't make the same mistake as me."

Her words carried no divine command, no pressure of authority, only quiet concern. A tenderness that made it all the more unbearable.

I didn't say anything. I couldn't. I just stood there, staring at her as the silence between us stretched thin, fragile as glass.

Then, she stepped closer, close enough that I could smell her. She didn't smell of flowers or perfume, but of something raw and pure like the moment before rain, like life itself.

Her hand rose gently to my cheek, warm against my skin. With her other hand, she brushed aside my bangs, her touch impossibly light.

"You've changed," she murmured, almost to herself. "You've seen so much already."

And then, before I could react, she leaned forward and kissed my forehead.

For a heartbeat, the entire meadow glowed, black, red, and gold light swirling together around us in a slow, beautiful storm.

Her fingers slipped away. Her form began to dissolve, petal by petal, fragment by fragment—into a mist of crimson and shadow.

"You must be strong."

Her voice echoed softly through the endless garden, fading with every repetition until there was nothing left but the whisper of wind and the hum of light.

Then she was gone.

And I was alone again, standing in that impossible vast meadow, staring at where she had once stood, her warmth still lingering faintly against my skin.

I stood there for a long time after she disappeared, staring at the space where she'd been as if her outline might still linger there, shimmering faintly in the light.

The meadow was too quiet now. The soft hum of mana in the air, the lazy sway of countless flowers, it all felt like a painting that had lost its warmth. Even the wind, which moments ago had seemed to sing, now moved in silence.

I exhaled slowly, a sound that came out more like a sigh than I'd intended.

"…Well," I muttered, forcing my lips into a crooked grin, "guess she's… uh, ghosting me for real this time."

Nothing. No laugh. Not even a chuckle. The joke landed like a brick, and I huffed out something between a groan and a laugh, rubbing the back of my neck.

I didn't know why I felt this way. Sad, heavy like someone had taken a part of me and quietly walked away with it. It made no sense.

This was only the second time I'd met her.

But the way she looked at me… the way her voice trembled at the end… it felt like saying goodbye to someone who had been with me my entire life.

I closed my eyes for a second, pressing my fingers against the spot on my forehead where she'd kissed me. It was still warm. Still… there.

"Damn it," I whispered under my breath. "You really had to make it emotional, didn't you?"

When I finally opened my eyes, I noticed the meadow had changed again.

The three orbs that floated gently above the field were no longer just glowing spheres of color, they pulsed with purpose.

In front of the black orb, glowing words shimmered into existence: Judgment.

Before the green orb, the letters curved gracefully: Future.

And in front of the golden orb, the word glowed brightest of all: Existence.

Each radiated something different—

The black one felt heavy, suffocating, ancient.

The green one hummed with life, unpredictable yet soft.

But the golden one… the golden one called to me.

It wasn't loud. It didn't demand attention.

It simply was. Calm, endless, warm. Like the first light of dawn after a storm.

I took a step forward, my boots brushing against the flowers. Another step, and I could feel the pulse of energy humming in my bones.

"Alrighty then," I said softly, half to the meadow, half to myself. "Let's see what kind of madness you've got waiting this time."

The golden orb seemed to flicker in response, almost playfully. I hesitated for a moment, then smiled, a small, tired smile and reached out my hand.

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