"They are the ones—"

Cecilia’s surprised question was cut off as Arkai and Eastiel jumped back down into the basin, their arms already reaching for her and the young Saintess.

No, no, no. This was bad. Cecilia knew how busy the Saintess was, especially now, after a disaster of this magnitude.

The purification teams were waiting. Lilyca was needed, urgently, to cleanse the corruption that had seeped into the dam and the reservoir and the very earth itself. There was still a ton of contamination to purify, and it was true that she couldn’t hold Lilyca back.

The girl had a duty and a sacred obligation. The world’s governments were probably already mobilizing to secure her, to transport her, keeping her safe and controlled and perpetually in demand.

But Cecilia needed time. Answers. She had asked that question in the first place because she wanted to compare how a Saintess in this world worked compared to the Saintess in her own world—

But this was beyond what she had imagined!

"Saintess." Cecilia grasped the young girl’s hand, her fingers curling around Lilyca’s small palm. She wasn’t ready to let go. "I need to speak more with you. Is it possible for us to stay in touch?"

Lilyca tilted her head. Her silver-white eyes blinked at Cecilia in innocent confusion. "Huh? But I thought we are going to be together from now on...?"

...?

"Eh?"

Cecilia froze. Not just her, Arkai, who had been reaching for her arm, froze mid-motion. Eastiel, who had been about to scoop Lilyca up, froze with his hands still extended. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

They both turned to look at the young Saintess with bewildered expressions.

"Together... from now on...?"

***

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU MESSED UP? NOT DOING ANYTHING IS VERY HARD TO MESS UP!"

A woman’s voice carried across the empty beach, scattering a flock of seabirds that had been minding their own business on the distant rocks.

She was cosmically, devastatingly beautiful, the kind of beautiful that made the ocean itself seem plain by comparison, with golden hair that whipped in the salt wind and blue eyes that were currently blazing with incandescent fury.

The tall man crouched on the sand didn’t look up. His white, long, loose robe pooled around him in the damp sand, the hem definitely staining, and he didn’t appear to care.

He was using a stick to trace elaborate patterns of the space he saw yesterday, swirling galaxies, intricate mandalas, a portrait of the woman herself that was so detailed it might have been drawn by an artist on a canvas.

In front of her, the waves crashed against the shore with a soothing, rhythmic hush. The woman listened to them for a moment, her head tilted, her expression shifting from fury to disbelief and back again. Then she exploded once more.

"LIKE I SAID—huuuu—" She took a breath, visibly forcing herself to calm down. It didn’t work. "If you give them time, they could have rescued each other! Even then, the boy could have figured things out by himself once he let go of his clouding emotions!"

The waves crashed again. The sound was gentle. Placating. Almost apologetic.

"DON’T SAY YOU WERE JUST PASSING BY AND ACCIDENTALLY SAW HIM STRUGGLING! THIS IS WHY YOU LISTEN TO YOUR BROTH—"

"Let it go, Momo," The man behind her suddenly said. He set down his stick and surveyed his work, a sand painting of truly astonishing artistry. The result looked like it belonged in a gallery rather than on a beach about to be reclaimed by the tide. "Come here and build sand castles with me."

Momo turned to him. Her blue eyes were still blazing, but there was a flicker of something else beneath the fury.

"Come here and for once, enjoy our vacation, alright?" The man’s voice was coaxing now. "We can give them more training camps later. The girl’s task won’t get ticked into completion because it was Isaiah’s fire that destroyed the core anyway."

"But this one needs more scolding! This is not the first time he has done this. Remember Ierofey?" Momo’s voice was still sharp, but the edge was dulling.

"Calm down. I said come here and get massaged."

The woman huffed. Her red bikini swimsuit hid less than the model’s picture she had brought them online from, which the man had been appreciating at intervals throughout the afternoon.

All the curves on her were fighting for attention, and they were all winning. It had distracted him a lot, hence the painting, which had started as a simple landscape and had somehow, inevitably, become a portrait of her.

When Momo finally sat beside him, the man shifted, sitting completely on the ground and straightening his legs. He tapped his lap, signalling her to lay on him.

Momo threw her face away, still technically angry and wanted him to know it.

"How can I rub your ribs if you won’t lay down?" The man sighed, yet patient.

"Just rub."

"Want me to hold your heavy boobs for you?"

"You—"

"Heheheh—"

"Bunny..."

"It’s fine," Bunny said. "I believe even if they got some help from Isaiah this time, they have learned the intended lesson."

"I know. But I don’t want them to always expect our help." Momo was quiet now, the fury drained out of it. "We are not the Big Guy Upstairs. And we have already done too much so far."

"Were you not the one who said that the Big Guy Upstairs helped them through us?" Bunny reached out and pinched her cheek, making her groan in protest. "You can’t have it both ways, my Madam."

"What if..." Momo’s voice dropped to a whisper, so faint it was almost swallowed by the sound of the waves. "What if one day we can’t help them anymore... and..."

"Let me hold you."

Bunny didn’t wait for permission. He lifted her off the ground with arm strength alone and placed her on his lap.

The wind blew their pale hair around their faces like a veil. Their eyes met and their lips connected, briefly and softly.

"One day, we will be gone too. As you said."

Bunny said gently as he tucked a strand of her golden hair behind her ear. "But when that day comes, the soil we are going to be buried in will birth more and more heroes, kings and gods."

His thumb traced the curve of her cheekbone. He tried to remind her that he had loved her for longer than most civilizations had existed, and that they knew everything would always be alright.

"Because you, my Madam, made sure of that."

Their lips connected once more. Slower this time. Deeper. Momo savored the kiss, her eyes fluttering closed, but when she pulled back, her gaze was still downcast.

"The seed you planted will sprout into large trees. More and more Yggdrasil will grow as strong as you are," Bunny murmured against her lips. "As long as you remember them... we will never lose."

The waves crashed against the shore. The sand painting, the galaxies and mandalas and the portrait of a golden-haired woman, was slowly being reclaimed by the tide.

"As you believe..." Bunny pressed his forehead to hers, his eyes closing. "The Big Guy Upstairs will never let it happen."