​The holy knights could not believe their ears. They had been taught that the world was created and administered by their god of light alone. Was that all a lie?

​"Norx and I created this world, and we nearly tore it apart when we had our differences where the demons came about a thousand years ago, and now too... But do not resent him, for he has carried the resentment of this world alone for a thousand years and I... have merely watched from the sidelines."

​Alaric turned to Julian and asked, "What does this mean?" He looked into Julian’s eyes. "Is the war of our fate finally over?"

​Julian nodded, but he hadn’t come up with a way to explain that from now on, Norx might be living with them.

​But before that, Norx did something.

​"I’ll also honor my other promise and put her soul back," he said. He stretched out his hand to show forth Maya’s soul, no longer in crystalline state but a soft radiance of her tanned self with her black hair flowing down her shoulders.

She materialized in front of Alaric, and though he did not know who she was, the way she smiled at him pulled something in his very soul.

​"I’ll be waiting to become your sister again in the next life," she whispered, a tear tracing down her cheek as her smile widened to display her full set of teeth. "Big brother."

​And then, she turned into an orb and was cast down the reincarnation circle with a flick of Norx fingers.

Alias closed his eyes. He was glad that her soul was restored and now she could finally be reincarnated.

Alaric, on the other hand, felt strange. His chest was tight, his heart was screaming but... who was that? Was that the Maya Julian had talked about when he recounted their first life? Her description fit so well, and she called him Big brother.

Big brother...

He knew Julian had said her soul was shattered but something went down in the void that he didn’t witness and here she was.

His heart was racing. Warmth, guilt... pain... he felt them all at once as he thought of her. She was a sister he knew but a great sense of relief washed over him and a single tear slid down his cheek.

​"Sure," he whispered. "I hope you have a happily life,"

Alias witnessed the reunion and then turned his head away. His descent was over. It was time to return to the white space where he oversaw the rest of the world... Alone.

"Don’t worry," Julian whispered and he cast his gaze down on Julian. "It’s not fair to be alone for all of eternity. Once a day, do visit."

Alias’s silver eyes had a flash of light like a coin tossed and the light catching one end to the other. His eyes were teary, but he did not show it.

Instead, he let out a soft laugh and then nodded.

"We truly are one," he said, reminding himself that when he loved everyone else, he came to forget how to love himself. Now his other half was giving subtle hints to equally love himself and not get caught up in the journey of forever alone.

"Ah, by the way, how are you here?" Julian asked. "Didn’t you say you couldn’t come down because you are now the sole administrator of the world and your divinity could cause an imbalance or something?"

"I have Norx to thank." Alias said, smiling softly. "He is the god of creation, after all. So he created a clone to oversee the world for me while I am down here but it will not take long." he added.

Julian looked at Norx. Then have these two talked, or did they just conclude the situation with his own conversation?

And then Alias floated closer, saying, "And so, I will honor your invitation and come visit once a day but I may not show my presence. This is your life," he glanced at Alaric. "Just watching from afar is enough." There was a lingering sadness in his eyes but he blinked it away and began to float back into the light that poured in from the skies.

At this moment, the Pope and a few of the church councils, having seen the light and the news that the clear had suddenly cleared up, got on their horses and rushed over.

They could only catch a glimpse from the distance they were coming from, but that glimpse caught their throat and they stopped in place.

It was as if they could not go near, knowing their sins and knowing they were blemished.

From where they were, they got off their horses and got on their knees, bowing their heads to the dirt and praying for forgiveness with tears in their eyes.

"Aren’t you taking this one with you?" Alaric asked as he saw the god of light ascending but Norx wasn’t going with him.

Alias looked at Norx, looked at Alaric and then looked at Julian whose words were jumbled in his throat and then he laughed.

"Nope,"

"What?"

With that, he disappeared and took the bright ray of light with him, but the sky did not turn any darker than it should. The excessive glow of divinity was gone but the sky brightened up, exposing its rays to a new day and a new dawn.

Alaric was perplexed.

What did the god of light mean by nope?

He turned to Julian but didn’t even notice when Norx had gotten behind Julian’s horse, sitting in the most inappropriate way to sit on a horse with his legs crossed and arms folded.

"Onward!" He said with no concern at all and Alaric lost his mind.

The clearing fell into a sudden, chaotic uproar as Alaric’s roar echoed through the pristine morning air.

​"What do you mean onward? I don’t care that you’re a god or a fallen god. Get away from my man!" He roared, ready to swing his blade and a cold sweat rolled down Julian’s temple.

This... was going to be harder than he thought.