Vastarael sat on the rooftop of the mansion, his legs dangling lazily over the edge with a polished violex balanced neatly against his shoulder. His eyes were closed as he played it.
He didn't use a sheet. He didn't need to. The tune was something he remembered from his childhood. Every Dynasty child is meant to at least master one musical instrument. He loved the violex because it resembled the violin a lot. And it was his favorite mystical instrument back then too.
All of Sentina Erideae had left hours ago. Apparently, there were island-wide night competitions going on and every Divine wanted to show off.
Vastarael didn't go.
He didn't care much for exhibitions. He told himself it was because Adelasta could represent them better. That was only half true. The real reason? Well… it had something to do with her. Adelasta had been sharp about it, too.
"You're not going," she had told him earlier that day. "Too many women will stare. It's distracting."
He had tried not to smirk. He really had.
So here he was, exiled, apparently, left to serenade the moons with his violex like some lovesick aristocrat from an old tale and honestly? He didn't mind.
The moons were out in full force tonight. Three of them, to be exact. That third moon always got him.
It looked cracked. It literally had a massive break in its middle. A line sliced through its core like a wound that had never fully healed. And that was because of Narisva. She had shattered it during the Epoch Cycle. Back then, she had been colder. No one expected her to ascend so violently. No one expected her to survive it, either.
Yet she did. She always did. The world never knew why the third moon was cracked but only he knew. Well, and Sentina Erideae too and those who experienced the Epoch Cycle too.
He played the violex slower now, the notes softening as if they remembered her too. That moon had never looked the same since. The wind rustled slightly, bringing the faint scent of sea salt and for a second, he thought he imagined her.
But he didn't.
Her silhouette was as fierce as it was elegant. Her starry hair like spilled ink. Her outfit still shimmered with faint traces of her travel through her dimension. There was something different about her now.
She was a Second Enlightenment Divine.
"You finally came," Vastarael said, lowering the violex and resting it against the railing beside him.
He didn't stand. He just turned his head slightly and smiled.
"Took you long enough."
Narisva tilted her head slightly,
"You came a day late. The Andelaris twins passed their First Sacred Trial yesterday. Natalis almost fainted from overexertion. They're fine now, don't worry, though they'll probably tease you for not being here—"
Narisva didn't hesitate.
She walked straight toward him. Just the way his silhouette held still under the pale wash of the three moons, was enough to make her chest tighten.
She didn't stop until her lips were on his.
The kiss was intense, brutal even, but not in a bad way. It was the type of kiss that would leave even a Divine questioning its fierceness. She crashed into him, gripping the collar of his shirt and dragging him down.
Vastarael had zero time to react. His violex dropped somewhere beside them.
"Hey—"
He started to say, but that was about as far as he got.
Her hands were already around his wrists, pinning him firmly as her kiss deepened. Her energy was all over the place. She leaned into him, pushing him down until they were lying across the angled rooftop tiles, the moons casting streaks of silver over their forms.
"Narisva—"
She pulled away, her eyes gleaming with wild amusement and a fiery edge of emotion.
"I missed you. Five days without you was atrocious. I almost kissed a sun just to pretend it was you."
He gave her the most deeply unamused look known to man.
"I... wait. Seriously?"
"What? You're like a sculpture made by every good decision in the world."
Vastarael blinked, then burst out laughing.
"You're way too much."
"You love that I'm like this."
"That's not the point!"
Still holding his wrists, she raised an eyebrow.
"You could have pushed me off, Darling. You didn't."
He twisted slightly beneath her grip only to realize he literally couldn't move. His brows furrowed as he gave another half-hearted tug, but nope. She wasn't holding him that hard, right? He was Vastarael Richinaria. There was no way—
'Okay, wait. Her grip is actually tight.'
"Uh... Narisva?"
"Hm?"
"I... I physically can't get out of this hold."
Her eyes widened slightly. Then she laughed. She eased off immediately, sitting upright and shaking her hands.
"Oh, sorry sorry! I forgot I'm basically stronger right now. I'm at the Second Enlightenment now."
He sat up, massaging his wrists. "Damn woman. Are you trying to flatten me?"
"No but it was tempting. I was about to move on to phase two."
He narrowed his eyes. "There's a phase two?"
They sat in a rare kind of quiet after that. Narisva rested her chin on his shoulder, a faint, content hum escaping her lips.
"You look amazing. You really have no idea how good you look, huh?"
Vastarael chuckled and rolled his eyes. "I look like someone's dad."
"Exactly," she grinned. "And you're a literal father you know. Shimmer and Runner right?"
"Right..."
A few more seconds passed. Then Narisva's tone dropped.
"We're alone. I can't sense anyone else."
Narisva murmured into the space between them:
"Now be good, Veneri. Oh, and let me commit at least one felony tonight. You know, I think we both know where this is going."