“Death seems fairly black and white.”
“I have carved earth from nothingness. I have breathed life into creations of crystal. For me, very little is black and white.” Yargen crossed over and sat on the edge of the bed. “Yes, you gave the raw essence of life itself—such a powerful thing—and the body that housed it back to me, so that Raspian could be sealed. But consciousness does little to seal away dark gods.”
“You took my body and life essence, but not my mind.”
“Just so.”
“Was what I gave… enough?”
“Yes.” Yargen smiled with Fiera’s lips. It was as tender and warm as the real princess’s.
“Then the world…”
“The world you helped shape will be safe from Raspian for another thousand or two thousand years, perhaps more if we’re lucky. Things were not rebuilt, this time.” The smile became slightly coy and her eyes a little sad. “Eventually, he will break free of that containment. Or mortals will somehow find a way to set him free, whether they know what they’re doing or not. Though I have made sure he is well hidden, this time.”
“I see.” Vi smoothed her hand over the foggy blanket atop her, watching glittering starlight dance underneath her fingers.
“Do not despair.” Yargen rested her hand on hers gently. Magic and life shot through her. Vi inhaled sharply. Feelings were starting to return. Vi felt like laughing and weeping, singing and screaming, all at once. “That is simply the order of things. When he returns, I will be ready.”
“You are not fractured, then?”
“Do I look fractured to you?”
“I’ve been told my eyes can lie to me around the divine, so I’ve stopped trusting them in moments like these.”
Yargen chuckled at that. The sound was pure delight and as sweet as bells. “You have been an amusing one to watch, all these revolutions of the vortex.”
“It’s really all over then…” Vi looked out the window. She saw nothing but a bright blue sky, clear and filled with light. She brought her attention back to Yargen. “So why am I still here?”
“That is something I have debated for many mortal years now.”
“Years?”
“For me, it has only been a moment.” Yargen stood once more, looking down at her with Fiera’s fiery eyes. “I have been thinking while I harbored your consciousness, keeping it safe from the passage of time. What is a just reward for a Champion who has served me so faithfully across the ages? Then, it occurred to me…
“Do you wish to return to that world?”
“What?” Vi whispered. Something jolted in her chest. It felt like a heartbeat, the first of what could be many.
“You enabled me to return the watch to Vhalla Yarl, and a Vi Solaris was born into the world you have saved. This new Vi’s body is as you know it, though the world is slightly different than you remember. Your actions did cause ripples of change these past eighteen years. However, if it would please you, I could return your mind to that form.”
Vi considered this, trying to wrap her head around it. “What would happen to the new Vi’s consciousness? Would she know what’s happened?”
“No, she wouldn’t. You and she are mirrors; it would be a seamless merger of your awareness. Though there might be some memories and feelings from your separate childhoods that would get confused from time to time—memories you won’t be sure which one of you made.”
“Would it feel like two people at once?” Vi had that sensation before with Yargen. She wasn’t keen to have it again.
“No. You would have one mind. One, final Vi Solaris.”
“Would I feel like me?”
“Mortal feelings are elusive to me.”
Vi looked around the room, considering this offer. She would be returned to the body of the ninety-fourth Vi Solaris, born into the world she’d saved. It would be a chance to live in a time that was not ending. And, if Yargen was to be believed, it wouldn’t result in pain or confusion for the girl who was currently walking in that skin.
“What’s the alternative?” Vi dared to ask.
“I would fully join you with my essence. You would live forever as an aspect of me. You would know every corner of this world and whatever comes next in a way a mortal never could, just as I promised.”
