Forever Fall

Raftina found herself able to sleep in for the first time in a long time. Based on the sun’s position, it was probably around ten or eleven in the morning… She hoped Geden wouldn’t flay her alive for missing breakfast. But Geden had also been the one to tell her to take time off and everything so… She hoped the other Guardian wouldn’t be too angry at her. She was keyed into Filgaia and could feel the land growing lusher and lusher by the moment. Even with her limited abilities, she could feel life returning to the planet even at vast distances. She was beyond grateful to have her mother back despite everything… She took the opportunity to change into a fresh dress and pin her hair back in an elaborate updo. She then closed her eyes and teleported to the heavens. Already, she could feel a thrumming of energy that hadn’t been there the night before. She was in her house, but this thrumming… She opened the door and left, going to the Guardian kitchens. Already, a bunch of old Guardians she thought she’d never see again stood around. Her eyes filled with tears. Her mother had apparently spent the whole night reviving Guardians… Endolia had a body too, so she had her limits and would need rest, but a few days wouldn’t do anything… She really was glad to see her mother reviving the Guardians. She shouldn’t stay up so late when she was hounding Raftina to take a break, but considering the state Filgaia was in… A few days of nonstop work wouldn’t kill her. Raftina probably would’ve done something similar had she been at full power… She would’ve tried to get the Guardians back up to rank while also attempting to heal the planet… Her mother was doing exactly what she would. Endolia truly was her mother. There was no way they weren’t related with as dedicated as they were to Filgaia. Quite a few of the Guardians turned and looked when she entered the common eating area and one that looked like a little girl bounded up, wrapping her arms around Raftina. “Raftina, Raftina!” Raftina smiled and picked her up. “Sophia… It’s good to see you again.” Sophia was one of the most sophisticated Guardians that existed, one of the most knowledgeable, one of the kindest, but she preferred to look and act like a small child. Guardians didn’t have a huge capacity to grow as people as they were eternal spiritual beings, but Sophia had defied that. By time Raftina had been born then given the rank of Guardian Lord, Sophia had become one of the most worshiped and beloved Guardians on the planet due to her vast knowledge of magic and how endearing her entire personality was. Sophia wrapped her arms around Raftina’s neck, burying her face in her chest. “I can’t believe I’m back… Though the last thing I remember…” “Was dying.” Sophia nodded and she heard a sniffle. Raftina rubbed her back and held her close. She could be highly sophisticated, warm, gentle, and kind, but Sophia would always be a child at heart and it was her preferred way of acting too. It was justauthentically herbecause it was how Endolia had originally envisioned her. “I didn’t die, but what I went through was pretty scary too.” “I hope that never happens again!” Raftina shook her head. “We killed the Metal Demons and wiped them out a while back. You don’t have to worry about them.” If they had any backup, then she had a feeling they would’ve come by now. Filgaia was in tatters and wouldn’t survive more Metal Demons. She knew that much. The people were weak and mages were hard to come by. Any child that showed magic was given over to the Curan institutionsimmediatelybecause, unchecked, a child could do irreparable damage to a nearby area if their magic was strong enough… Cecilia had managed to cause some nasty weather patterns following her mother’s death, according to Cecilia herself. “That’s good… Are you here to eat?” Raftina nodded. “Good! You’re so skinny! I can feel your bones through your dress!” Raftina sighed. When even the childlike Guardians were pointing it out…she knew it was bad. She had to put on weight and sheknewGeden would keep her threat if she didn’t come up for meals. She just hoped the Guardian wasn’t sour over Raftina missing breakfast and more coming for a brunch. She put Sophia down. “I need to talk to Geden. Now go on.” She patted Sophia on the back to encourage her to go talk to the other Guardians. Thankfully, it didn’t take any further cajoling and she went back to the massive group of revived Guardians. This place was so lively… She hadn’t seen it like this since the start of the First Demon War. She had come up to the heavens every so often over the course of the century-long conflict, but fewer and fewer Guardians remained…until only around two hundred did. It felt good to see this place so lively again. She lifted her skirts a little and went into the kitchen. Seven or eight different Guardians darted around, nearly bowling Raftina over. They were ones she hadn’t seen inwaytoo long… “Watch out! You should know better than to be in the kitchen during meal times!” one said. “Sorry, sorry, I need to talk to Geden.” “Geden!” The macaw Guardian came over and stepped out with Raftina. “Are you mad at me for missing breakfast?” Geden shook her head. “You were resting. I can’t be mad at you for resting. Yes, food’s important, but rest also is. You barely got any sleep as far as the First Demon War was concerned. I still remember you spending long nights in your tent, poring over tactics and such.” She sighed. “As long as you’re resting, I’m not going to come after you. Now, what do you want to eat? Normally I’d just tell you to go to the buffet, but considering the shape you’re in…” Raftina listed off a couple dishes she wanted and the Guardian saluted, her wing feathers arcing. “On it!” She went back into the kitchen and Raftina found her usual spot. Justine, Luceid, and Equites were all gathered around the table, playing some sort of card game with old tokens. It wasn’t really betting; it was just all plastic tokens that they passed around. Equites looked up and grinned. “Ey, Rafti! Long time no see! Ain’t seen this place so lively in over a millennium! You here for food?” Raftina nodded and sat down. “Geden threatened to drag me up here if I didn’t come up of my own volition. I was asleep so she won’t fault me there, but otherwise…” Geden was one of the more stubborn Guardians for certain. She had no way of stopping that bird Guardian without actively attacking her and, well, she didn’t want to do that. Geden could be annoying, sure, but she was still afriend.Why attack a friend that was just trying to get her to look after herself? “Wanna join us?” Luceid asked. Justine smiled and shook his head. “These two have missed each other.” “I can only imagine.” “We have to make up for lost time!” Luceid said. “By gambling?” Raftina asked, amused. “You know it’s not gambling when there’s no money involved. It’s just silly game tokens. So you wanna join or not?” Luceid asked. “Sure. I don’t see why not.” It would kill time until Geden got out with her food. Equites dealt her a hand and they played for quite a while. As usual, Raftina’s pattern-recognition abilities were far above anybody else’s and Luceid, Equites, and Justine had to hand over most of their tokens. Luceid looked more than a little put out, keeping one cheek puffed up quite a bit. Equites was unreadable as ever and Justine was just looking to have a good time. He didn’t care one way or the other if he won or lost anything. Raftina just took even silly little things like this pretty seriously, so she refused to give up. Eventually, though, Geden came out with a large tray for Raftina and put the massive bowls of food in front of her. “Eat up!” “Oh, I will.” She put her cards down and slid her tokens back over to the trio. “If you wanna keep playing, you can without me.” Hoshino would be taking over for her in terms of Adlehyde’s politics, so she really wasn’t surewhatshe was going to do with all her free time. Elaeah had a job to do and she didn’t want to bother her too much… She would be in trouble if she didn’t clean most of the day. It wasn’t like Raftina had any of her old Tenno or Elw friends to visit anymore either… She really had no idea what to do with her free time. “You’re a buzzkill,” Luceid said. Raftina shrugged. “I just want to eat. You guys don’tneedto eat like I do.” They didn’t understand what having a physical body all the time was like. It was so much maintenance and upkeep. Her mother also had a body and she would need to come up here soon enough for something to eat. She was pretty sure Geden would force her mother to eat if she didn’t for a day or two… Endolia wanted to bring her world back to life, but it would take time. Raftina was still beyond worried about the idea of integrating the Elw again and what bringing the Tenno back would do… But, right now, just bringing the Guardians and reviving the planet were at the top of Endolia’s list. Luceid rolled her eyes and the trio went back to the game, clearly dismissing Raftina so she could eat. She did just that and took her dishes back to the kitchen where she dropped them off. She left the communal eating area and looked around. The heavens definitely felt a lot more lively than they had before. Guardians bumped around and talked on the streets. It wasn’t a lot of them, but a couple hundred more Guardians made a big difference in making this place feel more lively than it had in over a millennium. Raftina just wasn’t sure what to do now. She would normally have already been embroiled in Adlehyde’s politics, but now… She had literally nothing to do. She could read, but all the books were pre-War. She didn’t feel like being reminded of everything that had been lost. Something hit her and she let out an exasperated sigh. She was pretty sure the other Guardians wouldkill herif she started a new project. She just didnottake relaxing very easily. She hadn’t had time off in millennia. Even taking one day to do nothing was so foreign to her at this point. She just had no idea how to handle any of this. She was aware of the Sealed Library in the Curan Abbey and the thousands of books there. Lumina had made them. Though… There were the monsters to contend with. She wasn’t sure if Zela, the Guardian of Books, was back or not. Considering her obscure domain, she probably would be lower on the list of Guardians to revive and heal. It would be a good project for Zela to take up. But without knowing if she was back or not… “Mother?” It took a few moments but Endolia appeared. “What is it, dear?” “Is Zela back or is she low on the list of Guardians to revive?” “Low on the list. I brought Geden back quickly because, well, you need to put on weight and it’s hard for you to say no to her meals.” Raftina nodded. “That makes sense… But there’s a library from the post-War era that needs to be taken into account. It’s in the Curan Abbey.” “The books have been there for over a millennium. They’ll be fine.” Endolia gave her a look. “You weren’t thinking of making that your new pet project, were you?” “It’s why I asked if she’d been brought back. That way itwouldn’tbecome my pet project. I justdo notknow what to do with my time.” Raftina sighed. She was really trying to figure out how to relax, but it was as foreign as their interplanetary allies would be at this point. She had no idea what to do with all her free time now. She was very strictly on recovery, so she needed something to do. She didn’t really have any hobbies. “Maybe take up some instruments or something… I’m sure there’ssomethingyou can do. You’re smart, Raftina. You’ll figure it out.” Endolia kissed her head. “Just find something to havefunwith above all else. Anyway, I need to get back to work.” “Don’t overwork yourself too much, or Geden will be breathing downyourneck too,” Raftina warned. “I can only imagine Equites and Luceid will be watching over you as well.” Equites and Luceid were an odd couple and definitely the Guardians of making sure people knew how to slow down and take time off. They were usually the ones that kicked Raftina kicking and screaming into vacations she didn’t ask for. They really knew how to make sure she relaxed… More than once they’d had Anna bring Raftina to various realms like the Hotrealm. Maybe she ought to just go there or something… Those vacation realms had ways of keeping someone busy even if it wasn’t thetypeof busy Raftina liked. “Maybe I should take Anna up on the Hotrealm again or something.” “That’s a lovely idea.” Endolia smiled. “You need some relaxation. And I heard Elaeah’s back? Maybe you should take her with you.” Normally Elw didn’t leave Filgaia too much due to how their bodies functioned but…she was pretty sure the general state of those realms could and would keep Elaeah functioning normally. They were relatively undisturbed natural areas with only minimal buildings in order to make sure people were comfortable. She sighed. “Maybe.” She knew why the Elw had done this, but it didn’t make it any easier. She was really trying to relax, but being on Filgaia just kept stressing her out. She wanted to know what was happening everywhere and to make sure Cecilia was taken care of. Cecilia was currently her only living descendant because Farrah had died while pregnant with her second child. Farrah had been an only child as well… Not something she needed to worry about right now. “Just get to know her again, Raftina. The Elw broke a lot of cultural taboos for you. Don’t you think you should give it a chance?” Endolia’s voice was quiet, gentle, and warm, but it just left Raftina feeling empty and cold inside. Everyone kept saying that and she knew what her hearttrulywanted but…the idea of opening again after Arlan’s betrayal wassohard. Nobody understood what it meant. Nobody understood. And they wouldn’t understand becauseshe didn’t want to talk about it.She was trying to move on, but it was hard when it was less than a decade ago for her. For mortal lives, a decade was a long time. But for someone that had been alive for millennia like her, it was basically yesterday. It hurt so much… And she hadn’t gotten to raise Lumina either. She just… She hated it. It was so traumatic for her. She knew she needed to heal but…it was so hard when that betrayal ran so deep. “I wonder if the Adlehyde family has any vacation homes. Elw generally don’t like to leave Filgaia because it leaves them vulnerable… I don’t think Elaeah would like that.” Going to the Hotrealm and those other vacation realms did sound nice, but leaving Filgaia left an Elw vulnerable. Even though a lot of them were pristine nature, she just… She couldn’t be sure. She still didn’t want to do anything that would leave Elaeah vulnerable or feeling like she had nowhere to go. And she wouldn’t force her either. She just… Ugh, all of this was so hard and messy. Why did life have to be so utterly messy sometimes? “Maybe. You’d have to ask somebody. But what of the Hotrealm and such?” “With how Elw are… I don’t know if she’d like to be that vulnerable. Plus, she’s had barely any time on Filgaia… I’m not sure if she’d like to leave.” And Raftina would like to keep a distant feel on what was going on here. She was trying to relax, but she knew she’d have a hard time just relaxing if given the chance. Being completely cut off from Filgaia in its current state would drive her mad. She had no idea how to handle any of this. Stress free sounded nice, but by the same token, she was pretty sure she wouldn’t be able to settle down if she left the planet. She was too worried about it. She knew her mother had it under control, but that didn’t mean Raftina would be able to sleep easily. “That’s very true… Elw are so vulnerable when they leave Filgaia. Well, it sounds like you want to take her with you regardless.” Endolia smiled, though Raftina still felt empty inside. It didn’t feel fair to Elaeah to force this on her. It broke so many cultural taboos for the Elw… She wasn’t sure how Elaeah would feel if or when she found out that the Elw had done something they normally would be so deadset against. She should probably be up front with her but at the same time… Guh, she just had no idea what to do. She was all about informed consent when it came to anything. So the fact she was considering going against that… No. The onlyrightthing to do was tell her. The Elw had wanted to set them up blindly so they could fall in love naturally again, but she wassoset against people that didn’t believe in informed consent. Consent foreverythingwas important, especially when it was informed. Raftina had spent a lot of time around the BDSM community before the War and they were all about informed consent. Elaeah would probably feel absolutely betrayed, but it wasn’t like Raftina had spent a ton of time with her or anything yet. They had shared a few conversations, but that was as far as it went. As far as Elaeah was concerned, she was still just a stranger that had just met her. “I’m…going to need to talk to her about something first.” Raftina knewshewould personally feel betrayed if she had a relationship with somebody in a prior lifetime and then the person had neglected to tell them about that prior relationship. She wasn’t sure how Elaeah would feel, but it truly was the only right thing to do… She would be a terrible Guardian of Love if she didn’t allow someone to make their own choices with full information. “All right. Well, hopefully things turn out.” Endolia kissed her cheek. “I love you.” “I love you too, Mother.” With that done, Endolia disappeared and Raftina went back to Adlehyde. She couldnotshake the feeling that she was walking into some sort of doom by telling Elaeah. She knewshewouldn’t respond well to this information, but it only felt right to do that so Elaeah could make her own decision before they got too far into knowing each other again. She managed to track down the Elw and Elaeah tilted her head to the side. “Is there something I can do for you, Lady Raftina? I’m in the middle of work right now and I won’t have my break for a few more hours…” “I need to talk to you about something. If your boss has any gripes with you talking to me, tell them to take it upwithme. I’ll talk to them about making sure you get paid your full wage.” Elaeah nodded a bit. Her ears twitched and were a little stiff. She was clearly on some sort of alert. Raftina didn’t blame her. It wasn’t everyday a divine being told someone they needed to talk to them. “Okay, Lady Raftina.” She bowed and put her supplies away. “Let’s go. Where should we head to?” “Follow me.” She led Elaeah to a little courtyard Raftina had discovered. It was tended, buut in terms of foot traffic, it was pretty private. It was small so people wouldn’t come through here too much. Her heart thrummed in her chest and she swallowedhardas they sat down on a bench, shielded by the plants. Nobody would see them here. She really didn’t want to do this, but it would go against her moral code tonottell somebody something of this magnitude. “Elaeah… Do you know why you were sent here?” Raftina squeezed her hands together, unable to hide her anxiety. Normally she had her Lady Raftina mask on, but considering the nature of this, she had to bejustRaftina. Being Lady Raftina in a highly personal situation like this wouldn’t do her any good. Elaeah shook her head. “No… The Elw elders just told me there was someone here I should meet and that person wasyou.I still don’t know why they would think I wanted to meet somebody on Filgaia… I mean, I’ve never been to the planet proper.” Raftina sighed. This was going to be hard, but she might as well just rip the bandage off. “The reason they sent you here was because they wanted you to fall in love with me…again.Millennia again, you and I fell in love. But you were half human, half Elw, so you died a few centuries after we got together. They broke atonof cultural taboos and were attempting to set us up to fall in love again. They recognised who you were when you were reborn in the Elw dimension and named you your previous name and sent you here so you could make me happy again.” Elaeah’s ears dropped down, her eyes wide. “What? There’s no way. That breakswaytoo many taboos… Were you planning on falling in love with me again?” She wrapped her arms around herself. Yeah, this was about what Raftina expected. No doubt she felt incredibly betrayed by her people, basically groomed to be a goddess’ wife. Raftina had had no part in it. She was just as shocked, confused, and betrayed as Elaeah was. The Elw had donesomuch wrong. “I’m…not sure what I want to do, honestly. I know what my heartwantsbut I know, morally, it’s wrong to not tell you about this plan they cooked up. I had no part in this; I was sealed away until just a few years ago.Theywere the ones that did this. My heart wants you back more than anything, but in terms of morality, it isn’t right to not tell you. If they kept that from you for three centuries, they definitely weren’t going to tell you most likely atall.And by Elw ideals, it isn’t fair to pair you up with me just because you loved me in a previous life.” She was just being honest here. Yes, her heart wanted Elaeah back but… “It’s really up to you what you want to do. This isyourlife to choose what you want to do with. Just because the Elw elders planned something doesn’t meanyouhave to abide by their plans.” Elaeah hunched over a bit, her body quivering. “I can’t believe they did this… It breaks so many taboos… To try toforceme to fall in love with somebody I knew in a last life… They’rehorrible!I put so much trust in them… We all trusted them so much…” She buried her face in her hands, body still shaking. Raftina could hear her trying to keep her breathing steady but it rapidly increased and became heaving sobs. “This isn’t fair… Thisisn’t fairto me… Or you! It’s not fair to try to forceyouto accept me back into your life.” Raftina was silent for a good few moments. “I’m more worried aboutyou.It was taking awayyourchoice to fall in love with some other Elw you might have been able to love. I’m still not sure what to do to be honest, but… I couldn’t just leave you in the dark. If you feel betrayed now…how much worse would it have been if I’d gotten to know you and youdidlike me?” A relationship built on nothing but lies wouldn’t last. If Elaeah wanted to get to know her, then she had full agency to do that. She had all the information now. If she wanted to stay on Filgaia, she could. If she wanted to go find Mariel, she could. Raftina wouldn’t force her intoanything.The hard part would be cash since she hadn’t been on Filgaia for very long… Elaeah didn’t respond, still weeping deeply. Raftina squeezed her hands together, not sure what to do. She naturally wanted to comfort her former lover as she would withanybodybut she didn’t want to come across as acting like a former lover either… She was really between a rock and a hard place. There were no mal intents in wanting to comfort her, but Elaeah might not see it that way. The Elw elders had already lied to and betrayed her in adeepway. How much worse would it be if the person they had basicallygroomedher for was to try to be affectionate? There were too many issues here, though Raftina’s heart went out to her. She just really didn’t know what to do. They sat there for alongtime until Elaeah cried herself out and slumped against the wall, her cheeks stained with tears. “Would you like a hug?” Raftina asked softly. She could at least ask Elaeah if shewantedcomfort. She could deny it if she wanted. Surprisingly, Elaeah chose to slump against her and Raftina wrapped an arm around her. “I still can’t believe this… I don’t know what to think now… I trusted the elders and they expected me to become your lover…” Raftina nodded. “I know, Elaeah; I know. I didn’t think they’d do something like this, but theydid.It’s unfair to both of us. It stripped us both of our agency and our consent wasn’t given at any point.” She paused. “Did they do anything ‘special’ in order to make you try to be compatible with me?” She couldn’t let go of that particular point. She wasn’t sure if theyhadactually groomed her or not. It could just be a case where they recognised Elaeah from her previous life, gave her the previous life’s name, and let her be… But if they did purposely groom Elaeah from birth… She couldn’t accept that. She would have to say no to the chance to evengetto know her. That would bebeyondcreepy. “I…don’t think so. My life was pretty normal by Elw standards… I haven’t had any relationships before now… I just wasn’t interested in anybody else. For some reason, nobody everfeltright. Man, woman, nonbinary… None of it made any sense to me and nobody wasappealingeither…” Elaeah closed her eyes. “For some reason, it felt like I was betraying somebody… I had plenty of chances to go out with others. I just…denied them all. There was just some impression deep down in my soul that I wasn’t meant to be with an Elw.” Raftina nodded a bit. “Did you have any interactions with any Guardians before meeting me?” Elaeah shook her head. “No. Guardians didn’t come to the Elw dimension aside from Ge Ramtos to put the souls back into the cycle of reincarnation on the rare occasion one of us died.” “I would hope somebody didn’t use soul magic on you.” “Soul magic is strictly forbidden by Elw teaching… If you are as embroiled in our culture as you were…you should know that.” “Cultures change over time, Elaeah. It’s been over a millennium since the Elw have seen me. For all I know, soul magic could’ve become commonplace and there were practitioners everywhere. Granted, the cultural taboos around names and renaming still remain intact…” Granted, those taboos had been in place for millennia. Once the Elw started dying and being reborn, then the taboos had been strictly established. Elw werenotto be renamed what they were in a previous life. They werenotto be expected to go back to their old life; they were supposed to be allowed to flourish and enjoy their new life as if they had never lived before. She shouldn't have been so sure those old taboos were still in place, but something just told her they would be. “I guess that is true…though Elw culture is often slow to change.” “It still changed gradually on Filgaia before the First Demon War. I saw it myself. I canassureyou Elw culture changed even if it doesn’t seem like it has in your lifetime.” “I guess if anybody would’ve seen the change of Elw culture over time, it would’ve been you… The elders always spoke of you and how involved you were with them before they created the Elw dimension post-War… You were regarded as a bit of a protector to the Elw and someone they respected deeply…” She was silent. “I guess I can understand a bit why they chose the route they did… If you were that influential…” Raftina sighed. “A couple of the elders told me themselves they wanted me to be happy.” She leaned on her free hand and looked up at the sky. “Ihopethis doesn’t seem like I’m trying to manipulate you into anything. It’s just what happened. After you died…I was never the same. I became a massive workaholic and buried myself in my work so I wouldn’t have to think about anything. I mean I was a workaholic before then to the point it causedseriousproblems in our relationship. You almost left me several times over that.” It was hard for Raftina to slow down. She felt like she had to handleeverythingand Filgaia had depended on herso muchpre-War. Now…the planet really did function without her. It was so bizarre that the planet had continued on with her as if she hadn’t disappeared. Granted, the planet was fractured and fragmented, so she couldn’t do whole-world politics like she had pre-War. All she really did was Adlehyde. She had gone to the Rosetta area and helped arrange Cecilia’s marriage… The young man was nice enough, but even so… It wasn’t love. She was just thankful the advisors hadn’t started pressuring Cecilia for children just yet…but she knew it was coming. Cecilia couldn’t hold off forever. “That’s so screwed up… Trying to force me into a relationship with you without me knowing…” “That’s why I brought it up. Idon’twant you to feel forced. If you want to go somewhere else on Filgaia, live with Mariel who’s another Elw, then you can go do that. I’m not going to force you to stay by my side when you weren’t allowed consent in the first place. It’s your life; do what you will with it.” Elaeah was silent for a long while again. “…I think, despite everything, I want to give it a chance… You’re so easy for me to talk to and my heart always pounds a little faster when I’m in your presence… I never wanted anybody else in my life romantically. I could have found somebody else by now and it’s not like the elders forced me to say no to other relationships. I did that of my own volition because I just couldn’t put a reason onwhyit felt wrong. It’s because such a large part of my soul belongs toyoueven if this isreallymessed up.” She scooted closer to Raftina who felt her cheeks heat up. She wasn’t trying to force Elaeah into anything. She had told herso she would have the chance to make her own choice.She wasn’t trying to manipulate her or anything like that. “Are…you sure? I really don’t want it to feel like you’re being manipulated. I hope I didn’t say anything that felt like youhaveto give me a chance.” It was hard to hold back all the affection she wanted to give Elaeah but she stayed her hand. This was a different Elaeah who hadn’t given her consent to do anything but give her a hug. She still held Elaeah loosely, a comforting gesture, not something someone would do to a lover. She knew better than to cross that line with a complete stranger who hadn’t given her consent to do that. “It just feelsrightto be close to you.” Elaeah rested her head on Raftina’s shoulder which made Raftina feel her cheeks warm even further. “But the thing is…I can’t guarantee I’ll get my memories back of our previous life together…” Raftina nodded. “I know. And keep in mind, if youeverwant to say no to something or just stop this entire thing, youcan.I’mnotgoing to force you to stay with me if you don’t want to. I’ll even help you find somewhere else to go if that’s what you want.” Forcing her to stay wouldn’t do anyone any good. She wanted this more than anything, truly, deeply, but realistically, it might not work out. This was a different Elaeah and she was a different Raftina. Young Raftina had been impressionable and unconfident. Now…she was confident and could command armies without much issue. She knew tactics, she knew hundreds of languages, she knew hundreds of combat styles… She was a one-woman army. She could take on just about anybody by herself if they were mortal. Elaeah nodded. “I will. If it doesn’t feel right, I can say no at any point. Boundaries are important.” That made Raftina wince a little bit. Elaeah had given her clear boundaries sometimes on work and she’d blown past themmonstrously.Shehadto be better this time. She didn’t want to repeat her mistakes of the past. If anything, she reallyshouldstep back so the other Guardians could take hold. She didn’t need to be so front and center when the other Guardians would have a rough time reestablishing themselves if she didn’t give them the space to flourish. It felt bad, but she did need to do it. “I’ll warn you now that, when I say I’m a workaholic, Imeanit. Right now, I need to step back so I can heal. I know that much. I haven’t allowed myself any time to heal from the two Demon Wars. But if I get back to work… Well. I can pull eighteen-hour days.” She was a bad partner a lot of the time and she knew it. Elaeah had tried to get her to slow down and it often took threatening to leave to get her to slow down to the point Elaeah considered acceptable. Forty hours a week just felt like toolittleto her, especially with as intense as politics and international policy could get. Elaeah frowned. “That’swaytoo much for anybody. Please tell me that’s the exception, not the rule.” “No. Eighteen-hour days for weeks if notmonthson end. There was a reason you nearly left several times.” She was a bad partner a lot of the time, but it was because she feltresponsiblefor Filgaia and her people. She was the Guardian of Love and a Guardian Lord. There were only four Guardian Lords and she was one of them. Plus, Endolia was hermother.She was the only other Guardian with the ability of creation if enough people believed in her. She needed to do things when her mother couldn’t. “That’s…not healthy, Lady Raftina.” “I know it’s not, but I have adeepsense of duty to Filgaia and her people.” Elaeah snuggled a bit. “Not right now though. You’remine.”Raftina’s heart froze. That was averyElaeah thing. When she got so busy, Elaeah would often push non-sexual dominant and submissive roles so that way Elaeah could take care of her. She capitulated because she knew it made Elaeah happy. But it didn’t mean it waseasyto accept… Raftina wasn’t really into sexual domination and submission… If anything, she was super vanilla… But Elaeah had been on the kinkier side of things. She had no idea how things would shake out this time if they did end up together again. “A-Anyway, I was thinking of removing myself from Adlehyde in one way or another… Are you aware of Anna, the merchant-goddess?” That was Anna’s nickname among the Guardians. She wasn’tactuallya goddess, just a collection of women that looked pretty much identical unless something went awry with the genetics like the Anna she was speaking to about her medication. “I’ve heard of her, but I don’t think she could make it to the Elw dimension…” “Well, Anna is a collection of women that look more or less identical unless something goes awry with genetics. The Anna family has a large stock in some worlds they shorten to ‘realm’ which are basically places meant for rest and relaxation… However, they’re not on Filgaia. So we could go there or there’s the option of seeing if the Adlehyde family has any vacation homes anywhere. I’m not sure if you’d want to leave Filgaia or not.” She’d leave that up to Elaeah. Elaeah frowned. “The Guardians are a support system for you, right?” Raftina nodded. “Yes. Why do you ask?” “If something comes up, you need people to turn to that aren’t me. I don’t think a Guardian can come to another realm immediately if you need them. You’ve obviously been throughwaytoo much.” “So check to see if the Adlehyde family has any vacation homes.” Elaeah nodded firmly. “All right. Well, help me find your boss and we can talk to them, then you can go pack.” They got up and found Elaeah’s boss. Of course, the woman was a little miffed that her new staff member was leaving after such a short time, but consideringa literal goddesswas telling the woman Elaeah needed to go, it wasn’t like she could argue too much. With that out of the way, Elaeah went off to her room to pack while Raftina found someone to ask about vacation homes. The line did have a couple, one being on the water around a hundred fifty miles away. The clime was a bit cooler than Adlehyde itself and it was away from the desert lands as far as the person was aware. That would definitely be good for Elaeah… Raftina went to her room and packed a good chunk of her clothes into an endless messenger bag. It had been her old bag when dealing with interworld nonsense because it could handle having so many materials in it. Granted, she needed to empty it because she hadn’t touched it since before the First Demon War. That could wait though. She met up with Elaeah in the stable where Moonspark rapped against her stall door. “Sorry. I left you for a week and didn’t say anything to you. It was to make sure my mother came back.” The pegasus didn’t look thrilled. Then Raftina blinked. “We’ll need to make a small detour, Elaeah. I need to talk to Anna.” “Oh, okay. That’s no big deal.” Elaeah smiled. They saddled up and walked their pegasi through town, Raftina taking a sharp left into the poor part of the city. She found the tent Anna had been in and the white-haired woman blinked. “Raftina, what’s up?” “Uh, right. I’m going away for the foreseeable future so I’m not sure what to do about my meds…” “I’ll have one of my sisters stop by. Where are you staying?” She told Anna where she would be going and the woman nodded. “All right. We know where that is. Have fun!” She smiled. Raftina left the tent and mounted Moonspark again. “All right, let’s go.” She clucked the pegasus up into the air and Elaeah did the same, soaring into the blue desert sky.