Chapter Text

Sitting on the sofa at the mansion, ___ gripped her skirt tightly with unease. Whilst she knew Huedhaut wasn’t supposed to be available until later that evening, to head to the mansion after work to see her husband to find that nobody was around was rather unsettling. Normally someone would be here.

It was not as though the path to their marriage had been smooth either. Recent months had been pleasantly quiet but now ___ had a very unsettled feeling. Was there another emergency?

She glanced around again, with that thought in mind being a little more relieved that no one was here right now. Hopefully that meant that if there was an emergency, she had nothing to do with it.

At that point, footsteps could be heard approaching the living room. ___ got quickly to her feet, wondering whether she should leave due to the worries that had been building up inside her over the past hour or so, her mind going back to how Zyglavis had been during some of the other emergencies.

However, she did really want to see Hue, and she had no proof right now that anything was actually wrong. The mansion simply being empty was just odd, not an issue in itself.

“___ ?”

Startled out of her thoughts, ___ relaxed and forced a smile as she looked over to the doorway. It was Karno who had called out to her with concern. “Evening… sorry, I got here when no one else was here and I didn’t know what to think. Hue is still going to be able to come tonight right?”

“....” Karno’s smile faded and he glanced away from her.

Her heart sinking, ___ moved over to him. “If something has come up in the Heavens, I understand…”

“I…” Turning back to her, Karno closed one eye and sighed heavily. “I’m afraid it’s rather more serious than that.”

“An emergency? Heavens? Earth? …. The Under Realm?” ___ asked, a bit put out by how distressed the usually calm and reassuring Karno seemed right now.

Karno tried to relax, but even he couldn’t bring himself to smile again. “It’s a bit more personal than that. Actually I had only come down here in the hopes of finding you.”

___ swallowed hard. “I’ve not done anything…”

Startled at that, Karno finally managed his usual smile. “Of course not. If you had you know full well it wouldn’t be me standing in front of you right now. This is about Hue.”

“What?” ___ replied, her voice cracking as she moved nearer to Karno.

“... Do you recall the incident a couple of weeks ago?” Karno asked her softly as he guided her out of the living room and toward the door to the Heavens.

Thinking for a moment, she eventually nodded as she realised what Karno was likely referring to. “When Hue had that vision and would have fallen to the floor had I not caught him you mean? That vision was dealt with though… didn’t Hue just say it was the intensity of what he saw that had knocked him off balance?”

Karno sighed. “Sure, that is what he said, but I’m not sure he was being truthful with us. Maybe because he didn’t want you to worry.”

“Karno, just tell me what’s happened, please. Is Hue okay?”

“... No, I rather fear he’s in extreme danger,” Karno admitted, looking away from her again.

“Another vision?”

Taking a deep breath, Karno halted now they were by the door, and forced himself to turn to face ___ properly once more, a worried frown on his face. “If it had at least been a vision we might not be so worried, but…”

“Karno…”

Karno inclined his head in way of apology and tried to relax. “Hue collapsed yesterday morning and has shown no signs of improving. If he had used his divine power that might have been one thing but this was simply summoning a list and I have no reason to doubt that him telling me that he’d actually rested in his room the previous night wasn’t the truth.”

___’s legs felt like they were about to give way. It was not new knowledge to her that Huedhaut’s body wasn’t in perfect condition due to how he had saved her soul all those years ago, but she knew this wasn’t usual, even for him.

Steadying her, Karno sighed softly. “We’re trying all we can to try and work out what is causing this, but I have to be truthful with you: something like this happening has always been a risk. He’s managed for such a long time that we’d hoped the danger had passed but…”

Trying to get ahold of herself, ___ stood back up straight and forced a smile at him. “So what now?”

“We head to the Heavens and talk between all of us whether there is any action we can take. I’m sure you’ll want to see him anyway.”

___ nodded. “Of course.”

They both stepped through the door.

In the Heavens, ___ and Karno found the others all gathered in the reception room of the palace.

Karno looked toward Zyglavis, noticing the other’s solemn expression with concern. “Have you found something?”

“Perhaps,” Zyglavis replied, “but if it is that we have no way of helping him.” He then looked towards ___ . “If only you had become a Goddess then things might be running much more smoothly. Your whole relationship has been rather troublesome.”

“Ignore the anal-retentive kitchen scale,” Leon grumbled, though he was also frowning. “Though it is true if you had become a Goddess you’d be able to share energy with Hue and that could help. I’m not going to make any bold claims that it definitely would, but it’s the only clear lead we have so far.”

___ slumped down on the sofa, forcing an upset smile as Tauxolouve squeezed her shoulder in an attempt to reassure her. “But the only way for me to become a Goddess was to revert to my previous self…”

Leon’s eyes widened a little. “The only way?”

Swallowing hard, ___ looked back over to him, puzzled. “Is that not right? During Heaven’s Rift the King told us that to become a Goddess would mean changing my own psyche and you clearly knew that would be what would happen as well…”

Taking this information in, Leon stood up, scowling. His eyes showed that he was livid. “That damn trickster! Yes it was an option, but not the only option! I’m sure he could have found a way around that if he’d wanted to…”

___ looked down again, gripping her skirt tightly. “When Hue saved me from that dream world… the King told me the reason why I couldn’t become a Goddess was because I’d never be able to leave Hue behind… that… I’m too…”

“Enough,” Leon snapped. “I refuse to believe that even he would rather Hue died than you become a Goddess as yourself.”

“... Is there even a way outside Heaven’s Rift?”

Leon took a deep breath and tried to calm down a little as Karno shot him a warning glance. He hadn’t meant to upset ___ . “If there is then we’ll find it. That’s if that’s the route you wish to take. It would still mean it seeming like your human life never existed, no one would remember you.”

“If it’s the only way of saving Hue, yes of course!”

Nodding, Leon then looked over to Tauxolouve. “Escort her to Hue’s room would you?”

Zyglavis scowled and stood up, glaring at Leon. “And what precisely are you planning on doing?”

Leon grinned at him. “It’s time that I had a chat with that so-called King of ours.”

In Huedhaut’s room, ___ hesitantly approached the bed, her breath hitching as she saw the way her husband was lying prone on it, his face more pale than she had ever seen it before.

Laying down beside him, she brushed his hair out of his face a little and swallowed hard as she listened to his barely audible breathing. “Why now?” she murmured to herself. “And if I can become a Goddess as myself would that help?” And could she really leave everything behind this time? Well, they’d said before they hadn’t want to leave the other alone right? This seemed likely to be the answer.

Taking a deep breath, she leant over and kissed Huedhaut briefly on the lips. “Hold on, Hue, don’t give in. I wish you’d told us there was a problem…” Unless… ___ frowned. The day before that vision incident he’d put his head against hers hadn’t he? Had he seen something pertaining to their own future?

She sighed softly and placed her hand on top of his. “Don’t worry, I won’t become Clotho. I understand now why that would have been a mistake…”

In the throne room, the King of the Heavens looked up as Leon stormed in through the doorway. “O ho, what’s this? You dare to enter here without asking for an audience first?”

Leon looked at him with an annoyed frown. “I’ve no time for any of your games right now. You know I will come in here whenever it is needed. Right now we have a problem. As far as we can tell, Huedhaut is nearing the end of his life. It seems the weakness of his physical form due to only having stars in one eye has finally caught up.”

“... Indeed. And no doubt you are aware that if his partner was a Goddess then she would be able to share energy?”

“Yes, but I also now know you only ever gave the Goldfish the option to become Clotho! Are you seriously telling me that that was the only way? They need each other!”

The King frowned. “You speak as though you understand love, young Lion. I thought you didn’t care for such matters? Or did you learn more from when you had your mark of sin than I thought?”

“... I’ve seen how they’ve come through all these challenges… that against all odds their souls were reunited.. Perhaps watching them was what I needed to understand…”

“Unless you have found love yourself, I am not certain you -”

“Oh, but he has, your Highness,” Karno interrupted, having been lurking in the shadows of the doorway.

Leon turned sharply to him. “Karno, I thought I told you I could manage…”

Karno simply smiled as he stepped beside Leon, and took the other’s hand in his own. “I do not much fancy this getting into another battle right now. If the King needs proof that you have found love, then he has it.”

The King smirked knowingly at them both. “Ah. You finally decided to tell me then?”

Leon sighed heavily and ran a hand through his hair, though didn’t let go of Karno’s hand. Of course the King already knew they were an item. “If not for ___ I would never have realised what was truly going on,” he responded to the King. “Don’t you think you owe her something for getting her involved? You are not telling me you would rather Hue die and tip the worlds out of balance then let her be a Goddess as herself!”

The King seemed unfazed at Leon’s annoyance. “Even if I agreed to that, Heaven’s Rift is not here right now, and the alignment of the stars is nowhere near right for me to even attempt raising someone to Godhood.”

“... There must be something we can do, your Highness,” Karno calmly interjected before Leon could even think about attacking the King, which he had no doubt was what was being provoked here considering it was because the King had only offered to raise her as Clotho and then had refused afterwards that they were even having to have this conversation at all. “From what Leo’s told me about the research Zyglavis found, the only person who can share energy with Hue in this instance is the one he loves. Unlike the rest of us who could share energy in order to help each other, Hue’s damaged stars means it is unlikely it would work as normal.”

“Then what makes you so certain that ___ ___ could help?”

“Because she has the rest of his stars,” Leon muttered. “If she could share energy whilst still human even that’d probably work.”

The King frowned. “I see you have indeed done thorough research into this, but the fact remains I cannot help.” As energy rippled round Leon, and he noted Karno trying to pull him back, his expression instead turned into a smirk. “However, there might be a way. It would be a massive risk for the goldfish and you would have to persuade him to help… which may actually be more of a hurdle. After all, they are hardly regarded in the way they once were.”

Karno sighed heavily and looked at the King with a frown. “Any chance of a clearer clue? We are on a time limit after all, your Highness.”

“... Talk to Krioff. You’ll know what to do from there.”

Heading out of the throne room, Leon turned to Karno with a frown. “I’m sure I could have gotten through to him eventually. Now that we’ve publicly revealed ourselves to him we’re gonna have to tell the others before he does so.”

Karno smiled softly. “As I believe I just said to his Highness, we are on a time limit. Is telling the others really such a bad thing?”

Leon’s eyes widened a little at that. “Wasn’t it you who didn’t want it changing the dynamic of the departments?”

“... Yes, but…” Karno glanced away, an uneasy expression on his face.

“Karno?”

Looking back at him, Karno forced a smile. “The departments could do with some positivity, don't you think?”

Leon regarded him suspiciously, not entirely buying that Karno had only been thinking of a way to improve morale, but didn’t push the point. He’d been wanting their relationship to be more public knowledge for a while now anyway. “Alright then, let’s go give them a shock shall we, my esteemed Vice Minister?”

Closing one eye, Karno sighed heavily. “I could change my mind, you know.”

Grinning, Leon grabbed hold of him and raised his other hand. “No going back now, Karno.” He snapped his fingers.

As they reappeared in the reception room, Leon wrapped his arm more tightly around the other and pulled him into a deep kiss.

Karno was startled at first but then relaxed into it, knowing that pushing Leon away now might give the others the wrong idea.

“That’s quite the entrance,” Tauxolouve commented with a smile as Karno pulled away from Leon for air.

Zyglavis, however, was scowling. “Do you really think now is the time or place you rabid lion? As to you, Karno, I hope this does not seriously mean that -”

“Sorry, Zyglavis,” Karno interrupted with a smirk. “But it does imply exactly what you think. Leon and I have been seeing each other for a few months now.”

Teorus looked over to them with a smirk and a glint in his eyes. “There’s gonna be a lot of Goddesses upset that you’re taken, Leo.”

Scorpio stood up at this point, glowering at everyone. “Enough of this shit, who cares about what fleeting fantasy the stupid lion has concocted this time. Weren’t we supposed to be helping Mr Smart Guy?”

“What did you just say to me?” Leon growled. “How dare you mock my love for my Vice Minister.”

The others suddenly fell silent at that, and Karno turned to Leon, heat rising to his cheeks.

Leon looked at them all in puzzlement. “...What?”

Karno rolled his eyes a little, but smiled lovingly at the other. “Nevermind. Thank you. I love you too.”

Finally realising what Scorpio had made him say out loud, Leon glowered at the Vice Minister of Punishments who simply looked back at him with a wide smirk.

“Regardless of tone, Scorpio had a point,” Karno hastily interjected. “It’s about time we told the others about our meeting with the King.”

Leon sighed heavily, but stopped glaring at Scorpio. Instead he looked over to Krioff with a frown. “... Right. Well apparently it’s like this…”

“Nope. You don’t want to get involved with his powers and potions and stuff,” Krioff muttered after Leon and Karno had updated the others in the reception room.

“With whose potions and powers exactly?” Ichthys asked with a frown.

“...” Krioff glanced to the side. “My Father… and it’s not like he’ll do anything for me.”

“But it seems like this is our only option,” Leon muttered. “Are you sure you’re not just saying that because you don’t want to help Wishes?”

“Of course he isn’t you wretched lion,” Zyglavis snapped, getting to his feet. “None of us want to lose Huedhaut. It would be of detriment to the balance of the Heavens. Although maybe if you’d kept more of an eye on him during the emergency all those years ago you could have stopped him from being so foolhardy as to use an eye to -”

“Let us not argue about what happened in the past,” Karno hastily interjected. “What’s done is done.”

“Exactly,” Tauxolouve quickly added, biting his lip. “But before we talk any more about this option the King has raised, we should talk to the little lady don’t you think?”

The others calmed down and even Zyglavis somewhat reluctantly agreed with that suggestion.

___ stirred as there was a knock at the door, grimacing a little. She wasn’t aware when she had fallen asleep but that probably just showed how used she was to Huedhaut’s room at this point. At that thought, she worriedly looked back at her husband, swallowing hard as she noticed there had been no change. Taking a deep breath, ___ kissed him once more before standing up and heading over to the door.

“Any change?” Tauxolouve asked her, biting his lip.

“... No…” she muttered, her voice cracking. “Have you come up with anything?”

Tauxolouve looked at her, his expression serious for once. “We have. However, it will indeed mean you becoming a Goddess.”

“Then, the King…”

“He won’t be involved in this,” Tauxolouve muttered, glancing awkwardly away as he led her back to the others. “There’s apparently an alternative way to do it but it isn’t usually used. I’ll let Krioff explain.”

“... Krioff?” ___ parroted, puzzled, although that did explain why the others were now gathered in the Department of Punishments rather than still in the reception area.

Krioff looked up as they entered the department, frowning at them both. “If you’ve been talking about the alternate way to become a Goddess, I still don’t like it. My father would only help if it would improve his status in the Heavens… and he will likely favour that over your safety…”

“... but if it’s the only way to save Hue…” ___ muttered, looking down at the floor. “Can we not at least discuss this with him?”

“... We can try,” Krioff relented. “But Aiess will stop at nothing to get the family name back in favour. He won’t help just because I ask, there’d have to be something in it for him.”

Zyglavis looked up at this point. “I am sure word that he helped maintain the balance of the Heavens would soon make the rounds, after all this would be to save one of the Zodiac Gods…”

Krioff glanced to the side. “I still don’t like this. If even the King called it a risk…”

“Then we just need to make sure we help from our end as well, right?” Dui interjected, smiling softly.

“Right,” Ichthys added with a grin, “We can all keep an eye on ___ and make sure nothing weird is happening!”

Karno sighed and forced a reassuring smile in ___’s direction. “Try not to let Ichthys’ wording bother you, he is trying to help…”

___ managed a smile, feeling oddly reassured by all the other Gods’ presence for once. “Don’t worry so much, I’m ready. I want to do what I can to help Hue.”

“That is as maybe,” Zyglavis muttered, standing up this time. “But is there anything you wish to do on Earth first? I suspect the moment we ask Aeiss for help, there will be no going back.”

“Zyglavis has a point,” Karno murmured softly, looking at ___ with concern. “Even if they would not remember afterwards this would be your last chance to see your friends and family whilst they still know who you are.”

“Do I have time though? I…”

Tauxolouve smiled kindly at her. “You yourself said that there was no change to Hue’s state. No improvement is troubling of course but he’s also no worse. Why dontcha go see who you want to? I am sure that would be what Hue would wish you to do. Tell ya what… I’ll go sit with him and if there’s any change I’ll come find ya. What do you say?”

“... Lou… thank you!”

The following morning, ___ headed into work as per usual.

Hiyori greeted her with a sad smile as she headed over to the reception desk. “Is it true that you’re going to be leaving us?”

Initially startled, ___ then forced a smile. Karno had said when he’d bought her back down here that he’d help in whatever way he could. This must be part of what he meant. “Yes, sorry it’s so sudden.”

“Is this to do with Huedhaut? I’ve not seen him around for a bit. You are still together, right?”

“Yes of course,” ___ reassured her quickly. “But… it is to do with him. Have you noticed how he looks really tired sometimes?” she asked, trying to think quickly about an explanation.

“Now you mention it… he has seemed rather out of sorts at times when he’s picked you up. Is he alright?”

___ took a deep breath. “It’s a condition he’s had for years but… yes you are right to be concerned. There’s been a breakthrough in the research into it back in his home country though so…”

“Oh! So you’re heading to -”

“France, yes,” ___ quickly interrupted, it being the first country that came into her mind as she recalled the mission the King had given them once.

“Well, don’t be a stranger! Look me up when you have a chance to come back here!” Hiyori replied with a bright smile. “Sounds like you’re going on a whole new adventure. Any idea what you’ll be doing work wise?”

“...” ___ fell silent, unsure how to answer that. Would there be something she could do in the Heavens?

“___ ?”

Realising she was worrying Hiyori, ___ forced a smile. “Sorry, Hue’s deterioration was so fast we haven’t really had time to plan. He’s got a transfer back to the French… office of the firm he works for at least.”

“Well I hope it all works out!”

“Don’t worry, it will,” ___ replied with a smile. “If this new research is right, it should help Hue work to his full ability once more. Right now what I need is to be there for him.”

The director approached them at this point. “I could not help but overhear that your resignation request is to do with the health of your partner. I think under the circumstances there is no need for you to work out any notice.”

___ forced a smile at him. Whilst she was tempted to say that she would work one final shift, she was still worried about taking time away from the heavens right now when they still needed to actually find out whether Aeiss would help them or not. “Well if you’re sure…”

“When I got your email this morning I could tell it was something serious. You’ve been a good employee. I can get someone else to cover your shift. Come see us sometime.”

“Thank you!” ___ responded, before bowing to both of them. She then took her leave.

Once outside the planetarium, ___ bit her lip as she tried to decide whether she could face seeing her parents one final time when if everything worked soon they would never have even known her. Before she could come to a clear decision, there was a snapping noise as Tauxolouve appeared beside her. Her breath hitched. “Is… something wrong?”

“Hue’s still stable,” Tauxolouve reassured her, though he bit his lip before continuing, “but we ran one of our regular checks and the stars in his eye seem to have faded somewhat. His breathing has not altered and there’s no sign of his body letting go of his soul but it confirms what we had already concluded: He needs energy to be shared with him, and only you can do that, ___.”

___ took a deep breath, and nodded. “Then let’s go back.”

“Are you sure, little lady? If you need to see anyone else I can teleport you there.”

“...” ___ shook her head. “Thanks, but I’m sure. Hue and I actually saw my parents relatively recently. If I go to them, that'll just make this harder…”

Tauxolouve inclined his head in understanding. Putting a hand on her shoulder and squeezing it gently, he snapped his fingers.

Karno greeted them in one of the palace corridors when they reappeared in the heavens, a worried look on his face for once. “___, did you do everything you wanted to?”

“I did enough. Thank you for laying a foundation. Though I don’t suppose it really matters in the end.”

Forcing his usual smile, Karno nodded. “Still, I’m glad you had a chance to say goodbye. Are you ready to talk to Aeiss now?”

___ nodded, forcing a worried smile of her own. “Where is everyone else?”

“Zyglavis has gone back to the archives to see whether he can find any more information that way and Krioff’s already headed to his family home. He does want to help you, you know, he’s just concerned that this could be dangerous. Everyone else has gone back to work for now.”

“... Is anyone with Hue at the moment?”

“I was until a few minutes ago,” Karno reassured her softly. “We will check on him when we can but without any other option open to us right now, if something does change it is not as though we can do anything about it.”

___ nodded in understanding.

Tauxolouve moved away from her. “Karno, I think you best take the little lady to Aeiss. I’ll see whether I can help Zyglavis in the archives.”

“Thank you, Lou,” Karno responded with a smile. He then turned his attention back to ___ once more. “Shall we?”

“Yes!”

Arriving at Krioff’s family household, Karno frowned with worry at the raised voices he could hear.

___ swallowed hard. “Krioff clearly had concerns about this…”

“Yes, but I’m afraid it’s still the one lead we have. The King is either being truthful about the power right now not being enough to raise you the normal way or he is not, and if it’s the latter we do not really have the time to persuade him to change his mind when we already at least have an answer.”

“Right,” ___ muttered in understanding, heading over to the door with Karno and ringing the bell.

It was Krioff who answered it and he glanced to the side. “Oh. You’re here.”

“Will he help?”

“Help the ex-Goddess of Fate retake her rightful place in the Heavens? Absolutely,” Aeiss replied, moving over to them. “I can erase the memories of everyone you knew as a human right now and if you stay in the Heavens it would only be a matter of time until your body starts to change because the lack of record on the Earth would mean the worlds wouldn’t know what else to do with you. However, it sounds as though you need speed rather than just a natural progression of time in the Heavens.”

Krioff turned to face his father once more with a scowl. “Yeah but you haven’t tested this potion you mentioned to me at all have you?”

“I do not think you have time to argue,” Aeiss snapped. “If this works then our household will be renowned throughout the Heavens. If it does not, then our reputation will be no worse off. There is nothing to lose and everything to gain.”

“For you maybe,” Krioff grumbled.

___ took a deep breath and stepped forward, ignoring the concerned look Karno was giving her. “Please help me, Aeiss,” she murmured, bowing her head. “I will take this risk. It’s the only way we might be able to save Hue.”

As Aeiss smirked and wandered off to make preparations, Krioff looked to her with concern. “___, I’m not sure -”

“I appreciate your concern,” ___ muttered to him softly. “But Hue’s stars have faded. We don’t have time to delay.”

Krioff’s eyes widened. “Right. But no going anywhere on your own until we’re certain you’re fully a Goddess.”

___ nodded in understanding.

Soon Aeiss returned, carrying a vial. He ignored Krioff and Karno entirely, instead looking directly at ___. “Your life on the Earth has been erased. As long as you have the will to become a Goddess, this should help speed up the process. Do not delay.”

___ took the vial shakily from him. Deciding there was no turning back now, she didn’t even talk to the others again, instead gulping down the vial. She concentrated on her love for Huedhaut, her wishes to never leave him alone ever again, but also her belief that he would only want her to do this if she was still ___. Her current self but a Goddess rather than human.

Her whole body suddenly felt like it was screaming out and there was a blinding white light. As she nearly fell to the floor, she was scarcely aware of someone catching her.

“___ ?” Krioff asked with concern.

“...”

Karno sighed as he saw Krioff glare towards his father. “We don’t have time to waste here,” he quickly interjected. “We should get ___ back to the palace. The others may be able to help.”

“... fine…” Krioff muttered, snapping his fingers.

“Aren’t you going to thank me for my help?” Aeiss asked Karno before the other had a chance to follow.

Karno looked at him, closing one eye. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. I appreciate you coming up with a way to speed up the process, but we are going to be in severe trouble if this does not work.”

“That’s your problem, not mine.”

Sighing, Karno did not dignify that comment with an answer, instead snapping his fingers and following Krioff back to the palace.

By the time Karno located Krioff, he had gathered the others in the reception room once more. He relaxed a little as he saw Ichthys was checking ___ over. “Everything seem alright?” he asked the God of Pisces.

“Huh? Oh Karno, you’re back. Yeah I can’t see any sign of injuries to her body so the potion doesn’t seem to have harmed her physical form…”

“But the fact she’s lost consciousness is a problem, yeah?” Krioff muttered, still worried about having had to use something untested.

Ichthys bit his lip as he checked her eyes. “Yeah I can still only see Hue’s stars in her eyes. She isn’t a Goddess yet. We need to make sure her physical form stays stable throughout her transformation.”

“Ichthys is correct for once,” Zyglavis confirmed as he and Tauxolouve returned from the archives, Dui having gone to fetch them. “When the King raises someone to Godhood it is a form of death but once it has worked it is almost instantaneous. Just allowing the atmosphere of the Heavens to do it is usually a much more time intensive endeavour.” He looked at Krioff. “Did your father tell you any more about this potion he used than the information you gave the others?”

Krioff shook his head. “Nah, in fact he was pretty clear this hasn’t really been tested.”

Before anyone could respond to that, ___ let out a slightly pained groan and opened her eyes. “... What happened?”

“The potion knocked you out,” Krioff muttered. “I hope it hasn’t done anything weird…”

“I… I think I’m already starting to feel different. I was actually getting a little hungry earlier but since drinking that potion that feeling has gone…”

“That’s a good sign,” Karno reassured with a smile. “It’s an indication your body is starting to change back into that of a Goddess.”

“Starting? So it’s still ongoing…” ___ murmured. “Still, as long as it’s working,” she added, trying to focus on the positive.

Karno looked toward Zyglavis and Tauxolouve. “Did you find anything else out in the archives?”

“Only really background into this form of technique. Normally the history department wouldn’t allow fiddling with the worlds like this, but because the little lady was indeed once a Goddess it’s almost viewed as setting the worlds back to how they should be,” Tauxolouve replied.

___ sat up, a little concerned at that. “But it won’t affect my memories, right?”

Zyglavis inclined his head, smirking a little. “No, you will still be your usual frustrating self. If anything, turning you to a Goddess as ___ ___ is easier with this method as it doesn’t require access to any of your memories.”

Relaxing at the somewhat reassuring words, ___ then turned to the others. “Is there anything more we can do or is it just a case of waiting and hoping now?”
“Waiting…” Teorus’ eyes suddenly widened. “What if…”

“Teo?” ___ asked him. “Have you thought of something?”

“I don’t know if your transformation would continue if I stopped time for everyone except us… but if I go into Hue’s room and create a time bubble there…”

Karno turned sharply to him, frowning as he caught on to what the other was saying. “That would make sure Hue does not get any worse, but to keep that kind of time lock going would take a lot of energy and concentration.”

“I’ve got this,” Teorus insisted. “If I can’t keep ahold of it, at least it will have bought us some time…”

“Then get to it,” Leon muttered to him.

___ smiled at Teorus. “Thank you.”

Teorus smiled back, then disappeared.

She then turned back to the others. Before she could say anything else, she flinched and put a hand to her chest.

“___ ?” Karno asked with concern, sitting down beside her.

“My body hurts… is that just because we’re forcing the process to be quicker?”

Karno frowned and thought for a moment. He glanced toward Zyglavis. “Would human medication still work right now?”

“I am not sure that is wise,” Zyglavis muttered, furrowing his eyebrows. “Whilst it’s true that such medication shouldn’t affect a Goddess, I’m concerned that it could interfere with the potion.”

“... There must be something we can do…” Dui muttered, not liking the look of pain on ___’s face.

Ichthys thought for a moment. His eyes then went blue. “Oh! What about one of those potions for restoring energy after an illness? If I go talk to my parents…”

“And then I can enhance its properties,” Karno added, looking questioningly at Zyglavis.

“That sounds the safer option,” the Minister of Punishments agreed.

Once ___ had been given the enhanced potion, she had lain back down on the sofa and closed her eyes to rest. She already was aware that her body no longer wanted to sleep, but the pain she had been feeling had taken a lot out of her.

Over the many hours that followed, the Gods all kept making sure to check in on her, though they were also getting on with their usual duties when possible, wanting nothing else to end up distracting them at a vital moment.

The following evening, Tauxolouve approached the sofa where she was still resting. Before he could call out to her, she opened her eyes and sat up.

“Lou? Time for another checkup already? I’m not sure this needs to be done so frequently. Perhaps we could…” she trailed off as she noticed his eyes had widened. “Is something wrong?”

Tauxolouve got ahold of himself as he realised he was worrying the other, and closed his eyes as he smiled brightly. “Not at all, little lady. It’s just I can see your own stars in your eyes now. You’ve made it!”

It took a few minutes for what Tauxolouve had meant to fully sink in, but when it did ___ leapt to her feet. “You mean I’m finally a Goddess?”

“Yup. Welcome home.”

Home… well that would take a bit of getting used to. She took a deep breath. “I… I should get to Hue!”

“Now hold on just a minute, little lady,” Tauxolouve muttered, his expression now concerned. “I think I and the others would be reassured if we make absolutely sure there are no ill effects first…”

___ wanted nothing more than to ignore him and run straight to Huedhaut’s room, but she knew deep down that what he was saying made sense. If something wasn’t fully complete and she shared energy with Huedhaut too early, it could put them both in danger. She nodded slowly. “Then take me to the others!”

“No need,” Zyglavis replied as he and the other Zodiac Gods (aside from Teorus) filtered back into the reception room. “When Karno noted that this checkup was taking more than the usual minute, it was blindingly obvious that there was either something wrong or the process was now fully complete. I am relieved to see it was the latter.” He then regarded ___ with a stern expression. “However, I implore you to allow us to make sure nothing is amiss.”

___ actually managed a laugh at that. “Lou was just saying exactly the same thing.”

Once they were all reassured that she was 100% a Goddess and that there did not appear to be any issues with her ascendence, ___ was about to head to Huedhaut’s bedroom when Teorus appeared in the room.

Looking rather flustered, he couldn’t meet ___’s gaze. “My time lock was already becoming more of a slowed down area rather than completely stopped but it’s gone completely now…” he muttered sadly. “And I’ve no energy to put one back up…”

___ looked at him with concern. “Teo, get some rest! The potion has worked! Don’t worry, I’m gonna go help Hue!”

As she set off at a run, Zyglavis unconsciously smiled fondly. “Even if she is still ___, some things never changed.”

Bursting into Huedhaut’s room, ___ lay down beside him and hugged him tightly. Her energy swirled around her. “Hue… come on… I love you… now we can be together every day… don’t leave me…” the others had warned her that doing this already might put strain on her already exhausted body but right now she didn’t care. All she wanted was to hear Huedhaut’s voice once more, to see his radiant smile, to look into those deep blue eyes.

As she felt herself losing consciousness, she took one last look at Huedhaut, smiling softly as she thought that his face now had far more colour to it.

She hoped that they had been in time and that she had done enough.

It was up to Huedhaut now.

Huedhaut stirred a while later with a groan, slowly opening his eyes. Feeling someone unconscious beside him, he turned toward the figure. The smile that had initially formed on his face faded as he realised that her aura was that of a Goddess, not of a human.

His heart started to break. Surely she wouldn’t have thrown away her identity just on the off chance that she could help his own body recover? Why would the others have allowed her to do this? And then he recalled his vision from the other week with himself in the throne room in his divine form, holding her in his arms. Suddenly that made sense. So had the King forced her to do this?

Getting shakily to his feet and picking her gently up, Huedhaut’s expression hardened as he rushed off to the throne room.

The King looked up as the door was slammed open, his expression unreadable. “I see you are finally awake, Huedhaut.”

“How dare you!” Huedhaut snapped at him, gripping what was his wife’s body tightly in his arms, confronting the King in his divine form. “It was one thing to test her before but to actually change her back after all of that? She knew that wasn’t what I wanted! It wasn’t what she wanted! I would have rather died than continue to serve the Heavens without her by my side. If you think for a moment I will simply -”

“... Hue…”

Hearing her voice, still full of that familiar Japanese accent, Huedhaut’s eyes widened. The wind that had been starting to swirl around him calmed down. “.... ___ ?”

“Yes, I’m still me… No one on Earth will remember me but that’s okay, I have you. I couldn’t bear the thought of losing you… that’s what you meant before we got married too wasn’t it?”

Huedhaut flushed red and sighed heavily as he looked at her with an exasperated but loving smile. “I hope you had figured that out before now,” he muttered. He then flinched as he heard the King clear his throat, and swallowed hard. “Your Highness, I… I was out of line…”

“Don’t you dare apologise to that sparkly bastard,” Scorpio grumbled as the other Zodiac Gods started heading into the throne room, having felt the surge in power. “If he’d just been truthful with the both of you from the start this coulda been avoided. I should know.”

“Even my Scorpio dares to speak against me today?” The King asked, frowning.”Still it seems as though you did not need me at all for this emergency. ___ ___ is now a Goddess, and Huedhaut should no longer be in danger. All I did was mention an unorthodox technique. Though should that ever cause an issue, you will be on your own.”

“It won’t,” Krioff stated firmly. “We took as many precautions as possible.”

Huedhaut sighed, feeling exhausted already even though he’d been unconscious for almost all of the past week. He regarded the others with a frown. “Would any of you care to explain what exactly you did to raise ___ to Goddess level without interfering with her memories and not during the rift?”

___ got out of his arms and took his hand in hers instead. “Does that matter right now? We’ve all the time in the world to talk about that…”

“I suppose we have,” Huedhaut muttered, his voice now far calmer. “Though I hope you no longer cause me such worry.”

“... I’m sorry…”

Huedhaut hugged her tightly, and smiled lovingly at her. “You risked everything to save me but made sure you were still you. I can’t stay mad…” In reality this was more than he could ever have dreamed for. Sure, he was sad that she’d had to throw her humanity away, but the fact remained that she still was at heart the human woman with the love of stars he’d fallen in love with over the past few years. He then regarded the others once more. “Whilst what my wife says makes sense, I would at least like to know who I have to thank for us being able to be together for eternity.”

Ichthys laughed and grinned at him. “That depends on how you look at it, right? Ziggy was the one that found out your energy could still be restored by sharing of power but only if ___ could do it, if Leon and Karno hadn’t confronted the King we might not have found out there was an alternative way to turn someone into a Goddess, and that alternative wouldn’t be possible at all without Krioff’s family! Not to mention Teo’s time lock and probably a handful of other things… we all wanted to make sure you would recover.”

Krioff glanced away as Huedhaut looked at him, his cheeks flushing red a little. “... I just did what I was commanded to,” he muttered.

If Huedhaut wasn’t still recovering, he might have thought of a sarcastic remark to respond with, but right now his focus was on something else Ichthys had just said. “Leon, Karno, you…”

Karno laughed at his puzzlement that it had apparently been both of them that had talked to the King at the start of all this. He smirked. “I guess you could say I’ve finally tamed this lion.”

Leon rolled his eyes and scowled, but still wrapped an arm tightly around Karno’s shoulders. “I could go off you, you know, Vice Minister.”

“As fascinating as this conversation is, I think you are all forgetting yourselves,” The King interrupted at this point, looking harshly in Huedhaut and ___’s direction. “Huedhaut, I will let go that you came in here with the intention of attacking me. I shall assume that that was a momentary lapse in judgement because you are not fully recovered. Do not let the work the others did to save you go to waste.”

Leon and Karno glanced at each other, then moved in front of Huedhaut and ___.

“Do not threaten them,” Karno warned, his voice eerily calm. “I have held Leon back in the past but do not force us to play our hand. There is strength in love, ___ and Hue prove that.”

Huedhaut’s breath hitched with worry at the meaning behind Karno’s words, but he relaxed as he saw the smile on the King’s face.

“I am glad to see you have also come to terms with your Godhood, Karno. Now I suggest you all leave before I decide this is something more serious.”

As they all decided it was best to listen to that command and filtered out of the throne room, Huedhaut smiled softly to himself as ___ unconsciously shifted closer to him, still a little unsteady.

With ___ by his side, eternity no longer seemed like such a long time.

Chapter Text

A few days later, once it was clear that Huedhaut was fully recovered and there was definitely no ill-effects from the potion ___ had used, they both took a walk in the palace gardens.

“Are you quite certain you are feeling alright?” Huedhaut asked as they sat down at the gazebo.

___ sighed heavily, but smiled at him. “How many more times must you ask that? I feel absolutely wonderful, Hue.”

Huedhaut glanced down at the ground, before hesitantly asking, “And you are sure you do not regret this?”

“Hue, do you know of any other way we could have saved you?”

He looked back up, a surprised look on his face. That hadn’t been what he’d expected her reply to be. “No…”

“Then I do not regret this. If the ‘smartest man in the Heavens’ cannot think of another way, and several days worth of research from the other Zodiac Gods turned up nothing, that suggests if there is anything else we could have done, it would have taken far too long.”

Huedhaut relaxed into a smile, but at a thought it then turned into a smirk.

“... Hue?”

“You know when I felt that the presence lying beside me was a Goddess, not a human, I was so scared that I had actually lost you this time… I think now we have both recovered, it is time I punish you for making me worry so much.”

___ swallowed a little, though she looked at him with determined eyes. “What exactly do you have in mind?”

Pulling her to her feet without another word, Huedhaut dragged her away from the gazebo.

After they had walked for a while, he pushed her down into one of the flowerbeds. Before she could protest, he sealed her lips with a passionate kiss.

Pushing him away after a while for air, ___ found herself getting lost in his deep dark blue eyes, but then she laughed a little as she noticed a leaf in his hair. Reaching a hand up, she brushed it away. “Why did you push us down here?” she asked quietly. “... What if one of the others finds us?”

“Then that will be your own fault for causing all this trouble,” Huedhaut teased her, though he was smiling fondly instead of smirking for once. “As to why… don’t tell me you’ve forgotten…”

“Forgotten…” ___ frowned, trying to think of what he meant, then her eyes widened. “Oh! That time back at the mansion on Earth!”

Huedhaut nodded, before pulling her into another kiss. “Yes, my Goddess, that is exactly what I mean. And I will make sure throughout our time together that you never forget those years we spent together on Earth. They mean as much to me as I am sure they do to you.”

“Hue…” ___ breathed, before pulling him into another kiss of her own.

When they next parted for air, Huedhaut helped her back to her feet. Whilst it was tempting to stay in the flowers, he didn’t really want the others to find them right now. He was enjoying a last evening of peace before going back to his position in the Department of Wishes. At least the others had given them these few days alone.

“... Are we heading back already?” ___ asked, her voice sounding a little disappointed.

Huedhaut shook his head, and mocked a sigh. “Do you really have so little faith in me?” he lamented, glancing at the ground.

“N-no of course not, why are you -” ___ cut off as he looked back up with a massive smirk on his face. “Hue! You’re not playing fair!”

“Consider that the last of your punishment,” Huedhaut retorted with a chuckle. “Now then, there is somewhere we should go.” Now smiling once more, he took her hand in his own and snapped his fingers.

When they arrived at their destination, ___’s eyes widened at the familiar mass of pink water in front of them. She looked back at Huedhaut, taking both of his hands in her own, their wedding ring still glinting on her finger. “The fountain of love, but why?”

“When we were last here we got married despite all the adversity we have faced,” Huedhaut murmured, his voice far softer than ___ could ever recall having heard it before. “Now I want to speak more freely, especially as a promise of eternal love now will mean exactly that. We are bound as one… but then, I guess we always have been. After using half my stars to save your soul, I did not even know whether I would even find you again and that was assuming my panicked attempt had even worked. But then, against all the odds, fate seemed to decide we needed to meet again, and more than that… you decided that I was the one you wanted to save you that night. Part of me wonders what would have happened had you called someone else’s name, but most of me knows that that doesn’t matter: you chose me. And I do mean you. At that stage you clearly had no idea of what had gone before. Now that I can have you by my side for all eternity, I feel like I must be the luckiest man in all of the Heavens… no, all of the Heavens and the Earth. I hope that there will not be any more adversity we will have to overcome, but if there is, this time I will make sure I do not lose you. I will not let you go ever again. So, I will ask you once more, will you be by my side for all eternity?”

___ smiled brightly, and this time, fully confident in herself and her new life, wrapped her arms tightly around him. “Of course I do! I love you, Hue.”

“I love you too, my darling Goddess, my wonderful wife, my ___.”