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Caelus slowly opened his eyes, rays of sunshine and golden fields greeted him as far as the eye could see with the only sign of civilization in sight being a small village in the distance, Aedes Elysiae.
A nostalgic smile grew on his face as he began walking toward it. Memories of the Flamechase Journey passed through his mind as he waded through the wheat.
The Amphoreus crisis was solved now. Together with everyone, they had reached the end of this romantic story and now everyone was free to pursue the lives they had always dreamed of, whether it be on Amphoreus or somewhere else in the universe. At last, they were finally free from the shackles of the black tide and Fate, able to walk towards their own happy endings.
Well, everyone but him, and her .
Sitting on a swing under a tree was a young pink-haired girl reading a book. She bore a pleasant smile on her face as she read through it, flipping through the pages slowly and carefully, savoring each and every word as if they had been her lifelong companions.
As his footsteps grew closer and closer, the girl perked up a bit but decided to go back to reading, pretending she hadn’t heard of him. The smirk on his face grew a tad wider as he watched her antics, continuing his walk towards her.
As he got closer, he could hear the sweet tune that she was humming while reading, still seemingly oblivious to his presence. Deciding to prank her a bit, he quickly placed his hands below her arms and-
“Hah!”
-proceeded to lift her off the swings. She turned towards him, a smirk on her face as she shifted her body weight in such a fashion that it forced him to fall over under her. Landing with a thud, Caelus struggled to stand up only to be stymied by the young girl currently straddling him.
“Hehe. Looks like it’s my win again, Caelus!”
“Guess I can’t win against you, huh?” He looked up to see the young woman currently sitting on him, her beautiful pink hair swaying in the wind as the sun shined behind her, illuminating her in an almost ethereal fashion. Transfixed by the sight in front of him, he slowly reached his hand out to grasp her cheek.
She held his hand in hers, leaning into his touch. The two remained like that for a while, content to feel each other’s touch for the first time in what seemed like forever. After what seemed like hours, the two finally separated.
They stood in front of each other, face to face. Caelus stood awkwardly while Cyrene stood with one hand on her hip, pouting cutely all the while. They stood in silence until…
“I’m so sorry.”
Caelus bowed his head, apologizing profusely to the girl in front of him. Cyrene crossed her arms and turned away from him, still pouting all the while.
“Hmph! You’ve got some nerve making a girl as cute and beautiful as me wait all this time, y’know?” She scolded him, waving her finger about as she did so. Caelus let out an awkward laugh in response.
“Sorry, sorry. It took me a while to come back here even after everything that happened. I was really busy for a bit and I- Wha? W-wait!” Caelus was cut off as Cyrene snatched something from his coat pockets. It was a small box, the size of a person’s palm. Small as it was though, it was clear from the onset that it was incredibly valuable.
“Oh? Could it have something to do with this perhaps? Hehe, take it if you can!” She said playfully, inspecting the mysterious item while Caelus tried his best to take it back. The pair’s scuffle lasted for about a couple minutes as Cyrene weaved between Caelus’s feeble attempts to recover it.
Eventually, their bout ended with Cyrene standing victorious over the tired, exhausted and defeated Caelus. Cyrene lorded the box over his head, holding it just out of reach of his limp and feeble arms.
“Sorry, sorry. I just felt like getting back at you for a bit. Here.” She said apologetically, handing him the mystery box back. Caelus took it, though not without a sense of sadness that she didn’t seem to show any particulat reaction to it.
Though considering her, she’d already made up her mind anyway.
“Th-thanks. I’m just gonna… catch my breath… for a bit…” He said, turning over to collapse to the ground on his back. Cyrene sat down next to him before lifting his head up and placing it on her lap.
“Wha-”
“Don’t worry about it. This is partly my fault after all so just think of it as compensation, okay?” She said, finishing her remark with the trademark wink that she always did.
“Besides… She said, leaning in close, close enough that their noses could almost touch.
“...you already know my answer.” She whispered those words in his ear before she leaned in closer still, her lips touched his and for a few seconds, Caelus forgot how to breathe.
Only when she seperated from him did he realize that he was holding his breath. His face turned bright red, whether that was from embarassment or suffocation, he couldn’t tell. Regardless of the cause though, Cyrene still laughed at the face he made.
Caelus panicked while she laughed, not noticing that in his brief moment of turmoil, she had once again snatched the box from him. This time though, she opened it up, revealing a beautiful golden ring adorned with a sky blue gem.
Cyrene gazed at it with loving tenderness as she picked it up and inspected it. Caelus, as tired as he was, could only watch as she slipped on to her ring finger, holding her hand out for him to see.
“Well, how does it look?”
Caelus thought of a million things to say, from loving compliments for the love of his life to begrudging complaints that his surprise had been spoiled. Despite all of that though, he only felt love for the woman in front of him.
“Guess I can’t beat you after all, huh?” He said, content to rest in her lap as all of his anticipation and dread washed away from him.
“Of course. I know you better than everyone after all!” She confidently said, leaning down to kiss him once more. Now no longer surprised, Caelus reciprocated as best he could, not wanting to waste a single second of this precious memory.
A few minutes later, they both began walking together side by side, his hands held in hers, a particular blue glint shining on Cyrene’s hand. There was no particular destination to their walk, they just wanted each other all to themselves right now and there was no better way to spend time with each other than going on a pleasant walk. Especially in locales as beautiful as this one.
“Well, what shall we do now? Planning on telling anyone yet?” She asked.
“You know Phainon would never forgive us if we didn’t tell him first right?” He replied.
“That is true but Aglaea would be the same too right? I can already see her complaining that she could’ve spent more time on my dress if we told her first. Honestly, she puts way too much effort sometimes.”
“That’s because you look perfect in everything.”
“Hehe, that is true.”
The two giggled at their little joke, already imagining the dressweaver’s reaction to their announcement.
“Oh! I have an idea. Caelus, come here.”
“Eh- Whoa!”
Cyrene suddenly wrapped her arm around Caelus’s, pulling him close. She then used her other hand to hold her phone out in front of them, posing in a way that it would capture both Caelus and the ring on her finger. A quick snap later and the photo was taken.
“And… send! There we go.” A few clicks later and the photo was sent into their group chat. “Alright, that’s that. Now then, where should we go ne- Huh?” Satisfied with having notified their companions, Cyrene was about to ask Caelus where they should go when her phone suddenly began to be bombarded with messages and notifications.
A staggering amount actually. The same thing soon happened to Caelus’s phone, the same messages flooding his inbox as well.
Before they could decide how to respond, a strong gust of wind blew past them, announcing the arrival of a certain feline thief.
“Cipher? What are you doing here?” He asked her, already used to her appearing out of nowhere.
A cheeky yet strangely apologetic smile appeared on her face as she answered, “Yo, Caelus! Sorry bout this but Aglaea needs to borrow your bride for a second. Congratulations by the way!”
“Wha-”
Before they could react, Cipher suddenly grabbed Cyrene and dashed off, presumably to Okhema where the golden weaver was most assuredly waiting, leaving Caelus all alone by himself.
He sighed, pulling out his phone to return back to the Astral Express, not even considering teleporting to Okhema, knowing Aglaea would kill him if he even tried to sneak a peek at Cyrene’s dress. As attractive as that prospect was, he would’ve liked to live till his wedding day.
Caelus blushed at the thought, the events only now just starting to register. Before he could enjoy the moment any further however, he received another message. It was a short and simple one, which made it all the more terrifying.
March: You owe us answers.
Caelus shivered, entering the coordinates to return to the Astral Express with the demeanor of a man walking toward his execution. The despondent man disappearing from Aedes Elysiae soon after.
It seemed that even after the climax, there were still many trials and tribulations to come.