Tilly woke up earlier than usual due to the bird chirping by the window. She yawned and turned sideways planning to get more comfortable and continue her sleep. Then she saw a woman with black hair sleeping beside her with a sloppy and peaceful look in her face. Tilly couldn't help smiling as she now remembered that Ashes had just come back and they spent the night together talking and sharing what had happened in the time they were apart. Time quickly passed by as they treasured their first time together after a long time. Tilly raised her arm and caressed ashes cheeks.
"Goodmorning Your Majesty" Ashes said. Tilly was not surprised as she knew ashes would awaken with the lightest touch yet she did not care and rested her hand in her face. She drew in for a kiss and Ashes silently consented by closing her eyes.
After they separated Tilly felt giddy and got up from bed opening the curtains and gazing outside full of vigor for today's work. Knowing that she now had her personal guard and the love of her life back in Neverwinter. She looked at the chirping birds and wondered if this scene will make it to Honey's ears. She sighed from the thought and made a mental note to have a talk with her later on.
It was now close to noon. Tilly opened the door to Roland's previous office which was now hers and was surprised to find Agatha and Isabella waiting inside. Seeing Tilly enter they both stopped their conversation and was about to greet her when they saw who Tilly was with.
"How can this be! Ashes is that you?" Agatha exclaimed in surprise and confusion. In her mind there was no possible way for the person she was seeing to be there. She knew of Ashes fate from the war. She was amazed at what Ashes had done in the battlefield and in her eyes, as a Transcendent she would be equal in status to the three chiefs. Yet this could not explain why she was currently in front of her.
"Relax Agatha. I shall explain everything that happened and what my brother promised me during the war" Tilly recounted her despair when Ashes was pronounced dead after the battle and Roland seeing her throw every bit of her time in developing the Aerial Knights knew something was different with her. Like she didn't care if she had lost her life as long as she could hurt the demons who took her Ashes away. During this time Roland had promised her a way to save Ashes and bring her back. This gave her a new hope and the will to not die and come back from the battlefield.
As this was the first time that Ashes has also heard of this she could not help feeling complicated. She wanted to reprimand Tilly for being so reckless with her life after she died but she felt touched that she actually holds her this dear. Tilly seeing her changing expressions laughed "That was the past and now everything is ok there are no more threats to me and Neverwinter so you shouldn't be worried anymore and just be happy that I am happy"
Agatha and Isabella hearing this for the first time wanted to ask further questions regarding the Realm of Mind and how Ashes came to be but they found it difficult to intrude on Tilly and Ashes having a smiling bout. Finally, Agatha being unable to bear with it any longer broke the silence.
"Your Majesty I am happy that Ashes is now here and well but may I know why you called on us. Sean said you had something important to discuss with us."
"Ahem. Yes, my brother Roland actually sent a notice to me about a new project"
"Really?" Isabella asked in wonder "and what is this new project of his?"
"It's hard to explain as its actually something new and haven't been done before" Tilly summarized the information regarding Project Gateway and gave them the plans created by Roland.
"If he has time creating this plan and moving people from the Dream World then he probably has time to come here at least once in a while" Agatha stated. "It wouldn't hurt to be able to ask a few questions regarding this otherworldly magic called Force of Nature"
Tilly gave an understanding look towards Agatha "He will take care of the Gateway on their side. Therefore we need not worry about the application of Force of Nature on our side and just think about how we will transfer enough magic power to activate the gate. We certainly can't have Spear drain the witches magic power to activate the gate."
"Hmm theoretically we don't need to use witches magic power directly. Like the Mystery Moon 1 can provide energy to power the factories we can have something of similar capability of holding magic power to activate the gate for us." Isabella explained "I was thinking that only Leaf herself can activate the gate alone. So we can't keep relying on her every time we need to open it"
Isabella kept pacing while speaking "Perhaps we can use a sigil to power this gate. Such as the sigil of divine will which can hold a tremendous amount of magic power"
Agatha's eyes lit up "I'll have to talk to Celine about this. I believe she can find a way to duplicate its properties with a varying function from the original."
"Alright" Tilly finally spoke "Now that we have an idea how to accomplish this lets get started right away. Let us show my brother that we can accomplish this new project with the capabilities of Neverwinter"
"Yes Your Majesty" Agatha and Isabella replied in unison. Then proceeded to walk out of the room while discussing the timeline of the upcoming project.
Tilly sighed while looking towards the mahogany desk looking for the next agenda to be addressed when she caught a glance from the side. It was Ashes looking at Tilly with a proud look in her eyes.
"What?" Tilly said inquisitively
"I just thought that he really is your brother. You have the same look that he has when he was working here. I never really thought this far ahead but I'm proud of what you've accomplished while I was gone. You've grown splendidly Your Majesty"
"Are you my Nightingale? You wouldn't ask me for snacks now would you?" Tilly teased.
Seeing as Ashes was about to retort "I was just teasing. You need not stay with me all the time. Perhaps you can visit the others and tell them that your back. I bet Andrea would really be surprised"
Ashes while entertaining the thought in her mind turned towards the door "Excuse me for a while then Your Majesty"
"Alright" Tilly said wishing she could see the others reactions but she knew it was time to get back to work. She couldn't bear being less productive than Roland and with Ashes being back, the world looks brighter than ever.