Play 'Love Story'
{Discord- https://discord.gg/2sM5QrxBtS}
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Nyxara patted Eterna's shoulder with a teasing smile. "Love you too, Sis~!"
Just as Eterna let out a dramatic sigh, trying to compose herself, a familiar voice cut through their moment.
"Oh? What's this? Sisterly bonding? Now that's a rare sight."
Both sisters flinched.
Nyxara's hand froze mid-pat. Eterna, already flustered, stiffened as if caught red-handed.
Slowly, they turned.
Standing there, arms crossed, eyes gleaming with unmistakable amusement—was Zar.
The silence was so intense that one could hear the fabric of reality awkwardly shuffling its feet.
Nyxara, the quicker of the two, attempted to recover. "Ah, Master! You're back! That was—uh—fast!"
Eterna, however, was too stunned to speak. She could still feel the residual heat of her embarrassment burning her entire existence.
Zar chuckled, stepping forward. "Oh, don't mind me. I just happened to remember something important I wanted to give you two."
Zar reached into his coat, pulling out two radiant crystals. They pulsed with a soft, ethereal glow, refracting light like tiny galaxies trapped within.
"Here," he said, handing one to each of them with a smirk. "A little something for you two."
Eterna and Nyxara exchanged confused looks before turning their attention back to him.
"What is this?" Eterna finally asked, tilting the crystal in her palm, watching as it refracted the surrounding light in mesmerizing patterns.
Zar chuckled, his golden-purple eyes gleaming mischievously. "Try channeling a bit of your divine power into it."
The sisters did as instructed. The moment their divine energy flowed into the crystal—
Their souls nearly left their bodies.
The space around them shimmered, and suddenly, a perfect projection played before their eyes—a vivid recording of their recent conversation.
At Last.
Nyxara's teasing voice echoed:
"Love you too, Sis~!"
Followed immediately by Eterna's sharp gasp of realization and Nyxara's equally horrified whisper:
"He was here the whole time, wasn't he?"
"...—Yes. Yes, he was."
Their faces turned pale.
Then red.
Then an even deeper shade of red.
They stood frozen, completely statue-like, as the reality of what had just happened sank in.
Zar sighed, rubbing his temple. "Relax. No one else is ever going to see this. These crystals are for you to keep as a… memory of today's incident." His eyes gleamed with amusement. "Think of it as a keepsake."
The two goddesses turned to him slowly, their expressions unreadable.
"You…" Nyxara began, her voice a mix of disbelief and mild horror.
"You actually recorded it?" Eterna finished, her fingers twitching.
Zar simply gave them a knowing smirk.
A long, very tense silence filled the air.
Then, without waiting for more reactions, he waved his hand dismissively. "Alright, enough sulking. Time to move. Eterna, take Nyxara back to my palace, as I said. Explain everything to her on the way to the Eternium Sanctum." His voice turned casual. "Make sure she understands."
With that, he teleported away, vanishing into a ripple of purple energy.
As Zar vanished from sight, Eterna and Nyxara, now left to themselves, exchanged glances before Eterna gestured toward the space, summoning a radiant pathway of divine energy beneath their feet.
The celestial bridge shimmered with hues of gold and silver, weaving through the vast cosmic expanse as it stretched toward Eternium Sanctum, an ancient and enigmatic place that few had ever seen up close. As they stepped onto the path, the air around them carried a charged stillness—an anticipation that neither of them could ignore.
Nyxara, her raven -black hair cascading behind her, walked with a calm yet inquisitive expression. Her deep amethyst eyes held a flicker of curiosity as she glanced toward Eterna.
"You know," she began, her voice smooth but contemplative, "our master is truly a remarkable one." She let out a small chuckle, shaking her head. "To think he would gift us a crystal just to keep today's memories... I never expected such sentimentality from him."
Eterna, walking beside her, nodded but remained silent for a few moments. Unlike Nyxara, whose aura held an air of mystery, Eterna radiated an almost celestial grace—her silver-black robes flowing effortlessly as if woven from the very fabric of life and death itself.
Nyxara took another step forward, her gaze now focused on the endless expanse ahead. Then, with a curious tilt of her head, she turned back to Eterna.
"Well then, tell me. What exactly is Eternium Sanctum?" she asked, her tone carrying a mixture of genuine intrigue and mild skepticism.
Eterna glanced at her, a hint of nostalgia flashing in her golden eyes.
"When you chose to leave the divine realms, Nyxara," Eterna began, her voice carrying the weight of millennia, "you left behind more than just your title. You left behind a time of relative peace. But a millennium after your departure, a disturbance rippled through the Nexus Verse—something none of us could ignore."
Nyxara narrowed her eyes slightly. "A disturbance?"
Eterna nodded. "The Wall of Dominion, which had remained dormant since its creation, suddenly… activated. It was as if something deep within it had awoken. An inscription appeared upon its surface—words none of us had ever seen before."
Nyxara's brows furrowed. "What did it say?"
Eterna's voice lowered, almost reverent as she recited:
"From the depths where silence sleeps,
A whisper stirs, the cosmos weeps.
A name unspoken, carved in fate,
Beyond all time, He lies in wait.
The stars align, the Wall now sings,
A symphony for gods and kings.
The Sanctum stirs, the Veil undone,
The Verse shall bow—He soon shall come."
A heavy silence followed. The only sound was the gentle hum of the celestial bridge beneath their feet. Nyxara's expression remained unreadable, but a flicker of recognition passed through her eyes.
"So the Wall of Dominion… is the boundary of this Sanctum?" Nyxara mused, her voice laced with realization.
"Exactly," Eterna said, looking at her with a knowing glance. "And you must understand what that means. The Wall of Dominion has only ever been associated with one being—our Master. It marked the edges of what he deemed his domain, but for it to react in such a manner…" She exhaled, shaking her head. "It could only mean one thing. He was revealing himself to us for the first time."
Nyxara remained silent, her fingers idly tracing the crystal that Zar had gifted her earlier. Her mind raced through the implications, through the history she had chosen to leave behind.
"And then?" she finally asked.
Eterna's expression darkened slightly. "And then… we waited. Another millennium passed before the Sanctum itself allowed entry."
Nyxara's gaze flickered toward her companion, noticing the shift in her tone.
"You say that as if stepping inside wasn't the end of it," Nyxara remarked, crossing her arms.
Eterna smirked. "That's because it wasn't. What we found inside…" She trailed off, letting the air between them thicken with unspoken weight.
Nyxara raised an eyebrow. "Don't keep me in suspense, Eterna. What did you see?"
Eterna turned to her, her golden eyes glowing faintly as she whispered—
{What are you thinking? Am I gonna give my readers a spoiler? Nah... (°^°)! }
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Back in the Sanctum
Zar casually conversed with his system as he strolled through the ethereal halls of his domain.
"So, what can I buy from the shop function?" he asked, stretching his arms.
His system responded in a business-like tone.
["That depends on your power level, dear customer. Our inventory is updated based on your growth. The stronger you are, the greater the selection."]
Zar sighed. "You're really acting like a merchant now?"
["Well, you did unlock the Shop Function, didn't you?"] the system chimed smugly.
A golden text box hovered before him, displaying a system message:
[Congratulations! You have unlocked a new function: "Shop"! You can now access various items, tools, and relics for purchase!]
Zar exhaled through his nose. "Yeah, yeah. I'll check it later."