Zu Mari stared at her steadily. "Would you rather die?"

Othima looked away, but did not answer. Zu let the silence linger.

"I am the youngest, weakest daughter of my house,” she whispered at length. “I can only serve in this meager capacity because I am too useless to do anything else but run errands and deliver ultimatums to stupid, tiny, insignificant rural backwaters like this. My duty is everything. How can I even consider breaking my oaths? Shouldn’t my loyalty be stronger than life itself?”

Her hands tightened into fists, voice becoming a hiss. “And yet… I owe my family nothing. What have they ever given me but derision and scorn? What has my Empire ever done but throw me away?”

She snapped her head up sharply, meeting Zu’s eyes. “I am done,” she said, voice wavering though her gaze held steady. “I am done living for the whims of others. I hereby resign my post as Outer Realms Ambassador for the Otterman Empire. Taale, you bear witness to this moment.”

The otter nodded, bounding over to Othima’s leg to lean against it comfortingly.

“Zu Mari, I will not inform the Empire of your involvement. You may go your way, and I shall go mine. There is no reason for us to be enemies. Indeed, without you as a catalyst… I may never have had the courage to break myself free of the invisible chains of duty and perceived honor that bound me to a life I never wanted. Now… I can make something of myself.”

“Seek out the Mari clan,” Zu said, impulsively. “Go to my cousin, Kayli, and my Grandfather Gari. Tell them I sent you. You will be treated well, and can spend some time living with my family until you know what you wish to do with your life.”

Othima leaned forward and kissed Zu gently on the cheek. “Thank you, Zu Mari. You have done more for me than I would ever ask, more than I deserve by far.”

“You deserve a second chance,” Zu said. He withdrew the time field, allowing reality to slam back into them. “Go, and live well, Othima Otta.”

She bowed, deep and grateful, then departed.

Zu sighed in relief and hurried out of the village before anyone else could come bother him. He cut sideways into the forest, called Death Shadow, and lay down.

How long had it been since he last slept? Between loops, constant danger, and more loops, he didn’t think he’d rested since leaving the Mari lands. Regardless of his inner spirit and phoenix, right now he felt entirely worn out.

Zu checked that everyone would be fine, put up a moderate sized bubble, told Death Shadow and Little Otter to keep watch, and fell asleep.

“Zu Mari, your time has come.”

The voice was ethereal and divine, so sweet in inflection that Zu reacted immediately with undeniable adoration. His breath caught and he swayed, almost overwhelmed with the urge to fall to his knees. “Who are you?” he breathed, his voice sounding so rough and unrefined beside that untouchable beauty that he felt ashamed. He looked around for the speaker, but saw no one. And nothing.

He no longer lay in the forest, surrounded by his time bubble and watched over by his familiars, but in a vast plane of misty purple fog that pulsed golden and twisted blue. It made his head hurt to try and figure out how it worked, so he stared down at the blessedly ordinary ground beneath him. A perfectly flat black surface was infinitely preferable to the mind-breaking nothing-fog that surrounded him.

“I am Serena, Goddess of Peace. I have come to you for you alone can save me.”

She stepped from the purple misty nothing and appeared before him, clothed only in golden light and perfection, her brown eyes gentle and pleading as they looked deep into Zu’s own.

“I… of course,” Zu answered, captivated utterly. “Ask anything and I will do it.”

“Come with me,” the goddess said and held out a hand.

Zu took it hesitantly, the soft warmth of her skin as she held him simultaneously gentle and overwhelmingly strong. The overflowing power of her spirit flooded into him through the contact, overshadowing the highest heights he’d ever attained so powerfully that he felt immediately unworthy.

The height of human perfection was as nothing compared to her. He knew he’d been right to aim for the heavens. The world could offer him nothing to match. And… he suddenly knew himself to be among the ranks of earthly, wretched, unfinished beings who walked its mundane surface. Though his soul was pure and his ambition boundless, right now, so far, he had yet to truly attain his future glory.

“How could one such as you need the aid of someone like me?” Zu asked, his voice catching in his throat in shame. “I am not yet worthy.”

The goddess laughed, a sound that soothed away all Zu’s worries in an instant. “There are limitations upon even gods. You alone can break all barriers and accomplish anything, no matter how hard.”

“I?” Zu had always known he had a great destiny, but to be confirmed in his ambitions by one as beautiful and flawless as Serena took his breath away. “I will do it. I will prove myself and ascend to rule the heavens!”

“I know you will,” Serena confirmed. “There is no other way for this to end but with your supremacy. And if you can save me now, I will faithfully serve you all through the long, twisting road to that inevitable destiny.”

Zu did fall to his knees then, grasping the goddess’s hand with both of his. “I am unworthy of such veneration.” One day he would be able to stand proudly and accept her well-deserved accolades, but as he was now?

Her gentle laugh again eased his concerns. “Do not be ashamed, Zu Mari. I do not speak in vain. You need never concern yourself with your worthiness. There is no other who could ever surpass your destiny.”

Zu nodded, deeply aware of his own unmatched destiny, though he sometimes despaired at the long path that lay between him and his eventual ascension. Never for long, but there were moments when he felt the crushing weight of years and decades stretching out ahead of him before his perfect future could be realized.

“I have seen your wisdom and power in diplomacy,” the goddess continued. “One of the worlds I rule has been troubled by a great war stretching on for generations. My power dwindles and if it is not ended I fear I will fade from it entirely.”

He cast away all fears and doubts and let his voice ring clear and confident. “I will save you!”

She smiled and bowed her head. “That is why I have come to you. You alone have the power and wisdom to bring this conflict to an end. Are you ready?”

“Yes. I am ready.”

Serena lifted him to his feet and he stood, strong and proud and beautiful. For a fleeting moment he imagined that she would kiss him, so intently did she gaze into his eyes.

Then the moment ended. Her presence vanished, leaving behind the scent of infinity and the whisper of future promise against his skin.