There was a blinding light. A gargantuan splash resounded around her ears and crashed at her feet. When Val made an intake of breath, fresh air filled her lungs—not thin like the bubbles of Leviathan’s respiration, but real, fresh air. Once her eyes adjusted to the brilliant light, she realized that her pupils had needed to constrict for the sunlight.

Back home, Val felt so overwhelmed with relief that she wanted to rejoice with pure laughter and an unrestrained smile.

Instead, her body dropped to the sand beneath her, crippled by a burning sensation worse than any cold of Leviathan’s Cradles could ever set over her bones. She was being ignited from her core, like everything had set on the contortion of her innards. Val could feel her jaw split open with her scream. Her body writhed and curled into herself until she registered two hands holding either side of her head.

“It’s over now,” the steady voice of Tavras whispered to her. “You’re safe.”

The pain had been banished by his healing touch. Desperate to grab onto any form of reassurance, both her hands clamped over his and tugged on him with all her weight. “Thanks, Tavras. Thank you so much for saving us!”

Already, she said ‘us’ so to include her soulmate, Arius.

Before she could cut off the circulation in Tavras’s wrists, somebody else more fond of her attention came bolting over. A frantic Dobie split her grasp of Tavras and pushed his way into Val’s arms.

“Foofy!” she cried. Val hugged him the best he could through the excitement of his wiggling body.

His sides thumped into her, and his feet tramped over her. Dog nails dug at her thighs and calves, a most welcome sensation compared to the earlier pain. Foofy was so happy to see Val again, and likewise, she was so happy to see him that she did not even care about getting walked on.

“I’m fine,” she whispered to him. The earlier scream must have terrified the poor boy. “You’re such a good boy. Good Foofy.” Val continued in her calming pets and whispers until he lay down and relaxed at her side.

The sparkling waters looked as peaceful as they had before Arius had arranged for an oil tanker to explode over the reef. Her eyes cast out towards land where the rough figure of a busted ship had been tossed far onto shore, landing atop busted trees. Any evidence of the burning oil in the reef had already been cleansed away.

“I’m going to fetch Arius now,” Tavras said bluntly, his feet at the edge of the sandbar. The gentle waves lapped at his legs where he had frozen. Momentarily, he glanced back to her. “Are you sure about this… change of heart that you’ve had?” Tavras waved one hand around in the air. It was if he could not bear to describe what he had witnessed without sarcasm.

“Yes,” Val said resolutely. “Arius saved my life, and he didn’t do anything wrong. You even said so yourself!”

“Never, did I say that Arius was excused from all blame.”

“You defended him.” Val sat there with her arms crossed, defensive herself.

Tavras huffed out a sigh. “I’m still having a serious talk with him.” With that, he ran out over the water and began his efforts to recall Charybdis.

“Don’t be too harsh on him please!” Val begged in her shout. She had cupped both hands around her mouth to better project her voice out to him, but then slowly returned them to their rightful place on Foofy.

When the raging whirlpool restarted and broke the serenity of the scene once again, Val could not bear to look at those towering teeth. At the exact same time, she felt compelled to look, unable to divert her eyes.

The speedy form of Tavras, dashing across the water, let himself be consumed by Charybdis’s maw. The jaws sent out a massive spray of water as its jaws snapped shut. Then, Charybdis descended back into the ocean with a roaring crash.

A massive wave was created in its wake, cresting towards Val and Foofy. She held onto the Dobie tightly while her eyes squeezed shut tighter. The wave crashed over their heads and completely covered the little island of sand. The water receded from the sandbar once more, and the ripples died down across the ocean.

Val sat there dripping. Foofy shook out his fur to give her some additional splatters of water.

The passing seconds could be timed with the sound of droplets parting from her clothes and hair. The steady drips only served to increase her anxiety.

The more time that passed, the further that peace could reclaim itself over the atmosphere of Bibashie Reef. In contrast, the longer that she had to wait for Tavras to come back with Arius, the more that her heart became stricken with fear.

Hopefully, Tavras would not be too hard on Arius. Hopefully, Tavras would bring Arius back at all.

In contrast to the cold misery that Val had felt in Leviathan’s Cradle, she sat atop warm sand, heated by the sunlight in which she basked. The tropical air provided warmth and comfort all around her. Though she longed to feel dry after what seemed like a small eternity had been spent soaking wet, at least Val could appreciate the cooling factor of the ocean water across her person.

She hated to think of Arius, still trapped in Leviathan’s Cradle. He deserved to feel all the pleasurable sensations of their own world far more than she did. He had been the one to save her life, let her sit here in this moment. He had been the primary one fighting to save both of their lives. Arius had earned this reward.

While she awaited his return, Val realized just how badly she missed him. If their time spent in Leviathan’s Cradle had felt like a small eternity, she now felt like she had to endure another eternity without him.

Right when she started to loathe her misery, trying to twist at Foofy’s short fur to endure the wait, Tavras appeared on the sandbar.

“Tavras…!” she breathed.

One hand stuck out to Val to signal for silence. “Let me focus. I have a minute before Arius comes through.”

Just as Tavras had instructed her to count, now it was Arius’s turn to wait in front of Leviathan’s Core. When he must have reached one hundred, the second figure flashed to existence in front of Tavras.

Similar to Val, even the Ravager immediately collapsed upon arrival. The soaked braid of his hair was flung haphazardly over one shoulder. Some stray wisps of his hair had escaped to frame his face where his eyes twisted in pain, yet his teeth gleamed in something of a smile.

Without ceremony, Tavras took Arius’s face between his hands and set a glowing energy around him. “There. You have been purified of Leviathan’s waters.” He rose to stand once more and set his harsh gaze down upon Arius.

An equally hateful glare shot upwards from Arius on his knees, but by the time he looked up, a hand stuck out to him.

Tavras was extending his hand to offer him help up.

That astonished her in and of itself, but nowhere near as much as what happened next.

Arius reached up and accepted Tavras’s hand, rough but firm. He allowed himself to be helped up by the one god who he hated most in the world.

Both gods stood, more or less together to address her. Arius looked aloof, arms crossed while he looked off to the side whilst Tavras faced her in full.

“Do you want to go back to the Summit, Val?”

“Yes, please,” she said with a fervent nod.

He gave her a few somber nods in return. “Alright. We’ll all head back there together. It is possible that Arius and I might’ve come to an understanding.” When Tavras made the announcement, he flitted an untrusting gaze his way.

Arius lifted his head enough to give Val a sidelong look, unhappy if only he did not look so coy. “Does this make you happy?”

“Y-Yeah.” Val did not even know what to say.

At first, she had been naïve enough to believe that Arius and Tavras could act like the mature gods that they were around each other. They had swiftly proven her wrong, and now, Arius and Tavras went against her expectations yet again. On her behalf, they

“Yes, I’m so happy!” Barely able to contain her excitement, she jumped to her feet with her hands balled into little fists. Val must look like the giddy girl that she was, excited that she could keep two important people in her life.

The smallest smile lifted up the corners of Arius’s lips.

Tavras wore the same concerned frown. “I’ll see you two on the mainland, yeah?”

Her heart skipped a beat, realizing that not only would Tavras accept Arius, but he would allow her to have a moment alone with him. “That sounds great!” Val said, voice breaking with exuberance.

“Okay.” As Tavras walked his way into the surf, he stopped and turned back many times. Each hesitant glance back to Val seemed to be asking if she were certain, if she needed help.

“Bye Tavras,” she said to hurry him along. “I’ll see you soon.”

Over knee deep, he stood in the water with one last, forlorn look. The spray of water shielded him from view as he took off towards land.

“Now it’s just the two of us,” Val murmured with her eyes focused down to Foofy who lay across the sand. “Is there anything that you want to say?”

“So many things,” Arius replied, “but right now, I’m content with saying none of that just yet.”

Carefully, Val lifted her eyes to look at him from beneath her brow. She did not dare to lift her head just yet.

All that seemed to matter was the fact that they could stand in each other’s presence, at peace. The stress of Leviathan’s Cradle had brought them a lot closer than this, however. They only needed to act on the feelings that they already knew were there.

Val fumbled her hands in front of herself. All of a sudden, the exposure of sunlight overhead felt like a spotlight seeking to bake her. The freedom of the open air brought with it other possibilities—the reminder that Arius was a literal god, out of her league in every sense of the word.

Nevertheless, he had dove into Charbydis’s maw to save her, and they had risen again from Leviathan’s Cradle. Arius had just gone through so much for Val. They both had gone through an immense trial together.

“You really do care about me,” Val mused.

Arius nodded. “Naturally. We’re supposed to be soulmates.”

When Val looked at him—really looked at him—she saw a god who could scarcely look at her, his own hands hidden behind his back. Despite his self-assured stance, perhaps Arius could try to conceal the fact that she made him fidget too.

If she held the weight over a god’s heart to make him nervous and excited all at the same time, then they truly belonged together. Val felt that she might actually belong with Arius.

Her shaky steps moved forward to approach him.

Arius lifted his gaze. His fascination in her was evident upon his innocent, compelled face.

“Thank you.” Val spread her arms and closed the space between them. Her body was trembling as she clung onto him in a hug.

So too, Arius enwrapped her in his arms. When he squeezed her in return, he stabilized her shaky, thrilled nerves. Endearingly, his chin ducked down towards her hair where he closed his eyes and breathed.

The two of them felt so inclined to stay in this embrace for a while, insanely happy together.