The goddess moves in mysterious ways.

—a common saying

Asteria

If my life were a novel, it would have an awesome title like, “In my world, I died during a pandemic, but I was reborn in another world to save it from a virus.” Or maybe not. It could be something like, “I’m overpowered, but it’s too bad that I don’t want to go adventuring!” or “The goddess gave me ALL the cheats so I could save the world.”

It’s fine as long as the title isn’t anything like, “I was reborn as a blonde loli.”

I died on Earth, reincarnated in Verden, saved Kraej City from a monster wave, guided the hero, and, finally, started on my real quest: getting rid of the Iah virus once and for all.

Everything I had done since I was reborn on Verden had been with that one goal in mind. Unless I do away with the virus, Seraphiel will never truly be safe. I died of a virus once, and I wasn’t going to let that happen to him if I could help it.

These past three years in the spiritual plane have been extremely fulfilling. I spent the entire time training chibis to go and kill those pesky Iah virus remnants. Bit by bit, I created an enormous spell structure using my special skill, Glory of the Divine Conqueror, as the framework. My work was akin to that of a programmer, complete with the unreasonable crunch time.

Of course, I was the one who wanted it done in the shortest time possible, so I couldn’t blame my boss, the goddess Elyon, for my hectic schedule.

Unfortunately, the anima pool the goddess had prepared had been partially drained when my time reversal skill, Defender of Heavenly Principles, was automatically triggered when I died from the sniper’s bullet. I had to wait until it was refilled, which was why it took me so long to cleanse Verden of the Iah virus.

Here in the spiritual plane, the spell appeared as a glowing, multicolored six-dimensional thought structure that smelled like bleach, cut grass, and fresh ocean breeze. Chibis flew inside it like hamsters on a running wheel. The spell’s movement was dying down as the last of the Iah virus remnants were cleansed. Then, finally, the chibis stopped moving and the spell’s radiance flickered then faded to nothing.

It was done. I wished that I had a glass of champagne and someone to celebrate with.

Now that the job was finished, it was time to return.

“Goodbye, my lovely little ones!” I said to my chibis. They’d done their work well. “Goodbye, goddess!”

I couldn’t see her, but I knew the goddess was here somewhere. Sure enough, after a few seconds of waiting, the goddess appeared in a blaze of glory. She smiled down at me and said in a motherly, gentle voice, “Well done, my child.”

“Goddess, is your sister okay now?” I asked.

“She’s still sleeping, but you’ve helped a lot. I’m sure she’ll wake up soon,” she said.

Well, it's only been a few minutes since I finished so she probably needs a little more time. I was curious about what Iah was like.

The goddess seemed to know what I was thinking. She said, “I mean ‘soon’ for us, not for you.”

“I see.” The goddess probably meant a few centuries, not a few days like I’d thought.

“Is there anything you want, daughter?”

"Well..." This time I was prepared when she asked. I told her what I wanted and she agreed to do it for me.

“Before you go, is there anything else you want to know?” asked the goddess.

“Uh, I’m not exactly human, right? I was wondering how long I’ll live.”

“I’ve set your lifetime to be the same as the strongest ELs.”

In other words, the same as Seraphiel’s? The strongest human martial artists and magicians lived to be almost three hundred years old, but Seraphiel was a good bit stronger than them which meant that I was in for a few centuries, not decades.

“What happens after that?” I asked.

“You’ll spend some time here in the spiritual place, just like the other souls,” said the goddess.

“I see.” When I’d first reincarnated into this world, my tutors had been the newly dead whose souls lingered in the spiritual plane. Here everything was made of anima and souls could enjoy all manner of spiritual pastimes like music, poetry, art, magic, and so forth.

The problem was that people had no bodies here, therefore any sort of physical activity was impossible. In the physical plane, when people did something fun, their bodies would be flooded with endorphins and dopamine, but people in the spiritual plane didn’t have hormones, so their pleasures were all intellectual.

“You’ll be able to stay here with me as long as you want to, along with your friends,” said the goddess. “You can help me take care of the world then you can leave when you’re ready.”

Souls eventually left to go somewhere else, but I’d never been able to see where they were going.

“Do you mean reincarnation? Am I going to reincarnate on Earth after I die? Can I bring Ely, too?” I already knew that I couldn’t go back to my family since it had been more than a decade since my passing.

“If you like,” said the goddess. “But you don’t have to reincarnate if you don’t want to. You can also move on.”

“Um, I don’t suppose you can tell me what happens after souls ‘move on,’ can you?”

The goddess patted me on the head. “You know that’s the Great Mystery. Only those who go through that final door know what’s beyond it. Even I don’t know.”

This was the sort of thing that would have made me roll my eyes and throw my hands up if I had a physical body, but here all I felt was a vague annoyance.

Never mind, it didn’t really matter. What mattered right now was my life, not my death.

“I guess I’m done here. I’ll go back now,” I said.

The goddess nodded then disappeared without another word. She was probably busy taking care of space and time. I closed my eyes and activated the resurrection spell the goddess had prepared for me.

***

If this was an anime or movie, I’d have materialized in a field of flowers where Seraphiel was waiting for me. Alas, it was not to be. In fact, it took a few hours and some traveling before we could meet.

At Aeroskobing’s best hotel, I waited impatiently for everyone to arrive. I spent some time at the salon getting my hair trimmed and styled before putting on a breezy white cocktail dress with a keyhole neckline.

Finally, they arrived right before sunset. The three S-class Commanders stomped into the hotel with the other ELs. My heart pounding like mad, I held my arms out to them. Sariel and Uriel immediately ran towards me, and I squealed like a little girl when Uriel lifted me up by the waist and spun me around. Sariel, Uriel, and I ended up in a group hug, which was pretty nice, but I felt like it was missing something. Or rather, someone.

Seraphiel stood frozen in the same spot he’d been when he first caught a glimpse of me. His uniform was rumpled, and he was thinner than I would have liked, but he still looked wonderful. His long, dark hair danced in the sea breeze, and his golden eyes were as beautiful as I remembered.

Sariel urged me to go to him, but the stupefied expression on Seraphiel’s face told me that he was in shock. When Seraphiel unfroze, I held my arms out to him and he ran into my arms. He was too tall for me to reach his neck, so I put my arms around his back. One of his arms circled my waist while his other hand cupped the back of my head, drawing me close to him as he buried his face on my neck.

He was crying.

“Ely,” I murmured softly as I patted his back. “It’s alright, everything’s alright now. I’m back.”

We stayed like that for a long time. It wasn’t until we heard the others arriving that Seraphiel reluctantly released me.

I had a lovely time partying with Ely, Sariel, Uriel, Katja, Oren, Sofia, Magnus, and the others. They filled me in on what they had been up to while I had supposedly been in a coma. Magnus was his usual self, while the others had settled down into their post-hero’s quest lives. Sofia was managing the Parian temple. Ravn had opened a private detective agency. Katja and Oren were freelance monster hunters. Chatting with them was great, but I wanted to spend some time alone with Seraphiel.

“Excuse me, I think I drank too much wine,” I said as I got up to go to the ladies’ room.

Katja and Sofia got up to accompany me, and we were all surprised when Seraphiel did, too. He even followed us right to the door.

“Hold it right there!” said Katja to Seraphiel. Her hands were on her hips, arms akimbo. “What do you think you’re doing?”

“I’m escorting Asteria,” said Seraphiel.

“To the ladies’ room?!” asked Katja. She gave both of us a look that seemed to say “what sort of kink is this?”

“Er... Ely, there’s no need,” I said.

“I’m just making sure you don’t leave,” said Seraphiel.

“Leave? What do you think I’m going to do? Escape through a window?” The guy had abandonment issues. I couldn’t exactly blame him, but my bladder was sending urgent signals to my brain. “Please go away! Go back to the table. I promise I’ll be right there in under five minutes!”

Sofia put a hand on her mouth and turned away a little, but we could all see her shoulders shaking with laughter.

Salvation arrived in the form of a tall, blonde woman in a Lifer’s uniform.

“Is there a problem?” Freja’s tone of voice implied that there had better not be a problem, or else.

I stepped closer to Seraphiel and whispered, “See what you’ve done? Now your sister thinks you’re some kind of pervert!”

“Thanks, Freja,” said Katja.

“Fine, I’ll wait here,” said Seraphiel.

Sofia, Katja, and I entered the ladies’ room without any more trouble. Freja stationed herself at the door to ensure that no one would bother us.

“Does Seraph normally accompany you when you-”

I cut Katja off. “No, never. He’s just a tiny little bit anxious this time.”

“Don’t tease them too much, Katja,” said Sofia. “She was in a coma for three years. Maybe he just thinks it's not safe for her to be alone.”

Katja rolled her eyes. “Or maybe the great EL is a huge perv.”

The two of them were taking their time touching up their makeup, so I said, “Ugh, I’d better go on ahead or Ely might have a heart attack.”

Freja shook her head when Seraphiel pounced on me the moment I exited the facilities.

“Get a grip, you’re making a spectacle of yourself,” she grumbled.

Seraphiel kept one arm around my shoulders as we walked as though he was afraid I was going to fly away if he didn’t keep hold of me. I could tell this was going to be a problem, but I let him be for now.

The rest of the night passed by without incident. The seaside terrace had been decorated with numerous night-blooming flowers that gave off a sweet scent, and the hotel staff had prepared a sumptuous feast of rare monster meats, freshly-caught fish, and seafood for us. I kept on going back to the dessert table that was full of mouthwatering pies, cakes, and pastries.

“I think I ate too much,” I moaned as I leaned back on my chair. Thank goodness I wasn’t wearing a tight dress.

“It’s almost midnight. You’d better rest,” said Uriel.

“Yes, I think I will,” I said. “Goodnight.”

Sofia and Oren decided to turn in as well, while Katja and Ravn decided that the night was still young. Sariel and Uriel, who were apparently familiar with the area, were going off to their favorite Aeroskobing nightclub.

I yawned as I walked to my room. Seraphiel’s arm was around me again, and he seemed to be waiting for something.

“Goodnight,” I said to him as I stood in front of my hotel room door.

Seraphiel didn’t say anything. He wrapped an arm around my waist and drew me close to him. Then he bent down to gently brush his lips against mine.

I rose to my tiptoes and pressed my body against his, clinging to his shoulders as his lips became more insistent.

When Seraphiel deepened the kiss, it felt as though my body was electrified. I opened my mouth to his probing tongue, wanting to melt into his warmth as I was overwhelmed by the feel of his body against mine. His hands stroked my back and sides. Now that everything was settled, there were no more barriers between us, and I no longer needed to hold back my feelings.

The kiss seemed to go on and on. We only broke apart when we heard someone coming down the corridor.

“I’ll see you tomorrow at breakfast,” I said.

“Tomorrow,” echoed Seraphiel. He lifted my right hand and kissed it. “Goodnight.”

“Seraphiel?”

“Yes, Asteria?”

“I forbid you to wait outside my door the whole night. Go and get some sleep.”

Seraphiel frowned, and I wanted to kiss away the lines between his forehead.

“Do you promise not to leave?” he asked. His eyes searched my face for reassurance.

“I promise I won’t leave during the night.” I put my hands on his arms, turned his body around, then slapped him on the butt playfully. “Goodnight, Ely.”

***

The day after the reunion party, I commandeered a helicopter and asked Ely to fly the two of us to a certain place that I’d marked on a map. We brought our swimsuits and a picnic basket along. He was in uniform because he didn’t have any casual clothes packed for his mission. I was in a cute little blue dress the hotel staff had found for me.

“But there’s nothing in that location you showed me on the map,” said Seraphiel. He was piloting the helicopter himself since I didn’t want to bring a third person along.

I waved my hand airily. “Have faith. Am I not your angel?”

“Yes, but you’re a weird angel,” said Seraphiel. He was in the pilot seat so I couldn’t see his face, but I could tell he was smiling.

While we flew towards our destination, we talked about what had happened while I was away. I still couldn’t speak of matters in the spiritual plane, therefore Seraphiel did most of the talking.

“Uriel and Sidse are expecting twins.”

“Twins? I hope they’re prepared to not sleep for a few months!” I said.

“She’s due in six months,” said Seraphiel.

“We’ll have to get two baby gifts,” I said.

Soon the little island came within sight.

“Unbelievable. There isn’t supposed to be anything here,” he said.

“Do you see a clearing where you can land?” I asked.

“I see it,” he said. He made a perfect landing in the middle of a small open field.

The island was new, crafted by the goddess at my request. It would sink beneath the sea in a few days, but that was more than enough time for what I wanted to do. This wasn’t an anime, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t have my picture-perfect moment.

“Amazing!” said Seraphiel.

“Do you like it?” I asked.

“I do,” he said.

We got off the helicopter and walked through a field of poppies. The red and white blossoms swayed gently in the wind as we made our way to the picturesque little cottage on the other side of the meadow while I thought about everything that we’d gone through.

I regretted that time I’d failed to save Seraphiel from the laboratory when he was a child. The only thing I’d been able to do was to keep him company during that awful time.

Then, after I reincarnated, I had a very difficult time learning this world's language and customs. My childhood in this reincarnation had been full of hardship and poverty.

But it hadn’t all been bad.

The first time I learned a special skill had been truly magical.

My reunion with Seraphiel after ten years apart was one of my most precious memories.

I’d loved becoming friends with Uriel, Sariel, Magnus, Katja, and Oren.

Monster hunting wasn’t something I planned to make a career of, but it was an exciting and adventurous way to earn money.

Most of all, I craved the simple pleasures of day-to-day life. Like waking up to a good breakfast that Seraphiel had cooked for me, or chatting about the books that we’d read, or helping him take care of his plants.

All in all, I’d had a pretty good time in this world, and I planned to have more fun now that my quest was complete.

I moved a little closer to Seraphiel. He was carrying the picnic basket in one hand. I smiled up at him when his other hand moved towards mine a little tentatively, and he took my hand in his. There was no need for words. We walked on, holding hands.

I’d saved the last boss and we were together.

THE END