Morning light slipped through the kitchen window in slanted lines, gilding the table where Noctis and Ananke were having breakfast. Both carried the same familiar intensity, their black hair messily unkempt in almost identical ways, and those gray eyes that watched the world as if they already knew more than they should.
Sunny watched them from the doorway, leaning against the frame with his arms crossed.
I'll never get used to this, he thought. To this being real.
And it made sense.
After all, Nephis and he had killed the Forgotten God a couple of years ago. But not everything that followed had been happiness.
At the exact moment of the Forgotten God's death, the spell destroyed itself. It no longer had a purpose, so its self-immolation was inevitable. In that process, all of reality was torn apart. Every person died. Every realm ceased to exist.
Only two things remained in that void.
Nephis and Sunny.
Both of them had reached Divinity.
Watching everything they had fought for be destroyed and erased was a crushing blow. But, as always, they did not give up.
Using all of their will and power, they created a new reality. One where the spell did not exist, nor corruption, nor awakened. A completely mundane world, meant for mundane people.
Fortunately, they were able to grant new lives to all their friends, so they too could live peacefully.
Cassie lived nearby, she spent her days reading books and taking care of her five cats. Every afternoon, she met with Nephis to drink coffee, eat sweets, and talk about life. She lived with her husband, who—surprisingly—was Mordret.
He was still strange, but now they knew he wasn't a psychopath like in his past life. He was the CEO of the most well-known company in NQSC, which was exactly why Cassie usually stayed home, looking after her cats.
From what Nephis had told him, it seemed they were planning to have a child together.
Another, less expected couple was Kai and Morgan.
Kai, just like in his past life, was ridiculously handsome—and also an idol. To no one's surprise, his band was called Night&Gale.
Morgan, on the other hand, worked at the same company as Mordret. In this reality, she didn't carry such a cruel Flaw, and a few months ago Nephis had heard rumors that she was pregnant, expecting her first child.
Then there was Jet. She still worked for the government—which came as no surprise—but here she was the boss of everyone. Even so, she was still overworked. Strangely enough, she was single. Sunny couldn't understand why, considering Jet was quite beautiful too, but he assumed working twenty-four seven didn't help much.
Effie was still with her husband, who in this reality actually had a name. Geralt. Strange.
Of course, little Ling Ling was there too, now already a teenager. They didn't visit NQSC very often, preferring to live farther away, in what could be considered their farm.
Rain, in this reality, had always known Sunny was her brother and visited whenever she could. She was already a grown, beautiful woman, working as a lead architect at a major company—and fortunately, she was still single.
All the Song sisters, the members of House of Night, and even some members of Valor were also alive, living their lives as if nothing had happened.
And for them, nothing had happened.
None of them remembered their past lives.
The only ones who remembered everything were Nephis and Sunny.
Because of that, Sunny had once wondered whether he should bring his mother and father back as well. In the end, he rejected the idea—not because he didn't want to see them, nor because he didn't love them.
But because it wouldn't be fair.
Right now, they were resting wherever the remains of the Shadow Realm might be, and he didn't want to disturb that rest.
Nephis, on the other hand, had brought her mother back.
Smile of Heaven was alive in this reality—or rather, Julia, which was her real name. Broken Sword—Victor—was alive as well, and they shared a house just a few blocks away from theirs.
The smell of breakfast pulled Sunny back to the present.
He was still leaning against the doorway, watching the scene as if it were something fragile: Nephis pouring tea, the twins sitting at the table, legs dangling, energy impossible to contain even this early in the morning.
They were six years old.
And they spoke as if the world were an endless succession of incredible things.
"I'm telling you, it was the coolest thing I've ever seen!" Noctis exclaimed, gesturing wildly with his fork. "Mongrel: the Knight of the Night is invincible!"
"And he walks like this!" he added, trying to imitate a dramatic pose that almost sent his glass tipping over.
Ananke, eyes shining, nodded enthusiastically.
"And when he jumps off the roof… boom! It's like he's not afraid of anything!"
Nephis watched them with calm attention, blowing gently on her tea.
"Finish eating before everything gets cold."
Noctis suddenly looked at her, as if he'd just had the most important idea of his life.
"Mom… can I dress up as Mongrel?"
Ananke didn't hesitate for even a second.
"And I want to be Marvelous Saint!" she said, nearly jumping out of her chair. "She's amazing!"
Nephis raised an eyebrow, thoughtful, then tilted her head slightly.
"I don't know," she said calmly. "You'll have to ask your father."
It was immediate.
"Dad!"
"Dad, please!"
"We want costumes!"
They shot out of their chairs and ran toward Sunny, who barely had time to react before they were tugging at his pants with desperate little hands.
"Please!"
"Just this once!"
"I'll be super strong!"
"And I'll be super pretty!"
Sunny lifted his gaze, searching for help.
Nephis was looking at him from the table… smiling. Not that restrained, controlled smile. A real one. Genuine.
He looked down again.
The twins were staring at him with the exact same smile.
His heart skipped a beat. And he knew he had already lost.
He sighed.
"All right," he said. "But on one condition."
"What?" they asked in unison.
"That you hurry up. Because we're going to be late for school."
He hadn't even finished the sentence when they let go of him and ran back to the table.
"Quick, Ananke!"
"I'm eating fast!"
Sunny shook his head, resigned, and walked over to Nephis. He slipped an arm behind her waist and leaned in to whisper in her ear.
"You sacrificed me back there."
She turned her face slightly toward him, still smiling.
"That was my revenge for last time."
Sunny laughed softly.
"You're never going to forget that, are you?"
"We're even now," she replied, calm and victorious.
When Sunny looked back at the table, the twins were already done. The plates were on the counter, their backpacks hung over their shoulders, and both of them were waiting by the door, ready.
Something tightened in his chest again.
Sunny wrapped both arms around Nephis's waist and kissed her. She kissed him back without hesitation.
"I love you," she said softly.
"I love you too," he replied.
Then he pulled away, grabbed his backpack, and opened the door.
"Let's go, heroes. School is waiting."
And so, in a world they had created with their own hands, Sunny took his children to school—while Nephis watched them leave, anchoring him once more to that reality that, against all logic, they had managed to make eternal.