Foreflux 17th, 1043

Foreflux brought a chill in the air, crisp and refreshing compared to Basal’s heat.

Clover was on the porch with River, holding her mug in her hands. It was steaming hot, probably too hot for her to drink if she’d been anyone else. But the heat just felt mild and pleasant to her; she didn’t burn herself anymore. It was a fun party trick to shove her hands in the oven and grab things barehanded, though she’d given Azaleon a heart attack the first time she’d showed him…

Aspen walked around the side of the cabin from the garden, dirt coating his calloused hands and overalls. Alouette was right after him, grinning and holding a checkered basket.

“Clover, you will not believe the size of the egg Old Socks just laid!” Alouette reached into the basket and held up an egg proudly.

“That came out of a chicken?” she asked. “You’re sure you didn’t lay it while we weren’t looking?”

“What– how would I have–” Alouette’s face scrunched up as they looked from their wings then back to Clover with a pout. “Not funny.”

“Kind of funny,” Aspen snorted. “River, I got the weeds cleared for the Marrow crops to be seeded tomorrow.”

“You’re sure you can’t stay a day or two longer?” Clover begged. Aspen shook his head.

“The idiots would burn the castle down if I stayed away a full two weeks. …They're probably already on their way to pick me up now, so too late to ask for an extension,” he sighed. Clover didn’t think that’d be the case– Azaleon and Kuiper were doing just fine at the castle.

When the official story had dropped about Aspen defeating some mystery scoundrel from Lacus Mare, the two guards and River had also gotten a bit of credit.

Clover and Alouette had specifically asked not to. Clover really, honestly and truly hadn’t wanted any part of that, despite Aspen’s offering. Alouette, funnily enough, had said the same thing; they were already kind of infamous for breaking and entering into the castle, so they were trying now to uphold an image of someone trying to turn their life around. In a sense, it wasn’t exactly a lie…

River had already been famed, so her life was more or less the same, but Kuiper and Azaleon? Well, they’d been guaranteed jobs for life at the castle, and when Aspen had moved to promote them further to not just guards but had promoted Kuiper to be a Prince’s Consultant–which meant he got to spend most of his time advising and researching without needing to interact with too many people beyond Aspen and Azaleon, so he’d rarely get overwhelmed– and Azaleon to Head of the Royal Guard–so he could spar as much as he wanted and have it be productive in teaching other people, the King hadn’t been able to refuse, not with how beloved the guards were among the people now.

It kept them busy– and Aspen had mentioned that when King Alder died, that he was willing to throw his father under the bus posthumously and publicly acknowledge Azaleon as his secret brother, if Azaleon wanted that. But Azaleon, Aspen had told her, had gently refused the offer; he and Kuiper were now free to come and go from the castle as they pleased, so there was no need, and when they were ready to retire, Kuiper wanted to be able to do so quietly without any fuss or responsibility lingering. Azaleon didn’t want the world to acknowledge Alder as a monster, or acknowledge he was a prince; he had just wanted the chance to know his brother; and Clover thought that was sweet.

…Aspen had called it corny and rolled his eyes. But he’d been smiling when he told her, so she figured he was pretty happy, too. Especially now that Azaleon and Kuiper were publicly engaged and all.

Aspen had been allowed to come to River’s for Harvestfest and had ended up staying at the cabin a week and a half more, just to spend time with all of them here. Which was only fair, since he’d spent last year's Harvestfest at Kuiper’s moms’ house with him and Azaleon, so Clover thought she ought to get him this year. He’d argued that a single day wasn’t enough since their sleeping schedules were so opposite now that they only got to see each other around twilight and dawn, and he did have a point; being a night owl now was apparently pretty rough with his responsibilities, but he was given so much leeway now with his reputation that he was excused from meetings when he started yawning too much.

…Even though Clover was pretty sure neither of them needed to sleep, since she really never tired anymore, it was still something she liked, just like food and embroidery, and just like Alouette loved singing, and Aspen loved getting his hands dirty in the earth. Not a single one of them was willing to break their human habits. Clover thought that must have been how the former Sol and Lunar Gods got so callous; they stopped living. Or maybe they’d never tried it in the first place. Whatever part of Inferno she carried with her now, she hoped they could live a little through her now.

Clover had just arrived herself five weeks before Aspen. After her and Aspen had…ascended, for better lack of a term, she’d needed time. Time to grieve, to breathe. Alone.

She’d asked River to open all of Juniper’s letters for her because she still wasn’t ready to do so herself, to look over them and help her mark every single spot on a map where he’d written about.

After he was cremated the following week, Clover left to journey to every single place, taking her time, scattering a bit of his ashes everywhere. He had called Primrose Meadow dull; he'd wanted to leave. It only felt appropriate to send him off this way, rather than sticking him back there. It had taken her nearly a year to do this alone.

But she hadn’t been alone, not really. She called all of her friends at every communication center she passed, and made plenty of new ones along the way, listened to their hopes and dreams and kept a notebook full of them. Alouette had continuously dropped in on her, literally, from the skies, to make sure she was okay and giving her helpful little tips for her new powers. They’d apparently been doing the same with Aspen.

A lot of it was instinctual. She always knew where the sun was, knew when it was time for it to rise and set. She could conjure fire up out of thin air– useful for camping and entertaining people. Aspen had scolded her about using them so openly, but honestly, most people just thought it was clever sleight of hand, that she was some kind of performer, and she rolled with it.

Her eyes were different. But after their visit to Lacus Mare last year, the princesses had been enamored with the way all of their eyes had looked and had commissioned new cosmetic glowing contacts anyone could get now. So it was kind of a non-issue thanks to them.

Clover had visited them, too, in an outfit she’d made herself from the high quality fabrics they’d gifted her, reflective neons and blacks, and it was completely over the top in its intricacy. Saros and Cassiopia had gushed over it for days, a memory that left her with a warm glow.

When Clover was done with her travels, she realized her heart ached a little less.

That was the funny thing about healing– time really helped it along, so Clover had to assume Remedy must have been from Chronos, in the initial splitting of the Original Two.

Clover had mailed her mother a single letter, to notify her that she had found Juniper, and that he had passed away. She deserved closure, too. She had sent a small box with half of his remaining ashes, choosing to keep the other half in a small necklace around her neck so he’d be with her always. There was a lot she hadn’t been able to explain in her letter, and so she hadn’t, just apologizing and saying she wouldn’t be returning to Primrose Meadow just yet.

Maybe she would never return. She wasn’t so sure herself yet.

She had, at the same time she’d penned a letter to her mother, penned another letter to her Aunt Ivy in Primrose Meadows, asking her to check in on her mother and get her counseling again if she needed it.

Her mother had tried to write Clover back a few times now; Clover had asked River to vet the letters before she was willing to read them, and to throw out any where her mother insulted her, blamed her, or begged her to come back by guilting her.

River had thrown all of them out so far after looking over them.

Clover looked down the long winding road leading to the cabin, practically overgrown from disuse, seeing the private royal slidebuggy rolling down it. Aspen sighed for what had to be the eight time today, clearly begrudging leaving his country escapade holiday. Alouette scooped him up in his arms and took off with him, and the scream Aspen let out had Clover howling with laughter.

“Play it cool, Clover, they can’t take him from us if they can’t find him!” Alouette yelled down to her, despite the fact that there was no way Kuiper and Azaleon hadn’t seen that.

Clover leaned against the porch railing very casually when they walked up. Kuiper was unabashedly looking up towards the roof, but Azaleon matched Clover’s ‘Very Casual’ expression and stance, stopping on the steps and raising his eyebrows at her.

“Wow, it’s been way too long since I’ve seen you two in person. Three,” Clover corrected herself quickly. “Very nice day out, isn’t it? You're super welcome for that.”

“Yes, it’s been nice. And it’s good to see you looking so well,” Kuiper said. There was muffled yelling from the roof. “...Is Aspen–”

“Aspen who?” Clover asked innocently.

“Oh, you’re doing a joke. Okay. Well when you’re all finished I’ll be inside,” Kuiper nodded.

“Him and River have been doing a virtual book club thing together, he’s been dying to talk to her in person,” Azaleon explained. “How’ve you been, Clover?”

“...Good. Better.” Clover nodded.

“I’m really glad to hear it,” he said earnestly.

“And dying to see that ring in person, let me see,” she demanded, holding her hand out. He proudly offered his hand and on it, there were not one, but two engagement rings. Clover whistled. “Fancy.”

“These are both diamonds, and Kuiper’s is a sapphire with real pearls lining it. Had to make sure both mine and Seiche’s were sturdy, so they wouldn’t break if I hit someone, otherwise we’d probably have gotten something different,” he clarified. “I really didn’t care if they were high end or not, but someone would’ve thrown a fit if we didn’t get the best possible–”

“Yes, go ahead and get sub-par rings that don’t befit your station and see how fast he would have told us no–” Seiche snapped, then offered Clover a courteous nod. “Clover. Thank you for at least appreciating them.”

“I keep saying that his only interest was rocks as a kid. Like, we could have picked up literally any rock and he’d get excited and have a million facts about it. Seiche just wanted to showboat and have Kuiper wearing the closest thing to cobalt he could find, territorial asshole,” Azaleon’s tone was teasing more than it was actually annoyed. “But Kuiper’s picking the actual wedding bands, so knowing him, he’s going to put us to shame.”

“He’s got so much rock knowledge in his brain…” Seiche muttered, clearly annoyed about the idea of being outdone. “Have you been managing your abilities?”

“Oh! Yeah, doing just fine, thanks for asking.” There had been a handful of times she’d had to write letters to Seiche or Alouette, asking them if this or that was normal; there had only been one time so far she’d really had a total freakout moment with them, and that was when she’d accidentally cut herself while trying to open a can of vegetables and had started bleeding white.

…She’d called Seiche at the nearest communication center in the dead of night, and he’d said ‘this is why we Gods didn’t tell you what Thauma is, you’re so squeamish, we heal right back up so offering our blood to you all isn’t a huge deal’– and yes, by the time she was calling, it had already healed. STILL. She thought maybe she deserved some advanced warning on that one…she shuddered in disgust even thinking about it. Since his true body was still in the Upper Realm, Seiche was still able to offer it, and the other Gods did, too; Alouette had to now manually go to their temple to fill up the pool of it, a process they’d told her she and Aspen were absolutely not ready to see or try themselves until they became way, way more experienced (and yes– less squeamish.).

“By the way, I think Alouette might be strangling Aspen to death or something, they’ve been too quiet up there,” Seiche pointed out, the hint of worry in his voice assuredly from Azaleon.

“Nah, check this out.” She cleared her throat, then loudly exclaimed: “WHAT? The castle DID flood? There was HOW much damage? WOOOOOW that’s CRAZY–”

Aspen threw himself off the roof in two seconds flat, landing on the ground hard and groaning.

“Aspen! Why would you do that?!” Alouette jumped after him, landing on their feet with a flap of their wings. “Did you guys see that? Oh, hi Seiche, hi Azaleon.”

“Are you okay?” Azaleon asked Aspen, ignoring Alouette entirely.

“Literally couldn’t have died from that if I tried,” Aspen huffed, sitting up in the dirt, getting even more of it all over himself. “What do you think, genius?”

“...That if you’re fine you should really go clean up before you even think about getting near the slidebuggy.”

Azaleon was on the porch. The slidebuggy was parked in front of the cabin. Aspen, between the two of them. Aspen glanced between Azaleon and the slidebuggy.

“Don’t,” warned Azaleon, or Seiche; Clover wasn’t sure.

“If I did, you could just power wash it,” Aspen said, taking a step back slowly.

“Aspen, don’t you dare,” and the moment Azaleon took a single step down the porch, Aspen was running towards the slidebuggy. Of course Azaleon caught him before Aspen could reach it, but just barely; he’d wiped a muddy handprint on the side first.

Azaleon looked to her after he’d slammed Aspen into the dirt, his own clothes a bit scuffed up now. “Clover, can you believe this? You know he tries to come to meetings covered in dirt and leaves, too?”

“I’m the ‘savior of the universe’, I could stroll in completely naked and no one would say anything against me!” Aspen declared. “Besides, I have my gardening schedules posted publicly, they should know not to schedule hearings right after.”

“You know how much of a security risk that is? Honestly, someone could make an assassination attempt–”

“I’m even more unkillable now than I was as a Quasar, let them try! Besides, that’s your job to take care of! Are you saying you’re too incompetent to stop one measly assassin?”

Clover watched them go back and forth with a small smile. They’d probably argue well after the sun completely set if she let them. Alouette climbed the steps, looking between them and Clover with an amused grin of their own.

“It took them a while to get here; you think they got lost, as terrible as Azaleon is with directions?” they joked.

“Probably. Or maybe they wanted to give Aspen a little more time?” Clover suggested. “It’s gonna be quiet without him around.”

“If it’s ever too quiet, I am very good at making loud noises and singing, all you have to do is ask!” Alouette said. Yes, they were. Clover had woken up at dawn to the sound of their singing in the bathroom down the hall, loud and trilling, every day since arriving. If they ever stopped, she’d miss it; it was better than any alarm clock. Aspen, of course, would swear at them for it since that was around the time he was just getting into bed.

“Are the rest of you going to come in so we can talk, or are we doing this on the porch?” River cracked the screen door open. She paused, looking out into her front yard to see Azaleon chasing Aspen with her garden hose to try and clean him. No matter how fast Aspen ran, the water seemed to curl and whip around to smack him, something Seiche had to be controlling to make it do that. She cleared her throat and they immediately both froze.

“Between all of you, you'd better make it rain soon to replace that water; don’t be wasteful,” River warned, nodding towards her rainwater collector.

“...Sorry, of course it will, expect it tomorrow–” Azaleon tried.

“She’s seeding the Marrow crops tomorrow,” Aspen informed him.

“The day after tomorrow?” Azaleon asked.

“That works for me. Now all of you get in here, Kuiper’s got news from Fillip, and he tells me you’ve brought something, too?” River looked at Azaleon expectantly.

“Oh! Yes, maple glazed apple fritters, they’re still in the slidebuggy, thank you for reminding me.”

“Ugh I’m drooling already,” Clover whined. He’d sent her plenty of cute little care packages on her travels filled with snacks, but nothing beat the fresh same-day baked ones. She wished him and Seiche and Kuiper would all retire already and open a bakery, preferably somewhere close…

“Clov, before Aspen leaves…The Thing,” Alouette said quietly, a sparkle of mischief in their golden eyes. She gasped. She had almost forgotten.

“Thank Gods you reminded me, I’m gonna get it while he cleans up!” She went up the stairs as fast as she could without breaking the no running rule, grabbing a box from her bedside table, then coming back down and setting it down on the table. Kuiper was setting the table for tea, and gave her a questioning look. “You’ll see,” she promised. “It’s…’The Thing’.”

He nodded in understanding. She’d already sent him pictures of her progress on it, so he already had an idea of what was in this box. She came over to help him finish setting the table, the two of them working together quietly.

“You really are doing better, aren’t you?” It hardly sounded like a question, but rather, a confirmation. “And Alouette?”

“They’re…still holding on to a lot of guilt, I think. It’s not so easy to just…you know, forgive yourself, even if everyone else says it’s not your fault, and I…I’ve been doing what I can, but it’s going to take time. They’re still adamant about breaking the cycle. And so far, they’ve been…” she looked out the kitchen window, watching them babble to River and Azaleon about something excitedly. Probably about how their chickens were doing. “...They’ve been getting better, too.”

And they had been; a few times since she’d arrived, they’d had nightmares, about sealing the other Gods, about getting locked away themself for it, about the ascension going wrong and Clover and Aspen dying. She’d invited them to crawl into bed with her, and she’d hold them until they both fell asleep again. Aspen didn’t sleep much at night, but he’d stay with them, too, busy writing up as many new laws and regulations and modifying old ones well into the night. He’d said if he didn’t age, it’d be a short reign and he’d have a lot to get done fast, and she hadn’t tried to argue; at the end of the day they were all just trying to put as much good into the world as they could, weren’t they?

“Was just wondering because they missed a few e-chats with us.”

“I’d chalk that up to bad weather and them getting distracted,” Clover laughed. “They hate flying when it’s rainy. They like snail mail better, too, since they can add it to their hoard of stuff in the attic.”

“Wish they would’ve told me that themself. I prefer writing letters, too,” Kuiper murmured. “I got a new calligraphy set recently for work, so I’ll make a note to pen them with that. Make it pretty for their collection.”

“I’m once again presentable!” Aspen declared, and sure enough, he was back in more regal clothes, not a spot of dirt on them. They were the clothes he’d arrived in on Harvestfest, and he’d immediately changed into more casual ones then and hadn’t worn them since. Out here, there was no need to keep up appearances. He stuck his head out the door, telling the three on the porch to come in.

They all sat around the table, sipping tea and chatting well after the sun dipped low. This house felt like home more than anywhere else ever had for Clover, warm and full of people she loved.

“I heard from Fillip, she came to me as a moth the other night. Figured I’d wait until I saw you all in person to let you know,” Kuiper said. “She’s starting the artificial Gods trial in a few days. From what she’s observed, though, she thinks the re-fusing problem is much less of a risk now than in the past. Since all Gods present right now– sans Seiche– are in a permanent carbon-based body, rather than their Upper Realm bodies, it supposedly makes it a bit harder…”

It was still very funny to Clover that Seiche was still insisting his stay was ‘temporary’. He’d be staying until Azaleon and Kuiper both died, she was sure about that; you didn’t just get engaged then leave, that was a commitment.

Clover nodded along with Kuiper’s words, though. She’d noticed the ‘pull’ Inferno had spoken about whenever she was around Aspen and Alouette for any amount of time. She wanted to be around them, close to them, to an almost clingy degree. It would have been embarrassing, had they not also been the same way. Alouette was shameless– Aspen was the only one of them who got flushed about it.

She tucked a strand of her coily hair behind her ear. It was getting long, and now turning white at the roots as it grew in. Aspen’s hair was already such a dark brown it was impossible to tell if his roots were coming in black. And…well, Alouette had been changing their hair color and style so frequently that asking them if their natural color was gold like their Thauma, or black like their wings would definitely be met with an ‘I don’t know.’ They’d been telling her they wanted to comb out their locs soon, and Clover was going to have to set aside a few days solely as hair days to help them, probably roping River into it, too.

“That’s…good,” Aspen agreed, and Clover tried to snap her attention back to the conversation. “I’m glad to hear it. If you see her again, ask her to keep us Lower Realm Gods in the know a bit more. I’m sure they’re all busy, but you know, I’m busy too, and if I can make the time, so can they!”

“Speaking of busy, you do have a meeting with the head of the department of agriculture tomorrow morning; she’s coming to the castle all the way from Whitburg, so we really can’t miss her,” Kuiper at least sounded apologetic when he told Aspen this. Aspen sighed, standing up.

“Well, if I must…River, thank you for allowing me to stay,” he said.

“It’s always a pleasure,” she agreed with a nod. “You come back to us soon, as soon as you want, okay? My door is always open to you.”

“Thank you,” he said sincerely, before turning to Clover and Alouette. Clover thought Alo might cry. Nevermind the fact they e-chatted so frequently…“You..you should both come to the castle. Perhaps…well, Canidae Span and Posie’s Remembrance are both a bit grim to come for, but I suppose you’d both enjoy Crafter’s Peak at the castle; Clover, you could get new fabrics and embroidery threads, and the artworks people bring are–”

“Dude, I’m not waiting until late-Marrow to visit you. Not that I’m turning down a week at the art festival, but I’ll see you sooner than that,” Clover assured him.

“Yeah! We’ll fly in the next time we miss you! Which…I already am and you haven’t even left yet…” Alouette admitted sheepishly.

Aspen looked surprised for a moment, then shook his head with a small smile. “Of course, what was I thinking? How ridiculous of me. I suppose you’ll just be dropping in without warning?”

“You were the one who said we were free to come and go, no take-backs,” Clover said, sticking her tongue out. “Aaaaand, before you go, guess what I finished?” She pulled a box off the table; she’d just finished wrapping it yesterday, but had been holding off giving it to him until the last minute.

“...No,” Aspen said, looking aghast at the box, as if it had personally offended him.

“It’s not optional! You promised you’d wear it! I’ve been working on this thing on and off for a year!” Plenty of long nights camped under the stars had been spent chipping away at the thing, embroidery threads tangled around her fingers on days when her hand and arm hadn’t ached. Wasn’t that some kind of sick joke? Becoming a God and still having nerve pain? …Well, it was a bit easier to soothe now, running slightly-above warm fingers across it, but still… “Just look at it!”

Alouette and River had already seen ‘The Thing’, for lack of a better term, in all of it’s finished glory. It was somewhere between a poncho and a jacket, dangling pom poms sewn to the ends, the most eye-searing shades of thread against an already obnoxiously bright yellow fabric. There were sequins and beads involved too. She’d embroidered all of the Gods' respective animals– snakes, bears, horses, cows, fishes, dogs, birds, bugs– all with goofy, overly friendly faces. In neat cursive she’d embroidered ‘Clover wuz here ;p’. And she’d made the thing with so much care that it’d last a very, very long time. When it finally started to fall apart, she was planning on demanding Aspen put it in a museum for posterity's sake.

It was her magnum opus. It was her most horrible creation. It was going on Aspen’s body.

“I’m not wearing this,” he said, holding it up with a grimace.

“Oh yes you are, you’re gonna march in that castle with it on and greet everyone and hold your head up high and smile while you do it,” demanded Clover. “I won that bet fair and square, it'd be dishonorable of you not to wear it.”

He finally caved and shrugged The Thing over his clothes. It was every bit as glorious as she imagined. He looked extremely put-out about the whole situation until she started laughing, and he couldn’t help but laugh, too.

His day was only just starting with the rise of the moon, but Clover couldn’t stop yawning, so it was time to say goodbye, but only for now; they’d see each other again, very soon.

She pulled him into a hug, promising to see him again soon, and thanked both Kuiper and Azaleon. She, Alouette, and River all waved goodbye to them on the porch, before Clover wished Alouette and River both goodnight and walked up the stairs. Alouette and River usually stayed up a bit later than she did, sitting by River’s fireplace when the porch grew too chilly.

Clover sat on the bed in the guest room– her room now, she had to remind herself– holding the letter from Juniper with the earliest date printed on it in her hands. The stained glass panel on the window was swung open to let as much sunlight during the day in as possible, and now, a pleasantly cool night breeze blew in.

When the moonlight hit just right, it looked like a rainbow glittering across her hands.

She thought that today she was finally ready.

She opened the letter.

…

Dear Clover,

There’s a lot you don’t understand in this world; a lot of falsehoods, a lot of things that would be too complex, too scary and confusing to explain to you now, while you’re a child still. Lies from even the Gods. Did you know I met one? Ash Rossingol, taken human form; they looked like a child, curiously enough, but they were able to prove themself beyond a shadow of a doubt. They told me the other five minor Gods are sealed away. They told me the Quasar ceremony is a falsehood to keep them trapped, that the Lunar and Sol Gods are responsible.

They told me the Quasar who was sacrificed by the other in the ceremony would have their soul split into fives and used as fractured pieces to lock the Gods down in our realm, tremendous curses weighing heavily on them.

By the time you read this, I’m sure you’ll have heard I am a Quasar.

This, too, is a lie.

I remember when you were born. You were so small. Father was still able to hold you, the shake in his hands was not so severe then, and that was the first time I saw him cry. He passed you to me, and you opened your warm brown eyes. You gave me your first ever smile.

I cried, too.

You have always trailed after me like a comet, asking a million questions with an ever-inquisitive nature, and I in turn had to pick up books I otherwise might not have just to sate your curiosity, your endless sense of wonder. You sparked a passion for learning within me.

You pick up bugs and hold them with a gentleness, turning over their soft bodies and offering them leaves and sugar water in the middle of the summer heatwave. You’ve never been afraid to speak your mind to children several times your age, bold as you are kind. I’m not sure if that’s because you’re still a child as I write this, but I hope you never lose that courage, that love for every creature in this world, even the smallest.

You, who is still too young to fear anything, you inspired bravery within me, who is years older and has learned true fear; when you were threatened to be taken from this world, every other fear I’d ever had felt insignificant.

Even before I met the God in human form, I knew the Sol God must be terrible, to be willing to snuff out your flame, and for that, I would destroy the universe without regret.

I’ve hurt you for the sake of my grand lie, but I hope in the long run that I’m able to help you, save you, and give you a chance at a normal life, a life filled with adventure, many, many friends, and endless joy.

My dearest sister Clover, my little brightheart, whatever you think of me, I hope you know how much I love you.

Now, onto telling you about my journey so far. It’s quite the tale…