"I did not expect you to visit me, Phaenora. Out of all the times you helped the others, you never visited me. Why?"
Phaenora was standing inside a white belvedere floating in a vast blue sky. She didn't expect the Primordial of Time to actually answer her. She prayed to her for an audience and she actually accepted.
Thyrexxa was still the same; long braided teal hair, very bright emerald green eyes, snow white skin...
And beautiful that could rival any divine.
"I came to ask you something."
Thyrexxa smiled as she gestured for her to sit next to her. Phaenora took a sigh and sat down on a chair opposite hers. She was surprised to see cookies and a glass jar of red juice on the table. The jar levitated and poured some juice onto a floating glass, which floated towards her.
"I already know what you're going to ask, Phaenora. And of course, I'm going to answer every one of your questions. But you should ask them first."
Phaenora narrowed her eyes as she grabbed the glass. She didn't trust Thyrexxa. In fact, it's not good to trust any Primordial.
"Alright. First question. Why are you helping Veneri so much? I'm sure that other transmigrators didn't receive this much help from you."
Thyrexxa grinned as she ate a cookie from the tray. She took sometime to answer, which made Phaenora anxious.
"You're wrong. I've always helped the others the same way I did to Veneri. He's the only one who actually passed through a lot of tests. He escaped the god Stephos, who killed three of the seven transmigrators."
Phaenora couldn't tell if she was lying but she knew she had no reason to. Despite being a very powerful being, she was always honest. Time is a truth as well, knowing that past, present and future.
"Second question. Since Vastarael died—"
"I lied."
Her eyes widened. Phaenora already guessed what she meant by that but she let Thyrexxa explained.
"For an Omniscient, you're incredibly smart, aren't you?"
"..."
"You're right. I favor Veneri than most of the ones before him. That's why when he died, I altered time, using you and the Orchestral Vialex as a conduit. The thing about a second timeline? It's a lie. I just rewound time a few hours before he died."
"So you saved him. And there was no goddess on that time but when I regressed, Sirithiele came. You did that too?"
"Yes."
Phaenora's grip on the glass tightened as she stared at Thyrexxa, the revelation sinking in like a cold blade to her chest. For all her distrust of Primordials, she had never imagined that Thyrexxa, the embodiment of time itself, could have manipulated events so drastically. Vastarael's life, his second chance, it wasn't fate or divine will. It was her.
Thyrexxa had rewritten the laws of time for him.
Her violet eyes narrowed as she set the glass down, her heart pounding with a mix of disbelief and unease.
"You rewound time, you risked the stability of the entire timeline… for him?"
Thyrexxa leaned back, her emerald eyes shimmering with a hint of amusement.
"I didn't just risk it, Phaenora. I broke it. And to be honest, I do not know the consequences of it," she said with a calmness that sent a shiver down Phaenora's spine.
She picked up another cookie, inspecting it as if they were discussing something as mundane as the weather.
"Veneri—Vastarael—has always been special. Not because of who he is now, but because of who he was. And who he can become."
Phaenora's mind raced. She had known Vastarael's existence was unique, but to hear Thyrexxa admit to bending time's flow for him was a revelation she hadn't expected.
"You don't meddle without reason. Why him? Out of the others, why him?"
Thyrexxa's smile softened, though her eyes remained piercing. She was still scary but the way Phaenora talked to her made her believe that she really didn't see her as a Primordial of Time.
"Do you truly want to know, or are you just looking for another reason to mistrust me?"
"I want the truth."
For a moment, silence stretched between them, filled only by the faint hum of the endless blue sky surrounding the belvedere. Thyrexxa folded her hands on the table and sighed.
"I didn't save Vastarael because of some grand prophecy or divine plan. I saved him because he needed to be saved."
Phaenora blinked, confused by the simplicity of the answer.
"That's it? You risked creating paradoxes, tearing the timeline apart, because he needed you?"
Thyrexxa tilted her head, her long teal braid falling over her shoulder.
"Sometimes, all it takes is one act of defiance to change the course of everything. I saw his pain, Phaenora. I saw how he endured the torment, the betrayals, the endless deaths, and still kept moving forward. Tell me. How many beings, mortal or divine, could survive what he has and still hold on to their humanity?"
Phaenora had no answer. She looked away, her gaze falling to the untouched glass of juice. The memories of Veneri, his resilience, his quiet strength, flashed in her mind. She hated to admit it, but Thyrexxa was right.
No one would be tortured for six decades, lose someone he loved, watch the world end in horrific ways and still be sane.
"And you," Thyrexxa continued, her voice softer now, "you were part of that defiance, Phaenora. Whether you like it or not, you've been his anchor more than you realize. That's why I chose you as the conduit."
Phaenora's breath hitched. She hated feeling manipulated, but there was no denying the truth in Thyrexxa's words. Every choice she had made, every moment spent at Veneri's side, had been shaping something greater than herself.
"Why tell me this now?" She asked quietly.
Thyrexxa smiled, a genuine warmth in her expression that felt almost out of place.
"Because you deserved to know. And because, despite your mistrust of me, I know you'll protect him just as fiercely as I have. I can only do it once though. Interfering with Fate again will..."
Phaenora stared at her, the weight of everything sinking in. For the first time, she saw Thyrexxa not as a detached, godlike entity but as someone who cared. Not just about Veneri but about the fragile threads of existence she was willing to gamble with.
"I don't trust you."
"I wouldn't expect you to," Thyrexxa replied, a glimmer of amusement returning to her emerald eyes. "But that doesn't mean we're not on the same side."
Phaenora sat back in her chair, her mind a whirlwind of emotions. She still didn't trust Thyrexxa, but she couldn't deny that her perspective had shifted. The Primordial of Time wasn't just meddling in Vastarael's life for the sake of power or control. She was invested.
And that terrified Phaenora more than anything else.
"You said you defied Fate. You're saying when Vastarael died in my arms, that was fate? That I was meant to watch him—"
She cut herself off, unable to say the words aloud. The memory of his broken body, his golden eyes dimming as he slipped away, still haunted her.
Thyrexxa sighed, her emerald green eyes softening.
"Yes, Phaenora. That was his fate. From the moment he was born, Vastarael was fated to die tragically, over and over, in every iteration of his existence. It is a cruel, unyielding thread woven into the tapestry of his being. And I... I have fought against it more times than you can imagine with the other transmigrators."
Phaenora clenched her fists, the glass of juice cracking under the pressure of her grip.
"So, what? You just decided to let it happen? After everything you've done for him, you gave up?"
Thyrexxa's gaze sharpened, her serene demeanor cracking for a brief moment.
"Do you think it's that simple? I have bent time, broken it, rewound it, and stitched it back together, all to give Vastarael Richinaria a chance. I have defied Fate at every turn, Phaenora, but Fate is not a thread you can simply cut. It is a law of existence. For every action I take, Fate retaliates tenfold. I saved Veneri once. I cannot save him again."
"Then why tell me this? Why let me hope if it's all for nothing?"
Thyrexxa's expression softened again, and this time, there was a flicker of something Phaenora hadn't seen before.
Regret.
"Because it's not all for nothing," she said quietly. "I cannot save him from his ultimate fate, but I can give you something that might make a difference. A gift. A loophole in the weave of Fate itself."
"What kind of gift?"
Thyrexxa reached into the air, her hand glowing with a faint golden light. Slowly, she pulled a small orb of shimmering energy from the void, cradling it in her palm. It pulsed with a soft, rhythmic glow, like a heartbeat.
"This, is a glimpse of the future. Not just any future, but Veneri's. His path, his choices, and ultimately, his end."
Phaenora stared at the orb, her heart pounding. Of course Thyrexxa knew about that past, present and future.
"You're saying I'll be able to see his future? Before he—"
"Before he dies, yes," Thyrexxa confirmed. "It's a loophole. Fate governs the present and the past, but the future is always in flux, always uncertain. By showing you his future, I am giving you the knowledge to prepare for it."
Phaenora hesitated, her mind racing. The idea of knowing Vastarael's future, of seeing how his story would end, both intrigued and terrified her. From his birth to death, all of it was recorded inside that orb.
"What's the catch?" She asked warily.
Thyrexxa's lips curled into a faint, knowing smile.
"The catch, Phaenora, is that knowledge comes with responsibility. Once you see his future, you cannot unsee it. You will carry the weight of that knowledge, the burden of knowing what is to come, and the choice of whether or not to share it with him. Knowing the future isn't a good gift, believe me."
Phaenora's throat tightened. She glanced at the glowing orb, then back at Thyrexxa.
"Why would you give this to me?"
"Because I believe in you," Thyrexxa said simply. "You have always been more than a guide to Vastarael. You are his anchor, his constant in a world that has always been cruel to him. If anyone can help him navigate his path, it is you."
Phaenora reached out slowly, her hand trembling as she took the orb from Thyrexxa's palm. The moment her fingers closed around it, she felt a surge of warmth, a strange mix of hope and sorrow flooding her chest.
"Not to worry. The gift will only show you the times when he is close to death. I defied Fate by rewinding time and this time, it will do more than before. Prepare yourself and be ready whenever that happens."
Phaenora nodded, her grip tightening around the orb. For the first time, she saw Thyrexxa not as a manipulative Primordial, but as someone who had sacrificed just as much, if not more, to give Veneri a fighting chance.
As she stood to leave, Phaenora glanced back at Thyrexxa.
"If this doesn't work, if Fate still wins, I'll find a way to fight it myself. I won't let him die again."
Thyrexxa smiled faintly, her emerald eyes shimmering with something that almost looked like pride.
"Then perhaps, Phaenora, you will succeed where even I could not. I suppose a Primordial can't solve every problem, huh?"
"I guess..."
"Go to the Fallen Bridge after this. Don't wait for the Destras Cataclysm because you will die if EPOCH sends you to the next Winter Solstice. She thinks that you'll make it but you won't."
Phaenora nodded. "I already know and Vastarael figured it out. And... thanks, Thyrexxa. Did we used to talk like this back then?"
"Yes. We'll meet again, Phaenora. And don't worry about the Orchestral Vialex. Use it in the Fallen Bridge to survive."
"..."