A gradual sensation crept throughout their body, restoring her with life and energy. He pressed their head against the cool ground, squeezing her eyes shut as the bright light pierced into their head. 

“Ekoh, wake up.” The command ran throughout the room, reflecting off the walls as it was directed towards them. The realization finally hit: they were alive again. Memories flooded back in an instant—good and bad. Nothing was left out, and he had never felt so alive because of it. They forcefully opened her eyes, squinting as they adjusted to the light of the temple building. He instantly noticed that whoever had spoken before was standing in front of her. They swiftly pushed herself up, his legs shaky as they had to get used to moving again. Ekoh watched in awe at the being in front of her. Bright and pure, the glowing butterfly wings that obscured parts of their face stood out in contrast to the deep, purple tone of the celestial being’s body. 

“You withhold knowledge that they crave; I’ve tasked you to assist them in their mission to restore this world.” Ekoh watched as they turned away, beginning to walk away. But Ekoh couldn’t shake the feeling that she knew this being. They looked so familiar, how they acted, even just their presence. Could this be Everly? 

Ekoh went to reach out their hand, but retracted his arm before doing so. She bit the inside of their cheek, looking down before facing the divine being once more. “Everly?”

They stopped in their tracks, astrals wings along their face flared out slightly as astrals fists clenched. “Don’t call me that.”

“I’m so sorry, I’m just so happy to see you—you have no idea. What do you want me to call you then?” Ekoh tried to hold back their excitement and worries, the painful memories of what happened before were slowly resurfacing, and Ekoh was terrified of the impact of it all. They wouldn’t blame Everly for not wanting to talk to them, but he still had to try. She walked over to Everly, standing just a couple steps behind and to the side. The silence that followed felt like a dagger was being pierced into Ekoh’s heart, but they kept a small smile on his face, gentle and understanding.

Everly narrowed their gaze, crossing their arms, and turned to Ekoh. Astral seemed almost confused, still blank but visibly a bit thrown off. “I’m a host to the God of Light; you don’t need to address me, it’s unimportant.” 

“A host?” 

“Don’t worry about it, I have a mission now, a purpose.”

Ekoh found how Everly acted unsettling. They seemed so stiff, as if astral was being forced to. Maybe not directly forced, but following rules or guidelines. “Are you okay here? Have you been here since, well-”

“Since I was killed, yes. Yes, I have.” They finished the sentence quickly. Ekoh opened their mouth to speak before Everly continued. “I know, don’t apologize. It’s fine here.”

“I have to apologize, or anything! I don’t care if you are now ‘fine’, I still killed you.” Ekoh squeezed their eyes shut, forcing back tears, before opening them again.

“You weren’t in control.” Everly waved their hand dismissively at the topic, gesturing to the door. “Drifted Keys doesn’t have much time, and my magic won’t last forever. You need to assist the others, then, you’ll move on to the afterlife.”

“Everly.” Ekoh wanted to protest but didn’t know where to begin. She found himself shaking their palm in front of her chest. He was nervous and doubted how much help they could be. But most of all, she didn’t want to leave astral here alone.

“Didn’t I say not to address me as that? You don’t need to call me anything or refer to me. Stop stalling.”

“I want to address you how you want me to, needed or not! I’ve known you for so long, disregard the formality and just, talk to me, as we are equals-”

“Equals? Ekoh, look at me!” Everly snapped, then gestured to astralself with their pale, clawed hands. Their three hollow, white eyes were filled with an unspeakable amount of emotion. “You still treat me like we're equals, even after you see what I am now! Don't you see what I am? A monster with some divine power. I could kill you right now for disobeying. You should be scared of monsters. You should be scared of me."

Ekoh felt frozen, letting their mind go straight to the truth—what they actually thought of astral, even after seeing them like this. They stepped towards Everly, taking astrals hands and raising one of them to Ekoh’s cheek. Their hand was warm, and felt just like she remembered before. 

“What are you doing?” 

"You're beautiful. I see you for you, no matter the form." Ekoh let their tears fall, and his hand slid down to Everly’s wrist. She glanced away from astral, then he noticed as their body lit up brightly. When Ekoh looked back, Everly was now in a form more like what Ekoh remembered. Tears shimmered in Everly’s golden eyes, astrals maroon and lavender hair was slightly untamed and messy. Ekoh’s eyes laid upon the deep scar over their neck, only for Everly to use their other hand to lift Ekoh’s chin, so she was facing astral once more. Ekoh couldn’t hold back his sobs, closing her eyes as tears streamed down their cheeks and sobs shook her body. They were pulled forward into a warm embrace, and Everly rested their head on his shoulder, holding her tightly. Ekoh wrapped their arms around astral, feeling more at ease with their comfort.

“I’ve missed you—gods, I’ve missed you so much.” They let Everly go after some time, wiping his hand over her eyes to clear away the tears.

“I've missed you too.” Everly seemed hesitant but allowed astralself to give a slight smile. It faded though, as they continued. “You need to leave soon, I can’t just talk. The world is running out of time, you’ll run out of time.”

Ekoh frowned but nodded. They then reached out a hand. “Please, come with me, you can help too.”

“The world is ending, how do you expect me to help if no gods have been able to stop it over the years?” Everly questioned, tapping their foot against the ground in a face-paced rhythm. They were evidently anxious, but Ekoh pushed that aside.

“The more people, the better. You know things too. We can both do it!” Ekoh tried to convince them. “Think of it as one last journey, together.”

Everly looked at the door for a moment, then at Ekoh. Astrals eyes shone with concern and fear, but also longing. The words Ekoh spoke were painful and sparked realization for both of them. This could be Ekoh and Everly’s last chance to ever have a ‘normal’ experience again. “Alright then. Let’s find them.”

“And save the world. Save our home.” Ekoh offered their hand, watching Everly, only for Everly to turn away and walk out the door. Ekoh let their hand fall against his side, pain seared through her heart, almost literally. The silence and dismissal was soul-crushing. Everly might as well have taken out his heart and stepped on it, tossing it to the side. Ekoh shouldn’t have thought that they would be just as they were before. They sighed quietly and followed Everly out the door.