Nameless awoke, as he had done many times in this life, on a comfortable bed, next to his loving wife. Though neither he nor Aurelia needed sleep, not with any meaningful frequency at least, under the auspices of Heaven, dreams were a special gift, and one he could not help himself to indulge in on occasion. His latest one, however, was much more shocking, and violent, than normal. He dreamed of himself, perhaps another life he could have lead in the Winter Labyrinth. A life in which he turned against Heaven, even after learning of Kong's atrocity and of the tragedy of the Fate's binding. A life which paralleled the Truth, even in his mastery of his Ring.
He dispelled the brief sadness which came over his heart, then roused his wife so they could return to their daily business. Rebuilding the Empire was a monumental task, and it and its people deserved their attention.
Later that same day, Spring called them to ask if they and their entourage would like join her and her family for dinner. Similar calls hadn't be entirely uncommon since Nameless had broken them free of the bonds which held them to their Divine Mantles (which were not completely unlike the mental chains which held Titans to their Dao, as he'd discovered with his own cultivation). He quickly relayed mental messages to Aurelia, her family, Xiaoling, her father and mother, and her husband Sterimeon, Suizhen and the rest of her band of Heroes, as well his own father, mother, and younger brother. Little Jianhong was still only a child, not even as old as Nameless had been when he'd set out from home, but when he'd been born, Spring had said he would be greatly blessed by the coming Age and its prosperity. He received messages back almost instantly from everyone but his own family, who responded a few minutes, delayed by needing to disentangle themselves from the thorny memetic creature that Liefang and Zhengyi were tackling. Everyone was free this evening, and Nameless's powerful teleportation meant no one needed to worry about arranging transportation.
The dinner was, of course, literally divine. The Fates were wealthy beyond mortal imagining, even more so than the Yong if such a thing can be believed, and the joyous air that had permeated Heaven now that they were free of their calcified shells only enhanced the grandeur. The dinner ended up being more of a feast, as several of Spring and Nameless's guests had gone on to gather their own party of guests, and then again for another degree of separation. The palaces of Heaven were fit to hold uncountably more, though, and the festivities were great nonetheless, though Nameless couldn't help but feel confused, since he couldn't remember what they were celebrating (other than everybody happening to all have an open evening at once, which is something of a miracle in and of itself), despite his perfect and inviolate memory. Nonetheless, he reveled along with all his friends, enjoyed the stories from everyone he hadn't had the opportunity to hold a real conversation with in a long while, and shared his own, about his young brother and his burgeoning abilities, about his and Aurelia's work rebuilding the metaphysical foundations of the world, and more. It was immensely cathartic, and he and Aurelia both even were inspired to try a couple new possibilities with handling the transition of Ages.
The party continued for a while, but unfortunately even with the incredible combined temporal abilities of everyone involved, it couldn't go on forever. People had projects to return to, other people to see, undiscovered New Worlds to explore, all sorts of things. Eventually it was just Spring, Aurelia, and Nameless still in the main hall, when Spring put on an oddly sad face. Before he and his wife returned to their home, Spring whispered, almost pleading in tone, "Please, don't choose to leave this behind." She smiled melancholically, before following her brother Summer to elsewhere in Heaven, while Nameless and Aurelia left to return to the Underworld.
Nameless felt a tear fall on his cheek, which he wiped away slowly. "What's wrong, honey?" Aurelia asked, sensing a genuine disturbance in her husband.
"I'm not sure." Nameless lied. "I had on odd dream last night. After all the joy of today, I think the feeling from it just caught up with me now."
