Chapter 167: Tea with a Goddess

Grace sat beside Eternia at the white table. Everything around them was white – the chairs, the floor that wasn’t really a floor, even the air seemed to glow with soft light.

Eternia poured tea from a pot that hadn’t existed seconds ago. The liquid steamed as it filled Grace’s cup.

“Is this real?” Grace picked up the cup. It felt warm against her blackened hands.

“Does it matter?” Eternia sipped her own tea. “You’ll feel better after drinking it. Promise.”

Grace took a cautious sip. It tasted like honey and starlight and home all at once. Warmth spread through her corrupted body, easing aches she hadn’t realized were there.

“Huh.” Grace took another sip. “That’s actually really good.”

“I know, right?” Eternia grinned. “Took me centuries to get the recipe perfect.”

They sat in comfortable silence for a moment. Grace studied her creator over the rim of her cup. Same face as always – her face, but with more confidence and significantly larger breasts. Golden hair instead of white. An aura of power that made even sitting look graceful.

“So.” Eternia set her cup down. “That was quite dramatic.”

Grace snorted.

“Dramatic? You could say that. I just absorbed thousands of years of corruption and shot it into space.”

“I meant all the fighting.” Eternia waved her hand. “I figured you’d solve things with a few words. Maybe some strategic flirting. You know, the usual.”

“Strategic flirting?” Grace raised an eyebrow. “Against Azrael? While she was trying to kill me?”

“It’s worked before!” Eternia protested. “Remember the Tide? You literally fucked the corruption out of her.”

Grace rolled her eyes.

“Everything is sex with you, even now. As expected of my lewd goddess.”

Eternia laughed. The sound filled the white space with warmth.

“Guilty as charged! But hey, it’s more fun than violence.”

“You could say that again. I hate having broken ribs.” Grace shifted in her chair. “Which, weirdly, don’t hurt anymore.”

“Dream logic.” Eternia tapped her temple. “Or afterlife logic. Depends on your perspective.”

Grace’s cup froze halfway to her lips.

“Am I dead?”

Eternia sipped from her tea, pausing.

“Do you want to be?”

It was an odd question. Grace set her cup down and considered it seriously.

“It would honestly be a crazy note to go out on.” She looked at her blackened hands. “Absorbing all that corruption, saving Azrael, big dramatic explosion in the sky. Very flashy.”

“Incredibly flashy,” Eternia agreed.

“But no.” Grace shook her head. “Not really. I still have to check if my friends are okay. Diana’s probably still fighting. Petriel’s probably scared, helping whoever she can. And…”

“And?”

“I promised the Void I’d visit again.” Grace smiled softly. “She just started figuring out how to live. How to feel. I’d hate to break that promise.”

Eternia sighed dramatically.

“Such commitment! I could never. Once I make a promise, I immediately want to do literally anything else.”

“Yeah, I noticed.” Grace’s voice turned serious. “Are you ever going to come back? To Linaria?”

Eternia’s playful expression faded. She stared into her tea like it held answers.

“I’d like to.” Her voice was quiet. “I miss it. Miss the angels. Miss having a purpose beyond floating in the void.”

“Then why don’t you?”

“Because I’d ruin it.” Eternia looked up. “All that Sin energy? All those negative emotions that created the Pillars? They came from me, Grace. Every single one.”

She stood and paced around the table.

“If I went back, it would happen again. I’d have fun for a while. Create new things. Fall in love. Then I’d get in my feelings – jealousy, anger, loneliness, boredom. And instead of dealing with them like a normal person, I’d dump them into something else.”

“You could try not doing that.”

“Could I?” Eternia laughed bitterly. “I had millennia to learn, and I never did. It’s who I am, Grace. I create beauty and leave others to clean up when things turn ugly.” She stopped pacing and looked at Grace. “That’s why I made you. Someone who could handle both. And look. You’re doing amazing!”

Grace looked down at herself. Black skin. Black wings. Purple veins still visible beneath corrupted flesh.

“I’m not sure I’m even human anymore.” She flexed her fingers. “Or angel. Or anything recognizable.”

“Oh, honey.” Eternia moved around the table and pulled Grace into a hug. “Purple or not, you’re still my little Grace.”

The hug felt real. Warm. Safe. Grace melted into it despite herself.

“Want to hear about some adventures?” Eternia pulled back but kept her hands on Grace’s shoulders. “The fun parts of creation?”

“Sure.”

They sat back down. Eternia refilled their cups and launched into stories. The time she seduced a dragon just to see if she could. Racing comets across the void. Creating the first flowers and being so proud she made a thousand varieties in one day.

“Adventures are the fun part. The creating, the exploring, the falling in love. Even with all the fighting, and yes, even with the sad times. The deaths, the mourning.” Eternia’s eyes sparkled. “But sitting still? Making sure things don’t fall apart? Dealing with consequences?”

She shuddered theatrically.

“I could only ever leave that to others.” She pointed at Grace. “And now I’m leaving it to you.”

“Yeah, no pressure or anything.”

“You’ll be fine!” Eternia waved dismissively. “You’ve already handled more in months than I did in centuries. Purified all the Pillars without killing them. Saved Azrael from herself. United angels who were literally trying to murder each other.”

“Did I actually?”

“What do you mean?”

Grace looked away.

“Did I do a good job?”

The question came out smaller than Grace intended. Like she was still that scared farm girl asking for approval.

Eternia’s expression softened. For the first time since Grace had known her, she looked wise. Ancient. Like the goddess she actually was.

“You did perfectly.” She reached across the table and squeezed Grace’s hand. “Better than I ever could have hoped.”

Grace felt tears prick her eyes.

“Thanks.”

“Now!” Eternia clapped her hands. “Time to wake up. Your friends are waiting.”

“Wait, I have more questions—”

“I’m sure you do!” Eternia stood and pulled Grace up. “But Mara’s been sitting by your bedside for three years. Poor thing barely slept.”

“Three YEARS?!”

“You know how weird time is for us ageless beings,” Eternia touched Grace’s forehead. “Give everyone my love. Except Azrael. Give her my apologies instead.”

The white room began to fade. Grace felt herself being pulled back, back to her body, back to reality.

“Eternia!”

“Yes?”

“Will I see you again?”

Eternia smiled. It was sad and beautiful and full of love.

“Maybe, maybe not. But, either way, you can rest assured I’ll be watching. Always.”

The white dissolved completely.

Grace woke up on a stone table.

Not floating in the Dominion. Not in her comfortable bed. A stone table in what looked like a storage room, boxes and crates stacked against the walls.

[What the hell?]

She tried to sit up. Her body protested but obeyed. Everything ached in that deep way that meant serious healing had happened.

She looked down at herself. Her skin was normal again. Pale, not corrupted black. Her hands were her hands, not void-touched claws.

A soft snore made her turn. Mara sat slumped in a chair beside the table, dark circles under her eyes. Her usual perfect hair was mussed. Dried tear tracks marked her cheeks.

[Mara.] Grace was shocked. [How long has she been with me for?]

Grace swung her legs off the table as quietly as possible. Her wings – white again, thank Eternia – dragged behind her. She was wearing a simple white robe, not her armor.

The movement was enough. Mara’s eyes fluttered open.

“Grace?” Her voice came out hoarse. “Are you… is this real?”

“Hey.” Grace smiled. “Miss me?”

Mara’s eyes widened. Then she lunged forward, pulling Grace into a crushing hug.

“You idiot!” Mara sobbed into Grace’s shoulder. “You absolute idiot! You almost died! You WERE dead! Your heart stopped three times!”

“Sorry.” Grace hugged her back. “Had to save everyone. It’s kind of my thing.”

“Your thing is giving me heart attacks!” Mara pulled back to examine Grace’s face. “Your eyes were black for two days. Your wings fell off and regrew. Do you have any idea what that was like to watch?”

“Probably gross.”

“Grace!”

“Sorry, sorry.” Grace caught Mara’s hands. “I’m okay now. Really. Even had tea with Eternia.”

“You… what?”

“Long story.” Grace squeezed Mara’s hands. “How’s everyone else? Diana? Celestia? The Veil angels?”

“Everyone’s alive.” Mara wiped her eyes. “Celestia’s recovering. Diana’s been breaking things because you wouldn’t wake up. The Veil angels…”

She trailed off.

“What about them?”

“They’re in custody. Waiting to see what happens to Azrael.” Mara bit her lip. “She hasn’t woken up either.”

[Shit.]

“Where is she?”

“Next room.” Mara stood, pulling Grace up. “Can you walk?”

“Only one way to find out.”

Grace’s legs held, barely. She leaned on Mara as they made their way to the door.

“Grace?”

“Yeah?”

“Don’t ever do that again.”

Grace thought about all the corruption she’d absorbed. The way it had transformed her. The gamble that there’d be anything left of her afterward.

“I’ll try not to.”

It wasn’t a promise. They both knew there’d probably be a next time. Some other crisis that required Grace to throw herself into danger.

But for now, she was alive. Her friends were safe. The Pillars were free.

It was enough.

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