Seth idly played with Astra's hair, twirling the twin toned strands between his fingers while her head rested against his chest. They were laying on the cold, hard ground with their backs against the mud wall of the ramshackle excuse for a house, with only Seth's old feathered cloak to act as their blanket.

Armour had been dismissed, clothes had been discarded and yet even with the cold ground below and the chilling air above, the warmth of Astra's body pressed against his was the most comfortable feeling in the world.

"I wonder why they change... My eyes, your hair. I mean why change colour? It doesn't seem to help us in any way or affect how our powers work. So why do you think they changed?"

Astra laughed softly and whispered gently, "Is that really all you are thinking about right now?"

"Well... No. I can think of a lot of things at once. For instance I am also thinking about how wonderful your powers are for... stimulation of nerves and- Ow!"

A small jolt of static electricity zapped him in the chest, before Astra started to trace her finger around the area, innocently drawing circles and patterns as if she had done nothing wrong.

"Okay okay... But next time we'll definitely have to try it."

"Oh? Next time hmm? What makes you so sure that there will be a next time?"

"Give me five minutes and there definitely will be."

He pulled her close, planting a kiss on her lips while his hand trailed down her body, until it reached her stomach. When his fingers brushed over the scared area where the sword had torn through, they pulled away slightly.

Astra lifted her head, looking into his eyes with a soft gaze.

"I'm fine, really. I am. Sure, it still hurts a bit and there's going to be a scar. But I'm alive, and that's what's important."

"Yeah... I know, It's just If I had been there soon then- Ow! What was that one for?"

Seth frowned in annoyance at Astra as she shocked him again, only to be met with her own irritated glare. The type that many took as a death glare and would make them pee their pants. But for Seth, it made him feel like he was being scolded because... well, he kind of was.

"I already told you, no If's and no But's. You did what you could. If things were better, could you have done more? Maybe. But you could have also done worse too. I'm alive. Other people are alive, and the one who deserved it is dead.

What's done is done. So don't dwell on the past. Learn from it and move forwards. For instance, next time I am not going to get stabbed. That was an easy lesson to learn."

"Heh, I guess you're right. I'll make you a new leg when we get back, I promise. I'm just thankful that healer was there otherwise... I don't know what I would have done.

Speaking of, why was he shaking like a leaf when he arrived?"

"Probably because he was scared of the big bad Lord Corvus, the Death-bringer. Such a ridiculous name... But he's a good man. I expect you to thank him properly and give him a good reward for his work.

In fact... maybe if you asked him nicely, he could see about working on your face."

Astra reached up, touching his burned cheek softly to which Seth simply put his hand over hers and gave her a gentle smile.

"I can live with it. There are more important things that need his energy rather than some stupid cosmetic damage. I'll get him some pearls so he can treat actual injuries. Then once it's all sorted, we can see about this. Maybe."

A soft knocking at the door drew both of their attention. The doorway was actually open, with nothing but a ragged cloth draped over it to act as a door. A hand poked through the cloth, rapping its knuckles against the hardened mud again before a meak, mousey voice sounded from the other side.

"A-are you two done? There are some people here waiting to see you. Sir Alfie and.. a few others I don't recognise. Should I tell them to come back?"

"Ye-"

"No. Tell them we will be right out."

Seth frowned at Astra as she spoke over her, asking her a silent question simply with the raise of his eyebrows, only to get a glare in response, causing him to sigh and roll his eyes. She gave his chest a firm slap and clambered to her foot, wobbling slightly and leaning on the wall in the process, and even taking their makeshift blanket with her.

She summoned her armour, the clothing appearing from a tattoo on her lovely body, before surrounding her entirely except for her head, it even closed over her stump, as if it was designed that way. The cloak that was once their blanket was draped over her shoulders, and was apparently hers now. Although Seth seemed to miss the part of the discussion when that happened.

"We really need to see about getting some fire proof armour. Or at least something heat resistant. We seem to be coming up against a lot of that type, and I can say from experience that the solution of removing the armour so you don't get burned is not a good plan."

Thinking back on his own experience with heat based enemies, and how he lost his arm in similar circumstances, Seth could only solemnly nod.

"Agreed. I'll look into it."

After quickly dressing, mainly in just armour which wasn't the most comfortable without something underneath, Lord Corvus and Astra made their way out of the dirt hovel and were faced with the awkward, beet red face of Lee as he stared at the ground. He couldn't bear to look any higher after what he heard, and simply gestured over to the street silently.

By this time, Seth's black blood arm had melted away, so she kept his empty gauntlet hidden under his shadowy cloak. His connection to the shadows, and the overwhelming amount of Worship that had flooded into his body, had also disappeared. Everything caused by the Lightbringers influence had quickly disappeared after his death.

That included the power 'blessed' to the one remaining individual who had drank his blood in that strange, last minute ritual. However that didn't mean all of his forces had lost their powers.

Many of them had gained their abilities the natural way, through the strange systems evolution. They had simply been tricked into believing it was from the false god Lightbringer instead of... whatever the system was.

Waiting for them outside was, as announced, Alfie along with his lovely new bride Juniper, who he was currently talking with. There was also Omelette, returned to his true Wyvern form, as well as Seth's sister, Lea, and their younger brother, Woe.

Seth had to stop himself from rushing over to hug his brother, since in his current identity he shouldn't have had any relation to the boy. But thankfully Lea was doating on him more than enough for the both of them.

She was acting like a true mother, even down to the fact that she was cleaning his face with a cloth she dabbed against her tongue, all while scolding him for his behaviour and giving him a hail of kisses and hugs. A real mixed back of conflicting emotions, wrapped up in a display that would make any young boy completely and utterly embarrassed.

The perfect family reunion.

Alfie strolled over to Seth upon noticing him, and immediately tossed something to him.

"Here, your gift from my marriage. You know, isn't it supposed to be the newly weds that get the gift? I don't see why you're the one that's getting something and I'm left empty handed."

"Thank you Alfie. But you're right. I really should get you a gift. Say, there's this lovely mansion nearby that I hear has just become vacant, and a lot of land that needs a new lord. Congratulations, you've got the job."

"Wait... No. That's... that's not what I meant."

"And hey, I hear that it's got lots of room. Plenty of space just waiting to be filled by little saplings."

"I hate you..."

Seth laughed wickedly as his friend shook his head, only to be pulled away by his lovely new bride, her ears unable to miss the mention of 'saplings'. Seth could already tell by the shifting expressions on Alfie's face that she was taking his joke a little too seriously.

Moving his eyes away from the amusingly horrified and panicked expression on Alfie's face. Seth looked at the gift he had been unceremonously tossed.

It was a strange round fruit roughly the size of a baseball, with waxy silver skin and a stalk at the top. It was like the strange combination of a banana and an apple, that was dipped in molton silver.

But as strange as its appearance was, Angel's voice whispering in his ear made no mistake about its identity

[Fruit of the Heavenly Tree, Acquired.]

Astra's voice sounded from beside him as she saw the strange fruit resting in his palm.

"That reminds me, I also have something for you~ Well, Something else that is."

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.