After Orion''s disappearance alongside Miasma, two souls were forcefully dragged out of the bracelet the Hero was treasuring.
"Hmm~?"
At the same time Orion''s magical signature vanished, Tiohr-nam sensed the two souls breaching through the portal leading to Eogis before everyone else returned.
"This aura... Is it possible?"
The magical energy of a man she once knew was being pulled by the light element, and the aura of a woman she didn''t know was being pulled by the dark element.
"They are going toward the elemental realm? This is not good."
Her symbol as a Remnant, the ''Golden Leaf'', flashed over her green irises. Activating her power over ''Life'' and ''Death'', she forcefully captured those souls and protected them.
"Souls in this state cannot remain long enough to do anything. The sealed bodies of Orion''s parents are stored in that place, so they instinctively tried to return to it..."
Noticing the damage etched on the two souls, she frowned.
"All I can do is preserve them. But..."
"They''re already lost."
~
After Tiohr-nam recovered her memories and once the entire Remnants group came back together, she finally started moving toward resurrecting the couple.
She went to fetch the people who would help her achieve the best result and explained her idea to them.
"Henrietta, I think it''s worth it to at least try."
"If you don''t succeed, these two will be lost forever. Orion won''t easily forgive you if you mess up. He was supposed to do it himself, don''t you remember?"
Titania nodded.
"I know. I learned it from him directly how unsuccessful it went."
She glanced over her shoulder with her chin pointing downward.
"But ''Life'' is my aspect. I am the one who makes the rules."
For a moment, both Henrietta and Heto gulped. The person in front of them was different from Tiohr-nam. She was now Titania, the daughter of a Valkyrie.
With a faint smile, she released the tension that the two people behind her were feeling and looked at the crystals in front of her.
"We will split the way we do things. I will focus on breaking these crystals and placing these souls back inside their bodies."
"Heto, I need you to link the souls back and stabilize them. You are the Remnant of ''Consciousness'', so bring them back."
Heto nodded.
"I''ll do what I must. Even though I''ve never met this ''Orion'', I can see that he truly cared for the factions around here."
"I may not be a worthy warrior, but let me help a true one."
With a smile, Heto slammed his fist on his chest lightly. The symbol of a sigil of a meteor shined in his eyes, symbolizing the ''Disaster'' under his control.
"What should I do? I don''t see exactly what my power over ''Fate'' and ''Destiny'' would be of use in this scenario."
Henrietta crossed her arms while looking at the crystals. She walked next to Titania, who was frowning.
"These souls have been badly damaged after roaming the world for just a few minutes. I am afraid their egos are... dead."
"You''ll need me to change their destiny..."
Titania nodded. Her folded, leafy wings shuddered slightly after thinking of the state they would be in once their souls were attached.
Without wasting time, Henrietta pulled out the ''Book of Destiny'' from her source.
"I apologize for making you use this artifact."
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With an apologetic expression on her face, Titania glanced at Henrietta.
"You knew..."
"Heto knows. He simply told us earlier."
The man scratched the back of his bald head while avoiding her gaze.
"Aaaah~ Whatever."
Dropping her shoulders, Henrietta gave up before even getting mad.
"Without Tetra, I don''t feel like being angry. It''s only a nightmare. I can live through that."
Opening the book, she settled on the first name.
"Reon Feales. Father of the Hero Orion."
Upon setting her eyes on the page, she instantly read through the entirety of his life through the text.
His entire life was transcribed into the pages, even his battle against Elliott. At no point was it precisely written that Elliott had been controlled by his father, which surprised her slightly.
Everything that happened inside the bracelet was also ignored, which made her notice that anything concerning Orion was somehow blocked.
''Maybe if I were to read Orion''s profile, I would get the missing parts of their destiny?''
With this brief thought, she read the last sentence of his history.
<Three Remnants prepared themselves to bring the angel back to his previous glory, lost after being sealed thousands of years ago.>
"As expected, unless we actually try something, I''ll be unable to actually change the outcome. Nothing that would affect the actual result has happened yet."
"Would you mind detailing further?"
Heto asked with a confused expression. He wasn''t knowledgeable about her actual power, so Henrietta nodded, explaining it concisely.
"It means that the actual window in which I''m able to help is narrow. Presently, I''m powerless. The moment their souls are back in their bodies, I''ll have to focus on changing their state."
"From a damaged soul to a patched-up, healthy soul..."
None of them had the actual power to do this. The only person capable of actually helping appeared in Henrietta''s mind.
"Without Tetra, I''m not sure if it''ll be a success."
The power to reverse a state, besides death, was part of Tetra''s power. Even Titania had no power over death itself. She could cause it, but not inverse it.
"Mending souls isn''t something easy to do. It''s still a complete mystery as to why Orion actually managed to revive Layla."
Titania nodded, but her gaze, full of determination, was unchanged.
"Either way, without Orion to lead the others, we need someone to replace the missing firepower."
"These women and Lords might be powerful and surprisingly resourceful, but we have no idea when the next breach will happen."
"That''s one thing we''re on the lookout for, so I''m with you on that point."
Nodding, Heto crossed his arms while agreeing with the green-haired Remnant.
"The visions of disasters haven''t appeared yet, so I think we''re safe for another week."
Giving his usual report on the state of the continent, Heto scratched his chin.
"That is good to know. At least we can concentrate on doing this."
Titania walked forward and placed her hand on the first crystal. The figure of a man sleeping inside the cold coffin appeared after she placed her hand on it.
"Alright, let me focus."
Closing her eyes, Titania focused on feeling the entire crystal composition.
Heto and Henrietta stayed where they were, anxious.
"Layers after layers of magic seals. Henrietta, what magic did you give them to achieve such a result?"
With a genuine, concerned look, she turned to the woman.
"It was called the ''Forbidden Magic of Life and Death''."
"Let me guess? It came from your mother."
With an unapologetic nod, Henrietta confirmed her inquiry.
"No wonder they ended up like this. Not everyone is capable of withstanding the energy of a Valkyrie''s abilities. At least, I''ll agree that separating the ability into two was smart."
"The burden was shared, which avoided the worst from happening."
Henrietta turned her head to the side with a faint, defeated smile.
"Trust me, I know what happens if only one uses this ability."
"Oh..."
Titania turned to the crystal without saying anything else. She had forgotten that Henrietta had seen countless timelines before this one played out the way it did.
"It will take time before I can break each layer. I could do it the easy way and use Avalon, but that way, I cannot guarantee their survival."
Henrietta shook her head.
"Do it the safest way. I''m saying it again, but we need to avoid failing at all costs."
The progenitor of the fairies nodded with a natural smile.
"I understand that well. For Orion."
Thinking of the young adult as her own child, she couldn''t help but feel indebted to him.
"I would not dare damage our current relationship."
A green glow began to cover her entire body, releasing light green threads that dissipated over her shoulders.
Her wings spread wide behind her back, staying as still as a tree''s branches.
Slowly, Titania began to work on breaching through the crystal''s seals, which were the cause of Orion''s failure to connect the souls of his parents'' return into their bodies.
...
Henrietta was watching her book with an intense focus, while Heto was waiting for the moment to act.
An hour and a half had already gone by as Titania slowly destroyed layers after layers.
*Crack*
Her hand sank deeper into the crystal, and her entire forearm had been swallowed by the large object.
In complete silence, the release of Reon proceeded smoothly.
"I... am holding it."
Suddenly, Titania spoke after an hour of silence.
"Holding what?"
Heto walked to her side and leaned forward.
"The moment the next seal is broken, the crystal will shatter. Are you prepared?"
Her fingertips were touching the very last layer. Reon''s frozen, soulless body was within reach.
With her free hand, she signaled to Heto when to catch Reon.
Dropping her hand, Titania pushed on the last layer.
Bending his back forward, Heto spread his arms to the sides.
*SHATTER*
The entire crystal exploded, with Titania''s hand still inside. As massive chunks of crystal fell down, they instantly broke into a finer powder before vanishing into the air.
Reon''s body fell forward, freed from the crystal. His silver hair swayed graciously, even after all this time.
His body had been perfectly preserved, even the injuries he had suffered while fighting Elliott.
"I got him!"
Catching the angel in his arms, Heto held him tightly.
"Do not let go!"
Titania turned around while holding a bright ball of light in her hand. With a swift movement, she slammed the soul into Reon''s back.
"Your turn!"
Knowing that they had very little time to make this ordeal a success, Heto went to it without giving an answer.
Attaching the soul back to the body wasn''t an easy task. Since Reon''s soul had departed from his body, it was against the laws of the world to attach it back.
But if there was anything Henrietta and Titania learned, it was that rules were unimportant for things that truly mattered.
If bringing Orion''s parents back would help them save this world, they would do it over and over.
Of course, it was a one-time ticket. If they messed it up, everything would be over.
As a surefire way to make this a reality, both Heto and Titania worked on stabilizing the soul.
"It''s trying to leave!"
Heto looked at Titania with a frantic expression.
"I know, I''m doing my best!"
Henrietta suddenly took a step forward.
"I got this!"
Her hand was on a page, and she wrote something on it.
"Now!"
Seeing that Reon''s soul stopped trying to leave his body, Heto began to bind the soul with the power of ''Consciousness''.
"Good... Good!"
Even through the tension, they remained calm, watching every step carefully.
"Wake up."
After ordering the consciousness of Reon to awaken, something happened.
The lifeless eyes of the angel appeared, which confirmed Titania''s fears.
"The damage to their soul was too advanced..."
"That''s why I''m here."
Henrietta walked next to her, watching carefully a page of the ''Book of Destiny''.
"I just need to make it so that the soul isn''t damaged. Rather simple."
With her finger, she wrote something that only she knew about.
''Tetra, I''m borrowing your stupidity.''
With a faint smile, she nodded.
<The bracelet protected the souls'' integrity, even after they had left it. Their will to see their son once again pushed them to resist the pull of death.>
Suddenly, as the last word was etched on the page that told the life of the angel named Reon, the light of life wavered inside his eyes.
The breath of life returned to the man as his chest heaved up and down.
*Cough*
"What...? Where?"
Pushing the arms of Heto who was holding him, Reon fell to his knees.
"W-What?"
He looked at his hands with disbelief. Immediately, he placed two fingers on the artery in his neck.
"I can feel... my heart?"
Finally, Reon looked upward. The first person who entered his vision was none other than Henrietta.
"Welcome back to the world of the living, Reon."
With eyes wide open, Reon stared at her.
"This is absurd..."