Ruan Mei glanced at Herta and Asta. "The way Herta Ninety-Nine made her entrance—was that your idea? Quite interesting. Like ripples appearing on a still pond."
Herta and Asta exchanged satisfied smiles. "Yes, we discussed it and arranged for her to do it that way. Sometimes it's good to make a bit of a statement."
Both women thought the same thing: Herta Ninety-Nine understood the value of redemption. They'd let this one slide. But a small punishment was still in order.
Ten seconds until the auspicious hour. Fu Xuan and Qingque stood together, breath held, perfectly still.
They had known each other for a century.
Fu Xuan remembered that day—the Divination Commission entrance exam. Qingque had finished her answers in record time, then immediately started sketching out designs for a jade tile parlor.
Fu Xuan had walked straight to her desk and stared. That was their first meeting. Her first impression: a slacker.
Qingque remembered it too. A room full of fifty or sixty applicants, and the Grand Diviner's gaze never left her. Did she already know, even then, that this day would come?
The hour arrived.
Herta began.
"Please recite your vows."
"I, Fu Xuan/Qingque, pledge our hearts as one to write upon the wild goose scroll the union of the Fu and Qing names, to never wrong my beloved, nor be wronged by them."
First bow. To the Reignbow Arbiter and all the Aeons of the heavens. If either breaks this vow, may the Hunt's arrows find them.
Fu Xuan and Qingque bowed to the stars.
Second bow. To the white-haired parents who raised them.
They turned and bowed twice to Qing Ming and Fu Qing.
Third bow. To each other, faithful until death.
They bowed to one another.
Fourth bow. To Nous, the All-Knowing Aeon. May this union be radiant, perfect, and flawless.
...
Ninth bow. To Fuli, the Aeon of Remembrance. May they guard each other and become each other's one and only.
As Herta finished, nine-colored clouds materialized across the sky, forming the silhouettes of four Aeons.
From left to right: Lan, Qlipoth, the departed Idrila, and an uninvited Nous.
The crowd gasped. Four Aeons witnessing the same wedding? And one of them was the long-vanished Idrila, Aeon of Pure Beauty?
"Incredible. Four Aeons!"
"The last wedding with an Aeon's witness was a thousand years ago. That was the Reignbow Arbiter and the Aeon of Changle."
"Don't remind me. Aha turned that whole wedding into a joke; they divorced."
On stage, Herta sighed. "Ruan Mei, I didn't write any lines about Machine Head. Why did he bother to look?"
Ruan Mei smiled faintly. "Perhaps because his Emanator was the one reciting the vows?"
Herta waved a hand. "I don't believe that. But Idrila's silhouette appearing? That is strange."
Ruan Mei's smile deepened. "Perhaps Fu Xuan and Qingque's wedding will be the most beautiful, most eternal, most flawless thing in the universe."
Herta nodded slowly. As long as Aha stayed away, the wedding would be fine. And Fu Xuan and Qingque's future would be bright.
Down in the crowd, Guinaifen broadcast to her livestream. "The Grand Diviner and Qingque just received blessings from four Aeons! This is unprecedented!"
On stage, Qingque scratched her head nervously. "Grand Diviner, if we ever split up, would those four Aeons come after us?"
Bam.
Fu Xuan rapped her on the head. "Four Aeons? I'd grind your bones to dust myself."
Qingque fell silent. The joke had been ill-timed.
Herta coughed, trying to restore some dignity. "Before you met, what did you imagine your futures would be like?"
Qingque answered first. "I thought I'd grow old alone, playing jade tiles and living an average life."
"And you, Fu Xuan?"
Fu Xuan closed her eyes beneath her veil. "I thought I would rise from Grand Diviner to General of the Luofu. Inherit the Lightning Lord. Hunt the Abundance. Walk the Hunt until the end."
The crowd fell silent, instinctively glancing at Jing Yuan, already deep in his cups and fast asleep.
Ruan Mei watched, her thoughts drifting. If she had never changed, never come to the Luofu during the Luminary Wardance, would this be their future?
She couldn't say. Every small change could alter the course of events. She herself was proof. Fu Xuan and Qingque. Yukong and Feixiao. Herta and herself. Even that false Yu Qingtu. All variables.
Herta continued. "And now that you're together, what future do you see?"
In unison, without hesitation: "Open a parlor for Qingque. Inherit the Lightning Lord for Fu Xuan."
They smiled at each other, each wanting to fulfill the other's wish.
Herta watched them with an unreadable expression, her gaze drifting to Ruan Mei.
Envy. Too much envy. What did Ruan Mei even want? To create an Aeon? To become one? Nothing simple.
Ruan Mei, too, was lost in thought. What did Herta want? To replace Nous? To stand at the apex of the universe? To destroy that woman—Genius Society member #4?
Their eyes met. The tsundere and the aloof. Neither spoke. Each wondering what the other truly desired.
If I helped Herta/Ruan Mei achieve her wish... how would she look at me?
With longing? With hope? With something more?