Ash wasted no time, appearing directly in the skies of the 95th Heaven.
This was where Aphrodite and Persephone had been living for quite a while, though theyâd first been on the 60th Heaven when the fourth incarnation had died.
Back then, the Fourth had sent them off to the budding cosmos he was crafting, but things didnât go smoothly.
Heâd built it using his strata and other Trans-concepts, yet somehow, he wasnât the Anchorâturns out, the Earth Plane was.
His plan had been to cut the connection once it was strong enough, but, well, we all know how that ended.
After his death his cosmos crumbled placing everyone back into the thick of tension. But it wasnât instant... enough time passed for the women to be safe.
That was only the start of their defense against the sixth dimension. And they werenât aloneâfrom the 99th Heaven down, every inhabitant was dealing with the same challenges.
Floating in the skies looking at the divided lands he simply blinked as he willed a power into action.
|One Sight|
He wasnât about to waste time on those weaklings with their endless scheming and plotting.
His women had endured such nonsense for far too long. In this moment, he would strip away every worry they carried, before offering them pure pleasure and a chance to truly reconnect.
FWOOOOM!!!!!
Then, the four domains encircling the central domainâstretching for what felt like infinite light-yearsâburst into white flames.
But this was no ordinary fire.
These were flames born of pure truthâwhite as fresh snow, yet burning with the icy rage of absolute certainty.
They didnât devour flesh first; they burned away sin.
The instant he opened his eyes, he judged every soul across the four continents as guiltyâhundreds of billions, from the highest invaders in the heaven to the humblest pawnsâfeeling it all at once.
Their crimes against the Earth Plane, his women and the very notion of loyalty to their dimensionsâerupted within them.
The fire didnât consume them from the outside, but from deep inside.
And countless deaths played out in mere moments. Each and every invader found themselves dying over and over.
One soul might endure being flayed alive a trillion times in the blink of an eyeâeach flaying slower than the last, every strip of skin removed with meticulous care.
Another could feel the crushing weight of every life they had ever destroyed pressing down on them.
The torment went on without end, as Ash made them bathe in the flames of their sins.
And when the judgment was finally doneâwhen every trace of sin had been purgedâthe flames vanished.
But the continents hadnât turned to ash.
They were remade, just like all the other Heavens Ash had restored before.
He didnât go into much detail this time, simply merging everything back into one vast plane of existence without any divisions.
He revived the dead plains, brought the symphony of colors back to the tunnel above, and made a few other changes.
The reason he didnât fully recreate it was because, eventually, he planned to return it all to a blank state, just like the Lower Dimension.
For now, though, the lands were once again livable.
Ash didnât linger to admire his workâhe simply turned west, heading for the central continent where the palace built by his women still stood untouched by flames.
Without sound or fanfare, he appeared at its entrance.
[A/N: This will be one of the last times we showcase this whole destruction and recreation thing. As I canât stand redundancy, so get ready for more and more intense battles ahead!]
-----
The inside of the palace was utterly massive.
And with this size, it was perfectly divided as one side was pinkish and radiant... while the other was just dark.
This was obviously Aphroditeâs and Persephoneâs chambers, but it was also the chambers of the other women who were concubines to Ash.
Unlike his current harem, Aphrodite and Persephone thought it was appropriate to have order. And to do this, they split the women depending on what powers they were attuned to.
Those with anything other than darkness type things were in one of the many rooms on Aphroditeâs side and vice versa.
Inside of Aphroditeâs chambers... one could see nothing but paintings.
And each canvas had Ashâs face in every conceivable mood, every angle and even Ash in the forms of other races.
She sat at her easel now, brush paused mid-stroke, a half-finished portrait of him smiling that gentle, devastating smile she had memorized across trillions of years.
Badump!
But, in that moment her heart skipped a beat.
"...Ash?" she whispered, brush falling from numb fingers.
----
Across the palace, in Persephoneâs wing, she froze mid-step.
She had been tending to her many gardens, placing fresh black lilies among the many already bloomed.
Some gardens even held flowers arranged to mirror Ashâs face and scent.
But in that moment, it wasnât their bond that stirredâit was the curse she had placed on him long ago, a thing neither had ever spoken of undoing.
Her breath hitched, and the flowers slipped from her fingers.
In the same instant, both women vanished from their chambers, reappearing side by side at the palace entrance, as if pulled by the same unseen thread.
----
And as they looked at the man before them their hearts began to pound even more.
He looked differentâyet the same.
He was taller, far more beautiful in a way that even Aphrodite couldnât fully grasp.
When Ash saw them standing there like ghosts, he smiledâand at that smile, the one they had grown so used to, both reacted.
Aphroditeâs hand flew to her mouth, while Persephoneâs eyes brimmed with tears she hadnât shed in eons.
Behind them, an innumerable multitude of women emergedâtens of thousands in numberâpouring forth from every wing, every garden, and every concealed chamber.
These were all the women who could be called his concubines, gathered from his journey in his past life.
Ash looked at themâhis past and presentâand his smile softened.
He opened his arms wide.
Aphrodite was the first to move, nearly tripping in her haste, with Persephone close behind. The others held back for now, patiently waiting their turn as tears slid down their cheeks.
Aphrodite pressed her face into his chest, shoulders quivering with silent sobs.
Persephone clung to his side, tears falling freely, her fingers gripping his arm as if afraid he might vanish once more.
Aphroditeâs voice came firstâsoft, trembling, muffled against his skin.
"...How?" she whispered, barely audible. "How are you alive? We saw you die... and after a decade, your cosmos shattered right after."
Persephoneâs grip tightened on his arm, her voice quieter, rougher.
"When that happened," she said, "we were certain youâd never return... usually oneâs Strata is a direct sign of their existence."
She pressed her forehead to his shoulder, her voice dropping to a broken whisper.
"Please tell me this isnât another bad dream... I was starting to think someone was toying with my karma for cursing you... Tell me youâre really here."
Ash wrapped his arms around them both, resting his chin gently on Aphroditeâs head before leaning in to press a soft kiss to Persephoneâs temple.
"Iâm here," he said simply. "And you never have to worry about me leaving again."
He let out a slow breath, smiling. Ash was never one to be overly sulky or sentimental, so, as always, he lightened the mood.
"Besides... didnât I say some corny stuff back then?" he chuckled. "Something like, âthrough our children weâll find our way backâ?"
Looking over their heads, he took in the sea of women still watchingâsome openly crying, others smiling through tears, hands clasped and hearts wide open.
With a laugh, he added, "Iâve missed you all," his voice softer this time. "Every single one of you. So enough with the crying and tears."
Aphrodite let out a shaky laugh-sob, pressing her cheek harder against him.
"Yea... Youâd better not disappear again," she whispered. "Iâve run out of ideas of how to paint you."
Persephone lifted her head just enough to meet his eyes.
"Promise me," she said. "Promise you wonât disappear again, or next time weâll follow you directly into the afterlife."
Even with Ash standing there in the flesh, even after heâd mentioned, heâd return before his death, they knew nothing of his incarnationsâ as heâd never gotten around to telling them.
But in this moment, they didnât even notice that Heaven was finally safe.
They were simply happy he was back.
Ash smiledâgentle, eternal, devastating.
"I promise."
He kissed her forehead, then Aphroditeâs, and held them both as the other women began to close inâslowly at first, then fasterâuntil he was surrounded by a living tide of warmth, tears, and quiet, trembling joy.