Here she was, Aventurine. She looked just like she did when Rose had just died. But there was a moment of realization. Someone else was with her..? They were holding hands, and they kissed. Rose could feel her heart drop from her ribs and right into her feet. Aventurine had moved on. Even when Rose didn’t, her life moved on. Time moves on, even if you don’t want it to.

Slowly, the necklace stopped glowing. Rose hadn’t moved on, but no longer waits for Aventurine. She enters the Spirit Realm, and she was almost immediately greeted by the reaper again.

“Oh, it’s nice to see you again, human! I’m off of reaping duty for now, I’m glad I remember you! I never told you my name, it’s Owen. I go by they/them and he/him pronouns. The others don’t have names, but that’s because they don’t- Well, do you remember me? It’s been about twenty years since we last spoke..” He exclaimed, worried. Rose felt her heart drop even further. Twenty years…? Is that how long it had been? No wonder Aventurine had moved on from her, it had been twenty years!

Rose couldn’t think, it was all too much. The two walked around and talked, as Owen showed her around

“My name is Rose… and I go by she/her pronouns.” She muttered, still in shock.

“Well, that’s a wonderful name! Did you find who you were waiting for?” Owen asked. Rose just couldn’t handle it anymore and burst into tears while explaining her whole situation. Owen hugged her, and it was a strange hug, but Rose quickly found out that they were simply just a cloak and a mask. The hug was still soft and silky, but strange.

“I see… Your situation is… less than happy. That reminds me! Aether wanted to see you. Well, not specifically you, but ‘The person who waits too long’, or something. I had a feeling it was you.” Owen explains. Rose nods, tears still running down her face, her face looking tired and her eyes were dull and puffy. Owen showed Rose around still, showing her many different biomes, that were all quickly passable, like they were small.

The glowing rivers, of course, but the next thing she saw was a mountain of crystals and soft skies of blue, the mountain seemed to be iridescent with a rainbow. Humanoid birds flew here, and when Rose spoke to some, she always found herself somehow knowing the language that she didn’t even know existed before, but when she spoke, it was fluent, and she understood what they said.

This became a trend with others, mermaids that were more like anthropomorphic fish creatures with tails that lived in a beach of eternal night with sparkly shells, and bright glowing stars. Pink sand that wasn’t scratchy and itchy, but soft, like fine powder, if clouds mixed with powdered sugar and was a salmon shade of pink.

Then there was a forest with mile-high trees and giant red mushrooms with white dots, with moss and fireflies of all colors flew around. Elves lived here, and they had long hair, pointed ears, sharp teeth, and they could shape shift themselves into animals to look like the more animal-like inhabitants of the forest. They were very kind, and almost immediately welcomed Rose and Owen. One of them came forward. “Hey Owen! I see that you brought a friend. Is she okay? Do they need anything? What are their pronouns, what’s their name?” The elf rapidly asked

Owen took a deep breath, and began to speak. “Her name is Rose. She- She just lost someone she was waiting for. I think she may be the other in the prophecy, Flora.” Owen explained. Rose took a moment to look at Flora. Her hair was a lighter teal sort of color, clearly dyed. The roots of her hair were dirty blond, and her eyes were a honey kind of brown.

Her skin was a light gray, and she wore round glasses. Her hair dropped to her hips, and it was in intricate styling, with pieces of shiny metals and crystals adorning her hair. Her pointed ears had all sorts of pretty jewelry on them, from rocks that looked like opalite, to carved pieces of wood from the trees that had fallen down. She had on a pair of pink overalls, with crystals and leaves in the pockets. Her face was soft looking, and she looked concerned.

“Well, I’m always here to help. Especially considering that I’m supposed to go to Aether as well…..” She trails off, before picking back up again.

“Oh no- Lure! She can’t walk here, she hasn’t been able to shift into legs yet!” Flora exclaimed. Owen and Flora began rushing to the beach, Owen telling Rose to stay there, whilst they go get Lure, who Rose assumed was a mermaid. ‘Shift into legs?’ Rose wondered, not knowing what that quite meant.

Another elf stepped up to Rose before he spoke to her, frustrated but yet excited.

“So, you’re the last one of prophecy people? We’ve been waiting for you. Of course we had to wait, you were waiting too! Owen wanted to get you sooner, but Aether said that the waiting was likely necessary. In truth, we don’t think that Aether knows what the prophecy is, either.” He said, smiling at Rose.

Soon enough, the two were back with Lure, who was being moved around in a large glass bowl, attached to wheels. She was in the water, and her gills were on her tail. She had soft, wavy hair the same color as the rest of her body, a periwinkle sort of color. Her eyes were a deep purple. She had on a black tee shirt, with a purple heart on it. Her eyes and face were sharp, and she looked indignant.

The four set off, and it took quite a bit of walking to get to the central area of the Spirit Realm again, and it was obvious where the palace was. It was small, but extravagant and beautiful. It had accents of gold on the dark stone walls, and there was a small garden in front of it.

As they entered, there was silk draping off of the walls, and it looked like it was lit with magic. It was bright inside, but it was always a bearable amount of light, and not blinding. It seemed like a warm and comfortable place. Eventually, they got to the throne room, and that’s when Rose saw Aether…