It was clear meal time was over. Death had moved onto their next objective and as she made her way across the room, Aurnia's heart stilled at the sudden realisation that Agrona may have been testing her through their conversation. And when she reached the goddess, Aurnia shuddered to feel an unseen wind tangle its fingers through her hair.

The goddess remained silent before saying, "your fate does not have to end with Lily's. You have a life to live, as does she and once our sister regains her freedom, there are things she will have to do alone. Once that happens, you are always free to return here for answers and my compass will always point to me."

"That is very kind of you." Aurnia offered up a small smile but try as she might, she could not ignore the iron lump settling in the pits of her stomach. The gods' help never came without a price and it pained her to admit that she did not trust Agrona not to act upon the years of hurt inflicted by her mother.

Agrona ignored the long pause, instead she pooled her magic in the air. Cobalt lightning, mingled with mist, arched between her outstretched fingers as she murmured a delicate tune. The gentle rustling of feathers reached Aurnia's ears and instinctively, she took a step back only to stop when Death's piercing gaze settled on her face.

Before long, Death's serpent materialised around her shoulder with its coils tightly clutching a whirling orb. A whisper of a smile graced its face as it locked eyes with Aurnia and dropped it neatly into the goddess' waiting hands. Aurnia blinked, then flushed when she realised she'd forgotten to retrieve Agrona's gift after using it.

Frowning, the goddess turned the stone in her hand and said, "I'm not sure whether to be relieved or disappointed that you still hold such familiar traits from your childhood. One ounce of excitement and you forget your wits. It's a good thing I can recall this gift whenever I please."

Stammering, Aurnia scratched the back of her head and found herself wishing she had the dragon's scales once again. Their hardened exterior protected her from most embarrassments."I am truly sorry, Agrona. I got caught up in finally finding your stronghold, it completely slipped my mind."

Death nodded wordlessly before offering the compass to her and Aurnia reached out before faltering. The orb's ability to send the stench of iron and fear coursing through her mind scared her and while she could trust Koa to keep her safe as waves of pain thundered across her limbs, Agrona's gleaming eyes spoke of a curiosity that Aurnia did not want to quench.

"Are you alright?"

"What? Oh yes, I'm fine." Aurnia cleared her throat and upon noting that the orb's markings no longer shone with a golden light, decided that she had no reason not to accept the compass. If it sent her writhing across the floor, then it was a mistake she had to make.

The stone was cold between her fingers but contrary to what she had believed, its magic was still alive and thrumming beneath her fingertips. She blinked and fought to ignore the frantic chatter that began to echo in her mind.

"My gift can do more than unlock your memories and lead you back to me. Your heart's ability to sense the threads of life and spirit have allowed you to carry out the duties your mother assigned to you. But just imagine how much stronger you would be if you not only syphoned the pain of the living, but also the dead." 

Agrona's voice rang out clearly from somewhere behind her and before Aurnia could respond, the goddess' powers engulfed the orb and a new ring of glyphs flared to life on its surface. Aurnia turned to face Death, a slow chill creeping down her back but the goddess motioned for her to listen.

"So long as you align those glyphs, you need not worry about delving into painful memories. The blue light signifies that it's ready and should you decide that you wish to soothe the pains of the spirits you come across on your travels, just hold the orb in your hand and allow my magic to merge with yours." She smiled and as if sensing Aurnia's apprehension, quickly added "Think of it as a pair of glasses honing your sight on what you could never focus on before."

"I see." Aurnia was not convinced and after a moment of quiet contemplation, she said "but how can I be sure that touching the orb won't send me gasping on the floor? The memories, if they are truly mine, worm their way into my mind and on occasion, completely overwhelm me."

The goddess paused and her winged snake slithered to wrap neatly around her arm. Aurnia watched as she trailed a finger gently across the serpent's spine and wondered if sharing her weakness was a bad decision. She still had no idea where Agrona stood but the orb was her creation and it would be foolish to let the chance for answers slip away.

"Well?" She held the orb up, watching as its mellow light flared even brighter when she brought it close to Agrona's body.

"Unfortunately, I have no answer that would truly ease your anxieties. If held in its neutral state, the orb shouldn't do anything other than look like a pretty stone. But, as you have already discovered, lining up the glyphs may reveal certain surprises like the compass."

"That doesn't answer my question."

"You didn't let me finish." The goddess' clipped tone sent another wave of heat crawling up Aurnia's face and she nodded sheepishly.

"The centre-most ring was the first you'd managed to unlock and so long as you don't leave the orb active in that state, it will not seek out ways to wrench your memories free from the prison your mother sealed them in. If you wish to make use of that, and I suggest that you find a safe place to do so, just turn the centre to reactivate the glyphs binding that power in place. The same principle applies to each of the gifts continued within your stone."

Aurnia folded her arms and peered out the gaping hole on her left. The swirling clouds matched her frustrations and she almost laughed.

"I just twist the rings to get what I want? If memory serves me right, there's a children's toy that requires infants to do the same thing."

"Then you should have no difficulty remembering how to use it. The centre for your memories, the middle for the compass and final, outermost ring to speak to the dead. It is simple, is it not?"

Flushing, Aurnia nodded. "I will not argue that point. But I thank you for the clarification."

"Good. There is one more gift that I would like to bestow upon you but don't worry," Agrona tilted her head with a grin as she traced an invisible sign in the air. "This gift is finite. You don't need to remember much."

A shimmering, almost translucent, set of symbols appeared along the top of the orb. They hovered in the air and Aurnia's eyes widened. The three glyphs were older than anything she had been taught to use and even in their contained form, she could feel a whisper of their power mingling with her heartbeat. Her mother had never allowed Aurnia to delve deep into their meanings, but in her limited knowledge, she knew these were part of the magic the First Mother had used to form the world.

"I don't understand."

"You don't need to," Agrona shrugged. "But I foresee a time when you will meet someone whose time in Aefither was cut short before fulfilling their life's mission, and what better help could you give then to return their spirit to them?"

Aurnia almost dropped the orb and without meaning to, her voice rose a pitch as she said "I cannot do that. A life stolen, even if wrongly so, is still a life gone. To return them to the land of the living invites chaos and disrupts the balance."

Agrona sighed "You are right to ask about chaos and to prevent you from accidentally tilting the scales too far in that direction, the gift can only be used once, so use it carefully. Besides, do you truly believe that I would push you towards violating the laws put in place by the First Mother?"

Aurnia hesitated, she did not wish to place all her faith in the goddess before her but to avoid causing offence, she shook her head. "No, I don't believe you would."

"I am happy to hear that and onto the matters at hand, Lily has already decided to tear her heart from this accursed kingdom and you know what that will do. In fact, you've already seen its effects."

Eyes widening, Aurnia remembered the rotting heart-tree. "She severed the connection too quickly."

Agrona winced, "That's not true. Our sister has finally allowed us to witness the disease building up under the surface but in her haste, she's exposed a weakness and now other magics are looking to tighten their grip."

At Aurnia's stare, she smiled. "As one of the few remaining gods in Aefither, you would be surprised to know how much information passes through my doors. I might not know what these magics are, but I have heard rumours of how to fix it."

"We cannot join Lily's heart to the tree once again."

"No. I'm suggesting that we remind that heart of its true purpose. For so long the tree fed off the blood of a goddess without a need to fend for itself. Without a challenge or a purpose, its roots have shrivelled and it can no longer maintain a balance, and so Aefither rots. To fix it, well–I will continue to seek the answers we need." Agrona turned to her shoulder and shooed her snake away. It hissed and flew through the air and coiled neatly on the table.

"But on a more personal note, there's conflict on the horizon and the whispers speak of a family reunion that none of us wanted. I hate to add another quest to your long list of promises, but please seek out your nephew. I believe that he may hold the key to sealing the cracks in our kingdom."

Aurnia frowned and folded her arms across her chest."But Lily–"

"Family is not always a burden, Aurnia. The king won't be happy when he discovers what Lily has done and his vengeance, though misguided, will be painful. Lily may have freed her heart, but her body, soul and blood are still bound to that castle. You will need to be swift in freeing her and you cannot do that alone."

Aurnia's face brightened at the hopes of her old friend joining her on her quest. Try as she might, she could not hold back a childlike hope that she would get the chance to mend the fissures in their friendship.

Agrona quickly frowned as if sensing her mood. "No, I cannot come with you. But my compass will lend you all the strength you need. There are secrets you have yet to uncover and I cannot be there to hold your hand."

Then she hesitated and gently, she laid a hand across Aurnia's shoulder and squeezed "I speak now as a friend and not as a deity. I implore you, go seek the help of your mother and aunt. You cannot free Lily on your own."

Aurnia scoffed. "It would be a waste of time. That woman–I do not trust her."

"And yet you trusted her enough to hand over that child to raise."

"Not her, Reuna. I trusted Reuna and she just happened to be there."

At that, Death hissed and shook her head. Aurnia knew that her resistance was frustrating and possibly unfair. But on the day when she'd walked out of the temple doors, she had sworn that unless her mother uttered an apology for pain she had wrought, she would never speak to her ever again. Her mother had been stone faced at the attack, and even worse, she had agreed to Aurnia's terms. Years later, the silence between them had only grown and Aurnia loathed to think that her mother believed in her own innocence. She cast a look at the waiting goddess and slowly unclenched the fists she hadn't realised she'd made.

"I made a promise."

Agrona took in a deep breath and pursed her lips. "Then let me explain this in another way, time is of the essence. There are some circumstances that far outweigh the promises that we've made but you are still young and have yet to learn that. Fate has not always been so kind, you have spent years chasing solutions that are always out of reach or rapidly fading, but now you have the answers to two problems perching on the same branch. Go to them."

It pained Aurnia to admit that Agrona was right. She was a coward for refusing to face her mother and to go crawling back once again begging for help would only confirm that insults once hurled her way. But this time, Aurnia had a bargaining chip and she could only hope that the threat of Lily's eternal suffering would be enough to reawaken the compassion in her mother's heart.

So she nodded and tucked the orb behind Koa's sleeping form. But as her hand brushed his side, Koa's amber eyes blinked and locked onto her. A brief whisper touched upon the edges of her mind before retreating and Koa looked away.

How much had he heard? It was a question she would have to ask him later and she heard Agrona clear her throat. Grimacing, she looked up and offered her a small smile.

"I understand what you are saying and I will do my best to speak to my mother. If all else fails, then at least I have tried."

A ghost of a grin danced across the goddess' face as she slowly unfolded her arms and nodded."Then I bid you goodbye and remind you to please keep your wits about you. There are old forces clashing for dominance and we may not emerge as the winners."

Aurnia stiffened. She knew very little of the powers that had circled the world before the age of the gods, only that they'd been strong and it had taken the First Mother decades to seal them away. Her own mother had been reluctant to share and Lily had always feigned ignorance, saying that even as the spirit of life, she was young and had been born long after the upheavals that had shaken the worlds to their core. And so Agrona's prediction sent the cold arm of anxiety slithering across Aurnia's heart.

But she nodded grimly, thanked the goddess and walked towards the doors which had swung open without a sound. As soon as she stepped back into the looming darkness, Aurnia was surprised to find that she was feeling lonely. The conversation with Agrona had put her on edge, but speaking to her old friend had relit an old ache in her heart.

Promises had a habit of coming back to bite you, that much she knew and Arunia wondered if this was her punishment for leaving a child with an aunt he barely knew. She'd been angry, far too angry, when upon banging on Reuna's door, her own mother had answered instead. And when she'd learned that her mother was there to stay, she had left without another word and sixteen years later it was too far for regrets.

By now, she had reached the edge of Death's doors and as she leapt into the now eerily still air and back towards the portal, Aurnia feared that Orion would hate her for what she'd done.