⟢───── Ashes × Aether ─────⟣
SYLVANNA — ALTA, BORDER DISTRICT — CEREMONIAL GARDENS
Morning light filtered through the jungle.
Trees older than every living thing around them ringed the ceremonial gardens, their trunks wide enough to carry history in their grain.
Leaves catching pollen and sun alike, shifting overhead as branches adjusted to the movement below.
The air carried sap and wet soil, sharp enough to taste.
Stone paths curved around exposed roots guiding bodies forward in slow corrections.
The garden revealed itself step by step, widening as people moved deeper in.
Grass brushed fabric. Moisture clung to hems.
At its center rose a simple podium stage, grown from pale sylvan stone and reinforced with living lattice open to the the sky above decorated by Twin Suns.
Delegations arrived in measured waves.
Sylvannan officials and citizens took their places first, robes woven with leaf-thread sigil signatures that shifted softly with movement.
Zeraphen envoys followed, bronze silks catching the light as they settled along the eastern terraces.
Vharon was represented through a number of High Noon Industries rail overseers and executives. Suits shoulder to shoulder, reading the crowd like data.
From X’Omnera, Dr Vale Thorn and a team of board members. Thorns demeanor remained calculated and cold. He wasn’t here for the celebration.
Hagg had sent a caravan of gifts that entered through the west, along with several members who worked on behalf of the throne.
Then Nardox arrived.
Synchronized formations entered through the southern approach led by General Kofi Asher. Crimson armor reflecting the sun in disciplined symmetry.
Banners raised.
Weapons at their sides.
Presence.
Rows upon rows of heat-tempered steel and fire-trained bodies, taking up ground with practiced economy.
They filled nearly half the gardens.
Conversations stopped entirely as they passed.
Near the podium, the surviving members of the expedition were gathered behind a low partition of living vines.
Sylvan Healers moved among them one last time, checking seals, eyes reading posture and breath more than instruments ever could.
The ceremony was about to begin.
The survivors stood together without touching.
Each of them carried their own gravity now, a weight that changed how people approached everything.
Aria held her shoulders square, eyes steady, hands folded where tremor couldn’t reach them.
Lisa stayed close to her left, breath measured like she was counting something only she could hear.
Colt leaned on the brace at his ankle, pain riding him openly, refusing help out of habit rather than pride.
Mae stood with her arms crossed, gaze drifting through the garden instead of settling on any one place.
Kit stood slightly behind the line.
Six royal guards formed a loose arc behind them, armor dulled by use, posture relaxed in a way that only came from surviving together.
Their spacing left two absences that no vine or banner could hide.
Buck’s place remained open.
And Kyro’s.
The surviving team hadn’t spoken.
From the moment they arrived in Sylvanna, hands had guided them apart. Rooms, questions, light, silence. Then fresh robes. Then this.
A chime rolled through the garden.
The podium filled.
Voices rose smooth and confident, amplified through the lattice and carried outward by the canopy.
Titles were spoken. Nations thanked. Words like historic, unprecedented, triumph flowed easily, polished and precise.
The expedition was declared a total success. A win for the civilized world.
Cheers followed on cue.
The spokesperson gestured broadly, framing the group as pioneers, their journey cast as proof of unity and progress.
Names were listed.
Achievements highlighted.
Kit’s name drew a second swell of sound, his image projected across panels of living light as a symbol of the next generation.
Everyone loved a feel good story.
None of the speakers paused.
No names of the dead were spoken.
No mention of the Depths pressing down. No mention of the moments where survival came at cost. No acknowledgment of the things that followed them home in memory and bone.
Aria’s fingers curled once, then steadied.
Lisa swallowed, eyes fixed ahead.
Colt shifted his weight, teeth clenched. He cursed under his breath.
Mae’s eyes rolled out of habit before she caught herself.
Kit didn’t move. His eyes fixated on the spokesperson who so easily reframed their experiences and erased their truth.
”Today marks a new age, where we all stand united in these accomplishments, and share this victory as our own.”
The applause rolled again, louder now, filling the garden, bouncing off armor and stone and leaves.
Behind the vines, the survivors exchanged glances for the first time.
Nothing needed to be said.
The ceremony continued.
The expedition’s return unfolded as a finished story.
Then a voice rose from the western terrace.
“My husband was on that expedition.”
The sound traveled farther than shouting ever could.
Heads turned in slow increments.
The cadence of the ceremony faltered, just enough to be felt.
A woman stood between two rows of seats, hands pressed together at her waist, knuckles pale.
“He boarded with them,” she continued. “His name was on the roster.”
A man beside her stood as well.
“That’s my brother.”
Another voice followed. Then another.
The spokesperson inclined his head and raised a hand, palm open.
“All expedition data has been cataloged and verified,” he continued.
“This gathering honors collective achievement, families will receive updates through proper channels.”
Sylvannan attendants moved into the aisles, guiding bodies back into place with calm efficiency. The woman allowed herself to be led away, her gaze fixed on the podium until the crowd swallowed her.
Behind the living vines, the survivors stood still.
Aria’s fingers curled at her side.
Lisa drew a slow breath.
Mae stared forward.
Kit felt the open space beside him tighten.
An attendant stepped toward Colt with a medal cradled in both hands.
Colt looked at it. Then at the crowd. Then back at the attendant.
“No.”
The word cut clean through the garden.
Colt stayed seated, hand resting on his brace.
“Give it to that man’s wife.”
Colts eyes stayed locked with the attendants for a beat.
The attendant looked over at the spokesperson who simply nodded.
The attendant moved on passing out medals to the other survivors.
The medals continued down the line.
Aria accepted hers without looking at it.
Lisa followed, fingers closing around the ribbon like it might slip away.
Mae took hers last, eyes already past the podium.
Kit never reached for one.
No attendant approached him.
The spokesperson’s voice shifted, smoother now, quieter in its authority.
“Due to the unique nature of the expedition, all surviving members will remain under joint observation for the next forty-eight hours.”
A murmur rippled through the garden.
“Medical care. Psychological integration. Inter-nation coordination.”
Words stacked neatly, each one placed with intention.
“Their safety remains our highest priority.”
Sylvannan Officials stepped forward, not rushing, not urgent.
Paths opened around the survivors with practiced choreography.
Behind the podium, Nardox armor shifted.
Sideways.
A single step taken in unison.
Kofi did not move from his place near the southern terrace.
The weight of his attention bent the moment.
The Officials paused long enough for it to register. Then continued.
Kit felt the direction change before anyone touched him.
A guide appeared at his shoulder, respectful, careful with distance.
“This way, please.”
Kit looked out to the crowd searching for his father before finding his eyes.
When he did, Kofi shared a brief nurturing smile with his son and nodded his head once.
Kit walked.
The garden noise thinned behind him, applause dissolving into conversation, conversation into logistics.
Kofi watched with a calm that came from certainty.
He had clocked the tone, the posture, the way authority leaned just a fraction too far forward.
Boldness like that carried its own timetable.
His mouth curved once, a private amusement.
Disrespect always announced itself early. Consequences arrived later.
He let the ceremony breathe. Let the crowd have its moment.
Everyone who reached for his family had already stepped onto a path.
Their day was coming.
Soon.
⟢───── Ashes × Aether ─────⟣