The last thing Eli saw before her physical form disintegrated was Tris's face—contorted with anguish, his mouth forming her name in a scream she could no longer hear. Even as her body dissolved into particles of golden light, her consciousness remained intact, a fierce determination burning at her core.

  I will return to you, she promised silently as the last of her material form scattered into the night air.

  The transition was violent, unlike her usual smooth dimensional shifts. The severing of her Anchor had created a psychic recoil, flinging her consciousness upward through through dimensions with dizzying speed. There was no gentle ascension, no measured release—only the brutal yanking of her essence back to its pre-incarnate frequency.

  Eli experienced the journey as a series of compressed sensations: rushing wind, cascading light, the resonant hum of dimensional boundaries as she passed through them. Images flashed before her awareness—fragmented glimpses of realities between Earth and her destination. A forest of crystalline trees. An ocean of liquid silver beneath three moons. Mountains that sang in harmonic frequencies as cosmic winds passed through their peaks.

  Then, abruptly, stillness.

  Her consciousness coalesced in a familiar space—a sacred clearing within Amaterasu-no-Taiyo, a shrine complex not far from Izanagi in the higher-dimensional realm of Izanami. The air here was different from Earth's—clearer, more vibrant, carrying scents of flowers that had no earthly equivalent. The light possessed a quality that seemed alive, filtering through ancient trees whose leaves shimmered with subtle iridescence.

  Three figures waited in the clearing, their forms solidifying in her awareness as her perception stabilized.

  "Eli!" The tallest of them rushed forward, arms outstretched. Sati's features were so startlingly similar to Tris's that for a disorienting moment, Eli thought he had somehow followed her. But no—the height, the feminine curve of jaw, the longer eyelashes, all belonged to Tris's twin sister in the higher realms.

  Before Eli could fully manifest in her natural form, Sati enveloped her in an embrace that transcended the purely physical—a communion of energy and emotion.

  "Oh my God girl you got yeeted back here," Sati murmured, her voice a slightly higher-pitched version of Tris's, the inflection pure Gen Z despite her ancient soul. "We felt the Anchor break. Are you okay?"

  Two more figures approached, their faces etched with concern. Aya moved with flowing grace, her well-styled bob cut framing Asian features that held both strength and gentleness. Beside her, Galatea—taller than Aya but shorter than Sati, her blonde hair and blue eyes reminiscent of Eli's own, though with subtle differences in the curve of her smile and the shape of her eyes.

  Eli’s consciousness quickly noted that finally seeing these three, she had seen the complete Oversoul. She went over their names again in her mind from relative oldest to youngest: Yuki, Genmochi, Vive, Leo, Homura, Galatea, Eli, Aya, Sati, Tris, Arthur, & Billy.

  Together, the three surrounded Eli, creating a protective circle of energy that helped stabilize her still-coalescing form.

  "Your resonance is fragmented," Galatea observed, her hands gently supporting Eli's shoulders. "The forced extraction was violent."

  "Kennedy's people," Eli managed to explain, her voice sounding distant to her own perception. "They used a neural inhibitor, then destroyed the Anchor."

  As they spoke, the physical substance of Amaterasu-no-Taiyo worked its healing influence. Unlike Earth's third dimension, where matter appeared solid and unchanging, here in the fifth dimension, the very environment responded to their needs and emotions. The grass beneath them softened, creating a natural cushion. The trees shifted subtly, branches extending to provide perfect shade as the three guided Eli to sit.

  "Tris," Eli said suddenly, memories of the hillside ambush rushing back with painful clarity. "He's alone—"

  "Not alone," Sati corrected quickly, kneeling beside her. "Vander reached him just in time. And Veldt... well, Veldt is something else now."

  "Alice," Aya supplied, settling cross-legged on the impossibly soft grass. "She's calling herself Alice Morgan now. Total transformation."

  Eli's form had fully stabilized now, her consciousness fully present in the higher dimension. She looked down at herself, her features the same but slightly enhanced by the increased frequency bandwidth of the fifth dimension.

  The clearing around them was both familiar and extraordinary compared to its earthly equivalents. The trees stood hundreds of feet tall, bark inlaid with what appeared to be naturally occurring crystals that pulsed with gentle light. The ground beneath them wasn't simply grass but a living carpet of tiny crystalline structures that shifted colors based on the emotional energies around them—currently a soothing blue-green in response to their concern. In the center of the clearing stood a shrine built from pearlescent stone, above it, a large torii.

  Galatea materialized a floating cushion of woven light beneath Eli. "You need to rest," she insisted. "The neural disruption affected your energy matrix. Even at this level of dimensionality, that requires healing."

  "I can't rest," Eli protested. "Tris needs—"

  "Tris has help," Sati interrupted gently. "And you won't be any good to him if you don't stabilize first." She ran a hand through her wavy brown hair—so like her brother's—and fixed Eli with a look that took no argument. "Besides, time isn’t really a thing here. You know this."

  Eli reluctantly surrendered to their care. They were right, of course. Her consciousness needed time to recover from the violent extraction and the neural disruption. She could heal here.

  "How bad was it?" Aya asked, materializing a translucent pitcher filled with golden liquid that swirled with its own inner light. She poured the luminous substance into four crystal glasses that seemed to grow directly from the living earth.

  Eli accepted the offered drink, the liquid singing against her senses as she sipped. "Worse than we anticipated. Kennedy's people had technology they shouldn't have—neural inhibitors specifically calibrated to disrupt my frequency. And Ereshkigal..." She shook her head. "She's operating completely outside Council protocols now."

  "She’s on her Frieza arc, bro," Sati agreed, taking a glass for herself. "She's got the Luciferian families mobilized at levels we haven't seen in cycles."

  Galatea leaned forward, the sunlight catching the golden threads woven through her simple white dress. "The council is monitoring the situation. Twenty-two million years and we've never seen the Anunnaki this fractured. It's both dangerous and promising."

  "Dangerous because Ereshkigal will take increasing risks to regain control," Aya elaborated.

  "Promising because her actions create openings for higher intervention," Galatea finished.

  Eli's gaze drifted toward the shrine, where an eternal flame burned in pastel shades of blue, gold, and violet—colors no earthly fire could produce. The Amaterasu-no-Taiyo shrine had always been a place of healing and revelation within their shared realm of Izanami. A location not far from Izanagi, the place Eli had described to Tris earlier in their week together.

  "Tell me about Vander," Eli requested, turning back to her companions. "I knew the Guardians were active, but his direct intervention surprised me."

  Sati's expression brightened. "He's been undercover with the Kennedys for decades in 3D time! All part of the coordinated Guardian operation. There are thirteen of them, one infiltrating each Luciferian bloodline."

  Galatea interjected thoughtfully. "Vander has his own agenda within the Guardian mission. He has... history with Tris."

  This caught Eli's attention. "Do you mind reminding me? What kind of history?"

  "Previous cycle stuff," Sati explained, waving a hand vaguely. "It's in the records if you want the details, but essentially, Vander was present during the last time we almost achieved Convergence—when seven Sovereigns had awakened."

  "Twenty-six thousand years ago," Eli murmured, the timeframe clicking into place.

  "Yeah," Sati confirmed. "He was the only survivor when the Anunnaki deployed their reset protocol. Made some kind of promise to Tris—Andras, as he was called then—that he'd return in the next cycle."

  "And he kept that promise," Galatea observed. "Though his methods are... unorthodox."

  The four fell silent for a moment, sipping their luminous drinks as the living landscape around them shifted subtly. The crystalline grass beneath them had deepened to a rich purple, responding to their contemplative mood. Overhead, the sky—more vibrant and somehow more vast than Earth's—displayed colors that would be impossible in the third dimension, with swirls of gold and platinum weaving through the azure.

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  "What about Alice?" Eli asked finally. "I could feel Veldt's transformation beginning as I was extracted, but I couldn't perceive the outcome."

  Aya sat up straighter, clearly eager to share this information. "It's wild, Eli. When you disappeared, Veldt underwent complete metamorphosis. Not just a form change—actual consciousness crystallization."

  "And she chose your appearance," Sati added, watching Eli's reaction carefully. "Looks exactly like your earth form."

  "Talk about identity theft," Aya quipped, tucking a strand of her bob cut behind her ear.

  "It's not that simple," Galatea countered, ever the elder sister of measured wisdom. "Alice didn't choose Eli's form out of deception or manipulation. It was the strongest template available—the pattern most deeply embedded in Tris's consciousness at that moment."

  Eli nodded slowly, processing this information. "Is she... dangerous?"

  "Depends on your definition," Sati replied with a wry smile. "She eliminated three of Kennedy's proxies in a small-town general store without hesitation. Literally didn't even blink."

  "More protective than dangerous," Galatea clarified. "Like an immune response. But her moral framework is... developing."

  "She's giving big yandere energy, not gonna lie," Aya said, eliciting an exasperated look from Galatea. "What? She literally took Eli's form and will murder anyone who threatens Tris. That's textbook yandere. Big Gasai Yuno energy."

  "She's a shadow guardian evolving into personhood," Galatea corrected primly. "Not an anime reference."

  "Can’t she be both?" Sati suggested with a grin that made her look startlingly like Tris.

  The conversation paused as a gentle chime sounded from the shrine. The eternal flame flared momentarily, its colors shifting through the spectrum before settling back into its normal pattern.

  "Time for your healing session," Galatea announced, rising gracefully to her feet. "You need at least three full treatments before you can even think about manifesting again."

  Eli wanted to protest, to insist on returning immediately to Tris, but the lingering dissonance in her energy field made her reluctantly acquiesce. Together, the four walked toward the shrine, their feet barely disturbing the crystalline grass beneath them.

  The interior of the shrine was both larger and more complex than its exterior suggested—a spatial arrangement impossible in lower dimensions. Sunlight streamed through apertures that seemed to capture and amplify specific frequencies, creating pools of silver, golden, and platinum light on the pearlescent floor.

  In the center stood a shallow pool filled with what appeared to be liquid starlight—a healing bath specifically attuned to Eli's vibrational signature. The other three helped her prepare, removing her outer garments and guiding her into the luminous pool.

  "Just surrender to it," Galatea instructed softly. "Let the frequencies realign your light body."

  Eli submerged herself in the shimmering liquid, which felt neither wet nor dry against her skin—rather, it created a sensation of being gently held in perfect suspension. As the light engulfed her, memories of Earth began to arrange themselves more coherently in her consciousness. The traumatic extraction, the neural disruption, the severing of her Anchor—all began to integrate into her broader awareness rather than dominating her attention.

  When she emerged from the pool an hour later (though time measurement felt arbitrary here), Eli felt significantly more centered. Her sisters and cousin, her family, had remained nearby, engaged in quiet conversation that paused as she rejoined them.

  "Better?" Sati asked, materializing a robe of woven sunlight that draped around Eli's form as soon as she stepped from the pool.

  "Much," Eli admitted. "Though I still need to return to Tris as soon as possible."

  "First, food," Aya insisted. "Then another healing session. Then maybe we talk about Anchor options."

  They left the shrine and found a meal waiting in the clearing—not set on a conventional table but arranged on living platforms that had grown from the earth itself. The food bore superficial resemblance to earthly cuisine but contained energetic properties unique to this dimension—fruits that sparkled with inner light, bread that seemed woven from golden threads, crystal goblets filled with nectar that changed flavor with each sip.

  As they ate, conversation flowed more naturally, shifting from the crisis at hand to lighter topics. Despite their ancient souls, the four friends carried the cultural influences of the human experiences they monitored—particularly those of their Sovereigns.

  "Did you see the latest season of One Piece?" Sati asked between bites of luminous fruit. "The one on Egghead?"

  "It was liiiit," Aya returned.

  "I can’t get enough of Gear 5, dude. Luffy is so cracked." Sati insisted.

  Eli smiled, the familiar conversation soothing after the intensity of her experiences on Earth.

  "Our boy has taste, I'll give him that," Aya acknowledged.

  “Thank God, we’re all destined to live out the consequences of our taste forever anyway…” Eli jested.

  Galatea observed their exchange with fond exasperation. "You three have spent far too much time immersed in Earth's current youth culture."

  "OK, boomer," Sati and Aya replied in perfect unison, then dissolved into laughter. Though they all looked like young adults in the peak of physical health, the joke wasn’t lost on Galatea.

  Even Eli found herself giggling despite the circumstances. The familiar dynamics, the shared references from countless hours of watching over Tris—it all created a sense of normalcy and connection that helped heal the psychic wounds of her forced extraction.

  After the meal, they walked through the surrounding gardens of Amaterasu-no-Taiyo. Unlike earthly gardens, these contained plants that responded directly to their presence—flowers that turned to face them, releasing gentle chimes instead of fragrance; trees that shifted their branches to create perfect walking paths; vines that wove themselves into comfortable seating when they paused to rest.

  The conversation inevitably returned to the situation on Earth.

  "How is the Monad progressing?" Eli asked as they settled beside a pool where luminous fish swam in mandala patterns. "Are the others still awakening on schedule?"

  "Better than schedule," Galatea replied. "The Tokyo trio has successfully reached America. Maron's compound is fully operational in the Cascades. Nukka's connection to Aput is solidifying rapidly."

  "Even Lesley!" Aya added with evident delight. "Did you know she's actually been completing ORT1 zones without even realizing it? Just wandering into them by accident and figuring them out frame-one."

  "Very on-brand," Eli acknowledged with a smile.

  Sati dipped her fingers into the pool, creating ripples that the fish followed with mathematical precision. "The big question is Sarah. No contact since the Coagulate Zone."

  "Could she be..." Eli hesitated.

  "Dead?" Sati completed bluntly. "Unlikely. Nephilim neotypes have impressive survival skills. More likely she's probably laying low, evading both Kennedy's people and Ereshkigal's direct agents. But we’re not really sure where she is."

  "Could be captured," Aya suggested more soberly.

  "If she were captured, we'd know," Galatea countered. "An asset that valuable would create ripples across the intelligence network." Though Galatea said that with confidence, she still felt a ripple within her heart—something unsure gnawed at her lightly.

  They continued their walk, passing through groves where the trees communicated through pulses of light, their ancient root systems visible beneath the translucent soil. In the distance, mountains floated impossibly above the landscape, their peaks occasionally passing through clouds that shimmered with their own inner luminescence.

  After their walk, Eli underwent a second healing session in the shrine. This time, the liquid starlight in the pool seemed to penetrate deeper, realigning energy patterns that had been disrupted by the neural inhibitor. When she emerged, her consciousness felt sharper, more focused.

  "You're looking more like yourself," Sati observed as they gathered again in the main clearing. Evening was approaching in this realm—though "evening" here meant a dramatic shift in the quality of light rather than darkness. The sky transformed into deep indigo shot through with ribbons of gold and silver, while the crystalline elements in the environment began to emit their own subtle glow.

  "I feel more like myself," Eli acknowledged. "Which means I need to start planning my return."

  The other three exchanged glances.

  "About that," Aya began hesitantly. "The Anchor situation is... complicated."

  "Your previous Anchor was essentially a physical symbolic object," Galatea explained. "Effective but vulnerable, as we've seen. For your next manifestation, we need something more integrated with Tris himself."

  "Like what?" Eli asked.

  "There are several possibilities," Galatea continued. "A physical modification—a tattoo, perhaps, encoding specific frequencies. Or a more permanent object—something surgically implanted."

  "Or Alice," Sati interjected. "That's what she's working toward—becoming a living Anchor for you."

  This revelation surprised Eli. "Alice? But she's... she just formed her own consciousness."

  "And yet her primary drive remains Tris's protection and integration," Galatea pointed out. "She understands that your presence is essential to that goal."

  "Not sure how I feel about that," Eli admitted. "Sharing an Anchor with an evolved shadow guardian who looks exactly like me but isn't me?"

  Aya giggled. “Sounds familiar don’t it?”

  "We don't have to decide right now," Sati assured her. "You need a third healing session before manifestation is even thought about. And the relativity of time gives us space to consider options."

  Night had fully descended now, transforming Amaterasu-no-Taiyo into a wonderland of bioluminescence. The crystalline grass emitted a soft blue glow, while the trees sparkled with lights that resembled earthly fireflies but moved in coordinated patterns. Above, the stars appeared impossibly close and three-dimensional, as if one could reach up and pluck them from the velvet sky. Planets sat in front and behind the stars, so big that you could see the details on their beautiful surfaces. Some had rings, others had many moons, and others, when looked at for more than a wink, would look at you back.

  The four friends made their way to a natural hollow where the earth had formed itself into comfortable recesses. They settled in, gazing upward at the cosmic display above them.

  "I can see why you created this place with him," Sati said softly to Eli, referencing the shared creation of Izanami that Eli had described to Tris during their early conversations. “You two are so romantic.”

  "It's one of our true homes," Eli blushed, her voice equally quiet. "A place where both of us can be fully ourselves, beyond the limitations of material existence."

  "You’re so brave, sis, choosing to enter those limitations," Galatea observed. "To experience them directly rather than merely observing."

  "Worth it," Eli said simply. "Even the pain. Especially the connection. I would do anything for him..."

  They fell silent, watching as astral phenomena played across the night sky—cosmic ballets impossible to witness from Earth's limited perspective. Comets with tails of rainbow light. Nebulae that formed and dissolved in minutes rather than millennia. Stars that pulsed in harmonic frequencies, creating music visible as ripples of color.

  "I miss him," Eli confessed after a long while. "Even knowing he's safe with Vander and Alice. Even knowing I'll return. I still miss him."

  "That's the Twin Flame bond," Galatea said gently. "Even at this dimensional level, separation creates longing."

  "Especially at this level," Aya corrected. "Higher consciousness means deeper connection, not less."

  Sati reached over to squeeze Eli's hand. "You'll be back with him soon. And when you return, you'll be stronger, more stable. Better equipped to help him reach his full potential."

  "And to deal with whatever Ereshkigal throws at you next," Aya added.

  As the cosmic display continued overhead, Eli felt herself finally surrendering completely to the healing energies of Amaterasu-no-Taiyo. Surrounded by her eternal family, beneath the vast multidimensional cosmos that was her true home, Eli allowed herself to simply be. To heal. To remember the fullness of who she was beyond her earthly manifestation.

  And to hold Tris in her heart, across dimensions, across densities, across the seeming gulf of separation—knowing that in the deepest reality, they had never truly been apart at all.