A speck of Ember

In the middle of the black and gold carriage, between Levi and Grant, a single ember barely lit floated.

It reflected in their eyes, a tiny light source. Levi looked around, but the Goddess wasn't present.

Slowly, he extended his arm toward the ember until the tip of his finger slightly brushed it.

Like a black hole, the scenery before his eyes vanished; The carriage, the sun outside, the blue sky, Syllia and Grant.

He was back there; the abyss, the depths. Further away was the Goddess. The distance between them was impossible to gauge. 

His hand still extended and he moved slightly toward her.

A cold hand stopped him, the curtains fell and from nothing came back the scenery he had been in. 

The carriage with Syllia holding his arm, and Grant before him. 

Realizing he was still extending his arm toward Grant, Levi quickly retracted it.

Grant's eyes were still locked on Levi, but his head wasn't tilted backward anymore.

"Did... anyone see that?" asked Levi.

"It was like that one time you said your old name," said Syllia.

Levi turned slightly toward Syllia. She looked at him as if she was trying to understand what was going on.

Levi smiled.

"Sorry, to me it looked as if I was with her," he said.

"To us, you just extended your arm toward the ember, and then it looked like you were trying to get to Grant," she said.

Levi looked at Grant, but his head was tilted backward again, his eyes closed.

"Maybe one day you'll be strong," quietly said Grant, as if he was trying to sleep.

What's his obsession with the strong? thought Levi.

After carefully studying Grant, Levi took a chance.

"... And you? Are you strong?" he asked.

Grant opened his eyes, staring at the ceiling. After a moment, he sat forward, closer to Levi than he had been until now.

His eyes pierced Levi's, while he remained expressionless. Even while sitting down, Grant was still taller than him.

"First, focus on surviving today. Then tomorrow: focus on surviving tomorrow. One day you'll be so good at it that you'll be able to forget about it. Only then, you should look for people to help you remember." 

Levi's eyebrows furrowed as he kept eye contact. Grant sat against the backrest but didn't seem to avoid conversation.

"Will I survive today?" he asked.

Syllia attentively paid attention, as she grasped Levi's hand tighter.

"I don't know. My only task is to bring you there. Thunder might make it on time, but if he's not, you should prepare to plead your case."

"Won't you help us?" asked Levi.

"I can't survive today and tomorrow for you. Maybe one day you will be strong. When that time comes, find me and I'll help you become even stronger. Until then Thunder is your best bet."

Grant was a mystery to Levi. Still, he liked Grant. Unlike Thunder, Grant was easy to understand and didn't seem to have any agenda.

"My stats are the worst you could imagine-" started Levi.

Syllia quickly yanked his hand.

"Sh! What are you doing? Never talk about your stats, that's how you put a target on your back."

Grant's head tilted to the side, as he looked at Syllia. Disregarding everything she said, he went back to Levi.

"Well..." continued Levi, before being interrupted.

"This world is great," stated Grant, "but it is deceitful. Everything is a lot more complicated than you would believe. Your stats mean little."

Deceitful? If stats mean nothing, how am I supposed to become stronger? thought Levi.

As he looked at Syllia, she seemed to have similar thoughts. He had more questions, but Grant didn't look like he'd answer any.

The scenery outside the carriage kept changing. The space between mansions was already considerable, but it kept getting more important as they progressed. 

Eventually, the trees changed to a plant-covered wall. Sungrove flowers were so abundant that he barely saw any other kinds.

"We're close," quietly said Syllia.

"Whatever happens, it's not your fault."

Syllia's eyes went down while she slightly frowned.

"I'm fortunate to have met you. Wish I had known someone like you where I come from," said Levi.

"It will be fine once we explain what happened..."

"-But, if it's not, it won't be your fault."

Syllia's watery eyes raised to meet Levi's. 

She delicately grabbed his arm and gently started pulling. Her other hand gently brushed his shoulder, her fingers lightly tracing his neck up to his cheek.

As she softly pulled, he gently leaned in, their eyes unable to look away. Levi's hand gently caressed her hair as it traveled down to her cheek. 

As they got closer, he could feel his heart beating faster, while her grasp on his arm became tighter.

A gentle knock on the carriage window broke the silence. Nervously breaking away, they quickly let go, as Grant loudly sighed across them.

"We're there, you'll have to continue flirting another day," said Grant in his typical bored tone.

Both of them nervously laughed, avoiding eye contact.

His eyes were closed, I could swear, thought Levi. 

Grant tapped on the door twice, prompting a guard to open it. As he got out, the carriage tilted until it bounced back to balance.

Levi quickly followed, with Syllia right behind him.

As he got out, the sight surprised him.

Beyond the castle walls was a palace bigger and more impressive than he had imagined. Behind it was the tower he could only dream of adventuring in. The palace compared to the immense tower was small in comparison, but still impressive.

Like the carriage, Levi had expected a castle in an ominous black and gold theme. 

Instead, it was built with the same white bricks most of the city was made of. 

There was one main palace, with several buildings attached to it, all with triangle-shaped roofs.

To the far left was a greenhouse, with a transparent dome. He could distinctly see Sungrove flowers growing in it, along with several other flowers of different shades.

The golden gates were just a bit further. As they followed Grant to it, guards opened them, standing in salute after doing so.

As they crossed the gate, the main path to the palace was like Thunder's mansion. 

On both sides were gardens filled with greenery. The amount of gardeners and the sheer size were quite different. 

While it was similar, Levi could tell this was night and day from Thunder's mansion. Some flowers were 'secreting' glow. They looked as if glowing golden tears constantly dropped from them.

Some trees he spotted further had pink petals. They all faced up and were constantly breaking away from the branches. Instead of falling down, they fell upwards, disintegrating before they made it a few meters high.

As they kept falling up, new ones grew in a matter of seconds.

Another tree had petals resembling the ember he knew from his Goddess. Only, the ember on the petals was red and its glow was brighter. 

Instead of falling up or down, the petals of that tree were like a storm around the branches. They constantly went circles around the branches, creating a stormy sphere around them, from how fast they were going.

"This... can't be real," said Levi under his breath.

Grant turned around, unphased by the sight he had seen before.

"They're all from Heaven's Tower. If you ever climb it, you'll see more unbelievable things than this. Alright, keep going, they're waiting for us."

Levi followed Grant to what seemed to be the entrance to the main court. Its huge wooden doors were nothing compared to the size of the actual room, as its ceiling was easily taller than seven meters high.

Marble pillars carved to look like dragons supported everything, and under them a floor that shone so much it almost looked like a mirror.

A single golden carpet made its way forward from the entrance. As they went in, Levi noticed some people ahead. 

The room was impressively long, and further up were stairs that gave on a throne. 

Levi distinguished at least a dozen people up on that platform, but the only person who made him nervous was the one sitting on the throne, staring at him as they walked forward.