"Wait, you got together with Llyr?" Aedia's question hung in the air, and I knew I couldn't let it hang there forever. I gave her my answer, and she looked confused for a moment before smiling and hugging me tightly. "Congratulations, Len!"

Admittedly, when I decided to tell Aedia about what had happened, I was expecting more confusion from her. "I didn't think you'd be so happy for me right away," I said with a sheepish laugh.

"You were pretty tense yesterday, and I figured something was up, but I didn't wanna press since you've been working harder recently." Her smile became more knowing then. "Also, Melva was telling me recently about how Llyr liked you, so I was wondering if you would feel the same."

I had to stop my jaw from dropping as embarrassment and a bit of irritation burned in me. "You knew something was going on as well? Why didn't you tell me?"

Aedia became a bit more straight-faced at that. "I didn't wanna guess wrong in case Llyr didn't actually like you. Imagine if he didn't, and then you'd end up havin' incorrect information. That would've been a mess." Of course, that made sense. "But still, I'm really happy for you, Len. I was hoping you'd find somebody someday. I still want you to slow down and not be so stressed about working."

"I can't stop delving outright," I said with a small laugh. "Imagine if I did? You'd want me to start again."

Aedia was briefly pensive before nodding. "I would." I was the one able to give her a self-satisfied smile that time. "But let me know how Melva reacts, I need to know," Aedia said, and I agreed.

When it came to Melva, I didn't quite know what to expect when I told her the next day. It just made me realize how bad I was at reading people sometimes, but I was ready for a more explosive reaction. Instead, all I got was a self-satisfied smirk from her.

"Oh, I knew it, but I wasn't gonna say anythin'. I wanted ya to figure things out for yourself," she said, and I held in a sigh.

"I wish you did, but it probably was for the better I came to that conclusion myself," I said. Melva just laughed at that.

"But I didn't think ya were like me, likin' someone the same gender as ya. It definitely wasn't somethin' ya saw in my home country, at least nobody showed it. But..." She shook her head. "Forget my ramblin'. Hopefully your parents wouldn't've minded."

"I'm sure they wouldn't have minded who it was, so long as I was happy," I said. "I'm sure they thought what I loved was the Abyss, which it was."

"'Was?'" she said with emphasis, and I smiled sheepishly. I didn't need to explain.

The following couple of months were nothing short of bliss for myself and Llyr. I had no clue if I was supposed to be doing anything specific for him, but he was more than happy with my weekly visits sometimes turning into twice a week, and Aedia was more eager to invite him to dinner at our home than I was. I suppose she was just happy to see I was so happy myself. That, and she wanted more excuses to see Llyr so she could grill him about his flora research for her own notes. It meant I could be with Llyr more, so I wasn't complaining.

Thankfully, Llyr's parents also approved of me, more than approved, really. After all, it was apparently thanks to me that Llyr actually interacted with other Delvers now, emphasized all the more by how the next delve we were going on was a guild-sanctioned one. I'd grown more used to delving with strangers, and at least I had my friends to fall back on.

In the last few days leading up to the delve, I met at the usual bar with Llyr, Melva, and Vio. On a rare occasion, we had no reason to meet up like this. We were simply enjoying each others' company, already planning what we hoped to accomplish on the delve.

"This time, we're goin' to that field of Eternal Fortunes,'' Melva said. "I don't care what the leader or whatever says, I've heard too much 'bout it to not see it myself. I'm sick of all the gloom, I want some sun down there, dammit."

Vio tried to give Melva a reassuring look. "It honestly is safer with a group, even if all of us would rather go off alone." Melva rolled her eyes as she took a swig from her tankard.

"You said it'll be a field study delve this time, so there really isn't an excuse why we wouldn't go to the field. The same plants can grow differently on each layer, so there could be something different worth studying with the Eternal Fortunes growing there," Llyr pointed out, and Vio nodded.

"If we don't, I'll make sure we get there. I know the way there since it's pretty difficult to miss," he said. "I don't need to say yet again that it's amazing there, do I? It's nothing like you've ever seen, a true wonder of the Abyss."

"If you say any more, I'm going to lose it," I said jokingly. "It's literally all you talked about when you told us about your Fourth Layer delves."

Vio smiled sheepishly. "Because I love it so much. Syele has definitely gotten me to appreciate flowers and gardening since we got married."

"Even if I've never seen ya do it?" Melva said.

"I help her out... sometimes," Vio muttered, frowning. "I can still like the product and not the process."

Melva grinned, pulling Vio into a playful headlock. Llyr let out a gasp when Vio almost spilled his drink. "I know, I'm just jokin' with ya," Melva laughed, tousling Vio's hair. As he complained and freed himself from her grasp, she looked at me and Llyr. "An' don't laugh, neither of ya, or you'll be next. I can reach ya both just fine."

"I wasn't planning on it, believe me!" I said, holding my hands up in mock defense as Llyr sank down in his chair, his face white as a sheet.

"P-please, no," he laughed nervously.

"Glad ya can take a joke now," Melva said, and Llyr smiled, even though his face flushed pink in the process. Melva's grin somehow stretched wider, and she roughly seized the handle of her tankard, sloshing a bit of ale down its side and onto the table. "Let's make a toast for ol' times' sake, yeah? To the Fourth Layer! We're gonna kick your ass yet again!"

"To the Fourth Layer!" we all echoed, toasting with our drinks.

The morning of the delve soon came, to my eager anticipation. After exchanging another worry-tinged goodbye with Aedia, I met with the others, and we met up at the gateway with the other members of the delving party. I saw a few familiar faces, though none were as familiar as Shiro's—who was again leading the group—and somebody else.

"Len!" Gwyden greeted me as he approached my small subgroup. "And hello everyone else," he added more nervously. He definitely still wasn't the most comfortable around the others, even though Vio had long since accepted his apology. "I was wondering if you would allow me into your group this time? If we already split the larger group now, we won't have to worry about it later."

I smiled at him. "Of course I wouldn't mind. But don't ask me, ask Vio." Gwynden winced and looked down at my friend.

"M-my apologies, I'm just more used to speaking with Len," Gwydnen said.

Vio waved him off, shaking his head. "No need to apologize, I told you I understand! And of course you can join us, we all welcome you." He cast looks at Melva and Llyr. Melva gave him a dismissive look with a slight nod while Llyr was more receptive, though Gwynden thankfully didn't seem to notice.

"Thank you," he said with a relieved sigh. "After all my misgives, I wouldn't dare slow any of you down."

"I'll hold ya to that," Melva muttered. Gwynden's look became pained as he regarded her with wavering confidence.

"And I'm glad you will," he said. There was a slight awkward silence that Vio looked like he was about to break, but he was stopped by Shiro announcing that we would be heading into the Abyss. It was time. We all exchanged glances before filing through the gateway after Shiro. No matter what, I was going to see that flower field.

—~*~—

It took a little over a week to reach the Fourth Layer, with only a fractured arm serving as an injury to a Black Whistle outside my friend group. We camped for a night closer to the top of the Fourth Layer, but our main base camp would be set up much deeper down in the layer. To my delight, it was going to be only a couple hundred yards above the flower field. While we would have to make our way down there ourselves, the point still stood that it was a feasible destination we could reach.

The deeper we progressed into the Fourth Layer, the more overgrown things became. The caps of the flat-creepers were like small lakes, and the stalks supporting them became as wide around as the windmills along Orth's cliffside rim. These flat-creepers fought for available space while the ground they sprouted from was overrun with roots and trees that had dared to creep out from the forests edging the Abyss' rim. The Abyss was noticeably growing wider horizontally, and even a mild wind began to whip at us. It still didn't stop the air from becoming like soup, difficult to take in and settling in my lungs like a weight.

By the time we reached the site of our base camp, I was heaving for breath and exhausted, and I wasn't the only one. Even the steadfast Shiro looked winded, but it didn't stop him from starting to dig out a fire pit and telling the rest of us we needed to help. I did so without complaining, though many of the others worked begrudgingly. Something else I could boast about thanks to my youth, I suppose.

It was almost protocol to set up camp in the forests along the rim. As such, that was what we did. We had established our camp on a tree-choked island between two shallow but rivers, easy sources of water as well as ways to detect any approaching threats--we'd hear anything trudging through the water to reach our camp. These two large rivers had several smaller ones snaking off of them that led to small ponds and waterfalls amidst the trees, each either filled with different aquatic flora or fauna.

"I say we just take the rest of the day to relax," Vio said as we all sat about, draining our canteens. "We can go find a pond to wash up in; I definitely will since I feel horrific after that trudge. Then maybe we can catch and make some lunch if ration bars aren't that appealing."

"I'll hunt, kill, skin, an' cook the damn thing all on my own if it don't mean I halfta eat 'nother one of those damn chunks of drywall," Melva scoffed. I was willing to do both as well. Sitting down made me feel even more tired, in fact. As the others continued to talk, I glanced beside me to a pale-faced Llyr, a glazed look in his eyes.

"Are you okay?" I asked, wrapping an arm around him as I smiled down at him.

Llyr nodded and leaned into my side. "I'm the same as everybody else, just tired. But at least we're here."

"We are, and we're going to draw some amazing Eternal Fortunes," I said, kissing Llyr on the cheek. Llyr smiled and nodded, looking about ready to fall asleep leaning next to me. I then sensed someone looking at us, and I looked up to see Melva glancing at us out of the corner of her eye. She grinned when she met my gaze.

"Sorry!" she snickered quietly. "But how 'bout we head out now, then?" she then said more loudly to catch Vio's and Gwynden's attention. "I'm ready to fall asleep sittin' ere." There were no protests from the rest of us. After Vio informed Shiro of what we were doing, we left camp and crossed one of the rivers into the trees.

Once we set up a meeting point in the forest, we all split off. What Vio had said about cleaning up sounded amazing, and it would be a nice reprieve from the trip thus far. I elected to wash up in a pond fed by a small waterfall pouring from a cliff wall, one that was larger and deeper than the others. Though to me, "deep" only reached up to just above my waist. I stood under that waterfall for what felt like hours, relishing the relief from the humidity. The chilly water was heavenly against my skin, one of the few times I appreciated cold water over hot water.

I was then rudely jolted from my bliss by something brushing against my ankle. I admittedly jolted, raking my hair out of my eyes in a panic, only to see a Silverswimmer drifting past my feet. I was shocked I hadn't bumped into any of them when I first entered the pond, but they seemed to stick more towards its center where the plant life dwelled.

As I watched it swim away, I got an idea. I finished washing up and returned to the shoreline, grabbing my knife and pickaxe. It would've been better to not let myself be as exposed as I was, but wet clothes, even soaked in cold water, would eventually become horrific in humidity like this.

I slowly waded to the center of the pond, where I came across more Silverswimmers. They oddly didn't seem to regard me as a threat and were completely docile, until I stuck one end of my pick through one's cap. They scattered, but I'd still managed to catch one. It was almost the length of my forearm and just as thick around, but it would only be enough for one of us at the most. I ended its suffering before leaving it on the shoreline and returning to the pond's center to wait for the rest of the squid to calm down.

Eventually, I'd managed to catch three, more than enough in my eyes. And by then I was positive I was being missed by the others, emphasised by me picking up on somebody calling my name. I recognized it as Llyr, and I called back to him, leaving the pond and dressing before he made it over to me. "Since nobody wants ration bars, we might as well have something better," I said, gesturing to my catches.

Llyr picked one of the squids up, examining it as I grabbed the other two. "No wonder you were gone for so long," he said, amazed. "Vio and Melva had actually left to catch some as well since we saw them in other ponds, so hopefully they don't catch many or else we'll have taken more than we need."

"Either that, or we can have a feast and bring the rest back to camp," I said, and Llyr nodded after seeing my logic.

Gwynden was waiting at our meetup spot, preparing a small fire pit for ourselves. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw us, only to become confused when he saw the Silverswimmers. He already knew about them as I'd told him about discovering them as we were returning home from a previous delve. The caution he always seemed to express was dismissed when he saw I was indeed still alive after eating them and not a walking corpse.

"The only real way to prepare creatures like these in my opinion is sashimi," Gywnden said. "But roasted squid is also good. Hopefully the same applies to these since they seem so familiar in physiology." I'd never personally seen Gwynden cook until now, but the fact he always volunteered to help prepare group meals indicated he enjoyed it. And the larger meals were always great, so for all I knew, he was a fantastic cook.

We set to work cleaning the Silverswimmers and setting them up on the fire once Gywnden got it going, leaving one in case Melva and Vio didn't bring as much back. Melva and Vio were obviously surprised when they returned to the meetup spot with three of the squid in tow. These three were fated to become sashimi.

"If I can recall what you told me before, I'm supposed to slice it like this?" Vio said, lightly dragging the knife horizontally across a Silverswimmer's cap, not cutting yet. Llyr nodded from beside Vio, and he began to cut, only to wince a few seconds later when the knife slipped. "Shit..." he swore.

Melva snickered. "You're so good at guttin', I dunno why it's so hard for ya. Even the klutz is doin' fine." Granted, I actually was, but that made me feel a bit worse for Vio.

"Gutting doesn't have to be the cleanest, this does," Vio sulked for a moment before trying to smile. "At least I'm not doing the roasting." He directed his gaze to Gwynden, who was diligently overseeing the fire by himself. Llyr's brows darted up at that.

"Oh, Gwynden," Llyr said, and the older man looked at him. "You should try to use some of this." He fished a small container of a spice from his bag and handed it to Gwynden. "I figured we'd be having Silverswimmer again down here, so I brought some spices I thought were appropriate."

"Garlic powder? I like your tastes," Gywnden said with a small smile before he noticed the name branding on the container. "Wait, Morgan's? Evalle used to shop there all the time." His eyes then widened as he looked up at Llyr. "I can't believe I didn't realize before that you were that kind of Morgan. You do look a lot like the people Evalle saw working there."

Llyr chuckled. "Our genes don't differ that much for sure. But it's good to know our spices are getting around Orth."

"Speaking of spices, I believe these are almost done," Gwynden said. "Is everything done on your end?"

"Nearly," Vio replied. "Hopefully you have some spice for this as well, Llyr?" Llyr nodded, taking out a container of dried, grated ginger.

"It's better fresh, but you have to take what you can get down here," he said. I swore Llyr was sometimes like a character from a story I'd read, about a woman who had a bag that seemed to hold an infinite number of various items. Llyr was a horrifically messy packer, but he seemed to have things I never thought we needed until we did.

By the time everything was finished, my mouth was watering from the amazing smells filling the air. If I wasn't hungry before, I definitely was now. As much as I wanted the sashimi, I was curious about the roasted Silverswimmer as well. It had a bit of a rubbery texture, but so did the sashimi. The garlic powder added to the already-rich flavor, and hot food was a treat in the Abyss in general. Needless to say, I was in heaven.

"So tomorrow I was thinking we'd head down to the flower field," Vio said. "No particular reason besides I know you all want to see it." I was the first to agree followed by the others. "It's near the bottom of the Fourth Layer, and there are some spots where you might catch the curse since the area is quite hilly, though that depends on the route you take. It's easier to take the route that involves going down before ascending up to the field, though there's also one that involves rappelling down the flat-creepers that involves no unneeded ascension."

"I say we take the harder route," Melva said through a mouthful of sashimi. "More work, but I want that after spendin' a week in those damn tunnels."

"I don't mind it either," I said, and Gwynden agreed.

"I can't make waves here," he said. "But this turned out great, though. Forget Neritantan when you have this..."

Llyr hesitated. "You all know I'm not the biggest fan of heights. But like what Gwynden said, I won't go against the flow if that's what you all want to do."

"Then it's decided," Vio said. "I know the route decently enough, so it won't be the most trouble if things go smoothly."

"And that's what we'll hope for," I said, and Vio nodded. Hope was all we could have when making our way deeper, after all.

There had been very few times I'd eaten enough to make myself feel sick, and this was one of them. We were in over our heads, but we still managed to finish everything. Even as my stomach protested against everything I'd had, I was still more than happy with the meal itself, leftover adoration of the taste dulling my discomfort. The others were much in the same boat as me.

"I've never gotten why ya said you're a bad cook, stick," Melva muttered. "That was damn good. An' your shit was even better," she added, glancing at Gwynden. I couldn't agree more. I'd be remiss to say that we all spent a good few minutes in mild food comas. If something had snuck up on us then, we wouldn't have been able to run, and thankfully nothing did.

When we arrived back at camp, a few more Silverswimmers in tow, everything had been set up. Shiro seemed surprised to see us come back with the aquatic creatures, but after showing the rest of the group how to prepare them, they were gladly accepted. Thankfully, none of us were questioned when we didn't eat anything ourselves that night.

The next morning, my friends and I were thankfully tasked with research while the others needed to gather resources. We'd already settled into our routine at only three days into delving into the Fourth Layer, and it brought some relief to me. But I was more excited about what awaited us further down.

Descending beneath the monstrous flat-creepers was almost surreal, in a sense. It was nothing like being beneath the canopies of the Forest of Temptation. Damper, more foreboding, and oh-so dark. We needed our headlamps often, and after what had to have been two or more hours of descent, I began to wonder how in the world this flower field could be as bright as Vio said when it was so dark. What I hadn't noticed then was that we were heading towards the Abyss' center.

"It shouldn't be much further," Vio said, as if sensing my apprehension. "We just need to push through this section of forest and we'll be there." I trusted his word, and soon enough, I noticed that the forest was steadily growing brighter.

Light was leaking through the trees ahead. To my shock, it seemed like actual sunlight. Bright, pale yellow, washing the foliage in gray. It took some hacking away at the underbrush from Melva's machete, but we broke through and stumbled out onto the edge of a vast sea of knee-high greenery.

At first I squinted from the sheer amount of light I'd stumbled into, but as my vision adjusted, my jaw dropped. It really was like a sea, a sea of Eternal Fortunes. They stretched out as far as the eye could see, rolling with the landscape like waves rising and falling, some small hills while others were great swells. Sunlight poured down from above in stark shafts—the Abyss' center. It bathed the field in its warm, beautiful light, turning the sky misty gray and making the distant, towering flat-creepers into black silhouettes. A gentle wind swept across the field, setting stray petals aloft in air that was filled with a gentle sweetness.

For what felt like minutes on end I just stood there, gaping at the sight before me. It wasn't beautiful, it wasn't even magnificent, it was something completely beyond that. It was indescribable. A small chuckle left me as the corners of my mouth stretched up into a smile. It grew wider by the second as I began to wade out into the field. I was here, I was finally here.

"It's amazing, isn't it?" Vio asked from beside me.

It was like a switch was flipped, and pure euphoria flooded my veins. "Yes!" Like a man possessed, I ran out into the field. Petals flew up with every step I took, insects sent scattering. The sights, the sounds, the smells, I couldn't get enough of it! I eventually stumbled to a stop, turning in lazy circles before collapsing into the flowers, unable to stop myself from laughing as petals flew up in a cloud when I landed in them. I felt like a child again, enraptured by the Abyss' beauty.

For a time, I didn't move. I just stared up at the sunlight, the flat-creepers peering in from my right eye's peripherie, breathing deep the intoxicating scent of the flowers. I never thought I'd ever be able to see this, yet here I was. Fourteen years, fourteen long, painful years... My eyes began to sting with building tears, and I shut them tightly. It truly was a dream come true, these were tears of joy.

The soft crunches of flowers being moved or stepped on soon reached my ears, and I opened my eyes to see Vio, Llyr, and Gwynden staring down at me. "Hello," I said with an awkward smile, realizing then how childish my reaction had been.

"It's fortunate that this place is relatively peaceful compared to the rest of the layer," Vio said before smiling as well. "But I don't blame you at all."

"You'd better not," Melva said. I sat up and saw her standing a little ways away up a small hill, looking out at the field. "Y'know I don't care much 'bout the pretty stuff, but holy shit this' incredible! An' it's so... sunny!"

Vio walked over to Melva, standing next to her. "It goes to show just how far down the light can reach, no matter how dark it seems like it gets," he said. Melva slung an arm around Vio's shoulder and pulled him close. "If only Bellan were here right now..."

"He is, I-I know it," Melva said, her voice cracking in a rare moment of sentimentality. I left the pair alone, feeling like I was intruding, and I headed to where Llyr was crouching in the flowers. He had his sketchbook balanced on his knees, part of his process where he'd practice his drawings before doing a single, highly-detailed one in his notebook. Of course he was already studying them, speaking his observations aloud to a half-listening Gwynden that seemed more preoccupied with our surroundings. He noticed me approaching, and he looked at me with a melancholic happiness.

"I've missed this place," he said. "This was actually where I proposed to Evalle." He took a breath, casting his gaze downwards. "It's... i-it's nice to be back here again."

Concern struck me. "Are you okay?" I asked. He nodded, looking back up at me with now-teary eyes.

"Don't mind me, I-I'll just be a moment." He turned and walked further into the field. I watched as he stood alone for a few moments before sinking to his knees. While my heart ached for him, I knew I also should leave him alone. For how beautiful this place was, it also seemed to bring out sadness in some.

It was now just myself and Llyr, and I sat down in the flowers beside him. He glanced at me before his gaze returned to the flowers. "Oh, Len. I guess Gwynden was bored of me, huh?" I was about to explain, but thankfully Llyr didn't seem to take it personally. "I'm more happy you're here instead."

"And with you saying that, go ahead and explain away. I'd like to hear your observations," I said. Llyr brightened up at that.

Llyr pointed to one of the larger Eternal Fortunes between us. "It's plain to see here. Even just by looking, you can see it's so much healthier than the Eternal Fortunes on the upper layers. With the constant sunlight and moisture, it's in a perfect growing environment." He frowned a little, puzzled. "But I've never noticed any real day or night cycles down this far, so when would these flowers be able to respirate?"

"Well, the sunlight here would go away when the sun sets on the surface," I said, and Llyr nodded.

"That only makes sense. It's just confusing because of how dark it usually is down here," he said. "Still, it's fascinating." He stared at the bloom a moment longer before plucking it from its stem and holding it out to me. "Len, could you put this behind your ear? I-I want to try something."

"Oh, of course?" I said unsurely. I took the flower and slipped its stem behind my ear. I wondered what Llyr was getting at as he sat back in the flowers, taking up his sketchbook again. He began to draw, trying to make conversation as he did so. I ended up leading the conversation more as Llyr fought to not fall into one of his focused trances.

It was difficult to tell how much time passed us by. It could have been a single hour or three, but the sunlight remained as strong as ever. But eventually, Llyr lowered his sketchbook, a sigh escaping him.

"That was... easier than I thought?" he said, sounding unsure himself. He gave me a glance before turning his sketchbook around. "You said to try a more simplified style, so that was what I did," he said.

I spent a moment being confused before understanding. It was a drawing of myself, though it wasn't how I appeared now. I looked distinctly younger, my hair cut short again and my face free of scars. My uniform was a simplified version of my old one, and I was without either glasses or goggles. A serene smile stretched across my face, blissfully happy—or ignorant—of everything around me. A plethora of emotions bubbled up in me: happiness, sorrow, bewilderment, even irritation to some mild extent for facing my past self. But I couldn't deny the quality of what my boyfriend had created.

"Llyr, this is... amazing," I said truthfully. It was nothing like what Llyr typically drew, but it looked like he'd been practicing the style for a while.

Llyr blushed as he smiled. "I wanted to make sure I had everything right before I really tried drawing it," he said. "But after seeing your reaction to this place, now I finally understand what Aedia was talking about when she talked about what you were like when you were younger." He pointed to the drawing. "You might not look like this anymore, but you still are this on the inside. And I'm so happy I've been able to see you like this."

To my embarrassment, I again felt my eyes welling up. I was happy I was back to being like this as well; I'd sorely missed it. But it prompted a thought, one I'd reserved for my younger self. "Llyr... do you still think I have a chance at becoming a White Whistle?" I asked slowly, the words sounding strange to me.

Llyr nodded without hesitation. "Of course you do. You're only twenty-six, you have more than enough time."

So he thought so? I laughed softly. Because I truly did want to try. I'd taken the risk to come down here yet again, and here I was, more alive than I'd been in six years. It was surreal. "But I believe you mean we," I said with emphasis, pulling Llyr into an embrace as I did so. I couldn't be the Seeker if he couldn't be the Muse.

"I guess it can be 'we,'" he said, "though I'll probably just hold you back sometimes."

I shook my head. "No, you won't. If so, I'll stay back with you. Thank you, Llyr." I kissed him then, and he returned the gesture. I admittedly loved how sappy it all was, and I basked in the new warmth the intimacy gave me before Llyr broke it.

"Looks like they're finally coming back," he noted, looking past me. I looked as well to see the others approaching us. I stood, Llyr joining me after putting his sketchbook away.

"We've only seen the beginning of this field," Vio said. "How about we explore it all before heading back to camp?"

I smiled widely, nodding. "That sounds perfect." I exchanged a look with Llyr, and he nodded. Everyone else seemed to have agreed before we regrouped, as Vio turned back to the greater field, gesturing to it grandly.

"Then let's proceed onwards!" he said in an overly-dramatic tone. I stifled a chuckle as we headed deeper into the field, the flowers and sunlight engulfing us completely.

———————————~*~———————————
You knew I was going to feature that artwork, RosettaThorn. I couldn't not since it works so well with the chapter, and it's by far my favorite piece of Lyen art you've done. I know I've said this dozens of times, but thank you again so much for all the support you've given this story. Along with you is scftsmiles-, who provided the adorable drawing of Len. I'm glad I was able to shift the context of things enough since that drawing utilized Len's old design because it really is a cute drawing. Thank you as well!