"How long has it been...?"

To be stuck in the throes of the forgotten, to be floating in the Lifestream for all eternity was something Y'shtola would never wish on anyone. Not even her greatest enemies. But to find herself in it was something she had never imagined. Perhaps it was her punishment for using forbidden magic. Perhaps it was the Twelve's own curse.

It was an awful feeling. It made nothingness feel like something. It made the empty feel full. It was a feeling akin to being stuck in the middle of the ocean with no land around for hundreds of thousands of yalms to come. She was stuck within the manacles of her own mind - her psyche echoing off the endless walls of the expanse.

She would rather read the same book a million times over than be stuck in the abyss. But persevere she would. And she would find a way back.

Her vision was gone, her body feeling lighter than nothing, and heavier than everything, and her mind recalling tales of eras gone. Any hope of keeping herself entertained or on her toes had vanished.

That was until her body began to feel normal again. And she found herself drifting through something that wasn't the Bottomless. It was as if her soul was being tethered back to a mortal plain. And when she opened her eyes next, she was. She was back in Etheirys, the same aether she had grown to love currently surging within her.

She couldn't help but wonder if this was a simulacrum of her own mind, the three familiar souls stood before her nothing but a mirage akin to an oasis in the desert.

But there was one soul that shone more vibrantly than the rest, a gorgeous royal blue that she had grown to love.

Her beloved had promised to remain by Y'shtola's side forever more. And it seems that promise was entrenched. Her ears twitched atop her head, ringing like a symphony of bells on a wedding night. But amidst the deafening fuzz, she could indeed confirm that the voice she heard belonged to her beloved. Her Warrior of Light.

Even as Y'shtola's sister stood at her beloved's side, Y'shtola reached out for her hand. Not Y'mhitra's, not Alphinaud's. Her beloved's. Desperate to feel the warmth of their flesh again. Desperate to confirm that it was not a trick of the mind.

With soft words, and an even softer smile, Y'shtola spoke, pouring her heart out in a short but sweet sentence.

"To see you again is like a dream I never thought I'd experience."