Of the four realms that made up Fantasia's entirety, perhaps the strangest one of all was The Evening Dissonance.

  It did not follow the rules the other layers followed. It did not possess the same conventions. Laws thoroughly and well established in other realms were meaningless in the face of Dissonance's unfettered chaos. It was governed by its own rules. Though unspoken, all nine must be followed for safe passage.

  Tifalla first heard of these rules when she was taken from Cadence. The memory of them was fuzzy in her mind, a vague blur she could seldom recall. Even so, she could, at the very least, recall the first one.

  When entering Dissonance, remember that leaving is always an option.

  If you choose to proceed, do not question the land's authority over you. Give it the right of way and accept its habits as normal.

  If you cannot do this, turn away and leave Dissonance.

  She felt it as soon as she passed through Silence's gate; a shift in the air so aggressive that she couldn't ignore. It ran down her spine like electricity, immediately straightening her back as the gate's lingering haze washed away. Even if her mind failed to recall her journey all those years ago, her body certainly remembered what it was like to enter Dissonance.

  It was an otherworldly sensation. Every one of her limbs tingled. A strange buzz sat just beneath her skin, desperate to escape. No, it wasn't from the cold, she thought. Though snow was all she could see, though it was cold, something else was affecting her. The air was thicker; smothering. There was an unseen pressure weighing her down.

  It felt like her first time meeting Eiwar, albeit far more bearable.

  “My Lord?!” she called.

  Perhaps her fear was palpable in her voice.

  “I am with you…” Eiwar replied. “Ether pollutes the air… you mustn't lose your way…”

  “So it's ether…” Tifalla whispered. It didn't fully assuage her concerns, but she knew well what she was now faced with.

  She began to walk through the desolation. Stretched beyond her were wide swaths of snow that never truly seemed to end. The air was cold, far colder than Silence could ever be, but her coats kept the harsh winds at bay. She walked in search of a forest or thicket. She couldn't risk walking out in the open so freely. Not in Dissonance, not at night.

  When her eyes looked up, drawing away from her dragging footsteps, she caught sight of the skies above. Immediately, what she saw gave her pause, breath hitched and eyes widened.

  It was dark outside, indeed, but the stars above and all of its colors illuminated the land like the sun itself. Swirls of faint pink, blue, and purple painted the sky, with twinkling stars forming shapes and patterns irresistible to the human eye. Tifalla couldn't look away. She spotted large planetary bodies that seemed close enough to touch and see, but ever so far away. It made no sense. It shouldn't be possible. Tifalla, even with her lacking knowledge, knew that much.

  But Dissonance lived outside of what she knew. It lived well beyond what anyone knew. All that was known about Dissonance by outsiders was that it was the end result of the Aria of Chaos.

  The sky began to shift before her eyes. Tifalla saw, within the paint-like sky, the faint outline of something swimming. Like a beast within the ocean, it was large, graceful, and blended near seamlessly into the stars above. She saw a tail swishing through the sky, fins, and a large body to rival the planets themselves.

  “What is that?” she asked, breathless.

  “An answer eludes me… but…”

  His voice then lowered into a whisper. It was sudden and sharp.

  “You cannot linger…” he said.

  As his words faded from view, Tifalla was bombarded by butterflies. Their forms left behind vestiges both haunting and beautiful. Tifalla only stood for a moment, but spanning as far as her eye could see were pale white figures of death.

  She did not hail from a wealthy family. She knew little of the banquets held by members of high society. She only ever had books, the romantic little pieces of a life she would never lead. Within these books, grand parties would be held by all manner of famed and wealthy. They sounded similar to weddings. Those were, after all, her only true frame of reference. But these were far more magnificent than any wedding she knew.

  In her books, oceans of bodies would dance and spin. Beautiful dresses fluttered and dashing suits glowed. Characters would get lost in the shuffle, searching for their hearts desire in a realm of intrigue and hushed whispers. Every corner oozed opulence and splendor, making for a dizzying environment that never seemed to end.

  Running through those golden halls felt like running through the bodies piling before Tifalla's eyes.

  She didn't have a single direction to choose besides forward. No where was safe. If she lingered or if she ran, she would find herself dead. The grip of death itself rattled her mind and heart when she couldn't tell what was hunting her. All she could do was run forward and hope for a change.

  But none showed itself.

  Bodies, bodies, bodies, more continued to appear. She pushed past them in a panic, her gasps and heaves filling the stifling air with only the smallest pocket of life. She was an ember in an ocean, small, insignificant, and close to being devoured in an instant.

  She looked up only once while she ran. When she sought guidance from the stars, she was greeted by a piercing red peering down at her. Swirling eyes inside a body camouflaged into the stars itself. Whatever lie above her was steadily drawing closer, a gaping and dark maw opening up and threatening to swallow her. It was no small being, either. A single eye alone proved wider and taller than she did.

  She sharply inhaled and ran faster.

  Her legs could carry her far. It was why she wasn't some beast's dinner in that instant. Even so, she didn't know where she was going or what she should do. She was too small to fight. Her gifts only took her so far.

  Tifalla continued to run. She could only count on the fact that she was both smaller and faster.

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  To her shock, when the beast finally reached the surface, it did so behind her. She managed to escape the initial dive. She knew so when the ground rattled violently beneath her, rocks and earth breaking apart into chunks that flew everywhere. Snow rushed forward, and so too did Tifalla when the shockwaves sent her flying. She didn't know how far she had flown until her body crashed into a tree, halting her momentum completely.

  The impact knocked the wind out of her, but she scrambled forward nevertheless. Deeper into the forest before her, no figures or butterflies appeared. She could only assume the beasts above couldn't safely descend into the forests. She would be safest there.

  As she dragged herself into the woods, she looked behind her to see that the monster had returned to the skies, mixing back into the tapestry above like an unchanged painting. Tifalla, meanwhile, was a gasping, no, wheezing, mess. Her ribs throbbed painfully, and her vision was beginning to blur. Did she hit her head? She couldn't feel such pains, but exhaustion was steadily making every movement a deeply laborious act. She pulled herself further along on her hands and knees, but stopped by a particularly large tree.

  She just couldn't continue anymore. She hadn't slept in so long, her body was in pain, and the winds rushing over her ears made them throb unbearably.

  For just a little while, she needed to rest.

  Could she afford it? Did she have a choice? Her eyelids felt heavy, but she looked at her surroundings for a while longer. She only shut her eyes when Eiwar's voice reassured her.

  “They will warn you when danger arises… so come.”

  It would only be for a little while, she thought. And— if it was forever, she only wished that she made it a little further.

  Tifalla closed her eyes and let sleep take her.

  When she opened them once again, she was not faced with forests or rivers. She saw Eiwar, staring down at her with the same impassive expression he so often seemed to have. Strangely, Tifalla felt relieved to see it.

  “You have found me…” he said. “Have you returned as you were…?” he then asked.

  Before Tifalla could answer, Eiwar drew closer to her. Away from his usual perch of nothingness, he floated by her like a ghost. One moment, his veiled face was near, then the next it was far. He craned his head to the side, quizzical and curious, before leaning near her and nudging her own head with his, gently. His hands, meanwhile, lightly grazed over her wounds. The scars across her hands, the burns on her arms, and the side in which she slammed into the tree. In his realm, none of these seemed to hurt, but Tifalla could only presume that he was concerned.

  She was his representative. It only made sense. Even so, she couldn't help but wonder if his concern was rooted in something more.

  Oh, but how could it be? Eiwar was a Lord; a concept. Tifalla was, well, not. She hoped for what couldn't be.

  “You are… different than before… but still the same…? You have not grown lost… you are still Tifalla…” he concluded.

  “Yes! I'm alright. Still the same Tifalla as before,” she said, smiling.

  Eiwar tilted his head.

  “You smile… for…?”

  Tifalla blinked, silent. Why did she smile?

  “Goodness, well, I just went and assumed you were worried. I think– I think I wanted to tell you I was still here face to face.”

  She never really had to explain why she smiled at others. Well, besides Laetitia that is. Not everyone got it so intuitively. That, too, was okay with her. She smiled once again; brighter than before.

  “Did it work?” she asked.

  Eiwar shut his eye, seemingly processing his thoughts to himself. When it opened, he nodded affirmatively.

  “I was… troubled… The time between us was… longer than I anticipated…” he said, gazing at her.

  Tifalla recalled him saying that decades passed for him while hours passed for her. With that reminder, she couldn't help but feel saddened. How long did he wait to see her this time? She didn't ask, but the answer would surely leave her feeling glum.

  “Your smile is… a reward… It ‘worked.’ Like… a spell from Yua… I am…” he murmured.

  “Happy?” she asked.

  Eiwar grasped Tifalla's hand with both of his. When his fingers gently kneaded into her palm, warmth and heat pulsated from his very being.

  “Happy,” he said.

  Tifalla was taken aback. When she realized how she felt in the moment, she was able to note just how strange it truly was. She felt light, an excitatory hum festering in her heart. It wasn't an uncommon nor foreign feeling for her. She felt it with anyone she spoke to.

  But that was exactly it.

  The feeling that she was talking to a person; the relief, the joy she felt when sharing with another was present deep inside.

  For him, too?

  For him, too.

  She laughed, delighted. Eiwar watched her every move. He absorbed what she gave, basking in the light of the sun like a creature cold blooded.

  But was that fair of her? To assume he could hold no warmth?

  If she could feel joy from him, if he could get her to smile, then who was to say she couldn't do the same for him?

  She asked, daring to reach out.

  “You can smile too, can't you?” she said.

  Her free hand moved, fingers gliding across her face to pull at the corners of her lips. She tugged out and up, widening her grin, and stretching the scar at her lip. Eiwar watched her with rapt attention; like a student observing an instructor. When her demonstration concluded, he fell quiet in order to ponder.

  “Smile…” he eventually said, just a tad too thoughtfully. “I can… try?” he asked.

  Tifalla nodded. “Why, of course you can!”

  Permission granted, Eiwar closed his lone eye. Tifalla didn't know why he felt the need to ask in such a manner, but it was a thought she left alone, for she was soon graced with Eiwar's smile.

  His eye opened and softened when the smile reached up high on his face. While it wasn't a terribly wide smile, his lips were noticeably tugged, and Tifalla could see the cracks on his face stretch accordingly. They mimicked scars one could find on normal skin. It was somewhat uncanny, but Tifalla thought it was charming! His smile was a sincere, odd, but kind smile directed solely towards her.

  Did it come about because she asked? Or did Eiwar truly feel happy?

  She grinned all the same.

  “Just like that!” she cheered.

  “Just… like this…” he echoed, holding onto his smile.

  Eiwar tilted his head, strands of white brushing over his cheeks and nose. He looked so lively and beautiful. Tifalla couldn't contain the hum of her heart, nor her joy.

  “Hehe, the Lord has a wonderful smile!”

  Eiwar blinked before craning his head downward. She couldn't tell what he was trying to convey, but with the rest of his body curling inward, she could only assume he was feeling some sort of shyness; or however that looked for a Lord. She leaned closer to get a better look, cheeks pained from her own amusement.

  “Hiding, my Lord?”

  Eiwar shrunk away again.

  “I… do not wish to see you. But…” he looked back at her. “I do…”

  “Then why hide?” she asked.

  Eiwar did not give a response. Tifalla continued to try and look him in the eye, but he dodged her time and time again. Eventually, he flew upward to avoid her, but their hands remained tethered. Tifalla laughed, relenting in her pursuit.

  To express joy and mirth, she could think of nothing better.

  But what of him?

  “Well? How does it feel to smile?” she asked.

  “I…” he paused for far longer than usual. “I have done this… once before…?” he said.

  He lowered himself down, and Tifalla, confused, watched his expression shift between joy and neutrality. She was, momentarily, alarmed at the sudden change. Yet, his following words stopped such feelings in their tracks.

  “I… smiled… I remember it– I smiled…! When I stood among man…!”

  A soft eye was replaced with one widened by realization. Steady hands began to tremble. Eiwar's lips remained parted, shocked, or something closer to horror. A memory, a part of himself, was returning.

  “Before that Fall… before that era…!” he gasped, nearly choking on his words. “I knew everything… it was all taken from me… but I remember now… I remember how to smile…”

  Despite the shaking, despite the surge of emotion, Eiwar managed another smile. It was less graceful than the prior, but something about it felt raw. It was human. It trembled with a manic and unrelenting glee. He smiled as if to make up for never smiling in the past. With his smile came the fragmenting of his body. More of his arms broke away into floating pieces. Like the rings of a planet, they circled him in an enchanting display.

  Yet, his eye held nothing but joy when he looked at her.

  Tifalla allowed herself one question. Just one chance to break the veil hanging over them. She knew well that Eiwar could not remember elements of his being; memories that should be. So there remained just one pressing question in her mind.

  “Who? Who made you forget?” she asked quietly.

  His grip tightened. Even he didn't seem certain of his next words. Still, his eye shut in quiet resignation. He knew a truth about himself. After all, the ones who took his memories from him were—

  “My Lord” he said.