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Vivea still looked elegant, even in death. Leddi considered the picture Viv made: lounging on a black divan, long fingers brushing velveted cushions with a delicate but undeniable chain around her wrist. She glared when she caught sight of Leddi, rising to her feet and glaring, the chain at her wrist shining with an unearthly pale light. "What," she hissed, "are you doing here?"
"Saving you," Leddi said.
"I'm dead!" Vivea snapped as Leddi came closer.
"I know," Leddi responded. "That's why I'm in the abyss below," she waved a hand around. Obvious, considering the setting.
"You're the one who sent me here!" Vivea snarled.
The copper stink of blood had been hot and strong when Vivea sank to her knees on Leddi's blade, her shocked face going blank. Leddi shrugged. Between the two of them, Viv had always been better with words. Leddi's strength was in her actions. "I'm your wife," she said simply, and cupped her hands together, reached into the Abyss Within, and drew out a key. She took Vivea's forearm, and rotated it until the shackle faced up.
"Would have been nice if that had stopped you before you killed me," Vivea sniffed. She did not move her arm out of Leddi's hand
"You were trying to summon the Celestial Convergence to the surface. Stars aren't meant to walk. Would have killed a lot of people." Leddi compared the key to the lock. Too small. She offered it back to the Abyss Within, and began drawing out a new key.
"You're a death priestess," Vivea replied. She was dismissive and cutting, which probably meant she was feeling a little guilty. "I thought you'd understand."
"Abyss has a home for us all," Leddi replied, cupping her hands to her chest. "But it's unbalanced when so many arrive at once. Not how the cycle is supposed to go."
"I don't see why not," Vivea's jaw locked. "There's death and suffering enough on the surface. The Celestial Convergence may burn but at least they're not cruel about it. And it would have been beautiful. And you, beloved, killed me for wanting that beauty."
"Yeah," Leddi sighed. Before she ever met Leddi, Vivea had lost her parents, her siblings, her mentor, and even her beloved childhood nurse to tyrants, plague, preventable disease, and starvation. Leddi had always admired how Viv hadn't let that break her. Leddi didn't understand the ways she was already broken. "But beautiful or not, they'd have burned you to a crisp during their coming, and me too. We'd both be dead, along with half the world. And you'd still be chained, and I wouldn't be able to lead you out of the abyss. Stupid plan, Viv."
"I've yet to see a better one." Vivea paused. "You really think you can pull me back to the living? Won't the Abyssal Convergence have something to say about that?"
"Who do you think is giving me the keys?" Leddi asked, exasperated. She'd listened to Viv talk about star charts endlessly, and loved her passion for it. And Viv still didn't know the first thing about death, blinded by the heavenly light "The abyss will have us all one day, but it isn't in any rush." The new key looked right. Leddi compared it to the chain and nodded.
Viv raised an elegant eyebrow. "Did you…kill me, knowing you'd bring me back?" She asked, sounding hopeful. Suddenly sweet as spun sugar, she said, "Love—"
"No." Leddi curled the key in her palm, staring Viv down.
"Are you giving me hope just to take it away?" Viv snarled. It was a much more honest expression than her ingratiating sweetness.
"I've talked." Letti didn't let her gaze falter. "To your fellow celestial priests. It's been eight months."
Viv's furious face turned brittle.
"I killed you because you became so obsessed with your idea of justice that you were about to burn half the world. I've missed you like leaves miss the sun. You are my heart and if you don't follow me out I'll join you down here soon, but I will not make the world bear the price of your pain. You won't get another chance in eighty years to die glorious. Know that, before you follow me."
Vivea's lips pursed, and she turned away from Leddi, her shoulders shaking. Leddi didn't go to her. The kindest thing to give to Viv's pain was privacy. If she wanted—
There was a black blur, and suddenly Viv was in her arms, her ghostly shackle brushing the back of Leddi's neck as she wound herself tighter. Leddi gave a shaky gasp and hugged her back. "I love you, Viv," she murmured against Viv's black hair. "I know I don't replace the rest of them, but I love you so much."
"I couldn't even see them." Viv said, shaky. "I came here and all I found was stone and more loneliness. Punishment for my hubris. Please," she said, her voice raw, "tell me if I leave I won't come back here. I can't bear it."
"Oh, Viv," Leddi hugged her tighter. "This is a place of pain. Your pain. Not punishment." Leddi pulled back, fit the key in Viv's shackle, and took her hand. "You are grieving, and the abyss gave you solitude for your grief. It would not have made you stay."
"The shackle," Viv gave a prissy little sniff, "would indicate otherwise."
The chains fell away. Leddi took Viv's arm and kissed her wrist, where the band had once sat. "Even in the abyss, all things change. Do you want me to lead you to them? I can." It would break Leddi's heart five times over, and she'd return to the surface alone, but she was a priestess of the abyss below, and she knew her duty.
Viv looked at her wrist, then back to Leddi. "I will see them again?" she asked.
Leddi nodded. "No matter the path you take. You will not be alone for eternity."
Even if Viv had killed half the world, Leddi would have found her. Would have sat at the foot of that divan for however long it took Viv to be ready to move on. Love. What a beautiful, stupid thing.
Viv's hands cupped her cheeks, and she leaned in for a kiss, slow and measured and a little bit testing. Vivea sighed as she leaned back. She still looked sorrowful, but there was a peace to her now. "Alright, Leds. Take me home."
Leddi reached out her hand and Vivea twined their fingers together. Together, they began the journey home.