Morning did not arrive suddenly.It didn’t blaze into the world or mark itself with colour.It simply unfolded, like a slow inhale the sky had been holding for a long time.The light outside the shelter softened the edges of the new clearing. It touched the flowers first, then the forming trees, then the stones placed around the perimeter. Nothing rushed. Nothing forced its way through.Selene opened her eyes to the quiet. She hadn’t meant to fall asleep, but her body had taken rest when it found it. She stayed still for a moment, listening.The world is sound now.Soft sound.Subtle.Barely-there hints of life beginning to exhale.The soul was still asleep, curled slightly, their breathing even. The new figure stood near the entrance, their back straight, their gaze fixed outside. They did not look tired. They simply existed in stillness.Kaelen was awake as well. He sat on the ground near the open wall, his posture relaxed but alert. His eyes weren’t focused on anything in particula

They walked along the river as it continued to take shape. The ground was soft, and the water cut a thin, steady line across the valley floor. Grass bent under their steps, still short and uneven, not fully grown in yet. The world wasn’t finished. It was still learning how to be a world again.Selene walked at the front. Not because she needed to lead, but because the others naturally followed her rhythm. She moved slowly enough for everyone to stay close, steady enough that no one felt rushed.Lorian stayed just a step behind her. Their form was clearer now. Their outline no longer wavered with every shift of light. The name had given them something to hold on to. They touched the air sometimes, as if they were getting used to having shape.The figure walked silently to the right, eyes scanning the land. They looked at everything but did not judge any of it. As though they had lived in many kinds of worlds and expected this one to decide what it wanted to be before forming opinions.

The light faded slowly. Not like a sunset, not like the sky dimming by degrees, but like the world exhaling. A soft dark folded over the land, gentle and unhurried. It didn’t feel empty. It felt intentional. Selene sat near the river, knees pulled loosely to her chest. The water was clearer now, no longer glowing so brightly. It reflected the night as if night were something calm and familiar. Lorian sat a few steps away, close enough to feel present but not close enough to intrude. They watched the water too, resting their chin on their hands. Their form was fully solid in the dim light — no flicker, no distortion. Whatever they had become, the world had accepted it. Kaelen stood further up the bank, arms crossed loosely as he looked toward the horizon. His attention didn’t wander. He wasn’t searching for danger — just listening. The way one listens to the shift of a forest or the settling of snow. The kind of listening that tells you whether a world is breathing right. The figu

The ground continued to change beneath their feet as they walked, the light shifting through pale greens and soft golds. Hills rose and smoothed, valleys pulled back into open plains, and the sky remained soft and unfinished, like a painting with the edges still wet. Selene walked in silence, her hand brushing the tall grass that formed along the path. It bent when she touched it, bending like something that recognised her. The world still responded more to her than to the others. It didn’t frighten her anymore, but it didn’t comfort her either. It was responsibility made visible. Kaelen kept a steady pace just ahead of them. He didn’t lead by force. He simply moved with the certainty of someone who knew what waited ahead. Selene watched the way his shoulders stayed relaxed, but his senses were always open. A readiness that never faded. Lorian walked beside the figure, who moved more fluidly today. Less flickering. More solid. Their presence still felt fragile, but it carried focus

The warmth slowly faded from the valley, but the world didn’t fall silent. It just settled, the way a chest does after a long-held breath finally releases.Selene watched the two of them standing there, hands still joined. The returned soul’s body flickered less now. Their outline was clearer. The light around them had softened, losing the sharp edge it had held before.They looked tired.Not in the way bodies get tired deeper than that. A tiredness that felt old. Heavy. The kind that comes from remembering too much at once.Selene knew that feeling. She had lived it.Kaelen stood close beside her, not touching her, but close enough to steady her breathing. She didn’t look at him, but she felt the quiet strength in the way he held himself. Present. Grounded. Ready if things shifted.Lorian didn’t speak. They just watched, shoulders lowered now, the tension finally easing from them.The figure turned to Selene.“She needs a name,” they said softly.Selene’s eyes lifted to the returned