A.N. Last chapter people ;v; I'll probably go on a hiatus on this fic for a while so I can stockpile more chapters.

"Please don't tease poor Rexy too much. We really did tell him to not tell anyone about us, even the people close to him," Lilith said with a sheepish grin as they sat on a stone bench under a pavilion a short distance away from the main group.

"I know, I just wanted to take this rare chance to catch him off guard," Guizhong replied with a wink, and both girls burst into peals of laughter. As the giggles died away, Guizhong's face turned serious. "I know that I shouldn't be butting in, especially since we just met, but... why? You two seem like such wonderful children, so why would you want to be kept a secret?"

"Believe it or not, we're not liked by many people. Although we know that those people are far, far away... we just can't trust strangers so easily," Lilith replied hesitantly, twiddling her thumbs. "But... honestly... we want to. Rexy always looked so animated when he talked about the Guili Assembly, its people, the adepti, and especially you. It almost felt like we were experiencing it all along with him... but we weren't. We were too scared of the past and that kept us from truly moving towards the future." She looked up, watching a pair of birds circling each other in the sky. "You know, I actually asked to meet you guys before. Many times, in fact. I guess it was just my way of trying to break free, to reassure Rexy that I was always my cheerful, pushy self... He saw through that, though, and rejected me every time. He's so sharp in the weirdest places, even though he's so dense most of the time," she said with a chuckle. "This time... he saw that we really were ready to branch out, to try trusting others again. What better people to start with than the people he trusted with his life? And so here we are, in a large group of people for the first time in thousands of years." She took a deep breath, then exhaled as if to release all of her pent up stress. "It's... nice."

Noticing that Guizhong was unusually quiet throughout her monologue, Lilith peered at her from the side of her eye, then her eyes widened. Guizhong's eyes were glassy as she fought back a few sniffles, and before Lilith could say anything she lunged forward, wrapping the smaller girl in a tight embrace. "You two deserve the entire world... I see just how happy that usually-stoic draconic lummox is whenever he interacts with you guys. I just can't see how anyone wouldn't like you! Even Cloud Retainer warmed up to you two, and it took decades for her to talk to me outside of official business. You don't deserve this loneliness, this solitude. So please..." Guizhong drew back to look Lilith in the eye, a small smile upon her lips. "Will you be friends with me?"

Lilith's eyes widened. Centuries ago, she was the one who took in Rex Lapis as a part of her family. It was her who asked Alatus to become her friend. It was her who asked Venti to also become her family. This... was the first time she was ever asked to be someone's friend. Is being offered friendship this warm? Inviting, like a campfire in the middle of winter? Did the boys feel this way when she offered her companionship, this feeling of acceptance and relief, as if she could finally relax and find solace in the presence of others? She could feel the pure sincerity pouring out of Guizhong, even if her eyes couldn't see it, the warmth of her words and heart causing Lilith to choke up.

"Of course I will...!" Lilith exclaimed with a beam, small tears sparkling in the corners of her eyes as she grasped Guizhong's hands, holding them between her own. They giggled, smiling through a small haze of tears as they rested their foreheads on each other's.

"Lily! Venti finally made it!" Lucifer called out to the girls from a short distance away.

"For real?! Awesome!" Lilith called back, hopping down from the stone bench. Guizhong followed suit, and as they walked she looked down at Lilith.

"Lily is your nickname, right? Is it... okay if I call you that as well?" she asked with a nervous smile.

"Of course! Can I call you Gui, in return?" Lilith asked, and Guizhong nodded with a happy smile.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

"LILYYYYYYYYYYYY!" Venti cried out, bee-lining towards the girl and crashing head-first into her stomach.

"Oof-" she grunted at the impact, then cradled the small wind spirit into a hug. "Are you okay? Do I need to kill some mean monsters?"

"We beat them up all by ourselves!" Venti exclaimed, shaking his head. "Your Anemo training really helped!"

"Good boy," Lilith cooed, rubbing the top of Venti's head.

"Ehe~" Venti giggled, then looked around. "Lily, who's the pretty lady?" he asked, gazing at Guizhong with glittering eyes.

"This is Guizhong, my... new friend," Lilith announced, half proud, half embarrassed, all extremely happy.

"Hello, little one," Guizhong smiled sweetly as she bent down to meet Venti's eyes.

"HI! I'm Venti, Lily and Luci's little brother!" Venti said excitedly, wriggling out of Lilith's grasp and circling Guizhong's head.

"Oh my, they have quite the large family," Guizhong giggled. "It sounds very lively."

"It is, especially when Lily and Luci start arguing about what to have for dinner," Venti chuckled at the memory. "Lily always wins because she's the best cook of us all! Luci doesn't mind, though. I think he just argues for the sake of arguing with his sister."

"We are siblings, after all," Lilith laughed.

"The rest of the time, though, you guys act like an old married couple! Always so cuddly and supportive and nice to each other!" Venti continued, causing Lilith to gag.

"Ewwww, whoever ends up married to my brother is in for a tough ride! I swear, other than us, he doesn't care about anything but his art. Unless his partner is either also an emotionally constipated art nerd or an absolute saint, I can't see their relationship going smoothly," Lilith shuddered in mock horror.

"Who're you calling an art nerd?" Lucifer raised an eyebrow, walking towards the trio. He held out a bowl of food to Venti, who supported it in midair with a mini whirlwind.

"Your future partner. Seriously, you need to learn how to seduce someone or you'll be a lonely bachelor forever," Lilith sighed, patting her brother's shoulder pityingly.

"Try this conversation again when I don't look like a 14 year old," Lucifer retorted, lightly bonking Lilith's head, to which she retaliated by launching herself onto his back.

"Excuses, excuses. I want more food!" Lilith declared, pointing towards the table of food. "Venti, Gui, let's go before it all runs out!" she said urgently, lightly smacking Lucifer's arm to hurry him up.

As the twins headed towards the table, Lucifer spoke up. "Gui?"

"We're friends now!" Lilith exclaimed, bouncing her head excitedly.

Lucifer smiled endearingly. He knew just how much Lilith craved friendship outside of their little circle, especially that of a fellow female. Glancing at Guizhong, who gently smiled back at him, he determined that she was a safe person to entrust Lilith with. Lilith was his older sister and always the one to shelter Lucifer, willingly taking on most of the burdens that came with their existence. Lucifer desperately wanted to also protect his sweet older sister, who could be too trusting despite her ability to sense malicious emotions.

"First friends, then sisters, right?" he replied teasingly.

"That's the game plan! There's no way in hell I'm letting this good of a woman not become Rexy's keeper," Lilith nodded, giggling mischievously. Lucifer shook his head in amusement as they reached the food table. "Now! It's time to eat and be merry!" Lilith announced, hopping off his back and scurrying to pile her plate.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

"I don't wanna leave Gui-Guiiiiiiiii," Lilith whined, desperately clinging to Guizhong's arm.

"Lilith, we need to get home and prepare. The sooner we do that, the sooner we can get everything over with, right?" Lucifer sighed exasperatedly.

Lilith nodded sadly, letting go of Guizhong, who looked quizzically at the two.

"Prepare?" she asked.

Lilith and Lucifer looked at each other while Rex Lapis kept quiet, letting his siblings decide whether or not to tell Guizhong about their trip to far, far away.

"The main reason why Rexy brought us here was so that we could meet you before we left," Lilith started.

"An evil god captured our friend, and we're too weak to fight her at this point. Yet, we're also the only ones who have a chance at defeating her," Lucifer continued.

"So, we're going on a very long journey to get stronger and defeat her. During that journey, though..."

"We can't visit here, at all, for a thousand years."

Guizhong knew that there was more to the story, such as the reason why they are unable to come back for a thousand years. However, she decided that it wasn't her place to question anything. Friends or not, they just met. It wasn't right for her to pry too much. Instead, she drew the twins into a tight hug and murmured, "I wish you both the best of luck... We just met, but I already love you both so much! Come back safely to us, alright?" She drew back and gave them a mischievous grin. "I'll make sure that Rex Lapis doesn't get into too much trouble, so don't worry about him."

"I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself," Rex declared, disgruntled.

"I hear wedding bells already..." Lilith teased, then squeaked when Rex quickly captured her in his arms, lifting her up princess-style.

"If you don't fix your habit of teasing people, you will be the one staying single forever, not me," Rex said grimly, lightly headbutting her.

"I mean, I'm pretty sure that a certain someone will be perfectly happy to remedy that," Lucifer suggested, wiggling his eyebrows. "His name starts with an 'A'..."

"Okay, okay, I get it!" Lilith protested, flushing a light pink as she struggled her way out of Rex's arms.

"The weird thing about my sister is that she can dish out the teasing, but she can't take it," Lucifer stage-whispered conspiratorially to Guizhong. Lilith, hearing his words, merely stuck her tongue out at her brother. The group then burst into laughter for a short period of time until the laughter subsided.

"Luci... I don't think that I can handle going home," Lilith murmured sadly, her hands slightly shaking. "If I do... I don't think I can leave."

"Does that mean...?" Lucifer trailed off, knowing what was on his sister's mind. She nodded, then turned towards Rex. Venti had already gone back to the ruins to fall into a food coma, certain that his siblings wouldn't leave until at least a couple more days. After all, packing up their things and teleporting such a long distance must take a long time to prepare... right?

"You two will leave with just the clothes on your back?" Rex asked, resigned.

"We came here with just this... so we might as well leave with just this," Lilith said with a sad smile. She then turned towards Guizhong and grasped her hands. The taller female gazed into her eyes with knowing ones. "Thank you, Guizhong, for befriending me. I leave Rex in your hands."

"Stay safe," Guizhong said with a small voice, and Lilith nodded.

The twins then embraced Rex Lapis, the three siblings sharing each other's warmth for the last time for a long time.

"Tell Venti that we're sorry, will you?" Lucifer asked, to which Rex nodded.

"If he cries, tell him this," Lilith requested. "In our room, underneath a loose brick next to the door, there are two treasure chests: the blue one is for Venti, the brown for you. In each, we both made a special chrysanthemum made of ten different types of crystals. One petal will fall every ten years, and each type of crystal petal will all fall every hundred years. When the last petal falls, we will return. That's a promise."

They drew away, and the twins stepped back. Lucifer was the first to turn away and held out his hand. "Aperi portas ad alium mundum," he chanted as a rift opened in the space before him. Stone by stone, a marble doorway formed in front of the rift. Its doors opened, revealing a galactic expanse that the twins hadn't seen in thousands of years. Guizhong and Rex Lapis gazed in awe at this display of raw power, truly understanding just why they said they were the only people who have a chance of defeating the evil god.

"This is goodbye... until we meet again," Lilith said sadly, walking backwards towards her waiting brother.

"Until we meet again," Rex nodded, crossing his arms to hide his slightly shaking shoulders.

Lilith finally half turned towards the portal, keeping her gaze upon the two in front of her. "Venti... Rex Lapis... Guizhong..." Alatus, she added mentally.

"We love you all. We're off!" the twins said in unison as they stepped into the portal.

The last thing they saw was tears trickling down the cheeks of those they were proud to call family as pearly white doors slammed shut.

(Next is Book 2: The Archon War! ;D See y'all there!)