Tiara — Goddess of Beginnings and Endings

...

Where am I?

The first thing I noticed wasn't what surrounded me.

It was what didn't.

No walls.

No ceiling.

No sky.

No ground.

Only white.

An endless sea of white stretched beyond every horizon.

"..."

Am I...

Dead?

The thought lingered for only a second.

"No."

That didn't feel right.

Maybe...

"It's just a dream."

To prove myself right, I pinched my cheek.

"Ow..."

"...Yeah."

"Definitely not a dream."

The pain was real.

Which only made everything around me even stranger.

I slowly turned in a circle.

Nothing changed.

No matter where I looked...

The world remained the same.

White.

White.

And more white.

It almost hurt my eyes.

"..."

"If someone asked me what this place should be called..."

I scratched my head.

"...I'd call it 'Woid.'"

Void sounded too dark.

This place wasn't dark.

It was overwhelmingly white.

"So..."

"Woid."

I nodded to myself.

"...Makes perfect sense."

A few seconds passed.

Then I sighed.

"...I've officially lost my mind."

Just as I was beginning to wonder whether I'd be walking through endless whiteness forever...

A melody reached my ears.

"...?"

Someone...

Was humming.

Soft.

Gentle.

It wasn't loud.

Yet somehow...

It felt close.

Almost as though it had been waiting for me.

Without another thought...

I began following the sound.

The farther I walked...

The more the empty world changed.

Tiny blades of grass appeared beneath my feet.

Then flowers.

Flowers unlike anything I'd ever seen.

Their petals shimmered with colors that seemed impossible to describe.

Not red.

Not blue.

Not gold.

Something...

Different.

A gentle breeze brushed past me for the first time.

The humming grew clearer.

Then...

I stopped.

Right in the middle of the endless white...

A garden bloomed.

It didn't belong there.

Yet somehow...

It felt like the only place that ever had.

At its center stood a silver tree whose branches spread wider than any tree I'd ever seen.

Golden leaves drifted lazily through the air without ever touching the ground.

Beneath the tree rested a simple wooden table.

Someone was sitting there.

Still humming.

For a moment...

I simply stood there.

The humming was beautiful.

Peaceful.

Almost enough to make me forget where I was.

My eyes slowly drifted toward the person beneath the tree.

Long white hair with a silver mix in it  flowed gently behind her like moonlight carried by the wind.

She wore a white back less dress that moved softly with every breeze.

One hand rested on the table while the other absentmindedly traced circles around the rim of a porcelain teacup.

Elegant.

That was the first word that came to mind.

No...

Elegant wasn't enough.

Every movement she made felt natural.

Graceful.

As though beauty itself had learned by watching her.

I couldn't explain it.

Normally...

When someone says a person is beautiful, your eyes settle on one thing.

Their smile.

Their eyes.

Their hair.

But with her...

Every time my attention found one beautiful feature...

It wandered to another.

Her bluish white eyes.

The gentle curve of her smile.

The way light danced through her hair.

It felt impossible to decide what was the most beautiful thing about her.

For some reason...

Looking away felt even more impossible.

"..."

Was this...

An angel?

No.

Even that didn't feel like the right word.

Then—

"Why are you standing all the way over there?"

The humming stopped.

A soft voice broke the silence.

"Come here, Vinaas Nullka."

"...!"

Every muscle in my body froze.

How...

How did she know my name?

Who...

Who is she?

The woman smiled warmly.

"Come."

"I promise I won't bite."

"..."

Well...

That wasn't exactly the kind of sentence I expected to hear from a mysterious woman in the middle of...

Woid.

Slowly...

I walked toward her.

The closer I got...

The harder it became to think straight.

Up close...

She looked even more unreal.

Like every masterpiece ever painted had borrowed a piece of her.

My mind quietly began listing compliments one after another.

Beautiful.

Elegant.

Graceful.

Radiant.

Perfect.

"..."

...

...

Nothing.

Apparently...

My vocabulary had decided to give up.

"Hello..."

No response.

"Hello...?"

Still nothing.

A tiny laugh escaped her lips.

She waved a hand in front of my face.

"Young man?"

I blinked.

"...Huh?"

"I asked if you were planning to stand there forever."

Heat rushed to my face.

"Oh..."

"Sorry."

"My bad."

I cleared my throat.

"Where am I?"

"Who are you?"

"What is this place?"

"How did I get here?"

She raised a hand.

"wowo..."

"Hold your horses there, young one."

"One question at a time."

"...Sorry."

She smiled.

Not proudly.

Not arrogantly.

Just...

Kindly.

"My name is..."

"Tiara *****."

"And I'm the Goddess of Beginnings and Endings."

For a while...

Neither of us spoke.

The silver tree swayed gently behind her while golden leaves drifted lazily through the garden.

The endless white beyond it remained perfectly still.

I let out a long sigh.

"I have..."

"...a lot of questions."

"I know."

She smiled.

"And I don't even know where to begin."

"Then begin anywhere."

"..."

I looked around once more.

"...Where am I?"

Tiara slowly looked toward the endless white surrounding the garden.

"...I don't know."

I blinked.

"...You don't?"

She shook her head.

"No."

"It resembles a suspended realm..."

"...yet this is the first time I've ever witnessed such a place."

She looked back at me.

"I've never met a summoned Hero here before."

That caught me off guard.

"...Wait."

"Aren't you the Goddess?"

She nodded.

"I am."

"So..."

"Haven't you spoken to every Hero like this?"

She smiled softly.

"They have heard my voice."

"They have received my blessing."

"But..."

She tilted her head slightly.

"...None of them met me."

"..."

"What?"

"...You're different."

Silence.

The words echoed inside my head.

"...Why?"

"What makes me different?"

"I don't know."

She answered honestly.

"But..."

"I wished to meet you."

"..."

That somehow raised even more questions.

"...Fine."

"Then tell me this."

"Why am I here?"

She looked down at her teacup.

"...I don't know."

"This meeting..."

"...shouldn't have happened."

"..."

Somehow...

That answer made me even more confused.

"...Then..."

"Why was I the weakest?"

The smile on her face remained.

Yet...

It seemed a little sadder than before.

"I saw everyone."

"They all received incredible Classes."

"They smiled."

"They celebrated."

"They finally had something to be proud of."

I lowered my eyes.

"And then..."

"I touched the Orb."

"..."

"Common Class."

I laughed quietly.

"...What a joke."

The laugh quickly disappeared.

"The priests."

"The Heroes."

"The people watching."

"They all looked at me like..."

I searched for the words.

"...Like I wasn't supposed to be there."

"..."

"So tell me."

"Why?"

"Why am I weak?"

"Why did everyone receive something..."

"...while I received almost nothing?"

Tiara didn't answer immediately.

Instead...

She listened.

Not once did she interrupt.

Not once did she try to comfort me.

She simply...

Listened.

After a long silence...

She finally spoke.

"Vinaas."

"Do you remember the summoning?"

"...Of course."

"What was the first thing you did?"

"I..."

"..."

"I grabbed Miss Angelica's hand."

"And?"

"I ran."

"...Toward the door."

"Why?"

"Because a strange magic circle suddenly appeared beneath our feet."

"I thought we were in danger."

"So..."

"I tried to escape."

She nodded gently.

"That was a perfectly natural decision."

"...Then why am I like this?"

She slowly stood.

"When you opened that door..."

"You interrupted the summoning."

"..."

I frowned.

"...Interrupted?"

She nodded.

"Every action..."

"...creates a consequence."

"And every consequence..."

"...creates a reaction."

"The summoning was no different."

"..."

"...I don't understand."

She looked toward the silver tree.

"The ritual was interrupted."

"The reaction followed."

"You arrived..."

"...but not completely."

I stared at her.

"...What does that even mean?"

She smiled.

"It means..."

"...you remain closer to the person you were on Earth than the others."

"..."

I frowned even harder.

"...How is that my fault?"

"If a strange magic circle appeared beneath anyone..."

"Wouldn't they run?"

"I wasn't trying to ruin anything."

"I was trying to survive."

For the first time...

Tiara's smile disappeared.

"I know."

"..."

"You weren't wrong."

Her voice was gentle.

"But..."

"Consequences..."

"...are not punishments."

"They simply follow our choices."

"..."

I looked away.

Somehow...

That answer didn't make me angry.

It only made me sad.

"..."

"There was..."

"...one more thing."

"I know."

I took a deep breath.

The question had been sitting inside my chest since the moment the Orb announced my Class.

"..."

"...Was I summoned because I was flawed?"

The words escaped before I could stop them.

"...Forget I asked."

"No."

Her voice was calm.

Yet...

It carried a certainty that made me look back at her.

She walked toward me.

One step.

Then another.

Until she stood directly before me.

Slowly...

She raised her hand.

For a moment...

I thought she was going to point at me.

Or perhaps agree.

Instead...

She gently placed her hand against my cheek.

Warm.

Gentle.

Comforting.

Warmer than sunlight.

Warmer than anything I could remember.

I froze.

"There was never a mistake."

Her bluish-white eyes met mine.

Not with pity.

With absolute certainty.

"Not in your summoning."

"Not in your Class."

"And certainly..."

"...not in you."

My chest tightened.

For reasons I couldn't explain...

Those words hurt.

Yet...

At the same time...

They healed something inside me.

She smiled once more.

"Vinaas."

"The beginning of a story..."

"...rarely resembles its ending."

"..."

"...How can you be so sure?"

She looked at me as though the answer had always been obvious.

"Because..."

"You are Vinaas Nullka."

"And that's enough."

After Tiara said

"You are Vinaas Nullka."

"And that's enough."

Silence.

...

"...Enough?"

A small laugh escaped my lips.

It sounded empty.

"..."

"...You know..."

"I've heard a lot of things."

"Useless."

"Average."

"Unlucky."

"Hopeless."

"But..."

I looked at my own hands.

"...Never enough."

My fingers slowly clenched.

"I lost my parents."

"My relatives called it bad luck."

"I believed them."

"..."

"I thought..."

"...maybe life would get better."

"I studied."

"I worked hard."

"I finally thought..."

"...things were changing."

A bitter smile appeared.

"And then..."

"I was summoned into another world."

"..."

"I grabbed Angelica's hand."

"I tried to protect her."

"I thought I was doing the right thing."

"..."

"But instead..."

"I ruined everything."

"I became the weakest."

"I disappointed everyone."

"..."

"I even disappointed myself."

My voice cracked.

I immediately looked away.

"..."

"...Sorry."

"I don't know why I'm saying all this."

"..."

"I barely know you."

Tiara never interrupted.

Not once.

She simply listened.

The silence...

Somehow...

Made it harder to hold everything back.

"..."

"I've always been alone."

"Even before coming here."

"I got used to it."

"I told myself it didn't matter."

"..."

"But..."

"...It hurts."

The final words escaped almost as a whisper.

For the first time...

I couldn't stop the tears.

They fell quietly onto the grass.

I laughed through them.

"..."

"...Pretty pathetic..."

Tiara stepped closer.

She didn't wipe away the tears.

She didn't tell me to stop crying.

She simply stayed beside me.

Waiting.

Until...

The silence became peaceful again.

I slowly wiped my eyes.

"..."

"...Can I ask one last question?"

"You may."

I took a deep breath.

"..."

"If..."

"If I stay weak..."

"I won't be able to protect anyone."

My thoughts drifted toward the cathedral.

Toward the girl who had stood beside me when everything began.

"...Angelica."

"I couldn't protect my parents."

"I couldn't protect my own life."

"..."

"I don't want to fail again."

"Miss Eleanor..."

"She said if any danger befall her in their absence. she asked i should be the one to take care of her then."

"If something ever happens..."

"I want to protect Angelica."

"Even if..."

"...she never needs me."

"..."

"So..."

"If there's a way..."

"Please."

"Tell me."

"I don't need to become the strongest."

"I only need enough strength..."

"...to protect the people important to me."

"..."

"If strength demands a price..."

"I'll pay it."

"If it demands suffering..."

"I'll accept it."

"If the consequence..."

"...is my own life."

I smiled weakly.

"...Then I'll gladly give it."

"For the salvation of this world..."

"...and for protecting Angelica."

Silence.

The golden leaves stopped drifting.

Even the endless white seemed to grow still.

Tiara looked at me.

Longer than before.

Her eyes...

Held an emotion I couldn't understand.

"...Strange."

She whispered almost to herself.

"...Why..."

"...do you feel so familiar?"

"..."

For the first time...

The Goddess looked uncertain.

Only for a moment.

Then...

She smiled.

Not as a Goddess.

Not as someone above humanity.

But...

Almost...

Like someone greeting an old friend.

She took one step forward.

"Honorary Hero..."

"...Vinaas Nullka."

"I..."

"...Tiara *****."

"The Goddess of Beginnings and Endings."

"...shall grant your wish."

"In consequence of protecting my world and its people."

She gently placed her fingertips against my forehead.

"I shall bless you..."

"...with the strength you seek."

"But every blessing..."

"...has its consequence."

"Your body..."

"...cannot yet withstand the power it will receive."

"It must reconstruct."

"It must adapt."

"It will take time."

Golden light slowly gathered around her hand.

"If danger finds you before that day..."

She whispered several ancient words I couldn't understand.

A strange symbol burned itself into my memory.

"Remember this spell."

"It shall answer your call."

The warmth spread through my entire body.

Like sunlight.

Like home.

Like...

Peace.

Her smile never faded.

"We shall meet again..."

"...Honorary Hero."

The garden disappeared.

The silver tree dissolved into countless golden lights.

Everything became brilliant.

Too brilliant.

My vision blurred.

The last thing I heard...

Was her voice.

"Farewell..."

A blinding golden light swallowed everything.

"VINAAS!"

Someone shouted.

The warmth vanished.

My body suddenly felt impossibly heavy.

The white world shattered like glass.

Darkness rushed in.

Then...

Nothing.

collapse!!!!