Chapter Text
"For the sake of my beloved, now what can I do? There aren't any dreams that won't come true."
- Akemi Satou
"I got voodoo, I got hoodoo, I got things I ain't even tried. And I got friends on the other side."
- Dr. Facilier
"Don't cross the streams."
- Ghostbusters
Ariadoa glanced through two mirrors showing reflections that were lifetimes apart. She gently scratched her chin in silence. A deep look of concern lingered in her eyes.
The recording to her left showed Princess Tiana sitting in a lavishly decorated chair. She was constantly surrounded by hundreds of subjects, servants, and retainers asking for her advice and offering their own. The world of Ixphoria had no threat level after being completely cleared, but the people living there still worked hard day after day to ensure the kingdom remained peaceful and prosperous.
Tiana was holding a small infant wrapped in a blanket on her lap. Any time it looked like all the attention and endless questioning was going to make her fret, she would hug the little bundle closer to her heart like a nervous girl with a teddy bear. Her calm demeanor would quickly return as if she were drawing strength from the small precious thing swaddled in her arms. The child was a boy with his father's dark hair and Tiana's small nose and round eyes. He was named Naveen.
The recording to Aria's right showed Seiya traveling down a farm road in the S-Ranked world Gaeabrande. His demeanor was quiet and focused, like a man who didn't let anything distract him when he was on a mission. He was accompanied closely by the divine being who had summoned him: the Goddess of Wisdom named Athellas. She was an electrifying little lady who often couldn't decide if the color of her long waving hair should be blue or black. History books weren't the only things she came stacked with, and the set of tail feathers she had to shake around could put most other birds to shame. She had a whole slew of nicknames she called Aria including "bug booty," "tongue trinket," "chewy chick," "frog food," and "demon dookie." She liked to boast about how she was smarter than Aria and she'd never let herself wind up as "crunchy crunchy juicy goddess nummies." She did, however, suffer from an acute weakness to projectile attacks, which often came up when she had to play shield guardian to keep Seiya out of harm. A typical conversation between Aria and Athellas went: "Nice work clearing out that Class B, stomach stuffer." "Thank you, Ellas. I heard you got ambushed by some snipers again on that Class A. How's the hole in your spine?" "Oh, you're just a snack, Aria. You know I'm always hungry for your affection." "You're not dodging any bullets with me, Ellas. I can see right through you!"
The Goddess of Sealing spent forever watching her two screens in silence. On the right, a lonely swordsman fated to wander from world to world never knowing the happy life he'd lost. On the left, a princess bound to her kingdom who would be forced to go on without her true love. A pair of soulmates ripped apart by the universal boundaries of space and time.
That is, unless Aria interceded on their behalf.
The goddess sighed with restless and uncertain feelings weighing down on her mind. The older and shorter goddess Ishtar quietly appeared at her side to console her.
"What is it that's troubling you, Aria dear? You haven't been yourself these past few days."
"Tiana and Seiya," the Sealing Goddess said. "It's my fault I didn't have the party research Ixphoria's Demon Lord before we fought him. That second form caught us all off guard. It was almost a disaster until Seiya pulled through. Things could have gone so much better if I had just told them to take more time preparing."
If Athellas had been around to hear her say that, the Wisdom Goddess probably would have stuck out her tongue and yelled "That's because you fed him between forms, sticky tits!" To which Aria probably would have yelled back, "I'm sorry I don't always think things out as far you, Little Miss 'Ohhh, Look at Me! I Don't Have To Worry About Putting Any of My Eggs in One Basket Because All of Mine Are in a Cryogenic Freezer'!"
Aria's eyes glanced longingly from the right mirror to the left mirror, and then back toward the right mirror.
"Seeing them apart like this doesn't feel right," she said quietly to Ishtar. "I was thinking maybe we could give them a second chance."
"They don't need it, Aria. It would never work," the older goddess said as she slowly shook her head with sympathy. Older and wiser, she spoke as if there wasn't a doubt in her mind.
Aria turned toward Ishtar in conflicted silence. The elder goddess bowed her head as she offered more guidance.
"When Seiya cleared the world you summoned him into, he passed on with nothing but feelings of accomplishment in his heart. Tiana and the baby were the things he cared about the most in the end, and he made sure not to leave any unfinished business. Had he died with his soul full of despair and feelings of failure, then you'd have a reason to worry. But he gladly gave his all so Tiana could have a happy ending."
Ishtar glanced toward the image of the princess cradling her child for a moment. Then she glanced toward the image of Seiya traveling stoically to his next battle.
"If he were to meet the princess now, he'd never even recognize her. All he would feel is some weak hint of joy in a place he'd never be able to explain in the back of his mind. Like a nice dream you had a long time ago but now all the details have faded from your memory. That's all."
Aria looked down as she considered the implications.
"So even if I tried to bring them together, it wouldn't be a reunion. I'd just be forcing them into an awkward meeting."
Ishtar responded with a sagely nod.
"You have nothing to blame yourself over, Aria. You accomplished your own task. You chose the best hero you could to save Ixphoria. The one who could make Tiana the most happy. You were the best goddess anyone could have prayed for."
Aria closed her eyes as she sighed in contemplation. Ishtar continued glancing toward the screen showing Gaeabrande.
"The Seiya who exists now will never remember who Tiana is. He'll have no idea how close he was to her in a previous incarnation. As far as his soul is concerned, he's already lived the best life he could in Ixphoria. Bringing him to Tiana would only cause her confusion and dig up sad feelings. The man would be Seiya to her, but it wouldn't be her Seiya."
"Still. She wanted him to stay with her so much," Aria said with a weak lump in her throat. "They were both looking forward to it once they saved Ixphoria. I could have found a way for them if I hadn't messed up with the Demon Lord. Now she's just by herself."
Ishtar only shook her head with a friendly smile.
"Oh, I wouldn't say that. A little part of him certainly stayed."
The mirror gazing into Ixphoria showed Tiana cheerfully closing her eyes as she tucked her sleeping infant son under her chin, rocking him in her arms as if he were the most valuable treasure in the kingdom.
"Thank you, divines," the healer princess whispered to herself in the recording. She must have known Heaven would be listening.
Ishtar gently brushed Aria on the shoulder to congratulate her while they watched. Aria finally started to see it the older goddess's way.
"See how happy she is with the child?" Ishtar said. "That's all the Seiya she needs. She's moved on just like he has."
Aria turned her head to look down at the shorter elder goddess. Ishtar slowly nodded back at her.
"Leave them be, Aria. We'll always keep an eye on them to make sure they stay safe, but we shouldn't try to manipulate their lives just to make ourselves feel better. It's better this way."
Sighing and shaking the last of her regrets out of her head, Aria closed the two recordings. She considered Ishtar's advice and never touched on the issue again.
Author's note: Yeah but what about that Colt guy tho.
Author's other note: I used the name "Athellas" because "Palutena" was already taken.