"Ara~ ara~ (oh my), look who we have here today…"
A soft, playful voice drifted through a haze of swirling light. I felt weightless—floating in something that wasn't quite air, wasn't quite dream. My eyelids fluttered open to a world blurred by shimmering colours.
"Eh? Where am I? Heaven?" I muttered, pushing myself upright.
But instead of clouds and angels, I found myself staring at… a tree.
A colossal tree.
Its silver leaves glimmered like tiny stars, casting faint ripples of pale light across the violet sky. The bark pulsed softly, as though alive.
"What the—"
Before I could finish, someone popped into view.
A little girl sat on a low branch, legs swinging. Her hair was pure white, glowing faintly like moonlit snow. Her eyes shimmered with mischief.
"Ah! You're finally awake," she chirped. "Welcome to the Judgement! The stars will choose your fate. Oh! And I'm Luna!"
Her smile was bright… but unsettlingly knowing.
I squinted. "Weirdo…"
Her smile cracked instantly.
"Oi! I heard that!" Luna puffed her cheeks and crossed her arms. "So rude! I save you, bring you all the way here, and you call me weird?!"
I shrugged. "Sorry…"
I was absolutely not sorry.
Luna hopped off the branch with a soft thud, dusting her dress dramatically.
"Well, too late! The Judgement's already begun, sooo~ let's get to business."
Before I could question her, the world shifted.
The violet sky dissolved.
The silver leaves faded.
The glowing tree vanished.
In an instant, I sat at the head of a grand rectangular table, polished to a mirror shine. Crystal chandeliers hovered overhead, illuminating a hall too enormous to comprehend.
Opposite me sat seven figures, each radiating an aura so ancient and powerful I felt my heartbeat slow.
Heaven?
Cosmic court?
Star elder meeting?
Hell if I knew.
The central figure—a tall, elderly man with a beard of shimmering stardust—leaned forward. His eyes glowed like galaxies turning.
"This is the Table of Judgement," he said, voice rumbling like distant thunder. "Here, we shall determine your fate."
His gaze pierced straight through me.
"I am Azelarion, Leader of the Major Seven Heavens. God of Creation, Space, Time… and Starlight."
The sheer weight of his introduction almost crushed my lungs.
He unfurled a glowing scroll with a flick of his hand, skimming through it as though reading a résumé nobody asked for.
"Hm. You cared deeply for your adopted parents. Admirable. And… oh my, quite the strange obsession with stars. Noted."
I arched a brow. "That my résumé?"
Azelarion chuckled softly. "Something like that."
He closed the scroll, smiling faintly.
"You have two choices. Live out eternity in heaven—which is less comfortable than you'd imagine—or descend to another world and live a second life."
His eyes gleamed.
I leaned back slowly.
"You want me to pick the second one, don't you?"
Azelarion didn't even pretend to deny it.
He gave a slow, knowing nod.
"Fine," I said. "But you'd better make my life interesting."
Azelarion's smile widened as he adjusted tiny, round glasses perched on his nose.
"Oh, don't worry. It will be… very interesting. So interesting that even death won't help you forget."
Why did that sound like a threat?
Suddenly, Luna appeared at my side, appearing out of thin air like she'd always been there.
"Time for introductions!" she sang.
Azelarion gestured around the table with a sweep of his hand.
"To my right—Ignarion, god of Fire."
A tall man with blazing red hair nodded, molten eyes flickering.
"Eiralis, goddess of Water."
A serene woman with flowing blue hair gave me a cool, piercing smile.
"Sylphael, god of Wind."
A lithe figure surrounded by a constant breeze.
"To my left—Gaiadros, god of Earth."
A mountainous man whose skin resembled granite.
"Nyxaria, goddess of Shadow."
A cloaked figure with violet eyes glowing through darkness.
"And lastly, Iscalon, god of Healing."
A gentle man radiating calm.
Azelarion lifted a hand, and the air shifted—constellations forming symbols behind him.
"There are seven Major Thrones in this world," he explained.
"Fire. Water. Wind. Earth. Shadow. Healing. And Starlight."
My gaze drifted to the others. Their auras felt… foundational. Like walking pillars.
"But," Azelarion continued lightly, "beneath the Major Thrones lie the Minor Thrones—powerful, yet lesser domains."
The constellations rearranged:
Lightning. Ice. Sound. Gravity. Light. Restoration.
"And others unclaimed."
"These Thrones shape the world. Their successors… shape its destiny."
He looked at me, expression unreadable.
"But such knowledge is unnecessary for you. For now."
A ripple went through the gods. A glance here. A smirk there.
Nyxaria's shadows curled like smoke.
Ignarion muttered something under his breath.
Eiralis gave Azelarion a pointed stare.
They knew something I didn't.
Before I could demand answers—
"Guys! Time's up!" Luna interrupted loudly.
She was behind me again, tapping her foot with the impatience of a child who'd been kept waiting five minutes too long.
"You took way too long on this one! Move it, move it!"
Before I could react, she grabbed a lever embedded in the floor and yanked it down with a grin far too evil for her small face.
The ground vanished under me.
"WAIT—WHAT THE HELL?!"
I plummeted into an endless void.
Azelarion's voice echoed faintly, smug and amused.
"We will meet again soon… Prepare yourself, child."
"Sayonara! Bye-bye!" Luna chirped.
"You little—! I'll never forgive you!!!" I screamed as the darkness swallowed me whole.