Time, like the river, flows on forevermore.

These were the words by which she now lived. After all, she was time. Together with the others, she was one of the pillars of support that kept time going. It was all that they could do to stop the timestorm. It was what they had been prepared to do when they had taken up the mantle of Keeper of Time.

But it came at a great cost. Possibly the biggest cost. For she was no longer really herself. All that she had ever been, all that she could have been, was all but forgotten now. She had gone in so deep and stretched herself so thin to the point where she no longer really existed as herself. She was time. Nothing more and nothing less. Well, together with the others of course, though their names now eluded her. Even her own name was all but lost.

She did occasionally see memories. Flashes of a past that must have been her own once but they were fleeting. She couldn’t possibly remember their context, or even when they happened. They were disconnected from each other, like separate pools of water. All she really knew was that it was always the same set of memories of the same young woman tending to the same shrine by the same river. A young woman who didn’t look quite human.

It always felt as if there were parts missing somehow. Important pieces of the puzzle that were nowhere to be found. However, with barely anything to do about it, she didn’t really try to actively remember.

That is… until now, when all of a sudden, a new memory entered her mind. A memory from when she actually was human, talking to two men.

“So we really can’t convince you to stay with us?” one of the men asked.

She shook her head. “I have made up my mind. I’m leaving town,” she said resolutely.

The two men looked quite sad. “You know you can always come back…” the other man said.

She actually started sobbing softly. It seems that she was going through as much pain as the men were. “I… love you,” she stammered, “but… I will not return for a long time. This isn’t a vacation. I want to see the world.”

The first man now actually started crying while leaning into the embrace of the second, who was able to hold his own for now.

“We know…” the second man said somberly.

“We… will miss… miss you, Ysera,” the first man managed to say during his sobbing.

She leaned in to hug the two men. “I will too…” she said as she too let her tears flow freely down her cheeks.

Who were those men? Were they her fathers? Why did she leave them on such a sombre note? Not to mention, there was mention of the name Ysera. She didn’t know for sure but the mention of that name struck her deep. Was that her name once, before she became time?

And that wasn’t the only memory that returned to her. She could see more flashes now, from various points in her life. She could remember more of her days at the shrine. She saw herself holding mass, she saw herself heading off to a big church somewhere. She saw herself standing alongside her companions.

The pools of her memories were starting to connect. As if tiny streams were forming between them. But why? Where were these memories coming from all of a sudden? It’s not like she was doing anything different. How even could she? That could only mean that it must have been… someone else?

“Alright… that’s one of them in place!” Cassie said proudly as she inspected her own handiwork.

“I wonder if this has already made a difference,” Lavini pondered.

Cassie shrugged. “We’ll only know once we have the other nine tubes in place,” she said.

Lavini nodded while getting the next tube out of the satchel. This was going to be a very time consuming process…

While Ysera was walking along the road, she spotted a group of people gathered by a barn up ahead. Curiously, she approached the group and found that they were actually all listening to a young, blonde girl, roughly about her age. It was a little difficult to hear, standing in the back, but she heard the words ‘time’ and ‘Alinavious’ being dropped.

When she was finished, the crowd dispersed and the blonde girl had retreated into the barn, leaving Ysera on her own again. She could just continue moving. That’s probably what she should be doing so that she wouldn’t seem rude. But a part of her wanted to stay. She wanted to find out what this was all about. And so, she peeked inside the barn to see the blonde girl, carefully placing several different kinds of clocks on some shelves. She was also dressed in some makeshift robes. It almost looked like she was playing dress-up or something.

Eventually, she turned around and got a little spooked by Ysera’s sudden appearance. However, rather than turning to anger at the intrusion, the biggest smile appeared on her face. “Hey there!” she said eagerly.

“A-ah… good evening?” Ysera said.

“I don’t think I recognize you. Are you a traveller?” the blonde girl asked.

Ysera nodded shyly.

“Well, then, welcome to Hakewood!” the blonde girl said eagerly.

“Oh, uh, thank you,” Ysera said. So there was a town here? At least that meant that she’d be sleeping in a bed tonight rather than on the grass. At least, if there was an inn she could stay in! 

    Looking around the barn some more, Ysera began getting quite curious now. She looked at the various different clocks sitting on the shelves. There were various different hourglasses and even a sundial among others. “What is this place?” she asked.

The blonde girl scraped her throat and straightened her hair a little, which was useless for it instantly curled up again. “Welcome to the first and, currently, only church of Alinavious, Goddess of Time!” she said proudly.

It took all of Ysera’s effort not to burst out into laughter. She had to be joking, right? “This is a barn,” she said dryly.

The blonde girl scratched the back of her head with one hand and grabbed the hem of her robes with the other. “Eheheheheh… You see… It may look like a barn… because I may or may not be too poor to afford an actual church… but it really is a church!” she said.

This time, Ysera couldn’t contain herself anymore. She started giggling at the ridiculousness of the situation.

The girl blushed madly at first but quickly started laughing about it as well herself. Two strangers who didn’t know each-other at all. It had been the first time since leaving her fathers that Ysera had been able to laugh so genuinely.

Eventually, the blonde girl managed to calm herself enough to start explaining it a little more. “I want to have a proper church one day so I’m saving up with donations from those that come to visit. That’s why I’m working super hard to spread her teachings and reach more people!” she explained.

“Ah, I see,” Ysera said through her chuckles. Sure enough, she spotted a wooden donation box sitting on one of the shelves. It was hard to tell how close this girl actually was to her goal from this box alone but she assumed that there was likely still a long road ahead. Shrugging, she reached into her own pouch and retrieved two golden coins. “Guess I’ll chip in then,” she said.

The blonde girl looked very surprised, indicating that this must not be happening all that often. “But you haven’t even heard about my goddess’s teachings yet.”

    “No need. You made me laugh and I really needed that. That’s good enough for me,” Ysera explained.

    Once again, the wannabe priestess smiled broadly and she bowed her head. “Thank you so much then! Time be with you, stranger!” she said.

“Ysera.”

“Huh?” the girl asked.

“That’s my name,” Ysera replied.

“Well, nice to meet you, Ysera! I’m Hestia!”

Hestia… that is another name that rang incredibly familiar to her. It had to be an important person to her. Perhaps she was one of the other Keepers? Regardless, it was another important memory. A connecting stream in the river of her life. Now, at long last, it was returned to her. How could she have forgotten something so important? Why had her river been disturbed at all?

And who was rebuilding it?

With another tube in place, Lavini and Cassie took a moment to catch their breath. Their work was proceeding smoothly. Each new tube they restored brought them closer to waking up Ysera.

Eagerly, they picked up the third tube.

Things had happened kind of fast. Hestia had somehow managed to convince Ysera to spend that night at her place within the small town of Hakewood. Hestia’s parents were very welcoming and, at night, as the two girls lay in bed, Hestia herself was very eagerly talking all about time and Alinavious. To this strange that she’d only met that day.

    “So your eagerness to learn about the stars led you to the goddess of time?” Ysera asked.

    “Yep!” Hestia said proudly.

    Ysera had an amused grin on her face. “First the barn church and now this? You are one of the most peculiar people I’ve met on my travels,” she teased.

    “Hey, it all makes sense!” Hestia defended herself.

    Ysera simply giggled to herself some more.

    “Just… Time seems like this wonderful gift that we have been given by this goddess that doesn’t even ask for anything back. Just that we spend our time well,” Hestia said.

    “When you put it like that, it does sound very nice,” Ysera nods.

    “So what do you think about when I say the word ‘time’?” Hestia asked.

    Ysera rolled on her back and looked at the ceiling. She hadn’t really thought about it all that much. Heck, back in her sleepy hometown of Beaver’s Dam, time almost appeared to stand still. But thinking about it now, she couldn’t help but remember the days spent just outside of Beaver’s Dam, staring out across the Alina river.

    “I think… time could be like a river?” she said.

    “A river?” Hestia asked. “How so?”

    “Well, a river snakes through the land and takes many different twists and turns just like time can do. It can rush down a waterfall like how time flies when you’re having fun, or it can condense in a big pool when times are kind of dull. In the end though, it will simply keep on flowing ever forwards to whatever destination it might have,” Ysera explained herself. It was kind of funny. The words simply came up in her head but they made sense to her as she spoke them.

    Hestia stayed silent.

    “So yeah… that’s kinda what I think,” Ysera said.

    Still, Hestia stayed silent.

    “Was that… boring? Did I make you fall asleep?” Ysera asked.

    “No. That… was really beautiful,” Hestia finally spoke.

    Ysera laughed a little nervously. “It’s just the first thing that popped into my mind,” she said.

    “Yeah… and that’s what makes it even better,” Hestia said while closing her eyes. Softly, she started musing to herself now. 

    “Time, like the river, flows on forevermore.”

There it was. That one sentence. The one that had become so important to her. And she had forgotten about its origin.

All of these memories that were now all of a sudden returning to her. What was happening? Who or what was doing this? And… how come she could ponder this now all of a sudden? Before, there wasn’t any place left in her mind to think about much of anything but now? It’s as if a dam that had been keeping her river in place was now starting to crack, pouring water back into her dried up wells.

And this brought back with it… questions. Lots of questions. Questions that would likely reveal themselves as her memories were slowly being restored to her. Or at least, that’s what she assumed for now.

Rylla let out the loudest yawn as she reappeared from the hole in the floor of the shrine. She rubbed her eyes and just used her elbows to steady herself.

“Good morning, Rylla,” Lavini said, amused.

“Huh? But… it’s not morning at all…” Rylla muttered, her voice sounding just as tired as she looked.

“Oh, stop teasing her, Lavini,” Cassie said.

Lavini gave her an innocent look. “Three done, seven left to go.”

Rylla blinked a few times. “Oh! You’re making good progress already! I wish I could help…”

“You’ve already done so much though! You’ve earned your rest,” Cassie said, sounding a little harsher than she had intended.

“I knoooow, but resting and watching you do work is boring! I already get plenty of rest while inside the spring…” Rylla whined.

“Hmmm… then perhaps you could keep an eye on the tube below the shrine. Perhaps something may happen as we fix the tubes,” Lavini proposed.

Rylla gave her a broad smile. “I can do that! I’ll keep my eyes and ears perked!” she said as she quickly dove back down again.

In the meantime, Cassie picked up the fourth tube.

Early in the morning, Ysera and Hestia left Hakewood behind to return to the road where they had met the day before. As interesting of a night as it had been, the world was so very big and there was still so much more to see and do out there.

Hestia, who had accompanied her here, was already wearing her makeshift priestess robes again. She had a smile on her face but Ysera could tell that it was a hollow one. Truth be told, even though they had only just met, Ysera was definitely going to miss her.

“Well… I guess this is it then,” Ysera said.

Hestia nodded. “Yeah… I gotta go back to my barn church…” she stammered a little.

“Hey, I promise I’ll come look you up again sometime. Maybe by then, you might actually have a proper church!” Ysera said.

“I’ll hold you to that!” Hestia said. “Just you wait, this is going to be one of the best churches in the world one day!”

“Well, then I’ll be holding you to that one,” Ysera said, grinning.

The two girls shared a quick hug before finally parting ways.

“Goodbye, Hestia! Until next time!” Ysera said.

“Until next time, Ysera! And don’t forget to spread the word of time!” Hestia called after her.

And with that… Ysera was off again. Off to continue wandering the world. She didn’t really have any sort of aim. The journey itself was the aim. As such, she simply intended on following the road and then let her inner river decide which path to take whenever she’d find herself at a crossing. That said, her inner river was thrown off balance today. Perhaps it was simply the melancholy she felt at saying goodbye to a new friend. She figured it would pass as the day pressed on though.

The hilly landscape here did mean that travelling would be a little slow going. At least, after every climb, going down hill would be fun and fast. She was expecting to be sleeping somewhere by the roadside tonight, seeing as there didn’t seem to be another town in the direction she was heading for a decently long stretch but perhaps, if she could keep going west, then she might be able to reach the ocean. That amount of water would surely be quite the sight!

“Ysera!”

Curiously, Ysera looked around herself. Who had called for her just now? Then, behind her, she could see what looked to be a person running towards her along the road. A person wearing robes…

Bouldering down the dirt road came Hestia. It had only been five minutes since their departure from each-other earlier so Ysera hadn’t expected their reunion to happen this soon.

When Hestia finally caught up to Ysera, she wheezed and coughed while leaning on her knees to try and catch her breath.

“Hestia?” Ysera asked. Had she accidentally left something at her home or something?

Hestia held up her finger for a moment to indicate that she needed just a little more time. After that, she stood up straight and placed her hands on her hips while letting out a painful breath. Finally, after a solid minute of this, she spoke up again.

“That thing you said… about time being like a river…” she stammered.

Ysera tilted her head in confusion. “Ah… yes?”

“I had never… thought of it like that and… and… well…” Hestia continued.

Ysera chuckled. “And?”

“And… and, and, do you… would you…” Hestia said but she wasn’t really able to express herself clearly. Eventually, she clapped her hands together, bowed her head down, and started shouting. “Please stay here with me and join my church!”

Ysera gasped. Stay? With Hestia? And join her church of time?

“I think you’d be an amazing Priestess of Time! You have such a unique view of time from my own and… and it would be fantastic if you could join me and share that view alongside me!” Hestia continued.

Ysera looked at her, a little uncertain on what to do with herself. She had started her journey to be out there. To see the world. She didn’t want to really be standing still anymore. But as she turned around and looked to the road ahead, she wasn’t so certain about that anymore. She closed her eyes and tried to get a feel for her inner river but it was very clear to her what direction it was flowing towards. Turning back to Hestia, she smiled warmly. “Alright, I’ll stay and join your church,” she said.

And that was how it started for her. How she joined this church in the first place. The church that would eventually lead her to her current predicament. She still didn’t know the full course of the river but she was slowly starting to get a feel for it now.

As they repaired more of the tubes, Lavini and Cassie noticed that the amount of water visions were getting less and less. It was obvious that what they were doing was definitely doing something. That could only mean that it was a good thing.

On to tube number five.

Hestia and Ysera were slowly riding alongside the great Alina river. It had been two years since Ysera had seen it for the last time. Truth be told, she had expected to be coming back here much sooner. That she’d get homesick and want to return. Well, she did get homesick. She missed her fathers and her river so much. But her desire to stay with Hestia and the church had been greater. That is, until she was finally brave enough to send a letter back home. Within a month, her fathers had sent her one back which prompted her to want to return to Beaver’s Dam. She had intended on doing so alone but Hestia, being Hestia, had insisted on coming along. As such, they were here now.

It also meant that their church to Alinavious was now mobile. On the road here, they had held mass in several different towns. Ysera wasn’t sure if going from a barn to a cart was an upgrade or a downgrade but it got the word out at least.

    “So… are you ready, Ys?” Hestia asked. She was holding the reins and made the horse stop.

    Ysera looked very anxious. Her eyes darted between Hestia and the river. “I… I don’t know…” she stammered.

    “Come on, you can do it! I’m sure your fathers will be super happy to see you again!” Hestia cheered.

    “But… when I left them… I feel so bad about the way I left…” Ysera said.

    “I know, I know… but you can’t really change anything if you just stay away all the time,” Hestia said encouragingly.

    Ysera sighed. She placed her head on Hestia’s shoulder and spoke a little softer now. “Please stay with me…” she muttered.

    “Of course, silly! I came with you all this way after all,” Hestia said as she wrapped her arm around Ysera’s shoulder.

    They had become close. Very close. Ysera had never been this close to anyone before. Hestia truly understood her and was always there for her. Of course, Ysera did the exact same for her in return. She was actually very glad that Hestia was here with her or she would probably have chickened out by now.

    They stayed in each-other’s embrace for a moment longer before Hestia eventually picked up the reins again and told their horse to start moving once more. A silence fell, the only sounds coming from the river and the horse’s trotting.

    A lump formed in Ysera’s throat as they got closer to Beaver’s Dam. What would her fathers say or do when they got there? Would they scold her? Would they shun her? Or would they simply be happy for her return?

    Her thoughts were interrupted when Hestia put a tentative hand on her knee. She had actually stopped the cart again and was looking at her partner. Her eyes held concern while her breathing got a little deeper.

    Ysera looked back at her, a little surprised while she felt herself starting to blush a little bit. “I’m… I’m fine, Hes…” she stammered but both of them knew that she was lying about that.

    Hestia looked down for a moment. “We can technically still turn around,” she said softly.

    “No… no I… I have to…” Ysera said as tears started welling up.

    “I know… and I don’t want you to have to face it alone,” Hestia said while she shifted herself to sit just a little bit closer.

    Ysera’s own breathing got heavier now. Hestia was like an anchor, holding her in place lest she gets swept away by the river of her emotions. And by Alinavious, its currents were strong. It rushed with so many feelings, ranging from sadness to anticipation to even… something else?

    Hestia gulped. The hand that she had placed on Ysera’s knee was squeezing it a little bit now while she slowly reached for Ysera’s shoulder with her other hand. Her eyes went wide as she was even surprised by her own actions.

And Ysera let it happen. It felt good. Great even. This… she wanted this. She needed this. She had been wanting this for a while now, even if she only realised it now. Ysera closed her eyes and she now pressed her body against that of Hestia. Their lips met as they shared a long awaited kiss together. Whatever time had in stall for them next, they would face it together. Now and always.

Feelings of joy washed over Ysera as she remembered that first kiss with Hestia fondly. They had become a couple on that day and they would stand together.

Even now, she could feel Hestia’s presence among the streams of time. Just as she could the others. But… now that she focused on that a little bit, she noticed more. One of the presences within the flow of time that had always been there appeared… a little less strong than usual and in its place, there were more presences of time. What could that mean? Was it the goddess? No… it felt different. There were several smaller streams coming together. What could it be?

For that matter, she still couldn’t remember how she even got to this point in the first place. How these memories of so long ago led to her current predicament. She would have to stay patient. It would come to her eventually, or so she hoped at least.

“How many more tubes now?” Rylla asked.

“We are halfway done, Rylla dear,” Lavini said. 

    Cassie lifted up the sixth tube out of the satchel. She was beginning to look a little tired now but she wanted to finish up this work sooner rather than later.

Ysera had already been stared at by dumbfounded villagers who hadn’t seen her in so long as she and Hestia rode into Beaver’s Dam. Some of them even started whispering amongst themselves. It wasn’t important though. For now at least.

Barely anything had changed here. The fence around old Mack’s garden was still broken. Helen’s pigs were still playing around in the mud. The Mckinley kids were still fishing as they always did.

And Ysera’s home was still exactly how she left it. Right down to the fact that the weeds in the garden that she and father were removing when Ysera expressed her desire to leave were still growing unhinged.

Hestia was the first to get off the cart. She then walked over to the other side and extended her hand. “Let’s go,” she said with a determined smile on her face. If only Ysera could borrow it from her.

Ysera hesitantly clutched Hestia’s hand. It felt warm to the touch. It was as soft and warm as Hestia was herself. It was still kind of hard to believe but this woman, standing here and beckoning her to keep moving forward, was her girlfriend now.

Carefully, Ysera hopped off the cart as well while her breathing crawled to a halt. This was going to be it. This was arguably going to be even harder than leaving here in the first place. But this time, she had Hestia with her. Her pillar of support. Her bright star in the night’s sky.

They strode up to Ysera’s door. She could feel the eyes of several villagers on her. Were they judging her for having been gone for so long? Were they happy to see her again? Or were they simply curious onlookers. The crushing weight on her mind about it was almost too much to bear and if this was already so difficult, then she wasn’t sure how she was going to get herself to knock on the door.

But once again, Hestia was there with that same excited smile she always bore. It was there every morning when opening their church in the barn. When imagining what the future might bring them. When talking about the stars. She simply nodded and that was the only push Ysera needed. Resolutely, she knocked.

Time seemed to slow down. Waiting for someone to open the door appeared to take forever. Were they even going to in the first place? Were they not home? Or did they already know that Ysera was back but they simply refused to answer? And if they were going to open the door, how were they going to react?

At long last, there was shuffling inside. A moment later, the door opened and after more than two years, Ysera was standing face to face again with her father. He looked absolutely dumbfounded. He even rubbed his eyes to make sure he wasn’t seeing things.

“Father…” Ysera said softly. The moment the word left her mouth, she could feel her emotions quickly taking over her self control. She flung herself into her father’s arms and hugged him tighter than she had ever hugged anyone before.

“Ysera… You’re back…” her father said, almost as softly, as he too returned the tight hug.

Mere seconds later, the pair was joined by Ysera’s dad, who, just like his husband, first had to pinch himself to make sure this wasn’t a dream. Instantly, he joined them in their embrace. Their family had been reunited again, at long last.

Ysera remembered how she felt. Her uncertainties. The sense of dread that instantly lifted when she hugged her family. She… missed them, even if it had been so long already since then. They were happy memories that she now looked upon with a sense of melancholy. After all, the river of time kept on flowing, in part thanks to her own work as a time elemental.