It was time for a new age to dawn and Annastarria stirred. She rose back to Aeon within her temple atop the mountain and it was with trepidation she approached the door. Last time she had pushed it open she had come across a version of Aeon that had disturbed her greatly. What might she find in this new era? The stone doors groaned and rumbled and gradually opened at her touch. Below, there was a greatly transformed view.

Aeternus had sat at the base of the mountain for the better part of two eras and had largely been a concept more so than an actual city, but that had changed. From high above Annastarria could see crisscrossing of stone roads between neatly laid out buildings. Astral lights illuminated these cleanly laid streets and aethereal traveled back and forth in orderly fashion.

Descending below, the impression did not grow ugly when viewed up close. Aeternus was buzzing with activity, though the aethereal she passed abandoned their work as their realized their god walked amongst them again. Hundreds of years had passed once more and in that interim the aethereal had expanded upon her project. But one landmark remained the same. The Astral Academy still stood in the same place it had for thousands of years. There the god of eternity found students practicing. They had maintained the tradition of wielding the long spear and leather shield and pairing the physical armaments with arcane practice. There was no sign of Xeves though. "The Lord Regent can be found at the Concordance." One of the students shared with open awe.

The Concordance, it turned out, was the new hall of governance. There Annastarria found her in a different state than she had in the prior two eras. Behind a desk speaking to a dozen aethereal. "My lady!" he exclaimed as he spied the returned god. Rising to his feet and knocking his chair back with a clatter. "Welcome home! It has been far too long!" he said warmly.

Aeon had been largely peaceful these last few hundred years it turned out. With the creation of the wetlands to the south the scarcity of resources had been mitigated. The rest of Aeon's natural resources had been given the chance to replenish while the tribes leaned on foraging the wetlands and also the feast beasts. This, coupled with a great focus on logistics, had helped ensure that starvation no longer drove the tribes to starvation. Over the last centuries Xeves had laid out a carefully organized schedule to the nomadic travels of the different tribes. It was a complex map of crisscrossing paths that ensured different areas of Aeon were visited at different times to ensure none were over harvested.

Xeves concluded his summary of the state of affairs. "Truly you have returned at a wonderful time. You may enjoy yourself, I will see that you have attendants for your every whim! If you wish to visit any of your peoples I can show you the schedule so you'll know precisely where to find them. I am pleased that this time we are able to say there are no crisis which demand your attention. All is well within Aeon."

Waking for a long sleep was very different for a god than it was for mortals. She didn't rub sleep from her eyes or wait for the heaviness of limb or mind to fade before she walked out of her temple to see what her children had done in her absence. Thus it was the Goddess was quite awake as she looked down upon her city and noted with happiness and pride that a proper city had risen whilst she slept.

She took in the sights as she walked amongst her children, holding her hands out and greeting each of them as she passed. She complimented them for the work over the centuries she slept and made sure all of them knew how happy she was. She bestowed blessing upon the children and gave the young and old alike her best wishes and gratitude for their many years of hard work.

She was most pleased when she greeted the High Arcanist which he could see by the bright golden suns that gleamed in her eyes when she took his hands and embraced him as the old and dear friend he was. Not simply her heir, he was family to her in a way that stood above all of her children for he had been a constant since the first Age of her Realm.

"I am very pleased to see the growth of Aeternus, High Arcanist. You have done very well during my sleep and I cannot tell you how happy all of this makes me. You have made the dreams I had from my first awakening come true. A well-made city, a happy people with plentiful food for all. A strong college as well as a strong force to defend our beloved Aeon from any who would harm it. Tell me, what did they name the new province?"

Annastaria feels the divine presence of the Prince appear in her realm. He's not masking and if anything is mini-flaring his divine aura to help announce his arrival.

The Prince of Blossoms appeared in Aeon once his sister had acknowledged that she was awake there again. He tried to will himself as close to the center of the realm as he could, but portaling wasn't an exact science when not doing it from one self to another self. But he moved with godlike speed so would be able to make his way to her rapidly.

He sent out his divine senses to get a "read" on her location, and flew through the air on a cloud of petals above the heads of presumably bewildered mortals before landing somewhere near where her divine signature was.

"Mortal Aethereal of Aeon! Please take me to your goddess. She is expecting me, the Prince of Blossoms. But it would be polite to announce my arrival to her regardless."

"The southern lands are called Shademire," Xeves shared with the god of eternity.

In another part of Aeon appeared the Prince of Blossoms. Happening across a very surprised band of aethereal who were hiking along a well traveled trail, they dazedly pointedly him south east in the direction of Aeternus. That left only a handful of hours of travel time for the visiting god to come across the only city on Aeon. It stood out like an island on the grassy plains.

Finding Annastarria in the city was a simple task, the return of their god was all the talk of Aeternus. Everyone knew she had gone to Concordance and there it was that the god of eternity and blossoms reunited for the Prince's visit.

"Shademire," Annastarria said and nodded at the sound of the name. "Very well done, my old friend. I am most pleased."

She looked off to the northwest and smiled as she felt her brother appear on Aeon. "The Prince of Blossoms is coming. Let us prepare a feast and celebration in honour of his visit as well as to show my delight in all you have done whilst I slept."

The Goddess worked alongside her heir and children to arrange a suitable welcome for her brother. Food, drink, and music were prepared to honour him when he arrived.

The Prince of Blossoms arrived some hours later, at the scene of the feast Annastaria was hosting.

"Ah my sister! It is good to see you again here in your realm. It only feels like a week or two ago I was here when in reality it was an Age." he said, looking around at the feast and the festivities.

"Ann if I may ask...what is the occasion? Are you celebrating the new province? I could sense it to the South. There was wetness and life there now. Are you feasting in celebration of this milestone for Aeon?" he asked cordially.