All the shadows had fled the field. The stars could be seen again. But they were not alone - something was hiding among them. The silhouette of something like a serpent was twisting its way through the sky, its body invisible save for the silver streaks that outlined and gave away its position. It circled about aimlessly for a moment longer before flowing in the player's direction.
The mysterious silhouette shed its invisibility as it came closer, revealing myriad-colored scales, a pair of antlers, and a pair of slit-pupil, silver eyes.
-TWILIGHT: Found you.
It was the Twilight Dragon. His voice flew across the air, reaching the minds of everyone present. It sounded a little tired.
-TWILIGHT: I've been looking for you all through ages of time! If you had not dissipated the God of Darkness' barrier, I would have missed you all again.
The dragon's body landed upon the ground, his immense length circling around the entire stage. Despite his weary voice, the dragon's eyes looked quite cheerful.
-TWILIGHT: The timeflow of this area is re-aligning itself. We must leave or you will all be caught in a terrible event.
But as Twilight said this, his gaze fixed upon Velten's wide eyes. He blinked for a short moment, his tail swishing through the air impassively.
-TWILIGHT: You must stay, however.
A tinge of pity slipped through to Velten's mind, but before she could process what was going on, everyone's avatar began to break into fragments of light. Even the dragon was 'de-materializing', his scales vanishing into the air like breaking crystals. Everyone was being 'transported' back to their own time with Twilight.
xxx
Aurora watched the event unfold through Velten's eyes. She realized then that it was her time. Velten could not be a part of her sacrifice. A warm glow enveloped Velten's figure before it slowly began to detach itself from her flesh. The glow twisted and turned, taking the shape of the goddess Aurora. She immediately slumped toward the altar, where her death awaited.
Velten stared at the goddess with shock at first, but was quickly overcome with denial.
"NO!" She shouted and outstretched her hands as if to pull the goddess back into her body. But her hands could not touch her anymore. Velten's hands had begun to de-materialize as well.
Aurora smiled tenderly at the panicking Velten. She chose to keep silent until the end and simply turn her face away. She did not want to see Velten crying, the look of pity in Twilight's eyes, the frustration in Icarus' countenance.
None of them would ever understand this greatest of sacrifices that she must do. No one.