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Everything was ready. The area had been consecrated as per Neiame's specifications. The gate had been constructed exactly as needed, complete with the focusing crystal atop the pedestal. The summoning of the Vela'Alari was at hand. She had everything she needed herself, as did her two assistants. As High Priestess of the Alari, she held the entire responsibility of this operation's success, and she simply could not allow an entire people to vanish because of a careless mistake.

She nodded and closed her eyes; an act immediately mimicked by Caeil and Ellicia, and started to focus her mind into the communal mind of the Alari. The three of them would first serve as the catalyst to the whole ritual; they would first start the call which would cause the rest of the people to begin. When it would become strong enough, it would sweep over to the remaining few, which for some reason, chose or weren't able to participate, and they would become part of the ritual themselves. Such as a wave washing over a beach, leaving the sand perfectly aligned, the Vela'Alari would bring each individual perfectly in tune.

She had often wondered if it was too much. This had always seemed part of her people's instincts, their destinies. Their world couldn't handle them anymore, but was this the only way out? It had often been foretold by the elders before her, but was their fate truly fixed and unchangeable?

"Begin the second part."

Both Caeil and Ellicia nodded, redirecting the flow of energy from an imperceptible destination straight into the gate's heart, the focusing crystal. The spiritual current was so strong she could have even been able to see it, had she opened her eyes. Neiame's task was the hardest part of the entire ritual. That is to say, Caeil and Ellicia's certainly weren't simple, but her own involved bringing all the energies to the same place. She had to serve as the beacon for the entire ritual. In other words, she had the most control over the act, but this also meant the greatest responsibility, and the greatest danger.

It was beginning. She could feel the communion's effect begin to manifest themselves. As each individual sent their spirit to the gate, it would pass through Neiame and her two assistants. There was nobody she could have trusted more for such a delicate procedure, she had known them both their entire lives. If anybody could endure such incredible spiritual strain, it was surely them.

"It's not going to hold! We have to stop it, now!"

Caeil let out a pained scream. Had she misjudged them? Was it her fault? Had age taken such a toll on her abilities?

"There's no turning back at this point! We're past the point of no return, if we fail here, nobody will make it out alive, not a single person!"

The ground shook from the massive surge of released, untamed energies. The crystal could no longer serve as the sole focal point for all that spiritual power. It was going out of control.

"What are you doing?! Get out of there! You'll never make it out in time!"

She didn't listen to Ellicia. The Vela'Alari had to continue, failure would mean certain doom for all her people. This had all been possible because of her in the first place; the burden fell on her to make it happen, no matter the cost. If she had planned something wrong, she would do what she would have to do to fix it.

And so, she leapt directly into what had grown the swirling maelstrom of light, which immediately enveloped her entire body in a blinding flash of chaotic energy.

"Neia-"

Vela'Alari would come, no matter the cost.

---

Neiame opened her eyes. Was she truly alive? Had it not failed? Had it possibly even succeeded?

No. She recognized this place. This was her temple. Everything was at its place, just as she remembered it. The touch, the feel, the smell... Everything was the same as before. She was alive, so much was certain.

If she was alive, why was she alone? Where were Caeil and Ellicia? She widened her eyes in terror. Could they have?...

She sat up, which took her quite a bit of effort. No sign to the left, none to the right. It was as if they had never existed. Everything else was just as she remembered it. The gate, the crystal, the altar, the temple itself, everything was in pristine condition. Just as before.

Could the Vela'Alari have succeeded?

She tried getting up, slowly, and using her tail to help herself up, as she had always done. Yet something felt wrong. She had pressed it against something that should not have been there.

Her eyes widened in shock at what she saw. She had two tails. Her own tail had not simply gotten cut in half; she quite literally had a second tail! She could easily tell which was "hers", as it was the one that responded just as it always had. Trying to use the other, however, mostly ended up with her shaking her bottom strangely and getting a few unexpected reactions. She did the only thing she could think of: she laughed, letting the walls of the temple resonate the echo throughout the halls. Had anyone been there to see her, she would have lost her rank as High Priestess in an instant.

It was a nervous laugh, however. What was this thing? Why did it feel so strange? Why was...

She froze in place for a few seconds.

She was holding and feeling that new tail with six hands. That definitely explained why it felt so different, yet it only raised more questions. She tried to think and recollect her thoughts, and the only conclusion she could come to made her fall against the ground in shock.

Vela'Alari had come. And she had been left behind.

Of all her people, she was the only one which would ever see the twin suns once more. Was this her penance? Is this how she would have to atone for her mistakes?

She tried to relax. At least it was just her. Had it failed, there would be death. Everywhere.

She decided she would see just how she had been affected. With much effort, she crawled out of the temple's main hall, into her own private quarters. She felt extremely heavy and weary, her four new arms mimicked the movements of her original two, yet they were more of a burden than a help. What she saw in the mirror as she sat up shocked her.

The first thing that she noticed was the colours. Her purplish blue skin was back to the soft sky blue, while her hair had reverted to its original golden colour, the very same as her eyes. These were the colours of her youth. The fact that she didn't have a single wrinkle left only worried her some more, not so much because of the results, but because of the reason. What had happened? Had she been sent back in time, somehow?

No. This was the temple as it was during the Vela'Alari. And what was with her arms? They all looked the very same, just as her own were during her youth. Toned yet soft, strong and gentle, as she had been when she was still a cleric of battle. Back when her people had enemies. She tried lifting one. The other two on the side followed. Moving the fingers around led to the same results.

She looked at the tattered remains of her robes. The sides had been torn open by the arms, implying they hadn't grown gently. Maybe this explained the occasional soreness she could feel. She narrowed her eyes as she was inspecting her clothing. Had she always been this large, even in her youth? She reached to herself and gasped loudly.

If her arms felt sore, these things sure did. Which much effort, she had managed to take off the remains of her robes, ripping it at times of frustration, as she just couldn't seem to get it around the new limbs. Just as she thought, her chest was quite different as well. These had to be at least the size of her head! And there were four of them? That sure explained how sensitive they suddenly felt. If nothing else, at least her new breasts made her smile. She might be a freak, but at least they looked nice.

After an unnecessarily long time inspecting her torso, visually and physically, she finally looked at what else had changed. Horns and hooves. Only males had those, had she?... She gasped and brought a hand between her legs. She sighed in relief. This had not changed. But her hooves weren't like those of the males. They had large, thick hooves, while her own were thin and slender. Just like her horns.

This was when she realized what had happened. She counted her limbs. Six arms, four breasts, two tails. Hooves and horns. Her youth. Caeil and Ellicia, along with herself, had that very same number of limbs for themselves. Caeil was a male, with the horns and the hooves. Ellicia was young.

She was all alone, but she smiled nonetheless. The Vela'Alari had indeed succeeded, if not the way she had planned. The ascension had happened, with the spirits of the Alari leaving their bodies, to transcend to another plane of existence. One where physical turmoil and the shackles of age were but a memory. A plane of existence where her people could finally survive.

She had succeeded in mending the rift of the ritual, but at a very great cost. She would never ascend as her people had, she would be forever alone.

Vela'Alari, the twilight of the Alari, had come. Just as the suns set over the horizon into the unknown, her people had vanished into darkness.

Despite having lost everyone and everything, Neiame smiled. She had paid the price to save her people. She had become the Vela'Alari.