Ranon's Arc

Chapter 2 of 2

Ranon sits on the edge of the porch and runs her purple fingernails along the white stone. The bedroom stands in the center of her claimed ground. The violet mark glows faintly in the dirt. But no one has arrived yet to see any of it. She stands and walks to the boundary of her circle. A wife will come eventually. She showed Serana the ending and Serana chose to stay anyway. But others will need proof that the first one didn't leave when she learned the truth. They'll need to see that someone else already made the choice and meant it. Ranon lifts her hand toward the purple sun and pictures what she wants. A sphere materializes in her palm, glass and weightless. Inside it, colors shift and swirl like captured light. Pink bleeds into blue, then yellow, then violet. The hues move without repeating, alive and constant. She kneels at the edge of the porch and sets the sphere on the white stone where anyone approaching will see it first. The glass catches the plasma light and throws ribbons of color across the ground. It doesn't say Serana's name. It doesn't need to. It says someone was here, someone saw their fate, and someone stayed. Ranon steps back and looks at the sphere resting on her porch. The next wife who arrives will see it and know she isn't the first to choose this. But the sphere only proves one choice was made. Ranon turns and walks to the center of the circle where the bedroom stands. She needs a place to show each new wife their vision. A place that marks the moment of choosing, not the bedroom where they'll gather after. She pictures a small figure and it takes shape in front of her. A blank girl, white and featureless, standing waist-high. When a wife steps close, the figure will shift to match her, showing what Ranon sees when she looks at that person's future. The wife will watch herself in the vision, see the ending, and then decide. Ranon places the figure at the threshold between the porch and the bedroom. Anyone who wants to enter must pass it first. She kneels beside it and touches its shoulder. The surface is cool and smooth. This is where the choosing happens. The sphere on the porch shows that others stayed. This figure is where each new wife will learn why staying costs something real. Ranon builds a small purple mushroom from thought and places it beside the sphere. Then another. Then another. She pictures each wife who will choose to stay and makes a mushroom for them before they arrive. But she stops after the third one. Her hand hovers in the air. Making tokens for wives who haven't chosen yet feels like writing their names on a list before they've said yes. She picks up two of the mushrooms and closes her fist around them until they dissolve back into light. Only one remains beside the sphere. Serana's. The others will get theirs when they choose, not before. Ranon straightens and looks at what she's built. The sphere proves someone stayed. The figure shows the cost. The single mushroom waits for the next. She walks back to the bedroom and lies down on the purple bed. Her chest feels lighter. The next wife who comes will see evidence, not promises. They'll know what they're choosing because someone else already did.