Morning arrived quietly in Cresent Roseville.
For once, Luciana didn’t need anyone to wake her.
She opened her eyes before the sunlight reached her pillow and stared at the ceiling for several seconds.
Then she remembered.
Today.
She was eighteen.
Luciana slowly sat up.
“…I’m eighteen.”
She said it again, just to hear how it sounded.
“I’m really eighteen.”
A smile spread across her face.
Then she immediately pulled the blanket over her head.
“Oh no.”
She laughed into the pillow.
“I don’t feel eighteen.”
Outside her window, the village was already awake.
Footsteps passed along the road.
Doors opened and closed.
Someone was shouting about breakfast, while someone else was apparently arguing with a horse.
Then came the inevitable.
“LUCIA!
WAKE UP!”
Luciana groaned.
“I’m awake!”
“GOOD!
COME OUT!”
She threw the blanket aside.
“Why does everyone shout in the morning?”
She dressed quickly, tied her hair, and reached for her travel bag.
Before leaving, she paused.
Her little room looked different now.
Several of her belongings were gone, packed neatly into her luggage.
The small wooden animal sat safely inside, along with the stone from the lake, Grandma Martha’s dried flower, and the other little things she had decided to take with her.
Luciana rested her hand against the desk.
She had spent most of her life here.
Tomorrow, she would wake somewhere else.
The thought made her heart flutter.
“I’ll come back.”
She smiled faintly.
Then she grabbed her bag and hurried outside.
The moment Luciana stepped into the village square, flower petals landed on her head.
She stopped.
“What?!”
Laughter erupted around her.
“Happy birthday!”
“Eighteen!”
“Finally!”
“You’re officially an adult!”
Luciana looked around suspiciously.
Then pointed at an old man holding an empty basket.
“You did that.”
He looked offended.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“You’re holding the basket!”
He looked down.
“Oh.”
Everyone laughed.
Luciana tried to look annoyed.
She couldn’t.
She was smiling too much.
Grandma Martha appeared through the crowd carrying a large basket.
Luciana’s eyes immediately narrowed.
“Is that…?”
“Yes.”
“Croissants?”
“Yes.”
“All of them?”
“For your journey.”
Luciana hugged the basket.
“I love you.”
“I know.”
“You’re the best.”
“I know.”
“You’re definitely my favorite.”
Grandma Martha raised an eyebrow.
“I’m your only Grandma.”
“Exactly.”
They laughed.
The celebration carried on through the morning.
The villagers had prepared far more than Luciana expected.
There was food everywhere, music in the square, and enough cake to feed a small army.
Gifts kept appearing too.
A farmer gave her dried fruit for the road.
A hunter gave her sturdy gloves.
The carpenter gave her a small wooden charm.
The tailor gave her a warm cloak.
Someone pressed a little bottle of herbal medicine into her hands with strict instructions to actually use it.
Even the children had prepared something.
A little girl handed Luciana a bundle of wildflowers.
“For when you get lonely.”
Luciana looked at them.
Then at the girl.
Her smile softened.
“Thank you.”
She crouched down and hugged her.
The girl squeezed tightly before finally letting go.
Luciana looked at the flowers again.
She carefully tucked them into her bag.
She would keep them.
Of course she would.
By midday, Luciana was surrounded by laughter.
Someone had challenged her to eat more cake.
Someone else had already started telling embarrassing stories about her childhood.
Luciana protested loudly.
“That isn’t even what happened!”
“It is.”
“No!”
“You were five.”
“That doesn’t make it true!”
“It makes it more believable.”
The villagers laughed.
Luciana eventually gave up and ate another piece of cake.
She looked around the square.
The same houses.
The same familiar faces.
The same people who had been there throughout every stage of her life.
For years, she had dreamed about leaving.
Today, that dream was finally happening.
And somehow, the reality felt much bigger than the dream.
By late afternoon, the celebration began to settle.
The sun had turned golden over the rooftops.
Luciana stood near the village entrance with her travel bag over one shoulder.
The road ahead waited quietly.
Grandma Martha approached.
She didn’t say anything at first.
Instead, she reached up and straightened Luciana’s cloak.
“You packed everything?”
“Yes.”
“Enough food?”
“Yes.”
“Medicine?”
“Yes.”
“Money?”
“Yes.”
“Your map?”
“Yes.”
“Compass?”
Luciana patted her bag.
“Yes.”
Grandma Martha nodded.
“Good.”
Luciana smiled.
“You sound like you’re sending me to war.”
“I’ve met travelers who were less prepared than you.”
“That doesn’t make me feel better.”
“It wasn’t meant to.”
Luciana laughed.
The older woman looked at her for a moment.
Then her teasing expression softened.
“You’ll be fine.”
Luciana looked toward the road.
“I hope so.”
“You don’t have to know everything before you leave.”
Grandma Martha gently tapped her forehead.
“That’s what traveling is for.
You’ll learn along the way.”
Luciana nodded.
Then she looked back at the village.
“I think I’m going to miss this place.”
Grandma Martha smiled.
“That’s a good thing.”
“Why?”
“If you miss home, you’ll know where to return to.”
Luciana’s eyes became slightly wet.
She laughed softly.
“That’s a very Grandma Martha answer.”
“I’ve had eighteen years to practice.”
Luciana stepped forward and hugged her.
This time, neither of them joked.
Grandma Martha held her tightly.
When they finally pulled apart, Grandma Martha wiped beneath one eye and immediately looked annoyed with herself.
“Don’t you dare mention that.”
Luciana smiled through her own tears.
“I wasn’t going to.”
“Good.”
A pause.
Then Luciana grinned.
“You’re crying.”
Grandma Martha narrowed her eyes.
“Go.”
Luciana laughed.
“Yes, Grandma.”
The villagers gathered near the road.
There was no grand speech.
No dramatic ceremony.
They simply stood there.
People who had fed her.
Taught her.
Scolded her.
Spoiled her.
Watched her grow.
Her family, even if none of them shared her blood.
One of the villagers called out,
“Write to us!”
“I will!”
Another shouted,
“Don’t spend all your money!”
“I won’t!”
Someone else added,
“And don’t chase dragons!”
Luciana burst out laughing.
“I’ll try!”
The children waved their hands.
Luciana waved back.
Then she took a breath.
Her fingers brushed the silver rose still tucked beside her ear.
The flower was somehow still fresh.
She looked at the village one last time.
“I’ll see you again.”
Then she turned.
And began walking.
She didn’t look back immediately.
She made it perhaps twenty steps.
Then looked back.
The villagers were still there.
She smiled and waved.
Another few steps.
She looked back again.
Still there.
She laughed at herself.
“I’m terrible at leaving.”
But eventually, the road curved between the trees.
The village disappeared from view.
Luciana stopped for a moment.
She took a deep breath.
The world ahead was unfamiliar.
That was frightening.
That was exciting.
And, somehow, that was exactly what she wanted.
She adjusted her bag.
“Alright.”
Her smile returned.
“Let’s see what the world has to offer.”
And with that, Luciana continued down the road.
Far behind her, beneath the shade of the trees, Raizen watched.
He had watched her birthday.
He had watched her laugh with the villagers.
He had watched her receive every little gift.
He had watched her leave.
He did not step onto the road.
He did not call her name.
He did not tell her that he had spent a thousand years searching for her.
Not yet.
Luciana deserved to begin this life without carrying the weight of the one before it.
So Raizen remained where he was.
Watching until she disappeared beyond the bend.
His gaze lingered on the road for a long moment.
Then he quietly turned away.
A thousand years had taught him patience.
He could wait a little longer.
This time, he would let their meeting happen naturally.
And when that day came…
He would meet Luciana.
Not the goddess she had once been.
Not the memory he had carried for a thousand years.
Just her.
The girl who had grown up beside the Silver Rose Lake.
The girl who still laughed too easily.
The girl who had wished for more flowers without understanding what she had awakened.
Raizen’s eyes softened.
“Go.”
His voice disappeared into the evening breeze.
“Enjoy your journey.”
And somewhere far ahead, Luciana continued walking toward a world she had never seen.