On rainy, breezy nights like these, Sura Goodslayer enjoyed taking slow, leisurely walks home. Three hundred years ago Iberus — the now capital of the Salvos planet— was a hellhole but Sura and her cohort had managed to transform it to the jewel of the world. Iberus was often busy even at night but when it rained heavily, it became emptier and quieter, and the stars were more noticeable. The lights of the city still shone as brightly as usual but seemed to be in concert with the moon’s natural light. The muffled voices of families huddling together in the distance in conjunction with the scent of the rain in the air gave the city a homely atmosphere and made her want to hurry on home. Sometimes, she let down her umbrella and welcomed the caress of the rain as she walked.

Centuries ago, rulers used to have public homes but that ended when the apocalypse began with a spate of assassinations. Nowadays, leaders kept their homes private. Still, the entire Salvian populace would have been surprised to find out that their esteemed leader lived in a house in the centre of the city and not some reclusive mansion.

It wasn’t really a common house; her neighbours were her bodyguards and other dignitaries, but it wasn’t an obscenely wealthy place. Just comfortably middle class.

About to turn the key in her lock, Sura heard a rustling sound and paused before turning around and overturning the body connected to the hand that had been about to touch her shoulder.

In a blink of a second, Sura had a gun buzzing with energy pointed at her assailant’s forehead then registered the feeling of a cold object on her chest.

“You have five seconds to tell me your name and purpose before I start blasting,” Sura said.

“Well, that’s no way to welcome your wife home,” said the assailant. She gingerly stood up and clicked her finger creating a light spell. “Hello darling, you’re late,” Dami said and smiled impishly.

 

Damilola Goodslayer looked at her wife’s flabbergasted face and threw her head back roaring in laughter, her curly afro vibrating with her chuckles.

“Dami, you’re back? Don’t scare me like that,” Sura said and lightly hit her wife’s arm before holstering her gun. “When did you come back from Flugte?”

“Yesterday,” Dami replied and placed her sceptre back in its storage space. “I had a whole plan to surprise you but imagine my surprise when I came home, and you never showed. I had to take down the balloons.” Dami put on an exaggeratedly sad look on her face.

“Well thank God for small mercies,” Sura mumbled as she turned the key.

“What did you say?”

“Nothing,” Sura said quickly and entered the house. Dami smiled fondly behind her. She twitched her finger and camouflaged the decorations around the house as Sura switched on the lights.

Dami had barely entered the house and shut the door behind her before Sura tightly embraced her from behind. Dami softly chuckled.

“I missed you,” Sura said, voice muffled, “It’s been 45 days.”

Dami’s smile became even softer. “I missed you too.” Slowly, she turned around and gently kissed her wife. “Happy anniversary,” She softly murmured before giving her a searing kiss.

 

Seven hours later, Sura bolted up from her bed. “It’s our anniversary.”

“Yes, that finally registered,” a voice said teasingly. Dami ran her fingers across Sura’s brown arm while strewn around them were their clothes, hurriedly removed in the aftermath of their passion.

“Was that a welcome home present for me or you?”

“Well, I enjoyed it immensely. I don’t know about you.”

“Do you need me to prove again how much I enjoyed it,” Sura said before kissing Dami. This continued for a few moments before they disengaged.

“You know I love you Sura, but your morning breath is atrocious. When did you last have a shower?”

“Ugh, shut up. I’ve been very busy running this planet, excuse me,” Sura said grouchily then stood up to walk to the bathroom. Noticing Dami’s eyes, she looked back over her shoulder, “See something you like?”

“Oh yes. Me likey.”

“Well, who said I should shower?” Sura said and hurried into the bathroom closing the door behind her.

“Low blow,” Dami called behind her then started picking up their discarded clothing.

Sura’s laughter was the response to the comment before Dami joined her in the bath and their sounds became more amorous.

Minutes later, both women were changing into day clothing when Sura continued their conversation.

“Happy anniversary to you too. I’m glad you’re home.”

“Yeah. There was no way I was missing it. It’s been 300 years since we got together— 303 since I first saw you— and I love you more every day.” At this, Dami clicked her fingers, and the previously masked decorations became visible.

The house became surrounded by a golden glow before silvery streamers and blue banners saying ‘Happy 300th Anniversary’ appeared. A bouquet of marigolds, lilies and roses appeared in Dami’s hands which she handed to Sura.

“Dami, this is so beautiful. I hope you like my gift too,” Sura said and handed a box to Dami. She opened it and looked astounded at its content.

“Is this Bight mineral, part of the meteor that fell and started the apocalypse? I thought there was none of it left.”

“Being premiere has its perks,” Sura said and shrugged, “This one has been checked thoroughly. It’s free of alien influence but still be careful. I don’t want to wake up one day and find a monstrosity in my bed.”

“Hush and let me admire my mineral. Besides, I would be a cute monstrosity.”

“You like it?”

“Uh huh. Very much.”

“Would you agree then that I win the exchange this year?”

“Oh no-no-no-no. Did you think this”— Dami waved a finger around the room— “was your present? It was just the preparation. This year—”

A beeping sound from Sura’s bracelet interrupted Dami’s speech.

“Oh, hell no,” Dami said when Sura went to answer it. “Not this again. It’s our anniversary.”

“Just give me a minute. It might be an emergency.”

“Someone better be dying. Violently.” Dami waited with irritation while Sura activated the confidential mode on her device and had a conversation with the office. “Was someone dying,” She asked when the call was over.

“Um no,” Sura said sheepishly, “There was just a bureaucratic mix-up.”

“You see this is what I’m talking up. It’s our anniversary— our 300th anniversary— and your workplace keeps contacting you. I know your work is important but when was the last time you took a break. And don’t say our birthdays or anniversaries because those are just one-offs. It’s been over 100 years since you became premiere, and you haven’t stopped. You need a break. We need a break.”

“I can’t. You know that. Our planet is being besieged by alien monsters who are mostly held back by the magic barriers you created and the whole galaxy abandoned us with their problem. Salvos needs firm leadership, and I can’t abandon her to take a break.”

“When you became premiere,” Dami said softly after some moments of silence, “You said that you wanted to ensure that people could have lives even though we were at war. You’ve achieved that. Since then, we’ve eliminated most of the monstrosities and soon we’ll re-establish interplanetary travel. You’ve brought Salvos to such great heights but when was the last time you left Iberus to see what the planet you’ve made is like? Hell, when was the last time you went anywhere other than the house and office? Or physically fought against a monstrosity? You might be getting rusty. No one would begrudge you a little break. You deserve to see the planet you created and frankly I think that without you there, your proteges will actually grow up and learn things. Sometimes, people need space to grow.”

“You think I’m hurting my apprentices?”

“Not purposefully but ‘a bureaucratic mix-up’? Really? They need to learn how to lead, and you need a holiday. Maybe we could celebrate our anniversary without being interrupted by work for once.”

“Even if I said yes, I would have to officially request it then accept it.”

“That’s done. Oh, don’t look at me like that, you leave your stamp around the house. I’ve packed our luggage into the storage space, informed our friends, planned the itinerary and even made a way for your government to contact you if there really is an emergency.”

“You’ve done it all, huh?”

“Yes. All that’s left is for you to say yes.”

Sura thought for a second before smiling and nodding. “Oh, screw it. I could do with a holiday.”

“Yes! Alright let’s leave immediately,” Dami said and materialised a rectangular portal.

“By the way, how long did you set aside for this trip,” Sura asked as she stepped through the portal.

“A month.”

“A month?!”

 

Bheirj city was built above a chasm of lava. Hundreds of years ago, a high-level monstrosity had brought a sea of lava from beneath the earth while fighting Dami, Sura and others. Many humans had instantly died while Dami had to focus her magic on ensuring that she and Sura could safely advance to kill the monstrosity. Although Sura managed to decapacitate the monstrosity, most of the lava remained above ground and killed most of the remaining forces. Dami had been devastated at the supposed uselessness of her actions and had worked hard on recognising potential magic so that she could stop that kind of destructive magic before it even began.

Two hundred years later, Bheirj had become a bustling city. Almost as if in response to the sea of boiling lava beneath them, many Bheirjian mages were proficient in controlling fire. The Bheirjian lava had become an advantage for the human race as many of the most powerful thermal weapons were forged at Bheirj. Many Bheirjians had come to see the lava beneath them as natural, forgetting the human tragedy behind it.

Upon entering Bheirj, Sura and Dami paused to look down at the lava recalling sad memories before Dami looked up with a forced smile on her face.

“It’s different from what you expected, isn’t it?”

“It’s different,” Sura said softly and held Dami’s hand. At this, Dami’s smile became more natural. She snapped her fingers and changed their clothes to be looser and shorter.

“When in Rome. Come on there’s a festival on.”

Holding hands, Dami and Sura went to participate in the festivities. They ate frigid fritters which temporarily paralysed you due to its chill, drank hot beer, and played dart games at which Sura lost (“They cheated,” she insisted to a laughing Dami.) Sura even got to participate in a martial arts tournament, which she won without using her sword, Icarus. (“See, I’m not rusty.”)

On the first day they camped but Sura used to the comforts of being premiere forced Dami to rent a hotel room, for which Dami was secretly grateful.

Seven days later, they were on the other side of the planet in Icare, the ice city which named itself after Dami’s soul weapon. Although they claimed that it was the other way around since her sword was forged at the city. If Bheirj was full of gun fanatics, Icare was filled with blade fanatics. There they ate blistering bread which gave the sensation of one being ablaze, drank fruit wine and Dami cheated at a snowball round robin.

Although the temperature at Icare was drastically different from Bheirj, they were able to keep wearing the same clothes due to Dami’s enchantments.

“What happened to when in Rome,” asked Sura.

“Well, I like what we’re wearing,” Dami said lasciviously, looking lustily at Sura. Sura laughed uproariously before passionately kissing her.

“This is definitely the right temperature for a bit of cuddling,” Sura said before leading Dami to their Icarian house where they spent all of the second day. Unfortunately, their visit was cut short by a knock on the door the next day when the Icarian governor invited them to their home.

Dami moaned about ‘politics’ but followed along to the political schmoozefest where Sura managed to say everything and nothing at once. The next day, they left for Porshe, a place completely under water.

 

That was how they passed the whole month, travelling from one place to another. Sometimes they were recognised, sometimes they were not but Dami refused to mask them with magic. They deserved to live freely regardless of their status.

One time, they got attacked by assassins which ended up being an embarrassingly pathetic experience.

“Is it me or have people gotten weaker,” Sura asked while dodging a light beam and stabbing an opponent in the stomach. Immediately afterwards, she twirled and dropping to the ground, chopped off some legs before getting up and slitting another person’s throat. “This isn’t even a workout.”

“I don’t know, people were pretty weak even then. Hurry up,” Dami said glancing at her nails as she set a person on fire, entombed another in ice and strangled someone else with vines. “Why’d you pull out Icarus if you are going to take your time with these peons. Let’s quickly go and find their leader before continuing our trip. Yeah, I don’t need you to tell me who they are,” She said when one of the assassins was visibly surprised, “It’s right there in your mind. Whoever sent you was extremely sloppy. Don’t you know you should protect your mind from a maestro mage. Meh, whatever.”

“Fine,” Sura said and instantly flashed to the other side. Seconds later, all the remaining assassins fell to the floor bleeding profusely from several gashes on their skin.

“Finally. Don’t worry I promise I’ll let you play as much as you want but these people are too low level for that. Now let’s go their leader. Apparently, Baroness Lucille Camembert is in league with a monstrosity. Humans, we never cease to surprise me.”

Dami kept her promise. Weeks later, she opened one of the magical barriers to let both of them into a monstrosity horde. Days passed as both of them worked out their age-old frustration of being abandoned on a planet with some of the worst abominations in the universe at their doorstep.

Holding Icarus in one hand and her trusty energy gun on the other, Sura swiped, slashed, and blasted all her enemies. She didn’t always get away scot-free and many a time Dami had to reconnect a severed limb back to her, but Dami said nothing as she understood that Sura needed this. Usually, when Sura fought, she kept a part of herself aware of her surroundings but with Dami there Sura didn’t have to worry and surrendered her safety into Dami’s hands.

Dami ensured that Sura never got more than she could handle and kept her from being swarmed. A few days later, Sura was finally satisfied and fell asleep after felling an enemy. Dami smiled fondly before glaring at the monstrosities and flaring her magic burning through swarths of the horde. They wouldn’t be able to wipe out all the monstrosities but soon they would. Dami looked at Sura’s sleeping form and promised herself that in ten years they would wipe out all monstrosities from their planet.

Still, both of them had done more than most others and reclaimed miles of land. Dami laid down magical barriers to prevent the monstrosities from returning and set up camp before cuddling Sura as they both slept.

Sura’s eyes fluttered open, and she saw Dami looking fondly at her before smiling in response and languorously kissing her.

“You got that out of your system,” Dami asked and Sura nodded. “Good because I have something to show you.”

Entwining their fingers together, Dami slowly led Sura into the ruins of the destroyed city. “I’ve been planning this for years, maybe decades,” She continued, “Slowly whittling at the horde situated here until you could come and clear them away. This is your gift Sura. Happy anniversary. Our home city is free.”

“You did this,” Sura asked, voice choked with emotion, “You restored our home?”

“Of course. I did. Remember when we met right at that fountain.”

“Yeah, I was 28 and you were 29. A monstrosity had leaped at me, and I was frozen in shock before you blasted it off me with magic. You looked so surprised.”

“It was my first bit of magic. Everyone I knew had died and I saw you save someone else by bashing a monstrosity to death with a car. I’m not a good person but a kind person like you didn’t deserve to die. 3 years later we got together and look at us. 300 years in the future.”

“Sometimes I feel 328. Do I look 328?”

“Uh… You look as beautiful as the day I first saw you.”

“You flirt,” Sura said and sighed, “And now we’re cursed with immortality.”

“Uh I think you meant blessed. Because I’m the one who made us immortal, and I hope you’re not calling my work a curse.”

“Nope, not a curse. Just… We’ve lost so many people and we’re still here. Do you think we’re the best people to still be alive?”

“I don’t know but I’m glad we’re here, alive, and together. Even 300 years later, I’m still madly in love with you.”

“300 years. Magic’s amazing!”

“Eh it’s cool.”

Sura turned to look at Dami. “The true magic is us. Still doing this, still loving each other centuries in the future. Damilola Goodslayer, I love you. I always have and always will. Happy anniversary.”

Dami smiled and hugged her tightly. “Happy anniversary.”

They both turned and look at the fountain.

Once upon a time, long ago, Earth was invaded then abandoned. The abandoned renamed Earth to Salvos to show they would always survive. Two fell in love and their love still continues on to this day.