"Why did you turn the Queen down?" Joyce asked, breathless as she caught up to Asher. He was strolling casually through the center of the bustling crowd.
"No reason," he said with a nonchalant shrug. "I just want to go home, see my friends and family, and let them know I'll be ascending. Besides, we have a Gate of Heavens in Eldoria."
Joyce looked down, her expression thoughtful. "I suppose so. But the people here gathered specifically to receive the blessings of your ascension."
Asher knit his brows in confusion. "The what now? What's that supposed to mean?"
Joyce stopped in her tracks, staring at him in pure disbelief. "What? You're telling me you don't know?"
"Uh... enlighten me?"
"It's believed that when the Gate to the Heavens opens, it pours divine energy into the surrounding lands," she explained. "That energy brings fortune, prosperity, and healing. Some say it can even cure the terminally ill."
