When I lost consciousness, my body lay helpless in the middle of an open field, beneath a heavy twilight sky that bathed the world in golden-orange light, slowly fading. Then, from beyond that dim glow, a girl appeared—she looked about my age. Her face was calm, her steps light, and without saying much, she reached for my weak arm and helped me stand.
She supported me gently, guiding me down a quiet path lit only by the soft glow of dusk. But the farther we walked, the more her steps began to falter, and her breath grew short. She turned to me, her brow damp with sweat, and asked in a nearly lost voice,
"Where do you live?"
I raised a trembling hand, pointing vaguely toward the dense trees. The girl nodded faintly and kept leading me that way, though her steps grew heavier.
At last, we reached the base of the treehouse where I lived. She looked up—at the wooden stairs spiraling upward—then glanced at me, hesitant.
"I can't carry you up there," she said quietly, and gently laid me down at the base of the great tree, on a flat patch of root.
She crouched, bringing her face close to mine. "Is there a bandage kit in the storage box up there?"
I only nodded slowly, my vision blurring between dizziness and cold.
Without another word, she rose and climbed up to the treehouse with nimble ease. Her footsteps echoed softly between the wood and leaves. Soon, she returned, holding a small wooden box in her hand.
She sat beside me and opened the box with practiced hands. Her fingers began wrapping my wounds with clean bandages, calm and steady. Each wrap felt like a soothing touch of magic.
In the quiet, as the pain began to ease and the evening air slowed, I asked in a hoarse whisper, barely audible,
"What's your name…?"
She looked surprised for a moment, then turned to me with a faint smile.
"Violet. My name is Violet. What's yours?"
"Hiro," I answered softly.
She nodded as she finished wrapping the last bandage on my arm. Then, in a gentle voice, she said,
"That's a good name."
Violet looked toward the path we had just taken. Her expression turned more serious, yet still calm.
"It's time to go to that place," she said. "Your wounds can only be healed… by someone there."
Without further explanation, she stood up. The twilight light caught her hair as the wind played with it, and in my hazy consciousness, I felt like I was following someone sent from the heavens to save my life.
Without hesitation, Violet wrapped an arm around my shoulders—warm and certain—as if to make sure I wouldn't get lost, wouldn't stray. She began to walk slowly, guiding me like someone who had long known the way. I could only follow her steady steps, letting my body lean slightly into her small but strong frame.
The journey felt… strange. Not because it was long, but because of how brief and silent everything was. We walked only for minutes, yet everything around us seemed to shift unnoticed. There were no sharp turns, no slopes or climbs. One flicker of twilight in the sky, and the world around us became unfamiliar—like waking from a dream that had felt too real.
"Just a little more…" Violet whispered.
We stopped in front of a colossal tree—so vast its roots sprawled like sleeping dragons, and its branches reached toward the darkening sky. There were no gates, no guards, only silence and a strange warmth in the air.
Violet looked at the tree with a furrowed brow. "This… is just a tree?" she murmured, uncertain.
But I… I saw something different.
Inside the dark trunk of that tree, there was light. A soft radiance glimmering like stardust—nearly invisible, but undeniably real to me. Violet showed no reaction. She couldn't see it.
Slowly, I pulled away from her embrace and stepped forward. My fingers touched the glowing dust that floated peacefully in the air. There was no sound. No wind. Only silence… and a warmth that gradually wrapped around me.
Then suddenly—I was pulled into it.
Everything changed.
What was once dark and silent had now become bright and full of life. I lay on a shimmering ground, then slowly rose, confused. Above me stretched a vaulted ceiling like living crystal, and thousands of tiny fairies flew through the air, leaving trails of light as they soared. They looked at me—surprised, confused, even frightened… as if they couldn't believe a human was standing among them.
Suddenly, a gentle light descended from the sky. From behind the glow, a graceful figure emerged—floating slowly, as if lowered by starlight itself. Her form shimmered like a full moon dancing on the surface of a lake. Their queen.
But unlike what I had imagined, her face wasn't cold or intimidating—it was filled with joy, her soft laughter ringing like tiny bells. Her eyes sparkled as she looked at me, as if she too could hardly believe what she was seeing.
"A human… in our land?" she said, her voice clear and bright, almost like a song. "Not just any human… I can feel it—an ancient power flows within your soul."
I said nothing. My body still ached, though some of my wounds had already been wrapped in soft bandages. Yet as if sensing that, Queen Victoria drew closer and gently knelt beside me. From her glittering robe, she pulled out a small vial of clear, glistening liquid—like the tears of stars.
"This is an elixir," she said softly. "A remedy from the heart of our world."
Without hesitation, she poured a few drops directly onto my wounds. In an instant, the pain and heaviness in my body vanished. The torn skin healed seamlessly, as if it had never been injured. I remained silent, stunned, staring at my own hand that had just fully healed.
But that wasn't the only thing that surprised me.
When her fingers brushed against my arm to make sure the wound was truly gone, Queen Victoria's expression changed. She froze. Her eyes widened slightly… and then filled with tears—not of sorrow, but of something deeper.
"I can feel it…" she whispered, barely audible. "Soul… Peace. Like a sky untouched by clouds. Like a heart that has finally found its home."
She took a slow breath, as if reluctant to release her touch, then looked at me with a sincere smile that held something more than mere admiration.
The Queen then stood, and without hesitation, once again extended her hand. "Come, wielder of elements. You have stepped through the Gate of Stars, and thus we welcome you with honor."
Slowly, I reached out and took her hand.
And at that very moment, thousands of tiny fairies around us cheered and flew around my body. They welcomed me with a breathtaking aerial dance—some perched on my shoulders, touched my hair, even playfully pinched my cheek, making me almost laugh unintentionally. They were so light, so alive, so… peaceful.
I was led by the Queen, walking along paths of crystal and light. On either side of me, floating buildings with unimaginable architecture curved and shimmered, as if they had grown straight from the earth. Bridges made of rainbow light connected tower to tower, and glowing flowers bloomed as we passed.
My eyes widened in awe. "This place…" I whispered softly, "can't be real."
Yet here I was—walking among living stars.
As we approached the heart of their city, my gaze fell upon a grand palace rising in the middle of that forest of light. Its architecture looked as though it had been shaped from the night sky: its walls shimmered like galaxies, and its roof reflected colors I had never seen before. Its beauty stirred my soul.
Queen Victoria turned to me and smiled. "Welcome, Hiro. The universe has been waiting for you."