Pov: Kaelira
The sun hadn't fully risen when I felt it.
Magic.
A ripple—soft and steady—brushed against the edge of my skin. I sat up on the mossy hill, blinking sleep from my eyes. The air felt charged.
Ren stepped through the trees, still wearing his armour.
He held something small and luminous in his hand. A crystal, or a stone—but nothing like the ones in Bloom.
"I got it," he said.
I jumped to my feet, wings fluttering with excitement.
"Is that it? The conduit?"
Ren nodded and offered it to me.
"Tethered crystal. One-time use. Once broken, it creates a temporary bridge—a safe path into a protected celestial zone. We'll only have a few minutes to pass through."
I cradled it in my hands.
It was warm. Alive in a quiet way. Like the hum of Bloom—but older. More... focused.
"D, let's go," I said, shaking with excitement. I was ready to experience everything I'd always dreamed of.
"Kae it would be better that you don't mention what your creator told you. Not till we investigate more."
"But what if they ask?" I wondered, I've never lied before.
"They won't ask you that Kae. They'll ask you what you are, and what you are is Kae. You've never done anything that makes you anything else."
"Okay."
"Wait," D said, walking toward me. "I can't go like this. It'll draw too much attention."
"Here." He passed me a necklace.
I held it gently, the stone pulsing like a heartbeat. It looked like a fallen star had curled up inside it.
His body shimmered, turning into black smoke. The smoke drifted into the necklace, slipping inside like mist into a bottle. It stayed warm in my palm.
"Don't drop me," Damian muttered in my head.
I giggled. "This is why you left last night?" I asked, remembering how he'd disappeared, saying he needed to get something.
"Yup. Don't lend me to anyone either."
I laughed, holding him closer to my chest. "You'll be fine."
"That's what people say right before things go very, very badly."
Ren walked over and lowered his head to look at the necklace. He gripped it lightly, rubbing a finger over the gem.
"Hey! Tell him to stop touching me," Damian said.
I laughed. "D says to stop touching him."
Ren smirked, letting go. "Ready?"
I nodded, letting the necklace slip beneath my neckline.
Ren threw the crystal hard against the ground. It shattered like glass. The air rippled. A vertical seam tore open the space between us and the trees, light spilling from the cracks.
A portal.
"Ready?" Ren asked again.
I took one step closer, folding my wings tightly to my back.
"Yes," I whispered.
Jump, Kae, D said, clearly feeling my excitement.
Listening to him, I leapt through.
The world twisted. Not like spinning. Not like falling.
Like folding.
Reality wrapped around me like silk ribbon being drawn into a knot, and for a moment, I couldn't see or hear anything—only feel.
Warmth. Wind. Music with no source. Light with no shape.
I floated. I remembered the scent of starlilies. Damian's laughter. The feel of Bloom's moonlight on my skin.
And then I landed.
Soft moss caught my feet.
Above us, the sky was a soft purple, with twin suns. Stars were visible even in daylight. The trees had glasslike trunks and shimmering leaves. Flowers pulsed like stars.
The ground was soft, covered in moss that hummed underfoot. Flowers floated where there was no wind. Light moved like it had thoughts of its own.
I blinked.
I couldn't breathe.
Not from fear.
From wonder.
Ren stepped beside me, expression soft. "Welcome to the Celestial Gatelands.
Also known as Aetherion."
"I thought it'd be bigger," Damian quipped from the pendant at my chest.
I pressed a hand to the gem. "You're ruining the moment."
"That's what I do."
We walked. Or rather—I skipped, spun, and twirled.
I nearly walked into a floating stone once. Another time, I tried to sniff a flower and got gently smacked in the face by a petal.
Ren watched it all with the patient expression of someone who had already given up trying to control the situation.
"Kaelira, I can't stress this enough, but please do not lick anything."
"I wasn't going to," I said. Then paused. "Wait. Can you taste colours here?"
I crouched beside a stream—not water, but liquid light—and dipped my fingers into it.
A small fish-like creature—transparent and shaped like a spiral—darted past my hand and let out a single note. A musical chirp.
I gasped and turned to Ren. "Did that fish just sing at me?"
Ren nodded, as if it were completely normal. "They do that when they're happy."
"They're happy fish? That's wonderful."
"You said the same thing about moss once," Damian commented from the pendant.
"That moss was really soft," I replied aloud.
Ren chuckled. "If this is how you react to fish, I can't wait to see your face when we hit the Stardew Fields."
I spun around. "There are fields?"
"Yes. But not today. We need to keep moving—"
Before he could finish, I spotted a set of floating orbs dancing above a hedge. They shimmered like bubbles but didn't pop. I reached toward one, awe blooming in my chest.
"Kaelira," Ren warned.
"I'm not going to lick it, Ren."
The orb pulsed gently and disappeared into the sky.
"This place is like a dream," I whispered.
"It is," he said. "And sometimes, that's the danger."
I tilted my head. "Danger?"
He hesitated, then shook his head. "You'll see. Not everything that glows is safe."
We passed through a tunnel of transparent trees.
When we emerged, a clearing opened before us. Not large—but the view stopped me in my tracks.
Far beyond the mossy slope, a valley stretched out in colours that shouldn't exist. Floating islands drifted above glowing rivers.
Bridges made of light arched through empty air.
Towers of living flame flickered without burning, and crystal platforms hovered, carrying beings I couldn't name.
Above it all, the lilac sky shimmered with constellations that moved—travelling, like they had somewhere to be.
We sat there for a while.
Eventually, I stood. "So what now?"
Ren rose too, brushing moss from his armor. "I need to introduce you to the others."
"Others?" I perked up.
"My allies," he said. "Friends. Not everyone here agrees with the High Order. But they trust me. And if they trust me… they might trust you."
I nodded, though my heart thudded a little louder.
Friends.
The pendant at my chest pulsed once.
I smiled.
The air here sang without melody. Every stone, every leaf, every ripple of sky felt like it had been waiting.
Waiting for me.
"This place," I whispered, "it feels like…"
"Like what?" Ren asked.
"Like I stepped into a fairytale," I said.
And I meant it.