from another world [ Xiao x Lumine ]

Chapter 4 - Arriving at Celestia

A drop of water from the rain which appeared a day before had splashed on her right cheek, making the girl flinch a bit before opening her heavy eyelids. Lumine was met with the warm rays of sunlight breaking through the few gaps of the leaves that hung on the tree she currently leaned against. A few sections of her body were covered in shadows, meanwhile other parts were illuminated with light. She heard the cicadas chants in the background as the wind brushed her ears. It was very peaceful.

She sensed something firm on her belly, finding her book she had read before succumbing herself to sleep. "Seems like I fell asleep..", Lumine murmured to herself, then sat up to flatten the wrinkles on her dress. While doing so, she detected a hand next to her, eyeing her brother who had also fallen asleep. She giggled when spotting him, thus remembering the reason for meeting up at their comfort place. The girl shook her sibling by his shoulder, his eyes slowly opening from the impact. Aether yawned, reaching for the sky with his hands to stretch. A brief "Good evening" made him look to the side, eyeing his sister next to him. "I have that feeling that we were supposed to do something here.", he started, looking with such sleepiness that wouldn't vanish as long as the scenery was still present.

Lumine sighed, putting her hand onto her face. "We were discussing our plans. You know, during all of these months of gathering information, I found out that the gaps are like a gateway to the celestial atlas. I only read about it, but.. it seems to exist...", she tried to explain, but the girl got lost in her words mid sentence, unable to sort her thoughts. She tried to change her words to a bit simpler sounding for her brother to comprehend. Lumine then cleared her throat and continued "If we can manage to pass through the gaps to the celestial atlas, we will get options for multiple worlds. In other words, the celestial atlas is like the center, which is connected to every single world - it is heaven itself."

"So you mean that it is a connection of the other world and ours?"

"Yes, except that the gaps only make it possible to enter one certain area at the celestial atlas. So we're probably restricted to enter other worlds which don't exist in the same universe we live in."
Aether nodded, therefore showing his sister that he had understood what they were going to do now. He stood up, offering his help to Lumine when he reached out his hand towards her. She accepted it, pulling herself up until she was on her own two feet. "So, the last remaining problem is-"

"What are you two doing here?"

"Father!", the twins said in unison, walking up to where their father was watching them. "Let's go, it's time for dinner.", he proclaimed, then went back indoors again. The two followed behind, inside there waited a delicious meal for their empty bellies. Lumine couldn't finish her sentence, unable to continue when her father had interrupted her. However, when eating dinner, it was impossible for her to bring up her last point. Both siblings also starved for food at that time and decided to keep their conversation for another day. Another reason was to avoid any concern. Even though their father was used to the absence of his children, he felt a bit lonely sometimes once they were out adventuring. He sure didn't want to stop them from getting what they wanted, but at least having their presence near him was enough to satisfy him. And when they were gone, he wouldn't stop worrying about their safety. The twins knew well about that, so revealing their plan to their father was a no-go.
They didn't want to let him carry any more burden on his shoulders.
One loss was already enough.

Instead of revealing their true intentions, they had asked their father's permission to go on an adventure for a longer term. Of course, as a parent he hesitated first. Nonetheless, the faith in his kids was stronger than his concern. It took him quite a few thoughts on making his decision but he wanted them to experience life before reaching the end of their days.
The man knew well enough that he won't be able to watch over them forever as his days were slowly reaching its end. Letting his children know how to live independently was the least thing he could do as a father.