Flowers apart

4

Just as the light enveloped her and her brother, the sight of Whispering Woods faded away from her sight. Lumine's grip on her brother's hand tightened in nervousness and anticipation - has it really been that long since she has travelled like this?

500 years, Lumine chuckled inside her own head. That's really long indeed. Even though she spent most of her time asleep. Aether probably had it harder than she had.

The light finally slowly faded, and the world slowly bled back into her view. Both Lumine and Aether seemed to be standing in the middle of tall skyscrapers and buildings, reaching up to the sky as if there was no limit to it. People rushed around them, like fluids in a river, rushing to wherever they were heading towards. Some of them gave the siblings dirty looks for blocking the way by standing in the middle of the street. Cars on the road also brushed past them, and all in all this was a city scene, unlike quiet, old Tevyat.

It's not like Lumine and Aether hadn't been in futurstic worlds before. They have actually, more than they had with modern and more traditional worlds, like Tevyat. But because they had been in Tevyat for so long, this change of scenery was a little hard to adapt to.

"Come on, let's get out of here. We're blocking other people's way," Aether tugged on her hand, and Lumine just followed him out of the streets and right onto a less noisy one.

Not knowing where to go, they just walked down the street, finding anything that could be of interest to them.

Suddenly, they heard a - no, many - screams down the corner. "Star! Star!"

"Come back here please!"

"Can you please tell us what happened with you and your girlfriend?"

"Chase after him, quick!"

Lumine and Aether exchange looks, amused. Is this some celebrity drama they are seeing?

Before they could get a move on, a boy rounded the corner, thick sunglasses over his face, a hood thrown over his head, and he was panting like he had run a hundred miles. He saw Lumine and Aether gawking, and they could see in his expression was one that said "Help!".

Lumine knew instantly that that was the "Star" that was being chased down, and couldn't help but pity him. She quickly beckoned him over, looking at her brother for approval and some ideas on how to help "Star" get out of the sticky situation.

Aether grabbed the boy, who was no younger than the both of them, by the arm, and they escaped into a small alleyway and waited.

A few seconds later, they saw an impossible large crowd of reporters coming around the corner, and luckily no one spotted the three who were hiding inside the small squeezy alleyway. Soon, they were all gone, having ran the other way.

"Are you ok?" Aether asked the boy as he tried to regain his breath.

"I'm...fine..." He panted. "Damm, this hood is sure hot."

His voice...it sounds suspiciously familiar.

The boy reached up and pulled the hood back, and quickly removed his glasses and smiled at them. "Thanks for helping me out of there! I really couldn't outrun them any further. I thought I was going to die back there!"

And he...looks familiar.

But no, he didn't look like anyone they both knew. He was short, but looked about their age. His hair was black, tied up in a long braid, and it swayed as he spoke animatically. His eyes were also round and black, shining in the little sunlight that was able to filter into the alleyway.

Suddenly, the boy bent over, fits of coughing coming from him. He desperately put a hand over his mouth.

"Hey, are you ok?" Aether asked, out of pure concern.