Starlight Dream

Chapter 57

A heavy frown creased Kiyojiro's lips as he watched the mysterious magical girl leave them. For whatever reason, the girl bothered him. A dark miasma seemed to cloak her, suffocating everything around her.

Botan seemed just as disturbed, suppressing a shudder. "Do we think we can trust her?"

"Trust her to at least fight against Kaguya, at least." But he trusted her little further than that. What timing. His charge didn't need another enemy at this point.

And here I am, doing nothing, as usual. It'd been ridiculous when the Prime Minister had charged him as Seina's bodyguard, a girl who could flick him to death. But he'd taken the assignment seriously like no other. Seina didn't know it, but that girl had saved his life. He owed her a debt he could never repay. Kiyojiro would do everything to help Seina along in her life's journey.

Kiyojiro slumped down to the stone floor, releasing a deep sigh. It was moments like this when he really hated his job. The waiting to see if Seina would return alive was excruciating.

"Hey, I'm sure they'll be back. Your Seina's pretty tough. Not surprising, considering she's my brother's partner." Botan said, trying her best to reassure him. Colten's death had changed her. Despite their venomous arguments, she really loved her silly little brother.

"Yeah." Kiyojiro gave a slight smile. Still, he stewed in his uselessness. I'd do anything to help her, pay any cost!

"Huh?" Botan stared in confusion as Kiyojiro suddenly stood up and walked away. "Where are you going?"

But Kiyojiro ignored her, walking through a chamber into another cave. Despite Starlight Dream's devastation, a significant portion of the planet had survived. These tunnels seemed to continue on forever. Botan flitted around him nervously as he continued to go towards some destination only he seemed to know.

"This core of Starlight Dream, what is it?" Kiyojiro suddenly asked. "Like, where did it come from?"

"What?" Botan blinked, flummoxed by the sudden question. "Beats me. It's always been here."

"But there must be legends," Kiyojiro said, taking a sudden right turn. They arrived at a dead end, an empty stone chamber.

"Well, some say that Starlight Dream's core is the remnant of the first fairy queen's heart. She died in an ancient battle with her great enemy, the Xosa."

"The great enemy scampered away, mortally wounded, and was never seen again. The fairy queen died, but, in her dying words, she commanded her children to use her dying body to construct the cosmos with her very heart being the center of this new creation."

"Fascinating."

"It's all rubbish if you ask me," Botan replied with a snort. "Like, if the fairies existed before creation, where did they come from? And command her subjects to create the planets and stars from her flesh? If she's dying, why should she care what happens afterward?"

"So, does this mean Starlight Dream's heart has its own consciousness?" Kiyojiro said, searching along the wall with his fingers.

"Who knows? Probably not. If it does, it's never spoken to me." Botan gasped as her human companion found some hidden latch on the wall, opening a secret door.

"Even since I've come to these caves, I've sensed some force. It's guided me, leading me to this very spot."

"Really?" Botan said, eyeing the bright chamber ahead of them nervously. "Is that really such a good idea?"

"I don't know." Kiyojiro entered the door without hesitation. Whatever was happening, he'd see it to the end.

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