Where the Stars Are

First Encounter

"Lumine..."

A whisper was heard through her ears. Each one was a blur, undistinguishable in fact, as her eyelids gradually opened.

"Lumine..."

It was unknown to her of who she had seen as his hand was placed onto her shoulder, shaking her body to fully awake itself. His voice had called out to her, pleading in such agony; a voice from a stranger to be exact.

How familiar, she thought to herself.

"Please..." his soft cries uttered once more.

"How strange..." her lips parted out those words to him. How could a stranger call out to someone like her, nobody. She did not know him, yet his desperate lament continued on and on. With golden eyes summoning water to roll down his cheek, to his shrivelled unkempt emerald hair, the expression he displayed was futile to her current state.

"Please..." another plea was called out to her. The unknown man's hand travelled down, wrapping behind her waist to lift her body off the ground with the other supporting her head. "Stay longer I beg of you..."

How strange...

There was no doubt that this became a person whom she was to be familiar with despite being a stranger. For a man as dull as him, his eyes displayed every desperation in his words that were called out to her. However, she did nothing,

With the little remaining strength left in her body, her hand had finally lifted. It had travelled higher only to caress his cheek with the back of her hand in a meticulous manner.

"Lumine..." a whisper escaped his lips. "Come back to me."

It was not a lament anymore.

"Lumine!"

Lumine's eyes had finally flown open instinctively as her name was called out. Sitting up from her bed, a groan was let out alongside her forehead resting on her palms.

"I told you to stop waking me up like that!" Lumine whined, rubbing her eyes as the morning light greeted her face.

"Who cares," her brother shook his head as he approached her, pulling the sheets away without a care from her protest. "We have to go now since you decided to sleep past your alarm clock again."

"I do not even have work today. Besides, the day should be next week to host the event."

"That day may as well be today since you still have not finished your painting yet, " Aether scoffed, baffled by her lack of awareness in her own schedule. "You need to stop yourself from procrastinating again.

"I know I know," she shooed him away out of her room, but was not obeyed by her own brother.

Aether had only stood there, his gaze unreadable towards Lumine at that moment. From there, his mind had come to think about which words were correct to say.

"Another dream?" he finally spoke out.

"Of course."

"Was it a good one at least?" a small chuckle was let out by Aether as he placed the sheets back to her bed.

"I cannot say..."

"Well then," he said. "What happened in that dream of yours?"

"Not much actually, it was hard to tell. That is what most dreams are after all."

There was nothing more shortly after from Aether. From there he stood indifferently, as if he was attempting to read his sister's thoughts itself.

Aether sighed.