Chapter 50 — Where the Sky Breathes
Several hours earlier.
The Veil Storm had just ended.
Blue opened his eyes.
For several seconds, he didn't move.
He was lying on something soft.
Not grass.
Not dirt.
Something between the two.
When he finally pushed himself upright, he found himself sitting in a field of flowers that stretched farther than he could see.
Blue stared.
"…What?"
The last thing he remembered was holding onto Rito as the storm tore through the Veil.
He remembered the impossible wind.
The strange rain.
The sky folding in on itself.
Then nothing.
Blue immediately turned.
"Rito!"
"I'm here."
Her voice came from behind him.
Blue spun around.
Rito was sitting several feet away, brushing strange glowing petals from her clothes.
Blue released a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding.
"You're okay."
Rito smiled.
"So are you."
Blue stood and offered her his hand.
She looked at it for a moment before taking it.
When she stood, neither of them immediately let go.
For a moment, they simply looked at each other.
Then Blue cleared his throat.
"We need to find everyone."
Rito nodded.
"Yeah."
They both looked across the enormous field.
There was no sign of the others.
No one they had came with.
Blue's expression became serious.
"We need to find them."
"I know."
Rito looked toward the distant horizon.
"But…"
Blue followed her gaze.
The Veil was beautiful.
Not just beautiful in the way a forest or mountain could be beautiful.
It was something else entirely.
The sky above them was painted in colors neither of them had ever seen together. Massive floating islands drifted lazily through the clouds, their waterfalls falling upward instead of down.
Strange creatures flew between them.
Some resembled enormous birds with translucent wings.
Others looked like tiny dragons made entirely of light.
None attacked.
None even seemed interested in them.
One creature landed beside Rito.
It was about the size of a rabbit, with four delicate legs and long ears covered in glowing patterns.
Rito crouched.
The creature sniffed her hand.
Blue smiled.
"I think it likes you."
"It probably thinks you're strange."
Blue laughed.
"Why me?"
The little creature immediately hopped toward him.
Then stopped, Its ears lowered, then it backed away.
Blue blinked.
"…Okay."
Rito covered her mouth, trying not to laugh.
"Maybe it agrees with you."
Blue gave her an offended look.
"Seriously?"
She laughed.
And for the first time since entering the Veil, neither of them thought about the danger waiting somewhere beyond the horizon.
They walked.
They crossed forests where the trees shimmered like glass.
They passed enormous ponds filled with creatures that looked like living stars.
They saw herds of strange animals moving peacefully through fields of blue grass.
At one point, an enormous creature with six wings descended from the clouds and landed in a valley below them.
Blue instinctively reached for his weapon.
Rito grabbed his arm.
"Wait."
The creature lowered its enormous head.
It wasn't attacking.
It simply drank from the river before spreading its wings and disappearing into the clouds.
Blue watched it go.
"…This place is nothing like I expected."
Rito smiled.
"Neither did I."
They continued walking.
Eventually, Blue noticed something.
The farther they went, the stranger the Veil became around him.
Flowers that had been blooming suddenly closed as he approached.
Small creatures would happily move toward Rito, only to stop when Blue came near.
Even the trees seemed to lean away from him.
Blue noticed.
Rito noticed too.
"Maybe it doesn't like me."
She looked at him.
"Maybe."
Blue smiled.
"At least it hasn't tried to kill me."
Rito's expression became thoughtful.
"Yet."
They laughed.
But neither of them noticed the subtle way the wind changed around Rito.
They didn't notice how the grass beneath her feet briefly glowed.
And they certainly didn't notice the enormous shadow passing silently across the clouds above them.
Rito stopped.
"Blue."
He turned.
"What?"
She was staring upward.
Blue followed her gaze.
The clouds parted.
Something descended from the heavens.
It was enormous.
A creature unlike anything either of them had ever seen.
Its body seemed woven from the sky itself. Vast wings stretched across the clouds, translucent and shimmering with countless colors. Wind spiraled around its body without disturbing the world beneath it.
Blue couldn't move.
Rito couldn't breathe.
The creature slowly descended.
The entire Veil seemed to become silent.
Nothing pure silence.
The creature looked down.
Its eyes found Rito.
Rito's eyes widened.
Something inside her moved.
Not physically.
Something deeper.
A sensation buried beneath her memories.
Something ancient.
Something that felt like it had been waiting for her.
The creature stared directly into her eyes.
Rito's heart suddenly began beating faster.
She placed a hand against her chest.
"What's happening?"
Blue looked at her.
"Rito?"
She didn't answer.
For a single moment, something inside her awakened.
Not enough for her to understand.
Not enough for Blue to see.
But enough for the creature above them to recognize her.
Its enormous eyes softened.
Then the wind moved.
The creature rose.
Higher.
Higher.
Until its body disappeared into the clouds.
Blue stared after it.
"What… was that?"
Rito slowly lowered her hand.
"I don't know."
Neither of them knew its name.
Neither of them understood what had just happened.
They didn't know that they had just stood before one of the Six Ancient Beasts of the Veil.
They didn't know why it had looked at Rito.
And they certainly didn't know why the Veil itself had seemed to become peaceful around her.
All they knew was that they were alone.
Lost in a world neither understood.
And somehow…
Blue didn't hate being lost anymore.
He looked at Rito.
Rito looked back.
"We should keep looking for them," she said.
"Yeah."
Blue smiled.
"But…"
He offered his hand again.
Rito looked at it.
Then she smiled and took it.
"…I don't mind getting a little lost first."
Together, they continued walking beneath the impossible sky.
Neither of them noticed that, far above them, something ancient was still watching.