And then, as she watched, the star responded.
It pulsed brighter, suddenly and unmistakably, in a rhythm that felt, impossibly, connected to something happening far away, something Liora could not see but could somehow feel resonating through the light before her. She did not know, in that moment, that Aether stood at that exact instant within the hidden chamber, watching an empty seat glow with the same impossible light. But she felt the connection regardless, a certainty settling into her that whatever this still-forming star represented, it was tied directly to him, however separated by distance and world they currently were.
The Forgotten Reader gathered them all together not long after, calling Aether, Liora, Kael, Lyra, and Elara into a quiet space within the Hall of Unfinished Stories, his expression carrying the weight of something he had clearly been holding back for a very long time.
