Ira’s children lay sleeping, waiting for him to return. Well, at least two of them were.

Valeryn slowly sat up and climbed down from the bed without disturbing his siblings. Zephyr and Raveria stirred, sensing the change but neither of them woke up.

Seeing that, Valeryn quietly slipped out of the room and as soon as he did, Zephyr’s eyes opened.

“Valeryn?” Zephyr called out in a whisper. He rubbed his eyes before following after his brother.

It seemed that Raveria was the only to remain asleep. Usually, she would’ve been awake but it was likely that she had overexerted herself at some point and was filled with fatigue.

Zephyr crept down the low-lit halls of the Fortress following Valeryn who had long since noticed him.

“Come on.” Valeryn turned on his heels and urged Zephyr to hurry up to which his brother eagerly complied.

“Um...Valeryn?” Zephyr spoke in a low voice while keeping alert. Even though Ira had made sure that the fortress was impenetrable, the Valkyries still patrolled regularly.

“Hm?” Valeryn hummed. It seemed that he already knew his destination as his steps were certain.

“Where are you going?” Zephyr asked.

“Outside. I want to see the sky.”

“But…Shouldn’t we at least tell Ravi?” Zephyr questioned.

“She wouldn’t let me go out if I told her. Ravi doesn't like us going off on our own anyway.” Valeryn answered clearly before stopping in front of a set of double doors. “In here.”

As the door opened, the small storeroom was exposed in its entirety. Zephyr sensed something strange with the temperature of the air.

“It’s colder in here.” Zephyr voiced his thoughts.

“Yes, it is.” Valeryn agreed as he shut the door. Then, he brought out his sword and slashed downward, cutting empty air.

Zephyr watched curiously but his eyes slowly widened as he watched the air split. The scenery of an entirely different place could be seen through a breach that was floating in the air.

“Ryn!” Zephyr’s jaw dropped but it was quickly covered by his brother’s hand.

“Shhh.” Valeryn waited for Zephyr to calm down before uncovering his mouth.

“It’s amazing Ryn.” Zephyr was still full of excitement as he looked at the opening in space that led to an area just outside the Underground City.

“No, it took me a few days to get it just right. It isn’t like what Father can do.” Valeryn evaluated himself with disappoint.

Compared to Ira who could move in an instant, or the teleportation arrays which took a few minutes at most, what was the efficiency of an ability that took days to complete? Still, Valeryn seemed to forget he was still incredibly young. It was wrong for him to think that he would be able to replicate Ira so easily.

“Can we go through it?” Zephyr wanted to know.

“We should be fine, but we have to hurry before Raveria notices.” After saying that, Valeryn jumped into the portal and Zephyr followed right after him.

A cold wind blew through the night but neither of them seemed to be affected. They were busy staring at the starry sky above their heads.

“Wow!” Zephyr laughed excitedly. It wasn’t as if he had never seen the sky but he still found himself surprised by how it looked. “Do you think we’ll see the Red Moon?”

“...Not tonight.” Valeryn replied as he plopped down onto the sand.

“That’s too bad.” Zephyr sprawled out on the ground and continued observing the stars.

After a short while, Valeryn began to talk to his brother.

“Zephyr.”

“Yes?”

“...Why don’t you ever try to grow your abilities more?”

“What do you mean?” Zephyr replied.

“Don’t you want to be stronger? Like Father I mean. I want him to know that I can protect myself. Raveria and mother too. But you don't feel the same way.”

“Well...I don’t know, Ryn.” Zephyr answered honestly. “My mother told me that she and Dad would protect me so…”

“And you’re ok with that, Zephyr?” Valeryn showed a troubled expression.

It may have been because Zephyr was half-human or maybe that Rhys didn’t place a large amount of focus on battle, but he didn't have a clear propensity for killing others.

“But I do want to surprise Father and my Mother too. You and Raveria always do cool things and I haven’t done anything like that.” Zephyr stretched his hands upward toward the sky and then he pulled his hand to his chest as if he was snatching away the stars.

“That’s why you should try to grow more and then you–” Valeryn couldn’t finish speaking as he noticed a bright star that seemed to gradually increase in size. No, it wasn’t getting bigger but it was moving toward them. Its speed increased exponentially as the object plummeted toward them with a fiery trail that lit up the night behind it.

Without saying a word, Valeryn grabbed his brother and dove out of the way before it crashed into the ground with a loud impact while kicking up a cloud of sand.

“Are you okay, Zephyr?” Valeryn asked while coughing heavily.

“Yeah,” Zephyr replied.

The two of them climbed to their feet and waited for the dust to settle. And slowly a smoldering rock, with bits of metal sticking out of its surface, was revealed to them.

“Zeph...Did you do that?” It was Valeryn’s turned to be surprised. In his eyes, it looked like Valeryn pulled a star out of the sky.

“Not on purpose, I swear!” Zephyr panicked. He made a simple gesture while his daydreaming and it turned into something dangerous.

"It was amazing." Valeryn's eyes shined.

He summoned his saber and poked the meteorite a few times.

“...But we should really go back,” Valeryn said as he put his sword away.

Zephyr nodded and the two hurried into tear that Valeryn opened up. As they traveled through it, Valeryn performed another slash and the portal dissipated, making it seem as if it was never there.

“You aren’t going to keep it around?” Zephyr questioned.

With the whole continent targeting the Dark Elf Empire, it would be while before they could leave the Underground City.

“No, we could get in trouble if someone found it.” Valeryn didn’t seem to be attached to the idea which was good news as a secret two-way entrance into the Underground City would be an extremely bad idea.

Valeryn opened the door and waiting right outside of it was Harper. They met eyes and both wore surprised expression. Harper was surprised because she had picked up their scents and decided to follow but she was unaware of where they went. The room appeared empty at first so she was surprised when Valeryn suddenly appeared. Her senses hadn’t dulled so it was strange to see something get past them.

“Hey, what’re you doing here, Ryn?” Harper’s ghostly blue eyes scanned Valeryn and then she spotted Zephyr behind him. “And Zephyr?”

“Aunt Harper–” Zephyr started.

“We were looking for the bathroom,” Valeryn said, interrupting his brother.

“Is that right?” Harper appeared to buy into it. She raised her hand and patted Valeryn on the shoulder with a smile. “You would think that after being born here you would remember where the bathroom was.”

“We were a little tired.” Valeryn’s face didn’t change at all as he lied.

“Oh?” Harper removed her hand and rubbed her fingers together, letting little grains of sand fall to the floor. “I wonder how you ended up getting so dirty then?”

“We were only gone for a second, Aunt Harper. Please don’t tell Dad.” Zephyr pleaded with a pitiful expression.

Harper showed some consideration. It seemed like they left the Fortress somehow but she couldn’t figure out the exact method and she doubted that Valeryn would be the one to tell her.

“I’ll let it go but if Avery or Ira find out don’t expect me to help you out.” Harper ruffled Valeryn’s neatly divided hair much to his dismay.

“You two should get back quickly.” Harper sent the two of them off, keeping their brief adventure secret for a little while longer.