Abyss Draconis

Chapter 963: You Only Have to Wish For It (I)

In the purple-colored room, where every material seemed to have been chosen simply for the beauty and design, there, sitting cross-legged on the bed, was Aster.

She spread her hands wide, and a soft void of starlight formed, flecked with gentle purple sparks drifting in the darkness.

Her hair swirled quietly around her, but a hint of strain could be seen, with beads of sweat sliding down her face.

“Struggling with an assignment?”

The voice suddenly echoed through the room, and her eyes snapped open.

The concentration was lost, and the void of starlight around her quickly dispersed.

She sighed softly and looked toward the entrance, where Ryuk rested by the door, watching her with a gentle, amused expression.

“I’ll get it eventually. I swear it. I just need more time,” she said, trying to focus back.

“‘Are you close to the deadline?’ he asked, noticing her rush, and she nodded softly

“Actually, yeah. We’ll be called forward to the class to show it to Lord Stella tomorrow.”

“‘The others can already materialize, and I can’t even get the domain to encircle me,” she mused angrily, spreading her fingers to push out the starlight.

“The others are full-blooded Stellis, aided by their natural starlight bloodline, making things so much easier for them.”

“So… maybe don’t be so hard on yourself?” Ryuk said, stepping into the room.

Aster sighed, collapsing onto her back in exhaustion.

“I know, but… Lord Stella isn’t a full-blooded Stellis, too.”

“She’s exactly like me, and can obviously form the domain, perhaps even wide enough to encircle the entire Stellis Clan.”

“She wouldn’t care for that excuse, and even if she does… I don’t want to give her an excuse.” Aster said, continuing, “I want to show her I’m not any lesser, that… I can do it too.”

In that moment, Ryuk saw the conviction in her eyes and also noticed it extinguishing the second they appeared.

He had an inkling why, and it wasn’t because she didn’t want to prove to Lord Stella that she truly could; it was because she was exhausted from holding onto that for so long.

With that realization, a few ideas crossed his mind, and he quietly came to a decision.

“How about…” he called to her, as she raised her head, finding his hands reaching for her.

She unconsciously grabbed at them.

“We do it together,” he completed, and she giggled.

“You’re not even a Stellis, nor do you even have starlight energy flowing through you,” she said, and he smiled.

“It’s not being a Stellis…”

With his right hand holding hers, his other hand reached out, passing silently through the world, and she watched as every place it touched turned to a blank sheet of white.

The walls disappeared, the mirrors, her desks, and soon enough, she found herself floating silently in a void of blank white.

The bed was nowhere to be seen, and gravity seemed to vanish, letting her float upright.

“And this is… a domain?” she mused, looking at the whiteness that surrounded them both.

Ryuk slowly let go of the hold, and she watched as he silently moved back.

But her eyes quickly focused when she noticed purple lines appearing over his hands, radiating motes of starlight, the same energy in her.

“How did you?”

“See, domains are an illusion, Aster,” Ryuk explained as both of his starlight hands slowly came to each other.

“The only thing giving them reality is your own wish, along with a touch of starlight energy to make it come true.”

“The important question is…”

His fingers folded quietly, forming a runic seal,

“Do you really wish to create a domain of starlight?”

“Or… do you simply want to earn a nod of approval from Lord Stella?”

He asked, and her heartbeat rose as the question echoed through her head repeatedly.

She watched him fall silent, eyes closed in concentration, and her jaw dropped as a pillar of starlight erupted from the seal his fingers had formed.

As it rose high into the air, it infiltrated the surroundings, and soon enough, the white void around them was completely replaced by a void of darkness illuminated by dots of starlight.

It was the same stralight domain which she was finding so difficult to create.

“How…” Aster whispered in disbelief, watching as Ryuk opened his eyes, now fully the same purple as hers.

He raised a finger toward her, slowly tracing a silent circle.

A vortex of starlight opened, and from its depths, Aster’s eyes widened as dark-purple butterflies spilled toward her.

She unconsciously stepped back, but couldn’t avoid them, watching them surround her.

Her eyes opened, seeing no harm in them, and quickly she watched as his arms began to move around him.

It appeared like a dance. A dance of creation as from the empty void, grass of starlight sprouted, mountains of purple rising in the distance, and the void began to transform.

The result was a valley formed from starlight, and the breeze blew, sending her hair flying.

It was so real—felt so real—she couldn’t wrap her mind around it.

She turned forward, finding him before her, his hands placed gently beneath her neck, just above her chest.

“All you really need is a wish for it to come true.”

He punched after, and she gasped, finding herself falling into the deep sea.

As she quickly tried to hold her breath and regain her bearing, her eyes widened in awe as a starlight whale swam towards her.

Her hands unconsciously reached forward toward its snout, feeling its warmth, yet in the next moment,

BLOOOP!

It burst, releasing a surge of force that pushed her through the water.

She shut her eyes, but quickly opened them only to find herself now falling through a void of starlight.

She looked up and found him, Ryuk, who remained standing while she fell.

His starlight eyes looked into hers, a comforting smile on his lips.

“Remember, it’s all only an illusion that you just have to wish for.”

“Only an illusion that I have to wish for?” Aster said after him, and quietly, her eyes slowly shut, as she sank into the fall.

Mid-fall, both her arms spread apart

BAAADUUUUMP!