(UNDER HEAVY EDITING!!) Stellar Serenade: Cosmic Connections

Chapter 14: The Lake Of Memories

"Everybody in the tree, one by one, I'll go in first to make sure it's safe." Clarinet smiled, and slowly stepped through the tree's gateway, and disappeared. "Ya'll im outta here this tree be giving me the creeps" Xyn said, running through the portal. Anomedan held Syra's hands, and they walked through together. Now it was just the two of them. "See you on the other side?" Aral chuckled. "Of course" Luminara smiled.  "I've always wanted to say that" Aral laughed, her voice fading away as she did. 

Now it was her turn. Luminara approached the shimmering portal with a mixture of curiosity, relief, and trepidation. The air around the portal hummed with a soft, celestial melody, and the edges of the ethereal gateway seemed to ripple like liquid stardust. The moment she stepped through, the world transformed. 

As Luminara crossed the threshold, the surroundings underwent a seamless transition. The celestial luminescence of the portal embraced her, cocooning her in a gentle glow that whispered of distant galaxies and untold cosmic secrets. 

The transition was accompanied by an astral symphony that enveloped Luminara. Celestial notes, like ethereal chimes, resonated through the portal, creating a harmonious melody that seemed to echo from the farthest reaches of the cosmos.

Emerging on the other side, Luminara found herself in a celestial grove, surrounded by celestial foliage. The leaves overhead sparkled like starlight, casting intricate patterns of starlit shadows on the ground beneath her feet.

Before her, a lake stretched out in cosmic splendor. The liquid mirror reflected the constellations above, creating a celestial canvas that seemed to extend into infinity. The pool whispered tales of celestial journeys and beckoned Luminara to explore its depths. It is a body of water that mirrors the cosmos above. Its surface is like a liquid mirror, reflecting the vast expanse of the night sky in a breathtaking display of celestial splendor.

Upon closer inspection, the waters of the pool seem to cradle miniature galaxies. Each ripple carries the reflection of distant stars, creating a mesmerizing dance of light and shadow that mirrors the cosmic ballet of the universe, the water seemed to look back at her, and she watched as the stars twisted and formed a vision of a male.

His countenance is a celestial masterpiece, adorned with the gentle glow of a thousand stars. His features exude an ageless elegance, marked by celestial eyes that hold the vastness of the cosmos within their depths. The contours of his face carry the serene wisdom accumulated over eons.

His form is draped in flowing celestial robes that seem to billow like the night sky itself. The fabric is a celestial tapestry, adorned with constellations and cosmic patterns that tell the tales of celestial events witnessed throughout the ages.

Majestic celestial wings extend from their back, reminiscent of the wings of a cosmic bird. These wings, adorned with celestial feathers, embody the nocturnal grace of the heavens. When unfurled, they create a celestial spectacle that mirrors the expansiveness of the night sky.

An aura of tranquility envelops him, creating a celestial presence that soothes and comforts those who are fortunate enough to be in his cosmic proximity. The celestial energies that emanate from him carry the essence of serene nights and the peaceful stillness of the celestial expanse.

Father.

"Hey, you good?" Aral said, placing her hands on her shoulder. "Y-yeah I just saw something weird in the water.." Luminara shuddered. "HOLY METEOR!" Xyn shouted, her body leant beside the water. "YALL THIS WATER KNOWS ME- LIKE IT KNOWS, KNOWS, ME" Xyn shouted. "It knows each and every one of us. Welcome to The Lake Of Memories" Clarinet announced. "Yeah Xyn. It's obvious" Horus smirked. "Shut up Horus you didn't know either" Anomedan and Aral argued in unison. "Fine- fine" Horus sighed. 

"You guys are hilarious" Luminara chuckled, sitting down on the grass by the lake. "So, what did you see Lumi?" Aral inquired. "My father" Luminara sighed. "He's dead though?" Horus laughed. Aral strangled Horus, rash coughing  ripped its way out of Horus's throat. "OKAY OKAY! Sorry, sorry- sheesh" Horus screeched. "He isn't- well... I don't know what my father is. He left when found out he had the Moon Spirit's capabilities inherited, when I was 4" Luminara vented. "Oh... That's disappointing, I hope he comes back soon" Syra smiled. Luminara felt slightly calmer, slightly lighter letting that out. "So I'm sure everybody know where Lumi's from, but we barely know about you three" Aral gestured to Xyn, Anomedan, and Syra. Anomedan seemed a bit uncomfortable once Aral asked the question, and it seemed Xyn could tell because she quickly began speaking. 

"I'm a star, pretty much just came from the sea of stars, like all stars do. Until one day a great shaking erupted, and these weird shadow things somehow attacked the us! Some of us fell and landed here, and when I did I landed in Sanctuary, and Clarinet here, offered me a permanent home there in return I build a defense mechanism, and I built the Labyrinth" Xyn told. Nocturnis attacked them. Nocturnis is nearly the cause for everything, isn't he? "No he isnt" Aral answered. "Huh? Who?-" Clarinet muttered. 

"Right, well. Me and Anomedan actually came from another universe, we escaped an apocalypse. See that some angels like to have connections with mortals, and obviously with the problems of one's life span... interferes. So the angels devised an elixir that can immortalize mortals. The day of the testing the elixir source was sabotaged, and this virus broke out making any being with a living soul and speck of life into a mindless brain-eating monster, so once we escaped we found out about sanctuary and well, wanted to visit" Syra explained. "Oh that's terrible.." Luminara empathized. "Yeah... Sometimes I wish we hadn't run away, that maybe there are other survivors, but alas" Anomedan replied. 

Luminara felt a sudden shift in the winds, a change in atmosphere. Horus must've noticed too, as his head perked up and the smirk he always wore on his scales disappeared.

"Something is wrong, something's about to happen" Luminara and Horus said in unison.