Falling Star in My Garden

The wind carried an eerie stillness as Aki stood beneath the vast night sky, his heart pounding with the weight of what had just transpired. The gods had taken a step back, allowing him to walk his own path—but why? What did they see in him that made them hesitate?

Hoshikiri stood beside him, her gaze fixed on the sky. The stars shimmered like distant eyes, observing in silence. "Aki," she murmured, her voice softer than before. "Are you ready to keep moving forward?"

He exhaled, steadying himself. "I don't think I have a choice anymore. The gods might not interfere, but I can feel it—something is waiting for me at the end of this path."

Hoshikiri nodded. "Then we must prepare. There are answers hidden within the celestial archives—fragments of history that the gods themselves have tried to bury. If we are to understand why the stars chose you, we must uncover the past."

Aki frowned. "The celestial archives? Where are they?"

A flicker of unease crossed Hoshikiri's face. "Not in the mortal world. Not even in the heavens where the gods reside. The archives exist in the Void Between, a realm beyond time, where even the gods rarely tread."

A cold shiver ran down Aki's spine. "And how do we get there?"

Hoshikiri extended her hand. "We must travel through the Gate of Forgotten Stars. But know this, Aki—once we cross that threshold, there is no turning back. The answers we seek may not be what you want to hear."

Aki hesitated for only a moment before gripping her hand firmly. "I've come this far. I need to know the truth."

A knowing sadness flickered in Hoshikiri's eyes before she closed them, summoning a swirling vortex of silver-blue light. The air around them trembled as the boundary between worlds began to tear open.

"Then let us begin," she whispered.

As they stepped forward, the world around them shattered into ligh

t.

—To be continued—