Ven made his way outside towards the training grounds as he looked up at the sky not wanting to miss a second of the meteor shower.
"Wow," he said as he stopped in his tracks for a brief moment to admire as a few more came raining down in the sky.
He quickly took off again for his usual spot by the edge of the training grounds and was happy to see Senna was already there sitting on the ground, though she seemed focused on something in her hands.
"Senna"
Senna looked up from what she was doing with a smile on her face "You're surprisingly late tonight."
"Sorry I fell asleep after my lessons, more tired than I thought I was," he said as he sat next to her on the grass.
That was when he noticed that in her hands, he saw a few gems in various shapes and colors.
"What are those" he asked curiously.
Senna looked back at her hands "As of now I'm calling them Summoning Gems, ever since that boy in the masked attacked and made his threats, I've been working to find a way to not only be able to summon all my familiars at once, but also have a way to put them somewhere safe until I can find a way to let them stay in this world permanently."
"Where did you find the gems" he asked looking at two red and green gems in her hands with fascination.
"Well, they aren't technically real gems, to put it simply I took a few rocks and imbued my magic into them. Since my familiars are tied to me, I was able to construct each gem based on each individual familiar."
She holds up the red gem, which shape looks like a long sharp tooth "This one represents Red."
"That's perfect for him, he's so cool and intimidating and that scar on his right eye makes me even look tougher."
Ven was happy to see even more of her familiars, and while Red was gruff and a bit mistrusting at first, he turned out to be a really nice creature and told Ven he gave better scratches than Senna did.
"I know Red is still sensitive over his eye, but I think he would agree with that sentiment." Senna chuckled put down the gem and proceeded to hold up the green gem that was in the shape of a feather.
Ven couldn't help but blush knowing exactly who that gem represents "That's for Seraph, right."
When Senna first summoned Seraph, Ven didn't expect to see a humanoid bird-like creature, whose feathers really only covered the most important areas of her body. Ven was well aware of the differences between males and females, and he tried to be respectful by keeping his focus more on her face. Luckily Aqua and Terra were there to help with that.
"Exactly, I was hoping the shape would be more of a harp since she likes to play often, but it didn't turn out like I hoped."
While he liked all the familiars, she was able to summon, Seraph was the one that had the most calming presence and when she played her harp it was like his mind was all cleared of his worries.
"So do you got ones made for the others as well" Ven asked impressed with how smart Senna was in creating her magical spells and objects.
"They're all still a work in progress, but hopefully I'll be able to test them out soon."
Ven was going to respond, but suddenly a few more shooting stars appeared and he couldn't help but get distracted by the sight.
They fell into a comfortable silence as they both watched the meteor shower and Ven soon found himself closing his eyes more tired than he thought.
He wasn't sure how long he zoned out, but it couldn't have been too long since Senna didn't wake up if it was getting too late in the night.
"Maybe you should head back inside if you're too tired" Senna offered when she saw him look in her direction.
Ven just shook his head as he sat up and stretched his arms out as he let out a yawn "No way, who knows when we'll get another meteor shower like this."
He went ahead and laid right back down on the grass, but he nearly had a heart attack when Aqua's face came into view hovering over him.
"Woah"
Ven quickly got up on his knees and turned around and saw Aqua kneeling at him. He could barely register Senna chuckling at him.
"Give me a break Aqua," he said as Aqua also joined in chuckling at him as she stood up straight and ruffled his hair.
"Ven, you hopeless sleepyhead. You know you should have at least brought a blanket."
She then turns to Senna "You as well, the nights are getting chillier, and it will be easier to catch a cold."
"I'll remember that for next time."
Soon the three of them sat at the edge of the training grounds that overlooked the ground below.
"Hey Aqua, Senna. Do you guys ever wonder what stars are? Where Light comes from? I know there's a lot of stories that come from them, but what if they were here long before any of those stories."
Aqua looked up back at the sky "Well they say- "
However, she was soon interrupted by Terra's voice.
"That every star up there is another world."
They all turned around and saw Terra standing there with a smile on his face.
He quickly made his way over to them "Yep hard to believe there are so many worlds out there besides our own. The light in their hearts, and it's shining down on us like a million lanterns."
Ven just looked confused "What? I don't get it"
"I never really thought about it like that before," Senna said thinking about what he said.
Terra couldn't help but laugh "In other words, they're just like you, Ven"
"What does that mean?" Ven asked as he got up and stood next to Terra.
"You'll find out someday. I'm sure."
Ven couldn't help but feel a bit frustrated, he didn't know why everyone gave him vague answers instead of just telling him "I wanna know now"
"You're too young to know now"
"Quit treating me like a kid," Ven said letting a bit of that frustration out, just because he was the youngest didn't' mean he should be left out of information either. Senna was only one year older than him, but he didn't treat her like a child.
Suddenly the laughter from both Senna and Aqua broke the tension.
"Hey, what are you two laughing at?" Terra asked sounding amused.
"You two would make the weirdest brothers," Aqua said looking at them fondly.
Senna nodded in agreement "I mean they basically are in every way."
The girls just laughed, leaving the boys quite confused for a moment, before they joined them in their laughter.
Ven at this point wasn't surprised that Terra chose to sit next to Senna, he couldn't help but notice that Terra kind of changed every time Senna was around. It wasn't a bad change, but it was something that Ven couldn't explain really well. Aqua said he would understand one day when he met someone he really liked, but he didn't understand that he already liked all of his friends but he didn't act like Terra.
He wasn't sure how long they sat there for, but Ven was soaking up every minute that he could because after tomorrow he knew things were going to be a bit different once Terra and Aqua became masters.
Aqua suddenly got up from her position "Oh yeah, Terra, you and I have our Mark of Mastery exams tomorrow."
She then proceeded to grab something from her back and proceeded to bring out 4 star-shaped charms, with each one being a different color Blue, Green, Orange, and Red. Each one of made of glass and in the middle of the charm was an emblem.
"Senna and I made good luck charm for all of us."
Aqua threw the orange one at Terra as soon as they stood up, and Ven couldn't help but admire the craftsmanship "Wow"
"Here," she said as she threw the Green one at Ven and the Red one at Senna.
"I get one too," Ven asked excitedly.
At this point, all four of them were standing in a circle as they admired their new charms.
"Of course, one for each of us. Somewhere out there, there's this tree with a star-shaped fruit and the fruit represents an unbreakable connection. So as long as you and your friends carry good luck charms shaped like it, nothing can ever drive you apart. You'll always find your way back to each other."
Ven held tightly to his charm, knowing no matter what happened nothing would ever come between them. Judging by the smiles on Terra and Senna's faces, he knew they felt the same way he did.
"Technically, I think you're supposed to make them with seashells, but Senna and I did the best with what we had."
"Glassmaking was a popular trade back at home, almost everyone in a family had one person who specialized in it. At least I have a skill I can always fall back on." Senna explained, not taking her eyes off her good luck charm.
Ven's mood suddenly dampened, believing that the good luck charms wouldn't work since Aqua and Senna weren't able to use the original materials.
"So, this isn't a real good luck charm?"
Senna walked over to him and ruffled his hair "Don't worry, I put a little magic into them."
"Really what"
They spent another hour just sparring, helping them with last-minute training for the exam tomorrow. Ven knew the two of them would sweep the exam with no problem.
He couldn't help but look up at the sky one last time before he decided to head him.
"Hey we're heading back," Terra said bringing Ven out of his thoughts.
"Yeah me too," he said running up to them and heading back towards the castle, ready for tomorrow.
That would be the last night we ever spent beneath the same stars.
Author's Note
Alright here is part 2, and if the last sentence was any indication, it's about to get real now. I will be publishing an interlude to the next arc, sometime later tonight. I didn't include it in this chapter as I felt it ruined the mood for this one, more so than the way I ended it. So with that what do you think will happen based on the last sentence, or what are your theories so far.
