Chapter 47: Quelling The Hunger

Abel stood by the window, his eyes fixed on the night sky above. The stars shimmered in the vast expanse, distant and eternal, their cold light flickering in the darkness. Nando's words echoed in his mind, and though he had dismissed them earlier as a simple folk tale, something about the idea of wishing upon a star now seemed oddly comforting. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, silently wishing for clarity, for peace from the strange hunger gnawing at him.

But when he opened his eyes again, something changed.

The world around him seemed to blur, the stone walls of his room fading into the background as his vision tunneled toward the stars above. It was as if the very fabric of reality had shifted, narrowing down to nothing but the shimmering lights in the sky. His heart began to race, not out of fear, but in awe and confusion as his gaze locked onto the stars. He could feel a pull, something deep within him resonating with the celestial bodies, and his body went rigid.

Abel’s eyes began to glow, faint at first but steadily brightening with an ethereal, starry light. He was no longer just staring at the stars—he was absorbing them. The light from the stars seemed to pour into his eyes, filling him with a strange warmth that radiated through his entire body. It was unlike anything he had ever felt before, a pure, untainted energy that pulsed through his veins like liquid starlight.

He couldn’t break free. His mind felt distant, lost in the vastness of the cosmos as if he had become one with the stars themselves. There was no hunger, no pain, no frustration—just an overwhelming sense of connection to something ancient, something far greater than himself.

Time seemed to dissolve. Abel had no idea how long he stood there, eyes glowing, body frozen in place. The world outside his window faded into nothingness, and all that remained was the vast, starry sky above. His body seemed to grow lighter as if the pull of gravity no longer applied to him. He felt weightless, adrift in the cosmos.

The hours passed, unnoticed by Abel. The stars twinkled on, and Abel remained entranced, his mind completely overtaken by the mysterious pull of the sky. He felt as if he was no longer grounded in the Tower, no longer tethered to the earth—he was drifting among the stars, one with their ancient, eternal glow. It was like floating in a warm, endless sea of light, every flicker and pulse of starlight a whispered secret from the cosmos, inviting him to stay longer.

For the first time in what felt like ages, he felt at home. It wasn’t just comfort, though—it was as if this was where he truly belonged. There was an indescribable sensation of being accepted, enveloped by the stars like a lost child returning home. The weight of the world, the gnawing hunger inside him, the questions that had plagued him since the ruins—all of it melted away in the brilliance of the starlight.

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Outside the Tower, Abel could hear distant voices and the usual commotion of daily life. But the sounds were clearer than ever before. He could distinguish individual voices, each footstep, the whisper of the wind—everything was amplified. His hearing had somehow sharpened beyond anything he had known before. Yet even the noises of the waking world felt far away, insignificant compared to the boundless expanse above him. Abel was lost in the stars, and for now, that was all that mattered.

The first rays of dawn began to break over the horizon, their soft golden light pushing the stars into hiding. Abel blinked as the trance broke, his eyes returning to their normal state. The glow that had enveloped him faded with the stars, and the full weight of the world came crashing back down. He stumbled back from the window, disoriented, his body feeling impossibly heavy as gravity reasserted itself. Abel collapsed onto his bed, gasping for breath, his heart pounding in his chest.

What had just happened?

He lay still for a moment, his mind reeling from the experience. Slowly, the realization dawned on him: the hunger was gone. The insatiable void that had gnawed at him for weeks had vanished, replaced by a deep sense of fulfillment. Abel sat up cautiously, his hands trembling as they ran through his hair. He felt lighter, stronger—no longer burdened by the strange, internal hunger that had plagued him since the ruins.

“Could it be?” he whispered to himself. “Was the solution to the hunger... stargazing?”

The thought seemed absurd at first, but as he replayed the events of the night in his mind, it began to make sense. The energy of the stars had filled the void inside him. By staring at the stars, by absorbing their light, he had somehow fed that insatiable hunger. But it wasn’t just hunger that had been sated—there was something more. He felt a new power coursing through him, as if the very essence of the stars themselves now resided within him.

The sunlight streamed into the room, casting long, warm shadows across the stone floor. Abel stared out the window, his mind still spinning with questions. What had he truly absorbed from the stars? What was this new power he felt growing within him? He could still sense the faint glow of the stars in the back of his mind, lingering there like a memory he couldn’t quite shake. Whatever had happened to him, this was just the beginning.

Despite the confusion, he felt energized, more alive than he had in weeks. His body felt ready to move, to act, as though it had been revitalized. But his thoughts were still buzzing, and as much as he wanted to keep exploring this newfound power, he knew he needed rest. He lay back down on his bed, pulling the blanket over him. The stars still lingered in his mind, their light casting faint, ethereal patterns in the darkness behind his eyelids.

He knew, deep down, that this was a turning point. The stars had shown him something—given him a gift. But what that gift truly was, and where it would lead him, was still unknown. For now, though, he would let the mystery wait. Abel closed his eyes, finally letting himself drift into a dreamless sleep, feeling whole for the first time since his return.