People from all over the Lower City were streaming out of their homes and out onto the cobbled stone, filling the already crowded streets. Excitement mixed with curiosity mixed with awe as the people of the city gazed up at the myriad twinkling lights in wonder.

What was going on?

Why had the night sky suddenly been filled with stars?

Was this magic?

Such thoughts were passing through the minds of the curious people, and much to the surprise, or disappointment, of some of the foreign merchants, there didn’t seem to be any sense of fear or trepidation within the growing crowd. They simply milled about the streets, excitedly gossiping about the sudden phenomenon with their loved ones and neighbors.

This attitude came as no surprise to the more local and residential merchants, however; in fact, in their eyes, feelings of fear hardly seemed logical given the nature of the phenomenon. They were just stars, after all. Although no one currently alive in the Lower City had ever seen stars in the sky, that didn’t mean that they didn’t know what they were.

They weren’t uneducated bumpkins.

Why should anyone be afraid of something that was over a hundred trillion kilometers away?

The only thing that the people had found curious, the thing that everyone had found curious for centuries, was the fact that, one night, the stars had simply vanished and no one knew how.

According to history, the disappearance occurred during a period of chaos that threatened to overturn the stability of the four regions. Due to this, the phenomenon, classified by experts as a visual aberration, was pushed to the side in light of more pressing concerns.

Eventually, when the situation was once again brought up, with no adverse effects ever being reported, those in power simply passed the responsibility for studying the event onto the academic community and left it at that.

Plenty of theories had been thrown around, but no concrete explanations for the vanishing stars had ever been given to this day. Tales of the stars had become bedtime stories for children and their existence the occasional topic of debate among certain academic circles.

That is, until now.

With the volume of the crowd beginning to reach its peak, music began to waft out from the many restaurants and taverns lining the main street; the thoroughfare connecting the growing Lower City with the established Upper City. As the music stimulated the crowd, food and drink began to be brought out and the bustling people began to be drawn towards the waiting businesses. Before long, the busy night streets had been transformed into an impromptu festival of celebration.

Many of the restaurants began playing live music and offering refreshments to the customers waiting their turn out front, several of the merchants offered special “once-in-a-lifetime” discounts on their wares, and children ran around in delight, happily taking advantage of any excuse to be out of bed.

The liveliness spread out from the main street, until, eventually, the festivities could be found throughout the entirety of the Lower City. Bad luck to anyone that had managed to continue sleeping, despite the commotion, as they quickly found themselves besieged and dragged out of bed to join the celebration with friends and family.

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The stars were back!

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Further in, past the Upper City, a large building sat nestled in the heart of the city. Several stories high, it stood out from the rest of the buildings around it, not purely because of its size, which was substantial, but also because of the materials used in its construction. While the rest of the city seemed to have been constructed completely of stone and brick, this single building was unique in that it was composed entirely of glass and steel. A giant amongst children, this glass spire towered over the entirety of the surrounding city like a monolith, providing those inside with a clear view of every facet of the city encompassing it.

Unknown to the crowds celebrating in the streets of the Lower City, the two meeting at the top of this building were experiencing a very different, much more informed, reaction to the return of the stars above them.

Against a starry backdrop, the silhouette of a woman could be seen staring pensively into the night, out beyond the city walls and into the distant horizon towards the south. Seated behind her, at the far end of an elegantly carved table, the outline of a well-dressed man could be made out in the candlelit space; his features obscured by shadows. No words were spoken by the man as he sat patiently, observing the sword placed on the table before him.

The silence was golden, as speaking at this moment would only distract the woman currently gazing out of the window, and the man absolutely wanted to avoid distracting her.

He shuddered at the thought of how overbearing she became if she felt like he wasn’t treating her with the appropriate amount of respect. So, reclining back in his chair and folding his arms, the man stared at his sword in reflective silence; waiting.

Eventually, the woman turned to face the man and spoke. She didn’t speak for long, but the content of what she said brought a frown to the man’s face. He pondered for a moment on her orders, wondering if this was truly the best course of action given the importance of the plans that were finally able to resume after such a long respite. In the end however, the man only nodded his head in response, placing his hand on his sword as he stood up.

Pausing for a moment, he listened to the faint sounds of music and laughter being generated as the people of the city heralded the return of the heavenly host above.

‘If only they knew,’ he thought grimly.

With practiced movement, he smoothly returned the sword to his side, leaving a hand resting on the pommel in readiness. Turning away, the man directed a subtle look of concern towards the woman by the window before opening the door and quietly leaving the room.

Left alone, the woman’s countenance shifted noticeably as she took in the ongoing festivities below. Her fists clenched to her side in agitation as long buried feelings bubbled up from within the confines of her heart. Anguish surged forth and seemed set to overwhelm her. With practiced resolve, she reigned in her rebellious heart, and, in doing so, her demeanor returned to that of a person in deep reflection. All of this occurred within a moment, and thus her hands relaxed almost immediately.

Her internal struggle remaining out of sight from prying eyes.

A flash of light erupted outwards from the upper windows of the towering monolith. The brief flash rushed quickly towards the west, the resulting scene reminiscent of a mighty lighthouse as the beam lit up the city and it’s bay like a beacon. Not long after, the beam of light finished fading and the well-dressed man stepped out from the shadow of the tower, onto the streets of the city center.

One hand was still resting lightly on the hilt of his sword while the other reached into a pocket and brought out a small block of metal. Sitting in his palm, the block began to stir, its corners sinking in and its edges opening up to reveal the projection of a face.

Staring at the steady orange projection in his hand, the man grinned faintly before closing the block and storing it back in the pocket of his beautifully tailored peacoat.

“I wonder what you’ll think of what we’ve become,” the man chuckled lightly at the memory of the person in the projection, “I’m sure the look on your face will be priceless.”

Humming along softly to the music drifting in from the festivities, the man began making his way towards the nearby city gate.

‘This music complements the mood quite nicely’, he thought to himself, passing beneath the gated entrance of the Upper City with a leisurely nod to the guards, and strolled away into the night.