The mineral-rich water was still and unbroken, pearly from the gem rock beneath. It seemed that the ruined machinery she found buried deep inside the cave shared strangely to the mysterious civilization hidden in the sky.
All of it shared similarities, from the solid black steel to the luminescent white lines painted over.
Although her memory was still blurry from the decade of world-traveling, Aletha could still recollect the peculiar ruins within each world she had been in. And yet, despite this familiarity, she never knew what this meant, so she ignored it.
. . .
Aletha heard nothing but the faint ebb and flow of her breath. The darkness was propelled by the glowing white rocks flying down, unveiling the bright rays of the pensive sunlight.
But after that, only silence met her.
This irrefutable quietness urged Aletha to ponder.
(What was it that made me trigger that weapon? There must be some way I started that thing. It couldn't be because of my power, since I lost that a long time ago, and most certainly, it couldn't be because of some strange phenomenon. So what could it be?)
Aletha thought precisely about that idea. Then, a realization came before her.
The first time she encountered a similar event was within the depths of the previous world, Where she was pushed onto the wall by force, activating the device. She pointed her fingernail up into the dust carried by faint rays, exclaiming.
"Wait, could that weapon have the same activation process as that creepy device? That… makes so much sense! Gee, I wish I didn't drop it. That weapon would have helped me out so much. Hmm..."
But before Aletha could come remotely close to the truth, all those thoughts were thrown away as she found a pink-haired figure jumping from rock to rock. She gasped, leaning over, trying to magnify the figure.
"Is that… no, it can't be her. How did she get all the way over here? Why isn't she hollering at me?"
Confused as to whether that figure was Rinnea, Aletha sprinted away from the ancient ruins and progressed deeper into the cavern, abandoning her speculation.
* * * * * * *
Mossy stone, dripping stalagmites, pools of crystal clear water. These are just a few things that could describe this sudden change of scenery.
After Aletha encountered the strange ruins, she found herself traversing inside a forest of stones, walking through ankle-deep underground rivers of water.
Not long after, Aletha ambled across the hallway of underground waterfalls and gasped in astonishment at the clarity of the azure-blue luminance. It was spurting over the basalt rock, spilling eel-like over the ledges before stopping at a dark violet pool of water surrounding her.
Although she felt uneasy, the last steam made her tremble excitedly, soothing her pores as if this place was a relaxing zen spa.
And so it was; as she progressed deeper through the corridor of loud thundering waterfalls, she noticed a few houses were embedded inside some of the massive stalactites, nearest to the warm steamy puddles scattering around. Its windows shone a vivid yellow luminance, followed by the sight of bridges that extended above and below, with citizens of the place greeting her wearing gowns that reached their ankles.
Aletha looked down at her feet and noticed the more that she walked, the floor beneath slowly blended into a cobblestone, then brick-like surface. Could this place be an entire city buried deep underground? Or even better…
Aletha mumbled.
"Could this place be Clearstar?"
The strange humidity and the fluorescent street lights dotted around the city's opening made Aletha dizzy, forcing her to toss those curiosities aside and immerse herself in this paradise. She walked down the stairs and passed through a large archway toward an open space filled with people. They all wore long robes matching the spas, all with varying colors in their hair.
All of them gave a welcoming smile to Aletha, some more suggestive than others.
The crash of the water, the shuffling feet, squeaking gates, clock tower chimes, and excited giggling all surrounded Aletha.
She looked around and saw several narrow streets paved through the marsh ducks, children running back and forth, fidgeting with Aletha's hair and teasing her.
"Haha, you're it!"
Aletha's face reddened in embarrassment, confused.
"Huh?"
A girl shouted at the little brown-haired boy next to Aletha's arm.
"Hey, Jacob, that's the wrong person!"
Aletha couldn't help but chuckle at the children's foolishness.
For a moment, there was silence. The girl chasing after the boy stopped in shock, staring at Aletha with a look of disbelief and an admiring smile. She commented as all the children surrounded Aletha.
"Woow, you look so pretty!"
A boy jumped in.
"Ms, you look amazing!"
The other children, even the girls, added praise and shared with each other as Aletha stood there, absolutely clueless and confused about what they were doing.
"H-Huh?"
"Your hair is so beautiful!"
"I like that mark you have on your face! Pretty."
Aletha gulped a breath of anxiousness as she saw all the children's eyes stare at her in awe and wonder.
"H… Hey, kids. Why don't you…." She froze in place, watching the children kindly await her to speak. Aletha wanted to leave them, but she simply felt a warm feeling in her heart that persuaded her to say.
It looked to Aletha like the children had never seen such a person down here before. But although she was flattered by the children's praise, Aletha was focused more on finding Rinnea or any friend of that nature.
To settle the situation and not grab the attention of adults, Aletha tried to walk away. But like a group of mosquitoes, all the children followed her, asking her questions along the way.
Annoyed, Aletha tried to inform them with a gentle tone.
"Please, stop following me. W… Will your parents be worried if they found out you were lost?"
The same brown-haired boy wearing thin brown trousers jumped up and answered.
"Not at all!"
Aletha turned to the floor and sighed deeply, patting the boy's head and whispering with a smile, noticing a group of adults approaching the children from behind.
"Sigh, I don't want to make your parents angry. Please…"
Just as she felt she was being mean to the children, the parents led their sons and daughters away from Aletha, apologizing to her with a warm smile.
"I'm sorry about that. Our children can be curious sometimes."
A relieving smile emerged on her face.
"It's okay. I sometimes get the same looks from other people as well."
The man, presumably the father, had long dark hair and brown eyes, wearing a robe like the many people Aletha had encountered in the streets. He had a long nose and a pointed chin, with stubble around, looking aged. It was evident to Aletha that this was the parent of the boy.
"You do? Ha, that's no surprise, considering just how rare your appearance is. Kids can be quite clueless. It's not their fault. Actually, I'm a little curious about you myself." He rubbed his stubble and shook his head, giving Aletha a handshake.
"Ahem, Anyways, what brings you here to Clearstar?"
Aletha scratched her head and looked up. She tried to hide her surprised gasp, noticing the sheer height of the cavern's ceiling, but it didn't work.
Instead, her reaction grabbed the attention of the parent even more. The man gave a warm chuckle and looked up at her, commenting on the sight.
"Ha, outsiders make that exact reaction once they look up. The ceiling is pretty high, isn't it?"
Aletha nodded nervously.
"Yeah. Wait, you asked about what brought me here?"
"Indeed."
(Ah, if only I could escape this conversation.) She whispered.
Aletha rubbed her forehead and took deep breaths, preparing to answer. But just as she could answer, she was interrupted by whines.
"Dad, let's go home."
"Hold on." The father whispered. "Can't you see we're having a conversation?"
Unfortunately, because the parent was constantly getting nagged by their child, the conversation with Aletha was cut short, leading the father to walk away with their child and her to wander around Clearstar.
. . .
She climbed the tall stone staircase and strolled along the highest level of the city, where the entirety of the underground area could be seen. Aletha was relieved that she couldn't discuss it with the parents.
Not because she was shy but because she felt she was in a rush.
Aletha walked along the plaza, investigating buildings and brushing her anxiety away. Unlike the children, adults, on the other hand, had no care for her appearance except for the color of her hair. Other than that, many never cared since they were either busy relaxing in the natural hot spas on top of many buildings or doing their jobs.
. . .
While Aletha made her way through the busy streets, for the second time, she looked up. Her eyes widened in shock, noticing.
"Oh, so THAT'S why there's light here." For most of her time here, Aletha never understood how the city was lit aglow with light, despite being several meters underground. Now that she was at the top, Aletha could finally see why.
Clearstar City was illuminated by a vast window inside the cavern's ceiling. The window's transparency was so clear that it allowed every hint of sunlight from the surface to touch the underground. Now that she noticed it, those glass ceilings were everywhere above the cavern. But although those features caught her eye, Aletha focused more on finding Rinnea than anything.
Making her way through the top of the towers, Aletha commented as she walked along the glass bridge, sliding her fingers across the metal railing.
"This place is huge. It's no wonder why Rinnea wanted to go here."
Before she decided to go down to the first level of the city, Aletha chose to gaze at the distant port down below. Her hands tightly grasped the rope of the creaking bridge, watching boats sail in and out of the enormous crystal clear underground lake, traveling from the many tunnels around the colossal cavern toward the ports in Clearstar. Her curiosity was so intense that it persuaded her to run to the port.
"Huh? Why does the water look like that?"
There was something strange she found about the water as she looked around.
What Aletha found strange about the massive pools of water was that the liquid surface was so clear that she could see the glowing azure stones beneath it just with her eye. She turned left and heard bells ringing. Immediately, she dashed toward the dock and saw a guy on a canoe waving at her while rowing the paddles. Of course, she waved back at the guy, even going to greet him.
"Hello! How are you today?"
The man replied with a light smile as the canoe tidily slipped into the dock.
"I'm doing swell right now! How about you?"
Aletha crossed her arms and smiled back.
"I'm doing good!"
His shimmering blue hair reflected the beautiful luminance pouring above and beneath the boat.
"Ha ha, that's great to hear! Are you lost? Waiting for a boat?"
Aletha pressed her hands to her cheeks and lifted her shoulder in a half-shrug. A prevailing sentiment of uneasy discontent flew out from the look on her face, waving her hands and replying anxiously.
"No, I'm not waiting for a boat."
The man scratched his chin and squinted.
"You look like an outsider. Do you know what you are doing?"
Aletha shook her head and answered the man with a sonorous and truthful voice.
"Not at all."
He shook his head and placed his two paddles on the docks, examining Aletha and then pointing to what looked like another portion of the city across the massive underground lake, informing.
"Hmm, say, why don't you go to the town hall if you are feeling lost? It's not that far from here, actually… I can get you there if you want. The rest of Clearstar City is on the other side of the cavern. And although it's accessible, I don't think you would want to walk there."
"Really? You can do that for me?!"
"Sure. I mean, just look at yourself!" He made a glance of meaning at her. "You look like some sort of superstar with that type of appearance. I don't understand how you can't afford to be in one of Clearstar's spas. You look wealthy."
A flame of scarlet crept in a swift diagonal across Aletha's cheeks.
"N… No, I'm not. I'm just a wanderer."
The blue-haired man showed a face of disbelief.
"Wow, really? Aww, well, there goes my hope for at least some pay." He blinked owlishly, shaking his head and grabbing the paddles back. "A-Anyways, you don't have to give me anything. I was just curious. I do this stuff for free."
"Oh, okay."
As Aletha stared at the empty side of the canoe next to her, she turned over and asked the man.
"So, do I get on?"
"Yeah! Hop right in! I promise you it won't be long until we get there."
After Aletha carefully boarded the canoe and grabbed a paddle, the blue-haired man slowly pushed the canoe away from the docks and said to her with a welcoming grin.
"Alright, let's row our way to the other side!"