"Hey, I've been wondering…" Raya spoke sounding lost in her thoughts.
"Wondering about what?" Nick questioned as the two walked through the City of Cerulean.
"We spent two days and one night traveling just to make it to the shore of Cordelia…" Raya spoke straying from her words. Nick got the gist of what she was trying to say and finished her question for her.
"If you're wondering if time works differently in this realm than it does in yours, yes it does."
"Wait really? How long is a day in this realm?!" Raya asked concerned that when she makes it back to Earth will her family be old and on the brink of death.
"One day in here is like nothing at all on Earth. Time stops once you enter The Astros Realm. And if you're wondering if you age in here, you don't. It takes centuries for a person to age in this realm." Nick responded nonchalantly.
"Wait, so are you actually like a hundred years old or something?" Raya thought out loud, it sounded creepy to her.
"Oh no, I'm just twenty-two years old so you don't have to worry about me being a hot creepy old man. I left this realm when I was young with my father. He thought me all about this place and sometimes would take me to see this world. Other than the times I visited here with my dad I aged normally just like you did."
"That sounds confusing, so wait, if I were to live here would my lifespan increase?"
"I guess you could put it that way. Here how about we use this as an example, you know how stars slowly age over time even though it doesn't feel like it. That's how it's like. In your realm, the sun's always been there since the beginning of human existence, but it doesn't look like it gets any bigger or smaller, it's still aging though. It's kind of like that. It might also be getting bigger every thousand years but you don't notice it until thousands of years later. Maybe I should've used another example because now I'm getting confused." Nick tried to explain while running his fingers through his hair. The two continued to walk.
"It's okay, I can kind of understand what you're getting at. So basically time here moves slower than it does on Earth for humans so by the time we get out of here we'll probably be where we left off right? It'll be Serene's 20th birthday and we'll still look the same as when we left not 50 years older. Okay, I think I kind of get it. Still confusing though."
"Well, what do you expect from a fantasy world?" Nick jokingly answered. The two finally stopped in front of what looked like an old beat-up shop. It was a repair shop for aircrafts'. The two traveled here to fix the helicopter so they can look for Serene. Nick broke one of the levers just so he could get the two into Astros. As for how they managed to find their way to land in just a matter of two days was thanks to a fisherman who happened to be in the area.
"How'd you even know about this place?"
"Did I forget to mention my dad owned a repair shop for aircrafts'?"
"Yes, yes you did," Raya spoke monotonously.
"Whoopsies."
Raya facepalmed at Nicks's response. 'What a weirdo,' Raya thought. 'I wonder how Serene's doing…'
"Serene, it's time to wake up! Today's the day we leave for Cerulean!" Nabbia shook the twenty-year-old girl awake. She seemed pretty excited, it must also be her first-time going to Cerulean.
"I'm up, I'm up! I can't believe it's already been two days since I came here."
"It feels like it was just yesterday! Which reminds me, you haven't seen the outside of our house yet, have you? Didn't you say it was your dream to visit this realm?" Ashia recalled, grabbing Serene's hands and gripping them tightly.
"Yea?" Serene answered thinking back to when she first remembered who she was and where she was from.
"Well, what are you waiting for?! You've got to see our realm, you'll be amazed!" Ashia said letting go of one of Serene's hands and dragging her by the other outside of the room.
Once Serene stepped foot outside of the house she was amazed. It looked as though she were living in the clouds, but she was actually on a floating island surrounded by clouds. The water surrounding them looked like the clear blue sky itself, it was so clear you could almost see the bottom. It all looked like something out of a fantasy book. It was all just like her mother's stories.
All Serene felt she's done is cry, cry about trying new things, cry about old things, just cry, cry, cry. She realized once she took in the scenery that this should be one last time she'll ever cry again. She wanted to be stronger so she decided to never shed tears over sad things, she wanted happy tears from here on out. The very things she was afraid of were keeping her from reaching her dreams and keeping her promise to her mother.
Serene couldn't believe it, this made Serene admire her best friend. Her best friend never cared about what anyone said about the two. She always stuck up for Serene no matter how insane she sounded to others. Raya respected her wishes and so when she heard Serene gave up she still wanted to give her an experience of what it felt like to be in the clouds.
She loved Raya for this, she knew Raya meant good and Serene couldn't get over it. Serene felt as though she should've been a better friend to Raya, almost like she owed her for sticking by her side since childhood. Serene felt a mixture of feelings, feelings of happiness and sadness. She didn't deserve to be in this realm, Raya did. Raya tried and kept believing while Serene gave up when it got too hard.
"So are you coming or what?" Zenith said walking up from behind Serene.
"Yea, let's get going," Serene spoke with a soft smile and followed the family to their car. The roads they would go on would connect them to different islands within the city of Azure. After around a three-hour drive they found themselves in Huyana City, 'The City of Rain'.