Nova stepped out slowly. His draconic maw exited the tear first. Followed by his neck, upper arms, his huge wings, and his hind legs. Finally leaving the tear, his tail snaked out behind him.
Nova was void purple all over except for his reptilian eyes which were piercing red with grey sclera and his jaw filled with sparkly white teeth. Nova's void purple scales glimmered in the dimming sunlight giving him an unearthly feel. His horns jutted out majestically from his forehead.
Yet the most striking part of Nova was not his eyes nor his horns, it was the scars left over from various battles. Long gashes along his body, small tears in his wings, chips on his horns, and various healed wounds peppered his body. But all only served to accentuate his might. Nova carried them proudly as a reminder of all the battles he had fought in.
"Oye," Julian interrupted, "Turn down your pressure, you almost crushed Mia and Ica." It turned out that Julian had shielded the twins from most of the pressure from Nova's grand entrance.
Seeing the twins still paralyzed state, Nova quickly apologized, "Sorry." He closed the tear behind him and decreased the pressure he was exerting.
Emmia and Icarth collapsed as the pressure finally disappeared. Clutching her throat, Emmia took in deep breaths as she had forgotten to breathe upon beholding Nova. Icarth had fallen too, his mind in total disarray at what he had felt at the mere appearance of Nova. While recovering, an uncomfortable feeling slowly wormed its way into his heart. Shaking away any unnecessary thoughts, Icarth stood up shakily and faced Nova. Seeing Ica stand up, Emmia too stood up slowly.
"Are you brats, ok?" Nova asked a little concerned after seeing their state.
"Y-yea," Emmia stuttered slightly, a little afraid of the huge monster in front of her.
Mustering up her courage, she asked, "Are you, Mr Nova?" She decided to add the 'Mr' reflexively after what she had gone through.
"The one and only," Nova lifted his head high.
Julian shook his head, he just couldn't take it anymore. "You don't need to be afraid of him, he's just a big softie."
"I am no softie," Nova protested while Emmia and Icarth looked at their grandpa doubtfully.
"Then you should stop fretting into our soul connection," Julian scoffed.
"I have no idea what you're talking about," Nova turned his head in indignation.
Seeing that grandpa Julian was talking comfortably, a part of their previous fear was dissolved. After the fear passed, curiosity finally arose in Emmia as she started to ask questions.
"Mr Nova, what are you?" She asked.
"I am an Astral Dragon," Nova said proudly.
"Wooahh!" Emmia exclaimed. "Where are you from?"
"My kind are born between the stars above," Nova said theatrically.
"Above? You mean the sky?" Emmia asked excitedly.
"Above that, I come from outer space," Nova said enjoying Emmia's excitement.
Julian snorted, "Don't let him fool you, he was born on this planet and I raised him."
"Don't heed his words little one, while I was born here, I belong in outer space. I live to tour the vast expanse, in fact, I have many stories to share." Nova tried to salvage the situation by shifting the conversation to his space travels. And he succeeded marvelously as Emmia's attention was diverted. She nodded excitedly and stepped forward to go near Nova but suddenly stopped remembering the pressure exerted by Nova.
Noticing this, Nova reassured, "don't worry little one, I won't hurt you." He lowered his body in an attempt to look more approachable.
Well if you looked at it from a different angle it could look like he was lowering himself to enjoy a small and tasty morsel. But, the right intentions made their way to Emmia, as she walked forward and touched Nova's arm.
"Smooth," she said in wonder as she ran her hand over his scales.
Thinking for a moment, Nova manipulated the spatial layers and gently lifted Emmia and placed her onto his head.
"Woahh!" Emmia cried out surprised. "How did you do that Mr Nova?" She asked excitedly.
"I moved the spatial layers around you to place you on my head," Nova explained.
"Spatial layers?" Emmia asked confused.
"It's basically the fabric that makes up your reality...."
While Nova and Emmia had an intellectual conversation, Icarth was still dealing with that uncomfortable feeling in his heart. He honestly didn't like that feeling. The feeling of being overpowered without a single resistance. Of being akin to an ant in front of a God. Without realizing it, Icarth was frowning slightly, a completely new expression from his usual repertoire.
Julian noticed this and asked, "What's wrong Ica?"
Jumping out of his thoughts Ica replied, "Nothing much gramps," while going back to his bored expression. Ica had decided that it was just troublesome and shelved that feeling to sort through later.
Julian just smirked, 'that was an interesting expression.'
"Well, shall we get going?" Julian asked interrupting Nova and Emmia's discussion.
"Sure sure," Nova replied happily. Lifting Julian and Icarth onto his head, Nova reopened the tear for theatrical flair and moved inside. Wielding his spatial manipulation, Nova protected the trio on his head from the harm that was present everywhere in the spatial layers.
Icarth relaxed on Nova's head, all the previous uneasiness gone as Nova too smelled nice. 'The same smell as gramps,' Ica thought laying down with Nova's scent drifting to him.
Emmia marveled at the exotic beauty of the spatial layers and continued to chat with Nova while Icarth listened in, taking in the sights as well.
"You're so cool, uncle Nova," Ica interjected.
"Yea! So cool uncle Nova," Emmia readily agreed.
Nova laughed heartily. After being the brunt of Julian's antics for God knows how long, he was enjoying the innocent attention greatly.
Julian rolled his eyes, tapped into his soul link, and asked Nova, 'Did you feel any activity from the b****rds?'
'No, they must still be following my decoy,' Nova snickered while continuing to do that with the twins.
'Good,' Julian replied satisfied.
The rest of the trip was just one big ego fulfillment for Nova that Julian almost vomited at some point.
"We're here," Nova suddenly said. Opening another tear, Nova exited into an absolutely jaw-dropping view.
"Welcome, to World's Edge," Nova announced, his deep voice resonating in the air.
Nova had stopped on the edge of a steep cliff falling off into a vast expanse of ocean. The sun was just setting in this region, lighting up the entire area with an orange-red colour. The shimmering ocean, teeming with colourful sea life, while numerous birds of all shapes and sizes flew overhead. The sound of waves crashing against the cliffside, the call of the beasts in the sky, and the soft gusts of wind engulfed the group.
The taste of salt filled the air as the twins breathed in and out. Their eyes were drawn to the breathtaking sight. They could feel the spray of water in the air from the top of the cliff.
They stared at the scene for a long amount of time until the sun shed its final rays as it dipped below the horizon.
In the end, all the twins could muster were two words.
"It's beautiful...."