The most noticeable thing was the lights. While the hallways of the mansion were bathed in a constant bright orange, the surroundings were now a medley of flowing colours that seemed to dazzle the eyes no matter where one looked.
Above, the sky was split into two.
Behind him was a void of slick black and towards his front, the colours lightened the further one looked into the horizon. But that wasn't the most shocking.
Rumius's brain was almost actively rejecting the sight before him. Above, smack dab where the borders of the black and steadily expanding lighter world seemed to meet, were two overlapping circles.
The smaller and closer one was a familiar white while the one behind it that was twice the size was a radiant blue.
' Are those two moons?' Rumius gaped.
Although being the closest thing that he could draw comparison to, he knew that it was pathetically inadequate as a description.
Maman noticed his baffled expression and the corners of her lips curved slightly.
*" Wait till I show you something even better."* she said.
Rumius didn't even hear her. He was too busy taking in the view around him. He couldn't take his eyes off it. This beautiful artwork that was the sky above. The black canvas was dotted with radiant sparks.
Until the moment, he found himself, in his mother's arms, tightly snuggled while she scaled the stone railings that kept people from inadvertently falling off the deck and to the hard rock floor below.
It all took a second to process.
' Since we can see the sky, this is outdoors. Yes.'
' Since we didn't walk too far, we must still be somewhere near the mansion. Yes.'
' There's railings so….this is some sort of observation deck then. Yes.'
' Observation decks are often high up. Yes. '
' Wait what. Oh shit what?'
Maman was already standing on the edge.
*" Hang on tight"* she said and at the same time, everything clicked.
" WAIT NO HOLY WHAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!"
A feeling of weightlessness followed by the feeling of one's stomach getting dislodged and flying away filled Rumius as the ground rushed towards him with incredible speed and once again, everything went black.
The sound of rushing wind filled Rumius's ears as he waited for the sickening arrest of his inertia and his life.
But it never came. Rumius opened his eyes slowly, almost as if not daring to hope.
The scenery around him was unchanged. He was still lying, well tucked in his Maman's arms. The sky above had lightened considerably but a border was still seen between the light and dark halves. And for some reason, there was a strange sound of whooshing wind.
Rumius was sure that earlier on the balcony, the air was still, if not only for the occasional light breeze that would tickle his nose. But now, the screaming sound of rushing wind filled his ears, the breezes had turned into gusts. It was the same feeling as peaking one's head out of a moving car and getting smacked full in the face by the air outside.
Then turned his body a little in his mother's embrace and caught sight of what was below.
Nothing.
There was nothing holding them up. His Maman's feet were simply planted in mid-air and even more ridiculously, he could somehow see the entirety of the mansion beneath him.
Rumius's jaws instinctively slackened and as he struggled to find a reaction to the sight before him.
" We're flying?" He laughed quietly in disbelief.
" We're flying!!"
He had completely forgotten about his Maman's presence. Right now, he had never felt so free or so confused or so happy in his whole life as he laughed hysterically while he soared through the skies in his Maman's arms.
Eventually, the rushing of wind became less and less piercing and Rumius realised that they were slowing down. The wind had weakened but the frost that came with their gained altitude remained.
Maman came to a stop.
The dark blue sky had turned to a significantly lighter hue and the grey clouds below swirled and churned, pushed by the movement of the winds. A few bright stars remained, shining like beacons in the distance.
The frost tickled Rumius's face like the touch of dancing faries as his breath blew out small puffs of smoke and finally the thought occurred to him as to why his Maman had brought him here.
Then, he got his answer.
Seemingly all at once, a radiant band of light burst forth from the horizon, meshing with the remains of the night sky and blending into a spectacular gradient of colours. It was almost like a god had come down, picked up a brush and painted the whole scene in an instant.
Then gradually, the band thinned out at its sides, becoming thinner but more condensed as the orange light congregated right in the centre of the skyline into a fiery, orange ball.
Rumius was at a loss for words, as would anyone upon beholding such a scene before them. As the sun rose above the horizon, Rumius didn't even have the mental capacity to note that this sun was bigger than the one that he used to know by quite a considerable margin.
As it rose, light flooded into the world and illuminated the skies and the ground. The sky turned azure and the grey, storm-like clouds became puffy white. But that wasn't even the best of it.
Rumius sucked in a deep breath of amazement the warm sunlight revealed the world beneath.
A city stretched outwards in a circle with Rumius at its centre. A series of rocky battlements defended the city lined its perimeter like an indomitable mountain range, shielding the houses, the people and the streets inside although it was just early morning and there was barely any traffic or activity.
Further out, a series of grey lines stretched out from the city gates like tree branches from the trunk. The small caravans and groups that queued up before the city gates looked like ants from where Rumius was.
There were trees and forests towards the north, if Rumius were to assume that the sun rose from the east in this world as well, which seemed as boundless as the horizon. The line of green stretched far and wide and if one looked directly towards it, said line would be all one could see even in one's peripheral vision.
' Amazing..'
Was all Rumius could think.