Noelia didn’t plan on visiting Reveria today.
Yet, as she stared into the star trees in the Starlight Garden, infinite possibilities kept within each individual leaf, her eyes drifted towards Reveria. It shone with a light which stood out like a sun in the sea of stars, and in the quiet tranquility of the Garden, her mind eventually wandered.
It’s been a while since she’s visited Reveria. Well, it’s not like she had much reason to go – sure, she could go visit Robin and Aurora sometimes, but they would occasionally come to Lunares themselves on her mother’s ship. A bold move, in all honesty, but Robin’s just the kind of person to pull something like that off. Every single time, Noelia would notice a little change. He would wear his hair differently, or have a bandage on his cheek from a minor accident, or come back the very next day with the bandage gone and the wound fully healed.
It wouldn’t make sense normally, but Noelia was well aware that time worked differently on Lunares. An hour or so up there may translate to weeks on Reveria, and the difference was notable. It’s been a week or so since she’s last visited… she didn’t feel like figuring out exactly how long that was on Reveria, but probably a while.
Ah, and Yuelia.
Noelia pouted. Hmph, she totally couldn’t care less about what happened to her. But her father was often busy doing Creator things, and didn’t have time to check in on his eldest daughter in Reveria, and that girl is probably hopeless without her anyways, and–
She stood up, crossing her arms and staring at the little light in the tree called Reveria. “Father, I’m going down to Reveria.”
Divinus looked back at her as he was pruning some moon roses. “Alright, sweetie. Be back before dinner.”
In Reveria? “Before dinner” up here was probably at least a week or so. Well, she might as well visit Furlin on Origin Island in that case.
“Oh, yes, and do check in on your sister,” he added.
She rolled her eyes. “Yeah, yeah, see ya.”
The first thing she noticed was Leilah’s new dress.
She was the first to greet her after Danuta, chatting with some Leafes by the general store. It wasn’t a particularly impressive change – but she noticed how her dress was slightly different now, and a more intricate circlet of leaves laid on her head, and how she tied the tips of her long, flowy hair together. And, of course, the beautiful bow on her back, clearly crafted by the master carpenters of Elderwood. Had she become a hunter in the time Noelia was gone?
“Noelia!” Leilah beamed. “It’s been a while! Have you come to visit Yuelia?”
She coughed. “And Robin, Aurora, Furlin… but I suppose I’ll stop by and say hi.” She crossed her arms. “I’ll be in Castele anyways to go to Origin Island and Port Puerto.”
“Haha, have fun!”
“Also, Leilah…” She pointed at the bow. “So you’ve taken up the bow and arrow?”
“Ah, yeah…” she smiled sheepishly. “I’m taking over for my brother as the guardian of the Elderwood. It’s a little scary really, knowing that everyone’s counting on you…”
“I see…”
“Anyways, I shouldn’t keep you here any longer.” She turned back around to the Leafe she was previously conversing with. “Bye, Noelia!”
As she left the little village, she looked up at the Goddess Statue by the entrance.
She supposed Leilah would do just fine. After all… surely, the goddess was smiling upon her.
The second thing she noticed was the exceptionally busy crowds in Castele Square.
It was so loud and crowded that she had to change into her butterfly form to get a bug’s-eye view of what exactly was going on. It seemed to be some sort of summer bazaar – merchants from all across the land, and even Origin Island had gathered to sell their exotic goods and partake in the festivities.
In the crowd, she spotted some familiar faces. A curious Grace darting from booth to booth with Dogu eagerly following. Pierre and Butch, mischeviously sneaking around, probably looking to snatch some dosh. A joyful Laura, in her somewhat obvious disguise and…
Ah.
Standing in the crowd, her celestial white dress sticking out like a sore thumb in the crowd, was none other than Noelia’s sister. Her twin sister, once, but her taller stature, her longer hair, and the lines beginning to form around her smile… they told her that this girl was no longer the Yuelia she grew up with. No more than a human, now just an ordinary Reverian, in an ordinary town, growing up like an ordinary human.
She only hovered a couple of feet from her sister – far enough for her not to notice her presence. But with the realization of what her sister’s wish, her dream, her happiness would imply…
…Now, she seemed so much further away.
Night had fallen on Reveria, and Noelia found herself peering up at Lunares, sitting on top of a pile of logs in the outskirts of Castele. She had plenty of time to go back, so there was no rush. She had already gone to see Furlin earlier, and had also talked with Grace and Leo. She’ll probably run into Robin eventually, she heard that he was in Castele for the bazaar.
Yuelia was happy. She wore a big, stupid grin on her face as she strolled through the bazaar with some ice-cold apple juice in hand, chatting the day away with Laura. That should have been enough for her. It would have been enough for her father, at least, he had already accepted his daughter’s wishes and only wanted the best for her.
But it wasn’t enough for Noelia. It was interesting, they were twins – once, at least – and yet they couldn’t be less alike. If perhaps Noelia was the one who left her family, shed her divinity, and chose to live amongst humans, maybe Yuelia could have accepted that. After all, she was a benevolent, idiotic, selfless and selfish moron like that. But as she told herself every day that she doesn’t care that much about her sister, and that her clumsiness often made more problems than solved them, she just couldn’t stand the idea of her growing up… without her.
And one day, she will grow old and die, happy and surrounded by the people she loves, and the light of Lunares will go dark, and the tears of a god will fall from the heavens as rain onto the people below. And one day, Noelia, just the same as she always looked, will come to Reveria, and stand at the grave of the girl who was once her twin sister.
She had noticed the tears falling down her cheeks a while ago, but she had only noticed now how she was sniffling and sobbing. She probably looked so pathetic right now, so thank Lunares there weren’t too many people living in this area. She looked down to wipe the tears from her eyes, and when she looked up again…
“...Noelia?”
Yuelia looked up at her sister, her eyes full of pity… and a hint of confusion.
“I didn’t know you were in Reveria. What’s the matter?”
“W-well… well…” Noelia tried her hardest to keep it together, but she just couldn’t. As Yuelia took a seat beside her, the younger sister burst into tears, digging her face into her older sister’s cloak and clutching her sleeves tightly as if she was afraid she would turn to dust the instant she even dared let go.
Instinctively, Yuelia draped her arms over her sobbing mess of a sister and held her tightly, without a single complaint about the young woman’s fingernails digging into her arms. These days, seeing Noelia was a rare occurrence for her, and her little sister shedding her facade and letting herself be vulnerable and teary eyed was an even rarer event, now that they were older and Noelia wasn’t as much of a crybaby as she was when they were kids.
She hadn’t visited Lunares in a long time. She probably should have visited, but life in Reveria is just so thrilling and busy that she could never make the time to go. But as she held her sister in her arms, the way she used to when they were kids, she felt a tinge of nostalgia… and sadness.
“Yuelia…” croaked Noelia. “You…”
“Take it easy. Hehe, you’re still the same crybaby you’ve always been,” Yuelia joked, hoping to lighten the mood.
“...Hmph,” Noelia grumbled. She pulled away from her sister's arms. “Yuelia… you look a lot older than before.”
The older sister blinked. Okay, interesting wording… but knowing Noelia, she probably didn’t care. She scratched her head. “Oh, really…?”
“Yeah. Yeah, you do…” Noelia sighed, wiping her face and staring up at the moon. “A lot older than I do. But, Yuelia… we’re supposed to be twins.”
Yuelia opened her mouth, then closed it again. She had nothing to say. Her sister was right, she was growing older, her sister wasn’t, and one day…
She looked up at the moon. “Okay, I understand now.” She closed her eyes, her face peaceful and serene, and leaned her head onto Noelia’s shoulder. “You can cry over me when I’m dead, though. But, for now… Lunares looks so beautiful from down here, don’t you agree?”
Noelia let out a shaky breath. “Mm.”
“I’m sorry, Noelia. I know I left you and father, but…” She smiled. “Reveria is such a beautiful and happy place. You can’t blame me for falling in love with it.”
“...Of course you’d say that.”
“But it really is true. So, I hope you understand why I chose this. And… sorry in advance.”
Noelia huffed. “...You should visit home more.”
“True. I’m sure father misses me very much. And you must too, considering you came all the way down here for the first time in forever.”
“I came to visit Furlin, you know,” Noelia protested. “And Robin, I guess.” She sighed. “And I guess I missed you a teeny little bit too.”
“Oh, you’re so sweet!”
“Yeah, yeah.” Noelia rolled her eyes, but a small smile formed onto her face. Maybe Yuelia is right, maybe she should just cry over her when she’s dead. Maybe she should come and visit Furlin and Robin more, and maybe Yuelia a teeny little bit.
When they’re all gone, and dreams of long-gone people in seas of chocolate are all that remain… at least she’ll be around to dream of them.
