The sun streamed through the ornate windows of Caelum’s chambers, bathing the room in golden light. A group of maids bustled around him, their chatter filling the air as they dressed the young prince in an intricately embroidered tunic of deep blue, adorned with silver threads that shimmered like starlight. "Ah, look at him!" one maid gushed, adjusting his tiny sash. "Such a handsome young prince! Truly, he’s going to break hearts one day." Another maid giggled as she smoothed out the folds of his sleeves. "And so well-behaved for his age. My nephew is about the same age, and he’s a little terror. He tried to eat a candle last week!"

Yeah, yeah i'm already tired of this conversation, Caelum thought dryly

The maids burst into laughter, though Caelum merely sat there, his expression stoic. One of the older maids smiled fondly as she adjusted Caelum’s hair. "Our little prince is a treasure. Even without the mark, he carries himself with such grace." At that moment, the doors to the chamber opened, and Queen Lysandra entered, her presence commanding yet warm. Her hands rested lightly on her growing belly, her pregnancy adding a glow to her already radiant appearance. The maids immediately curtsied, murmuring their greetings. "Good morning, Your Majesty," one of them said. "The prince is nearly ready." She knelt beside Caelum, brushing a hand over his hair. "Happy morning, my darling. Today is a special day. Your father and I are taking you somewhere beautiful—the Cosmic observatory. Caelum tilted his head, his eyes sparkling with curiosity.  Lysandra leaned closer, her tone conspiratorial. "We’re going to meet someone there, an astralis who is known as the Navigator of the Heavens. They’ll look into the heavens and tell us about the stars guiding you, what lies ahead of you, and even some predictions for your future." Caelum’s tiny hands clapped together, his excitement unmistakable. "Stars!" he exclaimed, his enthusiasm causing the maids and Lysandra to giggle. Just then, King Arren entered the room, his stride confident and his eyes warm as they landed on his family. "What’s all this commotion?" he teased, his voice rich with amusement. "Is my son planning an expedition to the heavens already?" Lysandra turned to him with a soft laugh. "He’s excited about visiting the Cosmic Observatory. Aren’t you, Caelum?" Caelum turned to his father, his hands still clapping as he repeated, "Stars! Sky!" Arren crouched beside him, his expression gentle. "Then we mustn’t keep the stars waiting," he said, his voice affectionate. He exchanged a knowing look with Lysandra, and both parents chuckled softly at their son’s uncontainable joy.

Finally, something interesting! Caelum thought, his inner monologue tinged with amusement. 

As the family prepared to leave, the maids lingered behind, their chatter filled with fondness for the little prince. The messenger arrived swiftly, bowing deeply before addressing the king and queen. “Your Majesties, the portal has been prepared.” The queen exchanged a glance with the king, a shared moment of anticipation flashing between them. The king stood, offering his hand to her, while Caelum trails behind. Together, they left the room, their steps purposeful yet filled with quiet excitement. They entered a chamber bathed in faint blue light, where a swirling portal shimmered like a liquid mirror, casting ripples of light across the walls. Two attendants stood on either side of the portal, clad in deep indigo robes adorned with celestial motifs, their expressions composed and reverent. “Are you excited, my little star?” the queen asked, looking down at Caelum with a warm smile.

Caelum’s mind raced with excitement. This is exactly what I’m talking about. Actual stars, up close—or at least as close as possible in this world. What I’d give to have a telescope right now! The size of the stars, their composition, their movement across the sky—imagine the potential for discovery! His inner monologue burned with the passion of a former scientist. And this astralis, a navigator of the heavens—do they use tools? Charts? Or is it purely intuitive? I need to find out. 

The swirling portal in front of him rippled like molten silver, and Caelum’s thoughts shifted gears. “Portal! How does it work, Mama?” he blurted, his wide eyes locked on the shimmering surface. “Does it squish us to the other side? Or does it just—poof!” He made an exaggerated hand motion, clearly indicating some kind of explosion. The queen laughed again, her eyes sparkling with affection. “Not quite like that,” she said, adjusting his tiny hand to rest more gently on the portal’s edge. “Think of it as stepping into a river that carries you to another shore.”

Stepping into a river? Caelum thought. I’m definitely going to need a more detailed explanation later. This world is brimming with so much magic, but there has to be a science behind it—or at least a logic to how it works. What are the limitations? The energy sources? The mechanisms?

His mind buzzed with questions as the portal shimmered brighter, almost as if sensing his curiosity. He turned to his mother with a grin. “Can I build a portal when I’m big?” he asked earnestly. “Perhaps, if you work very hard,” Lysandra replied, her tone warm. “But first, let’s see the stars, hmm?” “Yes, stars!” Caelum said, his excitement renewed. Stars first. Questions later. Oh, but there are going to be so many questions. With that, the royal family stepped through the portal, Caelum’s wide-eyed wonder leading the way into the unknown.

The other side of the portal is a forest. Their steps crunching softly on the leaf-strewn ground, sunlight filtered lazily through the dense canopy, dappling the path ahead. It was, in every sense of the word, ordinary. Too ordinary. Caelum stared around, his brows furrowed in visible disappointment. “This is it?” he asked, his tiny voice tinged with disbelief. “Just trees? Where’s the magic? Where’s the fun? This doesn’t look special at all!” And why are we walking? He frowned slightly, his tiny hands gripping his mother’s sleeve. Isn’t this a world of magic? Shouldn’t we be flying or riding some magical beast?

The queen smiled, “Oh, I understand your frustration, little one,” she said, her voice warm and affectionate. “Yes, we could climb this mountain in mere moments using magic—or even fly. But powers are… restricted here.” She glanced at the king, who nodded solemnly. “It’s not just us, either,” she continued. “Even creatures like the Pegasus or unicorn cannot fly here.”

At that, Caelum froze, his thoughts coming to a screeching halt. Wait. What? Pegasus? Unicorn? He had considered the existence of magical creatures in this world, but not mythical ones like pegasus and unicorns. Queen Lysandra smiled knowingly, her hand brushing over Caelum’s hair as she adjusted him in her arms. “Ah, my curious little star, do not judge this place by its surface. You see, this is no ordinary forest,” she said, her tone dropping just slightly, becoming almost conspiratorial.

“Oh yeah? looks ordinary to me.” Caelum said, still skeptical, his little nose scrunching up as he peered at the rows of unremarkable trees. Her voice lowered further as she answered, “This is the Nullwood.”

“Nullwood? That doesn’t sound good. What’s so scary about it?”

“It’s a place where magic cannot be used,” Lysandra said, her voice soft but steady. “The trees here have stood for centuries, feeding off the very essence of magic in the air, draining it from anything that passes through.” Caelum blinked, his disappointment giving way to curiosity. “Drains magic? Like… eats it?”

“Precisely,” the queen said, her gaze sweeping the towering trees. “No spell, no enchantment, no celestial power works here. This forest is quiet, still… and hungry.” The atmosphere seemed to shift with her words. The forest, which had seemed so ordinary, now felt oppressively silent. There was no birdsong, no rustling of animals. Even the breeze seemed reluctant to disturb the trees. Caelum’s eyes narrowed. “That’s… kind of cool,” he admitted grudgingly, though he still crossed his arms. “But it’s still just trees. I thought there’d be monsters or glowing plants or something!”

The queen laughed softly, her tone soothing but laced with caution. “Do not underestimate the Nullwood, my star. Its power may not be as flashy as monsters or glowing plants, but it is no less dangerous. Many who enter here unprepared never find their way out again.”

The king, walking ahead, turned back and added, “Keep your wits about you, Caelum. The Nullwood has its own secrets. Perhaps it will show you a glimpse of them.” Caelum pouted but couldn’t suppress the small thrill of anticipation that ran through him. Draining magic? Nullifying powers? I’ve never heard of anything like this. What kind of energy do these trees feed on? Is it localized to this forest, or is it a phenomenon that could spread? His mind whirred with questions, though outwardly he tried to appear unimpressed. “Fine. But if nothing exciting happens, I’m holding you both responsible,” he declared, pointing accusingly at his parents. The queen chuckled, carrying him further into the eerie silence of the Nullwood. “Oh, my little star, I think you’ll find excitement soon enough.”

Finally, after what felt like an eternity of climbing, the dense forest began to thin, and the path leveled out. Ahead of them stretched a vast, flat grassland, the horizon obscured by mist. The moment they stepped onto the field, the air shifted. The sunlight that had bathed the forest faded abruptly, replaced by a velvety darkness. Caelum blinked, his wide eyes adjusting to the sudden change. Above them, the night sky unfolded, radiant and awe-inspiring. It wasn’t just the stars—it was an entire cosmos painted across the heavens. The stars here were impossibly bright, their light shimmering in hues of gold, sapphire, and amethyst. Constellations pulsed gently, as though alive, while nebulae spread across the sky like vibrant brushstrokes of pink, violet, and emerald. Shooting stars streaked across the heavens, their trails lingering like silver threads. The sheer brilliance of the view left Caelum breathless.

Back on Earth, I thought the Hubble Telescope’s images were the closest I’d ever get to seeing the true grandeur of space. His heart quickened, memories of late nights pouring over star charts and spectral data flashing through his mind. But this... this defies every theory, every observation I ever made. I used to dream of a sky like this. He reached out instinctively with his tiny hands, as though trying to grab the stars themselves. His parents paused, glancing down at him. “Oh, look at him,” his mother said softly, her voice tinged with emotion. “He’s completely enchanted.”

Caelum let out a soft laugh in his mind, his thoughts flowing with the awe he couldn’t yet articulate. Enchanted is an understatement. I spent years studying star formation, theorizing about distant galaxies, trying to comprehend the universe's secrets. And now... I’m standing beneath it, like it’s welcoming me home. His awe turned into curiosity. He tilted his tiny head, taking in the shimmering constellations above. Each one pulsates, almost like it’s alive. Are the stars here... sentient? His scientific mind roared back to life, cataloging questions he would someday pursue. Do they follow the same life cycles as stars on Earth? Are they born, do they die, or is their glow eternal?  “This is the sky of our world. This is the Cosmic Observatory, where the heavens reveal their secrets,” the king said proudly, his voice reverberating across the vast field.

Caelum’s thoughts raced, his curiosity relentless. Heavens reveal their secrets? That’s a bold claim. But if this world truly interacts with the stars… maybe there’s more truth to that statement than I could ever comprehend. His mother knelt beside him, brushing a hand gently over his hair. “You’ll come to understand it all one day, my little star,” she murmured. As Caelum stared, overwhelmed and exhilarated, a single thought echoed in his mind: What sort of wondrous world have I been reborn into?