For the rest of the day, Lear lived, mechanically performing his duties. At dinner he hardly listened to the conversations of his classmates and at the end of the day, exhausted by internal torments, he crawled to bed and fell face down into the pillow.

***

When he opened his eyes, he found himself standing in the middle of an endless space in semi-darkness. There was water under his feet, barely reaching his ankles. However, his wet sneakers were uncomfortable, and Lear wanted to get out of here as soon as possible.

From here – where was that, exactly?

He looked around. There was absolutely nothing around except darkness and a weak, muted glow, which gave the darkness a purple tint.

The space seemed to stretch infinitely in all directions of the world, but it was difficult to make out anything further than a certain distance, no matter how Lear strained his eyes.

He stretched out his hand, but it did not touch anything and just hung in the air. He really was standing in absolute emptiness, but he was in no hurry to panic.

Lear felt calm, as if he was not here at all, but was seeing some kind of memory or something.

As if he was seeing a dream.

So he just had to wait. He couldn't control his dreams and remembered them almost completely.

There was something new in what was happening, but nothing supernatural.

"Hello, Lear."

A loud female voice echoed throughout the space.

For some unknown reason, Lear felt excited. So believable, almost like in real life.

The voice sounded like a clap of thunder from everywhere:

"I am one of the fifteen Behenian stars. Have you heard of me, mortal? I saved you from the nightmare to which you were doomed and had to call life."

Lear suppressed a shudder. A silhouette appeared in front of him, as if out of thin air. Looking closely, he realized that he was looking at a girl whose body was radiating a white glow. Two horns grew from her head.

Now the voice came from the girl's mouth and sounded almost like that of an ordinary person, while being clear and cheerful:

"My name is Capella, and it was I who fulfilled your wish."