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[center][h2][color=skyblue][ The Peerless Sky ][/color][/h2][/center]

[indent][indent][b]"You do realize I'm not a kid anymore, right?"[/b] a female voice spoke softly as Eli gazed out into the distance. The house his sister and him were living in was situated on top of a hill, overlooking the town. The stunning view from the terrace was Eli's favourite part of their home. It had an incredible feeling to it - homely above all. The two of them were doing all in their power to keep it that way. Yet, nothing can last forever. Years had passed and his sister had grown, much to his dislike. Change was on the horizon. And he was afraid that this terrace wouldn't be as homely after tonight. Plants danced along the breeze as the siblings sat on the edge, talking deep into the night. 

She patiently waited for his response, showing much more calmness than her older brother, who wasn't able to remain still. He shuffled, then got up, walked a couple of steps backwards and moved back to the sitting position. A process he repeated a few times. [b]"You'll always be that clumsy little kid to me, Mayo."[/b] finally the words left his lips and echoed into the night. The soft breeze caressed his skin as he felt shivers run down his spine. It was a strange sensation, his body telling him that something was amiss. He felt it, but was unable to put a finger on what it exactly was. It was far from cold, the weather was actually soothing. Besides, he was always able to handle cold. He wasn't ready to handle this. Must have been due to that.

[b]"Would you stop calling me Mayo? I hate that nickname."[/b]

His sister continued talking, but he zoned out, becoming completely entranced in his own thoughts. His younger sister - the small, naive, innocent little ball of joy was getting married. That wasn't right. His mind outright refused to accept it. She would move out of the house and away from the island, to carve her own path away from the safe harbour. Had every right to do so, but was she ready for it? Was she truly ready for such a big step in her life?

Probably. 

Definitely.

Ironically, she was always the more mature one. That meant only one thing. Eli wasn't ready for it. Then again...

[b]"Mayooooooooooooooooo~"[/b] he raised his voice before giving her a strong hug. This was not about him. After all, the news were supposed to be happy. And he knew that she was probably worried beyond measure about his reaction. Maybe he wasn't ready, but he would make sure that he appeared as if he did. Besides - he knew the man she was going to marry. He was his age. A good person, trustworthy. Decent.

[i]'As decent as a man that is going to marry my sister can be.'[/i]

[b]"We're going to have the biggest festival the island has ever seen! You are going to get a farewell party like no person in the history of this world. Leave it all to me!"[/b] he spoke as enthusiastically as humanly possible, while she studied his expressions - a wide grin eventually appearing on her face. A couple of tears welled up in her eyes, he saw it - he probably had the exact same look on his face. But neither one of them mentioned it. They weren't going to cry. Not tonight. At least not in front of each other. Eli turned his head the other way. 

[b]"Hey,"[/b] she tugged at his red sleeveless shirt. She never understood why he wore something like that. Who wore a sleeveless shirt with a hood? [b]"Hey!"[/b] she tugged harder, not stopping until she got his attention. Eli looked at her only to see her pointing at the sky; the sky filled with shooting stars, unused wishes. The town was in deep slumber and the sound of crickets accompanied the scene as they looked on. It was a majestic scene, a plethora of fleeting embers burning into the night before disappearing beyond the horizon.

[b]"Guess we get a wish each,"[/b] Eli said, closing his eyes to think of one. It was easy. He wished for his sister to have a wonderful life with her own family. He truly wished for that. He had also hoped she didn't wish for something ridiculous. Like for him to stop wearing his favourite shirt. Eli knew how much she hated that shirt. Most people did, for some reason.

While Mayo was deep in her thoughts, Eli noticed a star supposedly making its way down to the ground, in vicinity of their house. It was a quiet descent, a couple of miles away. [b]"How about we call it a day, huh? We have a wedding to plan out tomorrow!"[/b] Eli hastily proclaimed, almost rushing Mayo into the house. He had just thought of the greatest idea in the history of mankind. If a wishing star truly descended around here and he was fast enough, there was a chance he would be able to find some remnants of it - a fragment of a celestial body. It would be the best gift for his sister. Convincing himself that the logic behind it was impeccable, he quietly took his bag with him, not even caring to check what was in it. He just grabbed the bag, his grey coat and moved towards the crash site.

The roads became more and more barren as he ran towards the source, until the roads were no more and Eli found himself at the entrance to the forest. In hindsight, he didn't know why anyone called it a forest. It was just a patch of trees and a clearing in the middle. A perfect spot for romantic dates. [i]'Not to brag, but I kinda found it,'[/i] he thought to himself as he recalled a couple of blind dates he had, that eventually ended up here. Awkward memories, but fun nevertheless.

He traced the memories as he walked towards the clearing, feeling those same shivers. He had a stinging feeling that something would be waiting for him in the clearing. And was a bit terrified. Alone, in the middle of the night, going to find something that he only saw in his wildest dreams. It could be a heavenly being. A god. A goddess, preferably. Or something dangerous. Vicious. And unknown entity. Or. Or.

An egg?

[b]"An egg?!"[/b] the sight in front of him left him flabbergasted. Not only was it something he didn't except, not [i]even[/i] in his wildest dreams, but it was an egg. A floating egg. Hovering slightly above the ground. It didn't look anything like a star. But then again, he never saw a star face to face before. Or, well, face to egg. For all he knew, maybe all stars had the shape of an egg. He stopped himself for a moment, wondering why he had such a fascination with it being egg shaped, while it was clearly hovering above the ground in front of him. Something that he thought was impossible.

[b]"Are you alive? Can you hear me?"[/b] he cautiously whispered into the air. No answer. He stood there for a couple of seconds before a sigh of relief came out. It didn't appear to be something sentient. Then again, it didn't appear to be a heavenly being either. If it was, his entire vision of what heavenly beings look like would be shattered. Brutally.

Eli took his time, taking in his surrounding. There was no one around. He was able to hear a couple of owls in the distance and the rustling of branches, but the sound of crickets had subsided. It was eerie. And he hadn't noticed it until now. He took a couple of steps towards it and carefully placed his hand onto the cold surface. It was smoother than an egg, for sure. Smoother than anything he ever felt before, a texture completely unknown to him. And just as he removed his hand, the hatch had slid upwards with only a subtle buzzing noise. Eli was sure that he would not even had noticed it had he not focused on the sound of crickets, or its apparent absence, moments before.

The interior was bright, illuminating Eli's face and a small radius of the clearing. Even from his current position, he was able to see some flashing lights coming from the inside. The centre of the interior was occupied by a white seat. It would have probably been a peaceful light, had he not came from the dark night. This way, his eyes hurt momentarily and he had to look away until his sight adjusted to the sudden change of brightness. But, as it did, another idea clicked. What was he waiting for? This was what he wished for, a perfect gift for his sister. The wide array of flashing lights beckoned him inside. [b]"If this goes horribly wrong, how stupid of a death would it be?"[/b] he spoke out loud, hoping that a voice from above would stop him if he was about to do something incredibly stupid. He actually hoped that would happen. But nothing signalled him to stop.

He had to position himself to sit in the central seat in order to be able to reach the lights, which he thought, at that moment, was a pretty useful and neat design. [b]"Gods really know how to live in luxury, huh?"[/b] he blurted out, but as he did - the hatch had slid back down. It was too fast for him to react, but he noticed the light starting to blink more rapidly and chaotically than before. [b]"Hey, hey, hey now. I was joking. I didn't mean to offend!"[/b] Eli spoke in a half-joking, half-panicked tone. It didn't take long for a blue liquid to start filling the pod up. He punched the hatch a couple of times as his brain went into an overload mode. Whatever this was, it wasn't right. His punches did no good, instead only made his fist hurt. Yet, he didn't stop. 

Eli continued punching until the liquid engulfed him. He expected pain. Especially with his fear of drowning. His heart was drumming and he was able to feel the blood coursing through his veins. But instead of tremendous pain, he felt at peace. At peace and... drowsy. Whatever this was, it felt much more right than a couple of moments before.

[i]'Just like a massage... I gotta show my friends this...'[/i][/indent][/indent]

[center][h2][color=skyblue]- - - -[/color][/h2][/center]

[center][h2][color=skyblue][ 15 years later ][/color][/h2][/center]

[center][h2][color=skyblue]- - - -[/color][/h2][/center]

[indent][indent]What a dream he had, floating around in an endless sea of egg yolk and on his way to meet the goddess of life. The creator of his puny existence. On his command, the yolk spread and he was able to walk without disturbance, able to notice various organisms swimming peacefully with their families. Fishes with scales made of eggs. A whale pushing out a stream of yolk. Yolk. Yolk all around him.
Until he came across a shark, a one eyed shark - with an egg in place of his eye.

He gasped for air as he hastily opened his eyes, only to find himself falling down to the ground moments after. Apparently, the hatch had opened and let him out. Gloriously allowed him to faceplant the ground. No need to worry though. He was going to fall into the grass anyway. As long as he shuffles a bit to the side, so he doesn't hit the ground with his nose, he was going to be fine. After all - it was grass below him.

The moment had passed faster than he had expected and a loud thump echoed through the room. The fall hurt much more than he had expected.
As his hands traced the cold floor around him, Eli had a sudden realization that this was not grass. Not even an inch of grass. [b]"That hurts!"[/b] Eli proclaimed as he brought himself up to his feet, scratching the back of his head. [b]"Thanks for nothing, Gods."[/b] he said, looking up - full expecting to see a familiar sky.

The curved ceiling was far from familiar. That was the first time he actually thought about double checking his surroundings. There were more pods like his own around him, each opening its hatch. His instincts told him he was not alone here. But where was [i]here[/i], Eli had no idea. As he looked on, unaware of what would come out of the pods, a female voice caught his attention. She seemed fairly normal, which prompted Eli to sigh again; relief clearly escaping his chest. And she didn't feel dangerous at all. If anything, the air around her appeared to be of a confused nature. Which was a good sign.

[b]"Natazume, right? You must have found an egg in the clearing too. Don't remember seeing you around town, but hey, welcome to Acrine."[/b] Eli spread his arms as if to showcase something, but he immediately remembered that this was no Acrine. And unless it was a prank made for some upcoming festivity he didn't know about - this was in no way, shape or form Acrine. [b]"Or welcome to wherever we are now. I'm Eli. To be honest, when I heard your voice, I was afraid I'd look in your direction and see a yolk fish sitting there. Glad that didn't happen. Nice to meet you!"[/b] Eli rambled on, realizing far too late that yolk fishes were only a thing in his dreams.[/indent][/indent]