Chapter Text
"Joph, where do the stars come from?"
Nights like these were Saparata’s favorites. Despite living in the desert, it always gets cold at dusk. When Saps cuddles up with Jophiel he finds that he cannot think of a safer place than within her arms.
Jophiel smiles, looking back up at the sky. "I’m not sure. Some people say that a very powerful man created them, created us." She sighs, "Stars aren’t immortal. One day, they die, and when they do, they explode. The stardust floats around the universe, forging new things." She gently grasps Saps’ chin and tilts his head up, looking at her little brother with loving eyes. "You and I, Saparata, are made of perfectly aligned cosmic specks."
His eyes light up, fascinated.
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Saparata runs around the hallways of the sand castle, making his way to where his dad does his "president work", as Micro likes to call it. He opens the door, forgetting to knock despite being reminded every time by his father, and sees that his father isn’t alone in the room.
"Saps, I’m kind of busy here." His father says, voice annoyed. But Saparata is not interested in his father anymore. He stares at the two men he’s never seen before that are standing next to his dad. One of them being a boy with dark black hair and purple eyes that seems to be around his age who is looking back at him with an unreadable expression. Next to him stands the other man, who looks a lot like a bird and seems to be the purple-eyed boy’s father or guardian.
The black-haired child looks very noble, but most importantly out of place. His royal-esque attire is nothing like Saps has ever seen anyone wear in Theria. Is he from somewhere else? One of the other islands, maybe? He slowly walks up to him.
His father sighs. "I’m very sorry, Crow. This is my boy, Saparata Jr., and he has no manners.’" The bird-man, apparently named Crow, laughs at this.
"It’s fine, I have a little girl back at home just like that." Crows chuckles out. "Don’t worry, it won’t be like this forever."
This makes Saparata’s father smile sadly, and he looks at both him and the other boy. His expression vacillates for a moment before opening his mouth.
"Hey Saps, why don’t you show Fluixon around the village?" His father proposes.
The raven-haired boy, seemingly named Fluixon, looks at Saps with a shy expression. Saparata smiles, extroverted as ever, and sees this as an opportunity to make a new friend. He takes Fluixon’s hands which are exceptionally cold compared to his own and drags him out of the office.
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Fluixon follows his father as they make their way back to the boat that brought them to the Desert Island. He looks back a few times at the village Saparata showed him around today and he catches himself wishing he could’ve stayed a little longer. He’s never felt this before. He’s never had a friend before. He has his big sister, Cynikka and his big brother, Ender but they don’t hang out with him in Aculon like he and Saparata just had. Elanuelo would probably disapprove of it anyway.
Fluixon frowns sadly before looking up at his father. "Dad, will I ever see Saps again?" he asks, voice timid.
Crow looks at Fluixon with a surprised expression, like he never expected his son to say that in a million years. "...I don’t know, Fluixon. Maybe." he answers, truthfully.
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The morning sun illuminates the dunes of the desert in that way that mesmerizes Saparata every time. He gets out of his bed and makes his way down to the communal area of the castle to wish his siblings a good morning. He had a great day yesterday with his new friend, Fluixon and he hopes he’ll see him again soon.
"Oh Micro!" Saps sing-songs as he runs down the stairs. He jumps onto Micro’s back and hugs him tight. "Good morning, favorite brother!"
His little brother, Snowbird, sighs sadly. "I thought I was your favorite…"
Saps giggles, "It depends on the day! Today, Micro is my favorite!’"
"Okay, we get it, please get off.’" Micro groans, pushing Saps off his back.
This morning was like any other. It was like the morning yesterday and the day before that. Saparata was happy to live here with his dad, his big sister Jophiel, his twin brother Micro and his little brother Snowbird. He was sure that tomorrow morning would also be like this. He hopes so, at least.
Jophiel suddenly bursts into the room with a devastated expression on her face. She rushes to their father’s office and slams the doors shut. The boys look at each other with equally puzzled expressions on their faces. Saps was always the most curious and nosy of them, so he’s the first one to have the guts to go ask Jophiel what happened.
He’s never seen Jophiel look like that before. She looked like she’d seen the most traumatizing thing of all time. She looked scared, sad, and all the negative emotions rolled into one. Saparata’s heart beats rapidly and his palms get sweaty. He’s scared. His breathing gets heavier as he slowly walks to the office’s door. What if something really, really bad happened? His brows furrow and he shakes his head. Now is no time to panic. His father always told him to stay strong and brave in situations like these.
He opens the door slowly, peeking his eye out carefully. He sees his big sister frantically gathering notebooks and papers, breathing loudly and letting out soft sobs. He looks down at her dress and notices… blood? Bloodstains on her blue gown. His eyes widen and his heart sinks. He opens the door all the way and runs to his sister.
"Joph?! W-what happened? Why is there blood?!’" Saps stutters out, matching the panic his sister is very obviously reeling in.
Jophiel looks at him with that same paralyzing expression as earlier. Her face is red and her cheeks are tear-stained. She stares at him for a moment, unmoving, before crouching down to Saparata’s level. She cups his cheek and lets out a deep shaky breath, her tears running anew.
"Our father is dead, Saparata."