Above the ruins, the frozen stars turned slowly in the still air, every one of them catching Kori's light in its own, special way.
"Is that what stars look like?" he heard himself ask.
Kori looked up at them too, and for a moment she looked younger than he'd ever seen her. "Yes," she said. "Yes, they do."
"You've seen them!?" Raizen exclaimed.
"I've seen more than I'd ever want to see, Raizen," she answered, slightly melancholic.
Raizen stared at her. "The professor said nobody alive has ever seen the moon."
"The professor says a lot of things." Kori didn't look away from the frozen lights. "Most of them are even true, but some things are better untold."
It wasn't really an answer, and they both knew it. Before he could push, she turned the knives a fraction, and the stone woke up.
