what makes the sky blue?

Closed summer starter for @skymaidcn·!

“Heh, who would’ve guessed a petting zoo would be open, especially around this time of year? Not that I’m complaining though, the animals are pretty cute.”

“Hmm? What’s so surprising about it? I’ve never been to a petting zoo, so I didn’t know they were supposed to be a seasonal thing...” The girl mused, lost in thought with the most serious expression on her face, as if visiting a petting zoo was serious business that required a proper approach. But such was her curious nature.

                                 “ What makes the SKY blue? ”

Lyria blinked, still half-awake as she struggled to get up. Before her she saw a boy around her age, maybe a little older — Cyril, a boy she met not too long ago but could already call him a good friend of hers. Her memories of the most recent events were oddly blurry and vague, and trying to recall any of the details only made her head ache, but there was one thing she knew for certain: thanks to him, she was now safe. And that was all she truly needed to know.

Slowly, she finally managed to sit up and wrapped her arms around her knees, her glance still turned to him. Little by little, energy seemed to come back to her, and she smiled wearily, albeit somewhat belatedly.

“I...?”

Something precious to you, he said.

Has been replaced, he then added, leaving her speechless.

That remark, so cryptic in nature, echoed in the girl’s mind as she met them with a confused glance, her head tilted ever so slightly to the side. Yet, although the meaning of those words seemed to elude Lyria, she felt a strange pang in her heart, a hint of a pain once forgotten, but no matter how hard she tried, she could not seem to recall the source of that odd feeling, that hint of nostalgia and longing. Or, perhaps...

... a distant memory of a feeling that had once lingered at the back of her mind. But still... but still...

“I guess you’re right!”

Lightheartedly, the girl laughed, her arms behind her back as she looked at Gran, her eyes shining with excitement. One could deem her reaction to such a simple statement a bit excessive, but to Lyria, the ability to agree with his words meant the world. Were it not for the people she’d met, people she had grown so fond of, her will to live and, most importantly, love her life would never return.

Katalina, Gran, Vyrn, Rackam, Io, Eugen and many, many others... all of their faces and names she held dear.

And none of them, no matter how fleeting some of those meetings could be, she would ever forget no matter what.

Never forget.

Those words echoed in the girl’s mind as she fell silent for a moment that, to her, seemed to last forever, her somewhat absent-minded glance turned to the vast blue sky. The memories of numerous encounters flashed before her eyes, too many to remember all at once, and yet those faces... all of the faces of people she’d met throughout her journey, the faces of new friends she made, even the faces of their enemies...

She’d recognize them anywhere, at any moment.

How...