who is the twins mother/parent :0? how exactly does birth work!!
*Upon hearing this question the twins froze, ad great distress and even fear took over their expressions. With every second the atmosphere became darker, and you swear you could feel like something, or someone, was watching. The two stuttered, trying to find the words
Mekh: I... our... mom...?
*Sah, despite looking more terrified than Mekh, still was more talkative
Sah: Oh... our... well... she-
*Before Sah could properly answer, Mekh quickly smashed their metal hand against their brother's mouth to silence him, and with a maniac look, as if something overtaken them, quickly answered with a fake laugh
Mekh: mom? What mom? You must have mistaken something. We didn't- we don't have a mom. We are one star split into 2, just like the legend goes, you know, haha...
*The shadows became thicker, and for some reason, you found yourself struggling to breathe, the twins seem to have trouble with that too. However, suddenly, the darkness disappeared. And while the atmosphere of uneasiness persisted, at least the bone chilling feeling of being watched disappeared as quickly as it appeared
Daleth: Sah? Mekh? Is everything all right? I came in to remind you that we have a meeting tomorrow, so you two will go sleep early. But I couldn't not notice the darkness that concentrated at the coliseum. Are you two alright?
*The old man's gentle voice and caring aura seemed to snap the elders out of panic and clear out the rest of the darkness. The twins quickly looked at him, both sighing in relief.
Mekh: no no, everything is completely okay, haha! Especially with you here. You came just in time! I think this little punk here wants an answer to a question you are an expert in!
*Mekh quickly pushed Daleth into the center, as if trying to change the subject
Daleth: W-wow there, missy, careful! My back is more fragile than it used to be!
Daleth: So, a question for me, huh? Well, I would be more than happy to share my knowledge with you, my child. Quiet an interesting and a bit complicated one, may I say, but I shall do my best to explain it so you understand it at best...
Daleth: As most of you probably know, the mortal birth is quite a complicated process - two mortals sire a child together, and the person with the womb carries the baby for 9 months in their belly, until the baby's body is fully formed. At that point, the person carrying the child goes through labor, which ends up in the parent pushing out their newborn baby out of their body.
However, that does not how it works for elders... or, well, more correctly: it doesn't work that way for STARS. The stars, unlike the mortals, are sexless beings - they do not have any reproductive organs, therefore, can not sire a child physically, the way the mortals do it.
Daleth: Because the Stars are lacking the reproductive system (just like many other systems), we rely on our CORES. The cores are a whole other topic, however, in short, they are the center of our beings - they are our soul and body, our conscious, and the source of our power. Your flying kind also has cores! Though it looks different from ours, as yours are in a shape of a candle and have a different purpose.
But I'm getting a bit off track here.
The cores of Stars are the thing that allows us to reproduce. When a Star wishes to become a parent, ko has two main ways of doing so: either by "star collapsing", in which the Star will "fuse" kavs core with a core of another Star, or by "virgin birth", in which the star will receive a blessing from the mighty bird of light herself.
In both cases, it results in the same thing: a little twinkle is sired in the center of the core, to the happiness of the future parent.
Daleth: The Star will then carry the twinkle in kavs core (that they most of the time hide in a special chest cavity, just like you hide your candle) for an uncertain time, as each twinkle takes its own time to develop. At the end of the process, when the twinkle is ready, it breaks out of the center of the core, by penetrating the walls of the membrane that formed around it. It's a very complicated and painful process, almost as hard as the mortal birth. If everything goes successfully, the stretched-out membrane will shrivel and return to the original size of the center of the core. When the twinkle is out, it will take some time to gather strength and light. And if everything is okay - it will form a body from special light fluid it was covered in when it was inside kavs parent core, called "dvash".
In the end, the Star will finally be able to hug kavs newborn starlight.
I am lucky to be a birth helper, as I got to witness this magical process quite often throughout my life. My last time was with the twins when their mo-
*Suddenly, the twins interrupted the old man yet again, standing in front of him
Sah: Oh, won't you look at that! The candles at our shrine almost run out! This is certainly interesting, but I am afraid we will have to say good night to you!
Mekh: yes, it was nice to see you, but we have to go now. I can feel the fire on the candles dimming, and it's a signal our time is up. But we certainly will be happy to see you tomorrow! Goodnight!
Daleth: But... but the child of light can easily replace the candles in the shrines-
Sah: Sure thing, grandpa! Now let's get you to bed.
*The two quickly pushed the old man away, as your vision faded to white. You found yourself back at the dark temple, with the candles burned down.
~End of prologue: the night in the coliseum~
