Star-Lore

Sakudara leaned against the wooden wall, arms crossed, his eyes watching Spriggan closely.

"You're helping us. You saved us. You're hiding Bobo's truth from your own people," Saku said slowly. "Why? What are you doing this for?"

Spriggan, who had been pouring glowing green water into wooden cups, didn't answer right away.

He placed one cup gently in front of Sharmitha, one near Bobo who was sniffing it suspiciously, and one for Lyra.

Then he sat down slowly on a short wooden stool, the bark creaking under his weight.

"You know what's in the Deep Void?" he asked suddenly.

Everyone froze.

"There's a space… farther than the stars… darker than anything. Not black. Not silence. But... hungry. A place where no one moves. Where even light forgets itself. That's the Deep Void."

Saku narrowed his eyes. "And what's in it?"

Spriggan leaned forward, his voice dropping low.

"No one knows what lives there. But long ago, in the early cycles of Eternity, something came out of it. Something terrible. And gods had to fight together just to push it back in."

He paused. Everyone listened, breath held.

"Some say… that thing wasn't destroyed. It just… waits."

Bobo slowly put down his cup. "Waits for what?"

Spriggan looked straight at him. "For the door to open again."

Sakudara sat down slowly, his anger cooled. "You think something bad is coming?"

"I know it is," Spriggan said.

He looked out the small round window, into the sky beyond.

I've seen what the Federation does in secret. And I've seen power like Bobo's… once before. A long, long time ago."

Sharmitha leaned forward. "Someone like Bobo?"

Spriggan's face was still. "No. Not like him."

He turned and looked directly at the boy now chewing on the edge of a wooden cup.

"Someone exactly like him."

The room went silent.

Spriggan's words hung in the air.

"The Deep Void," he began, his voice low and serious, "has many mysteries that no one understands. People have tried to enter it… but no one ever returns. It's not just a place. It's a boundary, a limit. Something far beyond the known universe.

Everyone in the room shifted uneasily.

"But there's more," Spriggan continued, eyes narrowing. "In the heart of the Deep Void lies a kingdom. A place that no one has seen, but everyone has heard about." He paused, letting the tension build.

"The Kingdom of Dazsa."

Saku squinted, confused. "Dazsa? Never heard of it."

Lyra tilted her head, her eyes filled with curiosity. "Is that… another planet?"

Spriggan shook his head slowly. "No, it's not just a planet. It's… the place where gods once lived." He let those words hang in the air, the weight of them sinking deep into the room.

Sharmitha's breath caught. Her eyes widened, and she took a step back, her hands shaking ever so slightly. "Wait…" she whispered, "I… I've read about this. In an old book. It said that Dazsa was the birthplace of the gods, the place where they first gained their power. But it's… gone. Vanished."

She glanced at Saku, who was watching her closely, his expression growing more serious. "How could something like that just vanish?"

Spriggan nodded, his expression grave. "No one knows. Some say it was hidden, sealed away by the gods themselves to keep it safe. Others believe it was destroyed in a battle that changed everything. The last great battle. The war between the gods and the guardians."

Everyone fell silent.

"The Deep Void isn't just a place," Spriggan said, his voice becoming more intense. "It's the doorway to the kingdom of Dazsa. The power source that's inside Bobo, it's tied to Dazsa. That's where it originated."

Bobo stood frozen for a moment, his goofy expression replaced with something more serious. His glowing chest dimmed a little, as though absorbing the weight of Spriggan's words.

"So, you mean…" Lyra started slowly, her voice trailing off. "This power inside Bobo is… from Dazsa?"

Sharmitha bit her lip, deep in thought. "The gods… used the power to defeat the guardians?"

Spriggan's eyes grew distant as he continued. "Yes. The gods themselves harnessed the power of Dazsa, using it to change the course of that war. And it's said that when the war was over, the gods sealed the power in the power source, But now…" His voice became more hushed, almost as if he was speaking a secret. "Now, the power is awakening again."

Everyone was silent, taking in the magnitude of what he said.

"But why would it choose Bobo?" Sharmitha finally asked, her voice trembling with uncertainty. "Why him?"

Spriggan turned to her, eyes dark and thoughtful. "That's the question, isn't it? If the power inside him is from Dazsa… if it was locked away for so long… maybe it's calling him for a reason. Maybe something big is coming."

He stood up, his wooden form creaking as he moved. "We need to find Dazsa. And when we do… we'll understand what this power really is. What it's meant to do."

Bobo looked around at everyone. He didn't speak, but there was a strange intensity in his glowing eyes now. It was almost as if he was listening, waiting, for something he couldn't yet understand.

Saku clenched his fists. "So, we're going to search for a lost kingdom in the Deep Void? Is that it?"

Spriggan gave him a grim nod. "Yes, that's what we'll have to do. If we can find Dazsa, we might just find the answers to everything that's happening."

Sharmitha's face was pale. "But… what if we can't find it?"

Spriggan turned toward the door, his expression unwavering. "Then you keep looking. Until you guys do."