Ada often dreamed of a veil that, when gently ripped apart, revealed two slim figures.
They would put a child from their arms into a cradle. Then the wind would blow from the window and disperse the silhouette, leaving the words, "Father and mother are leaving to see the world outside."
As Ada grew, the dream became more vivid. She saw her mother's flowing brown hair and her father's slightly pale chin. They left with increasing decisiveness, melding their bodies into that wondrous glow every time. Ada was familiar with that glow. She could see it every night in the sky and knew it was the aurora.
"What is the world outside like? If I could pilot a Colossus like them, can I leave Eraveil, too?" Ada longed.
One day, her wish was answered. She heard a voice coming from the bowel of Eraveil.
"The Colossi are made for the sky. There may be some for land and even for sea, but the sky is the Colossi's true home!"
"Those bulky Colossi are stupid. They could obviously fly so high, yet confined themselves to Eraveil without any ambition. If it was me, I'd take it to the end of the aurora! I'm not envious, though..."
"I wonder how does it feel to have a navigator?"
"It probably feels like you have a friend," Ada replied softly.
"Who is that? How come you can talk to me?" The little Colossus parked in the depth of Eraveil was surprised, her indicator flashed in fear. "Are you a ghost? No Caelestite would come to this junkyard. That just doesn't happen."
"But I am a Caelestite." Ada nimbly leaped on the head of the Colossus, which resembled a small dragon, and took a few curious stomps.
"Hey, does being a Caelestite mean you can eavesdrop and stomp on my head? My pretty head is off-limit to anyone!"
"It is pretty. There're even lovely flowers on it."
"I am pretty, that's for sure! So, Caelestite, why did you respond? Don't even think about pranking me, because I'll blow you to the sky with the last of my energy!"
"You want to fly, don't you?" Ada extended the invitation. "I always wanted to see what's outside Eraveil. Want to come?"
However, the Colossus didn't accept her offer and recoiled to the corner.
"Well, I'd like to, but I'm small and don't have much room. Even my wings are tiny. I don't think I can fly out of Eraveil. I just can't..."
"But you do want to." Ada reached out to the Colossus and, at that moment, a profound feeling washed over both as they were "linked" to each other.
The Colossus sensed her wings unfold and flew to the sky, seeing the world above like a whale leaping out of water. Together, the duo touched the stars and aurora.
The whole world was slowly unfolding in front of them.
"Oh, my name is Ada. What's yours?"
"Fly in the sky and walk with the wind, I am Kaz."

The tattered Kaz and novice navigator Ada meandered aimlessly in the sky. Minor turbulence turned them topsy turvy and, with energy running out, they were forced to land.
"I knew it, it's not wise to make impromptu trips like this. Now I'm stuck in the ground... I'm not good with flying, after all! Hmm, I guess you're not good with piloting, either!" Kaz spoke to Ada through the telepathic link.
Ada rubbed her head that hit the control panel during the landing. The right side was still sore, but she played it off like she didn't care. "I admit I'm not good at it, since I never took any Colossus operation lessons because I don't have a guardian."
"What? Then what gave you the guts to establish a mind link with me!"
"Uh, instinct, I guess." She got back on her feet. "But trust me, I think I have a knack for this."
"You're even more egotistical than I am! Though I find that somewhat appealing... I'm absolutely not going to fly again, however. I'd rather be buried in the dirt than get banged up in the air. I should be waiting in the junkyard for someone to disassemble me, not knee deep in some unknown wild like this... It feels creepy here! And wet! And so many weird mushrooms..."
"Not to mention unexpected visitors."
"Creatures" with weapons in hand charged Ada from all directions.
The tense Kaz closed her eyes. Noncombatant Caelestites like Ada were practically sitting ducks, doomed to be sundered by these monsters. The Lumina inside her stirred, as doubts surfaced one after another in her circuits. She was always a coward, couldn't fly, couldn't help her navigator, couldn't even keep her eyes open when Ada was in danger. She wanted to cry, but could a machine like her shed tears?
She heard Ada's voice, "Don't be afraid, Kaz. The problem's solved. We're okay."
When Kaz's eyes opened, she saw Ada holding a cat, with different animals lying around her.
"Caelestites aren't good fighters, but I am. I knocked these small animals down when they charged me, then rubbed their bellies. They just couldn't resist!"
The cat in her arms spoke at this time.
"How rude! We're not animals but demi-humans! You just crushed our most precious pearl mushroom and should pay us 10 million nightium in compensation! However, given your decent massage technique, we'll let you off the hook with just labor!"
"Demi-humans?" Ada stared at the cat in her arms, bewildered.
"Meow. Don't you know anything? Those who can see light trails are Caelestites. Those who can't see trails but can use Lumina are Aurorians." The cat stretched.
"What are demi-humans, then?"
"We communicate through language, we are strong, but got nothing to do with Lumina... Hey, scratch me here... Our great advantage, though, is..."
"We're so darn cute."

Traveling without a destination is like a seed of the dandelion, you go wherever the wind takes you.
The latest stop for Ada and Kaz is a barren ruin, where they met a compatriot from Eraveil: A Colossus full of flowers.
"It looks to be on the last leg and running out of energy." Ada stroked the aging behemoth, who trembled and breathed like a Caelestite.
"How can this be? Why don't you fly back to Eraveil? They can help you for sure!" opined a perplexed Kaz.
"Because I can no longer find my way back to Eraveil. Neither map nor navigation system could stop me from getting lost..." The poor Colossus slowly opened its eyes. "You could say this is my home now."
Ada sat down before the Colossus.
"Can you tell me your story?"
The giant raised its head. "My navigator and I came to this forest, where we met another race, the Aurorians."
"Hey, they're the ones who can control Lumina! They can shoot water out of their hands just by thinking about it!"
"So what? Can they fly? If you have to be impressed, be impressed with how powerful the Colossi are." Kaz mumbled, not caring for the Aurorians one bit.
"My navigator lived with and was accepted by Aurorians, but he felt lonely, nevertheless. Caelestites are different from Aurorians, and this is not his home. Just when he decided to leave, though, Eclipsites attacked the village."
"Eclipsites!" Ada's heart skipped a beat, her mind filled with the terrifying image of an ash-black monster emerging from darkness, snarling and stained with blood all over, rushing toward Ada. Just when a blade was only an inch from slashing her throat, the image dissipated.
"My navigator sacrificed his life to help the local Aurorians. They ultimately won, but the area was thoroughly tainted by Darkflow and rendered inhabitable. The Aurorians he protected returned and left flowers for him, the very same ones you see proliferating on me now."
Ada and Kaz were silent. They wanted to console the Colossus but didn't know what to say.
"Don't be sad, young ones. I never minded these flowers on me, nor I ever regretted waiting for the last bit of energy to drain from me, for I can sense lives awakening on my body. The magnificent flowers are tokens of the Aurorians' gratitude for my navigator, as well as my tribute to him."
The Colossus closed its eyes at last and cut off the mind link with Ada.
The flowers were the only sign of life in the ruin. Ada recalled her parents and Eraveil. She muttered, "Is it absolutely the right choice to see the outside world? Or is it absolutely wrong?"

"Sand covers everywhere here. If we stay here, my exterior will become filthy for sure... Ow, the sand's hot, too!"
Ada and Kaz flew to a desert and made a stop.
"Well done, Kaz! We can't see all this without you!"
The scorching sun overhead roasted the air. Sand dunes stretched all around forever. Even a Colossus was but a small grain in the desert. It was a sight perceivable only by leaving Eraveil.
"Can't see this without me? Yes, yes, that is true! I'm a great Colossus! So this is what a desert looks like! But there's no one around."
"What is that over there, though?"
A commotion arose in the otherwise quiet desert.
"Is that a ship? It's moving this way and going to crash into us!"
The poor Kaz had been wary ever since the journey began, and just got broadsided by a ship sailing in the desert.
"Ouch!" Kaz screamed. The ship rammed right into her wings.
The ship's captain stumbled out of the vehicle, holding his head.
"How do you do... Wow, that was a big crash. Anyway, I'm the leader of the Star Travelers. We are Aurorian nomads exploring the wonders of the world on our airship."
"I read about it in the files that ships sail on seas. How can there be a ship in a desert?" A puzzled Ada looked at the captain.
"There's no ship in deserts, of course, but there, you see."
Ada lowered her head in the direction that the captain was pointing. The sand under her feet was blown away to reveal a whole "sky." Even more amazing was that they saw a unique planet in it.
"That is our world, Eoria," explained the captain.
"It looks like a crumbling cookie in a bowl of water," Kaz whispered.
"Yes. As for the crumbled cookie, that's Astra. One side of this world is perpetual daylight, the other half is perpetual night. We live in the thin line between them."
"And you expect to explore the wonders of the world in a cruddy ship like this?"
The captain scratched his head. "It might look cruddy, but inside is quite luxurious. And we have the best crew around. Take our mechanic, for example..." An Aurorian on the ship swung a hammer as if to demonstrate skills, only to smash a hole in the ship. Another Aurorian attempted a graceful leap from the ship but fell headfirst into the sand.
"How embarrassing!" The captain rolled his eyes but quickly regained composure. "Blazing new trails and searching for the unknown is what we do."
"Are all Aurorians this curious?"
"Normal people wouldn't sail boats on sand."
"Sand?" Ada looked down and saw the galaxy beneath her feet was again covered in sand. When she looked up, the ship had vanished.
Were the Star Travelers just a dream or did they exist?

Ada sat at the edge of Azurite as Kaz hid in the clouds.
Time had flown by. It had been a while since they left Eraveil. A day, a month, a year... Or maybe several years. Memories of Eraveil had become increasingly fuzzy to Ada.
"Do you still remember what Eraveil was like, Kaz?"
"Of course I do, I'm a Colossus. Let me check the files... Hey, where did the files on Eraveil go? Did all the new information I've been saving erased the old? That can't be... My capacity can't be that pathetic!"
"I remember a white tower. There are tall white structures on Azurite too, but it's not the same. Birds would land on the tower in Eraveil, and beneath it is a forest with dandelions."
"Why did you establish a link with me and take me out of Eraveil, Ada?" Kaz followed Ada and stared out to the horizon. Desert, plain, snow cap, volcano, and even the sea were in sight, something cannot see without leaving Eraveil, but at the expense of one's recollection there.
"I just wanted to find the two people, my parents, in my dreams back then. I probably seemed laidback, but that was because I hated my life in Eraveil. I thought anywhere else would be better than there. My parents abandoned me in Eraveil. I couldn't fit in with other people and was by my lonesome all day. It was awful."
"I felt the same... I awoke to find myself an incomplete Colossus. Supposedly, I was a failure and could never fly. My fate was waiting for my energy to run out in the junkyard. Getting out of there was at least better than dying there, I thought. Oddly, I miss the place now."
"Me too. I don't know when, but I stopped caring about finding them. They must be living their own lives, and I have mine. Flying with you is much more interesting than trying to solve a meaningless mystery."
"Do you really feel that way? I wasn't expecting that! Can a Colossus process that? I got nothing in my archives about that!"
"Why can't I feel that way? We're partners, which is more than a superficial relationship." Ada closed her eyes and focused on the link. "Can you feel it?"
"I... I can feel it. I can feel what you're thinking, Ada. You're thinking..."
"Eraveil. I think it's time to go back to where we met."
Before the memories fade completely.