Ding.

The bell’s chime rippled through the city like waves, signaling the end of the day- the final bell of the season.

Below, the once-quiet streets erupted with life. Butterflies and moths rushed through walkways and flyways, their iridescent wings painting the sky in vibrant swirls beneath the Coral’s soft glow.

Workers zipped between buildings, folding their wings tightly as they landed in crowded courtyards, while students moved in flocks, their voices buzzing with excitement about the approaching break.

High above the bustling crowd, Richmond hovered, gripping the small bag dangling from his hand. The nectar bottles inside sloshed gently as he muttered to himself.

"Five bottles."

For the third time, he counted them, tapping the bag lightly.

"One for Deadleaf, Glasswing, Luna, Tinea… and one for me. No more arguments about who’s paying this time!"

The flyway was as crowded as ever, but Richmond had long grown used to the chaos.

The Coral-lit city stretched below him, familiar yet always moving.

To him, it was just another day.

A loud voice suddenly rang through the air, sharp, confident, and just desperate enough to sound convincing.

“BINOCULARS FOR SALE! A RARE CELESTIAL EVENT TAKING PLACE IN OUR VILLAGE! CAN ONLY BE SEEN HERE! BUY FAMILY PACKS FOR YOU AND YOUR LOVED ONES!”

Richmond paused mid-flight, turning toward the commotion.

Visitors from other villages crowded the stalls, eager to buy a pair. A celestial event? 

Curious, he fluttered closer.

"Hey! You there!" The vendor’s keen eyes locked onto him instantly. "You seem interested!"

"Wha- oh, no, no. I was just-"

"Curious, right?" The seller cut him off, leaning forward with a grin. "Come on, don’t be shy! Here, I’ll give you one for free- IF you buy this one for $15!"

"$15?" Richmond repeated, blinking.

The seller nodded enthusiastically. "A great deal, right? You’ll regret missing out! People are traveling from far away just to see this! Who knows when it'll happen again?"

Richmond hesitated.

Did he really need 2 pair of binoculars?

His fingers tightened around his bag of nectar bottles. He wasn’t even sure he had an extra $15 to spend.

But the energy around him was contagious- the chattering, the excitement, the anticipation.

And before he could think too hard about it-

$15 gone.

Richmond finally reached The Study Lounge, a cozy, dimly-lit shop where they paid for private rooms to study (or, in this case, argue and laze around).

Inside, Deadleaf sat cross legged on a cushion, his dark green hair sticking out in all directions, his dried-leaf-like wings twitching idly as he scribbled into his thick notebook. Across from him, Glasswing sat on the couch, reading his book. Richmond strolled in and tossed a bottle of nectar onto the cushion beside Deadleaf.

“Studying stars again? Or still drawing those stick figures with… questionable proportions?” he teased.

Deadleaf didn’t even look up. “The stars won’t study themselves.” He paused, then smirked. “Oh… let me guess-”

Glasswing cut in with a scoff. “You bought the binoculars.”

Before Richmond could defend himself, the door creaked open and Luna strode in, her face glowing with excitement.

“Sorry I’m late!”

She hurriedly hid her own binoculars behind her back.

The room erupted into laughter.

"Oh, look at that! The two petite idiots got scammed by the same vendor!" Glasswing teased.

Luna huffed, holding up her binoculars. “HEY! I DIDN’T GET SCAMMED! I BOUGHT THESE ON PURPOSE!”

Deadleaf, grinning, tapped his chin. “Alright, spill it. We’ll give you five minutes to defend yourself.”

Before the argument could continue, the door opened again.

Tinea entered, carrying a bag of warm satay and bread, her two tiny caterpillar kids wiggling at her feet. “Alright everyone, time to eat before these worms start devouring all of our food.”

The others settled down, and Richmond noticed the little ones holding tiny binoculars.

“Oh! That’s adorable!” he chuckled.

Tinea sighed, rolling her eyes fondly. “Hehe yeah… They wouldn’t stop crying until I bought them one. And they’re not even gonna watch the event! probably gonna fall asleep before it even starts.”

Richmond hesitated.

“About that… What kind of event?”

Luna suddenly snapped back to reality.

She rummaged through her bag, nearly knocking over a cup of nectar in her rush.

“ALLOW ME TO DEFEND MYSELF ONCE MORE!” she declared dramatically.

With a flourish, she slapped a newspaper onto the table.

Glasswing leaned over, his silver hair catching the dim lantern light as he read aloud.

“‘Gem Comet Sighting Tomorrow Night: A Rare Celestial Event.’”

He paused.

“…Are you saying you want us to go?” He raised an eyebrow. “Thus, you buying the binoculars?”

Luna’s wings fluttered excitedly.

“YES! I know it’s just another comet, but THIS-” she pointed at the headline, practically bouncing. “This one is said to contain unknown magic, maybe even secrets about ancient life!”

Deadleaf tilted his head. “Secrets about life, magic, and the universe?”

Luna crossed her arms, “That’s just what I said-”

Richmond glanced at the binoculars resting in his lap.

“…Why not go? I mean… we already bought them.”

Tinea stretched, yawning.

“Wish I could, but Momma needs some sleep. Better get these two home before they beg me to stay up past bedtime just to stare at a rock in the sky.”

Glasswing shrugged. “Well, we finished our projects, so I don’t see why not.”

Deadleaf sighed, his wings twitching. “If it’s boring, I’m out.”

Luna scoffed. “Oh, please. At least try to enjoy it.”

The group settled in, chatting between bites of satay and nectar.

Richmond sat in the middle of the group, carefully setting his binoculars aside to make space for food-

Thud.

The binoculars slipped from his hands, hitting the floor with a sharp crack. "Ah! What a waste," Richmond groaned, reaching down.

The others paused, their wings twitching at the sound.

He picked up the damaged binoculars, sighing. The lens had completely shattered. "At least you have one left as a spare," Deadleaf said reassuringly.

Richmond huffed, he reached for the scattered shards- and then-

"OUCH!"

A sudden sharp sting shot through his hand.

The group snapped their heads toward him. Tinea gasped. "You okay, honey? I have bandages ready." She immediately reached into her bag, unwrapping a small bandage with practiced ease. Of course, a mother always carried extra. She was used to her little ones getting into trouble- and, frankly, her friends weren’t much better.

Richmond felt a familiar wave of warmth as she carefully wrapped his hand.

Safe.

That was the feeling Tinea always gave him. Like a mother hen protecting her chicks.

Deadleaf huffed, crouching to help gather the shards. "You good? Which part did you cut yourself?"

Richmond nodded, showing his palm. A tiny fragment of glass was embedded in the center of his hand.

Luna winced. "Yikes. Something so small can stab that deep?"

Glasswing chimed in, frowning. "Yeah. We should check carefully for any shards. Don’t want to cause trouble for whoever comes in here next."

The group nodded, carefully sweeping the floor to make sure nothing sharp remained. Eventually, they finished cleaning up and headed home, ready for tomorrow’s celestial event.

But none of them noticed.

A single shard- small, glinting faintly in the dim light- had been left behind.