The highland stretched endlessly beneath a yawning sky, a vast plateau suspended between the clawed peaks of Dwargo's jagged mountains and the rolling green plains of Thraghurn. No trees pierced the horizon, only an ocean of golden grass swaying in silence and blossoms that opened like sleepy stars to the daylight.
A soft, low-hanging cloud brushed against the flower-strewn ground, drifting lazily like a dollop of spilled whipped cream stretching across the highland's edge; its dreamy, confection-like texture instantly captivated Sakura, who, driven by her bottomless appetite and boundless imagination, dashed forward with gleaming eyes and outstretched hands as if to scoop and taste the sky itself.
"I wanna eat it, !"
"No!" Gabyola caught the pink-haired girl mid-dash, her gentle archer's grip unyielding. "That's not food. Again."
"But it looks like cotton candy..." Sakura's eyes shimmered with betrayed longing.
"It's condensed water vapor," Yuuna said, not looking up from her book. Her expression remained blank, as always, but something in her voice softened. "You'll only get wet."
As the rest of the party crested the final rise of the gentle slope behind them, their boots sank into the soft, wind-brushed carpet of flattened grass, which spread out across a vast natural plateau; the highland unfolded before them like a cradle suspended between earth and heaven, its flower-dappled expanse embracing the sky itself, where drifting clouds wove through the air like whispered lullabies over a world untouched by war or worry.
Fuhiken gazed out at the cloudline. "We'll rest here for now. Let's set up a temporary camp. It's a good vantage point."
He barely finished the sentence when Fahleena cartwheeled past him, landing with arms spread wide in the center of the field.
"Welcome, !" she declared to the heavens, ", to the Cradle of Aetherial Serenity of Cynosure of Whispering Clouds and the Thousandfold Bloom of The Last Sanctuary of the Skyborne Crest Where Celestial Blossoms Mourn!"
Everyone stopped, their movements slowing naturally as the weight of the moment settled in; conversations trailed off, and the group instinctively turned their attention toward the center of the field, where Fahleena stood posing dramatically, her voice still echoing faintly across the open highland air.
"That's not a name. That's a poem," Kyle muttered, poking a flower with the barrel of his mana rifle. "Also, seriously, mourn?"
"It is the truth! A sacred realm between sky and earth where fate weaves whispers into clouds!" Fahleena lifted her keyblade, her so-called Keyblade of Destiny, toward the sun, which cast an innocent gleam along the silver edge. "And I, Fahleena the Starlight Wanderer, shall bear this world's memory in my soul!"
Jessica, usually the quiet one, clutched her sides. "Th-The... Celestial Blossoms Mourn...!"
Gigih, thumbing through his well-worn spellbook, nodded with quiet approval as he glanced at Fahleena's elaborate name. "Sounds like a proper spell incantation," he murmured. "But I'd tweak it, maybe something like 'Lament of the Sky Petals, Burst Form Three.' Has a nice explosion vibe."
"That's not how naming works," Fuhiken groaned, already sensing a migraine creeping in.
"I pick 'Hysperia,'" Kyle declared, lazily aiming his rifle at a dandelion. "Short. Cool. Easy to remember."
Sakura's turn: "I name it, Cloud-Fluff Flower Stew Delight."
"No."
"Why?"
Gabyola was crouched delicately near a patch of blue blossoms, tying them into a ring. "Because that's a food, dear."
"...Still a beautiful name."
Yuuna looked up briefly. "Hysperia is acceptable."
Adiw stretched, arms cracking. "Sure. Hysperia."
Sinryo grinned. "Sounds marketable. I vote Hysperia."
The vote was clearly going in Kyle's favor, until Orchid, uncharacteristically solemn, stepped forward, one hand clutching her long sword like a ceremonial banner.
"I propose..." Her voice dropped into a theatrical, grave tone, one that Fahleena immediately recognized as her own signature cadence. As Orchid raised her longsword skyward with solemn flair, a sudden gust of wind swept across the plateau, scattering petals into the air like fluttering runes. Behind her, a shaft of golden sunlight broke through the drifting clouds as if nature itself acknowledged the declaration. "...The Blossom-Wreathed Eminence of the Ethereal Spire Upon Which Light and Wind Eternally Collide in Symphonic Twilight Harmony."
Even Fahleena's jaw dropped.
"...You plagiarized my soul," she whispered.
"No, I just, felt it," Orchid replied, her gaze distant, her braid fluttering in the highland wind like the tail of a wandering spirit. "Like my heart spoke in flowers and swords."
Kyle snorted. "Are you two okay?"
Fuhiken raised his hands. "Enough! Everyone vote. We'll name the land based on majority rule."
Votes tallied, Hysperia won, by a narrow margin.
Fuhiken exhaled deeply. "Good. Let's... enjoy it while we can."
The party settled. Blankets unfurled, a few snacks laid out. Sakura's magic stove hissed to life, and the group's usual chaos began to take its shape, comfortably familiar.
Gaby sat beside Jessica and began braiding her hair with flower stems. "Let's keep this place clean," she murmured. "It's rare to find somewhere untouched like this."
Gigih stood on a boulder, spellbook on left hand, right hand pointed at the sky. "I will bend the heavens!"
"No," Fuhiken warned, "no magic experiments, "
Too late, before anyone could stop him, Gigih had already raised his hand high into the air, eyes gleaming with excitement as arcane symbols flickered to life around him. He began chanting in a low, rhythmic tone, each syllable drawing invisible currents of wind that swirled around his feet and rustled the grass with growing intensity, the air itself responding to his call as if holding its breath in anticipation.
"Whirling gale from vaulted sky! Answer my call, Ars Aero Tempestia!"
A brilliant ring of pale-blue magic burst open high above them, expanding like a ripple across the sky as if someone had thrown a pebble into the firmament. The clouds, once soft and tranquil, suddenly twisted with agitation, their shapes warping into spiraling columns that spun and collided in a dance of chaotic beauty. Tendrils of vapor coiled downward like ethereal serpents, and a sudden chill swept across the highland. Then, with a deep, resonant rumble that echoed across the plateau like a slumbering giant's growl, the sky grumbled its discontent.
"Oh no," Jessica said.
"Oh yes," Gigih whispered, as if proud of the oncoming disaster.
Raindrops began to fall, slow at first, then quicker, louder, until the whole of Hysperia glittered with silver threads from above.
---
Earlier, Fuhiken had quietly observed Yuuna sitting alone near the edge of a cliff, legs folded, her book closed for once. Her breathing was shallow.
He approached with careful steps. "You're tired."
"I'm fine." But her voice lacked strength.
"The climb was rough," he said softly, settling down beside her with the careful grace of someone trying not to disturb the stillness she had woven around herself. The wind tugged gently at their cloaks as he sat close enough for warmth, but not too close to break the fragile space between them.
Yuuna said nothing. She stared across the clouds. Somewhere far below, birds scattered like black petals.
"You don't always have to be strong," Fuhiken added. "We're not competing."
She blinked slowly. "A strange thing to hear... from the eldest brother."
He laughed. "Fair."
A long silence passed between them.
"Fuhiken," she finally said, "do you think this world is... real?"
He tilted his head. "What do you mean?"
"Nothing." She stood. "The clouds remind me of dreams."
---
Orchid, ever helpful, had begun "cooking" again. She plucked flowers, white, yellow, blue, and tossed them into a pot with a sparkle in her eye.
"It's stew," she announced to Kyle and Sinryo.
"You're using flowers," Kyle said.
"They're edible!"
"Which ones?"
"...I don't know!"
Moments later, both boys were sprawled dramatically across the grass, twitching like freshly caught fish tossed onto dry land.
Kyle's limbs flailed in slow, confused arcs as he muttered something about "spicy stars," while Sinryo's eyes spiraled in opposite directions, his mouth locked in a permanent "O" of existential regret. The flower soup, Orchid's latest culinary curse, had struck with unholy precision, leaving behind only chaos, regret, and the unmistakable scent of magical overseasoning.
"I see eternity," Sinryo whispered.
"My hands are made of screams," Kyle mumbled.
Adiw, watching from a distance, laughed so hard he choked on his jerky.
Sakura sighed. "Heal."
White light shimmered over the poisoned boys.
"I told you to stay away from Orchid's cooking," Gaby muttered.
"It's the thrill," Kyle said, shivering.
"It's just tasting," Sinryo added.
---
As the rain fell heavier, soft at first but gradually turning into a steady silver curtain, the petals of Hysperia's endless blooms glistened like gemstones. Fahleena, undeterred by the weather and emboldened by the drama of the moment, climbed atop a mossy boulder that jutted proudly from the flower-strewn hill. She raised her keyblade high, water trailing dramatically from its ornate edge.
Sensing her intent, Gigih, always ready for theatrics, grinned and flipped open his spellbook with a dramatic flourish. The pages shimmered with faint mana as he traced a symbol in the air, murmuring a minor illusion incantation under his breath. In an instant, radiant arcs of starlight spiraled upward behind Fahleena, forming twin wings of shimmering light and a slowly rotating glyph that pulsed with a soft, celestial glow. The rain danced through the illusion, refracting the colors in a dazzling display that crowned her with artificial majesty.
"Oh, hallowed veil of heaven! Listen well to this final decree!" Fahleena cried, her voice ringing over the downpour like a bell of fate.
She turned slowly, cape clinging to her frame in the wind and rain, while Gigih's illusion blossomed behind her with shimmering petals of light. The scene looked like a portrait of legend, the storm, the magic, the absurd sincerity.
"Let it be known! Here upon this sacred crest of light, amidst the weeping sky and the blossoms that defy the heavens' sorrow, I, Fahleena, Keyblade Wielder of Celestial Destiny, last of the Dreamborne Twelve, vow eternal vigil!"
Jessica, brushing rain from her bangs, gave a soft laugh and shook her head. "Every time she talks like that, I feel like we're trapped in a magical stage play written by a sugar-high bard."
Yetsan, water dripping steadily off his armored shoulders, muttered from within his helmet, "Do we have to be the supporting cast?"
Lightning flashed in the distance, almost on cue, as Fahleena held her final pose, keyblade outstretched toward the misty horizon.
"I declare this land, our sanctuary, Hysperia, haven of hope, and cradle of the eternal bloom!"
Naturally, her foot slipped on the rain-slick stone. She flailed, cape flapping like a drowning flag, only for Sakura to catch her mid-fall with practiced ease, one arm around her waist, the other still holding a half-eaten rice ball.
"Too much declaration," Sakura said plainly, not even blinking.
"No such thing," Fahleena whispered, her eyes still locked on the horizon, rain streaking down her face like glittering proof of her vow.
And so, as the last light dimmed behind drifting clouds and falling rain, the children of Mana Tree huddled beneath a shared tarp, the highland around them singing quietly under the storm.
Hysperia bloomed in the rain, and in their memories, with laughter, light, and the warmth of something unspoken.