Edén

I leaned against the ship’s main panel, watching everyone with a carefree smile.

“Well…” I said casually, “where do you all want to go? What place would you like to hang out in?”

Maia, who still had Paco perched in her bun like a living ornament, raised her hand with serene grace.

“I know a beautiful planet near one of the most massive star clusters. We could go there.”

“Ah, I know which one you mean.”

Adam and Sara looked at me curiously, waiting for the reveal.

“She’s talking about the Omega Centauri cluster,” I explained. “It’s enormous, brilliant… and they say you can see millions of suns shining all at once.”

Sara’s eyes went wide.

Maia smiled softly, nodding.

“I’ve only been there once.”

I sighed, brushing the dust from my coveralls.

“Well, I haven’t had the pleasure yet. So… we’re going on a field trip.”

Paco chirped on Maia’s head as if applauding the decision, while an excited Adam was already scrambling for a seat.

Everyone began strapping themselves in.

Before joining them, I walked over to a table on the ship and set down the energy core of my vessel.

“I’ll worry about fixing everything else later… first, a little trip.”

Suddenly, a blue flash ran through the panels, the cabin lights flickered, and in an instant, the ship trembled before vanishing.

The surge of thrust pressed us hard into our seats. The entire cosmos stretched before us, and a roar shook every corner of the ship.

Space warped like a river of liquid light, swallowing everything around us.

All I could see were Adam’s and Sara’s wide grins, their hands clutching the seats.

The jump ended with a gentle jolt, and as we opened our eyes, the sight before us left us speechless.

The star cluster spread out endlessly, but there, on the distant edge, shone a small solar system with five planets circling a star much like Earth’s sun. Out of all five, one in particular caught Maia’s eye.

“That’s the one,” she said calmly, pointing toward the green-blue sphere turning beneath us.

Sara and Adam pressed their noses against the glass.

The ship slipped into orbit, and the planet unfolded before us: oceans like mirrors of liquid glass, golden clouds drifting lazily, and continents covered in a luminous green mantle, as if the ground itself radiated light.

With steady hands, Maia took the controls and began the descent.

We pierced the atmosphere wrapped in a golden haze. Each gust of air tinkled like invisible bells, and sunlight refracted into iridescent sparks all around us.

At last, the ship touched down gently in a clearing surrounded by tall, slender trees. But these were no ordinary trees: their white trunks gleamed like carved crystal, and their leaves shimmered in soft shades of blue and gold, swaying with a cadence almost musical.

I watched it all with a crooked smile. Even the ground seemed to shine beneath our feet.

Suddenly, a flock of glowing birds shot out of the foliage, leaving white trails in the air. From Maia’s head, Paco spread his wings in excitement and darted after them.

Maia, however, stayed silent, gazing at the forest with an almost reverent calm.

“This planet… it always felt to me like a place where light itself is alive.”

We walked slowly, letting the forest envelop us. Each step made the ground glow beneath our feet, as if the earth itself were answering our presence.

With her usual calm, Maia spoke as she gently pushed aside some luminous branches:

“Even though I was here before… I didn’t stay long. At most, an hour. I don’t really know this planet’s secrets.”

We kept moving until the trees began to open, revealing structures none of us expected.

“What is this?” Adam murmured, staring upward.

They were stone constructions, weathered by time yet still majestic: arches that looked like gateways, stairways leading to floating platforms, and columns engraved with symbols that reflected the light in patterns that danced across the grass.

Sara touched one of the stones softly.

“This… this was built by someone. It isn’t natural.”

“A civilization,” I said quietly, studying the details. “And not just any civilization… here, light doesn’t only illuminate. It lives in the very matter.”

The silence of the forest was suddenly broken. A subtle vibration, almost like a musical note, rippled through the air. We all looked up at once.

From the sky, breaking through the clouds, a radiant figure descended.

It wasn’t a ship, nor a bird. It was a woman.

Her white hair and tunic seemed to absorb the sunlight of this world, glowing like a gentle flame. Her almond-shaped eyes, golden and orange like sunset, gleamed with a serene brilliance.

Adam gasped.

I, however, only watched and thought.

The air, the trees, the earth, the animals… everything on this planet responded to light. Perhaps, in a distant past, the beings here had been on the brink of extinction due to a lack of light. Perhaps the only way to survive was to adapt. And after millions of years, they did it: they learned to absorb light as food, as energy, as life.

The woman descending before us with superhuman calm was nothing less than the culmination of that evolution. A being capable of using light itself as a source of energy—even to move across the sky.

Sara, her mouth hanging open, whispered:

“She’s… an angel.”

The woman touched the ground lightly, her golden gaze settling on us, followed by a smile filled with curiosity.

We stood silent, waiting to hear her voice. But she said nothing.

Instead, she raised her hands and suddenly began waving them.

Sara blinked several times, puzzled.

“Huh? Is she… dancing?”

“No, I don’t think so…” Adam muttered, scratching his head. “Though if it is, it’s a very strange dance.”

I narrowed my eyes, studying each movement. Finally, I spoke up:

“It’s not a dance. Looks like… she’s using sign language.”

“Sign language?” Sara repeated, surprised.

I nodded.

The woman paused for a moment, as if realizing that for now her language wouldn’t work.

I tilted my head slightly, regarding her with curiosity.

“Well… since we don’t know your name, I suppose I’ll call you Eden,” I said with a crooked smile. “It fits the vibe of this place.”

The golden-eyed woman blinked softly without uttering a word, but the way the light shimmered around her made me think she had accepted the name without protest.

Then, Eden stepped forward. Her feet barely seemed to touch the ground. She approached me first, and gently took my hand.

Next, Eden turned to the others and gestured toward their hands. Her intent was clear: she wanted us to form a chain.

“She wants us… to hold hands?” Sara asked, her cheeks suddenly flushed.

“Looks that way,” Maia replied.

Eden gave the faintest smile, and with a graceful motion, she began leading us deeper into the forest.