After the black hole singularity adventure and teasing the aliens, Little Starfish was so tired that she hid in Heartsea Star’s coral reef and slept soundly for an entire day.

  Starhaven was composing music in the clouds, Heartstead Star was studying his knowledge library, and Dawnstar and Nightstar were bickering and playing around.

  Suddenly, Dimi appeared. The brothers all rushed over, talking at once, asking, “Where is Little Starfish? Is she still sleeping? Why hasn’t she come?”

  Dimi flew over the brothers’ heads, leaving a message, and then, in a flash, disappeared. The brothers shouted, “Wait! What? She wants us to all go to Heartsea Star’s seaside?”

  The four brothers, already in Lyra, traveled to Heartsea Star in an instant at their light speed.

  Starhaven straightened his clothes. His golden hair shimmered, and his heterochromatic eyes turned the blue of seawater and the purple of twilight, making him look incredibly handsome. Heartstead Star’s black hair paired with his glasses in phosphorescent deep sea indigo made him look intellectual and gentle, without a hint of distraction. Dawnstar’s lemongrass-colored curls were as soft as seaweed, and a fresh, sweet scent drifted from him. Nightstar had turned his shield into the shape of coral, perfectly matching his pink body, and his eyes were the warm orange of sunset, bright and cute.

  Once dressed, the four brothers transformed into starlight and descended onto Heartsea Star’s seaside.

  The sea was shimmering, the water gently swaying, and the stars in the sky twinkled like festival lights. The four brothers immediately saw Little Starfish leaping over the water, playing with other fish nearby.

  Little Starfish saw the brothers too. She pounced over, cheering joyfully while hugging them. She had styled her hair into blue waves with pretty little shells hanging from it, and her skirt had turned into a wavy shape, the hem rising and falling, changing color with the moonlight around her waist.

  Heartsea Star also appeared, looking just as before, with his wave-like hair and mist-wrapped clothing.

  In his clear voice, Heartsea Star said, “Welcome, all four of you, to my seaside. If this is Little Starfish’s home, then it is yours as well. There’s no need to be formal. You can explore freely, and you can even visit the ocean floor if you like.”

  Little Starfish couldn’t wait. She grabbed Starhaven’s hand and said, “I’ll show you around! Come on, brothers, follow me!”

  Heartsea Star smiled indulgently and said, “Alright, let Little Starfish lead the way. She has slept all day, and now she has the energy to move mountains and seas!”

  Little Starfish first led the brothers to the small island that Heartsea Star had built for her. On the island, there were little houses, many flowers and plants, and various poisonous mushrooms specially grown for Little Starfish. The brothers exchanged knowing looks and smiled, thinking to themselves, “We have already seen these poisonous mushrooms before.”

  Then Little Starfish took the brothers underwater to see the sleeping area Heartsea Star had arranged for her. It was a warm and peaceful coral grove, and Heartsea Star had even set up barriers around it to keep any fish from disturbing Little Starfish while she slept. The brothers felt both happy and moved, and by now, they had already grown fond of this place.

  Back on the seaside, the brothers barely had a moment to take it all in before they heard Little Starfish shout, “Lyric! Gáraphius!” She dashed to the two brothers at incredible speed, circling around them several times!

  Lyric was pulled into two turns by Little Starfish, and the look in his eyes was full of affection and excitement. His hair was multicolored, messy but handsome.

  Next to him, Gáraphius had a completely different aura. He was so special, seeming to be surrounded by a misty glow while carrying a crisp, chilly air. He had an enchanting smile, a dreamy voice, and a touch of melancholy. Most strikingly, he wore all white, yet had a pair of fox ears and a soft, large tail.

  When facing Gáraphius, Little Starfish subdued all her liveliness and willfulness. She became extremely gentle and tender. Looking up at him, her pupils reflected the image of the fox, and she whispered, “Gáraphius, I’ve missed you so much!”

  Gáraphius spoke in his dreamy, ethereal voice, “Little Starfish, I’ve missed you too. I will always be by your side and never leave you.”

  Little Starfish swayed lightly, and Gáraphius used his fox tail to steady her, his movements gentle yet skilled.

  Little Starfish was so focused on Gáraphius that she nearly forgot the other brothers existed, almost drifting off to sleep on his big fox tail.

  Lyric laughed heartily, breaking the sleepy spell, and said to the four brothers behind him, “Little Starfish really likes to sleep on Gáraphius’s fox tail. Don’t be fooled by how she teases the other brothers all day, she’s like a little bird clinging to him alone.”

  Hearing this, Little Starfish blushed and jumped down from Gáraphius’s tail. She asked Lyric, “Why is your hair all multicolored? Did you secretly eat my poisonous mushrooms?”

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  Lyric ruffled his messy hair and said, “Ahem, well, not to upset you, but last night I had a little… ‘fight’ with Gáraphius.”

  Little Starfish gasped in surprise, “What?! You two actually fought? I’ve never seen the brothers fight before, especially Gáraphius, how could that be?!”

  Gáraphius gave a gentle smile and said, “Lyric lives next door to me. Lately, he’s been busy late at night, climbing in and out of his multidimensional trash bin, then singing and dancing… I really couldn’t get any peace, so I had to drag him out to question him. He got a little upset, so… actually it wasn’t really a fight. We just challenged each other to find bugs in the universe.”

  The brothers all laughed heartily.

  Little Starfish quickly asked, “Who won? And Lyric, what exactly were you busy with?”

  Lyric said awkwardly, “No one won! As for me, I was actually trying to rehearse a few little shows to make you happy when I saw you.”

  Hearing that, Little Starfish hugged Lyric tightly and said, “Lyric, you’re so good to me! I want to see you climbing in the trash bin, singing, and dancing too!”

  While everyone was laughing, the sky suddenly brightened unusually. Heartsea Star clapped his hands and said, “Ah, Sirius Ben and Sterling have arrived!”

  The two tall and handsome brothers descended at the same time. Little Starfish squealed excitedly, waving her arms and jumping. She grabbed Sirius Ben’s hand, leaned on his shoulder, and then went to cling to Sterling as well, overwhelmed with happiness.

  The four brothers who had seen Sirius Ben before already held great admiration for this Sirius brother, and seeing Sterling being so tall and steady left them all in awe.

  Sterling said to Little Starfish, “Little Starfish, I brought you a gift today!”

  Little Starfish asked curiously, “What gift? Show me quickly!”

  Sterling smiled and said, “Don’t rush, everyone come and see!”

  He walked out onto the sea, and everyone gathered around. Sterling then launched a beam of light into the sky. His North Star responded, sending another beam down. The two beams intertwined, merged, and collided, and finally opened a space above the water. From the seam of that space, a faintly glowing object appeared. When the seam closed, the object gently floated in the air above the sea.

  Everyone rose into the air, circling around it to take a closer look.

  Sterling said, “This is a four-dimensional hammock I made. This hammock has no fixed size; it can be big or small. I wove one layer with Calabi-Yau threads, another layer with soft waves from the Einstein equation, and added a layer of our unique entangled states. Each strand holds the heartbeats we shared—times we laughed, traveled, and spent together. I made the curvature into a canopy so that when time tries to sneak away, we can simply turn the canopy gently and time will loop back. That way, we can lie here as long as we want!”

  Everyone couldn’t help but marvel. Little Starfish got even more excited and jumped onto the hammock first, swinging back and forth.

  Just as everyone was happily enjoying the four-dimensional hammock, a noisy commotion came from above.

  Two brothers were chanting spells in the clouds: “Fight!”

  Such a lively scene couldn’t be missed by anyone.

  The two “fighting” brothers were Wizard, who was skilled in spells, and English, who excelled in languages.

  Wizard Brother waved his starlight wand and said:

  “I cast a mysterious and mischievous spell on English Brother:

  Quantum quirks and cosmic sparks,

  Twist his tongue and flip his remarks!

  May his grammar dance and play,

  Lost in words until the day!”

  English Brother held his thick interstellar grammar book and replied:

  “I counter with a spell for Wizard Brother:

  With syntax sharp and idioms sly,

  Let his wand misfire and verbs go awry!

  Conjugations swirl, nouns take flight,

  Let him rhyme in riddles all through the night!”

  Wizard Brother scoffed:

  “Hmph, English Brother is way too arrogant! I, Wizard Brother, must strike back immediately! Listen closely:

  By starlit ink and parchment torn,

  Let grammar rules be oddly born!

  Tenses warp and clauses bend,

  May your tongue loop without end!

  From subjunctive fog to passive blight,

  You’ll conjugate wrong till morning light!”

  Spell fired! The language battle began!

  English Brother laughed heartily:

  “This is getting lively! Wizard Brother, you’re like Shakespeare of the spell world, quirky and elegant at the same time!

  I won’t back down! Take my grammatical storm:

  By comma splices and dangling mods,

  Let his spells misplace their odds!

  From faulty tense to run-ons grand,

  May his wand spell ‘where’ when he meant ‘and’!

  Prepositions twist, syntax flies—

  Let clauses rain from grammar skies!

  Now if you dare chant ‘future conditional’ again, I’ll summon ‘mixed subjunctive with ironic modal inversion’ to counter you!”

  As the two challenged each other back and forth, the clouds in the night sky spun into whirlpools. Little Starfish transformed into Little Demon, draping a purple cloak, and flew between the two brothers. She waved her little fork and said:

  “Little Demon is here to preside over judgment!

  Because the two brothers’ disharmonious fight has caused chaos across the universe, I hereby decree:

  Wizard Brother shall be sent swirling by an entropy tornado to the 11th dimension for reflection!

  English Brother shall be cast into a wormhole at negative 11 dimensions to be punished, forever losing his ability to express in any language!”

  Everyone froze. Wizard Brother and English Brother also stopped midair, forgetting their spells.

  Suddenly, a cheerful laugh rang out, and Zephyr Cygnus appeared in front of Little Starfish. He smiled and said, “Ah, Little Demon, don’t be mischievous! Don’t go unleashing your entropy tornado. Haven’t you forgotten the last time your hellish tornado messed up our universe? It almost shifted my black hole! Take off your little cloak. Today, let’s not be a little demon, just a little mermaid, okay?”

  Little Demon put away her little fork, turned back into Little Starfish, and blushed, saying, “Zephyr Brother, why are you only just here? I was just showing off a little!”

  Wizard Brother and English Brother quickly explained, “We were just practicing our spells on each other. Little Demon, your show of power almost scared us into becoming meteors!”

  The other brothers around them all laughed.

  That night, Heartsea Star’s seaside was full of lively energy. Little Starfish sat on the four-dimensional hammock, watching the stars, enjoying the performances by Lyric, and listening to the other brothers chatting and laughing.

  Starhaven played beautiful music for everyone, captivating their hearts. Heartstead Star shared his vast knowledge to explain the wonders of the universe, earning everyone’s admiration. Dawnstar, with his cheerful personality, became good friends with Wizard Brother and English Brother. Nightstar used his all-powerful shield to delight many of the star brothers.

  In that moment, Little Starfish felt like the happiest little girl in the universe. She had the sky full of stars and endless love surrounding her, and even in her dreams, all she heard was laughter.