Runar sat across from Celestia and Nyla in the quiet living hall of the compound, the remnants of evening tea still resting on the low table between them, and said, quite simply, "We're going on vacation."
The words landed in the room with the weight of something completely unexpected. Celestia's hand paused halfway to her cup. Nyla blinked twice, as though she suspected she had misheard. The Universal TV continued playing softly in the background, filling the silence that followed with distant commentary that no one registered.
Nyla recovered first. Her eyes lit up immediately, bright with a mixture of excitement and suspicion that had clearly been earned through past experience. "A real one? Not the kind where you disappear into closed-door cultivation for three months and call it 'family time'?"
"A real one," Runar confirmed, his tone carrying the same calm certainty he applied to everything. "Multiple universes. Scenic views. Minimal chance of dimensional collapse."
