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High above the skies of Lycora, stars shimmered endlessly across the vast expanse of space. They glimmered and sparkled at the stares of Lycora's wonderstruck denizens. The distance between Lycora and the beautiful stars was immense. But the light of those distant celestials was able to reach the planet anyway. Truly there was magic to the glory of the universe.

Something else drifted high in the skies of Lycora. It was far closer than any star, even closer than Lycora's sun. It was a space station within the planet's thermosphere. Space Station Lumark to be exact, named after the group who created and managed it. This station is where research into the mysterious stellar magic takes place. Among the stars this magic can be truly decrypted and studied. Those aboard the station are obsessed with discovering its secrets.

With the sun unable to tell them the time, those on Space Station Lumark used the station's internal clock instead. They call these cycles instead of days to help differentiate them.

During this particular cycle, the station was buzzing with activity as its researchers conducted their work. One researcher in particular stood alone in a large open lab. He was a violet dragon wearing a classic white lab coat and black pants. His eyes shine a bright blue, as if his irises were stars themselves. His name is Aster, prodigy of stellar magic and called by many "The Descendant of Solere", much to his chagrin.

The lab Aster was currently working in had many different tools to experiment with. There was also a large open window along the entire back wall that showed the beautiful depths of space. Though the sight was pretty, the violet dragon's focus was instead drawn to a large platform near the lab's center. Floating above the platform is an entirely black dot small enough to fit in the dragon's palm. It was a black hole sustained by the dragon's stellar magic.

The violet dragon held his breath in concentration as the black hole's shape occasionally distorted. Controlling a black hole was a spectacular feat few stellar mages could hope to achieve. It is precisely for this reason that the dragon wishes to experiment with this as few others are able to. At the time he was attempting to enchant the black hole with a magic effect.

Suffice to say, the experiment wasn't going too well.

Aster let out a frustrated growl as the black hole devoured his enchantment. His mind was running at a breakneck pace as he tried to find the solution to his problem. He knew that black holes would consume anything that passed through the event horizon. To most this would mean that experimenting with it would be useless. Yet something was telling him that it could work. If only he knew what was missing... if only... oh shit, he lost focus.

The black hole devoured itself in an instant, too small to sustain itself without Aster's constant attention. It left behind barely a ripple in space before not a sign of it remained. The violet dragon groaned in frustration and fell to his knees. Cold steel met his clothed legs but drew no reaction from him. He was already running through the experiment in his head, trying to figure out why the spell wasn't bonding with the black hole. Giving up and moving on was the simple answer. But Aster hated simple answers, he wanted to understand.

Too many thoughts were filling his head. Aster decided he needed a break in order to reorient his mind. He stood up from his spot on the ground and turned to walk towards the lab's exit. When he took his first step the world suddenly spun and his vision duplicated, disorienting him as he fell to the floor once more. Aster cursed under his breath at the sudden wave of fatigue. He would need to visit Dr. Phandell for more headache medicine. Even if he dreaded having to suffer through another lecture about pacing himself.

Once he was confident in his balance, Aster once again stood up and made his way for the door. It opened automatically as he got close and the researcher walked through the station. The quiet hum of the artificial lights and the sounds of other experiments in different parts of the station calmed him. It was nice to hear the sounds on the station. Without them it would feel rather empty.

Aster paused as he looked out the window on the side of the hall. Before him was a beautiful view of Lycora. He felt reminiscent of home staring at it from way high up in space. If he squinted hard enough or used magic to enhance his sight, he could make out the lands and oceans on the planet's surface. It was beautiful in a way no other view could match. The sight mystified him everytime he saw it.

"Enjoying the view? I certainly am. I could get used to this."

Aster turned his head quickly in the direction of the voice. He gasped quietly and stumbled back a bit as a stranger stood directly beside him. It was a fellow dragon, a male one at that. Their scales were a dull black with specks of white and gold all over. They were tall as hell too, at least two heads taller than him! How had he not noticed them walk up to him? And just who were they as well? Aster had never seen this person on the station before.

The stranger turned to him and gave him a calm smile. "Sorry for the shock, I'm told I barely make any noise. Bad habit I know. I'm new to the station, transferred today along with four others. My name's Voskull, and I specialize in magic theory."

The explanation calmed Aster's nerves and he chuckled in embarrassment. He vaguely remembered the station's Director mentioning something about new researchers arriving. Seems they were scheduled to arrive this cycle and he forgot.

Aster reached his hand out and returned the smile. "It's good to meet you, Voskull! My name's Aster and I'm not really specialized, I just research all parts of stellar magic." Voskull's eyes widened a bit and he shook Aster's hand. "You're Aster? The Descendant of Solere? Wow, can't believe I'm meeting a celebrity haha, it's nice to make your acquaintance."

A blush made its way to Aster's cheeks at the nickname. He whined out of frustration, "Please don't call me that, it's so embarrassing. And I guarantee you I'm not divine in any way so I can't even be related to him." Voskull laughed at the response and it only made Aster's blush worse.

"Alright alright, I get it heh. Anyway, my apologies for keeping you. You seemed to be going somewhere before stopping to see the view. Where were you going?" Aster's thought process halted for a moment. Oh, right! He was supposed to speak with the director about the black hole! Well... Voskull said he specialized in magic theory. Maybe he could help.

"Well, I was going to go ask the Director for some advice on my current experiment. You see, I'm trying to enchant a black hole with an effect on the event horizon. But every time the enchantment takes hold the magic is consumed by the black hole. You said you specialize in magic theory, so if you don't mind, could I get your thoughts on it? Is it a lost cause or am I on to something?"

Voskull tilts his head and considers Aster's words. His eyes drift off to the side as he thinks, staring out into the vast starry abyss through the window. For a moment, Aster thinks Voskull doesn't know either. But just as he's about to speak up and apologize for the random question, Voskull responds.

The black dragon grunts and turns back to Aster. His eyes seem both understanding and curious in equal amounts. He speaks evenly, as if he already knew what to say without needing the time to think, the words coming from him without a trace of doubt in his voice.

"Black holes are celestial bodies that can be considered starving animals. They're voracious, hungry, always needing more and forever unsatisfied. They also slowly irradiate away. This unending withering is why the black hole needs an endless supply of food. Every second it doesn't eat, the black hole starves until it devours itself and becomes nothing."

"So, all of this is to say, you are giving the black hole food but expecting it not to eat. If you hand a starving man an apple you expect him to eat it, yes? Why are you considering the black hole differently? I believe the problem isn't that black holes cannot be enchanted. But instead it's that you're targeting the wrong part of the black hole. Instead of feeding the hunger, you should focus on nourishing the body. Does that make sense?"

...huh?

Aster stood there, mouth hanging open a little. That... was not what he expected at all?

Hunger? Starving??? Nourishment????? Voskull didn't speak like a researcher, he spoke like a diviner or a fortune teller. What kind of riddle was this? Aster knew magic theorists were often eccentric but this was a bit of a stretch. Well, he supposed some of what Voskull said made sense.

It wasn't untrue to say black holes were constantly withering and starving. They irradiated away over time and would eventually disappear without mass to consume. So in a way they were always hungry. But still, what did he mean by targeting the wrong part? And wasn't he already targeting the body? It just didn't make enough sense, the analogy didn't fully explain anything and... and...

Wait.

Wait wait wait... that was it.

That was it! That's it, of course!

"OF COURSE!!! Oh gods it's so simple, so simple in essence that you'd never even consider it! Of course!"

Voskull stared at Aster while the violet dragon ranted and raved. He spoke more but the words spilled out of his mouth, his thoughts working too fast for his body to keep up. Aster's eyes shone brightly with revelation and Voskull felt utterly shocked at the dragon's reaction.

"You... you understood that?"

Aster turned to Voskull with an expression of absolute elation. Joy radiated off of him like rays of sunlight piercing through the clouds. "YEAH! I- I can't believe I didn't think of it sooner! It's all theory, it's all concepts, concepts given power and form and- and- and- and it's magnifi- magnificent!"

The commotion in the hall was loud enough to draw the attention of a few other researchers. They stepped out of their labs in confusion and looked at Aster as the violet prodigy bounced in his spot. They glanced between each other and the excited dragon, some of them also eyeing the black dragon who looked just as confused.

So much noise had filled the station that the Director himself walked into the hall with a confused and amused expression. The leopard quietly greeted the other researchers as he stepped closer. He didn't bother asking them what was going on, they looked too confused for any of them to know.

Eventually he stopped nearby Aster and Voskull before clearing his throat loudly. Both dragons turned to face him, Voskull contemplating his decisions and Aster flapping his arms and bouncing in place. The Director knew of Aster's stimming tendencies when he got excited and simply smiled at the younger researcher.

"Well Aster? I can tell by all the movement that you've just had an epiphany. Care to share it?" The leopard spoke in a gentle and caring tone, almost fatherly in a way. His voice managed to calm Aster a little. But nothing could fully quell the excitement bursting out of the violet dragon.

"I realized something! Voskull mentioned hunger and starving and devouring and- and feeding and I got so confused but I realized something! He's right, he's so right! I- I've been doing this all wrong- wrong, the wrong angle! I'm having trouble because I'm just feeding it, giving it food a- and- and it's eating because of the mouth! THE BLACK HOLE IS SURROUNDED BY A MOUTH!!!"

The Director raised an eyebrow in amusement as the smile remained on his face. Voskull was nodding, eyes widening as Aster spoke. Other researchers who could put their experiments on pause did so and came into the hall to listen. Nobody wanted to miss an epiphany from the prodigy.

"So I can't give the mouth food, it'll just eat- consume! But the mouth isn't all there is, there's more, there's more and it's the body! IT'S THE BODY! I have to focus on the body, not the mouth! Come on, come on!" Without waiting for a response Aster grabbed Voskull's arm and dashed back toward his lab. If he weren't so stuck in his own mind he would have noticed the fascination on the other dragon's face. And also how cold Voskull's scales felt.

Once Aster reached his lab he let go of Voskull's arm and got to work. Voskull watched in awe as Aster bounced around the room, resetting his notes and restarting the information recorders. At some point the Director and a bunch of other researchers entered the room. They quietly chatted amongst themselves to not disturb the fully focused prodigy. Some of them were betting if Aster would succeed this time. Voskull simply waited, staring at Aster as something sparkled in his eyes.

Aster eventually finished his preparations and walked onto the platform. He took a deep breath to steady his shaking hands. The jitters subsided but didn't disappear. Aster raised his hands and gathered the mana to cast his spell.

The researchers went silent as the blue light of Aster's stellar magic circled around the platform. Sparkles of bright white peppered the magical light as they congregated. Streams of the magic coalesced into a ball and Aster gave it a gentle push, commanding the magic to collapse.

In an instant the light devoured itself in a single point. The light gave way to the black dot from before and the black hole was complete. It shuddered for a moment before settling in place. Aster exhaled, letting out a breath he forgot he had inhaled. That was the easy part. Now came the real test.

Blue streams of light surrounded the black hole. They danced around it for a moment as Aster focused his intent. His goal had shifted, the concept now clear in his mind. Don't feed the mouth. Instead nourish the body.

It hadn't made sense at first, but that was because he hadn't understood the concept. The black hole was hungry, and the event horizon was the mouth. But the event horizon wasn't the black hole, it was just the outer shell. The mouth surrounding the body. You can't see the black hole because of the event horizon. It devours light and reveals only absolute darkness.

The body was surrounded by a mouth. That was why the magic was being eaten. But how could you enchant the black hole if the event horizon constantly ate the magic? Aster had begun to think it was impossible. But Voskull had given him the revelation he needed.

The researchers saw something odd take place. The magic was being devoured, the streams of blue light being consumed without even connecting with the black hole. Those who bet against Aster smirked at their perceived victory... but they noticed Aster was still concentrating. Was the experiment not over?

Indeed it wasn't, as Aster narrowed his eyes and waited for all of his spell to vanish into the maw of the black hole. Only then did he relax and continue watching. Silence filled the room and nobody really knew what to say. Some felt that the experiment had failed and started feeling bad for betting against Aster. They looked to the Director and he felt that he needed to speak for them.

The leopard's face became a bit saddened. He genuinely felt that Aster would make another breakthrough. But as the Director, he couldn't rely on hope to carry theories. "Um, I know you were excited and this must be disappointing. But failure isn't-" "Not yet, about 15 more seconds."

Voskull's interruption threw the Director and everybody else for a loop. They looked at him and expected him to continue speaking. But the black dragon remained silent and stared at the experiment in front of him. Everybody else looked at each other before glancing back at Aster. 15 seconds? Was something supposed to happen then? They had no idea what was happening, but they waited out of respect for their fellow researcher.

None of them knew what was going on... but Voskull did.

He could see it with his own two eyes.

He watched on with awe. He knew, he knew Aster had succeeded. And he eagerly counted the remaining seconds in his head.

3... 2... 1...

BOOM!

A massive burst of light filled the room, momentarily blinding a few researchers and earning many shouts of surprise. None of them were as loud as Aster though. The violet dragon shouted in delight and it soon became apparent to everybody why.

Particles of white light filled the space above and around the platform. They shimmered in the air and filled the room like the stars outside the large window. And in the center of the room was the black hole, fully stable and sustained by the magic enchantment within it.

Aster had succeeded. He had enchanted a black hole.

"IT WORKED! IT FUCKING WORKED! It's the singularity, the singularity is the key! I can't enchant the event horizon because it passes into the black hole and the magic is eaten! And the space between the singularity and the event horizon technically doesn't exist so I can't enchant that either! So the singularity is the only possible thing I can enchant! I can enchant black holes! I did it, I actually fucking did it!"

Aster was happily running from instrument to instrument, checking if everything was recorded and noted down. He didn't even acknowledge the other people in the room, much less stop to see the complete shock on their faces. The Director's previously saddened expression was fully replaced by confused joy. He felt pride swell in his heart as he watched Aster dash about his lab.

Voskull was smiling as well. He stared deep into the black hole as a million thoughts passed through his mind. He could tell the enchantments Aster had placed on the black hole's singularity. One of them was to make it self sustaining, nourishing the black hole so it didn't waver or wither. The other had already taken place, forcing the small lights out of the black hole and keeping them floating in the air. They would move toward the black hole when the enchantment needed more magic. It was truly genius, and all done with Aster's own mana.

The black dragon found his breath stolen as an unfamiliar warmth blossomed within him. His eyes turned to Aster and his smile widened as the violet dragon continued rambling. Voskull knew then that coming to the station truly was the best possible decision.

That thought alone increased the warmth almost tenfold.