They climbed the stone steps of the first Floating Palace.
The steps were broad. Each riser was about the same height as those in Blue Star's ancient buildings. They were made of a white stone with fine grain. No dust stirred beneath their feet.
Yang Wanqing ran her hand over the railing. Clean.
"How many years has this place been abandoned? Why isn't there any dust?"
"The Barrier," Chen Siyao said as she walked. "It's a sealed environment. Nothing from outside gets in."
After saying that, she suddenly noticed something.
The Barrier hid the inside from anyone outside. Before she entered, there had been nothing on that hill. But once she was inside...
She turned to look at the inner side of the Barrier.
She could see outside.
The moon's gray surface. Blue Star in the distance. The pitch-black expanse of space. All of it was perfectly clear.
One-way visibility.
From outside, there was nothing. From inside, Blue Star hung above the palace eaves.
Light streamed in from Blue Star's direction. Blue-white light fell across the palace's upswept eaves, the white stone steps, and every floating stone bridge.
Chen Siyao stood in the palace's side corridor. She turned around.
Blue Star.
Seen between the upswept eaves, the planet hung just above the roof. The upturned corners framed its edge in an arc.
Blue oceans, white cloud bands, and tawny continents. All framed by the ancient eaves.
She took out her phone.
And snapped a picture.
Yang Wanqing ran up from behind. "Did you take a picture, Yaoyao? Remember to send it to me!"
Chen Siyao rolled her eyes at her.
But she still held her phone steady toward Blue Star and took three more shots.
Different angles. Different compositions.
Every one was so beautiful it hardly looked real.
Yang Wanqing