Above, us, in the dark shadows of the outer solar system, there is the shape of something unknown, something unspeakable. It waits, it bides its time, and as the days of summer grow longer, so does its voice grow louder.<br><br>On the quiet island of Sarah Ann in the Pacific Ocean, home of the renowned Firmament Foundation, awkward teenager Eirian Calohan has come in search of the mystery of their father's recent demise. Instead, they are confronted with the stark contrast between languid life on the tiny island and an unspeakable cosmic horror.<br><br>Together with their new friends, they set out to unravel the truth surrounding the death of their father and to also uncover just what it is that the Foundation has reached out to in the dark eternal night of the distant void.

All Cats Are Beautiful

“She’s the first person everyonemeets when they get here,” Poppy snapped. “That’s her whole routine. She doesn’t have any real friends except that creepy Alaina girl, so she waits around the dock for her father’s ferry to come back in, and she hassles whoever comes ashore.”


“Was she the first person you met?”


“Of course, I did. She was older and she was fun and she smoked and she had a cool homunculus.” Hastily, she looked away. “But things changed.”


Your dead boyfriend, they thought, remembering Mauve’s words, and letting the subject drop. From their bag, they slowly took out the worn and dog-eared paperback that their teacher had shown such indifference to, the cover’s neon colours faded by sunlight, the book’s pages stained by the coffee and ash of a previous owner.


Chapter 18