Bill’s face grew tense with fatherly fear as the realization began to set in.

Topher was the first to arrive at the cavern, a large chamber within the cave. His face brightened as he spotted the board game, still sandwiched between the two boulders where he had left it. Unbeknownst to him, the tiny warm white luminary appeared again inside the navy crystal ball, eclipsed by the blue-white shooting star.

Topher ran toward the board as the rest of the party—James, Benjamin, Michael, Sophie, Roanne, and Allison (still recording)—followed.

“It’s here, guys. Look!” Topher pointed to the board.

That board game is huge. It looks like two boards stuck together, Benjamin thought to himself.

The crystal ball subtly revealed other tiny, shining bodies—cyan, scarlet, orange, yellow, pink, and seafoam green—floating around the shooting star, Topher’s “little friend.”

“My little friend, my cousins and I are here to save you. Roanne’s here too,” Topher said to the shooting star inside the crystal ball.

“Kuyas James, Benjamin, and Michael, can you help me pull the board game out from between the boulders?” Topher politely asked his older cousins.

“We’re gonna yank that board out!” Michael said, flexing his bicep in excitement.

Michael charged first, followed by James and Benjamin. Together, the three boys worked to free the board from the boulders.

The shooting star is one step closer to freedom, Sophie thought happily, clasping her hands close to her chest.

Roanne quietly looked upward, while Allison stretched her arm out, ensuring her phone, attached to the selfie stick, was capturing the entire scene.

Topher found a clear space on the ground and imagined it as a circle. Nearby, there were branches, twigs, and dry leaves. He outlined the space with rocks and laid sticks and twigs as the base. Then, he covered the sticks with dry grass and leaves. Topher pulled a lighter from his pocket and lit the pile.

He gradually added more kindling, blowing on the emerging fire to create more heat. Topher placed four branches on the four sides of the pile, forming a square. He then stacked another four branches in a teepee formation within the square. The fire burned brightly, fueled by airflow, sparking embers and releasing smoke.

“It’s done!” Topher exclaimed, proud of his accomplishment.

“If you ask me, I’d prefer you hadn’t started a fire. You’re still too young,” Roanne said, watching over him.

“But we need a reliable light source, and you’re the only one who knows how to build a fire. I can only watch over you to make sure you don’t burn or hurt yourself,” she added.

Benjamin closely examined the board game. It’s a wooden board, double the size of a standard one—like two boards stuck together. The carving on the top shows a blue-white shooting star inside the navy crystal ball in the center. The carving resembles a solar system… no, it’s more like an Aristotelian universe.

The modern solar system has eight elliptical orbits, but this one has seven concentric planes. It’s like the ancient and medieval Aristotelian universe. These aren’t planets—they’re light-giving bodies, what they used to call luminaries. In the heliocentric model of Copernicus, the Sun is at the center, with eight planets orbiting: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. Pluto used to be considered the ninth.

But this board follows the geocentric model, where the Earth is at the center and seven luminaries surround it—the Sun, the Moon, and the five traditional planets. But here, the shooting star has replaced the Earth. What do these seven luminaries represent?

The shooting star is surrounded by fifteen constellations, divided into fifteen equal segments. Earth’s zodiac has twelve constellations and segments, but this has fifteen. There are glyphs on the segments—are they glyphs? What do the constellations represent?

Allison nudged Sophie aside slightly to make room for herself and her recording.

“‘Star of Vis (wish in Latin) – Seven Acolytes & Seven Worlds,’ what a title! Guys, you’ve never heard of it, right? Why? Because this is a prerelease board game.” Allison spoke to her phone, imagining her future viewers on YouTube.

She ran her hands over the top façade of the board and settled on the sparkling shooting star inside the crystal ball. “This must be the Star of Vis.”

“The top façade is split into two sides, each the size of one board. These must be the doors of the board game—or rather, gates to the Seven Worlds mentioned in the subtitle. Sounds more fantasy, right? Let’s open it like we’re unwrapping a Christmas present.” Allison unveiled what lay inside the board.

“Oh, it’s like a pie with seven slices—but square. These seven panels must be the Seven Worlds. It makes sense to differentiate them. In the north are the heavens, shining golden. In the northwest—Kuya Benjamin, what’s this? It looks like space, but with glowing clouds.” Allison paused and asked Benjamin.

“That’s a nebula,” Benjamin answered briefly, reluctant to be on camera.

“In the northeast—a floral kaleidoscope of roses, hearts, and sparkles. In the west—Oh, I see! Under the sea: seaweed, corals, and fish. In the east; an army of superheroes on a rocky battlefield at sunset. No, wait… dusk? Or somewhere in between? Is there even something like that?” Allison got confused by the orange-indigo sky.

“In the southwest—it looks like a concert, with spotlights, the silhouette of an audience, and their glowsticks. Finally, in the southeast, it’s inside a beehive with worker bees serving their Queen Bee. These panels are beautiful paintings, don’t you think, Sophie?” Allison turned to the artistic girl.

“I love them—all of them,” Sophie said with a bright smile.

“Oh, I was so caught up by the paintings that I forgot to mention these tiny, cute platforms. They’re so obvious in plain sight! Playing spaces made of platforms, that’s so innovative. They’re gold in the heavens, blue in outer space, pink—my favorite color—in the floral kaleidoscope, teal in the sea, red in the battlefield, magenta in the concert, and orange in the beehive.” Allison pointed out the playing spaces she had initially missed.

The Seven Worlds were rays of different dimensions, shining from the shooting star inside the crystal ball at the center.

On the back of the left door of the Star of Vis board game, the rules were printed and numbered. The mechanics were written in a magical-looking font on a beige celestial scroll, adorned with images of the Sun, Moon, luminaries, and stars.

“Here are the rules, my friends,” James said, pointing to the left side for his cousins.

He then read aloud:

“The Rules

1. Open the gates – Welcome to The Star of Vis – Seven Acolytes & Seven Worlds!
2. Pick a token. There can only be seven players. You must choose a character your heart desires and a world where you truly belong.
3. Gather the seven tokens and begin the game at the ‘Start’ space in the world of superheroes from the East. The order of turns is based on birth order from eldest to youngest.
4. Roll two dice to determine how many spaces to move. Stay on the color-coded platforms—small, spiral-shaped playing spaces leading toward the Star of Vis in the center.
5. There are special spaces in powder blue called ‘Fate Spaces.’ Land on one, and you must draw a Fate Card from the Chest of Destiny. Follow its instructions.
6. The ‘Finish’ space is in the Heavens of the North. After landing on this space, take your token to one of the seven pedestals around the Star of Vis inside the Visean Zodiac. You will then ascend as an Acolyte, a true follower of Astrea, Goddess of Stars.
7. The game is complete when the Seven Acolytes are hailed, and the Seven Luminaries revolve around the Star of Vis.”

“Wow, these rules are fancy—lots of fantastical terms and enchanting phrases. But some of the mechanics are a bit weird. Like, it only works if there are exactly seven players, and the turns are based on absolute birth order. Still, it’s cool,” James commented after reading the rules.

Michael, bored with Allison’s vlogging and James’ rule-reading, turned his attention to the right door of the board game. He removed the fifteen gray clay tokens and their corresponding character profiles, reading the text below:

“When the Seven Acolytes are all hailed Seven tokens—clay and gray—on the pedestals. After reaching the ‘Finish’ space in the Heavens of the North. Gathered within the Visean Zodiac. Surrounding the Star of Vis inside the crystal ball. The Seven Luminaries shall all revolve around Vis. A cosmic cataclysm shall rise. A twister of stars will shine brightly. The true followers, afraid, will run. The Earth will tremble. The Seven Luminaries will set out for their hosts. Heroes are born, beings breathed into life, and things brought onto the world.”

The Prophecy

“Whoa, now this is good. A cosmic cataclysm—I’m smelling danger. The Earth will shake, and we’ll be running for our lives. The Seven Luminaries will chase us, and we’ll become heroes. Creatures and all that stuff? This is like experiencing Marvel Comics firsthand!” Michael grinned, rubbing his hands together as adrenaline rushed through him.

“Guys, look at these! There are fifteen tokens for the game. They’re gray and made of clay. That’s a lot of pieces for one board!” Topher exclaimed, calling the group’s attention to the tokens.

“Let me see—there are also these cardboard character profiles! I bet these contain the backstories of the heroes—the tokens,” Topher said, his inner writer coming alive.

“Rule 2 – We must pick characters, tokens, that our hearts desire and worlds where we truly belong,” Topher reiterated the second rule.

“Is that a superhero?” Michael picked up a token that caught his eye. “Yes, it is! I’m picking this one.” The big, feisty boy made his decision quickly.

“This is the character profile of your hero.” Topher handed him the red paperboard, which Michael excitedly grabbed.

Michael loudly and proudly read the contents:

Superheroes (genre) Kyriakos Sakellaropoulou aka Spartan is a Greek American. He is a first-generation immigrant in the United States and is very proud of his Greek heritage. He is a soldier who served in the American army. In his early 20s, he was discovered to be one of the thousand mutants born at the beginning of the 21st century. Because of this, he is in the Heroes Program, spearheaded by Sen. Ricks, to cultivate superpowers as meaningful contributions to society. Kyriakos is assigned as a crime-fighting hero. He chose the alias Spartan, after Sparta, a prominent warrior city-state of Ancient Greece. The emergence of superhumans is causing upheaval in America, sparking debates between those who see them as saviors and those who view them as threats to humanity. Spartan not only fights crime but also battles supervillains and a genocidal ideology.

“Whoa, this is MCU, DC Comics, and X-Men all combined.” Michael grinned from ear to ear.

“But wait, where are my superpowers? They forgot the POWERS! Bummer. Of all the things the board game makers could miss out on.” Michael’s happiness quickly turned to dismay.

“I’m next,” Allison said. “That’s my magical girl.” She pointed out the token she had chosen.

Topher picked up the magical girl token, then sifted through the colored paperboards to find the matching character profile.

“Here,” Topher said, handing the pink paperboard to Allison, who gladly accepted it.

“Okay, guys, listen to this.” Allison made sure she had everyone’s attention.

Magical Girl (genre) Sakura Minako is a fourteen-year-old Japanese schoolgirl in junior high. She is a sweet and bubbly girl who loves her family and friends dearly. She has a childhood sweetheart, Syaoran, who is oblivious to her feelings. Nonetheless, she remains a loyal and caring friend. She is endowed with the magic of a love fairy and can transform, with her heart compact, into the magical girl Love Fey – The Mage of Love and Beauty. Her main weapon of choice is a heart wand with which she can unleash heart-shaped attacks with pink sparkles that burst into rose petals. Love Fey is the leader of her five-girl band, and the members, also her best friends, are Fey Sola (amber), Fey Aqua (turquoise), Fey Venti (lime), and Fey Gardiner (beige). They are aided by the gallant knight Saber Cross, a lad around their age with a mysterious connection. Together, the girls and their knight in shining armor ward off the Shadow Doll Monsters of the Witch of Lust.

“Oh, this totally feels like a shoujo manga!” Allison quipped. “I bet Sakura also loves sweets like I do.”

“Hey, why does that Love Fey get powers?” Michael complained.

“Because she’s fabulous, obviously. And chill, Kuya Michael, it’s just a game—no hard feelings,” Allison teased, offering a shallow consolation.

“Sophie, have you made your choice?” Topher asked.

“Is that a bee girl?” Sophie asked, looking at a token.

Topher examined the token closely and confirmed, “Yes, it is a bee girl.”

“Then I’m giving you this token and its character profile.” Topher handed both the token and the yellow paperboard to Sophie.

“I’m going to read mine too, like Michael and Allison.” Sophie followed the trend her cousins had set.

Cartoons (genre) Honey Pollen, also known as Bee Girl, is an eleven-year-old girl with red hair and amber eyes. She is Scottish and speaks with a strong accent. She lives in Arcade City—a metropolis filled with amusement arcades: video games, pinball machines, redemption games, and more. Honey is the only daughter of her father, Mayor Honeycomb Pollen. She’s a bit of a tomboy with a fiery personality and a love for sports. Both father and daughter belong to a bee-human hybrid race, evident by their two antennae, buzzing sounds, and bee wings. They can even shrink to the size of a honey bee, complete with a stinger on their abdomen.

Sophie finished reading, neither as proud as Michael nor as sassy as Allison.