Chapter 10: Eighteenth Birthday (5)

~10.5~

*****

When Alethea opened her eyes, she was met by Astarte. They were in a strange dimly lit pink expanse of flowers.

“Your soul is beautiful,” Astarte said as she looked around. “I thank you for allowing me to see this.” As she looked around, her eyes finally settled upon Alethea, or rather, upon Maya. Astarte smiled and reached for her face. “You are so beautiful. If only you could have been born to my sister as you are here.” A tear rolled down her face. The pink-haired girl smiled and formed a mirror out of mana to show Astarte her own appearance.

“You look quite different.”

Astarte’s eyes widened and her mouth fell agape. “This is me?” She still had green hair, but it was long, and she was taller, the same height as Astraia. “I’m not short? I’m not underdeveloped?”

“You are very beautiful, Astarte. Within a soul world, you take your true form. This is what your soul looks like. Did something happen to stunt your growth when you were young?”

The green-haired woman nodded. “It’s a touchy subject to me, so I don’t speak of it. Only my sisters know.”

“I see. I apologize for-”

“No.” Astarte shook her head. “I will keep nothing from you going forward. I contracted an illness when I was five. My parents didn’t know what to do. Atalante was already an adult by then, and Astraia was still an infant, so Atalante took care of her while my parents took care of me. The disease was new and contagious. It almost killed me. It took years to recover from it, and I’m the only one that survived it.”

“Was medicine lacking in old Atlantis?”

“No, but yes. Most things were curable or outright preventable, but that disease was different.” She paused and looked down. “It destroyed part of my reproductive system, ovaries included, and left everything else severely damaged. As such, I required supplements to get the hormones and other such I needed. They helped. I still ended up growing some, but as you know... I ended up with the appearance of a pre-teen girl. I’ve never told you this before, but I felt a kinship with you as soon as you told us about your dysphoria.”

“Dysphoria isn’t something unique to transgender individuals. You have it, too, don’t you?”

Astarte nodded. “Yes. But seeing my true self like this helps. I’ve suppressed it for so long...”

Maya hugged her adopted aunt. “In Athas, I was both a royal and a doctor. As Maya Athas, I could cure anything. Elysia and I wield the same type of power. We can use any magic, any mana. That’s why we were born with white mana in Atlantis. White mana is the base of all. My soul is pink, thus my true mana, my Radiance, is pink, but that’s white mana dyed by my soul. With my power, I cured everything.”

“Why are you telling me that?”

Maya smiled. “I can help you once I have grown strong enough as a mortal to wield Radiance unfettered. I want to help you, if you’ll allow it.”

Astarted stepped back, her eyes glued to Maya’s eyes and a tear rolling down her face. “You can do that?”

Her neice nodded. “I can.”

“I see.” Astarte smiled. “Shall we?”

“Yes!”

“You are familiar with the process?”

“Yes,” Maya replied. “The process is the same for immortals as it is for mortals. We must go to the core of my soul. Are you absolutely certain about this? You can change your mind at any time before the bonding.”

Astarte nodded. “Lead the way.”

Maya nodded. She raised a hand and a door formed in front of them. “I should warn you. My partner is not going to be very understanding. She is... obsessive.” Astarte raised her eyebrow, but stepped through the door unfaltered.

After going through the door, it disappeared. Ahead of them stood another door, and in front of that door stood a black-haired girl with deep blue eyes and her hair tied into a side ponytail. There were streaks of light blue in her otherwise black hair. She wore a sleeveless short black kimono with a white and light blue star pattern. An intense aura of light blue aether emanated from her and her eyes glowed with the same light blue, both refined the same as Alethea’s when she was in battle.

“Who is this that you’ve brought into your soul?” she asked, her eyes sharp and unforgiving.

Maya led Astarte to the girl and introduced her. “This is Astarte Atlantis, my adopted aunt in my current world.”

“I see.” The girl curtsied. “I am Kaede of Athas. I believe this is how introductions are done in Atlantis.”

“Yes. I am Astarte Atlantis of Terra. I am pleased-”

“Now that we have been introduced, I ask that you leave my master’s soul world. Lady Maya is too nice to decline, so I will in her stead. She has no need of a mortal soul weapon.” Kaede placed her right hand on her blade, its tsuka wrapped in light blue. “Kaeshi, Heaven’s Reversal is sufficient.”

“I refuse,” Astarte said bluntly. The moment she spoke, Kaede drew her blade and slashed at her. Maya blocked the attack with an identical blade that she summoned out of nowhere.

“Master, please stand aside. I shall remove this woman in short order.”

“Stand down, Kaede,” Maya ordered.

“There is no room in your soul for another! I-”

Suddenly, an overwhelming amount of pink aether erupted from Maya. “Stand down.”

Astarte backed away. She was in awe of Maya’s true power. “What...? How...? Your power is mindboggling. It’s like peering into a bottomless pit.”

Maya turned around, and Astarte saw that her eyes were different. The glow was refined the same, but there was a strange rune in her irises. Astarte’s eyes widened when she saw that. She recognized the rune.

“You really are a royal of Athas. Alethea… your eyes…” Astarte instinctively reached for the pink-haired girl. She smiled at Astarte and held her hand out, her blade gone and Kaede forced to kneel. “This is the real me. This is the result of eons of training. Will you fight with me?” Astarte nodded, took Alethea’s hand, and transformed into her katana form. Astarte felt an immense warmth as Maya’s power enveloped her blade. Maya turned back to Kaede and asked, “Choose between two options you don’t like.”

“Why must I choose? If I do not like them, neither should exist.”

Maya sighed. “Unfortunately, we don’t have another option. Option one: allow Shiro Shikigami-”

“That monster again?!”

“Yes. Allow him to do as he pleases next time we meet or allow Astarte through to the core so that I may have a powerful ally while you are not with me.”

“I shall join you in that world immediately!” Determination was clear in Kaede’s eyes.

Maya shook her head. “Go to Lady Eve. I need you, but you’ll have to follow the same laws we do. She will not just poof you into the world. You have to reincarnate like always.” Kaede pouted. “Please, Kaede. It’s very important. Shiro is already powerful in this world. I need every advantage I can get. Go ask her to reincarnate you. Even if it takes several years to catch you up, it’ll be worth it.”

“Fine. I’ll do it, but before I go I have to test her.”

Maya nodded and jumped back. She held her left hand behind her back and pointed her blade at Kaede. “Come then.” Kaede released a similarly expansive amount of aether and jumped forward.

*****

Revision: 2023-1-8