In the silence after the explosion, Kelvin who was in Asteria's body continued to cry non-stop until tears came out again from Asteria's left eye. However, Asteria didn't care anymore because he felt it was useless to calm Kelvin down gently at this time. He decided to go into his own subconscious.
Asteria lay on the barren ground, closing his eyes tightly while singing a different melody. When the melody was almost finished, Asteria's consciousness was immediately carried away into his own subconscious. The view that was initially pitch black was now hit by a tsunami of sparkling light, the longer the light covered the darkness that existed. Until finally the darkness once again consumed all the light, making it a night view with a sky full of stars.
The cool breeze that blew, the cold grass that he felt on his back made Asteria realize that he was already in her subconscious. Aurora appeared above the sky in his view, so beautiful covering the large moon with stars dancing and moving here and there. Waking himself up, Asteria looked around to find Kelvin. With the bright moonlight that was so warm, it strengthened the impression that Asteria's subconscious was a suitable place to rest and seek peace.
Asteria began walking down the hill where he woke up to find where Kelvin was currently. Fireflies appeared at every step Asteria stepped on, including one butterfly with its shining ocean blue wings. The butterfly flew closer to Asteria then moved forward first, as if telling Asteria to follow it. Realizing the butterfly's intentions, Asteria hurried to follow it. Asteria's steps this time gave light to the grass he stepped on, the sky blue light spread in every flap of the butterfly's wings that he followed.
Not long after, a hill slope could be seen by Asteria. Reaching the edge of the hill, he found a pool of water surrounded by blooming flowers and humming sad music but giving a sense of hope and warmth. The figure he was looking for, Kelvin, was also there, staring at his own reflection on the surface of the pool.
"How sad, just a small mistake made her in chaos to the point of feeling lost," Asteria muttered, holding his own arm. Reminding himself that Kelvin was himself but a variant from the Nebula world
But bitter and bad memories passed through his mind, how he hated his own variants so much because they hated him for no reason that he knew. Sympathy for Kelvin instantly disappeared, replaced by a feeling of calm and indifference. The ocean blue butterfly that flew beside him flew down, telling Asteria to meet Kelvin who was still lost in sadness and despair.
Asteria reluctantly went down the hill. Kelvin immediately turned around when he heard the sound of someone's footsteps behind him, not hiding his red eyes after crying earlier. His eyes widened when he realized Asteria was standing in front of him right now, the figure he didn't want to meet the most but instead appeared unexpectedly by him.
"A-Asteria... why are y-you... here?!" he said in surprise with his voice still a little sobbing.
Asteria crossed his arms before speaking, "How is it? It's all a consequence of the choices you made. They all took the opportunity to kill me." He paused for a moment to open his arms wide with a thin smile appearing on his face, "But look, who is suffering more here? Me or you?"
Kelvin couldn't answer Asteria's question, his eyes couldn't look at Asteria who looked dominant and more confident. His fingers played with the grass on the ground, trying to calm himself down. "I don't know... I'm confused..." Kelvin muttered trying to answer Asteria.
"What? Confused?" Asteria said repeating Kelvin's answer. Asteria crouched down, grabbed Kelvin's face, and forced him to look at his serious face. "Answer me, who is the biggest loser here? Your choice has a big impact, I have repeatedly reminded you to keep an eye on Annabella so that she doesn't drink other people's blood, not the blood in the house. Did you hear that? Huh?" Asteria said firmly, not giving Kelvin any room to breathe.
"N-No... I just..." Kelvin's words stopped because he was confused about what to do. His head couldn't think, let alone being pressed by Asteria who forced him to look at his face. "I... I... a... hm... mhm... I just forbade her from d-drinking blood... sh-she came from outside... b-bringing someone's hand..." he answered in a stutter.
Asteria sighed in disappointment, he let go of Kelvin by pushing him aside. "Huff... how could it be, how could it be?! Didn't you check the cupboard I told you about? All that was in there were hands and arms, I already told you that," Asteria grumbled, getting more and more annoyed, still holding back his anger so that it wouldn't overflow. "Don't you remember?" Asteria asked once more.
Kelvin fell to the side, his hand touching his own cheek, realizing how upset Asteria was and even realizing that he was holding himself back from taking it out on her. "I didn't... I..." once again Kelvin couldn't answer her.
Even so, in Asteria's experience, he could tell the truth behind Kelvin's words that she couldn't express. Feeling that Kelvin was nothing more than a lazy and irresponsible kid, even though he was already in his late teens. "It seems like your life is too soft that you don't know what the consequences are in the choices you make, Kelvin."
Asteria's comment hit right into Kelvin's heart. He stared at Asteria in annoyance because his self-esteem was being lowered, "What do you mean, Asteria!? You just want to blame me in here, right!?" he shouted angrily.
"Oh? Starting to get brave?" Asteria replied flatly.
Kelvin became even more annoyed that he forgot that he was at fault, his hands gripping the grass with increasing anger. "It's your fault that you have so many enemies, Asteria! Just try living a quiet and peaceful life, what's so good about living like you!!?"
When Kelvin wanted to throw out words that wanted to blame Asteria, he immediately stopped when a kick hit his face. One of his teeth came out due to the hard kick launched by Asteria. Kelvin fell to the ground and began to breathe heavily, his face showing disbelief that Asteria had carried out a physical attack. Not stopping there, Asteria continued by grabbing his neck, lifting him easily into the air without difficult.
"Come on, talk again, you dumb. What are you trying to do, trying to play the victim?" Asteria commented with a faint smile, hiding his anger behind his calm expression.
"No wonder..." Kelvin muttered, still trying to answer Asteria, "No wonder many people hate you, how dare you get physical! Who are you to take the law into your own hands!?"
Unfortunately, the hate speech did not affect Asteria. "First of all, whose fault is it that caused the chaos? You already know that I am hated by many parties, still trying to take idiotic actions when controlling my body," Asteria said confidently and based on reality. He tightened his grip before speaking again, "I am nothing, just a person who wants to achieve a better life, but in reality I have to face everything because I rebel against my life. The Watcher is one of them, the reason why I can't live in peace."
After that, Asteria threw Kelvin into the pool of water, making him scream and writhe in pain. Asteria walked to stand in Kelvin's sight, looking at him without any sympathy or empathy. "You all are included, Kelvin. My variant that rejects me is that's different from you, that's take different path. Or what, Because I'm more 'human' than you?" said Asteria who questioned the reason Kelvin hated him.
"More human or not, you've gone too far! Which human does bad things huh?! Even I'm not human, I don't m-" Kelvin words were cut off because Asteria suddenly stepped on his hand.
A disappointed and tired breath escaped Asteria's mouth, his eyes began to shine brightly showing the color of his ocean blue eyes more vivid. "I'm not a saint, I'm just a human who is seen as bad and good, like a coin. You're too innocent about the world, Kelvin. We face different lives, I get more enemies even without me knowing for no clear reason," said Asteria who sounded flat and cold.
He start crouched down so that Kelvin could look into his eyes more clearly, his hands holding Kelvin's cheeks so that he couldn't look away. "Answer me, what is your personal reason for hating me? You know that all of this happened because of your negligence and how irresponsible you were in carrying out a simple task," said Asteria, which ignited Kelvin's anger once again.
Kelvin gripped Asteria's wrist tightly, his nails digging into his skin. "I hate you because you're rude, Asteria! What's the use of you and me?!" he spat to belittle Asteria, but he managed to avoid it. "Simple task? What do you mean?" he asked, sounding grumpy.
Asteria slammed Kelvin's head to the ground before answering him, "Because you've never been abused by anyone, making you think everything you think and do is right. Even daring to play the victim. You almost became the variant I hate the most among the others," said Asteria which made Kelvin grin even though he was in pain from being continuously beaten by Asteria. "Regarding the simple task, you only need to stay at home while checking Annabella's blood supply in the cupboard every week. I don't ask for anything else, just those two. You can't even do both of them well," commented Asteria who stabbed Kelvin's chest which made his grin disappear.
"Hey, you never said that! Since when?!" he replied trying to defend himself.
"When? Why do you ask, shouldn't you already know. Try repeating, what did I order that day and what needs to be done?" Asteria asked back which made Kelvin silent again, feeling embarrassed and defeated. "See? Your insensitivity to the task led to a dispute with Annabella, until this chaos happened. Even a small mistake can have a big impact, like this one," said Asteria who still sounded stable and calm, even though he was actually angry. "Congratulations, you managed to add to my problems just with your insensitivity and laziness that even sloth is lazy to be friends with you," he quipped which made Kelvin even more defeated.
The eyes that were initially shining now returned to normal. Shining eyes are a sign of someone's emotions overflowing but can be controlled by them, it happened to Asteria and his partner who was something different from Kelvin who was a Fiore type Spirit. The sad music singing by the surrounding flowers stopped, replaced by a choir singing a dark melody and calm. Building a new atmosphere after an intense fight between the same people but different worlds.
"Remember, this is my subconscious, you are nothing but a passenger without paying," said Asteria, warning Kelvin about his current condition, "You can't do anything here, Kelvin. Besides, if me killing you only brings peace, then I will give you 'payment' for everything you went through while in my body."
Thorny roots emerged from underground, tying Kelvin's neck, locking him in place and not giving him a chance to escape. The blood that flowed from Asteria's wrist due to Kelvin's nails piercing it, slowly stopped and closed by itself. The flower petals that were contaminated with blood were picked one by one by Asteria, collecting as much as she could in both hands. Kelvin watched the scene with goosebumps, his body shaking uncontrollably causing his neck to be scratched and even stabbed by the thorns on the roots that were wrapped around it. Asteria's actions looked normal and did not even show any threat, but Kelvin could feel the evil intentions that Asteria kept in every petals he picked.
After collecting the blood-contaminated flower petals, Asteria dropped the flower petals on Kelvin's neck where the wound opened due to his shaking body. Each petal made Kelvin's breath heavier, his blood flow felt narrow, even his vision began to blur until nothing was shaped. He wanted to scream but his body responded differently by closing his mouth tightly. He didn't understand what Asteria did that made him like this, his tears flowed profusely showing his pain and fear.
But Asteria as usual did not care about it, his feelings were completely dead to Kelvin. Just wanted to plant a curse on him, a curse that made all his five senses weaken to the lowest point. The sign could be felt by Kelvin who had lost his sight, unable to see any form in his sight.
"One by one, it will be taken from you. Don't worry, you will 'enjoy' what you get for your services, Kelvin..." whispered Asteria who sounded happy, a thin smile reappeared on his face. Showing that Asteria really didn't care about him anymore.
When the last flower petal fell, the thorn roots that bound Kelvin's neck returned to the ground. The wound on his neck had closed but the unpleasant feeling still remained. Leaving Kelvin who was slowly weakening due to his five senses decreasing to the lowest point, starting from his current vision. He woke up, stood up from the ground trying to look around, realizing the curse Asteria gave was real not just temporary.
"Now you feel the bitter consequences of what you choose. I peeked at your memory, that's why I know that you are too spoiled by life," said Asteria which made Kelvin turn to him, the ocean blue color of Asteria's eyes looked contrasting in his vision. Making him look more dominant and different among the blurriness he saw.
Kelvin hugged himself, a gesture of fear and trying to protect himself, "Y-yeah... is that so..." he replied who couldn't fight back anymore.
Realizing his changed attitude and not being able to fight back, Asteria only added to the burden he would receive by sharing a little about himself. "Too bad it doesn't stop there, next you have to be able to reflect from a different perspective and stop being reckless and start thinking logically," said Asteria flatly and seriously. Asteria leaned against one of the trees while crossing his arms. "Look at some of my memories, I give you partial access to watch," said Asteria who slowly disappeared, regaining consciousness in his physical body.
Kelvin watched the memory that Asteria gave to him. A memory that was so dark, full of conflict, no time to rest, even the wounds experienced damaged the soul. Even though he only watched the entire memory briefly and only a few scenes appeared in his mind, Kelvin felt goosebumps and wanted to vomit because he couldn't believe it. There was a conflict that only started from burning flowers, fighting over a cup, selling on the black market, and disguising himself as a monster in a place so as not to be eaten alive.
Kelvin's hand covered his mouth, "What the hell was that, Asteria experienced all of that? Seriously..." he said trying to understand and accept the situation.
He remembered the most of the memories shown earlier, the memory of how Asteria continued to fight while blind, his left arm only left bones, and her hearing also disappeared at that time. Even though the fight was one-sided, to the point of bringing Asteria's life to the brink, he managed to defeat his enemy because Asteria understood the situation and capabilities of each. The excessive energy absorbed by Asteria's enemy caused the enemy to die due to mutations in its body, killing consciousness on the spot. That moment giving Asteria the opportunity to finish that thing off. His body also almost mutated, but he managed to overcome it by not using any power at all. Racing against time and the luck he would get, betting on life and death.
The other memories were no less heavy, but Kelvin chose to suppress them and try to forget them, especially the memory of how Asteria was hated by her own variant. "Stop, stop, I don't want to remember it anymore..." he muttered trying to forget the memories displayed by Asteria. "Please stop, I've had enough... I won't repeat the same thing..." he said once again begging Asteria.
The memory was immediately stopped by Asteria, Kelvin's head felt heavy and dizzy. As a result, his own soul was exhausted and finally he lay down on the grass, sleeping soundly. Kelvin only hoped not to have nightmares from what he had witnessed before. His body curled up, hugging his own body, seeking warmth and security in his own existence.
Asteria not only punished Kelvin, but also gave him a different perspective on the world from his own perspective. Showing how the world is not only black and white, but gray. This finally forced Kelvin to accept reality and understand that there was a corner of the world that he did not know and understand. Now he just realized that life is not only enjoyed, but also fought to survive even in the midst of chaos and on the verge of collapse.