Heaven’s Path

"…What just happened?" I asked confusingly as I blankly stared out of the window into the night sky, my head resting on the window pane. It was a cold, late night in the Atacama Desert in Chile, where I began searching for the awaited signs from the heavens. It should be in the next 3 days. Despite my anticipation, chills ran through my body, and disappeared just as suddenly.

"Was I…having my daydreaming session again? I didn't schedule it to be at this time…" I giggled slightly. I then remembered what I was supposed to be doing, and what I'm supposed to be waiting for. I let out a soft sigh and felt a strange sensation in my stomach. I guess I am a little nervous.

"Wait. Before I even think about that event again, what if I'm hallucinating like before? I need to make sure…" 

I looked around me. Everything seemed normal. As expected, the room lights were off. The desk on the other side of the room gave rest to my lamp, and it illuminated my laptop and research papers with a warm light. My bed was adjacent to my window and had many clothing items on it. Then there's my shelf, which was littered with many of my own papers to review from, and novels that I would read, but they weren't really organized properly. Moreover, there were some haircare and skincare products on top of the drawer next to my desk. I had originally intended to put them up, but I got distracted. 

Now that I think about it, this room is kind of messy. Maybe I should clean it up?

"Hold on…" I facepalmed. "I'm supposed to get ready for the banquet aren't I? I can't be distracted." I sighed.

I walked over to my bed and grabbed my handheld mirror. It was on top of my bed, and I decided to look at myself to see if I needed to get ready. I held out the mirror about half of an arm's length and moved the mirror so that I could look at my face and my outfit.

What I saw in the mirror was the usual. My curly blonde hair had been neatly done and straightened, like a waterfall over my shoulders. My sunglasses hid my vibrant yellow eyes that contrasted with my dark skin.

I looked at my outfit and saw my wonderful purple robe accompanied by excellent black heels. My fashion sense never disappoints me.

"As expected, I will be the best dressed at the banquet!" I gave myself a slight grin, as if I was proud of myself. The grin quickly faded away however when I realized that I actually have to participate in this thing and not just appear for a few seconds and then immediately leave. I threw my mirror on my bed. As soon as that happened, a soft and frigid wind blew through my room.

"It's a little cold…I remember that there was supposed to be a snowstorm happening tonight. I feel like that should delay it, right…well who am I kidding.That's not going to happen."

I let out a self deprecating laugh and then sighed. This feeling is all too familiar, and this made me think back on the previous banquets I had. It made me think back on the previous meetings I attended. 

Thinking about those memories made any joy that was present in me completely get sucked out. It was as if a black hole that only targeted positive emotions entered my body. I knew exactly why. I thought back on the constant stares, on the constant whispering about me and appearance. I saw and heard every part of it. Some were nice, some weren't. Some couldn't believe my existence. Some wondered why I kept talking about 'the heavens' as a scientist and astronomer. Some thought I was just plain weird. 

I then began to think back even further and ended up reliving my school days. Somehow, that was even worse. While none of this really affected me, every social interaction I had has felt like some sort of barrier I needed to overcome. A part of me feels as if this was going to be different. Or, maybe my desires are impacting my view on reality…Ah well. I decided not to think about it for now. 

I sat on my bed and looked outside of my window.

"Wait. Wasn't I supposed to be figuring out if I wasn't hallucinating?" I did check my room, but sometimes that wasn't enough. I took off my glasses and checked my surroundings again to see if there weren't any small lights present in my room. Luckily, I didn't see any this time. This made me feel a little happy! This made me kick my feet a little!

"…Something's off." Suddenly, I felt a slight discomfort. No, it was more so that I felt uneasy about something.

Was it nervousness? No, I've never felt like this when I'm nervous before.

Was it because I might hallucinate again soon? Possible, but I wouldn't be feeling uneasy.

Was it because I haven't cleaned up this room yet? No…a scientist shouldn't be cleaning up rooms anyway when they have more important stuff to do!

The feeling grew stronger. It grew strong enough to the point where I had a feeling that something was going to happen. And I knew this with certainty.

Why am I feeling like this? Why do I feel so disturbed? Well, in order to answer these questions, it's time to do what I do best.

I got up from my bed and looked outside of the window. 

The cold wind blew again, but this time even colder and harder. Despite it being a mostly cloudless night, snow began to fall beautifully like little lights from the sky. While the cold wind didn't really bother me, it slightly ruffled my robe and blew through my hair, messing it up slightly. I didn't care too much about that though. The starry night and the velvet-blonde glow of the Milky Way illuminated my room majestically.

Strangely enough, I have never seen the Milky Way this bright before.

And strangely enough, it seemed to be getting brighter?

As it was getting brighter, strange colors began to seep out of the Milky Way. Blue, red, green, crimson, teal, gold, velvet, and many variants of those colors seemed to slowly spill out. Soon enough, I began to see glass-like fragments falling out of the sky.

Wait, what was this? 

Why-

Suddenly, everything turned dark and an extremely sharp pain reverberated inside of my head! I began holding my head with my hands out of instinct!

"AHHHHHHHH!!!!" I screamed out in pain, closing my eyes shut in the process! My glasses fell out of my face and onto the ground!

I tried to compose myself and calm my head down, but everything seemed dark…wait…everything seemed blurry? Countless thoughts raced inside of my head, and I couldn't pinpoint or stop any one of them. It was as if my brain was completely replaced with static noise!

What should I do? What do I do!?

I tried my best to open my eyes again and to prevent myself from screaming. It didn't work! I couldn't open my eyes at all! Why is this happening? Is it the night sky? Is it because of me daydreaming? Is it because of my findings? Is it because of the existence of the heavens? Was I actually hallucinating?

It then occurred to me that I had that daydreaming session when I looked at the night sky, and now I'm going through this when I'm looking at the night sky! There has to be some connection to the night sky, but what? And why? 

DO NOT LOOK AT THE NIGHT SKY

These words suddenly popped inside of my head, behind all of the static! I couldn't gamble on the meaning of these words, not at a time like this…!

I used all of my strength in my arms to navigate my head down, as my head wasn't able to move on its own. This hurt a lot more than I expected, and an excruciating cracking sensation was present for each moment I moved my head! I couldn't help but keep screaming through this pain…!

CRACK…CRACK…POP!

I was able to pull my head so that my eyes looked downwards toward the ground. Suddenly, I felt a sudden surge of relief! The pain had completely disappeared!

"Huff…puff…" While panting, I slowly opened my eyes.

It wasn't fully open, and my vision was still hazy and blurry. I felt extremely dizzy and my surroundings looked wavy. My arms were flowing about and my legs were wobbling, as if I was about to fall down…

THUMP!

I fell down on my back which made a decently loud sound. Despite everything, I felt a soft wind emerging from the window. It enveloped my body completely. Despite its chilly feel, it made me feel quite comfortable! It was like I was in a hot tub after a long day! I felt a sudden surge of peace throughout my body and my skin! 

Huff…puff…

"I could get used to this feeling," I said while panting. "It feels like I'm about to pass out…" My eyelids, which were currently barely staying open, were closing in on each other.

"Wait." I thought, as I struggled to widen my eyes in an attempt to stop myself from sleeping. "What in the world was that feeling…? I need to figure out what it was…!"

Despite my tiredness, my curiosity for that event began to fire up.

"I wonder if it has a connection to the event that will come in 3 days…" While controlling my breathing so that I stopped panting, I struggled to lift my head up. I began to place my hands on the ground to balance myself. It was clear a lot of my strength was lost, if only momentarily.

Eventually, I was able to completely get up. I was extremely tired, and it seemed like my body was about to pass out at any minute. I slowly began to head toward my desk, being careful as not to let my peripheral vision catch the night sky. I then closed my eyes and began to walk toward the direction of the window I was at. I wasn't sure if closing my eyes would've prevented that thing from happening again, but it's better to be safe than sorry!

As if my finger was piercing through honey, I then struggled to move my finger to press the button placed next to the window. Once I did, the shutters closed in on themselves and the window was shut. The moment this happened, the room turned completely dark.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Those were footsteps, and in a hurried pace. Judging by the uneven sounds of them, I'm guessing it's two people. I wonder if my coworkers heard my screaming? 

The sounds of the footsteps stopped.

"Dr. Sera? You there?" A male voice came from outside of the door, the voice muffled by it being outside. It was Xavier, I see.

"Yeah, we heard a scream? Are you okay?" A female voice then began to ask. It was Aria.

As expected, it's my two coworkers. Xavier Hale and Aria Brown.

"I'm…" My voice unexpectedly began to waver slightly. I was still affected by what had happened; my body was still readjusting. "You- you two can come in." 

Xavier opened the door, and they both walked in hesitantly. Xavier came first, and he was followed by Aria. Xavier happened to wear a black tailored suit which helped accentuate his well built frame. Aria wore a long white dress, which wrapped around her lean body like a blanket. Accompanying her was a simple, small pink purse she carried over her shoulder. They were both light skinned and had brown hair, with Xavier having platinum eyes and Aria boasting green eyes. Even in the dark, I could clearly see the obvious height difference between Xavier and Aria. The former was 6 feet, and the latter was 5 feet and 5 inches. Still, despite his height, Xavier was shorter than me…

"Shit…it's so cold!" Aria whispered while crossing her arms around her waist.

"Excuse your language! This is Dr. Sera's room…plus she probably has the window open again." Xavier said while looking for the light switch. They knew the layout of the room since they've been in here a few times, so it shouldn't take them long to find it.

Once he found it, he turned it on, and the cold white light lit the room. Soon enough, they both began to look at me. 

And once they did, they both took on shocked expressions.

"Dr. Sera…you…" Aria's eyes widened in shock! She began pointing at me with her right hand, placing her left hand on her mouth. It looked like she couldn't believe what she was seeing!

"Who are you…?" Xavier's mouth widened in shock.

"What do you mean?" I asked in confusion. "What do you mean, 'Who are you?'"

"Your skin…it's pale…! Are you really Astra?" Aria's voice rose slightly, less out of confusion and more out of worry. She also began to back up slightly, and held her hand to hold the doorknob.

"Yeah…and your eyes are completely white. What happened to Astra?" Xavier asked and looked at me with disgust.

What…? 'What happened to Astra?' I was struggling to comprehend what Xavier was trying to say. I would like to think he was joking, but his body language showed that he was dead serious. Despite trying to remain calm, his body was shaking.

"What are you talking about-" Since my vision was slowly getting better, I looked down and saw my hand and saw that it was, in fact, pale. It was a whitish purple color!

"What?" My eyes widened slightly in surprise. Was it even possible for my skin to turn this color? Even though I felt sluggish, I began looking at my hands and my chest and saw the same color distribution throughout.

"Is someone possessing you?" Aria asked, her voice wavering slightly. "Even your movements feel like that of a drunk person's."

"No, the scream can't be a coincidence right?" Xavier asked rhetorically while looking at Aria. "Plus, Astra never leaves her window closed…" He very slightly hesitated as he said this.

Xavier then began approaching me. Despite being scared, and despite his body wavering, he began to confront me.

He was right to do so. This entire situation is completely weird, beyond even my understanding. And from his perspective, it's reasonable that I was some sort of stranger who happened to invade 'Astra Sera's' room and potentially even harm her. Though, it is a little reckless. If his interpretation is correct, then I could be someone dangerous.

Anywho, I knew exactly how to make them believe I am who I say I am.

I stared intently at Xavier, my eyes still slightly drooping. He was a mere few feet away from me at this point. I noticed him sweating even in the cold, and his eyes struggling to maintain eye contact.

"Calm down Xavier. I am Astra Sera. I'm sorry to have worried you with the scream. Besides, don't I sound normal?" I asked, however my voice was a little hoarse. 

"…" Xavier's face shook a little, though he didn't seem convinced. It seems as if he was thinking "How do you know my name? And your voice sounds different anyway!" 

"You need more evidence than that to convince me that Astra somehow turned pale."

"Hehe…okay. Since you still seem skeptical - remember when you sent me a surprisingly formal email 3 weeks ago about the fact that you lost your charger, and happened to blame Aria because she happened to find her lost charger at the same time?" I recalled an event that only the three of us would know.

Xavier and Aria's eyes widened slightly. They had heard undeniable evidence, and I was who I said I was indeed.

"You remembered that?" He asked while backing away from me quickly.

"Maybe you aren't possessed after all!" Aria said in a half joking manner.

"Stop joking…Aria, this is serious…" Xavier responded. "Anyway, I'm so sorry for approaching you like that Dr. Sera…!" Xavier clasped his hands together and bowed slightly in apology. He was quite embarrassed! He then began to hold both of his hands in front of his head in an attempt to hide himself.

"It's fine, Xavier."

"But…I still feel weird." Aria spoke up. "Why did you scream like that…? Plus…your looks. Do you have a hidden disease? Were you in pain because of it?"

"I have no idea," My strength began to return to me, so I went to my bed to grab the mirror that I had thrown and held it out to see how I look now. "But I'm confident it isn't a disease."

I grabbed my mirror and saw a face.

The face that I saw…

This wasn't me. 

Instead of my skin being a dark brown, my skin was a white-ish purple, with a lightning-like pattern scattered across my face. This lightning-like pattern was only a little darker than my normal skin color. Instead of my eyes being a gold color, my eyes were completely white. The only thing that stayed the same was my blonde hair.

Is this person me?

I was looking at the night sky, and then somehow, I began to scream because of the pain that suddenly entered my body. And now, I look like a pale ghost!

If one can connect these events, it's possible this could come from the heavens indeed. There's likely no natural explanation for these events.

"Uh, I'm sorry for the inconvenience Dr. Sera!" Xavier removed his face from his hands and mustered up his courage. He was always like this, aside from isolated situations.

"If it's not a disease…do you know why you look like that? Does this have anything to do with…" Xavier did a slight, inaudible gulp out of anxiety. "Uh, the heavens or something along those lines?"

"Like I said, I have no idea." I responded immediately as I stopped looking into the mirror.

"Oh, okay…I trust you. I mean, you seem quite calm knowing you look…so different. Also-" Before Xavier mentioned the banquet, I cut him off.

"I'm fine. You two can go to the banquet. It should've started already. I'll be there shortly." I decided not to tell them about the reason behind me screaming. Not until I properly understood it. Besides, I can feel the worry in their voices; if I tell them my unconfirmed theories they might not even try to be near me again…

"Okay. We'll leave now." Aria said softly.

They both left. As they did, they turned off the lights and slowly closed the door.

I continued to look at myself in the mirror. The longer I looked, the more I started to look more like my usual self. It was as if my body was slowly shifting from alien to human…

And soon enough, my skin and eyes finally came back to its normal color. While I was a little relieved that my body presumably came back to normal, I still felt disturbed. It was as if little spikes were continuously piercing my stomach.

Was it that the event that made me scream earlier wasn't the reason I felt anxious?

Doesn't that mean that the feeling of inevitability I had is foreshadowing something else…?

I began to grin, and then giggle slightly. Despite the terrible feeling of uneasiness filling my heart, I began to feel a strange sense of ecstasy. I was curious as to what this feeling could entail!

But deep down, I could've felt it was something deeper than mere curiosity.

Deep down, I could've felt that this feeling was harboring a greater connection to the heavens…

But I didn't know for sure. I couldn't!

This uneasiness was evidence of the fact that I didn't fully understand everything… even regarding really strange things. Even regarding really strange things about myself and who I am. And…

"Is this also evidence that those strange things may be manifested in reality? Hehe…"

Who knows…