Heaven’s Path

Xavier had closed the door. As he did so, both he and Aria entered into the hallway which housed the rooms of many astronomers and scientists.

It was empty; it was silent.

Despite this hallway being usually busy, there was no surprise that it was so silent.

'There was an upcoming banquet that invited everyone, including scientists that weren't known, after all!'

'There was an upcoming dinner with the world's best scientists! It's an exciting event!'

This is what Xavier and Aria thought, and why wouldn't they? This was their first time going to a banquet like this, after all. They were especially excited to see Astra. Plus, having someone like her seated next to them would make them even less anxious walking into the big hall. They were her coworkers, after all. They were people who could've perhaps related to her isolation as scientists.

For Aria, she was particularly excited to see how Astra acts in real time in front of everyone, how she acts in front of people! She had always looked up to her in college, and was always impressed by how she spoke to people. They were about the same age too! She had always wanted to make her a friend, but Aria thought that it would naturally be hard for someone like that to make true friends. 

As a scientist, she could totally relate.

But, she thought it was almost impossible, until Astra herself made Aria a coworker of hers. 

This lit up Aria's heart! Astra could've chosen anyone else, anyone else that was better than her, but Astra chose her! She figured that Astra must've chosen her for a different reason other than ability. 

Perhaps she really wanted a friend! 

She was excited and anxious, but she knew she had to see Astra in a different lens, a normal lens, to try and actually be her friend.

Of course, she did this in a manner that was acceptable for a coworker's standards. But the more Aria knew about her, the more and more she saw how different Astra was, how isolated Astra was, and how different that isolation Astra experienced was.

Normally, Aria began to think that this was the reason why she didn't have any friends, despite her status. Aria also hypothesized that the reason why she's like that is because she doesn't understand her own peculiarity. This was around the same time Aria realized that she was not Astra's friend, and never was.

Of course, it's hard to find someone who thinks of you normally when you're like that. And it's hard to think normally when everyone doesn't think of you as normal. And thus, Aria wanted Astra to think that she thought of her as normal, despite Aria knowing that Astra would never be someone like that.

For Xavier, he had the same thought process as Aria.

But that thought process lasted up until the point where Astra also chose him as a coworker. He thought that by Astra choosing him, then that must mean that she wants to connect with him. 

Almost as if she chose him as a 'candidate' for being her friend. 

After all, if she was choosing a candidate based on ability, Xavier likely wouldn't have been chosen completely. So, he expected her to open up and show parts of herself to him, like he does for her.

But she's never done that. She continued to stay different and isolated. 

Xavier didn't mind at first, thinking that coworkers are supposed to be like that at first. But the more and more as time passed by, the more and more time Xavier was busy away from his family and friends. At the same time, Xavier kept seeing her like that—no, he saw it even more from her. And while he had always developed a sense of respect, he was now beginning to fear Astra. This fear stemmed from the idea that he might've been wrong on the reason as to why Astra chose him.

While both Xavier and Aria had family and friends that they talked to, they eventually grew distant from them as they had to focus more on their work. 

And while they both admired each other, all they really wanted in their heart was for Astra to be more open to them. After all, they already trust each other, and they didn't have to work for that!

This was their thought process.

So, for this goal, they both subconsciously tried to accomplish this.

But then, a scream was heard. And then, 'someone' was seen! Who was it? Was it truly Astra? Was she always like that, or was it a different side to her?

Despite her proving herself to be 'her', something was still off, and both of them had this feeling.

Both of them felt as if she was hiding this from them, like she usually was. But to isolate herself from them at such a moment like that…

This was the final nail in the coffin for both of them on the enigma that was Astra Sera.

However, each of them had different reasons—different nails that they put in that coffin.

For Xavier, he had come to the conclusion that Astra didn't trust them enough.

Xavier sighed, his body still processing the amount of courage he had to go through. His limbs were still slightly shaking. 

"You okay?" Aria asked.

"I'm fine," Xavier looks at his coworker with a somewhat tired look in his eyes. "We should just go to the banquet. We're late." He began to walk down the hallway. Hesitantly, Aria followed after him, keeping a good distance behind him. 

As if the color of the hallway reflected what was on their minds, the color of the walls were blank white, with violet line streaks across the hallway, with each door in the hallway being grey. On the ceiling of the hallway were light blue neon lights across the edges.

She knew that the entire situation with Astra bothered Xavier. Though, she didn't know what exactly about it bothered him, and didn't want to bring up something she didn't properly understand. As such, both of them were completely silent as they walked through the empty hallway.

Out of boredom, Aria began to look at the walls of the hallway. What stood on the walls of the hallway were history's greatest scientists and astronomers. 

She passed them one by one.

Newton. Einstein. Planck. Bohr. Schrödinger. Curie…

Xavier stopped, and then turnt his head to look on the right side of the wall. Subsequently after, Aria stopped too.

"What happened?" Aria raises an eyebrow. "Aren't we supposed to be rushing since it's late like you said?" Aria says with a ting of sarcasm. Soon enough, he then instinctively looks at the framed picture on the right side of the wall.

The person that was in that framed picture, was Astra. It was how she always looked like. Dark skin that heavily contrasted with her blonde hair, golden eyes that seemed to see and know everything. A sharp but soft face with a soft smile that exudes confidence.

Why didn't Xavier see this Astra, the one he looked up to, when he first walked in?

Why didn't Astra tell him what that was?

These were the questions that weighed on Xavier. He then sighs slightly. 

"You know, you don't have to be so mysterious. What's wrong, Xavier?"

"Don't you feel like Dr. Sera's hiding something?" Xavier asks.

Aria looks at him, her confused face persisting. "I mean, yeah. Isn't she always hiding something? Is that what you're worried about?"

"Don't you think that's a problem? I mean, it's fine if she hides things personal to her. It's fine if she hides things regarding her job. But don't you think it's weird that we heard a scream, her entire appearance was changed, and she refuses to tell us why?"

"You're acting like she herself knows what that is. Maybe it could be a ghost…" Aria looks around, as if she's losing interest. 

"Aria…you're telling me Astra truly has no idea what that was?" Xavier said while raising his voice slightly. "It can't be any skin condition, as her eyes were changed too. It can't be the lighting, since the room was completely dark. And, given her intelligence and knowledge, she should at least know what was going on."

"You don't know yourself, and you're assuming that Astra knows…don't you see the problem with that? Astra is…well, a weird existence, but she's still a human with limitations. I don't think she's lying about anything. What if this is just something we don't understand about Astra? We already don't understand a lot about her, and most of her behaviors don't make sense. What's the difference here?" 

Xavier places his hand on his forehead in frustration. "There's nothing we understand about her!" Xavier then turns towards Aria, his arms now at his side. He lowers his tone slightly, realizing he was getting louder. Aria looks at him attentively, currently showing no discerning emotion.

"…Isn't that a problem? That we don't understand anything about her? I look up to her, I respect her! She even chose us as her first coworkers…at the very least, shouldn't we get to know more about her than her just being a great scientist we see from time to time?"

Aria takes some time to respond, placing her hand on her chin. "How interesting, Xavier. You're saying this, but weren't you doing something reckless attempting to stand up for Astra? What if that wasn't actually Astra?"

"What does that have to do with what we're talking about?"

"It has a lot to do with what we're talking about, actually. You were standing up for someone who you admit you don't understand. Why?"

The lights flicker slightly as Xavier ponders the question for a second. As he ponders, his head drops downwards slightly, tilting to the side.

"…I trust her. I just want her to trust me. To trust us, Aria."

Aria continues to look at Xavier with no discerning emotion. 

"Xavier. Astra doesn't have to trust you, or trust us with such things…I'm sure she's keeping that secret for a reason, and we're not entitled to it. We're not supposed to be her friends."

Xavier looks back up at Aria, showing a slight mix of sadness and frustration in his countenance. Subsequently, Aria begins walking, and soon enough, she walks past Xavier.

"Please don't let this affect our work with Astra from now on. Remember that she's just a person with her own feelings, like us. I'm sure she has a warm spot for us somewhere," Suddenly, Aria stopped and looked at Xavier, who was still looking at the portrait of Astra on the wall.

"If it makes you feel better, Astra probably doesn't understand herself either. As long as she doesn't understand herself, how could we ever hope to understand her? I know how you feel, and I don't like it either, but that's the reality of it, unless something happens that will cause her to understand herself more…" Aria then begins walking off. Suddenly, Aria begins gripping the handle on her purse a little harder.

"But considering that, until that happens, what we should be doing is helping Astra understand herself, most of all." While hiding her face, Aria said something that resonated in her heart. While Xavier couldn't see it, her face had a mix of disappointment and melancholy. 

While walking, she tried to ignore such a feeling, so she can get herself in the right mind for the banquet.

Xavier looked at Aria's back walking through the hall feeling emotions that he couldn't seem to describe. He looked back at the portrait of Astra, and after an unknown length of time, one emotion in the sea of many clicked, despite those other emotions seeming foggy.

And strangely enough, for the first time, Xavier began feeling a sense of distrust toward Astra. He couldn't quite place it yet. In fact, he even attempted to deny the feeling in his heart.

"No, that can't be it." Xavier shakes his head, as if that would remove the emotion that resonated with him, if only a little.

He then begins to look down the hallway that Aria disappeared into, and begins walking himself.

But for both of them, at the end of this conversation, they both fully came to the realization that the person who they saw was Astra. They didn't burden themselves with the doubt that such a thing was actually her, despite how abnormal it was.

Indeed, it was the fact that it was abnormal that made them come to that realization.

And this realization was a lot harder for Aria to swallow. It was as if a nail pierced her soul.