Heaven’s Path

Out of the fog and darkness, out of the hail and snow, out of the lightning, thunder and terrible winds, Astra Sera appeared.

"What the-" Aria's heart almost dropped!

The security widens her eyes in disbelief. "How the hell…"

Astra was close enough that her features were now fully visible in the faintly lit illumination of the headlights. Her hair was extremely messy and slightly wet as it flew through the wind, with small pockets of snow forming on her hair. Small droplets of water were on her skin as it was slightly bruised and dirty. She was wearing a white shirt covered by a white lab coat with black pants. Her hands were in her pockets, and she wore an emotionless expression, and she didn't have her sunglasses.

She had a slight grin while raising her right hand to wave at them.

Xavier proceeded to put his hood over his head, put his reinforced goggles over his eyes, and opened his door.

"Wait, you idiot! You can't go out there!" Aria exclaimed. Xavier ignored her and went outside anyway. 

"Give me a break…" Aria quickly put on her own hood and goggles and followed Xavier and closed the door behind her.

The security was baffled and confused. She was surprised at how Astra was actually somehow outside, confused at how she was seemingly unaffected. "You two, be safe and try to get Dr. Sera in here please…" She breathed a sigh of relief as she muttered under her breath. She then leaned back in her chair trying to process what just happened.

"I don't get paid enough for this. This is my second job too…" She said while exhaling and closing her eyes. "Those three are crazy…going outside like that. I guess they must have the pay to not be worrying about such things. They are scientists…"

"Well, at least this would make a good story for my sis…" She thought to herself as she began to text her sister.

After a while, laughing was heard from her and she closed her eyes.

As soon as Xavier and Aria went outside, they immediately felt the terrible lashings of the weather. It was a similar feeling to when they first went outside, almost half an hour ago. This time it was dialed up to 11, despite having suitable layers of heavy clothing for the winter.

It was as if ice needles continuously pierced every part of their body, especially their faces. An excessively cold chill rushed up their bodies, denying the warmth their thick fur clothing gave them. They knew that if they stayed there for too long, their entire bodies would turn numb and they would soon get affected by frostbite.

Their eyesight was limited by the foggy haze that grew from the hail and snow raining down on the land. Their hearing was limited from the eerie howling wind that almost sounded like a child weeping, with the occasional flash of lightning which was accompanied by a clap of thunder.

Worst of all, hail continued to fall, and it hit their bodies mercilessly. With every hit there was a decent amount of pain in the area, as if tennis balls were continuously hitting them at a decent pace.

This environment made both coworkers think to themselves:

"How in the world was Astra unable to be so affected by the weather?"

On this night, and only on this night, they felt as if she wasn't human.

Xavier, who was wondering about why Astra was going outside, again noticed something. "It's extremely strange how she stayed here. Even if you consider the idea that Astra might be unaffected somehow, she still would have no reason to stay. The night sky isn't visible, and being in such a harsh environment is out of character, even for Dr. Sera." Xavier organized his thoughts together and came to a logical conclusion with the given information.

"Was it possible that she knew that she was going to come and that she really was waiting on us…? She went through all of this, just for us to see her…well, it's also possible that she might be doing this for some completely unrelated reason. It's not the first time I misunderstood something like this." Xavier shook his head instinctively.

"Are you going to stay there forever? We're freezing…" Aria asked with an exasperated expression as she hugged herself, gesturing that she was suffering from the cold.

"Sorry." Xavier apologized. "You could've walked to her yourself…she's still scared of the lightning." Xavier said in his head.

During that interaction, Astra was staring at them, with an even wider grin. As she saw them approaching and heard the faint crunch of the sand and snow, she started to wave again.

"Her demeanor is a lot more relaxed and lively than it was before, despite the environment she's in…I wonder why! You'd expect her to be in a more urgent and hurrying manner. It's possible that she was in fact waiting for us. But why in this way and why in this environment!?" Aria noticed something with Astra and thought curiously.

"Hi!" She said, almost innocently, almost too happily.

"First of all, how and why were you in such an environment? We were worried!" Aria spoke up first, her voice almost getting drowned out by the wind which necessitated her shouting.

Astra sighed and said: "For how, it's because my body is a little different than other people. That shouldn't be too hard to believe, though I didn't find the need to tell you guys that information until now. I mean, it's not like I would be able to hide it…"

"Yeah, that isn't too hard to believe." Aria thought with a nonchalant expression. "Does that have to do with how you looked white earlier?" She asked.

"No. I do have a few theories on that." Astra responded. "I'll get back to that later. For why, it was because I was led here by my intuition…" Astra said with a concerned expression.

This was a half-truth. She was led outside in the middle of the snowstorm due to two reasons. The first reason was because she wanted to properly figure out the source of the hallucinations, and she couldn't do that in a space like the banquet. The second reason was because of that uneasy feeling that she kept having, that uneasy feeling that something was guaranteed to happen. She had intuitively realized that this had something to do with the heavens, as throughout her entire life she had never encountered a situation regarding natural matters that made her have such a strong feeling. By simply connecting the dots, she came to the conclusion that the Polaris event, which was considered supernatural, was connected to this uneasy feeling. 

Incidentally, she knew that this line of reasoning still wouldn't explain exactly why she's outside.

So by phrasing her words in that way, she would avoid having to explain the full truth.

Xavier then tried to say words, but he hesitated. Astra noticed this.

"What's wrong, Xavier? Tell me what's on your mind."

Xavier inhaled heavily and clenched his fists before saying: "W-why did you make us go through this…were you really expecting us to be here to come and look for you? Why…?" Xavier asks.

Aria looks at him with a slightly shocked expression. She then looks back toward Astra.

"Yes," Astra said with a faint smile. "I expected you two to try and find me. I'm sorry for making you two go through this, it definitely caused you both some stress." Astra said with a soft voice, her voice radiating through the eerie wind.

"Are you really sorry? I mean, it's not the first time that you isolated yourself like this. And, this time, it's something dangerous. You or me or Aria could've gotten hurt. So why…" Xavier said, his voice shaking. "Especially when you never happened to come close to us or trust us with anything meaningful to begin with…" Xavier continued his sentence inside of his heart.

"I didn't expect him to say this straight up to Astra." Aria thought to herself.

As if she expected such an answer, Astra replied: "I am really sorry. I got too carried away in my intuition and happened to let you guys be in the crossfire. I wanted to see if my connection to the heavens was correct. And it seems like I got too caught up in that." Astra said another half-truth.

She had wanted, and planned, for Xavier and Aria to come to her at this exact moment.

She had always wanted for them to find her as who she truly is…

"S-so why did you stay here, and willingly come to the vehicle?" Xavier asked while trying to hide his shivering.

Astra then stopped smiling, and looked at the sky with an unreadable expression.

"It's because you two want to understand me, right?"

The two coworkers looked at their superior in shock. Their eyes were covered by the goggles, but their mouths slightly widened in surprise.

For a moment, the cold didn't affect them.

"For Aria, you want me to understand myself. For Xavier, you want me to trust you in meaningful ways." Astra looked back at them.

"I understand how you feel." She smiled, and although it was unnoticeable, her eyes showed a hint of melancholy. "And I always have."

"Then why did you not tell us this earlier? Why do we have to try and reach you?" Xavier shouted out. "Despite being so smart, can't you see that this is a much easier solution!?" Immediately after saying those words, he held his mouth. He walked backwards slightly, and almost apologized, however Astra stopped him. 

Aria looked at Xavier, her eyebrows slightly curled up, her emotions experiencing a mix of shock and slight sadness. 

She was beginning to think that her efforts of trying to find Astra in such a moment wasn't in vain.

She turned towards Astra.

"It's not, and it never has been." Astra stopped smiling and wore a nonchalant expression. "Do you want to know what I thought the source of the screams were?" 

Xavier removed his hand from his mouth and began to listen more attentively. Aria then slowly came a little closer to hear what she had to say.

"At first, I genuinely had no clue what it was. I was confused just as you two. Then, I saw my appearance change, and I still had no clue. But then I thought about the event regarding Polaris, and I surmised that maybe it had something to do with that event. Something seeming strange could be compared with something seeming strange, right?" Astra said apathetically.

She continued. "Perhaps it was the heavens that caused such a thing. Perhaps it is my strange adoration of the heavens that makes me unable to not isolate myself. It's strange!" 

"Despite being human, I feel unable to belong." She laughed slightly, feeling as if she said something truly genuine.

"I don't understand it myself. Perhaps I never will." Astra then got closer to the duo, surprising the both of them. She put her hands on their shoulders. 

"But what I do know is that I care immensely for you two. Despite the fact that I can't seem to find my place. Remember that." Astra said to them with a soft, but authoritative voice

Xavier was speechless. He never expected to hear this from Astra of all people. Aria had guessed that this is how she always felt, and this was the bridge she could use to make Astra seem a little less different. However, she especially never expected to hear such a thing from the woman herself.

Xavier and Aria both were processing Astra's words, her voice ringing multiple times in their ears.

They wanted to ask why she told them this. They wanted to ask why she didn't tell them this earlier.

Despite them being a little joyful that Astra opened up to them, even a little, they still had lingering doubts and questions.

But before they could even say anything, Astra gave off a teasing grin.

"There, due to your efforts, you two seem to understand a little more about me, I hope." She then lifted her arms from their shoulders and turned back, to the shock of the duo.

 Astra didn't mind it and continued: "There's something else I want to show you two, but you aren't able to see it due to the weather. So let's go back for now. Heh, the banquet is probably over…I can't believe I skipped it!" Astra said in an innocent, high pitched voice.

As soon as Xavier and Aria heard that, their thoughts shifted. It was only for a moment, but they immediately thought of one thing that Astra wanted to show them in which its visibility could be affected by the weather.

Polaris! Could it have shifted, 3 days before the event?

"Wait, do you mean by-" Aria spoke up, but was interrupted by the sudden change in temperature.

She felt sweat dripping down her face and all over her body. 

Confused, she wiped her forehead and saw her hand almost dripping wet. Aria looked at her hand with a flabbergasted face.

She looked at Xavier and saw that he had the same reaction.

Unexpectedly, things started to get warmer. Much warmer, in fact!

The wind that blew so fiercely was now calm, as if a storm had never touched the atmosphere. The weather was so serene that this quick and sudden change was nothing short of supernatural.

Astra, Xavier and Aria naturally looked around to examine their surroundings, figuring out why the temperature suddenly skyrocketed. Things were suddenly getting a lot more visible. The fog was beginning to disperse.

They saw the snow and hail turning into rain, and then it suddenly stopping. Along with that, the entire landscape was beginning to light up, not by an artificial light, but by a natural one. As such, they all naturally looked up.

There was a massive hole in the sky! The Milky Way was now completely visible again!

Everyone around began looking at the sky with an extremely confused expression!

"What…" Xavier took off his goggles and looked at the Milky Way. It was clearly visible, with giant patches of grey clouds surrounding it.

"Dr. Sera…" Aria spoke while also looking up, but was interrupted by Astra.

"No, I have no clue what this is…" Astra said while also looking. "Another supernatural event? Was this what that feeling was about?" Astra said in her head, but she quickly dismissed that thought as she realized that she still felt uneasy.

The security in the car, having leaned back and closed her eyes, suddenly opened them once she heard the sounds of thunder, hail and wind dissipate.

She looked and saw that Astra, Xavier and Aria were staring at the sky, appearing clueless.

"Wait, the storm stopped? That quickly?" She said to herself, incredulously. She sighs and then says: "Well, at least I don't have to worry about those three anymore…" She says, unaware of the fact that she wasn't paying attention to them once Astra showed up.

She turned off the heater, knowing that the snowstorm had stopped.

Outside, Xavier pointed in a particular direction of the sky.

"Wait, isn't that Polaris?" He asked. It turns out Astra's findings were right! Polaris did shift! "But it was three days earlier than expected…" Xavier said in his head, his eyes still locked on the star system.

Aria looked back and saw what Xavier was pointed at. She looked in childlike joy as she saw Polaris. "Astra! You really did predict the unthinkable!" She then looked back at Astra as she curved her mouth upwards.

Astra looked at them both, nodded and gave a faint smile.

However, she was figuring out why the storm seemed to have completely disappeared. She had also wondered if this thing was connected to something more supernatural, such as the Polaris event. She began to look up at the sky, also wondering why Polaris appeared so early for some reason.

Suddenly, the air began to heat up again. This time, it heated up to the point as if it was summer!

Aria and Xavier noticed this and immediately took off their heavy fur clothing as their bodies heated up to an immense degree. Xavier and Aria were now in casual clothing, akin to what you'd wear inside your house, as they left their formal clothing at the booth.

"Why is it getting so hot…" Aria said while wiping her brows and breathing heavily. Xavier did the same, while Astra continued to look up at the sky.

The security was fine, as the cold from inside of the vehicle lingered.

Suddenly, an eerie, ringing-like sound echoed, which caused everyone present, including the security, to put their hands to their ears to cover them. Everyone was confused, looking around to determine where the sound came from. It felt like their ear drums were about to explode as they all got on their knees, their faces wincing in pain.

But suddenly, the ringing sound stopped. Then nothing happened, and a short silence ensued. This silence was calming, peaceful. The silence sounded as if it was a beautiful melody sung by an angel, compared to the ringing from before.

Xavier, Astra, and Aria looked around awkwardly, trying to process what just happened. They removed their hands from their ears, and slowly got up. They were unable to say anything due to the shock.

Astra got up the fastest and recovered the fastest, and she continued to look at the sky. Her intuition, no, her uneasiness kept screaming to her, and the more time passed by, the more it kept pointing towards the sky.

The security opened the door to the car and as she did so, she immediately rolled over and fell on the ground. Her badge and ID fell as she rolled, and she was barely able to hold herself up from the pain her head felt by the ringing sound. She tried to collect her thoughts together but her thoughts that were in her head sounded like the noise you would hear in a crowd.

The same phenomenon happened to Xavier and Aria.

As the pain subsided, relief came. They all exhaled and began panting heavily, except for Astra.

Astra just couldn't stop staring at the sky. It was as if her uneasiness was a separate consciousness, turning her head towards the sky. 

"The sky looked so beautiful…" A thought had appeared in everyone's heads, whether everyone wanted to or not.

Confused, Xavier and Aria looked at one another, as if they said something to one another. The security would be looking at them too having the same reaction, but she was currently on the floor. Her eyes were narrowed and showed signs of heavy confusion.

"What was that-" Aria attempted to say something about the thought in her head.

"Are you o-" Xavier attempted to say before he was interrupted by-

Suddenly, the entire night sky shattered like glass!

Shockwaves reverberated throughout the atmosphere like ripples on water, the sound of a thousand thunderbolts accompanying the cracks like a divine dance!

Iridescent colors and light spilled out of the cracks and started to fill the sky like paint spilling out of a bucket, similar to what Astra saw when she first screamed, but on a much larger level. A bright white light shone through these colors—so much so that it can be mistaken for daytime. This was not merely a natural event, like a storm, this thing was alive! And reality bent itself to pave way for it! This was an event that everyone on earth saw.

Xavier, Aria, and the security ignored their pain that almost subsided and looked at the sight in astonishment. They were speechless, and they could not have moved their eyes away from it. Their thoughts were like static.

As for Astra, she was already looking at it. She was the only one with a coherent thought. "Is this what I was feeling…?" She said as her golden eyes shone like the sun.

The cracks that appeared out of the sky began to open up and spread out, with each movement sounding like a giant glass was dropped and its shards fell all over the floor, accompanied by a massive trumpet sounding its tune.

The cracks then begin to form a pupil-less eye, and inside the eye was a great, infinite darkness, which was filled with many lights and colors that didn't exist. These lights and colors trailed to a single infinitesimal point.

The trails and iridescent colors that didn't seem to exist then began to mix within itself, forming a whirlwind that smoothly and slowly formed into a giant, translucent, dark velvet and blonde hand. It looked almost as if the Milky Way had turned itself into a hand! 

And this hand was pointing its finger directly at Astra Sera!