Asteria and Marionette stopped on top of one of the skyscrapers, their bodies both glowed for a moment after moving very fast, slowly fading and they both breathed a sigh of relief after that. "Phew, it's been a long time since I used Chaos Force. I feel like I need to re-adapt," said Marionette who was starting to pant because the effects were just being felt.
"Just Chaos Force, I still have all of Morningstar's power stored on the moon," said Asteria who looked fine and start looking around, "So, what really happened, I just remember giving Viny an autograph" asked Asteria to Marionette, because she was the information warehouse in their group, Willingness.
Marionette chuckled before speaking and smirked, "You know Glaze Starlium? I provoked him a little when he failed to approach Viny. His power shouldn't have awakened that easily, all of Fiore never awakened their powers carelessly. That means there are other factors that we don't know yet, Asteria," she replied explaining what was happening behind him.
"Another factor, but what..." Asteria thought for a moment until he remembered he put two Sinful Hearts on Annebella, "Maybe, my heart that was taken along with the Spirit inside it for brought them to where the Seven Sinful Sins were sealed. So they lured me to take out the Sinful Hearts to confirm that I have them and know that my Spirit is connected to the Seven Sinful Sins," he said trying to guess what happened.
Marionette stood on the edge of the building and laughed, "Hahahaha! One, two, three, four, five, six, and thi–" she slipped and fell down, but she quickly threw her needle tied with thread to the wall then swung before crossing buildings while laughing happily, "Yahoooo!!!" she screaming with excitement as she swing between buildings.
Asteria chuckled at her behavior and stood on the edge of the building to see her joy clearly, "As usual, she always finds a way to have fun," she commented on Marionette's behavior who enjoyed everything so much. The wind blew hard above, Asteria's hair was blown by the wind and he enjoyed the cool breeze while looking at the night sky, his gaze fixed to the crescent moon, "Should I take it back, Morningstar's power... If the situation gets more critical, maybe I will take it," he muttered, feeling that Morningstar's power would most likely be needed.
Marionette returned by spinning in the air and landed right next to Asteria but almost fell, Asteria swiftly caught her and pulled her until they both fell backwards. Marionette laughed happily, "Ahhh that was so cool, I was just looking around and my other dolls were watching every corner in different positions," she said, explaining the reason for her action earlier.
"So what did you get, Marionette?" asked Asteria who was curious and got up to sit up.
Marionette put her finger to her lips and hummed, thinking about where to start. After organizing it in her head, Marionette jumped to stand up and spin around once time, "To make it short! First, one of the Seven Sinful Sins, Envy, has already awakened. Second, her Sprouts have been hunting the emotions of the Fiore. Third, the host of the Sprouts is Glaze Starlium," said Marionette, adding one finger for each number she mentioned. Asteria wanted to answer but was immediately cut off by her, "Fourth! I don't like odd numbers so I added them. Fourth, the investigation and security forces are heading south right now,"
At first Asteria was confused about the fourth statement, "Come to here, for what?" until he remembered something important he had forgotten, "Aaahhh… that… the effects of the explosion and chaos… we forgot to deal with it," he complained to himself for almost forgetting something so important.
"Here, lemme borrow Maskara. Making lies is easier than dealing with the Seven Sinful Sins," Marionette asked, extending her hand to Asteria. A blue butterfly emerged from Asteria's body, flying into Marionette's hand, then transformed into a Maskara card, a mask without a mouth and only expressing her emotions through his changing eyes. "Hello~ we meet again, same task again, Maskara," she said to Maskara, making him react with his eyes changing into a sly and evil gaze. Marionette put it into her body and used Maskara's power.
The power of the Maskara Spirit is to manipulate reality with artificial lies, but the one who makes the lie must be sure and believe that the lie is true. Basically, this power only works on ordinary lies and must touch the target, but when used by a Marionette who has the Masquerade power, it increases rapidly. The practice is that Marionette throws her needle and thread that are tied to each other, towards the same place, namely the Marionette that's with Asteria right now, she places lies into people's minds directly. Marionette uses puppets that are already all over the city to help her stick needles into every person or Fiore, animal, and even a plant, including those who are on their way here.
Making a lie that the chaos and explosions that occurred were part of the opening event of the summer festival that will be held, the vibrations that occurred were just small earthquakes, and the chaos was just the fun that happened. In order for the lie to be more believable, Asteria uses Rarog's power to create explosions in the sky as fireworks, so that the fireworks explosions cover up the truth and the excitement at the festival becomes even more exciting.
"Hm? Fireworks again? There were already some earlier," said one of the residents enjoying the festival. The food vendor also asked the same thing, "Maybe the fireworks will be during the whole festival?" the person who had laughed after eating his snack, "How is that possible, where would the funds come from for there to be fireworks throughout the whole festival? But if you think about it, this festival is special from usual, maybe so."
Viny's group of friends took Viny to the music hall, where a special drama and music performance for the festival would be held later. "Wow, fireworks! Look, look at that!" one of her friends pointed to the sky.
Viny turned her head with a faint smile, "It's beautiful..." she whispered in awe.
Her quiet friend just nodded and recorded it, while her other exotic friend muttered, "Where are those two again? They said they were going around the festival, but they haven't come here yet,"
The two friends in question were the two girls who appeared in the first part of the prologue, that's what Marionette explained to the reader, "One more thing, the problem of the replica statue of The Mother is being handled by Asteria who is thinking of a solution, what lies can be used," she said again to the reader.
Back to Asteria who was sitting on the edge of the building thinking about what to do, "Giant... giant... amusement park... I think that's all..." he stood up and pulled Marionette's ear who was beside him.
"Aaawwww hey!" she screamed in annoyance at Asteria, she pushed his hand away and asked, "What else do you want? My energy is drained from using Maskara and Masquerade together." Marionette sighed in disappointment and tiredness as she jumped down and hung on the edge of the building using her needle and thread, "Agghh... So tired..."
"I haven't asked for anything yet. Okay, okay, I'll treat you to food after this, how about that?" Asteria offered with a smile while crossing her arms.
Hearing free food, Marionette pulled herself back up the building and stood up straight, "Make sure the food is you the one made it, Asteria. If not I won't accept your request," she offered back wanting to get more benefits.
"Okay, sure whatever. I only ask for one thing, take me somewhere I can contact the other Willingness members," Asteria asked, telling her without further ado.
Marionette immediately hugged him and pushed them both while laughing happily, falling down from the skyscraper together. Her actions made Asteria scream in surprise, "Wo... Oooooii!!" Before falling straight to the ground, Asteria used Zeal's power, a spirit in the form of a dark red chain with ancient writing on its chain. It was used to swing between buildings while carrying Marionette in her arms.
Marionette released herself from Asteria and used her own needle and thread to swing between buildings, "Follow me!" she shouted, telling Asteria to follow her.
They swung between buildings quickly so that no one would see them, plus the crowd at the festival should have made them all focus on the fun and not look up for no reason. Marionette led Asteria to the Music Hall, where Viny would be performing later. They both landed on the building safely without any injuries.
Asteria was familiar with his surroundings, he mumbled, "This is the Music Hall, no wonder I'm feel familiar," turning to Marionette with a questioning face, "So how do I call the others? I need one more person to cover up the last truth."
Marionette pulled Asteria's hand, leading him forward to the edge roof of the building, "Look there, I have a surprise," she pointed to the tower across, Envy was seen waving to them both with a wide smile. "I feel like want punching her face," she mocked with an annoyed groan, then pointed down at a public telephone near the side of the road, "There, you brought money right? I won't give it to you."
Asteria looked at her with a pout and pinched her cheek, "You're the one who usually owes me money, don't talk carelessly," he replied jokingly.
Marionette squeaked while pushing his hand away, "Come on, I'm not your doll! Eh but I am a doll, ahhh whatever! Go away!" she ordered standing behind Asteria and pushing him repeatedly.
Asteria let out a breath before moving very fast using Chaos Force, in his view the world slowed down. He jumped down and went to the pay phone before anyone else used it, took a coin from his pocket and put it into the pay phone, entered the number he was calling and deactivated Chaos Force. The people around him were surprised to see Asteria who suddenly appeared at the pay phone, they were confused how he got there but didn't want to care too much because enjoying the festival was more important to them.
Asteria waited for his phone to be answered, while listening to the people around him. "That person wasn't there earlier, how could she be there?" said one of the men who had wanted to use the public phone. The little boy was surprised to see Asteria's presence who appeared out of nowhere, "Is she a ghost? How could she be there, I saw it was still empty, right sis?" he asked curiously and enthusiastically to his older sibling beside him.
His older sibling nodded and laughed awkwardly, "Hahaha... Yeah yeah... That's so strange... What would happen if he was a ghost, hm?" She asked back to her younger sibling.
"Maybe I want to know, whether she's really a ghost or not, if so I want to tell my friends!" he exclaimed as he looked at his older sibling with sparkling eyes.
Asteria just giggled hearing people's reactions, until his phone was picked up and a young man's voice was heard from the phone, "Hello, good evening, from Owl Rupture, Siamese's assistant speaking, Hanu. Who is this and what is the matter? Ms. Siamese is out,"
Leaning on a nearby pole, Asteria answered the assistant, "Ah, good evening. Siamese went out? Where did she go, she rarely wants to leave her lab."
Hanu muttered softly thinking about what to say before answering Asteria, "Uhh... If I'm not mistaken, Ms. Siamese went to a festival. I think it was in Sirius City, sorry she didn't give much detail," he answered Asteria politely.
When Asteria wanted to answer back, someone poked his nape and in an instant he turned around, found Siamese standing behind him while chewing on the food she bought, in her wrist carrying so many shopping bags. Siamese was a scientist and also a researcher, even when going out to the festival she still wore her white coat. She gray hair was still messy, indicating that she didn't prepare himself before going to the festival. Her expression was calm with her emerald green eyes even though her was munching on her favorite food, cotton candy, "Asteria, who are you calling?" she asked curiously.
Asteria immediately hung up the phone without say goodbye, putting it back before speaking to Siamese, "Called you, but you're here. Your hair and clothes... did you come straight from the lab?" he smiled at Siamese.
Siamese nodded while finishing the cotton candy she was holding, "Mhmm~ right, what am I doing? Just going out for a bit to get some food, I don't really care about the festival," she said which was the opposite of what she was doing, seen from the many shopping bags she was carrying.
Asteria sighed, then chuckled at her words which were the opposite of what she was doing. Putting that aside for the time being, "Siamese, I have a request. Can you make a hologram projection of a giant playground? There's no one else but you I ask." He looked at Siamese seriously, indicating the urgency in his gaze.
Siamese stretched out her hand at Asteria, "Money" she said briefly, concisely, and clearly.
Asteria took out his wallet and take ten high-value bills, "One million. Are you satisfied?" He said with a pout but still wearing a serious face. "It always like this, when it comes to money with you," He commented to Siamese, but it didn't make her feel offended.
Instead a smile appeared on Siamese's face because of Asteria's comment, she took the money and put it in her shopping bag, "Thanks ~ although it's still not enough, I'll charge your account later," she replied happily then walked away to carry out her duties.
Asteria used Chaos Force once again to return to Marionette's side, "Hey, the giant statue problem has been taken care of, change their perception into a Giant Playground Projection. Siamese took care of it for that kind of thing, your job is again with Maskara," he said seriously and calmly, indicating that Asteria was ready for what would happen next, he felt something approaching, that's Sprouts.
When Marionette used the power of Mascara along with Masquerade once again, she finally let out a sigh of relief once again because it was over. The two of them looked towards the tower once again, Envy looking at them with a seductive gaze. The three of them remembered the past, ten years ago before the Seven Sinful Sins were sealed. Their positions were exactly the same when Asteria came to face the Seven Sinful Sins alone, coming to a ruined castle after the seven of them went on a rampage in order to achieve their main goal, regaining Perfection. Because the Seven Sinful Sins were Spirits created through experiments, born with eight Sinful Hearts each in the form of shining flower petals. But when they were still in seed form, one of their Sinful Hearts was taken by a mysterious figure so that they were born feeling dissatisfied and went on a rampage with their own desires, in order to find their missing Sinful Hearts.
On the same night, a crescent moon shone in the sky. The castle was filled with lifeless bodies, smoke from the fire filled the air, and some parts of the castle had been destroyed due to the riots created by the Seven Sinful Sins. Asteria came to the ruined castle for his own reasons, not because they would threaten the world. He stood with his materialization weapon or called as Memorial, in the form of a cane, a stick that is usually used as a walking aid. Envy who noticed his arrival smiled widely, "A human? Who would have thought one of them would dare to fight us all alone," she praised Asteria who was standing in front of them all.
Sloth who was eating a human hand stopped when he realized it too, "D-don't you see around you, human? Many of you have died at our hands," he said with a warning impression.
Ignoring their words, Asteria continued to walk in front of all of them who were standing on the stairs in front of the castle entrance gate. His gaze was very calm and controlled, he even hummed proving that he did not feel fear and intimidation from all of them even though they were in Morte form.
The form of the Seven Sinful Sins was still as a monster or Morte, not yet having the form of Fiore. Their colors were also different, symbolizing sin, strength, and the color of Sinful Hearts, each of them. Red for Greed, blue for Envy, purple for Lust, green for Gluttony, brown for Sloth, black for Wraith, lastly white and gold for Pride. They all look down on and belittle Asteria who looks slender and feminine, especially using only canes to fight them.
When their gazes were all turned to Asteria, unknowingly three to four of their Sinful Hearts were forcibly taken by someone, needles that glowed scarlet red were seen taking their Sinful Hearts, none other than Marionette's. Losing Sinful Hearts weakened their bodies and strength, especially with that many. Without wasting much time Asteria shot at high speed, stabbing Pride who was most likely the most problematic. He swiftly tore his body making his blood flow out profusely staining his clothes and face, "One," Asteria said coldly taking all of Pride's remaining Sinful Hearts and making him disappear instantly.
Wraith was shocked, his survival instincts activated and he chose to move away, "Huh?! Humans can take our Sinful Hearts? Impossible, that's absolutely impossible!" grumbled Wraith who kept his distance from Asteria.
On the other hand, Envy answered him in an impressed tone, "It seems like he's not human, no human can move that fast and can hurt us," the whip weapons in both hands appeared, ready to fight.
Sloth spoke in a languid and lazy tone, "Oh no, we have to retreat..." he muttered pessimistically because he saw Pride defeated so easily.
Greed interrupted him and moved forward to approach Asteria, "A human like him? Th-" his words stopped when he saw Asteria standing with his body covered in blood and his hands holding four Sinful Hearts shining in gold. "Seriously, Pride is dead?!" he thought in shock, making him freeze in place.
Seeing Pride's Sinful Hearts in Asteria's hands made Envy, Gluttony, and Sloth charge at him, destroying the castle walls, and making him roll on the ground outside the castle. The remaining ones, Wraith, Lust, and Greed, went to find where Marionette was because they thought it wouldn't be far from the castle. Leaving Sloth, Envy, and Gluttony ready to fight Asteria in their weakened condition. However, Asteria's eyes, which were originally ocean blue, turned into amethyst purple and his gaze was colder and more cruel. Without further ado, the fight was very excited and intense, the castle walls were destroyed with every attack they launched. Sloth, who can control the earth element alone, cannot stop Asteria's agility and fast movement even without Chaos Force, changing the terrain, creating obstacles, and even confining him is impossible.
"What is he? H-he, is so fast!" Sloth said, starting to get scared and choice to hide in the ground so deep, cowering in fear. Feeling Asteria's killing intent that was too strong, made him reluctant to fight again.
Envy and Gluttony were still fighting tooth and nail against Asteria who had only been dodging from earlier using his Chaos Force this time, they had launched a combination attack between the water and wind elements but Asteria didn't budge at all. They were both starting to get tired from continuing to use their powers non-stop. Seeing an opening, Asteria stabbed Gluttony first from behind using his cane, then split it upwards quickly. Taking Gluttony's flying Sinful Hearts, making it disappear like Pride. Envy deftly gave Asteria a surprise attack and managed to hit him directly.
Asteria thrown away against the wall hard, taking advantage of that moment Envy swiftly launched attack after attack until it created a large water bubble and focused its pressure on Asteria. Seeing Asteria who was no longer moving and starting to float, made her think she had won. But her carelessness made her lose, without she realizing her strength was reduced. In the blink of an eye she already lying on the ground with her body split in two, losing one of her eyes. When her vision blurred, she stared at Asteria's eyes which changed from amethyst purple, to ocean blue, to crimson red, then back to purple again. Her consciousness disappeared along with Asteria taking all of her Sinful Hearts, made Envy also lose in that battle.
"Back to the present, the flashback will be too long," complained Marionette who was speaking to the reader, "I'm tired of giving the narration all this time,"
A giant playground projection appeared, people were amazed by its beauty because it was very fitting for the summer festival that night. Many people were amazed and looked at the sky, a giant mascot also appeared waving his hand to the citizens who saw it. Marionette then used her power once again with Maskara, making a lie that the giant statue they saw was just one of the projection trials for the show that was currently being shown. The problem for using Chaos Butterfly had been resolved, after that he returned the Maskara card to Asteria. "Done, now to take care of the trouble that Envy caused," she said to Asteria.
On Envy's side, she complained before speaking, "Asteria, Asteria... why are you so tempting, since the moment I saw you, you carried a strong feeling of envy behind the calmness in your ocean eyes," she sighed before starting to stand on the guardrail on top of the tower, "How can you be so calm, what are you really, Asteria..." She muttered while looking at him from a distance, the grin on her face getting wider than before.
Asteria who saw it only showed a smile on her lips, "Welcome to your awakening, Envy. I feel flattered, to be honest," he place his hand on his chest and stretched his other hand towards the tower, "Too bad I'm not like I used to be, both in terms of strength and as Asteria. However, we are the same, wanting something that others have," he said as if communicating to Envy, but in fact he was only talking to himself.
Marionette mocked him while crossing her arms and smirking, "Since when can this butterfly talk like that, where did he learn it? Did your hibernation change you, Asteria?" she commented, intending to mock him.
Asteria laughed out loud hearing Marionette's taunt, he smiled at her, "Maybe. Come on, it's time to move, go meet Envy and reveal the truth, the rest if she still insists on her grudge I will take care of it," Asteria asked with a gentle gaze at her.
"Heuhh... remember to take care of the upcoming Sprouts, I won't help you because I told you to go," Marionette walked slowly to the edge of the building, she turned to Asteria once more before leaving, "Just because I'm also the main character, I'm included in the story if you think about it, it's worth it! Bye-bye~" she jumped and swung between buildings to reach the tower where Envy was waiting.
At the last swing Marionette spun in the air and landed right on top of the tower, showing her skills in performing the attraction. Envy whistled seeing her, turned and looked up to look at Marionette, "Dwarf, who are you?" she jeered, also impressed.
Marionette bowed in greeting by swinging her hand down, "Finally we meet, Envy. I am Marionette, 'The Puppet without Owner'." she said happily.
Envy whistled in awe at her performance, "Marionette? Hooohhh, so you're the one who took our Sinful Hearts before that night battle at the castle? How cunning," she mock, sounding angry and hating the name Marionette. "The Puppet without Owner? What do you mean, you have a title like that?" she asked curiously.
Marionette laughed happily hearing Envy's hateful words, "Hahaha!! Ahh~ it's nice to be known like that. Do you want your Sinful Hearts back? Ouch~ too late, I've forgotten it where," she replied, enjoying playing with Envy. "The title you heard is for each Willingness, we all have the word 'Without' in each title. Willingness is the name of our association, but we have different branches or divisions, I am Willingness to The Lost, let's call it The Lost. Filled by Myself, Asteria, and other members," said Marionette, who slowly began to reveal the truth.
A short hum was heard from Envy, she replied, "Willingness? So you guys have a group too, like us the Seven Sinful Sins? Interesting," she replied, getting more curious, she jumped and stood in the same place as Marionette, "I want my Sinful Hearts back, don't lie to me, you liar!" she exclaimed, grabbing Marionette's collar.
Marionette didn't care, she just laughed and patted Envy's cheek gently, "Do you believe me? You know I'm a liar, but do you know where exactly I lied, Envy? Was it about me forgetting or did I really forget, was it when I told you about Willingness, or maybe I lied about it? You can't believe it, right? Maybe outside of all that, you know?!" she said, grinning widely, she chuckled mischiveously before continuing, "Lying is interesting, right? No one can believe my words are true or false, they don't even know which is the truth behind the lies I make." The sentence uttered by Marionette made Envy silent because it was true, she was confused about how else to fight Marionette in an argument. Competing in strength she could also feel herself far apart, seen how Marionette was able to dominate the situation.
Marionette released her grip on her collar, tidying it up while speaking, "How about it, I'll tell you a truth that you don't know. It's up to you to believe it or not, I'm just telling you."
Envy looked at her skeptically, but she had no other choice, "Don't expect me to give you pity, I'm not the type to sympathize with people, you know me an Envy," she replied reminding Marionette that she would not show pity or anything like that.
Marionette looked at the starry night sky, took out her threads from her fingers, played with them by forming anything from her threads in order to show the context of her conversation with Envy, "There are three truths that I will tell you, I will not answer your questions, you have to find out for yourself. Because that will be more satisfying for you and you want to see the proof directly, right?" Marionette's statement to Envy, because she definitely wouldn't believe her.
Hissing in annoyance, Envy replied with a confident look, "I'm not that stupid, my intention is to go after this to find my Sinful Hearts," she replied, then give the time Marionette to speak again.
Marionette formed marbles from her yarn, made them into twenty-five and placed them on each branch of the roots of a tree that made by needles. Where she made the tree like a foundation, a tree rooted at the top and bottom without having a peak. "The world we are currently in is Nebula, you already know that, right? But that world is in the middle, becoming the center between the other twenty-four worlds," said Marionette, surprising Envy until her eyes widened and her mouth opened.
"Hey, don't joke around, so the place I'm in right now isn't my original world? No wonder I feel different. That's confirmed my speculation before that's this world is Nebula, cause only Fiore that I witnessed..." she said in disbelief at what she found, "Twenty-five worlds... how can there be that many and what is that tree..." She muttered in wonder, but Marionette didn't answer her according to the statement she made herself.
Marionette continued to reveal the second truth, "We sealed you Seven Sinful Sins in every world here except the world you came from, the Nebula World is where you were sealed. For some reason, Asteria said to separate the sealing places, so that you cannot be revived easily because the locations are spread out. Moreover, I can't mention where because it will be detrimental to us as Willingness." Envy wanted to speak but was immediately cut off by Marionette, she laughed with satisfaction seeing Envy annoyed with her behavior, "Hahaha! Funny face, I like it. In my personal opinion, you are separated because if in the same place then destruction can easily occur when you revive together," said Marionette who added her own opinion.
Envy shrugged her shoulders and snorted proudly even though she was still annoyed with Marionette's behavior, "Hmph, we have become the destroyers ourselves because you took what we have, our Perfection, you don't know how we feel without the eight Sinful Hearts," she said revealing something else, making Marionette curious about Envy's intentions.
Putting that aside for the time being, Marionette continued by forming a blooming flower, "The last truth or the third, eh, I hate odd numbers so I added into four. Both are the same, I want to tell you is about Asteria. This I can't tell to the readers, I'll just whisper it to you," said Marionette who approached and whispered it in Envy's ear.
Envy gasped until she covered her mouth, she froze in place with a shocked expression, the third truth was a truth that she couldn't believe. She looked at the moon and stars in the sky, her mouth seemed to tremble and muttered something that Marionette didn't hear. After finishing telling her all of that, Marionette took out Envy's two Sinful Hearts, hers glowed blue. She grabbed Envy's hand, gave it to her for free and left without elaborate further. Envy still couldn't say a word about the third and fourth truth, she didn't even look at her palm hands, where her Sinful Hearts were being held.
After Marionette left Asteria and before the conversation between Marionette and Envy, apparently Asteria had been watching a group of people crowding around something behind the building, he had been observing and watching what was happening. Not long after that he jumped down in front of the group, his presence surprising them and making them take a few steps back. Asteria's body that looked very tall made some of them shrink.
"Who is this strange person," said one of the burly men wearing a suit there. "Hey, are you his friend? Remind him not to come in secretly!" shouted another angrily commenting on Asteria's arrival.
Not caring about their reactions, Asteria replied casually, "Meh, no. But I want to know, what's the problem really? Coming in secretly?" asked Asteria who was curious while looking at the young man lying on the ground behind him, apparently that was why these people had gathered.
The guard of the Music Hall came, "Hey what's going on?" he asked suspiciously what happened, seeing the young man lying down familiar to him, he sighed, "The intruder earlier, apparently he hasn't learned his lesson yet."
When the guard approached, Asteria blocked him by crossing his arms, "Hold on, what do you want? Beat up someone who is already helpless? Explain to me first, what happened?" Asteria asked in a commanding tone, showing his more serious side compared to him with Marionette.
The guard poked Asteria's shoulder, looking at him with a cynical smile, "Sir, are you defending this intruder? How he could be in backstage and then take one of the jewelry belonging to the artist who will be performing there."
The young man was still unconscious, but his hands were still holding something tightly, protecting it with all his soul even though his body was unconscious. The situation was getting more tense, the temporary silence made the conditions add to the pressure that existed before.
Until the moment the burly man pointed angrily at the man who was still lying down, "Look, he's still hiding it in his hand. He still wants to get beat up, he doesn't know his place," he exclaimed as he started to move forward. Asteria brushed aside the guard's hand on his shoulder and then moved to block the burly man. Feeling a little amused, he mocked Asteria, "Ohh, so you're a hero? Look, this weird and skinny person wants to save the criminal," the man laughed, the people around him laughed too, including the guard who was supposed to defend what was right. "What are these clothes, are you a waiter? A formal vest suit, a long-sleeved white shirt, go back to the front and serve the visitors!" the burly man teased once again at Asteria's appearance.
However, Asteria didn't really mind it, he pretended to be annoyed and praised him with sarcasm, "Aaahhh... it's nice to have a big and burly body like that. But, too bad this isn't about ordinary physicality," Asteria brought out his another Memorial or materialization weapon in the form of a gun and pointed it at the burly man's mouth while he laughing.
The guard beside him was shocked to step back, he reached for the gun on his belt and pointed it at Asteria, "Put down your gun now!" he shouted loudly.
The people around him became frightened, the other guard took the opportunity to step forward to catch Asteria, but he was surprised by the appearance of the same gun next to his hand and immediately pointed it at his crotch. "Come on, where was the laughter before? Already satisfied? Oh no fun~" Asteria sarcastically smiled widely.
The guard who pointed the gun at Asteria warned her once again, "Last warning before I shoot!" he threatened, trying to scare Asteria, but it was useless.
Asteria laughed coldly, he grinned slyly at all of them, "Don't just threaten, just shoot me, where?" he said, provoking the guard who pointed the gun at him.
The guard who was silent because he was afraid of losing his genitals shook his head at the guard pointing the gun, Asteria who realized it immediately acted using Chaos Force to move so fast. With hitting the burly man with his elbow on connect to the chin, then quickly kicked the guard's leg and elbowed him in the chest making him sprawled on the ground while growling in pain in his chest. Asteria did it very quickly, not giving them both time to react, the guard who pointed the gun trembled and wanted to immediately pull the trigger. Not giving him a chance, Asteria immediately kicked him in the stomach and sent him flying towards the crowd. "Too lack, your movements are too open," Asteria mocked the person who was in pain holding his stomach.
"Oh yeah, one more thing, I wear these clothes because they're comfortable and easy for any situation. Not to show off expensive clothes like you guys," Asteria said to the burly man who looked down on him in the first place. Then Asteria crouched down and put the gun back into his mouth, "One tiny move, and I'll pull this trigger. Just now your reflexes were inferior to mine, a-" Asteria's sentence was cut off by Marionette who spoke in his head.
"Hey, stop having fun there. Envy's Sprouts are getting closer," Marionette warned Asteria in his head using power of Masquerade.
Asteria took a deep breath and stood up, "Go away! Leave me and this young man alone," he ordered in a threatening and firm tone to the people around him.
"Why do you want to order us, the security will arrest you, remember that?!" shouted one of the people from the crowd. "That's right, you're alone with your small firearm, you're nothing!" shouted another person throwing out his argument.
"Security?" asked Asteria whose voice turned colder, "Up to you, but I warn you, Willingness are around here. I don't know where and when, but this event should be an easy target for them to do a rampage," said Asteria intimidating them all.
The guard who was groaning in pain from being attacked by Asteria replied, "You're just bragging, Willingness are just rumors and myths, they don't really exist!"
Without thinking, Asteria immediately replied, "Have you forgotten, in this world, myths and rumors are lies that can become reality." He put his gun at pocket, looking at them all with his ocean blue eyes starting to shine. Then he start took off his glasses, also took of his hair tie for made his hair loose and spread behind him. His true appearance was revealed, a faint smile on his lips made people tremble in fear.
The people ran away after seeing who Asteria really was. They were scared like people seeing a ghost, "They're real?!", "No way, Willingness is really exist!" they shouted as they ran away in fear, "I don't want to die, I don't want to die!"
The back of the building became silent, leaving Asteria with the young man who had regained consciousness and found himself saved by Asteria. The gun in Asteria's pocket disappeared with the appearance of falling flower petals after the gun was no longer there.
Asteria turn around to face the young man who was starting to wake up to sit up, he finally spoke casually, "Oh, you're awake. They're gone," he said softly and calmly again.
"Thank you... for helping me..." groaned the young man who was still in pain, his face was bruised and his arms were covered in bruises from being beaten up by those people earlier. "Your gun just appeared by itself, how is that work?" he asked, confused by Asteria's magical weapon.
Asteria pointed to his own head, "Memorial, a magical or materialization weapon created from buried memories. Simply that's all I can explain for now," said Asteria who explained with simple. Putting his glasses back on which made his eyes no longer shine, "It was really bad, they beat you up until you were bruised and bruised like that," he said, feeling sorry for the young man.
He reach the young man shoulder and felt something different about this young man, namely that he was an ordinary human being unlike the other people here, that's Fiore. "He's human? They're not supposed to be here, how did he get to the Nebula World?" Asteria asked in his own head.
"Sorry for bothering you... sir...? miss...?" the young man was confused by Asteria's androgynous appearance, his face looked as handsome as a woman's and so did his slender body. But his attitude and way of behaving looked more like a man's.
A small laugh escaped Asteria's mouth seeing the confused young man, "I'm a man, my body is like this because of a genetic disorder. Don't mind, I've been like this since birth." Asteria said softly, he didn't mind his own appearance. "By the way, what's your name?" asked Asteria who was curious.
Digesting the information he muttered to him, "Is that so, a genetic disorder. So you look like a woman but are actually a man, I can't tell the difference, sorry..." he said sounding plain while looking down, his hand still holding the object he was protecting. "My name is Luca, Luca Vungkasan. You?" he said while smiling innocently at Asteria.
"Cool name, Luca. As for me, I'm Asteria Valentine, just call me Asteria. Nice to meet you." He extended his hand to Luca for helping him stand up.
He grabbed Asteria's hand and stood up straight slowly despite the difficulty and pain from the wounds on his body, "N-no, I should be the one who is happy to meet you, because you helped me earlier..." his gaze shifted to Asteria's sea blue eyes, "Asteria, how did your eyes get like that? I thought they ran away after seeing you without your glasses earlier..."
Asteria blinked a few times before answering because he didn't want to reveal it all, "a-ah... My eyes... it's a long story. This isn't my genetic disorder, this is a different matter, what I've been through made my eyes like this. People also know me as Willingness, a fugitive so to speak," he paused for a moment while looking up, "That's also part of me, but I'm known as Farfalla by the general public and laypeople. So you shouldn't call me by my real name when you're in a public place like this, okay?" he asked Luca without any threatening or other negative tone.
Luca nodded his head slowly, he wanted to ask more but he was hesitant and didn't want to go too deep because they had just met. Marionette interrupted them at the right time before the long silence, "Asteria, hurry up! I'm done dealing with Envy. The rest is up to you, I'll just watch, of course the narrative of this story is also my work,"
Asteria replied back in his head, "I carry a wild variable, I won't fight because it will be risky," his voice sounded confident.
Marionette asked back a little skeptically, "Wild variable? Wha-" her words died in her throat, "Okay, whatever you say!"
"Thanks~" Asteria replied quickly then pulled Luca's hand and led him backstage from the Music Hall.
Walking along the back corridor of the Music Hall, Asteria turned to Luca's other hand, "Luca, in your hand, what have you been protecting?" he asked curiously.
At first Luca was hesitant but finally revealed it, opening his hand showing that what he had been protecting was a silver pocket watch with a flower carving on the cover, "My older sister gave me this, it will definitely be useful later. That's what she said,"
Asteria was familiar with the pocket watch, choosing to stop for a moment and once again she looked at the watch carefully for a few moments before asking again, "Do you remember how you got here?" he asked with a curious expression.
"I don't really remember it..." replied Luca who tried to remember how he ended up in the Nebula World, "But I felt like I got on a train and fell asleep there, when I realized I was in a locker. After that I went out and was caught by the guards. They thought I had infiltrated and taken jewelry, because my pocket watch looked shiny. I wasn't given a chance to explain it and ended up getting beat up..." he said softly and with a little tiredness in his voice.
Asteria tried to digest his explanation, "Hmm... interesting enough, riding a train, and suddenly being in a locker... I feel like I've heard it before," even though Asteria had extensive knowledge about the fantasy in the world there, he seemed to hear what Luca said. "But you managed to get here is also quite surprising, humans can be in this world even though the environment is already unstable for you," said Asteria who was still shocked to see Luca.
"Ehh... really... I don't really understand either, but somehow I feel fine," Luca replied with an innocent smile and didn't know everything that happened.
Thinking for a moment, a hypothesis appeared in his head, "Unless you are Fiore, eh that's a Spirit in human form, more precisely Mythos. Mythos are humans who become Spirits, maybe because you are Mythos that's why you can survive here." He paused for a moment to breathe, "Do you feel something inside you, Luca?" asked Asteria who was trying to confirm something.
Luca tried to feel it, holding his pocket watch tightly, "If you ask me like that, I feel it's there but I'm not sure..." he muttered trying to figure it out.
"That's enough for me. You can also survive their beatings earlier, so I need your help, Luca. Can you survive and face an enemy stronger than you like before?" Asteria asked as he continued walking to meet Viny at her room.
Luca was surprised and following him, "Eh, eh?? You mean you want me to f-fight?!" he was confused as to why he was following a man he had just met, "W-Wait for me!" he was still struggling after get beaten up, but he tried to walk.