Late in the afternoon, Astra's apartment.
After Astra had finished her training session with Kaelyn, she had put on her indoor apartment clothing.
She headed towards the kitchen as she pulled out items from the fridge, its cold light bathing her.
These items were slices of bread, cheese, and some butter that this world had called: "Dairy Sticks."
Exhaling out of exhaustion due to her training session, she had decided to cook a meal that she was strangely most proud of: a grilled cheese sandwich.
A few minutes later, she took the sandwich off of the perfectly energy efficient technological screen that acted as a pan and placed it on a metal plate. Even though she could've used her mind, robots, or even AI, she decided to cook the sandwich in the way she knows best.
Then, she pulled out some water, a fruit that acted as a lemon, and some sweetener and made an almost bitter cup of lemonade.
Now, sitting alone in the sunken living room sofa, she placed her sandwich and her drink in front of her as she used her mind to turn on the TV.
Like the days of old, she played physics and astronomy videos, trying to understand more about herself and what specifically she likes about the fields of study.
Of course, she had also did it because it allowed her to be more in tune with her nostalgic feelings—which were increasingly getting stronger.
Then, when she was finished, she had decided to read more novels, still not admitting that she has a novel addiction.
Afterwards, she trained her body and tested her powers in the living room, trying to get more used to her new powers. Even though she had felt that she had perfected the use of her powers, she had continuously wanted to come up with more creative ways to use her new powers as a Celestial.
And, after everything was said and done, she took a shower, put on her starry pajamas, and headed towards her bedroom.
As if she had fallen into a sea of marshmallows, she plummeted into the bed, satisfied.
She absorbed the warmth in the air and the softness of her bed as she recalled the past few events.
"As expected, the Parallax of the Rising Stars are really going after me. They definitely knew to go after me just like how Kayla was able to approach me. I wouldn't be surprised if their existence gave them revelations…"
"I have no choice. The existence of an insider and/or an Ethereal Artifact forces my hand. I have to stop procrastinating and enter that space again." Astra glanced at the pale blue ball of light that was at her side, resisting the urge to touch it.
"At the same time, before the investigation on that organization started, I must carry out my strategy. They wouldn't resist my abnormality, especially since they have some beef with the Demigoddess inside of me."
"Of course, the safest strategy is to just stay inside here and tell the others a dangerous organization is looking for me. The only problem is that this inhibits my ability to get stronger by breaking the seals."
Succumbing to tiredness, she laid on her side as she thought about the message The Wright family gave her.
Even though it wasn't directed only at herself, she still held a special place for the message in her heart. In fact, she had never experienced such genuine appreciation before that wasn't connected to superficial things like intelligence or appearance.
No, she had almost never experienced such a thing.
Astra involuntarily smiled as she thought about Mia and her smile. For some reason, Astra felt an increasingly longing feeling towards her, despite the fact that she hadn't spoken to her since she left.
"This world truly never fails to surprise me. I thought I'd be getting closer to the heavens, and while that is true…"
"I never expected to feel like this also…"
While having those thoughts, Astra succumbed to her tiredness as she closed her eyes and fell asleep.
…
After having a good nap, Astra stretched as she saw the violet moon peeking out from the horizon. The sun had almost fully set, making the sky look like an artist had painted a beautiful purple and blue sunset.
She got up, and using her mind, she opened up the closet. It was dark, due to the lights not being turned on, but she didn't mind.
Searching through the closet, Astra sighed in disappointment.
This was her first time truly searching the closet since she became a Dreamlander, but she still felt a little disappointed.
Most of the clothes involved starry scenes or pictures of the violet moon on mundane backgrounds. This was the story for all pieces of clothing, even formal pieces.
"For the fourth dimension, the culture does love its night sky…" She muttered as she picked out a long sleeved sweater and comfortable tights.
Casually but methodically putting the clothes on, she said to herself, "I need to get some clothes that suit my style."
"I think I have to go outside for it…I don't think this facility has what I need."
"Oh, and I also need to get some jewelry."
Allowing the sweater to fall down freely, not tucking it in her tights, she grabbed her glasses as she decided to leave her apartment.
Of course, she had nowhere to go but the Deli of Dreams. She wasn't interested in exploring the facility for the time being, however she was increasingly getting more fond of Olivia.
…
Deli of Dreams, Dreamlander Facility.
Since Astra already had lunch earlier from the grilled cheese sandwich, she had only opted for a light coffee.
Using her glasses, she projected a 3D hologram to watch a movie while she sipped her coffee. It was a trendy fantasy movie based on slaying dragons that previously caused the Armageddon.
However, the main character was secretly a dragon, and he had a moral dilemma: What path shall he walk on…saving his own kin, or saving humanity?
While Astra was enjoying the movie, her ethereal intuition lit up faintly, making Astra feel a weird but mostly unnoticeable sensation.
She looked in the direction of her ethereal intuition and saw a beautiful girl with nebula-like purple eyes. Slightly tanned, with angelic white hair that draped over her shoulders. She wore an almost feathery white crop top with black shorts with silver jewelry adorned from it.
This was of course, Aurora. She had immediately locked eyes with Astra, subtly smiling in the process as if it was trained.
Next to her was a young man who had somewhat above average looks. With short banged black hair and violet eyes, he had a smug smile on his face as he eyed down a table with three young men surrounding it.
This was Sonar. He wore casual clothing: hoodie and jeans, a stark contrast to Aurora's more lofty stature.
And, to Astra's slight surprise, he had practically rushed towards the table he was eyeing down.
Aurora didn't even look his way. She only walked towards Astra as she waved, with Astra responding in kind in a nearly awkward motion.
Because of Aurora's approach, Astra paused the movie, causing the 3D projection to disappear.
"I didn't expect you two to be regulars here…" Astra said flatly as she watched Aurora stop by her table.
"Well, it is the only restaurant in the facility that has people consistently coming back to it." Aurora responded.
"That is definitely because of the feeling that the deli generates when people arrive." Astra lampooned.
"May I sit?" In a polite tone, Aurora asked.
"Mhm." Astra gave a sound of approval. As soon as she did, she sat down.
"Haha! I won in less than 30 seconds! You're ass!" Then, Astra heard Sonar's voice almost quietly resound from the other side of the room. This was because now that her movie was paused, she was able to hear the other, intrusive sounds of the deli. Of course, other people near his table also heard it, momentarily glancing at the table.
She sighed as she used her enhanced bodily control to tune out the voices. Inwardly, she thought, "I can definitely see those people having 'not-so pleasant' subconscious thoughts that Olivia mentioned…"
"How was your first mission?" Aurora asked, breaking Astra's thought process and ignoring Sonar's sudden outburst.
She didn't mind, though. She responded, "It was fine. I was a little nervous in certain parts, but I thought everything was rather straightforward."
"That's good to hear. When Sonar went on his first mission, he couldn't do a thing right."
"He almost got himself trapped in his own illusion because he was scared when he first turned it on. The only thing that caused him to snap out of it was the client pushing into him…"
"I guess he's just naturally clumsy?" Astra asked seriously.
"Are you asking me or telling me?" Aurora rhetorically asked back.
"I mean, you've known him longer…" Genuinely confused, Astra responded.
"…He's just naturally clumsy." After a pause, Aurora clarified.
"Hey Dreamer Rosewood," Olivia said suddenly, wearing the classic Deli of Dreams uniform. Her red hair was straightened and her dimples only amplified her cuteness. Her red eyes almost nervously looked at both Aurora and Astra as she asked Aurora, "What would you like today?"
"White tea, please. I'm not really feeling hungry," She replied, smiling at Olivia.
Immediately, the server took note of her order and went back.
Then, Aurora turned her head towards Astra.
"So, what exactly happened with the failure of the ritual?" With a soft voice, she asked a question. "I mean, you still were able to become a Celestial regardless."
Astra paused for a second, slightly frowning.
"It's hard to explain. I don't really know what happened."
"But I assume that the abnormality within me prevented me from being successful because I didn't understand myself properly." Astra hesitated slightly as she told Aurora.
Aurora sighed.
"It's a shame. Have you thought of the possibility of it preventing you from being a Celestial of Sentience because it wanted to advance unknown Celestial powers within you?"
Astra nodded.
"Yes. But I don't think that's the case."
"After all, I still feel faint residual fragments of that dimension." Astra referenced the doll hallucinations in a roundabout way.
"That's…interesting. I don't think I've seen anything like that before." Aurora supporter her head using her palm.
"Well," Astra interjected, "I would like to say that there's a possibility that I may be able to use the powers of Consciousness at some point. I'm not sure, as I don't have any rigorous evidence aside from my deductions."
Upon hearing this, Aurora paused as she gave a somewhat nervous smile. She later twirled a hair strand as she said, "That means you'd have powers from an unknown source and from an official dimension…?"
Astra nodded as she hesitated. Strangely, she felt a little anxious as she waited for Aurora's reaction.
It was not the anxiety of fearing something in the future, but it was more of an instinctual anxiety from the past. Astra had always felt strange giving people information that she didn't understand—only when it was about herself.
But now, she has decided to accept this anxiety.
"Hm. Well, that sounds pretty interesting. Also a little cool," Aurora said casually. "I'm just glad this abnormality is inside of a calm and collected person instead of…others."
Astra's eyes widened slightly behind the transparent glasses. Composing herself, she glanced at the side, which had Olivia walking towards the table with Aurora's tea.
"Your White tea," Olivia said as she placed the tea on the table, its white steam forming a soft cloud above the cup.
"Thank you." Aurora smiled as she gladly grabbed the cup's handle. With this, 9 Orin was deducted from Aurora's account.
However, just as Olivia was planning on walking away, Aurora called out to her after she sipped from the cup.
"Hey," She said, her tone enthusiastic. "Don't let me forget to tip you!"
Olivia turned back to look at Aurora. "Oh, sorry!"
"Tips exist in this world also…?" Astra asked inwardly, hiding her dumbfounded expression.
"It's fine!" Aurora reassured Olivia. "I'll tip you 10 Veylars."
Astra stopped sipping her heated light coffee out of shock as she had further thoughts. "Over 100 dollars for a tip. Yeah, she's definitely from a rich family."
"Well, when I was rich when I was at NASA, I was that loose with my money too. I was like that when it came to charities and taxes after all…"
"Ah, you're so generous like always!" Olivia's expression immediately lightened as she saw Aurora use her phone to send the money.
Aurora smiled in response, saying, "You're just a good server. I know they don't pay you that well because you're in a robot dominated industry…"
Olivia's eyes softened. "Well, I don't really mind…"
"Olivia…let's be real. You do mind." Aurora corrected her. "I mean, who wouldn't with such a low pay?"
Olivia glanced at Astra, who was only enjoying her coffee. She looked back at Aurora saying, "Is 2 Veylars and 5 Orin an hour really that bad?"
Aurora sighed.
"It's only one Veylar above minimum wage. You still deserve better."
Olivia narrowed her eyes, assuming a thinking position.
"In that case, should I become a Celestial? I think that pays better, right?"
Aurora's face froze. She stared at Olivia for a while, as if she was pondering something.
Olivia glanced at Astra again, but she had an unreadable expression as she merely awaited for Aurora's response.
Then, Aurora responded, "No, you shouldn't become a Celestial."
Immediately, Olivia pouted slightly, whispering, "I see…"
Continuing, Aurora said, "I'm sure you have other aspirations, right?"
Olivia placed her hands on her hips as she began to think. Aurora and Astra awaited for a response, a little flabbergasted by how she had to think this long for such a question.
"Well, in high school, I've always wanted to become a mathematician. Or an engineer."
Astra and Aurora's eyes immediately lit up as they simultaneously said, "That's great!"
Of course, they each had their own reasons why they had said this.
Olivia, a little flustered due to the excited reactions, said, "Wait…how am I going to even do that? I have no job experience regarding it…"
"Plus my skills are only at a high school level. I can't afford college either…!"
Aurora's expression flattened as she sipped her white foam. "Is that so…"
As for Astra, she had neutralized her demeanor as she asked, "Why do you want to become a mathematician or an engineer, then?"
Olivia held her hands together as she said with a soft voice, "Well, I really like the problem-solving aspect of it. And, it also pays a lot…"
Astra adjusted her glasses as she responded, "That's understandable."
She later added in her head, "As for me, it helps me solve the mysteries of the heavens. And, I can even use the principles as a mathematician and a physicist to continue to solve those mysteries, even in this world…"
"Anyway, I have to go now. Another Dreamer is coming for an order." Olivia said softly.
"Okay, thank you for your service." Aurora bowed slightly at Olivia.
Astra only did an awkward wave as Olivia turned back to head to another table.