"Wait… so the Jellal—no, Siegrain—is he my brother too?" Astro finally voiced the first question that had stuck in his mind. He never remembered having a brother, but it wasn't impossible. His memories had been questionable from the start. Even though Porlyusica insisted he didn't have amnesia or any mind-related spell placed on him, the doubt never fully disappeared.
Mystogan stared at Astro's face for a moment, then sighed as if he was looking at someone hopeless.
"How would I know?" he replied flatly. "I'm avoiding him for a reason. The last thing I want is to cause problems for him, which is why I keep my face hidden."
Astro blinked and nodded slowly. It made sense, even if it didn't solve anything for him. He was still left with no real answers.
But Mystogan's expression shifted. He suddenly looked more serious as he stared at Astro's purple eyes.
"Listen," he said quietly, "there are things about him that are… off. I don't know what it is exactly, but something about him always felt strange to me. So don't drop your guard around him just because you think he might be your brother."
"I know," Astro replied. "My face is basically plastered everywhere in the Ishgar continent. He must have seen it. The fact that he didn't come looking for me means…"
He didn't finish, but the implication hung between them.
Either they were not related at all… or Siegrain didn't remember him…or he did not want to do anything with Astro anymore.
"Achoo—!"
All three of them turned. Porlyusica stood behind them, shivering slightly under the cold rain, her arms wrapped tightly around herself.
"It's good you brats finally stopped fighting," she said with a grumble. "But can you continue this conversation somewhere else? Not everyone here is young and full of energy."
Astro blinked and glanced at Mystogan.
"Well," Astro said, "how about Porlyusica's hut?"
"What? No."
Porlyusica rejected the idea instantly, without even a fraction of hesitation.
Half an hour later, the storm finally eased, but the three boys still looked like they had fallen into a river. Astro, Laxus, and Mystogan stood inside Porlyusica's small hut, each without their upper clothes. They had left their soaked shirts hanging near the fireplace and were now rubbing their wet hair with towels.
"Thanks for the towel, Granny. It's a shame I never left any spare clothes here."
Porlyusica's mouth twitched in irritation.
"If you want to throw your clothes in the garbage, you can go straight there. You don't need to detour and leave them at my house."
She was wearing a dry set of clothes herself, clearly annoyed by how chaotic the night had become.
"And if you three are done drying off, then leave," she snapped. "I cannot stand the smell of humans."
"You want us to leave in this rain after we finish drying our clothes?" Laxus looked speechless at the old woman.
Astro, on the other hand, blinked in confusion.
"Do people from this world not count as humans to Edolas' people…?" he muttered under his breath before turning toward Mystogan. "Anyway. Who was older between you and me? I mean… the other me."
Mystogan paused for a moment and looked at Astro,
"I'm the older one. And don't call me Jellal. If you start using that name casually, it'll become a habit, and I don't want you to accidentally say it in front of others at the guild—especially Erza."
Astro also froze with his towel halfway through his hair.
"Okay…. But why Erza in particular?"
Mystogan hesitated for a moment before speaking.
"I don't know the details yet. But Siegrain and Erza have some kind of strange tension between them. As for the Erza of my world…" His voice lowered. "It's complicated between us."
Astro noticed the sadness in Mystogan's expression and chose not to pry any further. Instead, he shifted his gaze to Laxus, who was also drying his hair.
"Do Siegrain and Erza really have any history?" Astro asked. He wasn't curious about Erza's business that much, but he was curious about Siegrain.
Laxus shrugged lazily. The crazed grin and arrogance he'd worn all night were gone, replaced by a calmer expression. Without the tension of battle or provocation, he looked like another normal young man of their age, although still rough around the edges. Astro glanced at his torso out of curiosity. He expected to see marks or scars because of their battle. Yet Laxus's skin was now smooth. Then again, Natsu's body healed unnaturally fast as well, so maybe this was normal for dragon slayers, too. Maybe they did not have the instant healing like him, but they still had fast regeneration.
Laxus finally lowered the towel and stared at Astro, who was still looking at him curiously,
"Why are you looking at me? How am I supposed to know that?"
"But you've been in the guild longer than me," Astro countered. "Did Erza never tell you anything? Do people in the guild not trust you at all?"
Laxus opened his mouth to try to explain, but Porlyusica cut him off mercilessly from the side.
"He's the most unpopular person in the guild. If you want to learn about Erza, ask literally anyone else in Magnolia. They'll know more than this musclebrain."
"What did you just say, you old bat?" Laxus snapped immediately.
"What did you call me? Is that how you talk to your elder? Did that old fossil never teach you manners? I knew he was too soft on you brats!"
"Then stop calling me musclebrain," Laxus shot back, glaring. "You're lumping me in with Natsu, and I refuse that. Wanting to make my guild stronger doesn't make me musclebrain."
Astro and Mystogan watched the two of them argue. Even though Laxus was shouting, something about him felt more real now than during the earlier fight. Without the lightning roaring around him, without the hostility, he looked more grounded—closer to someone who belonged in their world.
Astro shifted his attention to Mystogan, who was also quietly observing the exchange. There was a certain heaviness in his gaze, a distant melancholy that Astro couldn't ignore. Astro paused, then softened his voice.
"You know," he said, "You don't always have to hide. There are a lot of magical items that can change someone's face. And… even if it's a bit sudden, and even if I know I'm not your real brother… we're at least half something, right? Step—no, that sounds wrong. Anyway, if you want… I could call you big brother."
He offered a small smile.
Mystogan's dark eyes met Astro's purple ones. For a brief moment, an unknown emotion flickered behind them—not of Astro, but of the memories tied to that color. Those eyes had once looked at him with sarcasm, superiority, and disappointment in a world that was no longer here. Yet the same eyes now held nothing but sincerity.
After a long breath, Mystogan answered quietly,
"Please don't do that. It doesn't suit you… And it didn't suit him either. We usually call each other by our names."
"But you told me not to use your name either…," Astro pointed out.
Mystogan hesitated. Memories cracked open inside him like fragile glass.
A black-haired boy sneered at him in an old memory.
" Why don't you get it? Why are you so naïve like Mom and Dad? They trusted the people of this kingdom, and look what happened. Why are you following the same path? You idiot."
Another memory flickered—one younger, gentler.
"Magic is amazing, but it's such a shame we can't store magic inside our bodies," the black-haired boy murmured.
The younger blue-haired boy tilted his head.
"What do you mean? Like Exceeds?"
"No. It's different. Agh, forget it. With so much magic in the air, people of this world still lack imagination."
The memories dissolved like smoke.
Mystogan looked back at Astro. Those same purple eyes that once haunted him in his nightmare now felt different—warm, steady, and so painfully earnest that it twisted something deep in his chest.
"You can call me Jellal sometimes," Mystogan said at last, his voice softer than before. "But only when we're alone."
Astro's face lit up immediately.
"Okay then! Sounds good to me. We didn't get to meet under the best circumstances. But I am still glad to meet you, Jellal. You can call me Astro."
Mystogan—no, Jellal—stared at his grin, and said softly.
"Nice to meet you too, Astro."
"Agh, this rain isn't getting any weaker."
They looked at Porlyusica, who muttered while rubbing her temples. She finally gave up on arguing with Laxus. "I am not in the mood for dinner anymore. Laxus, go get some alcohol. There should be a bottle on the upper shelves in the kitchen. And don't break anything."
"Huh? Why do I have to go?" Laxus complained instantly. "I'm the senior here. One of them should go."
"Because I said so," Porlyusica replied without blinking. "And I am an even more senior member of the guild."
Laxus's forehead twitched. He mouthed a silent "fine" and walked to the kitchen, which was basically three steps away from the living room.
Astro watched him leave, then turned to Porlyusica.
"So, Granny… are you from Edolas too?"
Porlyusica didn't answer yet. Laxus returned with four glasses and an old-looking bottle of alcohol. He poured one glass for himself first and finished it in a single gulp.
Astro sighed at Laxus's mood swing and poured a drink for everyone else. He handed one to Porlyusica, who stared at the glass for a moment before she finally spoke.
"At this point, you can say I've lived in this world way, way longer than I ever lived in Edolas," she said softly. "So I consider myself from Earthland now. This is where all my best memories are."
None of the boys interrupted her. Laxus silently poured himself another drink and took a small sip this time. Astro and Mystogan followed.
After a quiet moment, Astro decided to change the subject a bit as he leaned back in his chair and looked at Mystogan.
"You know, Jellal, I've been wondering something. Do people from Edolas also struggle with the smell of Earthland humans, as Granny does? Are you sensitive to it, too?"
Porlyusica inhaled sharply, ready to scold him, but Mystogan replied fast.
"I don't think so," he said. "I don't remember much about Edolas anyway. I was sent here when I was very young. But… I did hear some things about other races there."
As Mystogan was speaking, he did not notice that Astro's expression dimmed slightly. He had suspected it for a while, but hearing it confirmed… made everything clearer. Edolas was not the world he came from. It never was.
He took a breath and changed the question.
"Do you want to go back there?"
Porlyusica and Laxus also looked at Mystogan. His silence stretched long enough that Porlyusica eventually spoke for him.
"Of course, you should go home someday," she said gently as she took a huge gulp of the drink in the glass. "I've lived my whole life here. I had no one waiting for me in Edolas, so I chose to stay. But your situation is different, Mystogan."
Mystogan lowered his eyes, then looked at Astro for a brief moment before opening his mouth.
"I'm not ready to face the Astro in Edolas yet… but someday, I will have to return. I just hope that I can fix everything there."
Astro lifted his glass again and grinned.
"Well, when you go, take me along. I want to see what that other Astro is like."
Laxus smirked and set down his empty glass.
"Take me too. Beating up two Astros at the same time sounds fun. One was not enough."
"Huh? If Mystogan didn't intervene, I would've won easily against you," Astro replied with a smile, raising an eyebrow at Laxus.
Laxus leaned forward and bumped his forehead against Astro's with enough force to make a loud thunk.
"What? I remember I was winning, and he stepped in because he didn't want his brother to lose. Did I hit your head so hard you forgot?" he said with a twisted smile.
"Oh, please," Astro scoffed. "That didn't even hurt. Natsu hits way harder than that. How did you even become S-Class with that level of strength? Did the master give it to you out of pity?"
"So you want to go another round?" Laxus growled as sparks flickered around his shoulders. "Come on then, I'll show you who's stronger. Wait what magic do you use again? Wind breeze magic?"
Astro narrowed his eyes.
"You're talking big for someone who attacks with tiny sparks. I doubt you can even light up something larger than a light bulb."
"Agh! Don't use magic in here! This is why I didn't want to let you idiots inside!" Porlyusica shouted as she slammed her palm on the table. "Hey, Laxus, you are breaking my table!"
Jellal watched the chaos with wide eyes. For a moment, he almost looked lost as he didn't know if he should intervene.. But after a moment's hesitation, a soft smile formed on his face as he looked at the chaos.
It was small, almost unnoticeable, but it was real.