"What do you mean you can't fix the barrier by tonight?" one of the royal guards demanded, turning sharply toward the council wizards.
"Is your council barrier really that useless?" another guard added, openly mocking the wizards.
At the front of the group, the council wizard in a heavy cloak groaned, rubbing his temple. "You normal people don't understand… It takes an enormous amount of time to construct those barriers," he said irritably. "We are already working ourselves to the limit."
A different guard stepped forward and shouted to the council wizard.
"You bastard, a teenager broke through your defensive barrier."
The wizard stiffened for a moment before snapping back.
"She entered the castle in disguise," he said sharply. "No magic. No tricks. Just a plain disguise."
He paused, letting the weight of it hang in the air. "Do you know what that means?"
All the guards suddenly fell silent.
"It means your defenses are even worse than ours," the wizard continued, his voice edged with frustration.
A guard slowly lifted his head, eyes narrowing.
"Say that again."
The wizard didn't back down.
"You heard me," he said coldly. "You're more useless than we are. If you guys did your jobs properly, we would not even be needed."
"Hey—stop it. Enough."
Prince Nova stepped between them, his presence instantly pressing down on the snow field.
"I don't want to see any more arguing," he said firmly. "Everyone gets back to work. Right now."
"But your Highness—"
"I said, do your work properly. GO… "
The words left no room for argument.
"…Yes."
One by one, the guards and council members turned away, dispersing through the hall. The tension didn't fade—it merely scattered.
Prince Nova rubbed his temple, irritation clear on his face.
This whole situation was spiraling far beyond what it should have been. Everyone is way too tense now...
Hopefully Father can fix this, he thought grimly.
Otherwise, this will become a much bigger problem.
He let out a quiet sigh and lifted his gaze toward the sky. Through the falling snow, a snowy owl swept past him with wings wide as it climbed higher—toward one of the castle's towers.
Nova's eyes followed it.
"Damn it…" he muttered. "I'm the prince of a kingdom this large…" His jaw tightened.
"Why do even lower forms than me get to live such a free life…? While all I just do is suffer."
The owl didn't know it made a prince of a kingdom just by existing; it simply continued its ascent, disappearing into the storm.
And high above the castle—
The snowy owl circled one of the four towers, its wings cutting through the storm as flakes whipped violently around it.
As the owl rotated around the tower, a lone figure began to surface within the reflection of its left eye.
A young man sat on the snow-covered rooftop.
Seen from behind, his pitch-black hair swayed lazily with the wind, strands dancing against the pale glow of the frozen night. His black windbreaker was loosely draped over his shoulders, its hem brushing against the snow as if he had been sitting there for quite some time, unmoving, unbothered by the cold.
The owl continued its slow rotation.
Through the swirling snowfall, the reflection shifted—until the young man's front came into view within the owl's eye.
A purple T-shirt peeked out from beneath the open windbreaker. One of his legs dangled freely over the edge of the tower, swaying slightly with the wind, while the other rested casually atop it. One hand lay on his knee, relaxed. The other supported his weight against the frozen stone beside him.
He looked… comfortable.
As if this storm, this height, the chaos between the magic council wizard and the guards beneath him meant nothing.
Even through the roaring wind and falling snow, the young man heard the owl's cry.
Slowly, he raised his head.
Through the veil of white snow falling from the sky, his gaze met the owl above him—and in that instant, his glowing purple eye locked onto it.
"Astro…"
The voice echoed directly inside his mind. The same feminine voice that had been calling out to him for quite some time now.
Astro's eye flared brighter, its glow piercing through the storm like a blade of violet light.
Then he exhaled.
A visible breath escaped his lips as he forced himself to calm his emotions, the glow in his eye dimming just slightly.
But his voice remained cold.
"I can hear you… Your Majesty."
"Astro."
Aurora's intense aura disappeared immediately, vanishing as if it had never existed. In the span of a heartbeat, her presence softened, and her mood brightened completely, the crushing pressure replaced by an almost casual cheerfulness.
For a moment, however, Aurora hesitated, realizing she didn't actually know how to begin the conversation.
"Um… what do boys your age talk about these days… beautiful girls… world domination?" she asked, sounding genuinely curious rather than teasing.
Astro paused, then asked almost speechlessly, "Which eighteen-year-old is even thinking about world domination?"
Aurora replied casually, "Your brother probably."
"Um…what?"
Aurora's smile widened. "Also, you didn't deny the beautiful girls part, honey."
"No. Go back a bit. What do you mean by world domination?"
"Hm… what do you mean?" Aurora suddenly played dumb, not answering Astro's question.
'Is it bad that I suddenly want to get reincarnated into another family?' Astro thought flatly. What the hell is wrong with this family? And by brother… did she mean—
"Did you already—no, wait… There is another Siegrain?" Aurora's eyes widened as she caught his thoughts mid-spiral.
"Yeah," he replied mentally. "From Edolas. It's like another Earthland, but kind of different. For example… me in that world—oh."
He froze.
Astro suddenly remembered that the eighteen-year-old version of himself in that world was currently planning world domination as well. He paused, then facepalmed in embarrassment.
Damn it. He's part of the problem, too. What kind of idiot is the other Astro anyway? I can't even argue now.
"Well, I would love to meet him. But… " Aurora said lightly as she continued walking down the hallway, still perfectly in step with the attendant ahead of them, "I guess we're going a bit off-topic now."
"Yeah," Astro replied. "I actually wanted to talk about—"
"So," she cut in smoothly, "which beautiful girl caught your eye? You do have your father's looks, although your eyelashes are like mine. There must be so many girls after you. Is there someone you like?"
Astro blinked. That's not what he wanted to talk about, but he still answered honestly. "No. There isn't. I'm not interested in—"
"Oh? Are you interested in men then?" Aurora asked without missing a beat. "I saw you brought a wizard your age to the party. Laxus, was it? He seemed handsome."
Astro suddenly choked on his own saliva. "Cough—cough—"
What is this woman even saying?
"Oh, so you are into women," Aurora continued in a teasing tone, not caring about Astro's suffering at all. "I mean, I wouldn't really mind if you were into me, either. Although Laxus's father was a piece of garbage, the kid himself doesn't seem completely hopeless."
Astro's eye twitched slightly. He suddenly wondered who Laxus's father even was, and why Master Makarov never mentioned him at all. Laxus never did either. It didn't feel like Mira and Lisanna's situation, where people avoided the topic to not make her sad.
"Mira?" Aurora asked suddenly.
Astro went quiet for a moment before sighing internally. "How do I make it so you only listen to what I want you to listen to?"
Astro could do it with Hibiki but that was because with Hibiki it felt like there was a bubble in his mind that Hibiki placed when he connected their minds…and when Astro needed to speak to him telepathically he needed to go inside there and talk to him there…and get out when he didn't want Hibiki to listen…but for Aurora there was no such thing. Is it because….
"You'll learn eventually with me, too," Aurora replied cheerfully. "Anyway, is the Mira you're thinking of Mirajane? I heard she and Erza are really popular in Fiore."
"Well… I guess they are popular," Astro admitted.
Thinking about it, their popularity easily even surpassed the rest of the guild by a large margin.
"I heard they are both very beautiful." Aurora mused. " I can also finally fulfil my dream of having a daughter."
She paused briefly before adding, "Of course, I'm still happy with two sons as well. Hehe.. So which of them do you like more? I heard Erza is incredibly strong and Mira is very talented. Unfortunately, polygamy isn't allowed in Sin or Fiore, so I can only have one. Hmm… What a pity."
"They aren't items to select from," Astro replied dryly. "And Mira is more than just talent and looks. She's taking a break right now, but she's also really strong."
"Oh my…" Aurora smiled. "My son is already defending a girl in front of his mother. How cute."
"That…"
"You should move fast, honey—popular girls tend to have many suitors. You can learn from your father in that regard. Within a few months of meeting me, he already had me, a queen of a kingdom, on her knees."
"Hm?" Astro asked curiously. "Did you propose to him?"
"No," Aurora replied casually. "I mean, yes, I did propose first, but I meant in just two months of dating, he already managed to put me on my knees to suck—"
"Okay. Okay. I don't need to know that," Astro cut in immediately, completely speechless.
He exhaled and decided he needed to escape this topic as quickly as possible. "So… what are you doing right now?"
"Hm… walking, I suppose," Aurora answered in a scared tone. "King Runar wants to do some really horrific things to me. If only I had a savior who would rescue me."
"Horrific things?" Astro asked subconsciously.
"You know… forcefully taking off my clothes and doing—"
"I get it. I get it. Sorry for asking," Astro shut her down instantly. He really didn't need to hear those details from his mother.
"So… do you need help?" he asked, then hesitated. "No—wait. Where is… You know… him?"
Aurora noticed then that Astro still wasn't addressing them as parents. Her eyelashes lowered slightly, and she pouted.
"Sleeping probably. He is such a bad man," she said softly. "He sent his gorgeous wife into a wolf's den. So heartless."
"Well," Astro replied after a brief pause, "I was actually asking if you needed help cleaning up the body. I didn't realize. Um… do you need help defeating them?"
"Hey."
"Okay, I'm sorry. I was just joking," Astro said with a small chuckle.
Despite everything, his mind felt noticeably calmer. Talking to her like this, absurd as it was, had actually helped a bit in forgetting about all the twisted things he saw in those dark wizards' minds.
Aurora paused for a moment before asking, her voice cautious. "Um… Astro? Are you mad at me?"
"Should I be?" Astro asked back instead, his voice soft as he leaned against the roof, watching the snow fall quietly from the sky.
"I don't… know," Aurora replied hesitantly. "About the weapon thing… You know… I…" She trailed off, unsure how to bring it up, especially when Astro didn't remember anything. Would he even believe her?
"But believe me, I was really trying not to lose you. Especially after I just lost your brother. There was just no other way…" She clenched her fists as she spoke through the mind link, her emotions slipping through despite her restraint.
Astro remained silent for a moment before smiling faintly, deliberately easing the tension. "You know… I'm not the type to jump to conclusions. I'm still not sure what kind of person you are, but I can at least tell that your concern for me isn't fake."
Aurora's eyes widened, tears forming almost instantly listening to Astro.
"So I'm willing to give this a chance," Astro continued calmly. "At the gala, you said you wanted me to remember everything by tomorrow."
"That was just a figure of speech," Aurora hurriedly replied. "I wasn't really ordering you."
"I promise I will," Astro said, cutting her off gently with a smile. "And after that, we can talk properly. I will decide what I want to do after I get my memories back."
After a brief silence, Aurora asked again, unable to fully let it go. "Okay…but….are… are you really not mad, Astro? You did seem pretty upset in that mind space."
"Well, you can read my mind, and you're still asking?" Astro replied.
She fell quiet, and he continued more seriously. "Back there, I saw Giel's memory. It made me really angry for a moment. I wasn't mad at you. I know you probably had your own circumstances."
"…Those circumstances could have been avoided," Aurora admitted in a deprecating tone. "If only I had been more careful."
"Well, we can't control our destiny…" Astro replied. "To be honest, I'm more upset about that Maria… um… my elder sister in that world getting caught up in this."
"I'm sorry, Astro," Aurora said softly. "I wish I could make it up to her, but…"
Astro blinked once, then smiled and shifted the topic, sitting up properly again. "We can talk about that later. Right now, I just want to ask a few things before you get to… um… torturing the king of this kingdom."
"Hey, that's rude," Aurora replied, sounding almost offended. "It's his fault for bothering me. Anyway, thankfully, I bought a new whip recently and even prepared a costume. This is going to be so fun."
Astro could feel her excitement clearly through the mind link. He didn't dare to ask who the whip was for originally. And honestly, he had no respect for people who would stoop so low as to plot against a woman like that, so he didn't particularly care what happened to that king.
But his focus is somewhere else… He had thought about it for a long time—why he was usually so detached when it came to killing or torturing people. Even though many Fairy Tail wizards avoided killing despite growing up in this world, Astro never felt that same hesitation, even though most of his memories are from a more civil world.
At this moment, he realized it was probably always in his blood. If someone was too far gone on the dark side, he simply couldn't feel sympathy for them. Not at all.
"It's not wrong to be ruthless toward people who deserve it," Aurora said, breaking into his thoughts. "I'd rather you be ruthless than die because you showed sympathy to some trash.. Just don't let it get to your head. Don't turn into them. You have to know when to stop."
"I know," Astro replied, pausing briefly before continuing. "About this eye… There are a few things I wanted to ask."
"Hm. Let's see… We call it the Imperium Eye," Aurora explained as she went into teaching mode in an instant. "Every direct descendant of the Synaris family has it. It isn't really magic—"
"I know," Astro cut in before continuing.
"I know that it is not a magic ability. I just wanted to know… is there anything I should be wary of while using it? Any side effects or anything?" Astro asked lazily in a calm voice despite the weight of the topic.
"Well…umm… at the beginning, if you overuse it, it's going to hurt a lot," Aurora replied seriously. "You'll only be able to use it for a limited time, and because it isn't a magic eye, it doesn't consume Etherano to recover. It just recovers with time. So don't overuse it anymore."
She paused for a moment before continuing.
"You'll need it tomorrow. I said it before—this summit is not going to be peaceful." She made sure her meaning carried fully through the mind link, not leaving room for him to brush it off.
"I see…" Astro paused briefly before asking his next question. "What can this eye actually do?"
"Hm. Your eye is still in its beginner phase," Aurora explained. "Right now, it should allow you to learn things extremely fast."
"But if you want to use it on others, you'll need to look into their eyes. It doesn't have to be direct eye contact, but once you use it on someone even once, the effect will last for quite a while before disappearing. During that time, you can read their thoughts or even control them without maintaining eye contact."
"So that's how you're still talking to me," Astro realized. It explained why the link with Aurora remained stable.
But then why was Lumina's presence gone? He had used the ability on her, too, yet he couldn't sense her anymore. He tried extending his perception toward her magic, but nothing responded.
"Your eye still isn't fully matured, honey, so your effective time frame is still short," Aurora continued. "Do you want to find her? I can help."
"It's okay," Astro replied calmly. "You said I need eye contact to establish the connection, right?" He smiled slightly as he stood up, tilting his head toward the snowy sky where the owl was still circling above him.
"Yes… oh," Aurora said, realizing his intention. "Hehe… It seems you did inherit my brain, honey."
She smiled faintly before adding, "Good luck, Astro. And don't use it for too long."
"Yeah, I know. See you tomorrow," he replied.
Astro slipped both hands into the pockets of his windbreaker and looked up at the owl with a quiet smile, when suddenly his mind flashed back to Abel's words from the past. You'll see it, Sky Devil Slayer. This magic you wield—it isn't a blessing. It's a curse. A hunger that devours you from the inside until there's nothing left, until you become the very thing you were supposed to destroy.
Another memory surfaced immediately after, Porlyusica's familiar voice echoing clearly in his head. I'm not fully knowledgeable about every kind of mind magic, but they all share one thing. If someone affected by mind magic begins questioning their own memories, those memories should return very quickly. Even the strongest mind magic shouldn't be able to bypass that. And yet, you've known about your condition for a long time and still don't remember much.
He remembered asking her if it could be another magic, something that mimicked memory alteration, and her response—that Earthland was vast, and nothing was truly impossible.
Then Aurora's words from the gala resurfaced sharply in his mind. Who do you think blocked those memories in the first place?
Astro didn't believe his Devil Slayer magic was a curse, but that didn't mean curses didn't exist in this world. So if he wanted to truly open this eye, he couldn't limit himself to thinking it required Etherano. Magic wasn't hereditary—but that didn't mean the same rules applied to curses as well. If this were an ability passed down through generations, then all he needed to do was—
A red tattoo-like mark suddenly began rising along the left side of Astro's face. His eye remained closed as he focused on recalling that familiar sensation of opening it. The mark stretched and curved into a symbol, creeping upward and passing directly over his left eye. Slowly, Astro opened both eyes and looked toward the sky. His right eye still glowed purple, but his left eye ignited in a vivid orange hue set against a black sclera.
The owl's gaze locked onto his.
In that instant, their eyes connected, and Astro's vision shifted violently as he began seeing exactly what the owl was seeing. The city sprawled beneath him from the bird's perspective, rooftops and streets unfolding in perfect clarity. "If this ability lets me learn things faster, then that means that it can process information faster…Then I should be able to do this… " Astro whispered as his left eye burned brighter.
The mind link suddenly expanded outward, connecting first to the one people outside the castle, then to another person directly ahead of him, then another, and another, until it spread rapidly across the city. Within moments, Astro had formed a massive mental network, sifting through everyone's memories from the last few hours with ruthless efficiency. It took a bit of time, but—
"Found you," Astro murmured after catching a glimpse of the old woman's memories. He cut the mind link immediately, the countless voices collapsing into silence, and released a deep, visible breath as the pressure finally left his chest.
Magic gathered beneath his feet, dense and compressed, before he kicked off the air itself and launched upward, rising higher and higher until the city beneath him began to shrink.
Cold wind tore past him as he slowed at his peak. Astro reached both hands over his shoulders and behind his back, fingers curling as if gripping something unseen. His muscles tensed for a brief moment, and then he pulled outward.
"Sky Devil's Wings."
The air behind him detonated.
A massive, intricately shaped purple wing burst from his back, formed from violently compressed air, unfolding in a sweeping arc as if being torn free rather than summoned. The release sent a shockwave rippling outward, the force crashing through the city below and rattling windows and rooftops alike. Some people looked up in panic as the pressure rolled over them.
"What is that?"
"Is the snow alone not enough?"
"What's happening?"
Astro hovered above it all, suspended in the sky, the wing beating once to stabilize his body as turbulent air spiraled around him. He looked down at the city in silence, waiting for something.
"Looks like you finally figured out how to use that magic… or curse… of yours, Astro. Now we can talk as much as we want," a low, familiar voice echoed inside his mind, its teasing tone carrying unmistakable amusement.
"I was starting to get really bored, you know."
A small smile formed on Astro's face as he finally heard the voice again.
"Welcome back, Alvemak."