Aster was being dressed by the maids in preparation for her training with Era. She wonders what kind of training Era would give her. After she got ready, she went out of the room. Outside Damon and Stevan were waiting.
This surprises her a bit. “What are you two doing here?”
“We want to see you before you go,” said Damon.
This confuses Aster. “Why do you want to see me? It’s not like I’m going to train for a few days. I’ll be back later.”
The two brothers looked at each other. “Well, since you have a holy essence your training with your mother is very important. So you’ll be training with her for a week.” Stevan explained.
This made Aster’s heart drop. She felt her knees suddenly become weak.
“You’ll be fine. I believe in you. If you need anything, write a letter to us,” Damon gave a reassuring smile.
“He’s right. Just write a letter to me- to us,” Stevan smiles nervously at Aster.
“Can I just stay here or train here? Why do I need to train somewhere else?”
“It’s because you’ll be training at the Sanctuary. That’s where people with holy essence train. It is important to train the holy essence above everything else,” Damon explained. Aster can only cry internally as she does not want to train with Era. “By the way, I plan to go on an adventure again and I want you to join me so there’s someone to heal me if the worst case happens.”
This surprises Stevan, he was looking forward to spending time with Aster after her training with their mother. “Maybe some other time? I’m pretty sure after the training she would want to rest and relax for a while,” Stevan tries to send a hint to Damon.
“Sure. I’d rather explore the world than stay here. Seriously, what’s with the strict parents in the medieval time? Is this even medieval time?” Aster complains.
This made Stevan a bit jealous. Damon looked at his brother and could see his expression change. “Why don’t you join us brother?”
“You know I can't. Father won’t allow it,” Stevan looked at Damon with a sad expression.
“But aren’t you gonna benefit from going out on an adventure? Sure there are dangerous monsters out there but that would hone your skills to the next level since you are applying the things you learned,” Aster tries to convince Stevan.
“She’s right. If you want, we all can talk to our father and try to convince him.”
“I doubt he’ll agree,” Stevan looked down.
Aster tries to convince him. “You don’t know that. Just, try.”
Stevan’s heart skips a bit for a moment thinking that Aster wants him to join too. “Sure. I will try.”
Then one of the butlers called for Aster. “My lady, lady Era is waiting for you at the carriage.”
Aster dragged her feet as she didn't have a choice but to comply. Damon and Stevan followed Aster. Outside, there were carriages waiting for her. One of them was open and inside there sitting was Era, Xena, and Lala.
“Oh no! Am I gonna sit in the same carriage as her?! Whyyyyy!”
Aster feels defeated.
Damon put his hand on Aster’s shoulder. "Good luck with your training,” he assisted aster as she got inside the carriage.
The butler closed the door and soon it started moving. Damon and Stevan waved goodbye. Aster was anxious as she sat opposite to Era.
Lala, who was next to her, was happy. “I can’t wait to train with you!”
“What do we do for training?” Aster asked.
“We are going to pray for a whole day,” Era said with a calm expression.
Aster was taken aback when she said that. “Whole day?!”
“Don’t worry, we take breaks to eat or rest for a bit,” Lala seemed to not be bothered about it.
“I can’t wait to go back home after this whole nonsense.”
Xena asks as she notices Aster's defeated expression. “You don’t seem to be looking forward to it,” Aster becomes nervous as she sees through her and looks at Era who seemed unfazed. Xena can see Aster is uncomfortable. “Are you afraid of our mother?”
This shocked Aster. “N-no! I-I am just nervous about our training. I have never prayed for a day,” She tries to deny Xena’s comment.
“It’s only natural to be afraid, the sanctuary is a holy place. If you are lucky, Lumina might show himself, if he’ll show himself,” Era explained.
“Lumina?”
Era answered Aster. “Lumina is the god of star and the one we pray to.”
“Have you all seen Lumina?” Aster asked.
Era got irritated a bit. “No, why would he show himself so casually?”
“You have a point,” Aster was thinking about what Lumina looked like.
“I wonder if he is the one that summoned me here.”
Finally, they arrived at the sanctuary. Lala held Aster’s hand as they passed through the hallway, she could see all the statues and paintings that depicted Lumina’s image. She stopped walking to look at the painting for a little while.
“So that is Lumina…”
Suddenly, the surroundings become silent. This snaps Aster back from looking at the statue. “Why is everything suddenly becoming quiet?” she looked around. “Where is everybody?”
At the corner of Aster’s eyes, someone just passed by and she looked at the direction of it. She saw someone take a turn at the left of the hallway. Though Aster can sense something is wrong it’s like her body moved on its own and followed the mysterious figure. After following it, it now enters a room with a double large door.
Though she is hesitant she opens it. Inside the room there was a large statue of Lumina sitting there in the middle of the room. His pose was standing while handing out a star with both hands. Aster was mesmerized at the sight of the statue. Lumina’s statue looked ethereal. Though she can tell that Lumina is a male, he has a feminine look and is beautiful.
Meanwhile, Era and the others finally noticed that Aster was nowhere to be found. “Where is she?!” Era looked concerned.
Xena was concerned as well. “She was just behind us a moment ago.”
Lala, who just realized something. “Yeah! I was holding her hand too!”
“Then where is she?” Era asked.
“We’ll look for her high priestess,” said one of the acolytes.
“Then go, look for her! She mustn’t have gone that far!” Era ordered and everyone starts looking for Aster and back tracked in hopes of finding her.
Back to Aster, she was still in trance at Lumina’s statue. She came closer to it and looked at the star on Lumina’s hands. She instinctively touched the star.
She can hear a muffled voice calling to her.
“Aster.”
“Aster…!”
“Aster!”
“Aster, are you alright?” Lara looked at her with a concerned expression.
“W-what?” She looked around trying to figure out what just happened. “W-where am I?”
“At our home? Aster, are you feeling sick? Do you want to drink medicine?” Lara was about to go get some medicine when Aster fell to her knees and pulled her in her arms.
Aster bursts out crying as she hugs Lara tightly. “I thought I won’t see you again.”
“Why are you crying? Are you hurt somewhere?” Aster just cries and Lara starts to get teary eyes. “Stop crying or I’m gonna cry too,” Lara said as she sniffed.
Aster stopped hugging Lara and wiped her tears using her hands. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry… I’m just happy to see you again.”
“What do you mean? "Did you have a bad dream that's why you’re crying?” Lara asked with concern.
“No, no. I. I think. H-how about you? What are you doing these past few days?”
“I go to school, play with you or Jena. Not only that, you seem like you're not yourself.”
Aster was confused. “What do you mean by that?”
“You are not showing any emotion. Jena said that you are a fake.”
This shocked Aster, she couldn't believe that while she was away there was someone pretending to be her. “And what else is this fake doing?”
Lara thinks for a moment. “Hmm… She does what you usually do but without emotion.”
“Did this fake hurt you or something?” She asked worriedly.
“Nope! She takes care of me and plays with me. She doesn't complain no matter what I ask of her!”
“That’s good. I’m glad that you're safe and sound,” Aster was quiet for a moment. “Lara, listen carefully. I am not sure if this is just a dream or illusion but just in case we are sharing the same dream, I want you to remember that I am trying my best to return to you. And that I really really miss you. Always remember that,” Aster said with teary eyes.
“Okay…” Lara is getting teary eyes as well. Both sisters hugged each other.
Someone then touched Aster’s shoulder. With tears running down her cheeks, she snapped her back in reality. She turned around to see Era standing behind her.