Carter lay unmoving as his eyes glanced around at the peculiar group, observing each member with his dull, lifeless eyes. There was the pest, who had his irritating smile stretching across his face, the angry girl with puffed-up red cheeks and squinted eyes, and a boy with pale white hair whose fidgety movements and a panicked glimmer in his amber eyes showed his cowardly nature. The last of the familiar faces was the boy with false kindness behind his pale pink eyes, which seemed to mask his true intentions. Carter also noticed two others standing by in the back, silently observing. One was a tall man with light brown hair that fell to his shoulders and piercing pale pink eyes that exuded authority and arrogance. The last of the group was a girl with chaotic brown hair who clutched an old and worn doll. She was similar in size to the ghost girl that Carter had long forgotten about, but it was her lifeless pale pink eyes that caught his attention. The dullness in her gaze sparked an interest in Carter that he had not felt since Theo.

"Hey! Hey, friend, listen to me when I am talking to you," Aster grabbed Carter's face and turned it towards him, but Carter's gaze remained glued to the distant girl.

"Carter..." Casper said as he looked at his brother, "At least that is what the creepy old man called him."

"Carter?" Aster asked, his head turning to his brother.

"Casper..."

"What Pit?"

"It's Master Hermes," Pit said in a monotone voice as he glared at Casper, "If you want to be a Divine Knight, you need to respect others' positions."

"Priya, your hair is a mess! If you sleep with it like that, you'll regret it later. We need to take care of your hair right now. Let me help you fix it." Aiyah said

As Aiyah was putting Priya's hair in place as best she could, she let out a sigh. These two seemed to argue and bicker more and more often. Aiyah sometimes felt more like a mediator between the two than the adults. But then again, she realized that her relationship with Aster wasn't perfect either. If anything, it was just as bad, but at least their fights were just with words. It was just a part of being friends, she guessed.

THUD

"Show respect to your superiors!" Pit said, pulling his fist away from Casper's face.

"YOU!" Casper screamed, jumping at Pit and tackling him to the ground.

Aiyah could only sigh again; it always ends like this. She tried to get between them and change the subject, but it didn't work this time.

"Hey, you're going to get us in trouble," Aster said

Aiyah couldn't help but click her tongue in disapproval. She was upset by how Aster was able to break and dodge the rules effortlessly without any repercussions. Despite feeling a tinge of jealousy, she couldn't be angry with him since he wasn't doing anything wrong by stopping the fight. The worst that could happen would be the adults intervening, stopping the fight before telling them to have fun but not stay up too late, as there were no specific rules regarding bedtime or wandering around the orphanage.

"Tch, you're lucky this time!" the boys said simultaneously.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

"I've won more!"

"No, I have!"

"Enough, you'll get us in trouble," Aster said with his usual smile

Casper looked at the smile and knew he needed to shut his mouth. His brother may be cute, but he is awful when angry; that's why even the adults bend to his whims.

"Let's go on an adventure with our new friend, guys!" Aster said

***

Hours earlier, when Aster had just left Carter and slipped away from Aiyah, he had found himself wandering around the halls near Ibada's and Istina's offices.

"Best place to hide is where it's the most dangerous."

He walked up and opened the door, fully aware that neither of them locked the door.

As Aster walked into the lobby, he couldn't help but notice the room's silence. The walls were painted in a dull grey, and the large windows on the opposite side of the room let in some of Morin's light. As he strolled through the room, he saw several chairs arranged in small clusters. The thought of taking a nap in one of them crossed his mind, but he quickly shook his head, knowing that if he stayed too long here, Aiyah would eventually find him.

As he looked around, he noticed that Ibada's door was open. This was unusual since their offices were always off-limits and kept tightly locked, with several locks keeping everyone out of them. However, he decided to take advantage of the opportunity and stepped inside. The office was neat and tidy, with shelves full of books and files lining the walls. The desk was situated in the center of the room, with several papers scattered across its surface. Aster's eyes widened with excitement, and he couldn't help but let out a small burst of laughter. He ran towards the large chair behind the desk, his tiny feet pattering against the floor. With a swift jump, he managed to climb on top of the chair, his small hands gripping the armrests tightly. As he tried to peek over the desk, he realized that it was a little too tall for him. So, he knelt down on his knees to get a better view.

"Aster, I've been told that you have been very good lately," Aster said, trying to imitate Ibada's deep voice.

"Yes, I have Ibada! The best, actually."

"That's great! The other kids should be like you, especially that mean Aiyah."

"That's right!"

"Since you are so good and the perfect child here, you can have extra dessert for dinner."

"I can Ibada! Wow, you're the best!"

"In fact, I will make it a rule that everyone has to give you more dessert and pat your head, Aster."

"Paper I need a piece of paper to write on... Oh yeah... I can't write,"

"Mata... Green light... Who is this?" Aster asked

Even though he had never learned to write, his brother Casper had shown him how to read long before they arrived at the orphanage two years ago. Aster leaned over the wooden desk, his tiny hands sifting through the scattered papers. With each scrap of paper he scanned, Aster's eyes darted back and forth, reading the words and piecing together the meaning behind each sentence. It was really difficult. Some words were too big or complex for him to understand what they meant, so he could only scratch his head and move on to other words, hoping to figure out the words meaning by continuing. He was still young when Casper taught him. They didn't have many resources to teach, so he could only learn the basics of the Alchemic Language that the Ambrosia Race used. He only started to learn Genis when they began to live here, but it was hard, and Aster didn't enjoy it as much as when his brother had taught him.

"Who's Mata, and what is a Life Light Pillar?"

Aster couldn't help but ask himself, as these words were on every document he read, but what were they? Mata sounded like a familiar name. That was why he was wondering who it was, but he just couldn't put his finger on who it was and why it seemed so important.

Aster's eyes grew wide with excitement as he read one of the last documents. It was a distribution of personnel document; he might not know what that meant, but he could tell by the names and locations and some words written that the adults were being sent around the village for something.

"The adults aren't going to be here..." Aster whispered with a sly grin

"Time for an adventure..."