[Author's Warning: This chapter contains reference to and implications of self harm.]

Astra spun in the air, her nebula styled hair flowing behind her like a ribbon, leaving twinkling dust in its wake which eventually dissipated back into the air. She flew around the room, gliding with elegance and ease, before landing back in front of them and allowing them to take in the glory of her form.

The two men had the exact same expression. Jaws hung open, eyes wide and sparkling with awe as they stared at the untold beauty of the skies above compressed into a singular, very fine, body.

"You are..."

"...Absolutely radiant."

They finished each other's thoughts, having to share the single sentence as they were simply too speechless to get it all out on their own.

The stars that twinkled within Astra's body shone brighter, sparkling like diamonds, as she enjoyed their expressions. That was, after all, the only way she could smile in this form.

Like this, her face had no features, only a pair of glowing eyes that naturally narrowed and scowled. It took what was arguably her worst feature, her naturally angry and murderous looking eyes, and amplified them a hundred fold to a new level.

Most people would feel the wrath of the heavens pressing down on them when she looked at them in this form. She hadn't had time to test that theory, but she knew well enough that it would be true.

Normally she struggled to express herself, but in what could be described as her 'true form' that was even more impossible.

So many would fear her power, her intimidating form, her eyes filled with the unbridled fury of a burning sun as they were permentantly afixed into a deep scowl. But to these two, none of that mattered. To them she was just beautiful. How could she not smile?

Astra lifted her hand as a miniature sun appeared in the palm of her hand. It didn't have nearly as much power as a real sun, nor the intense heat. It was mostly a show of its appearance, a demonstration of the power she now held, as she went on to explain.

"My Evolution allowed me to absorb energy from all sorts of sources. I could slightly do it before, but not without pain or without losing a lot of it. Like the warp drive fuel."

Her voice was ethereal. It didn't have a true source, sounding like it came from all around them rather than the woman floating in front of them.

"I'm sure you noticed that I took it. But just the small amount that was left, was far too much for me. I was able to absorb maybe 0.1% of the tiny amount that was there. It was just too powerful.

It did help, however. And since I absorbed it in the past..."

The sun shifted colours and began to shrink. Previously it was the size of a baseball, swirling as it hovered above her palm, but it rapidly took on a deep blue hue as it shrunk down to the size of a golf ball, and simply kept shrinking.

A grape, then a raisin, before stopping at half the size of a grain of rice. It was so pathetically tiny, and yet it shone so blindingly bright with that radiant blue light.

"...Then I can now replicate it. Some energy is lost in the conversion, better efficiency will come with time, I'm sure. But it allows me to do such wonderful things. Things like this."

The glowing grain sunk into Astra's palm, causing the stars decorating her Celestial body to shine with the same radiant light, before her entire body collapsed inwards, crumpling to the size of a rice grain and then even smaller, until it vanished from sight entirely.

Seth and Scar let out simultaneous yells of horror as her body was violently crushed into a singularity. However, that ethereal voice resonated around the room once more as it let out a mischievous laugh.

"What's the matter? I'm not allowed to teleport too?"

They frowned in sync, their eyes shooting around the room until they found Astra floating on the far end of the room behind them. Seth pressed his hand against his heart, feeling it palpating in his chest as if it was ready to leap out.

Scar, who understood why she had demonstrated it in such a performative way, let out a sigh of relief before shaking his head as he laughed.

"God, you really are something else, aren't you?"

"I am indeed. Even the system would agree, as it doesn't class me as human anymore, or Gaian as it says. Instead It claims my species is now a 'Star Child', which makes sense.

I still bleed, break and hurt in my other form. But like this, I am pure energy. No pain, no blood. Just energy."

She drifted down, her feet touching against the floor once more, before she stumbled. Her form reverted back to flesh and blood, mostly. Her metallic leg thudded against the ground as she slammed it down to support herself, her body swaying from light-headedness.

The pair rushed forwards to catch her, but Scar stopped after the first step, letting Seth catch his woman before she could fall. Scar watched them with a complicated expression.

He clenched his fists tight as Seth helped Astra to her feet, brushed her hair from her face and laughed with her over her display of power.

He wasn't jealous of himself for getting Astra's attention, he had gotten plenty of that in the past few days. But he couldn't help but not the way she looked at him. It was subtle, so subtle that she probably didn't realise she was doing it herself nor was she even meaning to do it. It was simply instinctual.

But he knew that look well enough to easily pick it out, as it was the same look that he saw in his own eyes when he looked in the mirror.

She still had affection in her eyes, just like he remembered. She still loved him, as well as Seth, and he most definitely still loved her. But that look... it was as if she was looking at a pale imitation of the original. Even when she looked at him with joy or love, it was always there.

It was a hint of pity, and the thought that what she was looking at wasn't the real him.

He didn't blame her for that look... How could he, when it was right? He was a pale imitation. Just the clone grown from the original because he couldn't keep his soul together.

It was this... unending bottomless pit in his stomach. He wanted to lash out, to yell and break things in rage. He wanted to scream at the top of his lungs that he was the real thing, that it didn't matter who was the 'original'.

That they were his memories, his life.

He desperately wanted someone or something to blame. But there was no one. Sure he could lash out at those people anyways, blame them just to have something to vent onto. But that wasn't fair and he knew it.

So it simply bubbled inside of him, growing and growing, only showing in the trembling of his hand as he stared at it with hatred in his eyes. Was this thing... this lump of flesh and bone, really worth the cost?

Unclenching his trembling fist , Scar raised his eyes and accidentally locked gazes with Astra. She was watching him, staring at him with a mixture of confusion and worry over his strange behaviour. Yet as he stared into her eyes, feeling her compassion and worry for him as she sensed the turmoil raging inside of him, He still saw it.

It was just a hint, a tiny speck in the corner of her eye. But it was still there. The pity. Festering in her gaze like an infected wound that was only torn open wider with every glance and stolen look.

A wound she had no idea even existed.

It made him sick.

Scar broke eye contact, looking to the side and closing his eyes. He took a deep breath, before letting out a heavy sigh and vanishing from the ship the next second, using his new trick to possess one of the countless Puppets in Ravenkeep and teleport there.

As soon as he arrived, he immediately unpossessed the body and drifted through the city in soul form. Why bother trying to blend in with the crowds when you could simply drift through them unseen, as nothing more than a cold shiver down their spines.

The ghost of Scar drifted through a wall, ignoring the residents within the house, before appearing in the alleyway behind it. It was dark and musty, as expected of an alleyway, but most importantly it was private.

Flesh reformed around him, as he quickly slumped against the wall and slid down it.

He sat there, his head in his hands, as he stared at a small puddle in the middle of the alleyway. A tiny fin circled in the puddle, a lone puddle-shark that had clearly gotten lost in its search for food.

As it swam, it disturbed the water, causing Scar's reflection to wobble and undulate, warping differently every second, as he stared at it with empty eyes.

He didn't even remember summoning it, but when he looked at his hand again, the [Fjord Carver] rested comfortably in his grip. His hand trembled as he slowly lifted it up, his eyes once again looked on the shifting reflection in the puddle.

'The flesh remembers...'