Aster doesn't belong.
She knew it as soon as she went through her door and found herself in the middle of nowhere, not the world she was familiar with. Not the world with Chrys and Akai and Mizuho. No, she didn't recognize this place.
There was only one meaning to this.
She wasn't the original.
She knew of dimensional counterparts. She knew that there was more than one Aster in existence. She knew they lived in their own dimensions. Because she had the memories of the original Aster, she had assumed she was the original. It hadn't hit her that she might be another dimensional counterpart.
Now she knew.
She knew her place now. She was inside a void now. The Author's Space. If she had gone through a door telling her it was going back to the original universe, and it had instead taken her to the Author's Space, it meant she had no world.
She had no place.
She was expendable.
Aster could not stand for this.
"お姉ちゃん!" she yelled at the top of her lungs. She was in the Author's Space – there was only one person she needed to see.
And sure enough, a figure was behind her.
"Hello, Aster," said the author.
"I… I don't have a world?" said Aster, shrinking into herself.
"Straight to the point, eh? Thought you'd ask. Firstly, you're not expendable. I write for you much more often than I do even for Original!Aster. That novel is still sitting on my computer waiting to be published…"
"…she still hasn't finished her story yet…"
"Secondly, you do have a world. You have been there so often it's not even funny. You don't have a past like the Original!Aster, despite your memories. You were created, not born. And where do you think you were created?"
Aster blinked.
"I… don't know…"
"Dumb as ever." The author laughed while Aster scowled and made a huff sound. "Well, think about it. You spend the most time there. You never leave there if you have a chance. Where do you think?"
Aster nodded. "The Society."
"Exactly. You've been given so many chances to switch over to the other side. So many chances to join the more powerful side, which I know you prefer. You belong to the Society. You belong there, you work there. You couldn't go through a door taking you to your original world, because you were in your original world. I refer to you as Society!Aster for a reason."
Aster nodded.
The communicator on her side beeped, and she turned it on to see Tash. She was smiling, but it was obviously forced.
"You can come back now."
"Right." Aster turned off the communicator and sighed. She saw the door she had come through and was about to go, when – "
"Aster."
Aster turned again to face her author.
"I have some surprises and inconvenient things out for you. But don't worry. Your soul is somewhere, in a very illogical place as you have some past, but it exists. It will take effort to find it."
Aster nodded. She turned and went through the door.
-
Aster didn't believe it.
She didn't believe a single word of Tash's news that Adrian was dead. Adrian was not dead. Adrian always had a plan. He always had a way out of it. He had some way to resurrect himself or miraculously come back or he hadn't been the one killed, he'd sent in some copy. The Adrianくん she knew always had a plan.
Right?
She never cried, she swallowed it and moved on. But the Society knew. They thought she was in denial, and they saw. And it wasn't a depressive denial, either. She never mentioned his name, but Tash saw Aster going after one of Adrian's traps in such a stealthy way one would think Adrian would go after her, even though Tash knew Adrian wouldn't be there to find out. She even was caught going into his office and walking out saying, "Drat, he's not in."
And one night, she sat in her bed, thinking, What plan did you have? What are you doing? How are you going to manage it? What are you going to do?
-
Aster is not pleased.
The new changes in the Society are gripping. Tighter security everywhere. At least the manga section is one of the ones with loose security. As if a Sue would ever use those for spellcasting.
There were almost no Sues left over in the basement but now there have to be fifteen guards per shift and Aster is downstairs much of the time now. They like to scream at her. It's not fun down there.
She still goes on missions but now it's getting annoying. She has a voice in her head now. Her Author told her there would be more problems for her now, so she probably chose to give her a voice in your head. It doesn't talk to her much, maybe once or twice per day, but still. Why must her Author have fun in these ways?
"I'm going to decapitate you," says Aster in her usual threatening-more-than-she's-even-capable-of-pulling-off way, "and put your head on a stick for preventing them from realizing their romantic feelings…"
Silly girl, says the voice, don't go charging right in, she's got all your moves calculated.
Aster charges in anyway, gets defeated, and runs off before the Sue can decapitate her.
You were always so dense, you never listen…
"Oh shut up," says Aster to the voice.
-
Aster is in her tsundere-mode.
"Aramayis, huh?" says Aster, with her signature hmph. The light-hearted kyaa is gone.
"All I ask for is for you to fly up and get that book up there," he says, more amused than annoyed, "and now you're accusing the male race of being lazy and not willing to use ladders…"
"There is a ladder right there," says Aster, but she obliges, gets the book, and shoves it into Aramayis's hands. "There."
"Thank you," he says patiently and is about to leave when Aster yells at him.
"You really are lazy, you know!"
He was only asking for a little favor…
"Shut up," says Aster to the voice, which is the only thing she's ever said to the voice.
You always say that…
She knew it as soon as she went through her door and found herself in the middle of nowhere, not the world she was familiar with. Not the world with Chrys and Akai and Mizuho. No, she didn't recognize this place.
There was only one meaning to this.
She wasn't the original.
She knew of dimensional counterparts. She knew that there was more than one Aster in existence. She knew they lived in their own dimensions. Because she had the memories of the original Aster, she had assumed she was the original. It hadn't hit her that she might be another dimensional counterpart.
Now she knew.
She knew her place now. She was inside a void now. The Author's Space. If she had gone through a door telling her it was going back to the original universe, and it had instead taken her to the Author's Space, it meant she had no world.
She had no place.
She was expendable.
Aster could not stand for this.
"お姉ちゃん!" she yelled at the top of her lungs. She was in the Author's Space – there was only one person she needed to see.
And sure enough, a figure was behind her.
"Hello, Aster," said the author.
"I… I don't have a world?" said Aster, shrinking into herself.
"Straight to the point, eh? Thought you'd ask. Firstly, you're not expendable. I write for you much more often than I do even for Original!Aster. That novel is still sitting on my computer waiting to be published…"
"…she still hasn't finished her story yet…"
"Secondly, you do have a world. You have been there so often it's not even funny. You don't have a past like the Original!Aster, despite your memories. You were created, not born. And where do you think you were created?"
Aster blinked.
"I… don't know…"
"Dumb as ever." The author laughed while Aster scowled and made a huff sound. "Well, think about it. You spend the most time there. You never leave there if you have a chance. Where do you think?"
Aster nodded. "The Society."
"Exactly. You've been given so many chances to switch over to the other side. So many chances to join the more powerful side, which I know you prefer. You belong to the Society. You belong there, you work there. You couldn't go through a door taking you to your original world, because you were in your original world. I refer to you as Society!Aster for a reason."
Aster nodded.
The communicator on her side beeped, and she turned it on to see Tash. She was smiling, but it was obviously forced.
"You can come back now."
"Right." Aster turned off the communicator and sighed. She saw the door she had come through and was about to go, when – "
"Aster."
Aster turned again to face her author.
"I have some surprises and inconvenient things out for you. But don't worry. Your soul is somewhere, in a very illogical place as you have some past, but it exists. It will take effort to find it."
Aster nodded. She turned and went through the door.
-
Aster didn't believe it.
She didn't believe a single word of Tash's news that Adrian was dead. Adrian was not dead. Adrian always had a plan. He always had a way out of it. He had some way to resurrect himself or miraculously come back or he hadn't been the one killed, he'd sent in some copy. The Adrianくん she knew always had a plan.
Right?
She never cried, she swallowed it and moved on. But the Society knew. They thought she was in denial, and they saw. And it wasn't a depressive denial, either. She never mentioned his name, but Tash saw Aster going after one of Adrian's traps in such a stealthy way one would think Adrian would go after her, even though Tash knew Adrian wouldn't be there to find out. She even was caught going into his office and walking out saying, "Drat, he's not in."
And one night, she sat in her bed, thinking, What plan did you have? What are you doing? How are you going to manage it? What are you going to do?
-
Aster is not pleased.
The new changes in the Society are gripping. Tighter security everywhere. At least the manga section is one of the ones with loose security. As if a Sue would ever use those for spellcasting.
There were almost no Sues left over in the basement but now there have to be fifteen guards per shift and Aster is downstairs much of the time now. They like to scream at her. It's not fun down there.
She still goes on missions but now it's getting annoying. She has a voice in her head now. Her Author told her there would be more problems for her now, so she probably chose to give her a voice in your head. It doesn't talk to her much, maybe once or twice per day, but still. Why must her Author have fun in these ways?
"I'm going to decapitate you," says Aster in her usual threatening-more-than-she's-even-capable-of-pulling-off way, "and put your head on a stick for preventing them from realizing their romantic feelings…"
Silly girl, says the voice, don't go charging right in, she's got all your moves calculated.
Aster charges in anyway, gets defeated, and runs off before the Sue can decapitate her.
You were always so dense, you never listen…
"Oh shut up," says Aster to the voice.
-
Aster is in her tsundere-mode.
"Aramayis, huh?" says Aster, with her signature hmph. The light-hearted kyaa is gone.
"All I ask for is for you to fly up and get that book up there," he says, more amused than annoyed, "and now you're accusing the male race of being lazy and not willing to use ladders…"
"There is a ladder right there," says Aster, but she obliges, gets the book, and shoves it into Aramayis's hands. "There."
"Thank you," he says patiently and is about to leave when Aster yells at him.
"You really are lazy, you know!"
He was only asking for a little favor…
"Shut up," says Aster to the voice, which is the only thing she's ever said to the voice.
You always say that…
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