Just as Aion had expected, Luna didn't show up again the following day.
"Good morning, sir." Aira greeted him, and he gave a brief morning greeting in return.
"You're working at the Magnatium Manor, right?" Aion said, starting up some small talk.
"Yes. We're busy preparing for all the guests on the Winter Solstice."
"I see…" Aion said with a bit of a sad expression.
"Is something the matter?"
"No, it's nothing."
Aira didn't say anything for the rest of breakfast, and the two went their separate ways.
Today, Aion had one thing he needed to do: stop the commotion between Esme and Juno. That way he would meet with Sam once more.
Doing so would allow him to attend the Winter Solstice party and he would be able to try and subvert the tragedy on the people he cared about.
So he headed to the spot and hid behind a tree, waiting for the arrival of the two.
"Miss Celestia, what did you call me out for?" Esme's voice was soon heard, and Aion peeked out.
To his surprise, Esme already had marks like she'd been hit. Didn't that mean she was hit before their meeting? Or perhaps Juno had hit her immediately upon seeing her, and then she just dragged her off to some other location? He couldn't be sure.
Juno, who also had just arrived, walked over with a confident expression. "Commoner, you mustn't attend the Winter Solstice party the Magnatiums are hosting."
"Ah, well, I don't know about that…"
Aion scrunched his eyebrows at the strange interaction. Juno was surprisingly calm.
"Look, it's just for the best…I…can't really explain further…"
"Miss Celestia, I'm not sure I understand."
Juno gritted her teeth with a conflicted expression on her face. "I—I can't explain so easily."
"And why would that be?" Aion decided to intervene now.
He figured avoiding any possible fight to begin with was more pleasant.
"Eh?" Juno looked shocked as she looked at Aion up and down.
"What?"
"Huh?" Juno's eyes contorted with some sort of unreadable emotion as she was mumbling several incomprehensible words.
"You seem troubled. Is something the matter?"
"You!" Juno recovered and pointed at Aion with a fierce expression.
"Me."
"Yes! Who are you, and how dare you address me!?"
"Isn't that rather rude? Look, I feel like if you're forcing her not to join, wouldn't it be nice if you could explain?"
Juno clicked her tongue and said, "Yeah? So what? It would be 'nice,' but that's it!"
"Hm…"
"What?"
"Nothing, you just seem like a brat."
"Hey! I'm not a brat! Now, who are you!?"
"Aion Belial, are you happy now?"
"Aion Belial?"
Juno's expression immediately lost all its fury as she seemed to have a headache. Holding her head, she made an expression of discomfort.
"Who are you? No name like that exists in Magna."
"Ah, I just got here a couple of days ago, so it's no wonder you wouldn't know me."
"An outsider!? Even worse than a commoner!" Juno blew up, her eyes seething with rage.
"Now, Juno, that isn't very polite now, is it?" A voice rang out, and Aion immediately turned around to see Sam walking over.
Aion's body tensed upon seeing Sam.
"Sam! What are you doing here!?"
"That's not important. I just found this commotion and thought it best to end it."
"Well, hear this! This outsider is interfering with my business!"
"The outsider?" Sam looked over at Aion and then back at Juno. "So?"
Juno scoffed and said, "Do we have no dignity!?"
"I fail to see how an outsider damages our dignity."
"But! He's interfering with important business!"
"Yeah, like what? Preventing Esme from going to the party on Winter Solstice?"
"Yes!"
"...Seriously? Juno, just leave. Esme is going whether you like it or not."
"But—"
"Just leave!" Sam's voice raised, and Juno flinched before averting her gaze and slowly trudging away with a defeated expression.
Sam sighed and looked over at Aion.
"Thank you, uh…"
"Aion, Aion Belial," Aion answered Sam's unasked question without looking him in the eyes.
"Yes, thank you, Aion."
"It's no problem. I figured things would devolve into something bad if I didn't step in on time."
"Ah…" Esme spoke up and looked up at Aion, "I want to thank you as well…"
"You're welcome. But those marks, where did you get those?"
"Ah…" Esme lightly touched the red marks on her cheek and shook her head, saying, "I was clumsy, that's all."
"..." Aion didn't pry further, assuming it would go nowhere.
"I should get going…" Esme said quietly, and then she ran off.
Aion's jaw tensed a bit. Things were a decent deal different than he'd been expecting with this whole encounter. And that—that was something he didn't like.
"Sorry about that. Esme…she can be rather wary around strangers," Sam said.
"Is that so?"
"Yeah, she's really sociable when you get to know her. Honestly, I'm sure this whole thing just scared her a bit, is all."
"Hm…"
"I'm Samuel Astra, by the way, but you can call me Sam."
"Okay, Sam," Aion said.
"So, you're from outside of Magna, right?"
"That's correct."
"Wow, I didn't expect someone like that."
"I don't think many would in a gated community like this."
Sam laughed and said, "Yeah, you're right. But still, we should get to know each other."
"I'm fine with that."
Sam smiled and said, "Great! Unfortunately, it'll have to wait for Festival's Eve. You know what that is, right?"
Aion nodded.
"Great! Let's meet then!"
Sam cheerfully waved goodbye, and Aion only stared at him with a bitter expression.
The person he saw just now, was it Samuel Astra or was it someone else?
He couldn't tell.
* * *
"Ah…" When Aira entered through the door, she was surprised to see Aion slumped in a chair already.
"You're back, huh?" Aion said vaguely.
"Is something the matter, sir?"
"No, I'm just tired," Aion said, waving away the concern. "How was your work today? Do you think you'll finish on time?"
"Ah, well, we should, yes."
"That's good."
Aion had stood up straight in his seat and was already smiling.
"You recover quickly," Aira said.
"Yes, talking with people is fun after all."
"Is that so?"
"Although, it can also be tiring…"
"..."
"But that's beside the point."
"Would you like me to start preparing dinner, sir?"
"Yeah, that's fine," Aion said.
Aira tidied up a bit and headed toward the kitchen.
"Sir, is your brother sociable?" Aira asked a question, surprising Aion.
"Ah, well…" Aion said, unable to pin down a proper answer.
From an outsider's perspective, he was sure it would be easy. But for him, it was a much more complicated matter than the immediate 'sociable' or 'unsociable;' it was a matter that ran much deeper than that.
"I guess objectively speaking, no, he isn't."
Aira's eyes drifted toward Aion as she said, "Is that so?"
Aion nodded and sighed, "I'm sure he'd answer that way too."
"Do you not agree?"
"Not necessarily…"
"I see."
Aira returned to her work.
"How about you, Aira? How is your sister?"
Aira's hand froze for a second in the middle of chopping before resuming.
"My sister, she's perfectly capable in social situations. She is probably one of the most sociable people in Magna, only paling to the young master, I suppose."
"She did strike me as very sociable."
Aira nodded and said no more.
And so, another day passed.
* * *
On the fifth day, Aion found himself walking in the snowy town of Magna with no purpose or direction. Regret filled his heart. If only he had remembered the book, he wouldn't have been spending these days in utmost boredom.
Aion stopped for a moment before returning to his house. If events stayed the same, Luna would be returning today.
Resolving himself to move forward, Aion reached his residence and found Luna waiting there just like the previous loop.
"It's been a while, huh?" Luna asked, a smile on her face that betrayed the exhaustion in her voice.
Her eyes were puffy like she'd been crying, but beyond that, there were bags under her eyes.
"It has," Aion said. "...Are you okay…?"
Luna's mouth fell a little open, and she nodded. "Yeah, I am. I just had…a really bad dream…"
"A bad dream?"
"Yes. It was a very long dream."
"Do you want to talk about it?"
"...You would be willing to listen…?"
"Isn't that what friends are for?"
Luna didn't say anything, instead averting her gaze toward the door as an indication to enter the house for the topic.
Inside, Aion and Luna sat across from each other, staring directly at one another.
"So, this dream…what was it like?" Aion asked.
"There was a cat."
"A cat?"
"Yes, a cat. It was a pretty stupid cat, constantly cozying up to people that would kick it or spit on it or even just ridicule it. It just kept cozying up over and over."
"Uh…"
"There's no need to comment on everything. In fact, I would prefer it if you heard the whole dream before saying anything."
Aion nodded in understanding, and Luna continued, "This cat, despite being abused daily, still lived on. It lived and lived, experiencing the same thing every day. Some days were better than others, but on the flip side, some days were worse than others. But still, the cat persisted.
"But as the observer, such an action was incomprehensible. Why continue to live if every day was going to be a promised miserable experience? Why does it cozy up to those that hurt it? And why can it always wake up the next day and act the exact same way?
"But I, as the observer, cannot interfere on the stage before me. It was like a prison, watching the tragedy unfold day after day. Watching the cat get weaker every day of its life. And expecting that its final day may be the next, that constant dread filled me with great agony. And even then, that agony—it's incomparable to that of the cat's, right?
"To my surprise, though, the dream shifted to the cat's beginnings. It grew up loved by all those around it; whether it be humans or its fellow felines, it was loved by everyone and everything. But one day, it accidentally caused an accident. That accident resulted in numerous injuries and even deaths among its circle. It was then that the attitudes shifted.
"But it made me wonder, if it caused such misery, does the misery that experiences later help compensate? Were they justified in the abuse? Didn't the cat bring its fate upon itself? But I had not the time to consider such a thing. Instead, its end came.
"In a burst of rage, someone killed the cat, hanging it so the whole circle could see. Celebrations were let out. The evil feline was finally dead! Now, they could live like they once did. That cat, it had witnessed it all, its spirit residing afterwards, watching the celebration.
"I thought it would be happy to finally escape, maybe sad that everyone was celebrating this death, or maybe even angry that they could just do that to it. But I was shocked; the cat was happy, yes, but it wasn't happy to escape. No, it was happy because those it cozied up to were finally happy themselves.
"It was a stupid cat. A completely and utterly stupid cat. But it didn't matter to the cat. It simply ascended to the afterlife: Elysium."
Aion raised an eyebrow at the mention of Elysium but didn't interrupt.
"But when the cat got there, in that beautifully advanced world, it couldn't interact with a single thing. Everything walked straight through it, like it wasn't even there. The cat wished to find something, anything it could interact with. But for some reason, it never did.
"So, the cat set off to the Goddess of Elysium, Lunalis, attempting to gain an audience with her. And soon, it found that palace and entered with no problems, for nothing could stop it. Within those beautiful chambers, the cat found the Goddess sitting on her throne, surrounded by others. The cat tried to commune with Lunalis, and Lunalis looked straight at it, saying, 'Oh lost kitten, what brings thee to my palace?'
"The kitten responded in perfect human tongue, 'Oh, Lunalis! I have found myself unable to interact with anyone or anything in Elysium! And I find it to be most terrifying. If thou couldst grant me thy blessing so that I may freely live within Elysium with no such limitations, I would thank thee deeply.'
"Lunalis smiled, and a few of the people around her asked what she was talking to. But Lunalis only replied with a simple, 'Oh, lost kitten, thou may find thy truth at the edge of Elysium to the south. If thou wishest to attain thy wish, thou must go hither to find it.'
"And so, the cat set off to the south, traversing through the many beautiful areas of Elysium. It saw all the happiness, the joy, and all the love spread about, and it found itself envious of such feelings. Soon, it reached a small shack on the border of the living and the dead. Inside of the shack was a singular box with a message, 'Oh, lost kitten, thou hast found the box of thy truth. I leave thee with two options: first, never open the box and turn back. To do so would mean the continuance of your current state, unable to interact with the beauties of Elysium. The second option is to open the box and witness the truth of thy existence and thy end. I cannot givest thee the reality of what will happen to thee, but I can givest thee assurance that thy fate will change. So, lost kitten, I implore thee to make thy decision.'
"With that, the cat stared at the box and did not hesitate. For the beautiful, gleaming happiness was before it, giving it all it needed in order to open it. But the cat was confused when it opened the box. For there was nothing; there was nothing at all.
"'How could this be?' The cat had cried out, hoping to reach the ears of Lunalis. But there was no response. The cat could only wallow in its confusion on why it was empty. After all, was this box not supposed to be the truth of its existence? So how could there be nothing?
"So, the cat, assuming there must be some sort of mistake, trekked outside of the shack back to the palace Lunalis resided in. With only the desire to know the truth in mind, it had failed to realize that Elysium's beauty was gone. There were no people, there was no happiness, and there was no love. Soon, it reached the palace that had lost its luster and found Lunalis standing under the dome of the grand meeting room.
"'Ah, little kitten, thou hast returned,' Lunalis had said.
"'Oh, Goddess! Why was there nothing within the box? Is it not supposed to contain the truth of my existence?'
"Lunalis laughed gently with a smile and said, 'Oh, lost kitten. Thy failing to realize truly pains me. The box was supposed to be empty.'
"The cat was confused, imploring the Goddess for more, 'Why was it empty? I don't understand.'
"'Oh, lost kitten, here is my voice that shall declare the truth of thy existence. I shall not repeat it, for it only wounds my heart to say it. So, oh, lost kitten, listen well: Thou dost not exist.'
"The words that Lunalis spoke had such power behind them that the cat could only accept them as the truth with no way of denying it. But still, even knowing doesn't mean it understood, for it asked, 'How is it that I do not exist!? For I have suffered a life of pain like none other! How can all of that be fake!?'
"But Lunalis could say no more; her heart had already been torn apart by having to tell the cat's fate. And so, Lunalis left the cat in this world that had lost its luster. The cat could only wander. It had finally realized that his surroundings were forever gone from its grasp. But even worse, it could still see glimpses of Elysium. Those beautiful fields, forests, rivers, and cities—it could see them in mirages that would last a second.
"But every time it saw one of those, it went a little more insane. Until finally, the cat took its own life in an attempt to escape the purgatory.
"Such a tragic scene unfolding before me was heartwrenching, for it was so unfair. It was so terribly unfair. And then, before I could witness any more, I had awoken. Leaving me with the scars of that terrible dream."
Luna stopped talking; tears had risen to her eyes after recounting the tale.
Aion smiled and said, "It sounded like quite the tragic dream. But, Luna, it's over now. So cry, cry until you let all those feelings out."
Luna inhaled for a second, and then her expression cracked. A look of deep grief crossed her face, and all the emotions she held toward the dream burst forth in a flood.
Aion could only look at the sight with a complex expression.