No one spoke as dawn broke across the Black Bulls' hideout. The rain from the night before had left the courtyard cool and damp, glistening with light like the world itself had been polished clean.
But peace, Astra knew, was always temporary.
She stood before the mirror in her private room—a simple space, recently made for her by Grey and Gauche at Yami's gruff request. The walls were stone. The shelves empty. The floor uncarpeted. A single bed with a rough quilt rested in the corner. Bare, cold, efficient.
Just how she liked it.
Her reflection watched her quietly in the warped metal mirror nailed to the wall. She didn't wear armor like Noelle. No jewelry like Vanessa. No emblems. No family crest. Just a long black tunic and loose pants, both stitched by Grey's magic. Her feet were bare.
Her violet eyes glowed faintly.
Too faint.
She hated the mirror.
It reminded her too much of her sister.
Selene had loved mirrors. Said they were doorways to the truth if you stared long enough.
But all Astra saw in them were ghosts. And a girl who didn't belong anywhere.
A knock at her door broke the silence.
"Who is it?" she asked without turning.
"It's Noelle."
She opened the door without hesitation. Noelle stood there in her training clothes again, hair tied back in a sleek ponytail, arms crossed tightly.
"You didn't show up to the training field."
"I was thinking."
"You don't strike me as the type to reflect."
"I reflect constantly," Astra said flatly. "I simply don't show it."
Noelle raised a brow, almost smiling. "Fair enough."
She hesitated, glancing past Astra into the sparse room. "You know... the others would help you decorate. Grey's practically begging to sculpt a bookshelf."
"I have nothing worth putting on one."
"Books. Trinkets. Things that make a place feel like... yours."
Astra tilted her head. "I do not know what 'mine' feels like."
Noelle blinked.
And for a moment, Astra looked almost small.
Not physically. Not magically. But inwardly, like a child holding too much sky in her hands and unsure what to do with it.
"You're allowed to have things, Astra," Noelle said gently. "You're allowed to exist. Not just function."
Astra turned away from the mirror.
"I'll consider it."
They trained again that morning. But this time, Astra didn't just defend. She moved.
Graceful. Fast. No wasted motion.
She didn't blast Noelle with raw destruction—that wasn't her style. Instead, she used a strange magic Noelle had never seen: pale stars forming petals in the air that moved like illusions, pulling Noelle's attacks off course. One star bloomed open to swallow a water spear, another created a gravitational pulse that threw her balance off without harming her.
"What is this?" Noelle asked, breathing hard.
"Creation magic. Celestial origin," Astra said between movements. "Stars. Light. Mass. Memory."
"You can warp gravity?"
"I can influence it. Re-direct forces."
"That's… ridiculously broken."
"I'm aware."
Afterward, they collapsed under the shade of a tree near the edge of the Bulls' territory, water canteens in hand.
Astra, to Noelle's surprise, looked... winded.
"Are you okay?"
"I've been suppressing my mana constantly for days," Astra admitted. "The longer I hold back, the more difficult it becomes."
"You should let it out sometimes. At least when you're not fighting."
"I don't want to hurt anyone."
"You won't," Noelle said firmly.
They sat in silence for a while.
Eventually, Astra asked quietly, "What does it feel like?"
"What?"
"To belong."
Noelle hesitated.
"I'm not sure I know either," she said. "I thought I did. But most of my life, I've had to prove myself. Over and over. Even when I got stronger, people still saw my name, not me."
Astra nodded. "I know that feeling."
Noelle's voice softened. "But... I'm starting to feel it here. With them. With Yami. With... you."
Astra looked at her.
The warmth in Noelle's eyes was real. Honest. Not pity. Not fear. Just presence.
"I'm not used to that," Astra said.
"You'll get used to me," Noelle replied.
Later that evening, Noelle stood before her own mirror, undoing her braid.
Her thoughts were a mess.
She hadn't expected to care about Astra. Not really. She'd been bracing herself for a cold, arrogant monster with too much power and no discipline.
But Astra was… different.
She was quiet, observant. More human than anyone expected. Not heartless, just guarded. And when she did speak, her words had weight.
Noelle's cheeks flushed as she realized she'd memorized the exact timbre of Astra's voice when she said her name.
Get it together, she muttered to herself.
Far away, deep within the Spade Kingdom's forbidden zone, Selene Nocturne meditated in a circle of bones and ink.
She opened her eyes as the eclipse above shimmered for the first time in years.
"She's begun bonding," Selene whispered. "Good."
Her attendants looked confused.
"She grows soft," one said.
"No," Selene said with a smirk. "She grows human. And when I take that from her… the Seventh Flame will burn brighter than ever."
She reached toward a blackened mirror with her fingers, tracing Astra's face from afar.
"You still don't understand what you are, sister."
Back in the Black Bulls' hideout, Astra sat at her window, watching the stars.
Something tugged in her chest.
Something unfamiliar.
Not dread. Not anger.
But… warmth.
And somewhere, deep in the folds of her soul, her grimoire whispered:
"This time, you are not alone."