Chapter 110 – So I’m A Star, So What?

"I don't get it."

My tail flicks in mild exasperation.

"What, precisely, do you not understand about my explanation?"

Rin gestures vaguely at... everything.

"All of it?"

I sigh.

A gravity rail quietly forms beside the plate of berries resting on the vine table, diverting a particularly promising strawberry away from the hand Avelyn had been reaching out with and directly into my own.

Victory.

Avelyn pouts.

My ears twitch in amusement as I take a satisfied bite.

"I was born with an exceedingly rare trait called Starborn," I continue once the strawberry has been given the appreciation it deserves. "Among other things, it grants me access to a peak aspect called Star. A triple fusion."

Everyone continues staring.

I continue anyway.

"As their daughter, I possess the ability to converse with the stars and wield their power, which naturally manifests as Starfire, Starlight, and Gravity."

Sylrae pinches the bridge of her nose.

"Lyn... explaining it again doesn't somehow make it less incomprehensible." She glances upward. "...Also, can you come down already? It is extremely disorienting having a conversation with someone sitting upside down in the air."

I blink.

"...Fair."

I release my altered gravity.

The world politely rotates around me as I perform a slow flip before settling beside Avelyn on the makeshift bench woven entirely from my Garden's vines.

The shorter skirt of my casual outfit immediately reminds me that it was never designed with inverted gravity in mind.

A subtle gravitational adjustment politely informs it otherwise.

Dignity preserved.

My battle dress, tragically, remains in no state to be worn.

The Crystal Reaper had seen fit to introduce a rather large hole directly beneath my ribs.

While the resulting damage revealed skin in a significantly less concerning place than Avelyn's own wardrobe malfunction had earlier…

It nevertheless committed the unforgivable crime of ruining my silhouette.

Repairs shall be performed later.

Until then, the hoodie wins by default.

I sit down. Interestingly, the vine is remarkably comfortable.

Nine out of ten.

One point deducted because it was originally intended for horticultural purposes rather than furniture.

I finish my strawberry before immediately reaching toward an exceptionally vibrant blueberry.

A second hand intercepts it first.

Avelyn.

She pops the berry into her mouth before I can react.

She glances in my direction and smiles innocently.

A tragedy.

Her tail, meanwhile, performs a tiny celebratory swish that thoroughly undermines the performance.

…

An intentional counterattack.

Well played.

I nod once in acknowledgement of a worthy tactical maneuver before calmly selecting another strawberry instead.

It also disappears. This time into my hand, thankfully.

The situation remains recoverable.

This is, regrettably, the final plate of berries remaining within my spatial storage. Resource management is therefore essential.

I cannot allow sentiment to compromise my tactical decision-making.

At that exact moment, Avelyn's tail brushes softly against mine.

…

My opponent appears to have adopted psychological warfare.

A deeply concerning development.

“Might I inquire what, precisely, is so incomprehensible?” I ask Sylrae.

She considers the question with admirable seriousness.

“Alright. I guess the first thing is…” She gestures vaguely toward me. “Triple fusion. I have literally never heard of a triple fusion aspect.”

I nod in a thoroughly scholarly fashion.

“According to my older sister, Star is the only triple fusion in existence.”

Avelyn immediately straightens.

“You have an older sister?”

“I do.”

I point toward the night sky still replacing the cavern ceiling. There is, after all, no reason to dismiss my Arcana. It costs me absolutely nothing to maintain.

The System, meanwhile, appears to disagree. It has been making a remarkably determined effort to spawn our treasure chest in the distance for the past ten minutes, only for the Garden to continue insisting that the location is currently occupied.

A battle of wills is taking place.

The System is losing.

“She is right there.”

A fox formed entirely of soft starlight lifts its head from among the constellations before raising one glowing paw in a gentle wave.

I wave back.

Avelyn hesitates.

Then, with almost comical uncertainty, gives a tiny wave as well.

The star fox enthusiastically waves both paws.

Everyone else simply stares upward.

"...Did the sky just wave at us?" Zeke eventually asks.

Marek clears his throat.

"...I believe it did."

Sylrae recovers first.

"So... the stars are actually alive?"

"Correct."

"And they can talk?"

"Correct."

"But only you can hear them?"

"Correct."

She silently processes this.

"...Right." Another pause. "I've decided I'm simply not going to think about the implications of any of that."

A wise decision.

She gestures toward the stars.

"You said you're their daughter... but you also called one of them your older sister."

"...Yes."

"...Which one is it?"

I tilt my head.

"Both?"

Sylrae's head tilts as well.

I point toward another particularly bright constellation.

"That one is the Terminally Online Star."

"Hey!" a thoroughly offended voice echoes through my thoughts.

I point somewhere else.

"That one is the Tactless One."

"...I'm not tactless."

"You absolutely are."

Avelyn quietly giggles beside me.

I continue introducing everyone.

The party displays truly inspiring levels of self-restraint as I explain each nickname. Zeke almost loses the battle entirely upon learning the origins of the Chili Dog Star.

Apparently…

Chili dogs exist here as well.

Excellent.

I make a mental note to locate one at the earliest available opportunity. Purely for academic purposes. After all, dragon meat chili dogs sound like an objectively worthwhile research topic.

Unfortunately, I possess approximately zero knowledge regarding the manufacture of homemade hot dogs.

An educational opportunity.

When the introductions finally conclude, Sylrae speaks again.

"So when you say you're their daughter..." She gestures toward the stars. "...Were you literally born from one?"

I shake my head.

"I was born perfectly normally. According to my Starborn trait, it is my soul that is special, not my body."

She nods slowly.

"...Okay." A brief pause follows. "What about your real parents?"

…

My smile becomes just a little more perfect.

Just a little colder.

"I would appreciate it if you did not refer to them as my real parents."

The words leave my mouth gently.

Sylrae nevertheless recoils as though she had accidentally stepped on an especially conversational landmine.

"...Sorry."

Before anyone else can say anything, Avelyn quietly shifts closer.

Just enough that our shoulders touch.

No words.

Just warmth.

I blink.

…

The sharp edge to my smile softens. A few of my dahlias gently drift closer, brushing up against my legs.

I lower my gaze slightly.

"...I apologize."

She waves a hand dismissively.

"No worries."

The conversation changes course almost immediately.

"So... does your Star aspect have anything to do with..." She gestures around the Garden. "...this?"

I shake my head.

"No. This is something else entirely." My fingers trail absentmindedly through one of the black dahlias beside the bench, the petals brushing softly against my skin. "My Garden is what is known as an Arcana."

Several blank expressions immediately appear.

Reasonable.

The concept is... rather advanced.

I consider how best to explain it.

"When one's identity becomes sufficiently developed, reality eventually begins responding to it. The result is an Arcana."

I pause for a moment.

"...That explanation is technically correct." I think for another second. "...Unfortunately, it is also profoundly unhelpful."

Rin snorts.

I continue regardless.

"I spoke with someone more knowledgeable on the subject than myself. According to him, Arcanas are unique to the individual. Some entrap their opponents. Some impose rules upon an area. Others attack directly."

My gaze drifts thoughtfully across the Garden. "I suspect it would be considerably easier to list what an Arcana cannot potentially do than what one can."

Sylrae gives me a thoroughly unconvinced look.

"...I still don't get it." She gestures around us. "How does... any of this exist just because you're... you?"

I shake my head again.

"That is not quite correct." I consider my wording carefully. "It would be more accurate to say that my Garden exists because it is me."

The sentence hangs in the air for a few moments.

"..."

"...That somehow made even less sense," Zeke mutters.

Reasonable.

For unknown reasons, Avelyn looks slightly sad at something before her expression naturally corrects itself after a brief moment.

"It may help to think of an Arcana as the shadow that identity casts upon reality." I nod once. "Yes. That is considerably better."

…

A brief pause follows.

Then I frown slightly.

"No." I tilt my head. "Actually... that isn't correct either."

Everyone waits.

I don't know why.

I'm waiting too.

I stare thoughtfully at one of the stars overhead.

The certainty arrives without warning.

"Other people's Arcanas are shadows cast upon reality." I slowly look around my Garden. "Mine is..."

I pause.

"...Different."

Silence follows.

I have absolutely no idea where that sudden certainty came from.

It simply…

Feels correct.

Highly suspicious.

I make a mental note to investigate the phenomenon later.

As I prepare to continue, movement at my side catches my attention.

Avelyn has stopped looking at me entirely.

Instead, she's quietly staring down at her own hands, slowly turning them over as though expecting to find an answer written across her palms.

…

Interesting.

I tilt my head.

Then decide not to interrupt her thoughts.

Whatever she is contemplating appears considerably more important than anything I was about to say.

So I simply continue.

“Regrettably, that is about as far as my knowledge on the subject extends.”

"...I see."

The party sits in thoughtful silence for several seconds.

Judging by their expressions, they all independently arrive at approximately the same conclusion.

"I have absolutely no idea what this fox is talking about."

...Rude.

The conversation naturally drifts away from Arcanas after that.

Which is probably for the best. I suspect further explanation would only result in everyone becoming progressively more confused.

Instead, they begin asking about my Star aspect.

Sylrae immediately commandeers the discussion.

Her wings twitch with barely restrained excitement as she bombards me with increasingly specific questions regarding gravity manipulation, occasionally stopping only long enough to ask follow-up questions to the previous follow-up question.

By the end of it, I have somehow agreed to teach her how my gravity rails function.

I suspect I was maneuvered into that outcome.

Remarkably devious.

She also agreed to give me a few of her naturally shed feathers whenever they molt. For aesthetic purposes.

Thankfully, nobody found the request strange.

If anything, Sylrae looked rather pleased. Perhaps even a little flattered.

...Adorable.

Meanwhile, Zeke becomes thoroughly distracted after I explain the function of my Starfire motes.

He quietly excuses himself from the conversation, walks several meters away, and immediately begins experimenting with tiny flames in the palm of his hand. Every so often, he mutters something about compression, thermal density, or "there has to be a limit somewhere."

His expression grows increasingly concerning with every passing minute.

Excellent.

Judging from what I picked up from his mutterings, he believes he may be able to condense Pyroclasm into a much smaller area, dramatically increasing its destructive potential.

Scientific progress continues unabated.

Avelyn eventually rejoins reality as well.

Whatever she had been contemplating apparently reached a satisfactory conclusion, because she quietly resumed participating in the conversation.

By which I mean…

She resumed stealing my berries with a frankly alarming combination of agility and practiced innocence. Every successful theft was immediately followed by a tiny, triumphant swish of her tail. She seems entirely unaware that this thoroughly undermines her otherwise flawless disguise.

A worthy opponent.

Eventually, the conversation settles once more.

Rin lets out a tired chuckle, shaking his head.

"Gods above..." He looks directly at me. "You really are quite the monster, aren't you, Little Miss?"

My smile becomes just a little more perfect.

My tail stills completely.

…

That word again.

How profoundly…

Uncreative.

Everyone's eyes immediately snap toward my tail.

...

Avelyn quietly reaches over, placing her hand atop mine.

I pull away before I even realize I have moved. The motion is instinctive. Immediate.

...For some reason, I really don't want her to feel how cold they are.

The realization arrives only after the fact.

Avelyn's ears droop.

The smile she'd been wearing fades ever so slightly, replaced by an expression that somehow manages to look both confused and... hurt.

Something tightens painfully in my chest.

I blink.

…

That…

Hurts.

Quite a bit, actually.

I don't understand why.

Before Rin can gather enough courage to apologize, I redirect the conversation entirely.

My vines gently lift both Avelyn and myself to our feet before dissolving into drifting starlight as the tear leading to my Garden quietly seals itself behind us.

Rin has just enough time to realize his chair no longer exists before gravity enthusiastically reminds him that sitting generally requires one.

He stumbles, barely catching himself.

My tail gives an amused swish.

Excellent.

I clap my hands together lightly.

Not that I particularly need to. Everyone besides Zeke was already looking directly at me.

"I am uncertain about the rest of you," I say, "but I would very much like to return to civilization."

I glance toward where the treasure chest has finally managed to appear now that reality has stopped being occupied.

"Shall we retrieve our rewards and be on our way?"

Everyone rises.

No one comments on what just happened. They simply exchange small, worried glances before silently agreeing to leave the subject alone.

Rin avoids my gaze for a moment before finally managing a small, apologetic smile.

His ears remain lowered.

As the most magnanimous, beautiful creature in the universe, I choose to forgive him.

I stretch lightly, enjoying the feeling of my joints finally behaving themselves again.

As I lower my arms, my gaze drifts sideways.

…

Avelyn is still looking down.

Her smile has returned.

Mostly.

Her ears don't quite seem convinced.

…

I don't like that expression.

Before I can meaningfully consider the observation, my tail moves of its own accord.

It brushes gently against her leg. Soft. Tentative.

As though asking a question.

…Traitor.

Avelyn looks over in surprise.

Then her ears perk. The warmth returns to her smile.

…

Perhaps…

I can overlook my tail's repeated acts of insubordination.

Just this once.