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November 17, 2022
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The blinding glare of twin stars, Demo, and Duma, passed through the open window.
In the Capital star, twin stars work together to illuminate the vast world and set at midnight.
There was a legend that the sun shining on the blue planet, which later disintegrated, was halved into two and grew more prominent. The interstellar government believed that God punished the creatures and burned them day and night at the end of Earth's time.
The experts on Earth once predicted that two galaxies, Milky Way and Andromeda, would collide. Blackholes appeared even before the apocalyptic era began. And several meteor showers, which should not occur too frequently, appeared.
But no one can prove what happened or if time changed after their collision—animals of different appearances awakened from the depths of the Earth and made their existence public. Natural disasters consistently occurred after the news of the galaxies colliding got discovered.
"Was the traveling galaxies' changing gravity that forced the Earth's secrets out even before the collision?"
No one knows.
People in the interstellar time knew that certain records collected from different planets within the galaxy could provide information about ancient civilizations.
The structures and discoveries of apocalyptic people helped them realize that Milky Way and Andromeda no longer existed in the vast universe, no matter how they searched with the current technology. And nothing could prove that the collision of the galaxies, which will come 5 billion years later, occurred and possibly changed the flow of time.
The Capital star rotates in its axis for thirty-six hours a day and revolves around the twin stars for five hundred days.
Though no one believed in God in the interstellar period, humans were still curious about finding myths and legends from the remains of the blue planet. Discoveries led to the creation of sects, and powerful families also cultivated religious groups during interstellar times.
| CAPITAL STAR - Moonlight Garden 0108 | District VIII | House XXX88 |
The room is full of luxury and anything pink.
The silky-white curtains hung on the massive floor-to-ceiling windows as the light penetrated.
Blankets covered a curled figure on the bed. Skin so flawless and white. Smooth hair dyed in various colors like a modern peacock. A messy makeup, with lipstick, taints like X and Y, and eyelash liners melted on the glamorous face.
The alarm's loud ringing awakened the woman's spirit from a deep slumber.
The burning pain erupted inside her head.
The body felt like beaten into nothingness.
Ants felt like crawling and biting as cramps overwhelmed her body till she felt numb.
Memories slowly appeared within her mind, engraving the most unrealistic emotions she's ever had, and a name caught her off guard.
The woman on the bed was motionless for a while. Then with courage, she opened her eyes. The unfamiliar yet familiar walls of the room made her shiver unintentionally.
She looked like a barbie doll bathed in confusion. Feeling the normal strength returning to her body, she controlled her hand and slapped her forehead.
"Ahh! Mom, that slap hurts!" She rubbed her forehead gently as if to ease the pain.
She recalled the memories she remembered piece by piece and sat up: Athena Arcana, the same name with almost identical faces.
Athena sighed as she accepted the memories that did not belong to her.
"Wasn't I waiting to reach the land of eternity after I bid my goodbye? But why was I here? Why was my soul attached to someone else's body and gained a new life? It makes me depressed that I can't even think about resting peacefully."
Athena was clear about her wishes before she died but did not know why she returned to life.
| Year 88088 |
Thousands of years later, the original Athena was born into an ancient aristocratic family within the elite families of the interstellar. Her mother divorced her father and remarried a man from a wealthy family from another planet. At the same time, her father married a stepmother for her and her younger brother.
She should be talented and young, but her parents' divorce affected her life. She became desperate for attention and others' affection. She entered the entertainment circle and went against her grandfather's arrangements.
She even dropped out of school, bonded with friends, partied till morning, gambled, and wasted her life. Before coming home, she went out with her so-called upper-level friends and gambled. It's just that no one knew that she got poisoned by an excruciating virus that would kill her after 2 hours.
When she drove back and slept, no one knew that her body was cold, and her breathing stopped for an hour. There were too many people, and it was hard to look for the culprit of her poisoning. The lights of the casino's underground bar were also poorly illuminated. And most people wore fake identities to enter.
It's too bad.
No matter how hard the original owner struggled, no one responded to her call.
Then, Athena, the queen, had occupied the lifeless body with her spirit from thousands of years ago when she opened her eyes again. Athena was a little astonished and moved by the original owner's memories. She didn't think interstellar humans would have advanced to this stage.
She just felt a little pitiful for the original owner. The girl must get isolated by society because of her broken family. Emotions and affection never mattered in interstellar because technology and birth are more important.
"Emotions and affection used to be part of what I fought for in my previous life. How can it no longer matter in today's time?"
"Could it be that humans created through the artificial process would not develop a part of their brain that stimulates human emotions?"
"Then, how chaotic could this world be, living with stone-hearted beings?"
Then Athena checked her current body.
She bowed her head and smelled an unpleasant and exaggerated odor of feminine perfume.
She could also smell the stink of other things, like smoke and medicine.
Her skin felt sweaty, sticky, and a little greasy from who knows what the original owner used.
And the headache caused by the poison and memory integration still bothered her.
So, Athena lifted the quilt and rushed to the bathroom for a warm bath.