Edited by: ASaltedFish
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It had been three days, but the doors to the room Ellery and Aster were in showed no signs of opening. Edros, Akimitsu, Orin, and Darya could not hear any voices or movement from the inside.
The four of them went back to the scouts team to let them vaguely know about the situation. After a week, Ellery (and Aster) could live or die, so they needed to wait. That was all they said about the situation.
They couldn't all stay at the Beast God temple, so they took turns to make sure they ate their meals and took care of their hygiene.
Still, each day felt like 10 years as they waited for any news on Ellery and Aster.
They could only hope and pray that Ellery and Aster would make it through.
*****
When Aster regained consciousness, he found himself standing in front of his mother's coffins. He watched the smaller version of him and could remember that day like it was yesterday.
He was sad, but the tears did not fall. His dad was next to him, holding onto the coffin. People tried to pry him off, but he did not want to let go.
From what Aster knew, his mother and father were inseparable. Even after learning of her terminal illness, his father stayed by her side to take care of her. Maybe he still had hope she would make it, but regardless, he treated her as though they were still in their honeymoon phase.
After she died, his father could not get over her death. It was to the point that he began to neglect Aster, but he did not blame him. Actually, he could see where his father was coming from.
Did it make it okay? No, but to Aster, it explained his father's actions.
Who knew that a couple of months later, Aster would be standing in front of another coffin, but it was for his father, who could not live without his mother.
He had always told people that his father died from a broken heart, but in actuality, his father ended his life because he did not want to live anymore. Before he died, he apologized to Aster, saying that he could not live without his mother.
To protect his father's memory, he had always said that his father died of a broken heart. It was the only way he could process the grief of losing both of his parents…
Unfortunately, his nightmare continued.
"We sold the house you lived in with your parents." Aster's aunt grabbed his hands and smiled. "You understand, don't you? It's not cheap to take care of you. Your parents didn't leave any inheritance or wills, so as your father's family, we sold it. You don't blame us, right?"
"No, I don't…" Aster felt that was the only thing he could say.
When he didn't want to leave the house he grew up in, his uncle slapped him and dragged him out. Since then, his life had not been the same.
"That's good. We are so grateful that you are so mature and understanding. If you need anything, please let me and your uncle know. We will do our best to help you."
Even though his aunt said that, they only gave him the bare necessities. If he wanted anything else, he had to pick up babysitting jobs and earn his own money. Even the car he had was something he had to save up for.
If he didn't hide his money, his cousins would steal it from him. If he complained about his money being taken, his uncle would smack him, telling him that he was living under his roof, so why couldn't his kids take his money?
"You should be grateful that we took you in." His uncle would say to him every time he was smacked or beaten up.
He didn't want this uncle of his to take him in. They wanted the money from selling his childhood home and the money they got from the government to continue to take care of him.
In the next scene, Aster found his younger self sitting at the table with his uncle and aunt. His uncle didn't say anything and let his wife talk to him.
"Aster, dear, we cannot afford to send you to university. We've had some tough times these past few years, and raising you hasn't been cheap. If you want, your other uncle has a business that you can work at, but he cannot give you a lot of money. Fortunately, we can house you as long as you pay rent. What do you say?"
His aunt talked as though she was his savior, thinking that there was no way Aster would refuse the arrangements they had made.
Those rough years were because they were paying for his cousin's university tuition, only to have him drop out and start a business. That business wasn't doing well, so his aunt and uncle were funneling their money to keep their son's business afloat in hopes that they would all make it big.
The young Aster sighed. "Can I take a couple of days to think about it?" In a couple of days, it would be his 18th birthday.
"What is there to think about?" His uncle said impatiently. Then his uncle took young Aster by his hair and slammed him into the table. "If we tell you to do something, then you should do it!"
"Honey!" Even though his aunt spoke up, she didn't move from her seat. Her "resistance" had always been performative.
The young Aster wanted to groan in pain, but he knew that making any sounds would get his uncle riled up, making it worse for him.
"When you turn 18, we will have you work with my brother. It's the least you could do since we raised you after your parents died."
After that, the young Aster felt the hand on his head release him. The left side of Aster's face was red and stung. His head throbbed, making his vision slightly blurry. He didn't cry, but he couldn't voice any displeasure.
The current Aster could remember that pain like it was yesterday.
"I understand, uncle." He heard his younger self say, but only they both knew why Aster had said this.
"That's what you should have said from the beginning. You are always fighting with us even though we have taken such good care of you. Who else would take in an orphan whose mom died of illness and their father died of su*cide. They would think they were bringing a bad omen into their home. Maybe that's why your cousin's business isn't doing well." His uncle mumbled that last sentence under his breath.
They blamed him for everything that went wrong and praised his cousins for everything that went well. This had long since been normalized, so it didn't hurt Aster like it did in the past.
Maybe he was just numb to it.
His aunt finally told him that he could leave, telling him to rest because he had long days of work ahead of him.
The young Aster didn't want to work for this uncle, though. The shifts were insane. As "family", they wanted him to work at the family restaurant for 10 hours a day, 6 days a week, with only one day of rest. Even then, he was only going to be paid 13 dollars an hour. Since he was considered "family", they didn't have to tax his salary, so they decided to pay him less than the other employees.
In their minds, they were doing him a favor, but in actuality, they were going to exploit his labor so they could avoid taxes. In turn, this would help his cousin's business because he still had to pay rent to his uncle and aunt. And his rent money would go into his cousin's funds.
Even if they didn't say this to him, he already knew what they were trying to do.
Young Aster said he understood, but in actuality, he had plans to leave this place – even if it meant that he would have to be homeless until he could find a job and a place to live.
Even if he died on the streets, it was better than trying to survive for who knows how long at his uncle's restaurant.
After getting back to his small room, Aster watched himself pack everything important, like legal documents. He grabbed his favorite clothes, his laptop, and some other belongings he could put in his car without raising suspicion.
And the night before his birthday, Aster watched his 18-year-old self go into his car, driving to who knows where without looking back.
Aster sat in the passenger seat while his past life self drove off into the night. It was the first time he had slept in a car, but it didn't matter to him.
He slept at truck stops, stopped by gyms to shower, and went to small local restaurants to feed himself.
And following advice from the Beast God, he never looked behind him, but the memories were never-ending.
He watched day by day as he struggled, from doing surveys in his car to picking up jobs on various apps that he could drive to. At one point, he even did house-sitting or pet-sitting work just so he could have a room to stay in.
Unlike others, he at least had a car to drive to different places. Most homeless people could only stay on the streets, occasionally going into shelters.
Aster's car was his lifeline. He learned to take care of it to cut back on mechanic costs until he was finally able to rent out a small apartment that a local family owned. Once he was out of his car, his life became easier. He got a job at a grocery store chain where, in the middle of the night, he would stock the shelves.
All the suffering he watched finally came to an end.
25-year-old Aster stood in the middle of the apartment, but he felt his world spin once more.
Current Aster found himself standing in front of his mom's coffin again, watching the memories of his suffering once again.
These memories went on again and again, seeming never to end.