PROLOGUE
[Long ago, there was a heavenly place named Oridea. It was a beautiful environment for many of God’s creations, from beings that were born from light to beings that were created from darkness. Every being lived peacefully until an Astral was raised to the throne. One by one, the beings that weren’t Astral and Seraphim were expelled from Oridea. He also outcasted the hybrids and equal right supporters, even when they were also a part of the good he believed in. Of course, some people who still had a clear mind rejected his idea and tried to stop him. Yet, there’s too many rotten followers of his that the rebellion was stopped before it was even starting.]
[After what happened to his legal wife’s side of the family, no one dared to disobey him ever again. That cheating bastard became more arrogant and showed more of his ugliness to the world. Because of that, many families lost their homes and precious ones in a single night. Since then, everything in Oridea has become dull and non-aesthetic at the same time. If it weren’t for the current admin, this world would be destroyed sooner without warning as it showed how empty his head could be.]
[Oh. How much I hate the former admin of –]
“Miko-chan. Dinner’s ready, have you finished your assignment yet?”
Hearing the masculine yet feminine voice behind her, the pale-blonde haired young astral jolted as she quickly hid the book to its place. Unfortunately, her father caught a glimpse of her short twintails’ movement then he chuckled briefly. “Mikano Mikoto-chan. Was that my journal in your hands earlier?” He softly approached his child, tapping his finger on the crossed arms.
“… Papa,” Her head lowered with glistening orange eyes, “yes… Miko is sorry that Miko read it without permission.”
“Aww. That’s alright, honey. Papa was okay that you’re the one who read it, but…” He smiled as his pale hand rubbed the top of her head. “Next time, please ask Papa first before you read it. Okay?”
The young astral nodded quietly. Feeling that the little splitting image of his is still afraid of him, Taiyou lifted his kid up as he comforted her with melody. Her little head snuggled on top of him while her medium-fair hand held his neck tightly. Then, she asked cutely. “Papa, what is equal right?”
The short haired astral stopped humming as he faced her.
“Hmm… Equal right, huh?”
This should be Athena’s job, I wonder if she can understand me…
He mumbled for a while before answering with a gentle smile, “Nee. Miko-chan, what do you understand from ‘equal rights’?”
She tilted her head, “That no one could do anything wrong?”
“Perhaps… It could be interpreted like that,” he gazed at her adoringly, “Because, for your papa here, equal right was a blessing from God to their creation so everyone could be happy. If even a single person didn’t respect it, bad things would happen to every being in this world.”
“That sounds scary…” Her small body trembled like a microearthquake, “Miko… didn’t want to be like the bad person in your journal, Papa.”
His orange eyes widened as his mind rewinded some memories from the past. With a gentle hum and a bump on her head, Taiyou soothed his daughter. “Don’t worry, my child. As long as you respect others willingly, you wouldn’t be like him.”
“Really?” the little eyes gazed at him hopingly.
“Ee. Trust your papa, Miko-chan. Papa already met some people who uphold equal rights and they were the kindest people Papa ever met. Someday, you can be like them in your own way.”
“In Miko’s own way?” She tilted her head, “How?”
Taiyou smiled as he bopped his finger on the smaller nose, “there’s only you who will know it sooner or later. Just be patient, okay?”
“... Un,” Her head nodded hesitantly.
Believing that his child was already tired, Taiyou put her on the soft chair so she could rest more easily. The little owner of orange gems slowly gazed at him in daze. Seeing his child still had something in her mind, the Astral patted the pale blonde hairs as he hummed with a gentle tune. “Miko-chan? Is there anything else you want to know?”
“Yes,” the young astral nodded once again while looking at him with distain, but no question spewed from her lips yet.
Curious and worried that his child was not feeling well, the Astral of the Sun checked her temperature with a pale-skinned hand. “What’s wrong? It’s rare for you to not ask me immediately, Miko-chan.”
“Papa…” Her small fingers fidgeted unsurely, “Do Miko have any other siblings?”
His hand instantly froze in the air. Taiyou quickly looked down to see his child pouting beyond his prophecy. The pale blonde-haired astral’s heart was racing with time. Not because he was involved with another that’s not his spouse, but it was an unexpected words coming out from a very young child. After all, he despised the act of cruelty himself. The only one in his heart will always be his spouse and the offspring between them. There wouldn’t be any family members other than his mother, sister, his mother’s side of the family, and them.
An idea popped out from his mind. He wrote all of the important events in his life within the journal that his child read earlier. Maybe she knew about his school days from the book. Sure, he was involved in creating a pair of Sky Humans for a final project in the past. Yet, there’s no bond that made him put them in his family list. They’re just a creator and his creation is as simple as that could be – Should he explain all of that to his daughter or ask her what she was talking about?
Taiyou sighed and chose the later one, “Miko-chan. Where did you find out that you have siblings?”
“Mmh…” the young astral looked up as she rewinded her memories, “Miko think… It was yesterday when I played with Mama at the park? We met a mother with her son that looks like you, Papa.”
“Oh?” One of his eyebrows raised, “the one that is near Mama’s favorite library?”
“How did you know, Papa?”
“Mama told me that she went to the library the other day while bringing you to the nearest playground,” Taiyou suddenly thought of something while mumbling, “Strange… she didn’t tell me about it.” Then, he turned to his child with a sense of curiosity. “Tell me, Miko-chan. Did Mama ask you to keep that as a secret?”
Her face became paler as her fair hand unconsciously covered her mouth, “Aa. I forgot… Will Mama be mad at me?”
Taiyou chuckled, thinking how cute his child was. His pale hand rubbed the pale blond once again. “Oh my silly child, you can just not tell Mama that we talked about how you two met the child that resembles my face.”
“Miko can do that?”
“Of course. Papa also will try not to speak about this matter with Mama,” Taiyou winked, “as long as you keep the secret too.”
“Miko will try her best!”
“That’s the spirit,” the Astral of the sun smiled proudly, “now. Let’s go eat dinner, your mom probably is hungry after how much time she spent in the library.”
“Is that time already?” The child looked at the clock then she exclaimed in horror, “Oh no! Miko didn’t finish her assignment yet!”
“That’s alright, baby. There’s still time before Mama arrives,” Taiyou soothed her calmly, “how many questions do you need to solve, Miko-chan?”
“Only one more, Papa.”
One of pale-blonde eyebrows raised, “Oh. Can Papa know about the question?”
“... Un. Miko is not sure whether Astrals and Deities are the same beings. There’s no information about Astral in Aletheia so what Miko only got from books and the internet was information about Deities from some human’s perspectives. Papa, what is Astral actually?”
Taiyou blinked for a moment, taking in carefully what his child was asking. It’s been a long time since he heard about that question. When he was still a student, that question also bothered him like a leech. Because of that question, he had to stay up all night after getting the question wrong while getting tortured by that man. The quiet flamboyant man sighed, wondering who his wife was actually giving this assignment to. After searching for the most logical excuse to delay the answer, the astral of the sun slowly put the child down from the chair and held one of her precious hands.
“Why don’t we go to the dining room first?” He smiled sweetly,” We can discuss it more there.”
Mikoto nodded for the last time. She let her father guide her to their destination while humming to herself a little. Unbeknownst to her, a little red string started to attach itself to the little pinky finger of hers. The pair of bigger orange eyes noticed it and blinked in surprise. It was the red string of fate that both him and his wife anticipated and worried at the same time. Although her fate was already decided (whether its arrival was planned or as a surprise), the astral could only hope that someone who held the other side of the string was someone that wasn’t like his father.
