The Eternal War Kasarewang
Aster Tears (2)

“Hah?”

“Are you human?” Aster repeated his question once more. This time harder, tougher.

“Hah?” Harsa still doesn't understand Aster's question.

“I asked, are you human or not?” Aster began to despair.

“Iya, I heard. But what do you mean? I'm not a ghost, though. I'm not a school ghost. Do you think I'm a ghost because of these nights? Do you want revenge after I said I thought you were a ghost?”

Aster shook his head hard. “Not, no. I know you're not a ghost. I was just wondering how you could have Kai?”

Particularly tired, Harsa only realized Aster's question after a few minutes. “Kai? Ohhh!!” Aster asked if I was human or Kasarewang.

Aster's ascending eyebrows respond to Harsa's reaction. “Terus?”

“What happened to Kai?” ask Harsa back, avoiding Aster's questions.

“I heard from my friend that no human has Kai.” Aster said straight to the point. “And Kai is different from the collection of physis I made.”

“What is there besides humans? You think I'm a goblin?” Harsa continued to avoid Aster's questions.

“Yaaa..” Aster twisted his brain. “The black creature that was yesterday? Black creature yesterday can magic.”

“Formskitter? Not!” Denying Harsa.

“So what dong?”

“Man, really! I'm human!!” Harsa said with a high tone. He was too tired to talk about it. In the end, he answered the humans. Harsa is not lying. He was born to Darma, who was a human being.

Aster still looked at it uncertainly.

“Where did you hear from? Your friend can magic?” Ask Harsa back to investigate.

“Iya! He is already a magician and has learned from a long time.” Said Aster. “He helped me at the magic show.”

“Ohhh.” Like an alarm signaling danger, Erik's advice flashed through Harsa's head. Not all humans can magic well. Some use it for their own benefit, even to commit a crime. Some of them desperately want power with higher magic abilities and one way to get it is to investigate Kasarewang. “Where do you know this guy from?”

“Indeed why do I know this guy from where?” For some reason, Aster's face flushed.

“It is important to know if you can trust him or not.”

Aster let out a long breath. “I do know him from social media. You think it's easy to find someone who can magic?! Even though I know him from the internet, I talked to him and what he said made sense.” Said Aster.

“What did he say?”

“Hm. When I told her about you, she told me about how there are legends about fairies, immortals who can do magic. He said that only people like that can do magic. It makes sense because all this time, I've never met a friend who could be that relaxed about magic. Just feel, initially do not believe it first.”

“That's because my family has been able to magic since a long time ago.”

Aster looked at Harsa with a look of disbelief. “Then your family can magic because?”

“...” Harsa could not answer Aster's words.

"Sa! Come on, you promised me love for all your knowledge of magic in exchange for me shutting up with your magic!"

Harsa's tongue is stiff. Even if he wanted to, he couldn't lie. He doesn't want to tell her about Kai because Aster can definitely guess that she is Kasarewang, or a fairy. On the contrary, if he keeps quiet like this, Harsa will lose Aster's trust. Fortunately at that moment, there was a horn sound from behind Harsa.

Erik lowered his car window. “Sa, still old?” It is undeniable, Erik is tired and wants to sleep soon.

“Ha, no way, Pa. Been done. Aster, yes. I'll go home first. By kemaleman.” Without waiting for Aster's answer, Harsa gets into his car and leaves Aster alone in front of the school gate in the middle of the night. Without Harsa thinking that how fate Aster left alone at almost eleven o'clock in the night.

***

Two days ago.

Aster finally returned home after tired of preparing for the performance for the art stage. At home, he went straight to the kitchen. There he finds a dirty plate from dinner, but apparently, there is no dinner ration for him. Without asking, Aster took the indomie stock and cooked it for himself. His mind was filled with conversations with Adit, a friend he had just met on social media.

Adit has also mastered magic for a long time. He can perform magic that Aster never imagined. However, unlike Aster, Adit has absolutely no physis reserve. When Aster offended Kai, Adit's eyes narrowed in suspicion.

“Hah? Not a human time, maybe she's a fairy.” He said when they met in the park near the house, where Aster used to practice his magic because it was quiet.

“Peri?!” Aster stopped playing the swing.

“Peri. They have magic power since birth and they are very good at magic because they have been used to magic since long ago.” Adit's Story. “The map is like an ordinary human, but if it has released its magic power, they only look striking.”

“Why do you know this?” Ask Aster confused.

“Hm. I've met a fairy.” Said Adit. “They are very strong, to the extent that their magic can disturb the balance of nature and cause disaster.”

Aster's forehead is wrinkled. His heart was troubled because he remembered the bad experience. “Natural disaster? Tsunami included?” Aster can't protect himself from bad thoughts. What if the tsunami that struck her family ten years ago was the result of fairy power? What if the person who used magic to save him from the tsunami was there because he was the one who caused the tsunami to happen?

“Ya.” Answer Adit who without a doubt breaks the chain of Aster's mind. “They are that strong.”

“Wow.” Said Aster. “They know and can more complex magic again?”

“Ya, of course.”

The words from Adit stirred up Aster's hunger to know magic even deeper. His thirst and hunger for knowledge of magic will not be lost by one bowl of indomie sauce. After eating and washing all the dirty dishes, Aster climbed into his room on the second floor without speaking a word to his family who were laughing watching a comedy movie together. Of course they realize the existence of Aster, but they do not also ask where Aster and what the girl did until just coming home at ten pm.

Entering her small room on the second floor, Aster sat at her study table. He saw a picture of his biological parents that he had posted there. After ten years, his sense of longing continued to accumulate. Aster clutched the photo tightly while his tantric family laughter boomed in the living room on the first floor. The greater the sound of laughter, the greater the sense of alienation Aster in this house. A few hurtful words flashed through his head when he did not understand how to get rid of the sight of the people in this house.

One more year. Aster said to himself. After graduating from High School, he promised to go to college to another city. The place where the tanti would never throw a look of disgust at her again. In fact, there's no need to see him anymore. Although she had been returning home every day to greet him with an unfriendly cold, two tears flowed down her cheeks as her heart ached from the loss and rejection that, though subtle, were still a pain, never lost his life.

Unknowingly, he summoned the water element present in his tears, playing them in front of his face to distract him from the piercing thoughts and memories.

“Maa. I survived the tsunami with magic and all this time magic has always helped me forget my sadness at losing you.” Aster whispers in a picture of his mother. “Therefore I want to know and learn more about magic.”

Aster doesn't even know why he learned magic, but to him it doesn't matter. As long as he could deepen what he liked, as long as he could improve his abilities over and over again, as long as he could forget his sadness after losing both his parents, then his goal of mastering magic was not a problem. If through magic he can do it all, Aster does not care if he will be spelled out ‘cursed’ by his tant family, or antagonized by friends because it is considered eccentric.

The conversation with Adit reminds him of how Harsa had so much trouble explaining about Kai and his magic. Since then, Aster has been suspicious of how Harsa can use magic. From family? It seems impossible, except…. Unless Harsa does get magic because she is a descendant of fairies. Harsa had never said anything about fairies before, but the longer Aster pondered, the more convinced that Harsa was hiding something. Aster's suspicions escalate when Harsa hides her activities on the weekend. Aster sets out to corner Harsa about where she learned real magic from.

Commanding that his two tears disappear into water vapor, Aster gathered his resolve. Before she was going to question Harsa about fairies and magic, there was still something she had to do. He has to defend the magic club by giving spectacular performances. Aster will be back making masks for the show when Adit calls him back.

“After home?” ask Adit kindly.

“Yes. Why?”

“No, I'm afraid if you go home alone at night.” Adi's answer made Aster's face flushed.

“Te, thank you.” Reply Aster nervously.

“Eng.. although honestly, I have one more thing to talk about with you.”

“Ya?”

“I want to invite you to enter the same organization as me.” Adit's tone turned serious.

“What organization?”

“Sorry, before you join I can not say, because our activities are very secret, but I can promise one thing. You can learn magic here. I also learned the magic that you saw earlier from this organization.” Adit said confidently.

“Uh, must enter first, nih?” ask Aster suspiciously. He was afraid that he would have to join an organization. “Why is it secret, it is against the law?” ask Aster kidding.

“Where?” Adit asked Aster a question.

“Eee, I think about ya.” first Aster answered in confusion. He remembered Harsa. Aster feels there is still a lot of science about magic that can be offered by Harsa.

“OK. Don't be long, yes.” Without waiting for Aster's reply, Adit hung up on him.

Aster was stunned confused. What kind of organization does Adit mean?