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Background

Cassiopeia is the youngest of the Astronova siblings, behind her eldest sister and two older brothers. Some family member or another, one of the various fortune tellers that came from their line, had foretold years before that it was the ‘child following the fall from grace’ that had the power to return the name to meaning. This meant her birth was less a product of love and more a last-ditch push to try and recoup some portion of the prestige her family had had in the time before.

Beyond that, this prophecy that had heralded her arrival meant that she had so very many expectations to meet. Prophecies, visions believed to come from the very stars that granted them their power, were taken very seriously by the family and, as such, she was expected to be smart, kind, strong, fair…she was expected to be everything that the Astronova name had stood for, before it had fallen into disfavor.

It wasn’t until much later in life that she realized just how unfair her situation was. She knew nothing of life outside of the palace her parents owned, of how to interact with others outside of the context of lessons. Cass didn’t even know what being friends with another person meant, since those who were her ‘friends’ were little more than those paid by her parents to spend time with her because it would positively influence her. It made for an interesting kind of lonely, as she was never truly alone but never had the kind of company she wanted.

What she wanted was something from the books she read under the cover of night by the flickering light of a single candle: she didn’t long for romance, she longed for friendship. True friendship, not the kind supplied by well-placed coin and whispered promises of favors later on but the kind that came from shared experiences, inside jokes, and time. ...time. She didn’t know what it was like to have an actual history with anyone, as her tutors and circle of friends fluctuated and changed every few years. Her siblings, those she might have had closer and longer relationships with despite their being years older than her, had moved out or cut ties with the family long ago.

It became obvious to her just how much she detested her way of living the night of her eighteenth birthday: there had been an obnoxiously-large ball thrown in the Astronova palace, at which those she would have genuinely loved to see were absent. Andromeda, her eldest sister who kept in touch with her via letters snuck in by various palace workers, expressed her dismay at not being able to attend as well as her reason for needing to stay solidly out of sight from their parents. Standing on the dais, accepting the Astronova crown as a way of signaling it would be her that carried the family mantle, surrounded by a lot of familiar (and not) smiling faces that mattered not to her…

If this was what awaited her if she continued on the lifepath her parents had fashioned for her, she realized she didn’t want it. Because in that moment, the girl had never felt lonelier.

Quotes

• “I know we’re not really friends, I’m not stupid. Just what did my parents offer you in exchange for buddying up to me: favors? Money? The right word in the right ear at the right time?”
• “I know you think this is a ridiculous idea, but I need to know how the world works outside of the reach of our name. I need to be able to survive without you and Dad, because the two of you won’t be around forever. I need...to grow up.”
• "...how bad do you think it'd be for me to just...not go back?"
• "I know not everyone is going to be happy to see me, but I hope they'll understand. I hope they'll want to talk to me. I hope they'll want to be family again."

Relationships

Andie [ Sister ]

"You're going to think that I'm absolutely insane, but it'll be too late for you to do anything by the time you get this letter. You can yell at me when you see me. I actually look forward to it; it's been quite a while, don't you think?"

Ri [ Brother ]

"It's hard to get to know anyone who never leaves their room, but he's my brother. He wouldn't have done that without a reason. Stop talking as though you know him."

Delphie [ Brother ]

“I wasn’t raised, I was molded. They made me what they wanted me to be, rather than what I was meant to be. I offered to come find you, I had to leave.”