With a little help from a former enemy, Maru and his team were able to find Aster in Willow. When they did, he began to share his story. Willow was his home, and the one in charge of kidnapping him was his oldest and closest friend Celina. That's where he began with his story. Seven years ago...

"Look at that." Celina said. She and Aster were doing some exploring around town and found something that caught their eye. Hanging in the air were two figurines of turtle doves. "Pretty, don't you think?"

"Yeah, but what are they?" Aster questioned.

"They're turtle doves." The store owner said. "You can't have one without the other. You are suppose to have one while a friend has the other. As long as you both have the one, it will mean that you will be friends forever."

"That sounds amazing." Celina said.

"Yeah, but we don't need that. You and I are already friends forever." Aster said.

"Seven years ago, Willow was a prospering town. It was a lively place, and Celina was my best friend in those days. This was before everything changed..."

"Hey! I head Vanetta is back! She's heading in right now!" A townsfolk claimed. The kids heard that and were excited. Everyone gathered around the town's entrance. Aster and Celina hurried there and could see it. A woman with long silver hair wearing a white coat with the inside brown fur and black leather clothing came walking in. Everyone was so happy to see her, but she had a serious look on her face that would make anyone scared to get near. That didn't stop Aster because there was a reason.

"Mom!" Aster called. When Vanetta spotted him, she did a complete change in the personality.

"Aster!" Vanetta called as she cuddled with him like a little girl holding her teddy bear as if it was the most precious and adorable thing in the world. "How's my baby boy?"

"Mom! This is embarrassing! People are watching." Aster called.

"She's as fun as always." Celina said as she certainly enjoyed this.

"Our town didn't have a wizard guild, so we prosper with little use out of it. That didn't really apply to my mother, Vanetta. She came from a long line of wizards, and she was a powerful one in our town. People treated her like a celebrity. In fact, it's possible she could have become one of the Ten Wizard Saints. What we didn't know is that down in the shadows of our town was that a crime syndicate named the Brusard Core was taking our town over. They managed to take control of one business after another through illegal means. Eventually, they managed to take control of the entire town. The one in charge was named Grecko Brusard."

Aster actually lived a rather happy life. He had a devoted, loving, and caring mother. He also had his best friend Celina. Aster and Celina have been friends for as long as either of them could remember and been through everything together. Everything was so great, but that all changed when this crime syndicate showed up. Grecko Brusard was a middled age man that had black glasses and walked around with a cane at his age, but he managed to take control of every bit of Willow.

"Grecko used Willow to commit illegal actions and dealings. He implanted new rules that the people had to oblige by. Those creeps ruined our happy town to gain more money and power. My mother wasn't going to put up with it. Since I was just a child, there wasn't anything I could do to help. However, I knew how powerful my mother was. I believed she could do something about it."

Ever since Grecko Brusard came to Willow, people's lives have become more and more miserable. Using his dirty money, Grecko managed to take control of practically the whole town. Life was becoming depressing, but there was nothing anyone could really do about it. Grecko had all the money and had all the power. However, Vanetta wasn't going to let that stop her because she can actually fight.

"It's a mess, isn't it?" Celina said.

"It will be okay. Mom will fix everything." Aster said as the two of them sat on the ground and stared at the sky. "If she can't do, I'm not sure who can."

"I hope so." Celina said as she looked rather upset. "Those jerks. I've lost everything because of them."

"You didn't lose me. I'm sitting right next to you." Aster said. Celina did take reassurance in that. Those two were so close. It was almost like nothing could break them apart.

"You're right. That's why I got these." Celina said as she pulled out the two turtle doves that they saw earlier.

"You got those?" Aster said.

"Yeah." Celina said as she gave one to Aster said. "This way, even those guys can't take that away."

"But I don't need something like this to know we'll be friends forever." Aster said.

"Maybe not, but we can always have a little something to remind us we haven't lost everything." Celina said. Aster liked that idea, which is why he took one of the birds. These two knew they would be friends forever, especially if they had the doves. It wasn't just to symbolize their friendship, those symbolized everything those two had.

"There you are! Come here!" Suddenly, someone grabbed Aster and lifted him off the ground. They recognized him as someone that works for Grecko Brusard. "You're coming with me!"

"Hey! Put him down!" Celina demanded as she pulled on his clothes to stop him.

"You're a little short to be bossing me around!" He said as he actually kicked Celina down and carried Aster away.

"Celina! Let me go! Where are you taking me?!" Aster said as he struggled to get out.

"You'll see soon enough."

...

Vanetta

Vanetta wasn't going to stand for Grecko Brusard's tyrannical ways. She went to confront him at City Hall, where Grecko seems to have made his home.

"I think you've overstayed your welcome, and it's time for you to go." Vanetta said.

"I'm sorry, but I don't remember you being the boss of me." Grecko said. "I've grown quite attached to this town. I have everything under my thumb. Who do you think you are to come in here and say something like this."

"I'm the woman who is going to kick you out because I'm not afraid to fight." Celina said as she had magic build around her hand for an attack.

"Wait. Are you the wizard I've heard about? People seem to think rather highly of you." Grecko said. "They seem to think that as long as you are here, they have hope that they can escape my clutches. Their hope seems to be with you, but if you dare raise a hand to me, I will make your life very miserable."

"You can't scare me." Vanetta said. She even proved that she wasn't afraid by firing a blast magic and demolished Grecko's desk. "Your threats can't intimidate me like it did with everyone else."

"I wouldn't be too sure about that." Grecko said. He tapped his cane against the ground and that's when the doors opened up.

"Mom!" Vanetta turned around and saw one of his thugs holding Aster captive with him having a knife on him. "Mom, help!"

"Aster!" Vanetta called.

"That's your son, isn't it?" Grecko said.

"Get your hands off him!" Vanetta called. "If you do anything to him, I swear I'll make you regret the day you were born!"

"You better behave yourself then." Grecko threatened. He wasn't playing around as the thug had the knife practically pressed against Aster to kill him in a mere second.

"No!" Vanetta shouted. She was about to save him, but that was when some other thugs ganged up on her and knocked her on the head.

"Mom!" Aster shouted with Grecko laughing at Willow's best wizard's downfall.

...

Later

The sun was setting on what would be marked as the worst day in Willow. It wasn't enough that they tricked Vanetta. They wanted to make an example of her. They beat her so she wouldn't resist, and then they crucified her in an open lot. They ripped her clothes, had her in a tattered state, and two men were poised to kill her. Everyone in Willow was just simply horrified at what they saw.

"Mom!" Aster shouted as he pressed against the fence. He wanted to save her, or anyone, but no one had the power to defy Grecko.

"Let this remind you all that no one opposes me." Grecko said. Vanetta was the hope for this town, and this man wanted to destroy that hope.

"Mom!" Aster cried with tears flowing like waterfalls. In her final moments, she looked up at her son and smiled.

"It will be okay, Aster. Life is magic and magic is life." Vanetta said.

"Silence this woman." Grecko said. His men each took a sword. Aster didn't see what happened because at the last second, he was pulled away by Celina and she covered him so that he wouldn't see what happened, so his last image of her wouldn't be tarnished. Although, they didn't need to see to know what happened next. Both children were crying over what happened to Vanetta. Still, Celina hardened her feelings. She can't afford to cry for now, especially for Aster.

"Let's go! We have to go now!" Celina claimed. She grabbed Aster by the arm and was pulling him away from that awful scene.

"Celina, what are you doing?" Aster said.

"We can't stay here, but we can leave and return another day when we're stronger and make them pay for this." Celina claimed. "There's only one way out!" Celina took Aster all the way to the train station, but some of Grecko's men were there and unloading some supplies.

"Celina, what are we doing here?" Aster questioned.

"That train is our way out." Celina said. "Grecko might use that train to bring in his illegal goods, but it's our way out. We jump on when it leaves and we're out of here."

"We can't leave." Aster said.

"We have to." Celina said. "After that, we can't stay here, and we can learn magic. If we can get out of here, we can get stronger so that we can fight. Now, let's get going." Celina really took charge in this. She put some thought into this, and what just happened was the final straw. She hurried over to the train and made sure they wouldn't be spotted. They had to move carefully, but they heard the train was starting up and was planning to leave. "We have to go. This might be our only chance." The two of them were about to make their move as they tried to climb in. Celina tried to help Aster out by getting on.

"Hey! You kids!" It was too late. They were already spotted with the train about to leave.

"Aster, go!" Celina called as she gave it one last push and got him on as the train was leaving.

"Celina!" Aster called. He looked back and saw Grecko's men pin Celina down, but the train itself was already long gone with Aster on it. Aster managed to escape, but he lost the two most important people to him. Aster couldn't stop crying now, but at least it was safe for him to do just that. Just then, he pulled out the turtle dove Celina had and is hoping that what Celina said was true. That dove is all he has now.

...

Present Day

"That was the last time I saw Celina." Aster said with him finishing his story. Needless to say, his friends were all shocked at what they just heard. They had no idea he went through something like that. "I was so weak and helpless that day, so she made sure I got out of there. After that, I found my way to Phoenix Flame. That's where I learned how to use magic. As for my mother, I have no doubt she could have defeated those men, but they had me hostage and she couldn't do a thing without risking me. They wanted to make an example out of her if anyone dared oppose them."

"Aster... I... I don't even know what to say." Maru said.

"It's okay. You don't need to say anything. I'm not that same weak boy who couldn't help his mother or his friend back then." Aster said.

"How could those people be allowed to getaway with all of that?" Yukina questioned.

"They excelled at covering their tracks." Aster said. "The government has been after them for a long time, but there was never incriminating evidence against them."

"But I still don't get it." Mary said. "If this Brusard Core took this town, what happened to them? Why is it deserted? If this girl is your old friend, why did she have those guys kidnap you?"

"I don't know anymore than you do." Aster said. "It's been seven years since I've last been here. Anything could have happened. Something had to have happened to her during the time I was gone. I only reunited with her for a moment, and she just a mere thought projection, but I could tell she wasn't the same person I remember."

"What was she like before? She sounded like a great person." Gin said.

"Celina was a great friend. We looked out for each other, cared for each other, and she's the reason I got away. She did that for my sake." Aster said. "It was like she always had this bright persona. She was someone I always knew I could count on. To me, it was like she was the bright side of a bad situation. She also admired my mother. She always wanted to learn more about magic, and wanted to be a profound wizard. That wasn't how she was when I saw her just earlier. She was giving off a feeling that made her seem more...sinister. I don't know what could have happened, but I could tell in that moment she was different, and I didn't like it at all."

"From what you've told us, this Grecko Brusard sounded ruthless and merciless." Tsubasa said. "Surely, he had to have something to do with her change in personality. Maybe through torture or something? Many people suffer mental changes through such conditions."

"While that might be true, the problem with that is this place is deserted." Aster said. "The once lively Willow has now been reduced to a ghost town. The Brusard Core seems to be gone. If they had a part of this, if she overthrew them, why isn't everything how it was before? Something is going on and I don't like it at all. Something has happened to Celina. I couldn't do anything to save my mother, but maybe I can still save Celina. I've got to figure out what happened after I left."

"I get that, but that doesn't mean you have to do this alone." Maru said. Aster appreciated that, but he still felt like this was his problem. He's got to be the one to figure this out.

"Aster, I know you are out there. I know you can here me." Celina's voice could be heard, and it sounded like it was coming from everything direction.

"It's her!" Aster called with all of them on guard.

"I also know you are with your new little friends. I'm so glad to see you've made new friends that care a lot about you for them to come all the way here just for you." Celina claimed, but it sounded more like she was taunting them. "I had a feeling after I sent those three, it would take a lot more to take them down. I've heard you've become quite a tough wizard yourself. Now that everyone is here and accounted for, we can get down to business." Aster sounded like he had one harsh childhood, and it's coming full circle. Aster might have been too weak to do anything then, but he's not so weak now.