Characters/Aste & Mero

*"Aste, a stalwart materialist, and Mero, the tomboy, are twin sisters of Taurus and operate the 'Pleiades'."*

– In-game description

**Aste** and **Mero** are two of the characters in KALPA. They explain much of the story and gameplay to the player through various tutorials and help screens. They are unlocked by finish "Guide Misson"to their pack and Characters.

## Character

### Name

Aste and Mero are named after Asterope (alternately Sterope) and Merope, the two youngest mythological Pleiades.

### Appearance

Both twins have braided auburn hair; Aste's is in a single braid while Mero's is in two. They also both have golden horns, cow ears, and tags marked with the symbol of Taurus, which also appears on their necklaces. Their eyes are green.

Aste wears a red, black, and blue dress with short puffed sleeves, black ribbons in the center, blue bows at the sides, a gray stripe at the bottom, and yellow ruffled trim. On her chest is a black bow with golden ends and a yellow and green clover decoration in the center. She also wears white petticoats, a pair of white ruffled cuffs around her wrists, white thigh-high stockings, and blue Mary Janes.

Mero wears a black and white striped long-sleeved off-shoulder shirt beneath a pair of blue overalls. These overalls have two sets of pockets; the upper set is adorned with green clover buttons. The bottom half of the garment is torn in several places, and the cuffs are rolled up to mid-calf. Mero wears a pair of white socks and red sneakers, and holds a golden hammer in her right hand.

### Variants

Aste and Mero have one alternate version: Halloween Aste & Mero.

## Story

### Mero

***“Well, this is interesting. Let's try breaking it.”***
I heard from my older sister Aste that all Cattles are born with a particular desire.
I tend to get mistaken for having a desire for destruction because I destroy whatever I see,but l am more interested in making things rather than breaking them.
I really, really like making new things after destroying something curious with my hammer and chemicals.
I realized my desire later than my other sisters. If it weren't for Aste, it would have taken even longer.
To thank my sister, who couldn't follow her desire because she was taking of me since little, I made the ship Pleiades.
The satisfaction of successfully making something for the first time, and the expression on my sister's face as she received her gift.Those two reasons made me realize my desire to make things.
In this universe, there are always new objects that pique our interest.Aste wants to collect them and want to turn them into something new,so we are the perfect duo.
I wonder what curiosity will be awaiting us today.

As Aste and I were traveling through space to find new marvels, the Pleiades detected a mysteriousintruder.
**Warning.Warning**
**Abnormal Energy Detected Inside the Ship.Intruder Detected.**
At the place that the Pleiades led us, I saw two Fox Family members in strange clothes.
After speaking with my older sister, they disappeared and left a music box.
Aste lost interest in it soon and left it in storage despite its marvelous decorations and appearance because we couldn't open it.
Not missing this chance, I brought it to my lab without alerting her.
But the box did not open,even through force,hammering, or chemicals. I decided to quit my research and thought it was like a pretty,useless rock.
That was when the box suddenly opened.
“?”
There was still no sound,but I could see black stones inside that were also shining a mysterious light at the same time.
I watched it for a while, in surprise,but resumed my research when I found that there seemed to be unstable but potentially great energy inside the stones.
While I was focusing on the research, staying in my lab,the black stones suddenly started to emit energy simultaneously and began to shake.It grew stronger, like resonating energy waves.
Was there something calling out to these stones,perhaps?
When we traced the signal and arrived at the right place,**we ended up witnessing a gigantic being destroying the universe.**

During our tea time, I suddenly thought that it would be a good time to ask Kalpa what I had been curious about for some time.Aste was upstairs,washing the tea cups.
“Hey, Kalpa~”
“Yes,Mero?”
“That violin of yours. It turns into different forms,right?”
“Yes, it somehow shifts into whatever instrument that I want to play.”
“That's amazing.Can I borrow it for just three days?
“What?”
As I approached the violin with an evil face and a hammer and chemical bottles in my hands,the violin suddenly started shaking very hard.
“Huh? Kalpa, doesn't it feel like it's moving?"
“No way. Maybe you saw something different."
“I swear that it moved.”
“That can't be true. Also, I don't think I can lend you this.Without this violin, I cannot Astral Play."
“That's a shame.Please let me do some research on it someday,though.”
“All right.”
“Huhu, you just wait. I'll figure out what you are made of!"
I thought that the violin was starting to sweat, but had to end the conversation there because I heard Aste coming downstairs.
I don't want her to scold me, after all.

### Aste

***“Mero, I told you to put things in their place once you are done using them."***
***“Ah, Aste's nagging at me again!"***
Every Cattle is born with a certain desire.
All the Pleiades sisters,including Mero, have a strong urge for something. In my case, it is the great desire to add things to my collection.
I have always taken care in place of my older sisters, who had strong opinions and were more focused on fulfilling their desires.
I aimed to be a perfect older sister for Mero,so I could be someone that Mero could depend on like parents.Because of that, I ended up having a polite and thoughtful personality.
Although Mero complained, she always listened to me as if she knew about my efforts.
Mero and I are living on the ship Pleiades, which was made by young Mero when she first realized her desire of creating things.
Mero also made this for me,when she learned that I had to travel to various places to fulfill my desire to collect things.
I was so moved that I hugged her tightly for several days.Afterward,she started to avoid me when I so much as tried hugging her, which disappointed me a little.
When I feel down due to Mero disappointing me or failing to add a new item to my collection,I find peace of mind by viewing the loveiy collection at the corner of the Pleiades.Everything here belongs to my only.Even Mero is not allowed to view what I have gathered here.
Today I am once again traveing through space,thinking of what to add to my collection.

One day, as I was traveling with Mero again, two members of the Fox Family with nine tails appeared on the Pleiades with a mystical light.
Although Mero and I were surprised by their appearance,they called our names and talked to us as if they knew us already.
A Fox Family in a priestess's dress continued on while swishing her bushy tail.
“Oh, now that I think about it, you two haven't met usyet.We actually came here to give you this.This will become necessary one day!"
With those words, the Fox Family disappeared,leaving a music box surrounded by mystical power.
Mero and I put the music box inside the storage,disappointed by how the music box did not make any sound despite its pretty appearance and was unbreakable.
By the time we had forgotten about it, we were watching a gigantic being destroying the universe.The unmoving music box suddenly surrounded us in a beautiful light and sound, saving Mero and my life from the oncoming destruction.
In the universe devoid of light,only we could move.We tried various methods to restore the universe to the way it was, but there was no reaction.
Saddened by the lack of results, we instead decided to find someone who could save the universe.

**The month of X, Day X, XXXX.**
A lot of time has passed since the day that everything froze. After combining the information that we found in planets of lost light, we learned that the savior of the universe would be a mysterious girl called 'Kalpa'.
**The month of X,Day X,XXXX.**
Searching through the whole universe is a difficult task.Mero looks very tired,and so am I.Will the universe be saved?
**The month of X,Day X,XXXX.**
Mero made a machine that detects energy by shooting a burst of a strong signal from the Pleiades. Mero hasn't looked so happy in a long time,as she worked on making themachine. I thought that I would be satisfied just with Mero being able to smile,even if we couldn't find'Kalpa'.
**The month of X,Day X,XXXX.**
It has been two months since we began the search using the machine that Mero created.The machine had detected strange energy, so we changed the course of the Pleiades to move.
**The month of X,Day X,XXXX.**
We arrived at the place where the machine was pointing.Instead of the girl called Kalpa', we only found a destroyed temple and a mark of a once great tree.This must be the tree Yggdrasil at the center of the universe,and the 'Temple of Contemplation'that we found in the records.When we arrived we suddenly felt refreshed, and the machines inside the Pleiades began to recharge as well.Could this be the Yggdrasil's power?
**The month of X,Day X,XXXX.**
Is this because of Yggdrasil? A revived machine detected newenergy. Mero and I piloted the Pleiades to go to the source of it.There we found a beautiful and mysterious girl with soft golden hair, surrounded by golden lights.We had finally found her. We decided to bring Kalpa, the savior of the universe,aboardeventhough she was deep asleep.
**The month of X,Day X,XXXX.**
Kalpa woke up. We wanted to ask her to save the universe right away.but it seemed like she lost her memory.Perhaps Mero and I were given the role of leading this girl to the rightful place of the savior.

## Legacy Story

* These story entries are introduced in the game since release up until version 1.5.0, before it was revamped in version 2.0.0

Mero, the youngest of the seven Taurus sisters, is curious in everything, loves to crush anything with the hammer she has been holding since she was born.
She's so honest and confident that she often talks with no filtering and is a tomboy...
But sometimes, she gets embarrassed in front of some specific ones.
Often, she moves the Pleiades with her older sister, Aste, to travel around the universe together.
She was searching [BLOCKED] with Aste in the very beginning of the universe with curious eyes, and then got [BLOCKED] and became [BLOCKED].
Because she is [BLOCKED], she has all the [BLOCKED] from the very beginning of the universe, and although she [BLOCKED] the universe from [BLOCKED], [BLOCKED] and now she is living with sister Aste, relying on each other.

She always organizes and exhibits what she has collected.
She is so kind and generous that she maintains her smile almost every time (maybe good girl syndrome).
When she's upset, she talks to her lovely collections and cheers herself up...
But once she gets angry, no one can stop her...
She was searching [BLOCKED] with Mero in the very beginning of the universe with curious eyes, and then got [BLOCKED] and became [BLOCKED].

Mero is curious and her curiosity never stops.
The universe is full of beings and objects that constantly stimulate her.
Today, as soon as she woke up, she continued to persuade her sister Aste to find the mystery of the universe.
Aste seemed to hate to go out, but reluctantly persuaded.
What kind of mystery is there in today's universe?
They traveled around the universe moving Pleiades, and today Mero paid attention to looking for a unique new tea powder.
While riding the warp, there seems to be something blue in the distance, so she asked her sister Aste, who is controlling the Pleiades, to find out what that blue thing is.
Something that was emitting a blue light looked closer and was simply reflecting the light elsewhere.
She tried to go to the place where it was reflected with anticipation, but her older sister said she is so tired and told her to go first.
'Is she going to the toilet...?' she thought, and she went back to Pleiades.
Soon they moved to the reflecting place, and there was a huge rock shining blue.
Immediately she took out the hammer and began to break it.
The rock, which turned into powder, went up to the tea experiment table in her room and began to react with other powders.

She woke up in the morning and, like every time, set out on a journey by making a situation as if she was reluctantly dragged by Mero.
This is because she must always be gentle and calm from Mero's point of view as she is an older sister.
She, who was controlling the Pleiades, moved to the blue thing that Mero found out, pretending that she had no interest in that.
There was something like a giant mirror that reflected light.
She immediately imagined that the huge mirror had entered her secret collection room.
Her dazzling collection of items will be reflected by the huge mirror.
She became crazy about imagining it.
But Mero said it's trivial.
She wanted to carry it somehow, told Mero to go first, then sneaked it into her secret box and made a faint smile unconsciously.
There was a huge blue ore where she went with Mero. She thought to herself.
'I want to have it, I want to have it, I want to have it..!!'
But then, suddenly Mero grabbed a hammer and broke it.
Inwardly, she felt the anger in her boil, but as an older sister, she calmed down her anger and asked Mero if she got what she wanted, and whether to go back or not.
Mero said yes and they returned to Pleiades.
After returning, she put her great collection, the huge mirror, in her secret collection room and placed it in the optimal location.

## Dialogue

### Relations

* Aste

TO MREO：Mero~ Only good things await if you listen to your sister.

TO KALPA：I unferstand it's hard, Kalpa, but please play the music that will revive the universe.

TO ARCYONE：She's the most powerful and feared out of us, the seven sisters of Pleiades, but she's a kind sister to Mero and I.

TO ELAINE：Elaine's medicine is helping me stay healthy despite everything. It's very bitter, though.

TO Ggonsae：

* Mero

TO ASTE：She's usually very kind,but when she gets angry she can be a beast.

TO KALPA：I'll try to make all the thingsthat Kalpa needs to restore this universe.The materials are secret!

TO ARCYONE：At least I can be honest with Alcyone.We also both don't like our third sister.

TO ZERR：Argh. Zerr, stop sticking to me!

TO IRIS：Iris~ Can I have your cookies? I want to feed them to the Sakurabirds…… l mean! They were so tasty, I want some more~

### Main Menu and Profile

Aste：

* "Welco... Ah! Hello, Kalpa!"
* "Are you interested about my collections? Oh, step back! Take a look with eyes."
* "Mero is rude, too much talker, impolite, ..., but she is actually kind! She brew the tea so well~" "There is no mint tea, Libera bought all..."
* "Mero's hammer has some mysterious power. Not only it makes harmony among the broken things, but also the Mero's imagination is also enchanted."

Mero：

* "(silently) My sister, Aste... She keeps nagging at me :'("
* "Not as you think, hammering is a delicate work! Taste of tea changes a lot depends on how you carefully controls it!"
* "Do you know Entropy? Entropy is~ the criteria of disorder in the universe! Do not tell anybody."
* "Why tea pownder comes out when breaking the stones? T...That is... Wait for a minute! (Aste!!!)"
* "Bring Merona (Icecream name) when coming? Are you calling me?"

### Tutorial

Mero：

* "Hi! I'm Mero. I came here to show you how to play. What? you already know? Listen to me anyway!"
* "Kalpa is a rhythm game that's consisted with 5 lines!"
* "The note falls down as it follows the line and the music. You can tab the screen on time when it hits the judgment line."
* "Then shall we get ready to play first? You should practice very hard to win a better performance."
* "First, let's sync the music. Tab the screen to the third beat."
* "Well done!"
* "Though the music and the notes don't sync well, don't worry because you can always customize it in the option!"
* "Now let's adjust the lines and the judgment line. If the lines are too close to each other or too far, you can adjust them with the scroll bar."
* "Good job! Now that you are ready to play, I'll tell you how."
* "The types of notes we have are the normal note and the long note."
* "For normal notes you touch once"
* "For long notes, you touch it till the note ends."
* "If you miss the long note, you won't be able to touch it till it ends so try to do your best~ If you don't like the touch vibration of your phone, you can control them in the settings!"
* "Normal notes can also be touched by sliding. You just have to slide your finger across the screen. It's useful when a lot of notes come down, so keep in mind!"
* "This time let's find out about accuracy."
* "The accuracy order goes like this. PERFECT, GREAT, GOOD, MISS."
* "As you play, you can gain energy. If you go over 70 percent, it's a success!"
* "But if there are a lot of MISS, you lose energy and might fail. So don't forget to get them all not to!"
* "Also, there's a mark that helps you to get better accuracy. + and - is shown next to the accuracy. If you hit the note fast, it's marked +. If you hit the note slow, it's marked -."
* "If you touch this icon on the main screen, you can customize various settings."
* "There is also a sudden function that blinds the upper line, so make sure to check the settings well!"
* "We found everything about playing. If there are things you want to know more, tab the Help button on screen.Well then, have fun~!"

### After First Clear

Mero：

* "Congratulations for your first successful performance!"
* "Our Universe became more vigorous due to your effort~"

### After Unlocking Multi Finger Mode

Mero：

* "Woah~ You learned new play style~"
* "If you’ve been feeling a bit bored for earlier play style, try Arcade, Kalpa Difficulty!"
* "But, it is quite hard, so… be careful"

### After First Fail

Mero：

* "Ah, don’t mind! Anyone can fail!"
* "If it was too difficult, it might be better to try lower Difficulty~"
* "The exercises necessary to play the harder Difficulty lies beneath easier Charts!"

### After Many Fails

Aste：

* "Is the playing too difficult?"
* "If you look around the Pleiades, there are some thing that might be helpf… never mind.."
* "But still, taking a look for all the beautiful items will be a good refreshment~"
* "We will be ready to welcome you any time."

### After Unlocking Abyss

Mero：

* "We’ve found an endless dark void space inside a crack of Universe!"
* "It seems that there are diverse odd play styles from earlier Universe, buried beneath here!"
* "But it can be harder to play, due to the crack’s influence!"

### After Unlocking Cosmos

Mero：

* "Are you enjoying playing today?"
* "While I was traveling deeper inside the crack of Universe, I found another giant, brightly shining Universe!"
* "Though it was under great interruption from the crack, it was keeping its beauty in such circumstance~"
* "Try other play style from that Universe!"
* "But, it will be really, really, really difficult, so… please be really careful"

### Download

* "If you download it in advance, you can enjoy the game comfortably."

Aste：

* "Ha, I don't want to work... Oh, hello! If you wait a little bit, the music will be ready!"

Mero：

* "Would you like to have a cup of tea with me while we wait a little bit?"
* "I really like regular cookies! The cookies Iris made... I still want to live .."

### Pleiades

Aste（in shop）：

* "Welcome to Pleiades!"
* "Many items to help performance are prepared~"
* "It is a bit sad to let my collections go away,it is so great that these become helps for you, Kalpa."
* "Please, do not touch above! It is not on sale!"
* "Mero went to break some ores~ All that aside, there are so many good stuffs~!"

Aste (in pack description)：

* "Ah! Welcome~ Just now a new product is stored!"

Mero：

* "You know my carvings have a special gift in it? It is rare~"