Chapter 45

Chapter 45 is the forty-fifth chapter of the Astra Lost in Space manga. It is the eighth chapter of the Galem arc and, in the compiled volumes, the eighth chapter of the fifth volume.

Synopsis
A stunned Aries listens as Charce explains that Aries is indeed the clone of Seira. Although he nearly forgot, he was able to remember that Seira came up with Aries' name by reversing the letters of her own name. Given that, Charce suspects that Aries' mother, Emma Spring, is not, in fact, her biological mother but instead her handmaiden. Because Emma was chosen to be a surrogate mother, in fact, Seira is Aries' biological mother. Aries recalls how motherly Emma was to her and bursts into tears.

Kanata asks Charce what would happen after he took Aries home, and he replies that he would take Aries to be presented to King Vix, who would undoubtedly be pleased to see Seira's clone alive, like his lost daughter risen from the dead.

Zack asks if Seira tried to keep Aries' identity secret, then how did Aries get put into the group and what was the motivation for it. Charce suspects that the faction that had assassinated Seira had been monitoring Emma and Aries, and they bribed Gert Zweig to have Aries transferred to the group in order to eliminate the possibility that Aries would be made the new ruler in place of Seira instead of the faction's leader.

Charce mentions that he had already lost Seira, so he would not lose Aries again, and would instead have Seira made the new queen of Astra instead. An enraged Kanata tells him to shut up, screaming at him Aries is not Seira, but instead her own person. Charce tries to retort, but Kanata continues to yell at him by saying that Charce has been so self-centered on restoring Aries as the likeness of Seira that he never considered Aries' feelings.

He asks Charce what he had planned to do with Aries after Aries was made queen, and Charce mentions he would rather kill himself than be disposed of by the king. Angered by this statement, Kanata punches Charce in the face and tells him that Charce is in good company with his friends and that Charce was finally happy during this trip because he finally got to see the stars with his own eyes. He softens his tone, mentioning that he can feel that Charce wants to live, and asks Charce to return with everyone else back to Astra.

The others begin to support Kanata's statement, pleading with him to return home with the others, and get justice on the king and the originals, and to start over. Charce stubbornly refuses to do so, but one by one everyone continues to shout words of encouragement, often with some in tears, at him to come home with them.

Backed into a corner, Charce tells Kanata that he did not only have the one teleportation device, and pulls out a spare one from his other pocket. He pushes the button and a new wormhole suddenly appears, and Kanata yells at the others to get back. Ulgar pulls out his gun, thinking Charce is trying to kill them all, but Kanata realizes that as long as Aries is there Charce would never try to kill everyone. Instead, Charce is attempting to commit suicide.

Charce sadly replies that he really liked everyone and is sorry, but Kanata isn't having any of it, knowing Charce's true intentions from the start. He takes off towards the orb, much to the shock and surprise of everyone else, and using his anti gravity boots he leaps over the orb and tackles Charce, much like how he stopped Aries' bag thief back on Astra. Kanata attempts to stop the orb with his arm, but the wormhole cuts off his right arm up to his elbow and sends it into deep space, causing Kanata to collapse from shock into Charce's arms.

The crew races over, and a tearful Charce screams he is sorry as they try to get medical attention for Kanata. Kanata weakly mentions that Charce is going to stay by his side and help him as his right hand when Kanata gets his ship in the future.