Chapter Text
"Turbo Trotter! Use Take Down!"
"Why did you say it like that? Shouldn't it just be 'take it down'?" March 7th asked her fellow trash-loving trailblazer, who was dramatically commanding their Aether Spirit War Trotter to attack a training dummy the grey-haired woman recently purchased.
"March, it's an attack name." Stelle told her frankly.
The pink-haired amnesiac gave her friend a deadpanned look, "Well, it's the most unimaginative attack name I've ever heard."
"And it doesn't look like your Trotter understood your command well." Dan Heng, who was watching their antics, commented. Sure enough, Turbo Trotter simply sat their while tilting its head in confusion at Stelle.
The three young trailblazers (well, Dan Heng is young by Xianzhou's standards) continued to banter with each other until they heard the conductor's voice being broadcast in the passenger cabin.
"All trailblazers, please come to the Parlor Car! We have an urgent meeting!"
The trio looked questioningly at each other.
"I wonder what's it about?" March wondered.
"Maybe there are more Swarm remnants left behind?" Stelle suggested as Turbo Trotter hopped onto her shoulder. She placed a hand on its body to keep it from falling.
March shuddered, visibly shivering, "Ughh...! Don't remind me of that! I really don't want to clean insect goo again..."
"Come on, you two." Dan Heng said, followed by the two female trailblazers (plus Trotter).
"Perhaps it's an SOS signal?"
"Perhaps, but Pom-Pom feels too suspicious about this."
"How so?"
"Nghh... Pom-Pom isn't sure."
"Hey, Pom-Pom!" March called out the moment they entered the parlor car, gaining the attention of the two senior passengers and the fluffy conductor, "What's going on?"
"The Express has received a signal just a few minutes ago." Himeko explained, showing a holographic display with a red exclamation point, as well as the 'receive' and 'end call' icons at the bottom, "We thought it may have been an SOS, but we can't pinpoint the exact origin of its location."
"That's why Pom-Pom doesn't think we should trust it!" The rabbit-like conductor piped up with puffed cheeks, "What if this is a trap?"
"Our conductor does have a point." Welt agreed.
"Well, there's nothing wrong with simply answering it, right?" March suggested, looking quite curious at their mysterious caller, "I mean, we can just hang up if they seem suspicious."
"Although, there's a possibility that the Express's online defenses may be breached." Dan Heng countered.
As the Express members continued their discussion whether to answer the call, a certain Warp Trotter looked curiously at the blinking green icon of the holographic screen, looking almost mesmerized how it continuously beeps on repeat.
Stelle gasped as she stumbled backwards when the Aether Spirit took off her shoulder like a rocket. She was a second too late when she realized where her trotter launched towards.
"Turbo! Don't—"
Ping.
The Astral Express crew stared at the screen call, now on connected to the other side.
Stelle nervously laughed as she sheepishly scratched the back of her head, with Dan Heng gave her an unimpressed stare. Turbo Trotter, not knowing what it just did, simply hopped onto the cushions with a curious look on its face.
Welt sighed, "I suppose what's done is done."
Himeko approached the screen, "Hello, this is Himeko of the Astral Express. Who is this?"
Near instantly, the voice replied back rather enthusiastically.
"Thank you for answering my call, my dear Astral Express crew! Thanks to our call's connection, you have given me the opportunity to do what I'm about to do!"
"What does that—" March's question was cut off and yelped when she felt rumbling all around her. The other crew members also held onto something to not fall to the ground.
Without even managing to question what was happening, the Astral Express was enveloped in bright light until it disappeared from space, leaving behind nothing but small light particles behind.
In a certain white room, two long-lived individuals were in a middle of a conversation when the same bright light that had kidnapped them in the first place lit up the room, causing them to cover their eyes.
The next second, the kidnapped victims were no longer two people.
"W-What is going on!?"
"Oink! Oink!"
"Stay calm, all of you."
"Huh? Who are you people?" Lumine immediately stood up in front of the surprised Neuvillette, who was still feeling slightly lightheaded from all the memories he had remembered. Still, he stood up as well, not wanting to show any weakness.
"Hey, that's our line!" March 7th countered back. She was about to ready her bow and was shocked when she wasn't able to summon it nor can she even summon a block of her Six-Phased Ice. The others were similarly surprised when their own weapons and abilities could not be called to them.
"Let us all calm down for a moment." Himeko tells everyone, her attention turning towards Lumine and Neuvillette, "I don't think they're the ones who made the call."
"Call?" Lumine asked.
"We got a call from an unknown caller and then got teleported here." Stelle explained.
"How can you be so calm about this!?" March asked Stelle, who just shrugged.
Before anyone could ask anymore questions, the fluffy conductor's exclamation caught everyone by surprise.
"Lumine!? Leviathan!?"
Both Lumine and Neuvillette gasped when a short figure made their way in front of them.
"Pom-Pom!?" Lumine exclaimed, immediately kneeling before the conductor.
Neuvillette was similarly shocked, moving closer to Pom-Pom, "I thought you and the Astral Express were..."
"We missed you so much!" Lumine hugged Pom-Pom tightly.
The poor conductor wheezed, "Agh! Pom-Pom can't breathe!"
The crew of the Astral Express watched the reunion, feeling rather confused.
"Um..." March spoke up, awkwardly raising a hand, gaining everyone's attention, including the Lumine and Neuvillette, "Can we get some context here...?"
"Oh!" Pom-Pom hopped out of Lumine's embrace, finally getting a chance to breathe. They cleared their throat and gestured towards the Traveler and Iudex behind him "Allow me to introduce you! These two are Lumine and Leviathan, longtime members of the Astral Express back when Akivili was still alive. Lumine here is also an Emanator of Trailblaze while Leviathan is the one of the Seven Sovereigns of Long the Permanence!"
"Huh!?" March exclaimed. The current crew of the Astral Express looked especially shocked by this information.
Dan Heng couldn't hide his shock for a moment before he quickly cooled his expression, staring at the white-haired man. The Seven Sovereigns were known among the Vidyadhara to be the children of Long, as the seven dragons were the Permanence's creations. Even though they were absent from the universe for many millennia, the Vidyadhara still believed them to be alive somewhere, much like how some of the Knights of Beauty still believed in the survival of Idrila. He supposed that the elders actually turned out to be right.
The names, Lumine and Leviathan, were in the Express' data bank and he had read their adventures several times. To think they were still able to meet the original Astral Express members.
"To think we would ever meet the Emanator of Trailblaze..." The others could almost see Himeko's eyes sparkle at this revelation. Still, her awe was understandable. she remembered that she had indeed heard of their names before. She had read it in the data bank before. She turned to her fellow passengers with a nod, "We should all introduce ourselves as well. My name is Himeko, a navigator of the Astral Express."
"I'm March 7th!" The pink-haired girl chirped, still in awe at actually meeting the late Akivili's longtime passengers.
The Xianzhou native stoically nodded, "Dan Heng."
The universal traveler introduced himself next, "My name is Welt Yang."
"I'm the Galactic Batter and this is Aetherium Wars Champion, Turbo Trotter!" Stelle dramatically introduced herself while holding the trotter with both hands up in the air.
Lumine and Neuvillette looked rather confused, the former looking more amused, at the grey-haired girl while March and Dan Heng sighed at Stelle's antics.
"That stopped being an alias and more of a title now, huh?" March exasperatedly said before turning back to their two new friends, "Her name's Stelle. Don't mind her, she's always like this."
Lumine laughed, "Nah, it's cool. She's pretty funny."
"Hey, Lumine, Leviathan. Where's Aether and Izanagi?" Pom-Pom asked. It felt rather strange seeing the blonde woman not with her other half.
Lumine froze for a second, with Neuvillette looking rather worried at her blank expression, but she sighed, "Aether well... We got into a fight. He isn't with us right now."
Neuvillette answered next rather somberly, "As for Izanagi, we do not know where they currently are."
The Hydro Sovereign doesn't know whether Izanagi had survived their battle against the Usurpers. According to Lumine, she and Paimon never found an Electro Dragon in Inazuma. Either Izanagi survived like Apep or they were killed and eventually reincarnated just like Neuvillette. Still, Izanagi's current whereabouts are unknown.
Pom-Pom decided to keep their questions to themself. It was clear it was a touchy subject for Lumine and Leviathan.
After being silent for nearly the entire time, Neuvillette spoke up, "Pom-Pom, was the Express not destroyed when Akivili..."
Pom-Pom shook his head, "Nope, the Express landed in Himeko's homeworld where it stayed there for millennia. Himeko found the Express and eventually fixed it, putting it back to its rightful track!"
At this revelation, Neuvillette, as well as Lumine, turned to the navigator with a small smile, "I cannot express how grateful I am to you, Miss Himeko. Akivili would no doubt be overjoyed now that their beloved Express is still trailblazing the stars."
Lumine nodded in agreement, "Seriously. Thanks for fixing the Express. I thought the worst when it disappeared but once again, I've been proven wrong. Were the records we made still in the train?"
Himeko looked surprised but nodded. If it were anyone else, she would have brushed their words aside as many have already praised her for her achievement of fixing the Express. But this was different. In front of her were the Nameless that personally knew Akivili, the ones that had contributed to the records and stories that were still intact in the train the first time Himeko found it and the current Astral Express crew's predecessors. Indirectly, the two people in front of her inspired her to start her own interstellar journey.
"Thank you, Miss Lumine, Mr. Leviathan... That means a lot to me." Himeko tells them.
The Traveler and Sovereign gave her a nod. Neuvillette then spoke, "Pardon me, but I would prefer it if you would call me 'Neuvillette', it is a last name many usually refer to me."
"A last name?" Pom-Pom tilted their head, "Did you get together with someone?"
Neuvillette gave away a rare amused smile as he shook his head, "No. It is simply a name I chose for myself to hide my identity."
"That's understandable." Himeko nodded, "The legends of the Sovereigns are nearly as famous as that of the Aeons. Interstellar historians and researchers will flock all over you once they realize who you are."
"But wouldn't people just assume that it's just some sort of alias?" March questions.
Himeko hummed, "Perhaps. But it's best not to risk it. The survival of the Sovereigns is still under debate by most of the universe, just like how there are still followers of the Beauty that still believe Idrila lives."
The trailblazers' conversations were interrupted, however, when the same voice as before echoed in the room once again.
"Now, is everyone settled in? It is time for me to finally reveal to you all about why I have brought you here!"