Chapter Text
Questions plague Phainon's mind when he realizes. How was he here? How did he—Phainon gripped the sheets that were thrown over him. First, he needed to look for his partner. And to do that, he needed to get up.
Phainon slid off the covers and stood from the bed in a smooth motion. Finding the exit was a simple matter, though he briefly worried if the Astral Express was going to panic. He was never the best patient, even for Hyacine.
Even trudging down the hallway, Phainon couldn't help but admire the starry expanse that lay bare for him to see through the Express' wide windows. He was a little jealous that his partner got to see something like this everyday.
Maybe I could bring a sight like this to Okhema…unbidden, the thought rose up inside his own mind before he had any chance to quell it. His lips pursed as he banished the fantasy—he couldn't do it. Not when…
"Passenger?"
Blinking, Phainon looked down and spotted a long-eared creature waddle towards him. "Oh…hello. You must be….Pom-Pom?"
The creature puffed out their chest. "That's correct!"
"It's a pleasure to meet you. Dan Heng has told me much about you."
"Passenger Dan Heng is always helpful when it comes to information and knowledge," Pom-Pom stated. "But never mind that. Passenger, what are you doing out of bed? You're supposed to be resting!"
"Ah…" Phainon scratched the back of his head. "I'm sorry. I just wanted to check on everyone, and greet them properly."
Pom-Pom observed him quietly. "Passenger need not make excuses. It's alright to admit you don't like being in the med-bay any more than necessary."
Caught, huh?
"Anyway, this is perfect. Come, passenger. Pom-Pom will take you to the crew."
Pom-Pom led Phainon through the corridors until they arrived at the Party Car—Phainon recognized it from Cyrene's small gift before she put the story to a close.
He was a little wary of the Antikytherean-adjacent construct that was making drinks, but he accepted a cocktail anyway.
He was still nursing his drink when the door flew open and a worried Stelle and Dan Heng rushed over to where he was. "Phainon!" His partner cried. "Are you okay?"
"Woah, partner," Phainon said, surprised. "Please, try not to worry. I'm alright. Just….confused, is all."
"That makes both of us," Dan Heng said with a wry twist to his lips. He sat down beside Phainon and silently accepted a drink from Shush.
"Seriously, dude. You had me so worried." Stelle groaned and stretched over the countertop. "All that work and this kind of bullshit comes up again, I can't even."
Phainon felt the need to apologize…he wasn't supposed to bring the Astral Express any more trouble.
"Oh don't even worry about that," Stelle snorted. "If things turn to shit, it's Lygus' fault. Say it with me!"
Dan Heng sighed.
"It's Lygus' fault," the three of them recited, Stelle's much more enthusiastically vile tone contrasting with Dan Heng's exasperation and Phainon's vaguely confused repetition.
Soon after, March joined them and immediately charmed Phainon with how much she reminded him of Cyrene. Like his sister, March greeted him with a beaming smile and teasing words—though March's were a tad more sassy, as Stelle and Dan Heng needled her as friends often would. Phainon won't deny the brief sting of pain that stabs his heart as he witnessed such a scene, remembering his days on Aedes Elysiae.
A place he could no longer return to…
"So, partner, not to like…break the mood or anything, but how are you here?"
Phainon blinked.
Dan Heng sighed. "Isn't that a little too direct?" March was busy covering her face.
"Well, hey, better than dancing around the issue?" Stelle seemed remarkably nonplussed as she turned her attention back to Phainon.
A shaky breath left the hero's lips. "Well…that…I'm not exactly sure. But I have some clues. Cyrene said she could no longer hold me within the Eternal Page. Perhaps the weight of all these coreflames was still too much for the paradise she weaved for Amphoreus."
Each Trailblazer before him winced in different ways. Dan Heng looked away, mouth pulled into a grimace. March looked close to tears. Stelle sucked a hiss between her teeth.
In between the awkward silence, Phainon waved his hands. "It's okay, everyone, really. I was able to enjoy even a fraction of the paradise she gave us. It's not all too bad."
"But Amphoreus is your home," March said softly, and she faltered for a moment before taking his hand between hers. "It's not fair to you. You sacrificed a lot for your world."
Phainon squeezed her hand gratefully.
"It's worth investigating," Dan Heng spoke up, eyes gleaming. "March is right. It's not fair that you have to stay exiled while everyone stays in Amphoreus."
"Dan Heng…"
"But how would we even go about helping Phainon get back to Amphoreus?" March pointed out. We don't even know why he was kicked out to begin with."
"Guys, hang on," Phainon tried to interrupt.
"Cyrene said she couldn't hold him—could their Paths be incompatible?" Dan Heng said. "It's not an impossible theory, but I don't think that's the entire picture."
"Dan Heng, March," Phainon put hands on their shoulders. "Really, it's okay. I don't want to break the fragile state of Amphoreus by doing something reckless."
March pouted. "But your friends are there! You're home is there! I'd feel awful if a friend of mind could never go back home despite how much he wanted to. Tell him, Stelle!"
Stelle glanced at Phainon. "…Phainon has a point where putting him back onto Amphoreus might fuck something up."
Phainon's shoulders sagged while the other two gaped at her. "But—"
"It's too dangerous," Stelle said, conflicted emotions bleeding onto her face. "You never saw him at his peak. He could crush what we've all strived to protect without meaning to, and we know how important As I've Written is to to the cosmos." Stelle made the book appear, hugging it tightly to her chest. Phainon's heart ached, staring longingly at the book. Would it be too unreasonable to ask Stelle to read it to him?
"So, what? We just give up?"
"No," for some reason, Stelle's grin was mischievous. "Hey, Phainon…you don't have any plans, right?"
"No, why?"
"Why not join the Express? Since you're here now anyway."