Chapter Text
Firefly groaned in pain as her arm was hit by bullets from the IPC’s rifle. She quickly made good work of the attackers; cutting them with her sword, their heads fell from their bodies like leaves. She looked around to make sure that none of the IPC dogs escaped her blade. She let out a sigh of relief; getting used to fighting in flesh helped reduce her use of SAM. The wound on her arm quickly closed, leaving a few red drops of blood that fell onto the cold ground, forming a tiny pool.
“Firefly!” Caelus called her name. She turned to see him rushing at her. She put the sword back in her digital inventory. A worried expression crossed his face when he saw the hole in her shirt sleeve.
“You shouldn’t go alone like this. Your body is still getting used to moving around without SAM.” Concern was all over his voice. Firefly put her hand on the wound, realizing that it had healed perfectly.
“Sorry, my sword technique in person is quite different from when I used SAM.” She replied. The sword in her hand returned to her digital inventory.
“I wanted to test it out. Besides, the Stellaron inside your body have showed to pose any threats lately.” They locked eyes, simply smiling at each other’s presence.
“And the same also goes for that ELS of yours.” For his part, being here, he had just eliminated some IPC guards. Caelus put his arms around her waist, while her hands also went to the back of his skull. Caelus kissed her cheeks; the woman chuckled a little bit, enjoying this rare moment.
“Aw, that is very cute of you.” Firefly said, patting the hair on the back of his head. They were always happy to be together anywhere.
“I am so happy that I can be here with you, not getting cockblocked by that damn pod.” Caelus ended his kisses with another one on her lips.
“Word, big guy. We have so much time when the Astral Express returned to Penacony the second time!” Firefly put her head on Caelus’s chest.
“Yeah, that was before I got my memories back. And I don’t want to see you die again.” He whispered in her ear. His arms hugged her waist.
“Hehe, sorry. That incident won’t happen again. Plus, I am free from ELS! All thanks to Fuli’s blessing.” They separated from each other’s embrace.
That was the moment for Caelus to examine the location around the couple. The headless bodies bled from where their heads used to be, creating a small river of dark blood. A destroyed part of a large robot was scattered across the location. He whistled at the destruction she caused. Reasonably, he had just done the same things a few minutes ago.
“I guess this would be the first thing our old friends in the IPC would bring up tomorrow when we popped up in the Pier Point.” He commented on the damage. Her hand, which he had been holding all along, commenced to move.
“Pfttt. This is an attempted ambush on us. Maybe there is something going on with how IPC is acting lately.” Firefly exclaimed.
“We're definitely gonna have a whole day on the train. You get what I mean?” He asked with a smirk on his face.
“Ohh. Don’t you forget that March is also told to stay on the train with us, if you forgot about it.” Reminding him about their pink-haired friend.
They approached the exit door of the place where a few corpses of the IPC’s force were lying around. Carefully, so as not to step on any of them, the pocket on Caelus’s cloak was hiding something in it, and Firefly recognized the shape of it. The item itself was a pink square; it was a container for something taking the shape of a circle.
Never mind, it was a condom. This little thing brought a silly idea to Firefly; a devious smile spread across her face. She moved closer to him and t
“So, should we tell Himeko about the wedding that we are planning long ago?” She asked. Caelus held her hand tighter.
“I am planning to do it right after we leave Pier Point. I will pray to any Aeons out there to help the meeting with Topaz go smoothly for Himeko and Welt.” He said confidently.
Impressed by his words, Firefly changed the subject by raising the condom up to their eye level. Caelus looked at it and didn’t react, but he looked at it a second time; his arm instinctively went for the empty pocket.
“I am a bit curious. Mind explaining this little thing we have here?” Swing it in the air. Their hands didn’t quite meet each other as Caelus’s hand touched his neck. Sweat dripped from his forehead.
“Well. Well. Ugh…Maybe, but I just wanted to be safe.” The last part was caught in his throat when Firefly spoke.
She laughed it off. Saying, “Come on, don’t tell me you didn’t recover enough memories when you were a part of the Stellaron Hunters?”
He didn’t respond, which was enough for her to realize something important. Silence stretched between them in the place where they had just survived a surprise attack. Caelus took the pink item from her hand without provoking any action from her. She looked at confused Caelus, then moved her hands to the other arm.
“Ehh, guess I have to recall this. The scientists did a few mutations on the DNA of the body that they used to clone me and the other me. It was meant to make us cheaper to throw on the battlefield.” She took a breath, continuing to tell him the very same story she had told him when they did it the first time.
“They viewed us as disposable assets; the day we were born was also the day I realized we have no right but to fight till dead. Therefore, they removed the DNA responsible for creating the reproductive organs in both females and males. In other words, I don’t have ovaries.” The statement escaped faster than she thought. Her statement caught his attention, his mouth agape, not in disappointment but in joy. In a swift movement, he tossed the condom aside, wrapping his huge arms around her.
“Can’t believe I have not regained this super important information about ya!” Firefly was lifted up from the ground, pulled into a tight hug as her boyfriend was overjoyed that he didn’t have to buy protection anymore. She smiled, knowing her Caelus was here with her.
They stayed in that position for a few seconds before deciding to return to the Astral Express. Holding hands, smiling, those moments accounted for a little space in their mind but it was something worth living for. Caelus and Firefly’s ticket on their clothes shone as both of them got out of the place.
Unaware that somebody was also there, collecting things on the ground.
Back in Wise and Belle’s dorm.
The air in their house was usually vibrant. At this time of the day, when the sun was lighting the room, electricity was dedicated to the Fairy telling him to finish the commissions like every other normal day. Belle would be doing her usual stuff, while Cissia would try to find food to eat, and Billy occupied the TV for himself.
And now? All four pairs of eyes stared at the yellow screen. Wise didn’t dare to look to the right, where a thiren with wings, whose hands were on her cheeks, was observing the side of his face instead of focusing on the TV like the rest.
For Remielle's part, the alien arriving at New Eridu did surprise her a bit. Still, her main goal didn’t change: go see her partner in crime.
“Remielle, you could have given us a call before coming here. It would be better for me to clean a few things up.” Wise said, but didn’t look at her.
“Oh, Mr. Cleaner, are you forgetting that I love to spend time with my partner?” Drawing Belle’s attention, the girl looked at her brother, who tried to force a nervous smile. She gave Wise a smug expression, then she looked past his shoulder and saw Remielle wink at her.
“Bro, you have to be kidding me, right? 3 Void Hunters fell for my bro?” Belle said bluntly. The nervous smile he was wearing worsened. Wise pretended not to acknowledge his sister’s comment. Only for him to register that Remielle’s eyes lit up.
“My, I knew their names. What was it, hmm.” Tapping her cheeks with her index finger, pretended not to know about the other Void Hunters. She was informed about the 2 other Void Hunters, 1 of them is a descendant of her old friend, “Sword master”. The other was the current owner of the Qingming sword.
“Mr. surely knew how to attract strong women, hm~~~” Remielle poked Wise’s forearm, who did nothing but continued his nervous smile.
“Shush.” Cissia put a finger to her lips. Catching their attention. She pointed the very same finger to the yellow TV. Billy maximized the hearing function of his body as the journalist spoke.
“WE HAVE RECEIVED A FRESH ANNOUNCEMENT FROM NEPS. THE ALIENS WILL HAVE A SPEECH WITH THE PUBLIC.” The man in a suit said very loudly, standing right in front of the camera. Many people were gathering around the NEPS station in the background.
Wise looked at his phone. It was 8 am in the day before, a completely unforgettable moment. The aliens landed on the Lumine Square with their vehicle, which was just a carriage. He couldn’t even access the internet to see the photos before they announced another maintenance. From what he caught from a friend, 5 servers exploded on the spot.
“Zhu Yuan must be stressing out right now. She must really miss my bro.” Belle added to her previous talk. This time it caught the ear of a certain snake thiren, whose mouth was shaped like a circle.
“Wise knew Miss Zhu Yuan? Does-does you also happen to know the Demon Lord?” She left the couch and crawled on the ground to Wise. Despite being a snake thiren, she made a
“Even though he broke into our house just like you did, I don’t think Severian wou-” he didn’t get to finish the last part before Cissia put her hand over his mouth.
“Please don’t say his name in front of me. He has ears everywhere!” Cissia stated; the black necklace flashed up for a second. She looked around the house, making sure there was no one beside them.
Wise raised his arms in defeat. He honestly didn’t know what to do for now. Maybe do the commission? Suddenly, the alarm went off outside of their dorm. Remielle’s phone rang. The winged thiren looked at Eldreda's profile picture.
“Is there something wrong?” she asked.
“Bashmu is waking up; it is beginning to tear through space.” People were shouting in the background.
“Alright, I am coming to assist.” The thiren moved toward the window. The weapons on her back began to pump themselves up.
“Bring the Phaethon with you. We need his help as well”. Remielle looked at Wise, who nodded his head in response.
“Cissia, Billy! Take your weapon. Belle!” He commanded, they quickly got into position as he said. Belle moved to the desk; she raised a thumb up to her brother. Billy checked his guns, making sure they all had enough ammo. Cissia turned her whip back into a spear.
“Let’s move out!” He said.
Remielle soared in the sky; she watched as the group on the ground ran on foot.
"Estimated 15 minutes walking to the location. Masters, I suggested using the short road." Fairy stated, sending him the 'short way' to his phone.
The young man reached into his pants pocket before he could pull it out. A roar caught all of them off, Remielle squirted her eyes when she saw a fissure in the sky. It was a strange sight to see, even for a void Hunter. She was soon surprised to see what was coming out of the crack. Ashuma's fangs were the first thing to escape the fissure, which confirmed what she had in mind.
“Im-impossible!” Cissia shouted at the sight of the Enchainer who got out of the fissure. They watched in horror as the beast that only lives inside a Hollow was now roaming freely in the sky of the flying city.
“EH NA EH NA!” (DANGER! DANGER!) Securityboo alerted the whole block. Civilians panicked instantly, scrambling on their feet, fleeing to safety. 3 of them were also dragged alongside the frightened people.
‘If I could use Pyrois outside Hollow.’ Wise thought to himself. He held Cissia and Billy’s arms, making sure they didn’t get separated.
A big Bangboo rushed toward them; it was looking at the monster instead of the road. “EH NA EH NA” (NOT TODAY NOT TODAY.)
“HEY! HEY! YOU ARE GOING TO HIT US.” Billy cried out; the Bangboo didn’t hear him. Billy had to free his hold on Wise’s wrist to narrowly escape the Bangboo. Another Bangboo smashed itself into Billy, making him lose balance.
The tall construction fell down on his butt. Without any further thinking, Cissia stabbed her spear into the ground, creating a strong point to hold. Noticing it, Wise extended his arm toward Billy and grabbed his head.
“OUCH! OUCH!” If Billy had a mouth, he would have bitten Wise’s hand. Thankfully, he didn’t have one. They held their positions until the last person finally passed them. Billy got up from the pavement, fixing his hair. The thiren and proxy inhaled the air into their lungs.
“I’m supposed we have to give this fight to Remeille.” Belle said through the earphone.
Wise didn’t respond to Belle; he gazed at the white figure in the sky. If only there were a weapon that he could use to defend himself. A normal sword would be fine.
“Let’s go home. We can’t do anything here. I believe Sigrid and Lindverne will arrive to assist Remielle.” Billy saw sadness on Wise’s face before he turned around, the construction decided to keep quiet. Cissis also noticed, she did the same thing as Billy. Both of them followed the proxy back to their dorm.
Asuma's fangs appeared from the fissure, getting bigger. Followed by its many eyes, then its full face. The beast seemed to get irritated when it saw the pink-haired thiren. Pulling it gigantic body away from the crack. The worm opened its massive mouth, intending to swallow the woman. Remielle hastened her pace, moving out of its range. The beast didn’t chase her, it was distracting her. In a quick second, it bolted right past the thiren.
‘It ignored me?’ Remielle kept this weird behavior of it in mind. The feathers on her mechanical wing struck the monster on its back, forcing it to counterattack by firing lasers from its mouth. Remielle dodged the attack by a split second, but it was enough for the monster to run away from its attacker.
“Tch.” She produced the word unintentionally, boosting her wings up, intending to chase the worm down. Suddenly, a massive blue slash came from the ground, hitting the ethereal on its side, the monster roared in pain. Remielle dashed her eyes to the source of the slash to see Lindverne give the void hunter a thumbs-up. The Genesis construct repositioned her claymore, ready to unleash another slash.
Remielle caught the chance when it nearly fired a beam toward Lindverne; forming 2 swords from her feathers, she proceeded to make a deep cut on the monster’s body. Blue blood dropped out of the wound into the space below.
If they were in the Hollow, Remielle wouldn’t even manage to leave a scratch on its skin. Thanks to the fact that it was weakened for being outside of its dominance. The beast made its final scream at the 2 before creating a fissure and rushing into it without a second thought. The short-haired woman landed on the road, right where Lindverne puffed out her chest in pure pride when she saw the fissure close itself on the blue sky.
“It’s good to see there is at least one Sunbringer who responded just in time before everything got out of my control.” Remielle complimented the Enchainer.
“Nothing can harm Roscaelifer when I am here. Not after that Youkai dared to use Porcelloy on me!” The construct stated. That incident was reluctantly kept behind the door.
“Dear. Don’t you hear Wise.” The Angel said to Lindverne. From those exgratting stories she made about Wise, Remielle could easily tell the Enchainer had some feeling for the Phaethon. The Genesis Reconstruction responded by huffing at her.
“Unlike you, I am here to ask Wise if he is free for tomorrow so he can help me with those clothes of mine.” Lindverne said confidently.
She didn’t hesitate to hide her crush on Phaethon’s older sibling. He was there to save her from being crushed, fighting it off with her claymore. Wise was also the first person she had ever shared her secret of being an Enchainer with. That warm smile he gave her after the whole Youkai thing still stuck in a corner of her data.
“This behavior from Bashmu is super strange. Normally, with enough Porcelloys provided by Flint's workshop, it would stay in the hollow.” Lindverne changed the topic. She put her free hand on her chin.
“Oh? Lady Lindverne is using her intelligence instead of her fighting mechanics? Guess that little chat you had with Wise did something.” Remielle joked. She herself also felt something odd about the monster.
“But yes, this is really weird for an Enchainer like Bashmu to leave the Hollow. Could it be something related to those aliens that arrived in New Eridu yesterday?” She tried to sort things out. An Enchainer wouldn’t just randomly appear for no reason.
“That would complicate things up. For now, let’s report this behavior of Bashmu to others. If anything actually happens, New Eridu will be there to lend us a hand.” The middle Sunbringer claimed.
Lindverne and Remielle received a phone call from the big Sunbringer. Congratulating them on defeating Bashmu. She also updated some information, relating to the recent private meeting in New Eridu.
“Bashmu’s signal is now detectable on our radar. It appears to be calmer than before, figuring out you 2 must inflict tremendous injuries on it.” Eldreda marked their work on the Enchainer.
“Hmpf. Half-baked Enchainer like it have no chance to stand against us!” Strong statement from the shorter Sunbringer.
“...Yes?...Understand, I will tell them...You guys may need to find a Television, switch to the News, the aliens have things to share.” Eldreda ended the call.
Remielle wanted to point out the fact that they could watch the News on their phone. But the internet just happened to go down for maintenance problems, that excuse had been used twice. Her memories drifted back to the presence of a yellow TV in Phaethon’s dorm, then she remembered the other 2 Void Hunters that Wise somehow managed to charm.
‘2 Void Hunters and a Sunbringer have a thing for my dear Wise~~~. Winning his heart gotta be a Battle Royale.’ Unknown to her, there are more than just 3 Void Hunters and a Sunbringer seeking their way to proxy’s heart.
“Heyyy Lindverne, don’t you want to see Wise? How about we both go to their place and watch the News there? They have a decent TV set there.” Remielle delivered her words to Lindverne.
The Director of Airspace patrol responded by sticking out her tongue, mocking Remielle’s attempt to drag her into that little scheme. On second thought, it would be great to watch TV with Wise.
“If you have requested it, lead the way.” Lindverne pulled her claymore up and propped it on her shoulder. A few steps to the dorm, because Lindverne refused to be carried. The 2 set foot on the stairs in front of the wooden door of the sibling’s dorm. They entered, receiving some curious eyes from the students around.
“Is..Is someone hiding something illegal? Why did a Sunbringer and a Void Hunter suddenly visit our place?” A student said to a friend of his, whose eyes were fixed on the 2 moving up the stairs.
“You stupid, it must be something dangerous for a Sunbringer and a Void Hunter to deal with. Not random illegal stuff.” The friend shot back.
“No need to worry! I and I have crushed the Ethereal back to its place! We are here to use the TV.” The Sunbringer proudly said to the confused students. She ignored the chat between the 2 students.
They reached the room, and Remielle knocked a few times on the door. The door opened, Belle looked at the 2 like they had just appeared out of thin air.
“Lady Lindverne! I didn’t expect you would be here.” Belle looked at Lindverne
“Just Lindverne, I request to use your device to watch the News. Some very important guests in New Eridu are revealing themselves today.” The director said to Belle. The girl moved her eyes to the thiren, who smiled when she saw Belle.
“And you finally learned how to enter our dorm through the main door, huh.” The blue-haired girl left the window because she thought the thiren would use the window.
“Sorry for not messaging you first. Just want to surprise your brother.” Remielle teased, Belle sighed, moving aside to let them in. The claymore would have hit Belle’s face if she hadn’t lowered herself down. She closed the door with a soft click.
“It is Remielle at the door, isn’t it?” Wise jokingly asked, but the footsteps sounded betrayed him badly. Lindverne put her weapon down, placing the hilt on the wall, while the tip pointed to the floor.
“Lindverne, I didn’t think you would be here after the fight.” Wise said.
“Hehe, Bashmu may steal Dacie’s karma core, but it doesn’t have my intelligence! Besides, we are here to use your TV. Turn it on, the aliens are about to speak.” The reconstruction extended her arm, widely opening her hand.
Wise nodded. They got to the couch, Billy and Cissia already occupied the seats.
“Lady Lindverne, didn’t think you would drop in here for the second time.” The construction turned to see her and Remielle. The TV was already turned on, and the journalist was reporting from a high ground, his suit was visibly wet. There were hundreds of peasants outside of the station, although it was only 7:00 am in the morning.
Billy stood up from his couch, leaving seats for Lindverne, Remielle, and Belle to sit. He stood behind the couch with Wise, who put his arms on the couch’s back cushions. All of their eyes were fixed on the yellow TV. The new one had yet to arrive due to safety reasons. Belle nearly thought she got scammed.
“Here we stand right in front of the station, we could see many curious souls were also here to see these so-called Aliens.” The journalist spoke to the camera. Which begin to zoom in on the entrance of the station, where Zhu Yuna, Qingyi, Seth, and other officers were trying their best to keep everyone in line.
“God, I can’t imagine how terrible it must feel to be there. The Demon Lord probably suffers right now.” Cissia commented with an invincible smirk on her face.
“Shush.” Lindverne put her finger on her lips, reminding Cissia to keep silent for the upcoming shock. Without knowing that this would gladly change everything they knew about the galaxy.
Nep station. 45 minutes before the trio departed.
Serverian looked at the sleeping girl on the ground, she covered herself in a big pink blanket, hugging a plushie that resembled a rabbit with dark fur and blue eyes, a sleep mask with closed eyes drawn on them. The winged thiren had just finished making a drink, he turned off the odd-looking machine, taking a sip from the cup. The dragon thiren was doing the same thing as the pink-haired girl, sleeping on the chair with his arms crossed. Servian crossed his arms tightly as he observed those supposedly ‘Aliens’. That caused the station to cancel their work just to protect them.
“Hm…” making a small sound in his throat, Servian wouldn’t have problems with them if the girl just magically had a large blanket. As the commissioner of NEPS, he had the right to access the storage data of this station, and to his surprise, there was absolutely no big pink blanket or sleep mask, combined with the picture that Captain Zhu Yuan sent him yesterday, showing the aliens carried absolutely nothing on them. From this conclusion, he realized these aliens were more than mere humans. The worst was that they were capable of-.
“Commissioner Lowell?” Seth moved toward his brother, he was surprised to see him. He was always busy with paperwork; he barely had time for his little brother. Therefore, a small chat like this was rare.
“Officer Lowell. Could you please tell me where that pink alien obtained a blanket, a sleep mask, and a plushie? Did you give it to her?” Servian questioned his brother, still eyeing the 3 aliens.
Seth scratched his head. Turning to the glass.
“The pink-haired alien called herself March 7th. Or M7, sounds like a mix between 2 sport celebrities. The blanket and others were assets that she kept in her digital inventory.” The word ‘Digital inventory’ snapped his eyes to Seth, who raised his eyebrows in response.
“Digital inventory? Officer Lowell, can you elaborate?” For a moment, Seth saw Servian’s face darken. Seth sighed, Servian was maybe a terrible brother in his eyes. Nevertheless, he was still his superior.
Throwback to when Mayor Mayflower bowed his head to Captain Zhu Yuan, he was deported from the station alongside a wolf thiren and a floating, gray-haired woman, who had 2 bangboo circling around her.
The sight of their car entered the road before it disappeared into the dark night. Qingyi suggested interrogating them a bit more. Specifically, she raised her level of vigilance to the highest level that her mechanical system allowed, when the moment she saw Dan Heng construct a phone out of thin air. The dargon thiren reacted with nothing, he calmly explained to them how this technology worked.
“He said it was a kind of pocket dimension that allowed him to store things inside. Let me recall what Dan Heng said. hmm. You need to hold onto the object and think about keeping it inside your inventory, and boom, the object will disappear and reappear in your inventory. If you wanted to pull the object out, you just need to imagine the thing that you wanted; it will automatically appear in your hand.” Seth unfolded the truth about the March’s stuff, seeing his brother put a hand on his chin, digesting the new information.
“This ‘Dan Heng’ must be the dragon thiren, isn’t it? He seems to be the one taking the chat with us for the other 2.” The commissioner commented.
“You are correct on the latter, Commissioner Lowell. What you got wrong was about the race.” Qingyi approached the Thiren sibling. She looked at Servian right in his eyes.
“Officer Qingyi, you and Zhu Yuna are the first officers to meet and take them here. I believed you must be the one to interrogate them, not Jane after the mayor left.” The brother replied to Qingyi, his tone sounded rigid compared to when he spoke with Seth.
“Yes, I am. Thanks for acknowledging my work, I would love to be rewarded with the newest set of teacups.” Pointed her finger up to the ceiling and closed an eye, Seth opened his mouth widely. Qingyi acted like they were friends, as if Servian was just a colleague.
“Understood, I will have the set sent to you. Correct me then, which detail about these special guests was I wrong about?” Qingyi nodded at Servian’s words.
“Why do you guys call me and Sunday ' thiren'? " Is it kind of a slur?” The statement came from the yellow horn. Who assumed ‘thiren’ was a slur, but didn’t seem to be bothered. Qingyi took another sip from her cup.
“Ah no, it is not a slur. It is used to describe a person who shares traits of animal features on their body. In our world’s history, there were no records of seeing a dragon thiren before; even if they do, it certainly is a tale for children.” The green-haired construction answered Dan Heng’s question.
“And winged thiren usually have their wings on their back, not on their head. When I first saw your friend here, I assumed he was a chicken thiren.” She added. Sunday remained silent; his face didn’t show any emotion.
‘Tougher than I thought. Experience?’ She concluded.
“I see. To clarify, we are not Thiren. I am a Vidyahara, a long-life species." He stated; Sunday also told them about himself.
“My wings look like a chicken’s? Guess that fool didn’t own that joke. I am a Halovian, we are known for our voice and appearance."
“And did ‘March 7th’ also happen to belong to some mysterious species." March put a hand on her chest, smiling at the construction.
“I don't know how to tell you this, but...i was created by Fuli, the Aeon of Remembrance. The name ‘March 7th’ is actually the date when I was discovered by the Astral Express. Since then, I have been a part of the crew.” She answered smoothly.
“So, there are more than just 1 Aeon. I guessed our knowledge about the galaxy was nothing compared to yours.” Qingyi stated, her conclusion met with a head shake from Dan Heng.
“The universe contains countless possibilities, our knowledge is just as limited as yours. The concepts of Aeon are common sense; it is nothing to be proud of.” Qingyi’s eyes widen a bit before returning to normal.
“….That is very humble of you. We appreciate your cooperation. As promised, we have contacted a broadcasting station, and they are extremely happy to broadcast you guys. Also, chips that gave your phones access to our internet. No other software was put inside those chips, of course.” Qingyi raised her hand, signaling Seth to place 3 mobile chips on the table.
“Thank you for your kindness. We will go on our own.” Dan Heng said.
“And that was the whole thing. If it is true, we will be the first to see a biological immortal being.” Qingyi said to Servian. His eyes glared at the immortal being in the room.
“We have yet to see what they are truly capable of. That digital inventory is concerning.” Servian commented; Seth rolled his eyes. A part of him knew that he only wanted to be safe, these are aliens, after all.
“Qingyi, did you see my-. Commissioner Lowell! I didn’t expect you would be here this soon.” Zhu Yuan looked surprised by the presence of the commissioner. She arrived at the station earlier than she usually did.
“Officer Yuan, I wanted a full report of these guests,” Servian said.
“Roger, Commissioner Lowell.” They saluted, then he left. Leaving the group to deal with the upcoming horde.
5 minutes left before the deportation.
Ellen glanced at the collection of journalists and locals surrounding the stations. Chewing on her lollipop, she strolled far away from the crowd. Thanks to those aliens, she didn’t have any school on Monday, hopefully for the rest of this week.
“Ellen! At least wait for us!” Ruby called out to her. Followed right behind her were Monna and Lynn, who were catching their breath.
“Holy moly! I knew it could get really big. But this is genuinely astonishing!” The horned thiren, Monna, admired the size of the crowd. She took a few photos of them before putting her phone back into her skirt pocket.
“Oh, come on, Monna! We are not here to see the Aliens. They may have made school cancel, but we had a plan for the whole day!” Lynn whined to her friend. She adjusted her glasses, preventing them from falling to the ground.
As the 4 moved through the crowd, they found themselves trapped in terrible traffic. People stepped onto the road, leaving no space for cars to move, the drivers honked loudly, shouting at the crowd. The traffic was completely jammed.
“Ugh. Maybe the karaoke has morning service.” Ellen said, as the 4 turned back to realize they were blocked on both sides by another large group of civilians.
“Great.” Ellen thought to herself. The Aliens forced her school to give their student a free week, and she didn’t have any work in the Victoria Housekeeper, because Lycoan and Rina were ordered by the mayor to escort him in the day before. With these 2 things, she could have spent a whole day going out with her little friend group. Maybe pay a visit to the manager of the Random Play too! Sadly, he had to go somewhere.
‘Just as I have the energy for activities!’ The shark thiren slowly exhaled.
“ELLEN, LOOK IT’S THE CARRIAGE FROM YESTERDAY!!” Ruby tapped her shoulder. Ellen saw her friends’ eyes light up. She sighed, following their gaze to see the carriage slowly land in the concrete parking slot. The friend group covered their ears to avoid the sound of the camera constantly taking photos of the thing and the sound of yelling.
‘God, choosing this road is a fatal mistake.’ Ellen’s train of thought was dismissed as the entrance door of the station swung open. A dark-haired man with yellow horns; he was accompanied by another man with chicken wings near his ears. The last one was pink hair girl.
‘Are these seriously the aliens? We are supposed to go crazy for those thiren asses?’ Ellen’s mouth was agape in disappointment. Suddenly, her eyes caught the side of a person in the crowd. Her
‘Isn’t that the girl who went to the cinema with Wise?’ She squinted her eyes. The person in question was a purple-haired girl, she carried her umbrella regardless of the weather. Her crimson eyes locked on the aliens, who got inside the carriage. Then Ellen looked at the blond man with a ponytail who stood next to her.
“The mockingbird? What the hell are they doing here?” Ellen whispered, her friends didn’t pay attention to her. They were captivated by the scene ahead. Thanks to that fact, the shark thief quickly realized what these 2 were about to do.
“Ugh, please don’t involve me in this.” She prayed.
“ELLEN, LOOK! THEY ARE TAKING OFF FROM THE GROUND!” One of her friends yelled. Ellen dashed her eyes back to the station, the carriage’s engine roared as it began to lift itself up from the ground.
“HAH. THAT IS SUCH A BEAUTIFUL MACHINE.” The shark got jump-scared by a female voice behind her. She turned to see a woman with dark oil on her face.
“Grace, stop shouting, it is annoying.” A red-haired kid said to her.
‘It is a mistake. A horrible mistake.’ Ellen came to a conclusion. The picture of her comfortable bed showed up.
‘I should have stayed at home.’
March yawned after sleeping on the floor for the whole night, the interrogating room's floor was not as comfortable as she thought. Through the carriage’s window, she saw the massive group that was waiting outside. This world had never heard of Aeon; even Aeon didn’t acknowledge this world. She didn’t think that short officer would be so interested in her digital inventory. The girl looked at her teammate, Dan Heng, who answered all the questions.
“I can tell that our plan is going smoothly. Successfully established an official relationship with the people of New Eridu. Then we learnt about these Hollows, found the source of the disasters, and created a cure.” Sunday remembered their discussion about what to do first when they were still on the main train.
“I can’t say everything would go like what we have planned. But gaining the mayor's trust was a success. The next step is to convince the people of New Eridu. It wouldn’t be easy.” Dan Heng replied to Sunday.
“Caelus has told me about his first journey in Belobog, where he and you 2 nearly got caught. It must have been a hard time there.” That word of Sunday earned a giggle from March and a huff from Dan Heng.
“Yup! We learnt a real hard lesson from Belobog. Always establish a good relationship first!” March stated.
The carriage finally arrived at the address. The surface was meant for a medium-sized helicopter, not for a carriage, but the AI landed on it anyway. Causing a small shake inside the car.
“Successfully landed.” The AI reported. The trio sighed at the announcement. If there was anything to blame, it would be Caelus’s fault for losing that video game match against Silverwolf.
“His personal beef with that hacker has to be studied. Putting her in charge of upgrading this car instead of Screwllum.” March’s words triggered the AI. It added.
“Caelus also took part in designing me. Also, Silverwolf is a better choice than that b.u.m.” The AI responded instantly. Its voice mimicked the mockery of its creator; it was precisely Silverwolf’s tone.
“Caelus really should have let Firefly fight with her. But no, let my personal beef win out.” The whining from the girl didn’t help Dan Heng, who struggled to open the door.
“Oh, Caelus, do you have to be annoying even when you are absent?” The man said to the metal door.
“I know a good mechanic, we could ask him to examine this thing.” The AI interrupted Sunday’s words.
“Ah, that will require permission from my designers for any modification. Until you have permission, I will not let anyone change even a module of this car.” The AI used Caelus’s voice. From the way it spoke, Sunday quickly realized there was something wrong with this AI.
“Who are you? No AI ever started with the word ‘AH’, and why are you using Caelus’s voice?” The Halovian stared at the speaker on the world, a silent stretch for what felt like eternity. Then the ‘AI’ responded before Dan Heng and March pulled out their weapons.
“… Oops. Should have kept my mouth shut. You may not remember me, but I am the one who faked your sister’s death.” The mentioned Robin made Sunday glare at the speaker. Thankfully, Sunday recognized who was playing the ‘AI’.
“Dormancy? Something Upon Death?” Sunday waited for an answer; the 3 heard scary laughter instead. To their surprise, an entity pulled itself out of the speaker, floating on the metal ground, as its big eyes blinked at them.
“Correct, but I prefer the name Gallagher gave me, ‘Sleepie’.” The purple creature yelled its name out loud. Dan Heng dragged his glove off his face, he knew Caelus was dumb, but not this dumb. March put a hand on her chest; she tried to push out a sound “Ha..ha..ha.” Sunday looked amazed rather than angry.
“When the hell do you even learn to speak?” The memetic entity put a finger from its tiny hand on its jaw.
“After Gallagher had gone to where Mikhaki went. Caelus and Firefly brought me to the Memory Zone, where Gallanger thought it would be suitable for me. And it did! I made a lot of friends with other memetic entities there.” Sleepie scoffed, took a breath through its toothless mouth. Such a scene might be odd and unsettling, not to the Astral Express.
“And then, the 2 came back. Caelus whispered in his mouth, and suddenly I understood everything they said. It was pretty much weird for me to speak and hear normally. Firefly asked if I wanted to become a part of the Astral Express. Honestly, I was kind of anxious at first; the idea of separating from my friends scared me. However, they said I could bring my friends too!” The last sentence indicates there are more than just 1 ‘AI’.
“Come out, everyone.” Sleepie spoke. 2 small entities appeared from the speaker; they had no legs and floated on air just like the big entity. One of them resembled a ball, and the other was just a less scary version of its big friend. It waved its tiny hands at them. March waved back with a smile.
“These are Alsee and Ivan. They can’t speak to you, but they understand your words.” Sleepie pointed its finger at the smaller entities. They nodded their whole bodies.
“…Okay…But how do Caelus take you guys out of the memory zone or Penacony in general?” Sunday questioned them; his eyes scanned the 3 entities.
“It is complicated. But the universe contained multiple possibilities-” Sleepie was cut off when Dan Heng spoke. “It is elation, isn’t it?” “Yup.”
Dan Heng let out a heavy sigh. If someone could ever be able to bend reality, then it would be Aha’s power, the only Aeon of the whole universe that had the ability to cause the most laughable things to happen. And a certain emanator of Aha did whatever she wanted to.
“Guys, I think we may need to get out of the carriage. They are waiting outside, some looked really pissed.” March looked through the window, seeing an orange-haired girl, grabbing her tail, which had a head shaped like a pistol, trying to charge at the carriage.
“Move the carriage somewhere safe. And stay inside, do not go around. We would get in trouble if any of you did.” Dan Heng commanded, he pulled the door with force. He swung it open; the 3 left the carriage back to the entities.
“Oh well, I guess that's all for today. Do you guys see Rafs? I haven’t seen them lately.” Sleepie asked his friends.
“They jumped out?? When??” The entities shook their whole bodies.
“Not my fault; that was an accident!. " Yeah, well, the past or something,” Sleepie said; it was a grunt. The smaller entities would sign of they could.
Belobog, Qlipoth fort. The day before the carriage even entered the atmosphere.
The 2 men appeared in the hall, where they could see the door to the office ahead of them. Gepard nearly tripped; luckily for him, Caelus caught his hand before his butt met the ground. The gray-haired man pulled his friend up.
“I knew you guys were some real crazy individuals, but this immediate travel is hard to get used to.” Caelus chuckled at Gepard.
“Yeah, there are more crazier things. By the way, that beard fits your face.” Gepard touched his blond facial hair.
“Thanks for your kind words. This beard was quite a challenge to maintain, I have spent more time taking care of it than I thought.” They walked slowly down the hall, heading straight to the wooden doors. The chat between a human and an Aeon continued.
“How are Serval and Lynx doing?” Caelus started the convo. Gepard, whose eyes were still on the door, said.
“They are doing fine. Serval buried herself in work, trying to find a way to store as much energy as possible. She and Clara are about to give a speech tomorrow.” Gepard said.
“Lynx and her team go on a journey to discover dead civilizations. It appears that you are very lucky, because she and her team are coming back tomorrow too!” The blonde man grinned at Caelus, who scratched the back of his head.
“Guess it is my day. How about you? Must have been busy with that army stuff, eh?” It was Gepard’s turn to scratch his blond hair.
“No more monsters and robots breaking out, mean lazy soldiers. These guys always find a way to slack off.” He responded.
“Give yourself some time too. The Stellaron is completely neutralized; even so, just call me if there is a big problem. I am stronger now.”
“I won’t forget that.” They reached the doors.
Gepard pushed the large wooden door. Revealing Bronya, the supreme leader of Belobog, who sat in her chair, occupied with reading a paper on her dark-brown desk; she wore a thin glass. Standing right in front of her desk was Selee, watching her closely.
"Lady Bronya, the trailblazer is here at your request." Gepard bowed his head. Caelus stayed silent and observed the whole thing unfold.
Bronya looked up from her desk, while Seele turned her head to the door. Caelus's lips curved down as he saw signs of aging on both of their faces. They were just as human as Himeko and Welt. What prevented his 2 seniors was their blessings of being A Emanator of Akivili.
“Thank you, Gepard. You can leave us alone now.” Bronya put her glass and the paper down. Her eyes met Caelus’s eyes, while Gepard turned back to the door, closing it with a loud click.
“...So how is everything?” The Aeon tried to create something to say. Filling the odd silence of the room.
“Went to the trash can.” Seele’s words earned a giggle from the man.
“Seele, please, the man standing right in front of us is 1 of the heroes saving Belobog from its downfall. Show some respect.” Bronya pointed it out.
“Chill. I’m just joking. Who is standing here right now is Caelus.” Seele pointed her index finger at him.
Before Bronya could say anything, Caelus spoke. “No need for formality, we are friends, and I don’t like being worshipped.”
“Understood. If it wasn’t for these reports of seeing the hero who saved Belobog wandering with the lead engineer, Clara. I wouldn’t even know about your sudden visit.” Bronya coughed a bit.
“I thought you guys forgot about us. I meant, the Astral Express never stopped moving forward, right?” The joy in Seele’s voice was hard to notice.
“Not really; the universe just has a big problem that needs the Astral Express to put all of its power into it.” Caelus chose his words carefully. He could tell that the war had ended.
To his surprise. Bronya stood up from her chair. Seele put a hand on her hips. The room’s atmosphere shifted heavily.
“Then our prediction is correct!” Bronya stated, and she put the paper out to Caelus. Who narrowed his eyes, picking up the sentence on the paper.
“A month earlier, we had just received this valuable information from Xianzhou Loufu. They said a war is going to break out between Aeons.”
“We might not be as strong as your allies, but we will not back down against any threat. Belobog is ready to fight alongside its allies.” Seele stunned the Aeon with her words.
Caelus’s eyebrows frowned upward. Belobog was getting better day by day, nonetheless, their technology was considered primitive from the perspective of the IPC. For a second, he was going to call Himeko. It was Bronya and Seele, they would find a way to understand.
“That war ended 10 months ago.” The sentence slipped out of his mouth. Bronya’s mouth opened widely just like Seele’s eyes.
“WHAT?” Seele shouted the word at him. She was so ready for another fight. Wanted to prove how strong she had become. Now it went ot nothing.
“The spaceship program... ugh...” The supreme leader put a hand on her forehead, rubbing it as if a battle had just broken out.
“Those politicians are going to chew me to the bones. We were prepared to live on their planet in case the war reached us. And the spaceship is now completely useless.” Bronya added.
“On the bright side, that spaceship can be used for future exploration.” Caelus dashed his eyes to the small replica of the spaceship.
His attempt to ease the situation resulted in a boring silence. Therefore, he decided to give her an option “Can you just jail all of the politicians? There will be no complaint if there are no people to complain.”
“I can’t just accuse others of something I did. It is wrong and- are you suggesting dictatorship?” Bronya looked him dead in the eyes. Caelus whispered, avoiding her eyes.
“Fortunately, the program hasn’t gone public yet. Only a few people knew about its existence.” Bronya stated. She let out a small breath.
“Does Clara know about this?” Caelus asked; his mind drifted back to the moment they met. When he promised her that they wouldn’t fight Svarog, just for them to almost turn the ancient into scrap.
“Yes. If it wasn’t for this message, she wouldn’t have enough funds for the program.” The supreme leader said.
“Oh…” Her words hit him right where it hurt the most. Remembering what he said to Clara that he would be there at her funeral. The program would have cost her her entire life just to finish.
“Hey, do you want to attend her speech tomorrow? We are planning to publish the program for everyone; some adjustments are going to be added.” Seele asked with a grinning expression.
“Sure, it is getting quite late already. See ya tomorrow.” He put both of his hands in the cloak’s pockets. And simply disappeared.
“I didn’t know he could teleport?” Seele commented on the way he left the room.
The same day, Dan Heng, Sunday, and March left NEPS station.
“Tell me more about that Xianzhou Alliance! I was caught when sneaking into their spaceship, when they came to pick Luka up!” The big yellow hat on her head was glued on her head; the brown coat hung on her frame. Her eyes looked at the side of his profile.
“How do I tell? They have this vehicle called ‘Starskiff,’ which is just a spaceship, these things transport goods from many worlds. They cause a significant amount of traffic jams.”
“And the people, well, they are pretty much business. Sweet words flew everywhere in the marketplace. And it all took place on a colossal flagship, bigger than a planet.” He stated
“Scary! I wondered who managed all of it at once.” Hook spoke her mind. She kept walking toward the museum. He didn’t. That's what caught Hook’s attention; she turned back to Caelus, whose hand touched his chin.
“Is there something on your mind?” She tilted her head before asking.
“Nothing, the museum is only a few steps ahead,” Caelus replied; he smiled at her. Hook didn’t think much about it, she tagged along.
The exterior of the museum was not different from his memory. The visitors went through the tall pair of doors. So did he and Hook; they entered the building. A feeling of nostalgia hit him, like a fever. The 2 wandered around the place; Hook didn’t look at the artificial; she was searching for the Pela. Caelus did; he looked at the canon, at the art of a red-haired woman. He wondered what if Firefly was here with him. These stories of how he obtained all of this stuff would have made her roll on the ground, laughing.
“There you are!” Hook said to a tall woman with a glass. Pela wrote something on her note and then put it back on her uniform. She looked at the girl, then at him. She suppressed the surprise on her face. Keeping it stoic.
“Hm, Caelus, what brought you here?” Pela asked, just like the others, her height had significantly increased.
“Just visiting stuff. It is nice to see how you keep everything nice and new.” Caelus observed the place for the second time.
“Lynx is back in Belobog; she is putting away all the ancient things from her journey. I was planning to build a new area for them.” Pela responded. Adjusting her glass.
“Great! Can we see her?” Hook asked. Her eyes lit up when Lynx finally came back.
“She is right behind you.” Pela pointed out. Lynx was, in fact, standing right behind them. She was taller than her sister, but as tall as Caelus or Gepard.
Hook was scared when she didn’t hear Lynx’s footsteps; she jumped to the other side. The blond woman just looked at her before saying.
“You asked to see me, and when I am here, as you wished,” Lynx commented on Hook’s reaction. Caelus’s hand touched his neck. Lynx then turned to him.
“Finally come here to visit us? I thought you were out there, exploring the planet.” Lynx ended the sentence. She removed the cap of the vacuum flask, drinking normally.
“Trailblazer can take a little vacation for himself, you know? I heard you went to the dead civilization. So what did you find?” The gray hair man questioned Lynx.
“Some stupid artificials to decorate this museum. It was fun though.” The woman replied, and Hook managed to move back to where she jumped from.
“I did some quick research on those things. And I can say, there is not too much difference from the stuff we use daily.” Pela stepped in the convo.
They exchanged a few words before noticing all the visitors were leaving one by one. The 4 realized what day it was and followed the visitors outside.
The gray-haired trailblazer observed the enormous number of people attending the speech, located in the main district. They all looked at the same stand that Bronya used to mark the day the Stellaron, cancer of the universe, got neutralized.
From his perspective, the stand stood out from other buildings. Only a few decorations, like a few bows and flags, but its size remained the same. Too short for his vision.
Caelus disliked using his authority of Aeon's power outside of fighting or traveling. This time? Adding a few centimeters to his height surely hurt no one. The amber eyes capture sights of Clara and Bronya speaking to a mic strapped to the top of a thin pole.
"People of Belobog. I, Bronya Rand is delighted to announce that Clara, the lead engineer in the space program, after years of hard work, has successfully built a prototype spaceship, which is capable of reaching the stars. This is not only a leap for our civilization, but also proof of our will to thrive”
She moved aside for the white-haired woman to speak. She wore different clothes, a more formal one. Suitable enough for speaking on this occasion.
“I am standing here today to present to everyone here a new form of vehicle. The one that will write another page in our history. Not to forget, the reason why I can stand here, to speak with all of you is thanks to my other mechanic, Serval Landau.” The woman in question, who was a few meters behind Clara. Serval waved her hand to the crowd, smiling.
Caelus was surprised to see Serval still wearing the same outfits from 15 years ago. The dyed part of her hair had its color faded; a small portion of purple still clung to the part. And she looked older; time decorated her face with more wrinkles than Bronya and Seele combined.
Her eyebrow frowned when she saw the hero of Belobog in the crowd. It quickly returned to normal. Clara continued her speech.
“And including others in my team. Without them, this program probably never came close to this day!” Hook starched the back of her hair at Clara’s words.
And the crowd exploded, finally seeing the spaceship. Its massive, oval body was purple as its main color. As it flew past the crowd, they saw the most important part that kept it afloat: a huge yellow ring attached to its side.
Caelus admired the dedication Clara and the others had put into creating such a magnificent thing. They should use it for exploration purposes rather than fighting. The spaceship itself wasn’t as heavily armed as Xianzhou Loufu or as advanced as the Astral Express. Judging from the design alone, it was meant more for long travel.
The ship flew past them and disappeared into the other side of the district. Following was the crowd disassembling itself. He stood there, looking at the coming Clara, Seele, Bronya, and Serval.
“You haven’t replied to my message for over a decade. Mind explaining?” Serval put a hand on her hip, looking at the man in the cloak. Caelus let out a sigh.
“My bad. I don’t usually check my phone, but I am here now.” The response earned him a chuckle. Serval looked at her sister, who gave her a shrug.
“You came to the main district first, but didn’t go to my workshop? Wanna see something cool I just made?” Serval asked
“Lead the way.”