Chapter Text
The chaos of Herta Space Station rushed by as Himeko led Stelle towards the door to the Parlor Car of the Astral Express. Stelle had been offered to join the Express after she demonstrated proficiency in beating things down with a baseball bat, as well as somehow catching the gaze of The Destruction. Questions were numerous in her head, and as much as a space station populated with some of the smartest people in the universe seemed the logical place for Stelle to figure out what had just happened in the past couple hours of her life, her gut told her that true answers–answers that not only made sense, but also felt right, answers that actually answer instead of merely explain–were to be found in this Train that traveled the stars. It was also manned by an eclectic group of people that Stelle figured would be traveling partners that understood her and would help her along the way.
Stelle followed Himeko into the Parlor Car, where she was taken aback by the luxury of it all. Her mouth agape, Stelle strolled forward, her eyes drinking in the warm and beautiful interior of the train which she would be traveling in for the indeterminate future. Himeko took a seat on one of the couches and watched as Stelle slowly moved through the car, head swaying as her eyes scanned everything they could. March 7th and Dan Heng entered shortly after, March skipping along, obviously excited about the prospect of a new member to keep her company, and Dan Heng being just as dusty and flat as usual. Himeko appreciated Dan Heng’s composure and quiet demeanor, but sometimes she wished that he would emote more. The boy rarely smiled.
“Isn’t it fantastic?” March said to Stelle. “This is where we do most of our business. Hang out, hold meetings, and so on.” March waltzed over to the wall-sized window that looked out into the stars beyond the space station. “These enormous windows let us observe whatever planet we’ve parked at, so during missions, the parlor is kind of like mission control!”
“I… could get used to this,” Stelle said to herself, although Himeko and March both heard.
“Make yourself comfortable, kid,” Himeko said, “Only thing is we don’t have a room for you, but we’ll figure something out.”
“Oh that’s perfectly fine, I can just-” Stelle started.
“You can room with me!” March said with a little hop of excitement. “We can be roomies, Himeko can we be roomies?”
“That’s up to you two,” Himeko said. Stelle looked over to March, who stared at her with those brightly pastel-colored eyes like a dog.
“I will think about it,” Stelle said. Stelle walked over to the sofa and plopped herself down, resting her feet for the first time in a few hours. March followed right behind.
“Oh come on, it’s not like you have that many options! I’m sure you don’t want to sleep in Dan Heng’s room, and I’m sure Pom-Pom wouldn’t be too happy about you sleeping in the parlor…” March suddenly perked up, her face lighting up in realization with a sudden thought. “Oh you haven’t met Pom-Pom yet!”
“Pom-Pom?” Stelle asked, looking to Himeko for an explanation.
“Pom-Pom is doing stuff at the front of the train,” Himeko said to March, “they’ll be back here soon. They know they have a new passenger to greet.” Himeko turned to Stelle. “Pom-Pom is the conductor of the Astral Express. Whatever they say goes. Just don’t be surprised if they don’t appear how you’re probably imagining them.”
The comment puzzled Stelle, but she tried not to think much of it. Her mind was so overloaded with new information and stimuli that it was best for her to leave the questions for later, and to just accept things as they came. For example, March 7th, who had started talking to Stelle about the adventures her and Dan Heng had gotten into in the past. Her story telling style was erratic and chaotic, but even so, the stories she told took Stelle’s mind off of the drowning sense of confusion and overstimulation she felt. Stelle had just woken up on a space station with no memories of who she was and from where she came, and shortly after, she stared headlong into the eyes of Nanook to save the life of this girl that was now all but rambling to Stelle. It was enduring almost, how she bounced in her seat, used not only her hands, but her entire body for emphasis, was constantly kicking her legs or fidgeting with her skirt, and Stelle had to admit that she was kind of cute. So she just leaned back, let her shoulders relax as much as she could, and let the unending stream of words wash over her.
After a couple of minutes, a tall man, well dressed and with a cane, walked into the car. Stelle figured it was Welt Yang, who, from March’s stories, seemed to be the mysterious, deadbeat Dad of the express. Welt walked over to Stelle, and the moment he spoke, Stelle’s suspicions were confirmed.
“So you must be Stelle,” Mr. Yang said.
“It sure is,” Stelle said, “And you must be Mr. Yang.”
“I figured you gathered that from March’s stories?”
“I don’t know, she just started talking and I couldn’t find a mute button so I just kinda let it happen.” Stelle could feel March gazing at her, eyes wide with astonishment and betrayal.
“She does that sometimes,” Welt said under a chuckle. “Well, make yourself at home, we’ll be departing here shortly.” Welt walked off, and instead of March continuing her stories as she had expected, Stelle received a playful punch in the arm from March
“That was so mean! I saved your life, you know, you should be treating me better than that,” March said with a pout.
“And I saved yours, so I guess it cancels out,” Stelle said, smirking.
“That’s not how this works!” March was about to continue her argument when a small bunny-like creature walked up to Stelle and March.
“We are departing from the station in ten minutes.” They then walked off.
“Thank you, Pom-Pom,” Himeko said.
“You were not wrong when you said that they would look different than whatever I had in my head.” Himeko merely shrugged.
The frost-laden planet of Jarilo-VI floated outside the window of the Astral Express, and the Parlor car was quiet. The crew of the express were now winding down and getting ready to go to sleep, as everyone was tired from the events on the Herta Space Station, and the adventure that lay ahead of them seemed as if it wouldn’t be simple, either. Stelle stood at the window, looking at the white planet, silently appreciating the still beauty of it, as well as the peaceful silence of the car around her. Stillness and peace were what Stelle needed most, and so she indulged in the moment she got alone.
“Hey,” a warm voice said behind Stelle. She turned and saw Himeko approaching. “You know where you’re sleeping tonight?”
“Oh yeah, I can just sleep in March’s room.” Stelle said, turning back towards the window. “I feel weird about sleeping in a common space like this, so I can just sleep on her floor.”
“Are you sure about that?” Himeko said, “You might never sleep again.”
“She might be energetic, but she’s only human. I bet she’s just as exhausted as any of us are.”
“You’d be surprised,” Himeko said. “Well I’ll let March know. Pom-Pom can give you a floor-mat to sleep on and some blankets and pillows, although Akivili knows March needs more of those in her room.”
Stelle turned around again. “Thanks, Miss Himeko.”
“You’re welcome, kid. And please, just Himeko.” Stelle just nodded. The thought of sleep made her eyes droop and exhaustion suddenly stole her voice.
“Welcome to the Astral Express, Stelle. I think you’ll like it here. Goodnight.” Himeko turned and walked towards her quarters, and after one more glance back at Jarilo-VI, Stelle made her way to March 7th’s room.
Sleep did not come to Stelle easily that night. Glimpses of the day before, flashes of Kafka’s face, Nanook’s gaze, absorbing the massive amounts of energy that should have killed her, all of it replayed in her mind over and over again. She saw Kafka, somehow, putting the Stellaron into her body, and she could feel the energy pulsing inside her, warm and electric, lighting up her veins like her blood was replaced with fire. And every time she did drift off to sleep, she was jolted awake by a flash of the eyes of The Destruction, brow damp with sweat and heart racing, forcing her to start from square one and fall asleep all over again.
A little while after the third time Stelle had jolted awake, March 7th, who Stelle assumed was fast asleep in the bed above her, filled the tense silence of her dark room:
“Having trouble sleeping?”
Stelle slowly opened her eyes. “Yeah,” she croaked. “You neither?”
“Yeah, I’m tired, but my mind isn’t shutting down.” Stelle could hear March roll over, and Stelle did the same. They were both on their backs now, both blankly staring at the faintly illuminated ceiling of March’s room. The room remained in silence for a number of moments.
“So you remember nothing from before we woke you up?” March asked suddenly. “On the spaceship, I mean.”
“I mean, I guess–” Stelle started.
“You don’t have to answer that if you don’t want to, I was just curious,” March interjected.
“No no, it’s fine,” Stelle said, “I was just going to say that I remember a couple of things, but really nothing that makes sense.”
“Like what?”
“A woman named Kafka talked to me while I was in this super foggy daze. She kept telling me to listen, and that I was going to go on a journey where a lot of things wouldn’t make sense, and that those questions would have answers in time.”
“Anything else?”
“Nope. That’s it.” The image of Kafka played in Stelle’s head again. Those pink pupils pierced her and the warm, maternal voice comforted yet confused her.
“I’m almost jealous of that, considering I remember absolutely nothing.”
“Ignorance can be bliss, though.”
“And meeting you is making me realize that for the first time.” March sighed. “I don’t know if my remembering nothing is better than being left with remnants of memories that can confuse and haunt you.”
“You also have to remember that I have been awake for no more than thirty-six hours at this point, so give me time. Maybe I’ll sort through them, or remember something else. Who knows. Maybe I’ll have it better in the long run.”
“I don’t think we should think about it in those terms.” March rolled over again to face the direction in which Stelle’s voice was coming, although she couldn’t see her. “We’re both girlies with amnesia, we shouldn’t make it a competition.”
“I guess so,” Stelle said in almost a whisper. She readjusted the pillow beneath her head and shuffled her blankets around trying to make her position more comfortable, but nothing was working, and she quickly gave up.
“Hey March?” Stelle asked. March gave a soft “hmm?” in response. “Thank you for offering to take me on board. This just feels… right, somehow.”
“Hey, if I see a cute stray dog, I’m going to adopt it, that’s just how these things go,” March said with a smile that even Stelle could hear.
“This…uh,” Stelle started. She lifted herself onto her elbows and faced March's bed. She could feel herself blush as she prepared to say what she wanted to. “This might be an odd question but…would you mind if I slept up there? Just for one night I just need to get to sleep and having somebody else there–”
“Sure,” March said, cutting off Stelle’s nervous ramblings. “Plenty of room, plenty of pillows.”
Stelle paused, surprised that March said yes, then rounded up her blankets and climbed up onto March’s large and extremely soft bed. This’ll be bad for my back but it’ll be worth it, Stelle thought. She slipped under the large covers, and was met with the resting face of March 7th, who had her eyes closed and was breathing softly, although Stelle could tell she wasn’t asleep. At the very least, Stelle was right about one thing: March wasn’t always made of pure energy. She could be peaceful. She could be still. She could be quiet. It’s just a rare occasion when another person gets to see the side of March that isn’t always bouncing and energetic with no concrete focus. And that peace in that moment turned March 7th, the girl that invited Stelle on board, from the girl who Stelle saw as cute and quirky, to a girl that was beautiful and nuanced.
Stelle tore her gaze away from March with a heavy blush, turned over and closed her eyes. She smiled as she imagined the sleeping girl next to her, and while her heart fluttered, she somehow fell soundly asleep.