Chapter Text
Caelus sat on one of the couches of the Astral Express. He taped away at his phone, playing a game to pass the time. The Astral Express had returned to Penacony for a bit after their excursion back at the Xianzhou Luofu. It wouldn’t be much longer until their next departure. Caelus was enjoying some relaxing time to himself. Himeko and Welt were chatting amongst themselves in the corner of the parlor car, Pom-Pom was moving around performing their usual cleaning duties. It was nice and calm, for once.
Then, suddenly, Caelus’ phone dinged, notifying him of a new message. He didn’t recognize the number. He paused his game to check the message. The message read, ‘Hello. Is this Caelus, of the Astral Express?’ Caelus taped away at his phone. ‘Is this spam? Unsubscribe’ He typed back. There was a long pause before he received another message. ‘This is Sunday’ the message said. Caelus’ eyes went wide, and he stood up from his seat. Everyone in the parlor car turned to look at him, surprised by his sudden movement. Caelus’ phone received another message. ‘Can you meet me in front of the Reverie Hotel in the Dreamscape? I’ll be waiting’. Caelus stared at his phone for a while, not sure what to make of it. As far as he was aware, Sunday had been arrested by the Family, and that was that.
Himeko walked up to Caelus, putting her hand on his shoulder. “Caelus?,” she asked him, a noticeable concern in her voice, “is everything ok?”
The Astral Express all made their way to the Reverie in the Dreamscape. A single male figure stood in front, unmoving as the many guests walked around him. He stood there, staring at the hotel. Upon the Express crew arriving, he finally turned to face them.
“You actually came,” Sunday said, a note of surprise in his voice, “all of you came together, in fact.” Caelus thought it might have been a trick, some kind of scam, or Sparkle messing with him again. But, here he was, Sunday, the man they had fought against to save Penacony not that long ago.
“Of course we came,” said Himeko, stepping forward. Despite the situation, she had her usual level-headed composure. “We have a lot of questions for you, Mr. Sunday.”
“Yeah!,” Caelus shouted out, putting his hands on his hip. “Like, first of all, how did you get my number?!” he yelled, pointing his hand at Sunday.
Dan Heng closed his eyes and shook his head. “Is that really the most pressing matter at the moment?”
“Ugh!” March grunted, rolling her eyes. “Why aren’t you in prison or something!?” Unlike Himeko or Dan Heng, March could not sound cool and composed. She was always one to show her emotions, and she had some strong ones in regard to Sunday.
Sunday looked at each one of them in the eyes, one by one. Unlike all the times he had interacted with the crew of the Astral Express, he was not putting on a smile. His calm, collected, and friendly veneer was gone. His eyes were half open, his face was sunken, and he wore an empty expression on his face. He looked angry, or sad, or maybe he looked like he didn’t feel anything at all. “It appears,” he finally spoke, “that the Family has made some sort of deal with the IPC. I don’t know the details of their agreement, but the Family has released me, for the time being. I was approached by that witch in the Strategic Investment Department to tell me I could leave.”
“The Family has been negotiating with the IPC since the Charmony Festival ended,” Welt said, “but why, would your release be part of the agreement?”
“Like I said, I don’t know the details, but...” Sunday paused. “I believe it has something to do with Robin.”
“What!?” March shouted. “So, after everything you did, you just get away scot-free?”
“I didn’t say that,” Sunday retorted. He took a deep breath, as if he had to physically prepare himself for what he had to say next. “I have 20 system hours to leave Penacony. Forever.”
“You’ve been banished?” Dan Heng asked.
Sunday nodded silently. “That is all fine and well, Mr. Sunday,” Welt said, “but what, exactly, does that have to do with us?” Sunday turned to Welt. “You wouldn’t have asked him to meet you hear just to tell him that. You likely have something to ask.”
“As astute as usual, Mr. Yang.” Sunday responded. “I wished to see you one more time before I leave, in this grand universe, who knows if we’ll ever meet again. I wanted to ask you some questions.”
Caelus wrapped his hand around his chin, looking puzzled. “What kind of questions?”
Sunday took another deep breath. “I want you to make me understand, understand why I lost. I dedicated my life to the Order and to save humanity, yet here you all come along, and in a mere few days undo everything. Is the power of the Trailblaze truly so great, is it your strength as a group, or…” Sunday pauses, “or have I been wrong my entire life.”
No one said anything. There was an awkward air that hung over them all. Finally, Himeko spoke up. “I’m sure we could have a very long conversation about this, but the fact is, there is no single reason you lost. I’m sure we’d all have different answers to your questions.”
“I want to hear them,” Sunday said. “I need to hear them.” Sunday looked desperate. He was clearly not taking his loss well. Sunday had built his entire life around the Order, it was not an exaggeration to say that with the Order’s plans foiled, he had no purpose in his life.
“How about this,” Himeko spoke up. “You said you still have 20 hours to leave, right?” Sunday nodded. “How about we take a little trip around Penacony, see the sights. We can have this conversation on the way.”
“Huh!?” March gasped, “are we actually gonna go along with this!?”
Himeko placed her hand on March’s shoulder. “Relax, March, I highly doubt he’s going to try anything against us again.” March seemed to relax a little at Himeko’s reassurance. “How about we all take turns, I’m sure we’ll all have some things we’d like to say in private. Does that work with you, Mr. Sunday?”
Sunday stared at Himeko. Be blinked his eyes in surprise. He didn’t actually expect them to even give him the time of day, yet, here they were agreeing to his request. “Y-yes, thank you, Miss Himeko.”