Chapter Text
Stelle wakes up to darkness.
It's nothing too unusual; her room is usually dark anyway during the night cycle of the Express and the light of the stars beyond the window don't reach that far. Sometimes the darkness was accompanied by the fairy lights March put up(despite Stelles protests) but they stayed off most of the time.
However, people don't usually wake up standing on their own two feet. Unless you sleep-walk but Stelle hasn't really gotten a grasp on that, still doesn't really.. get it. But if you want to walk around in your sleep, go for it. Just stay out of her room, she has a habit of smacking people in the face with her bat before asking questions.
Currently, she's standing upright in a pitch black space in her normal everyday clothes with not a single fairy-light in sight. Nor a door, or her window- Hey, actually, where is she?
Looking around it's just darkness in every direction. Up, down- pretty much where ever she looks it's just the inky black. She's definitely standing on something, she can feel it under her feet. It's solid and immovable, exactly like the pathway in that space she entered when Qlipoth gazed at her but this place wasn't bright. It didn't look like it held the universe and it definitely didn't have the big swirling paths of energy being pulled into some kind of bright light. If anything the space reminded her more of the space Acheron took her into except without the massive black hole, no endless ocean either and she hasn't seen any echoes of the people she's met. With a quick pat-down she realizes she's also empty handed.
The Express didn't fly through a pocket of memoria did it? Aeons- At least the crew knew she was sensitive to the stuff and can hopefully wake her up if she doesn't do it on her own first.
Stelle clicks her tongue in disappointment and then any other thoughts disappear with the wind as it echoes and overlaps all around her, the sound floating away faster than any other sound she's ever heard. She picks up her jaw to grin and then cups her hands around her mouth, shouting into the void. "Echo!"
The word sails through the dark, just like the previous sound and disappears just as quickly.
Suddenly, she decides she has to explore this place. It shouldn't be that much of a problem, she has to figure out how to get out anyway right? It can't hurt. Plus, if she takes too long she knows the crew will wake her up if she misses breakfast. She wouldn't dare after all. Not after last time.
With the safety net-slash-excuse in place, Stelle does a complete 180 and begins walking away from her starting point. Despite the fact that her voice was carrying endlessly into the dark, her footsteps don't echo; in fact they don't make a single sound at all. She can't hear her heels clack or the soles of her shoes thump against the solid ground, there's just nothing. It takes a few more steps for her to adjust and as she does she realizes she can't hear anything from herself. The buckles and chains all over her clothes don't make a single sound, even the watch hanging from her hip doesn't clink or ring out.
The Trailblazer won't lie, it's a little unnerving.
Still she keeps walking, looking left and right, taking random turns—anything she can think of to find something in the endless dark. It takes a.. well she's not sure how long it takes or how much time passes but it feels like a long time, but eventually she sees something. It starts off small, a little light in the distance. Once she gets closer and it gets bigger she notices it's a ball. A planet is what her mind supplies her with. She doesn't know where it comes from or how she knows but everything in her mind screams that this thing in front of her is a planet.
Finishing her approach confirms the thought to her. Half of it is dark while the other half is lit by an unseen star. The darker side is covered in webs and constellations of lights while the lighter side is covered in bright colors and reveals continents and biomes. It's not as vibrant as Penaconys Dreamscape and definitely not as dead as Jarilo VI. Alive. This planet is alive. Stelle isn't sure how to describe the things going on in her head when she looks at it, but it's like she can see everyone. Some people glow brightly, some are dim and some of them are even tinted with a golden color.
'Is this how Aeons see things?' Stelle thinks. 'This is weird.'
Reaching a hand forward in curiosity, somehow she's surprised to find that she can interact with things as her fingers slip through the peaceful clouds. She yanks her hand out but the damage appears to be done as it begins to swirl and pull together even more until there's one giant grey eye staring at her from the planets surface, judging her.
Scoffing, the Trailblazer puts her hands on her hips and glares back. "It was an accident! I didn't know it was gonna do that."
After creating a storm(a wanting to get away from the judging stare of the eye) Stelle walks around the miniature planet until she's behind it. She looks out into the distance to find where the light that illuminates the planet is coming from, but there's only more darkness. No sign of light or even a hint that there is something there. Looking up reveals even less. Frowning, she crosses her arms and puts a hand on her chin in thought.
'I still don't know what I'm looking at.' Stelle grumbles. "Ugh- If Dan Heng or Mr. Yang were here, I bet they'd know what to make of it." Maybe she could try to channel them-?
It was definitely a planet, but why was it in this weird void? People were clearly living on it and seemed to be well connected, but there was an itch in the back of her mind. Something was missing from this image. It didn't add up. She was dreaming right? But surely she couldn't have come up with this all on her own?
She decides to take a risk and tries poking at one of the 'lights' she can sense. At the edge of her perception almost but she could focus on it and 'zoom in' like using a camera. It wasn't the light of a city but a person. It wasn't tinted gold nor was it any brighter or dimmer than the ones around it. Hopefully it was just your average person. She doesn't know what she's expecting when she touches it, but feeling some sort of.. resonance probably wasn't it. The next thing Stelle knows, she's in another body. She panics for a moment before realizing she can pull herself back out of the perspective at any second and decides to listen in.
'It's just like the dream peek phones. Plus this is all just a dream anyway right? It's- It's fine!'
"God," an unfamiliar male voice pipes up, "this project is hard." There's a sound in the background, almost like a fan of some sort or maybe an air conditioner? It's good to know her dream realm is advanced enough for that kind of thing.
"Right?" A deeper voice echoes in reply. Their voice crackles kind of, like a phone call or something. Or maybe even a hologram. "Why did Ms. Dorothy give us something like this so soon? We're not even two weeks into school." They seem a little upset.
"At least we were able to partner up for it." The other sighs. "Wanna take a break?"
"Yes please." The deep voice responds. "I'd like to go to sleep if anything, we can pick up where we left off tomorrow."
The Trailblazer pulls back, still confused. "Okaaay? That didn't help me figure out the problem.. Also, 'god'?" Didn't most isolated planets refer to the Aeons as gods? Or create their own? "I think I remember reading that somewhere." She mumbles. Good to know she supposes. Returning her attention to the planet, she 'zooms in' on a different light, this time in the lighter zone.
"Get up! Get up!" This voice is older and clearly a womans. "It's noon! You're going to be late!"
Someone makes a sound Stelle can only describe as tired panic with a curse. "I can't be late for patrol again!"
Patrol? Oh- Stelle realizes now that these people are speaking a completely different language, both areas were, but her Synesthesia Beacon wasn't translating them. Something else is doing it for her.
The conversation continues before she can think it over more.
"That's right! Hurry on over, I'll be there later to drop off dinner. Love you sweetheart! Come home safe!"
Stelle pulls away again and dives in somewhere else. The itch was bothering her more, getting stronger, but she's not really learning anything. They're all just ordinary people living their lives! Even the 'bright' lights! The gold ones seemed to have something to them but it just turned out they were people who had power of some kind. Something's off. She hisses through her teeth as she returns to herself and stomps her foot in frustration.
"What is wrong with this place?! It's just people isn't it? Living and breathing people just going about their day right? So why am I so- so-?!" The silver haired woman practically growls as she holds her head, and bunches her hair into her hands. Then she throws her hands up instead when she remembers March saying that was a bad thing. "Why am I so bothered about this?!"
She takes a step away from the planet. It's normal for isolated places who haven't traveled too far from their planet to have gods. It's normal for them not to talk about or even know about Aeons. It's all normal. The oceans are pretty, the land is bountful, people can be greedy or they can be generous, corporations like the IPC exist on a smaller scale and it's all just..
The pressure in her skull suddenly pops as she makes the realization. Random and tiny details from the scenes she witnessed connecting to dots of other bits of information over and over until it grows into a bigger picture. Regular law enforcement exists - like the Silvermane Guards - and so do armies like the Cloud Knights. They have mass destruction as an option for weapons clearly, she saw that. But-
But where were the Pathstriders?
Even planets without knowledge of Aeons have Pathstriders, they're just mistaken as blessed by their gods. Whether or not the gods are real doesn't really matter in this context. The blessing can be real but Pathstriders follow the Paths of the Aeons. She's seen at least one or two people who could easily have been on the Path of Nihility, another who could have been a Hunt Pathstrider. So why..?
Frustrated and confused, Stelle blinks at the planet trying to unveil it's secrets with her mind, trying to peel away the layers to find the secret it hides. Unfortunately it either works too well, or her dream is starting to fall apart. She can't stop the choked scream that escapes her as she stumbles back in shock and horror at the sight that's replaced the beautiful and alive planet with just a blink. Her hands move over her mouth as she does so, wanting to get away from the gory scene.
In front of her now stands a mutilated and bleeding heart, floating in place of the planet. It the same size, with grey and gold veins swirling around it in a way that almost reminds her of the way Dan Hengs power appears when he uses his Vidyadhara abilities; but it's dim and weak and she's a little too mortified by everything else to think about that too much. Patches of rotting flesh colored a sickly green and blackened with death corrupt the dim glow and leave holes of darkness on the surface in various locations all over it with strips of flesh hanging loosely. Blood, some fresh and some black and rotted, pools on the invisible platform beneath it and the trails along the sides of the organ point to the holes as being the culprit for the disgusting display.
Stelle is quite sure of herself when she assumes it's a dead heart(because there's no way something this rotten and decayed is alive) when she takes a step to go around it. She hopes the planet she was enjoying and unwrapping just moments before is secretly hiding behind it, like this is just a prank for all the poking and prodding she was doing. That's when her assumption is proven wrong. The horrid thing comes to life with a pulse of movement and the sudden beating of the - apparently alive - heart causes more blood to pulse from the holes ripped open and she feels sick when something yellow and clear mixes with it and slides slowly down the side before dripping into the puddle. It beats again and powerful wave rolls over her afterwards, freezing her with shock. The third time causes a thundering sound to reverberate in her ears and through her bones, echoing into her own heart.
Then without warning it pulls at the Stellaron stored in her chest. She'd always been aware of its presence but she knew how to ignore it. She didn't really have to try since it was just a part of her that she was curious about, which led to her frequently forgetting it was even there until someone made a comment about it or told her how warm she was. Feeling that warmth being pulled out of her, the strain she felt as it suddenly pressed against her sternum, made her realize how wrong it felt to have it removed. It shouldn't be possible, but she can feel it. The heart is trying to pull the Stellaron from her chest.
Quickly, the Trailblazer takes a step back and puts a hand over her scar like it'll protect her from the pull. Her heel catches on her other shoe with her swift and panicked movement and falls back. Instead of hitting whatever ground existed however, she finds herself falling right past it. Alarmed, she gasps and reaches out as if she can reach the ledge and catch herself and prevent the fall. She misses and as she free falls her arms flail at her sides to turn her body over and see where she might be headed. A bright light above her catches her eye though and she looks back up.
The heart now stands still, unbeating and clearly dead, but behind it a star has begun to shine and form. It was large, and getting bigger with every second that passed. Something about it called to her, whispered that it was familiar; but she knew that any memory from before was long gone. She didn't remember who she was before Kafka abandoned her at the Space Station, didn't even know how she was able to house a Stellaron in her chest, especially after she learned what they could do.
As it grows to a size comparable to an actual star, something at the edge of her vision catches her attention and she turns to look. Despite her hope that it's help she's met with massive beings, a countless amount, all staring up at the star without a single one carrying a face. A string hangs loosely from all of them, reaching up towards the star and connecting them all like puppets. If she hadn't encountered the replicas of the Aeons in the Simulated Universe; she's sure she could have mistaken the countless beings as THEM THEMSELVES.
What does it mean though? That the gods of this planet are held by strings that connect them to the star above her? She looks up and finds the planet has taken the stars place, the heart missing or no longer visible. An actual planet this time, the size she expects it to be instead of something she can reach for and hold with just her arms. Quietly, a sound begins to reverberate in the silence. It's so strong that she feels the sound before she hears it.
Screams. So much screaming. She can hear madness. Loneliness. Each one seems like a separate, desperate call out into the void around them; hoping and wishing, yet fearing for something to call back. The pain brings her to tears and she opens her mouth, trying to scream back that they're not alone. There's an entire Universe worth exploring, people they haven't met, brilliant things they've never seen before- but her throat doesn't work right. Something blocks her voice.
She tries to reach for the power of the Harmony, to bring her voice to a pitch that will be louder than whatever is blocking her. The hat never comes. Neither does her bat or her lance when she calls for them. She's completely unarmed, vulnerable and alone.
A loud crack echoes through the dark and she sees a long line split the planet nearly in two. Her hands curl against her chest and she pulls her knees up with a wince, but the resounding echoes of more screams don't come. Slowly, the crack expands. Inside is nothing but more darkness, but deeper somehow. Blacker and filled with something hungry. Something angry but patient. Stelle doesn't realize she's stopped breathing until a whine slips out from her lips when tendrils of that darkness reach out and begin to spread across the surface of the planet; searching.
A bright glow comes to life in the center of the darkness, the star from before sputtering to life and growing in size as the tendrils feed it with golden light. The planet splits wider as the star grows even more until the entire thing resembles an eye that stares down at her from above. The gold tinted dots that sit on the surface of the planet glow brighter as they connect to the darkness while the dim lights fall dimmer. The Nameless swallows fearfully as she feels the gaze of the thing above pierce through her, looking directly at the Stellaron sitting in her chest. There's no warning when the pain blooms, smoldering in her center before it begins to burn a path through her body. She cries out as everything catches fire.
Through the pain, she can make out a voice in her mind. It's thick, old. There's an ancient tone to it that didn't reflect in even the voice of the Stellaron on Jarilo VI. Just like it however, there are an infinite amount of voices that make up it's entirety. Young and old, men and women; but it didn't matter. It never mattered when dealing with the Seeds of Destruction.
Come to me.
The prison is weak.
You will be the first witness.
It will be beautiful.
Stelle shoots awake in her bed, a cold sweat soaking her body and a fever so high all she feels is a burning heat. She gasps, bringing a hand up to clutch her chest while the Stellaron burns her alive from the inside out.
Welt. She had to find Welt. He can help. He said he would. He did it before-
She doesn't bother lingering on the nightmare as she throws herself off the bed. The discarded blanket on the floor catches on her foot and stumbles, unable to catch herself before she slams into the wall near the door. It hurts, but the solid real pain brings her attention away from the burning and keeps her from collapsing to the ground. Her arms tremble as she uses the wall to get to her door and once it's open, she pushes down the pain and rushes to find the older Express member.
Elsewhere in the vast Universe, the Master Diviner of the Luofu rushes to make contact with the General.