Chapter Text
Chapter 1
Stelle stared wide-eyed in horror at the body of Tingyun, her neck twisted at an angle that shouldn't be possible. She knew she had to look up at the Lord Ravager above them, but Stelle couldn't pry her eyes away.
The world seemed to narrow into that point, everything else fading into the background, and the sounds of yelling being drowned by a ringing in her ears, and a pounding in her chest. It was only when Mr. Yang suddenly grabbed her wrist and yanked her out of the way of an incoming attack that she snapped out of it. Stelle looked up at Mr. Yang and saw a bunch of emotions flickering behind his glasses, concern being the only one she could place in the mix of all the other unrecognizable ones. She shook her head quickly and pulled out her bat, then threw herself at the monsters before he could say anything.
Her chest was still pounding even after the ringing had stopped, but Stelle continued to fight. She had to, for Tingyun. All the events after where a blur to her, and each step seemed to make her heartbeat faster and louder. But Stelle refused to stop, because she had to make sure Phantylia couldn't hurt anyone else.
Phantylia fell. At least for now. Stelle thought bitterly, but she finally allowed herself to breathe. Until a sudden wave of fatigue hit her. She felt her bat slip from her grasp and clatter loudly on the ground, but Stelle didn't care anymore. It was over. Then why is it still so loud?
She felt dizzy and out of breath as she stumbled back to the inn, not paying attention to what anyone was saying to her. She felt like she was in some sort of trance as she finally made it back to her room and locked the door behind her. Stelle collapsed onto the bed, turning to look at herself in the mirror. Her hair was disheveled and tangled. There were black bags under her eyes, and small cuts and bruises throughout her face and the rest of her body. Stelle sighed and sat up to grab the first aid kit in her room and started to wrap some of the cuts she had gained. Stelle knew if she didn't, Dan Heng and March would scold her.
“Hey Stelle, are you okay?” March suddenly called through her door, or maybe she had tried knocking already, she wasn't sure.
"You dropped your bat earlier, so Dan Heng and I picked it up" Oh. Right. The bat. She had forgotten about it.
"Oh yeah, I'll-" Stelle's eyes locked onto her chest in the mirror, where the center was glowing brighter than she had ever seen before. Except for on the Space Station, when you almost killed everyone. The Stellaron. Stelle reasoned that must be the cause of her still violently pounding heartbeat. Was she going to hurt someone again? Stelle fidgeted with her Express ticket; no one got hurt last time, she tried to comfort herself. Only because Mr. Yang was there to stop you. You would have killed everyone else otherwise. And now you're a risk again.
"Stelle?" March called out again. Stelle took a breath to steady her voice before she replied,
"Yeah, I'm fine, just tired. I'm going to sleep now." She leaned over to the light switch and turned off the lights, hoping that would convince March. Luckily, it seemed to have worked as Stelle could hear the sound of footsteps slowly fading away.
Hours past of Stelle just sitting there, staring at how brightly the Stellaron was glowing beneath her shirt, waiting, praying that it would dim. She stayed like that until her eyes slowly shut, and she fell backwards onto her bed, sleep having finally overtaken her.
The next morning Stelle felt fine, and the Stellaron was barley glowing anymore, so surely it was all over now, and she could just ignore the fact that any of this ever happened. She was going to go talk to March and Dan Heng like normal and then rest some more. Because there's no way she's needed by a whole government with the manpower to go to war like 10 times a month or something would need anything else from her now.
Well somehow, they still did. While all the injured soldiers were resting, Stelle had to be the one running around fixing stuff. I'm not even from here! Why was I put in charge of fixing up a whole shopping district? Stelle huffed from the box she was using a stool as a break. I also need rest! Can't things like this wait? She looked down at the alley to where three vendors stood talking to each other about something. Stelle wasn't really interested; she just wanted to lie down.
"Besides I'm not even qualified for this kind of stuff, aren't there supposed to be people who do this as their job? Why not get one of them?" She mumbled to herself. Suddenly Stelle felt her phone buzz from her pocket, and quickly pulled it out, looking for any excuse she could get. Hopefully it's Himeko telling me to come back or March wanting to get something to eat.
-Unknown Number-
Anonymous:
Stelle, come to the Divination Commission alone.
I'll send you the coordinates
Don't tell anyone
- Sincerely Yours, Kafka
Stelle:
Kafka... How are you still on the Luofu?
Anonymous:
I can't leave, need your help
Bladie's mara symptoms are getting serious, I can't leave before he recovers
But you know, the bounty on his head has not been canceled yet, he is still the top wanted criminal on the Xianzhou
I need you Stelle, come find me
Stelle:
Where are you? Send me your coordinates
<!> You have received a location message sent by an anonymous sender.
Anonymous:
You'll be here, I'll wait
…
Stelle bit her lip; Kafka was dangerous, and she should be fixing Aurum Alley. Yet Stelle had this weird feeling that Kafka wouldn't hurt her, at the very least. Curiosity got the better of her, so Stelle stood up and slipped into an alley before the vendors could notice she had left.
Stelle:
Okay
-
Stelle stood as she watched the silhouette of Kafka and Blade disappear beyond the gate. Stelle didn't expect Kafka to tell the truth. And she didn't expect to be able to know with a certainty which one was the lie and which was the truth. Even Kafka couldn't read her, so why was Stelle able to read Kafka? She wished she couldn't tell. She wished she didn't ask those questions about herself. She wished Kafka had broken the rules of the game and lied for both.
The reason she existed was to hold the Stellaron. The Cancer of All Worlds, the thing that almost killed everyone on the space station, that had destroyed whole planets, manipulated Cocolia, almost destroyed the Loufu. All she was her sole purpose for existence was to contain it. Was she even a real person? Or am I just a tool to be used for some grand scheme? Everything started to spin, and she could once again feel the Stellaron, getting louder and louder as if mocking her for ever thinking she could be normal. Suddenly her phone buzzed again, snapping her out of her dizzying spiral.
-The Express Trio 🚂💫-
Dan Heng:
The General wants us to clear out some mara-struck that are causing problems. March and I are already on the way.
<!> You have received a location message sent by Dan Heng
Stelle:
Alright, be there in a few
-
Stelle bit her lip, she had to go, or they would get worried, but- what if I hurt them? No, just breathe, it's fine. Nothing has happened and nothing will happen. Everything is perfectly fine and I'm completely okay. I'm going to go, be totally normal, and hit some monsters.
She wrung her hands nervously, and then, casually, nonchalantly go talk to Mr. Yang and make it seem like I'm asking how the Stellaron is doing out of pure curiosity. Or maybe Herta would be better? Stelle's thoughts raced as she walked to the location Dan Heng had sent her. She just had to get through this then she could figure out what to do.
"Stelle! Over here!” Stelle looked up to see March 7th waving very enthusiastically at her, so Stelle returned to her normal blank expression and walked a little faster to join them. Dan Heng squinted at her and for a second, she thought her cover was blown already, but then he just nodded.
"Now that we are all here, we can get going. We just have to clear out this section"- he pulled out a map with a large circle- "We don't know how many Mara-Struck are in here, but hopefully it won't take long"
"How annoying" March sighed,
"Well, the sooner we start the sooner it's over," Stelle mumbled as she pulled out her bat. "Let's go."
Stelle's phone had died at some point, she wasn't sure exactly when, but it felt like hours ago. Besides, it didn't matter the time, it was only over when all the Mara-Struck were gone. But Stelle felt nauseous as she trudged behind her companions. Maybe I should have eaten more, I must be hungry. But she didn't have any more snacks with her as she had eaten them all the day prior, and she knew March would have some but didn't want to worry anyone, so she didn't say anything.
Or maybe it was just the heat; it was shady in Aurum Alley, so she must have just not noticed how hot it was today. However, when Stelle looked up both of them looked fine, and March is supposed to be the one sensitive to heat, not her.
The sun seemed to be shining too bright, making her eyes hurt, and March was chatting with Dan Heng, but she couldn't seem to register what they were saying. And worst of all was the persistent voice in the back of her head, playing what Kafka had said on repeat, and her own fears echoing back.
"You are an artificial body created for the purpose of hosting a Stellaron. From the moment of your birth, it was your destiny to receive the Stellaron at Herta Space Station."
You're not real. All you're going to do is hurt them. They should have left you. Everything seemed to intensify, her thoughts seemed to be yelling, the sun was blinding, her ears were ringing, the small cuts she had obtained stung, and she the nausea hit so hard she felt as though she was going to collapse, but Stelle kept walking, blindly following her companions until they stopped.
"Stelle?" A concerned voice seemed to call, but she couldn't tell who had asked.
"I'm fine. Just tired." She replied, taking a deep breath to clear her vision and stop her head from swimming. March shot a glance at Dan Heng, causing Stelle to panic,
"Really I'm fine, maybe I just need to sit down for a second, but that's all." And now Dan Heng returned the glance to March.
"Let's head back now, we've been doing this for a while, and the remaining shouldn't pose a threat. We can finish it off tomorrow," Dan Heng firmly stated while giving Stelle a look that meant this was final. She sighed,
"Okay fine-"
"Watch out!" March yelled as she threw a shield at Stelle, barley blocking an incoming spear. Stelle whipped around to see that four Mara-Struck had snuck up on them; she metalized her bat and looked over to her companions; they were both already in their battle stances ready to take on the monsters. Just four more, I can get through this.
Dan Heng took the lead as usual, rushing forward first to stab one before jumping back as March threw a shield to block an arrow aimed at him. He signaled Stelle to stay back, so she would only attack if one got close. Stelle stood on stand-by, covering for March if she was using her bow or Dan Heng if his back was turned, and silently she was slightly thankful, but she felt useless. For the most part they were doing fine without her, just like they had before she arrived. They had developed a fighting style that covered each other's weaknesses seamlessly, and she's only been with them for three weeks. If I disappeared, would anything even change? Were they thinking she was useless if she couldn't even go on patrol with them? They had known each other for, well, Stelle wasn't really sure how long, what if they thought she slowed them down, or that the humor Stelle used to hide behind was annoying, or-
Stelle was suddenly jolted out of her thoughts by a claw barley missing her face, causing her to stumble back a few steps. She looked up just in time to see the monster getting ready to attack her again, so she quickly jumped away and swung her bat mid-air, landing a hit on the Mara-Struck, but landing awkwardly causing Stelle to almost fall over. She tried to straighten herself back up, but she was still dizzy from before and it took her much too long to realize she was now split from the group with a giant Mara-Struck monster in between them and its attention on Stelle.
Shoot. She swung her bat again then flashed a quick glance to March and Dan Heng, but they were busy with the other three and might not have even noticed the separation yet. Because they don't need you. Stelle tried to shake away her doubts by reasoning with herself; they were busy and it's completely fine because she can handle this on her own. She's fought by herself many times; this isn't anything new.
Stelle fell into her usual rhythm of fighting solo, that she tried desperately to cling to as she felt her concentration falter, her grip slipping, and hands shaking. Stelle tried to rush forward as she swung her bat, but she wasn't fast or steady enough and missed.
The momentum from the missed swing caused her to fumble as she tried to jump out of the way of the incoming attack; she thought she was able to dodge the spear only to suddenly cry out in pain as claws raked her side. Stelle desperately tried to free herself from its grasp by hitting it as hard as she could, causing her bat to fly out of her hand in the process, but that only seemed to anger it more as it roared. Then in one swift motion it threw Stelle, sending her crashing into the pavement below.
Stelle's vision swam with dark spots, and she could only vaguely make out the monster coming back over to her, but she couldn't move. She was so, so tired. She tried to lift her head or reach for her bat, or anything, but just collapsed back down. Her eyelids felt heavy; she tried to fight them, but they slowly fluttered shut.
All as the Stellaron beat louder and louder drowning out all other noise.