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March is dead.
No plot twists.
No surprise memetic entity, speaking in riddles about her fate.
Just an irrefutable truth – that she was dead and gone, and the empty silence of the Express proved it.
“Dan Heng.”
Stelle had barged into the data bank to find him standing quietly at the entries of their journey. The darkness of the room shrouded his figure in a neon glow; the flickering illumination of screens.
“...I can't accept this,” Stelle told him.
“I don't want to accept this either,” Dan Heng replied, without turning. “But we have to.”
Stelle braced herself for what she was about to ask.
“...I know you have Dan Feng's memories regarding resurrection."
A cup tipped over his desk, the spilled waters trilling against the floor tiles and resonating with his restrained emotions.
“I know that you are grieving,” Dan Heng said warningly. “But do not approach this topic. Not now. Not knowing what the past had meant to me.”
“I need your help,” Stelle pressed on. “No one is more knowledgeable than you about this topic. You've tried to hide your knowledge of the Transmutation Arcanum, but you've retained all the practical knowledge of your past life. You know exactly the steps Dan Feng took to achieve those results, how his magic was used, and what could be done differently with that process.”
“...I said–”
“And even in this life you have researched resurrection more than anyone. I saw all those notes you've compiled in Amphoreus. We can bring her back, just as you did with me.”
“That's enough!”
The distance between them closed in an instant. Cloud Piercer slammed– loud against her ear and striking at the wall of the Data Bank.
Stelle didn't flinch.
Strands of gray hair, severed from the impact, drifted down in the aftermath.
Her golden eyes won't back down, and Dan Heng can't bring himself to meet them.
“When I boarded the Express,” Dan Heng began. “I likened this place to the Shackling Prison. There was no other place in the cosmos I was permitted to exist, and the Express was no different in that regard.”
“You may find it laughable. That I gave myself comfort through familiarity. Living in darkness, sleeping on the floor, and reading to run away from my thoughts.”
“Miss Himeko and Mister Yang respected my decisions and gave me ample space to curate my own peace. But March, she…”
Dan Heng's voice trailed off. He took a staggering breath in, and Stelle carefully reached out to hold him.
Even with all of his frustration, Cloud Piercer vanished and he sank into her arms.
“She had a way of getting into everyone's business. Before I knew it, the darkness of the data bank became lively, and my sparse use of our Express fund meant she had more to spend for herself. Even reading became more than just running away, because even though reading was my hobby, bothering me while I was doing so became hers.”
“As two people who didn't have a home to go back to, I once told her that we wouldn't be alone anymore. And dying… dying feels like going on a journey alone.”
Stelle squeezed his shoulders.
“......I know.”
Dan Heng was silent for a long time.
“I want her back more than anything. I want the chance to apologize to her for failing to protect her. But I… I can't help you.”
Dan Heng pulled away. His eyes were red and swollen, like he'd been crying for hours.
“Do not ask this of me, Stelle. Please.”
“I didn't ask this lightly,” Stelle said. “I know this is a painful request, but I still had to try. I'm sorry.”
A beat passed. Stelle took a deep breath in, resolute.
“With or without your help, I will still walk this path.”
Dan Heng snapped to attention.
“Even if this could tear everything apart? Even knowing how it played out 700 years ago?”
Stelle nodded, smiling softly.
“Because this is the path to Trailblaze with her again. If I stop here, then this will be as far as I go.”
Her eyes were shining.
“I will not reach that same ending. I’'ll trailblaze a new way forward. I won't ask again, but know this: I need you, Dan Heng.”
“......”
Stelle turned to leave.
Before the doors of the data bank slammed shut, she spoke the words he's heard from her, over and over again on this trailblaze journey:
“When there is the chance to make a choice, make one that you know you won't regret…”
The members of the Astral Express were wracked with grief, and could not accept the death of March 7th. Pain changes people. Lines were crossed and unlikely actions were taken.
Eventually, the guard of the Express made a choice that he would not regret.
Together, they trailblazed a path to the original homeworld of the Vidyadhara. In its depths was a secret worthy of being called The Elixir.
It was a perilous world to trailblaze. Stelle earned Yaoshi's gaze and became a powerful pathstrider of the Abundance.
Not long after, March 7th's resurrection begun.
That was an event known in the cosmos as the rise of the 8th Lord Ravager.
No one could have predicted this. Perhaps it was only wishful thinking that this journey would go as smoothly as Stelle hoped it would.
The other half of the Nameless convinced the barely formed Anti-Destruction Alliance that because this stemmed from an internal issue, they would lead the charge to quell it themselves. In the tragedy to follow, the Astral Express stood at its centre.
The 8th Lord Ravager was made of Six-Phased Ice.
It was as though her body were made of a shifting mound of countless March 7ths. Every shard in her colossal body shared her likeness, and every wound inflicted echoed her cries across the galaxies.
Himeko stood on the glass-like surface of the Lord Ravager's body. She held a letter to her chest:
To the forever darling of the Express.
“They say that the Trailblaze can connect our hearts across time and space,” Himeko told the monster. “I wonder if these words will reach you, as you are.”
I often think back to what you were like when we first found you amongst the stars.
“The glabella is the weak point,” Himeko reminded herself. “I have the device created by the Anti-Destruction Alliance to seal the Lord Ravager once and for all. They gave everything for a chance to let March rest. Failure is not an option.”
The device hung heavy in her arms. It was in the shape of a blade, pulsating with the weight of synergizing path energies.
Carefree, fresh-faced, and always letting curiosity guide your way forward with boundless optimism.
Starskiffs flew in long arcs of light, their orbits leaving streaks upon the horizon as they bombarded her with hellfire.
Himeko rushed forward, racing into position.
Even though you’re still just a child, in the blink of an eye, you’ve achieved feats even the geniuses had great difficulty in accomplishing.
The Lord Ravager opened her myriad of mouths.
Himeko winced at the deep ache that hollowed out her mind as the ambient memoria was consumed. Memories served as fuel for the destruction, and she desperately clung to each previous memory.
At this proximity Himeko collapsed as memories were carved out of her. She clutched her head, fighting to retain her sense of self.
You have become a Trailblazer capable of protecting Dan Heng and Stelle with your miracles.
Himeko forced herself to stand.
The words she wanted to say became her anchor, reminding her of who she was, and what she was fighting for.
But what I want to tell you is this: Growing up is important, but being a child of the Express Crew is just as important.
The Lord Ravager’s energy beam traced the stars.
Explosions followed in its wake, bursts of smoke and energy that bloomed bright and beautifully for the lives snuffed out--loudness escalating until even sound was destroyed and the cosmos fell to silence.
The shockwave alone knocked the air out of Himeko’s lungs. But even with her breath stolen from her, she could not stop.
Himeko raised the device and struck.
Even if that just means spacing out…
The Six-Phased Ice fractured, blood bursting from the crevices.
Counting the stars to see how they connect…
The 8th Lord Ravager screamed in agony.
Or making a bet with Stelle over who has to drink my newly brewed coffee…
Himeko echoed her pain.
She drove the blade deeper into the wound.
In short, here on the Astral Express, you can always rest easy as a pampered child. When in doubt, just sleep on it.
One of the Lord Ravager’s many faces seemed to lock eyes with her as she spoke in a garbled choir:
“Miss… Himeko...?”
Himeko stumbled towards it. She placed a bloodied hand over those eyes, brushing them closed.
“...And when you wake up, we'll still be right here together, continuing the Trailblaze,” Himeko whispered to her.
Your Family, Himeko.
“Good night, March. May you never wake up again. Seems like neither of us can fulfill the contents of that letter.”
In the diminishing chaos of the battlefield, a presence approached from behind.
It was Stelle.
A powerful Pathstrider of the Abundance and wishing star of the Express.
Himeko wanted to wish that none of this had ever happened.
“I had always believed in your intuition," Himeko told her with a trembling voice. "And allowed you to run as wild and freely as you wished. But maybe, that was a mistake.”
A flick of her wrist, and her briefcase unfurled into a myriad of weaponry.
“As the Navigator of the Express, it was up to me to guide the young Trailblazers. And now, I need to teach you both the error of your ways.”
“Leave Dan Heng out of this,” Stelle said. “You know he would never have repeated the choices of his past on his own. I forced his hand through my insistence.”
Stelle raised her weapon. They have always been varying degrees of ridiculous depending on what kind of pathstrider she decided to be.
As a Pathstrider of the Abundance, it was March's camera.
It worked like this: If she takes a picture of an ally in a healthy state, then she can instantly restore them to that state if they get hurt. Even if those injuries are fatal. If she takes a picture of an injured enemy, she can return them to that injured state no matter how they recuperate.
It was a frightening ability that could cure the disease known as time. It gave her an authority over the Abundance that could undo her enemy's healing, and re-inflict damage dealt in the past.
Snap!
Stelle made a show of taking a selfie, peace sign and all, but it would be foolish to assume that was the only photo she had in her repertoire.
In the past, Himeko would've found her unseriousness endearing. But to be able to joke, as they stood on the crumbling Six-Phased ice beneath them...
Himeko felt her stomach twist.
“I'm ready, Miss Himeko,” Stelle told her. “You are right to be angry, and I will accept all of the anger you have. But even so I promise you: I will bring back March!”
“Even now, you still don’t understand,” Himeko whispered her despair. “We are long overdue for a lesson. Young one, I know you only meant the best, and I had trusted you to know better. But I see now… that I should have used discipline!”
A satellite’s target system locked onto Stelle.
Himeko pulled the trigger.
That ‘lesson’ took a long, long time.
It was a war of attrition against someone who could not be killed nor exhausted.
Afterwards, Stelle joked that if she died 33 million more times, she would've beat Phainon's record. The tenacity of her will is truly outstanding.
As for the 8th Lord Ravager, she mysteriously awakened each time she was struck down. The Anti-Destruction Alliance felled her over and over again, until they successfully sealed her. With the catastrophe quelled, the main forces eventually retreated back to their corners of the cosmos.
However, this transgression over life and death drew the ire of many factions, especially the Xianzhou Alliance.
The Sedition of Imbibitor Lunae had a second chapter, and the Hunt was relentless with their pursuit. Eventually, the Cloud Knights stormed the ancient temple where the rest of March 7th slept.
“While one deals with the fallout, the other stays to protect what matters. A fitting tactic for the Trailblazer and the Guard.”
The great expanse of the hall, illuminated by the sifting streaks of a water's surface, echoed with the footsteps of the soldiers.
“A Lord Ravager that could not be destroyed, only sealed. One may interpret that her heart beats elsewhere in the cosmos. Your presence confirms it… the 8th Lord Ravager's core must be here as well.”
Jing Yuan approached the young dragon. His back was turned as he sat quietly in front of a pearl, reminiscent of a Vidyadhara egg.
Dan Heng barely acknowledged him.
“Jing Yuan…”
“I wonder,” Jing Yuan mused. “What wish did she make upon the Stellaron, and what secrets did you learn about the Permanence that could have possibly produced a Lord Ravager as a mere by-product of the intended result?”
Jing Yuan eyed the crystals that surrounded that egg like a nest.
“Or perhaps it had to do with that young lady's unique constitution. Curious still, that the Plaugues Author personally found interest in your plight in this life.”
No one dared to move.
The waters seeping through the temple's cracks echoed their drip drip drip as the General waited for Dan Heng's response.
“What's wrong, friend?” Jing Yuan continued. “It isn't like you to stay silent with such an interesting topic at hand.”
“....They were right,” Dan Heng finally said. His voice was a careful neutral. “I am Dan Feng. Even after witnessing the consequences of my actions, I do not regret them. Not in this life and not in the life before.”
“Even if I could turn back the hands of time, and I were to stand at the crossroads of laying March to rest, or trailblaze a path to her return, I would not choose differently.”
Dan Heng placed a hand on the egg as if it gave him strength.
“Because only I could make that choice and give my companion a tomorrow.”
Jing Yuan's face was unreadable.
“Then I'll speak candidly, old friend,” he sighed. “You haven't changed. Even in this life, you would still rid yourself of your future if it meant it would ensure your companions would have one. The life free from the shackles of the past you had once fought tooth and nail for… you gave up being ‘Dan Heng’ the moment you made that choice.”
Jing Yuan looked at the pearl. The faintest sight of a pink haired girl, his grand disciple, could be seen within.
“And just like back then, it is because you all are my friends that I find myself unable to take sides.”
Dan Heng grew irritated at the words.
“You stand before me with your soldiers, and you dare to utter such nonsense. What of your own opinions, Jing Yuan? Must another's voice be a prerequisite to your own?”
“Even if the fruit of the tree rots and spoils, its roots remain unchanged. Our friendship begun with the shared goal to protect the Xianzhou Loufu, and my stance before I joined the High Cloud Quintet has not changed in the near millenia.”
“Then spare me your poetry,” Dan Heng said to him. “Read your charges, General. I know you have come to take me away, and I know what comes next is inevitable.”
“I have none to read, Dan Feng. The crimes are all the same. You have already heard them all.”
Dan Heng stood. As he turned to face him in full, to meet that golden eye of his and the regiment of Cloud Knights, something within him seemed to break.
This was already far beyond the point of no return.
“...I didn't want it to come to this,” Dan Heng said, quietly. “I never wanted to cross blades with you as well.”
Jing Yuan smiled.
“It is because we understand each other that this is difficult,” Jing Yuan replied. “Consider the trials we face as a blessing, for if this were easy, then the fruits we have nurtured were naught but a paltry sum. We must do what we must as men of our stations. You have something to you still wish to protect as well, don't you?”
Dan Heng almost scoffed. He spoke under his breath.
“... ‘as if every sentence must add something of profound value’ was it…?”
Jing Yuan must have heard him because his amiable disposition disappeared.
“Farewell, old friend.”
Cloud Piercer was drawn.
So was Starfall Reverie.
If bringing March back was a sin, then…
Dan Heng steeled himself, currents rising and sharpening themselves into azure spears.
“Cloud Knights. Prepare yourselves!”
Dan Heng’s warning was carried by the rumbling tides.
“You face the unpardonable sinner of the Loufu!”
I alone faced General Jing Yuan and his forces, and later the reinforcements sent by the Xianzhou Alliance.
Rain and lightning filled the sky as we fought for weeks. It wasn't until Stelle arrived that I was able to make my escape into the stars.
Dear Mr. Yang,
I know our actions must have disappointed you. I’m sorry for all the pain and all the trouble we have caused, but we still had to try.
March’s journey stopped at a destination she didn’t choose, while ours kept racing on towards the future. How is this trailblazing?
In the trailblaze, no one gets left behind.
Just as she had once given everything up to save us, we will do everything we can to bring March back.
In case it doesn't work out, and we don't make it back to the Express, I've included Dan Heng's notes on the procedure. Please give them to Madam Herta. She'll know what to do.
- Stelle
To Stelle and Dan Heng,
I have received your letter and the documents. You both must have gone through immense hardship to attain these achievements.
Although I can't say I support your methods, I understand deeply the sentiment behind the action.
There is no turning back the hands of time. You weighed the vast galaxy against the smallest chance of bringing back March, and made your decision.
But your actions have severe consequences. You both will be pursued relentlessly to the edges of the cosmos as criminals, and Himeko– [the sentences that follow are crossed out many times] is heartbroken.
Despite it all, the Astral Express will always be your home and your safe harbour.
That will never change, no matter how much the stars do.
- Welt Yang
Mr. Yang was caught in the middle of all this.
With Himeko's defeat, and then the Xianzhou Alliance’s failure to capture us, he was forced to choose: to stand with us or against us.
In the end, he chose to leave the Express along with Miss Himeko. Sunday had long since disembarked as well.
Sorry, March.
All of this must hurt to read.
When you wake up, I won't run. We won't hide the truth from you either. You deserve to know everything, and to make your own choices after witnessing our sins.
In an ordinary afternoon, March opened her eyes.
The room swam out of focus for a long time, as if her eyes weren't used to seeing. But she could feel where she was. A warm blanket, soft pillows, and the light scent of flowers.
She turned her head, neck stiff. On one side, a dark expanse could be seen through what might be a window. On the other was a man with long black hair and white garments, quietly reading at her bedside.
This was her room on the Astral Express.
March stared until the man came into focus. The azure horns were a dead giveaway. Only one person she knew had those and also liked reading.
“Um… Dan Heng…?”
“...!”
A gasp.
“It’s me, March. You're awake!” Dan Heng exclaimed. He dropped his book and swirled to attention. “How are you feeling? …Does it feel strange anywhere?”
“Strange…?” March echoed. “No, as a matter of fact I feel great. Like I'm good as new!”
“That's… that's great to hear.”
Dan Heng was the one who was strange. Despite smiling from ear to ear, there was a tense energy about him that she couldn't quite name.
“You sure are chipper. Did you miss me that much? And why are you so tall?” March asked. She looked around. “Are we in Amphoreus somehow?”
“A lot has changed. March..." Dan Heng told her. His voice sounded so heavy. "It’s been 30 years.”
March blinked at the revelation.
30 years…?
So he says, and yet her room hasn't changed a bit. The wall of photos still showed the usual images, and even the placements of her stuffed animals stayed the same.
“No way. You’re joking right?” March said, incredulously. “You found a way to shapeshift into your older self and now you’re pulling a prank on me. Or could it be…. You’re actually Dan Heng’s brother!?”
“I’m not joking,” Dan Heng said blandly. “Although I could try to change into a younger appearance if this one is too shocking.”
March giggled. She could practically hear the your-imagination-is-running-wild-again in his voice.
“Ahh, kids grow up so fast,” March sighed. She retreated further into the sheets. “No need for that. You’re still the same old Dan Heng to me!”
Dan Heng looked at her pensively.
“But still… 30 years?? Everyone must be really old by now. How are they doing? Ah– did I get wrinkly!?”
March raised her hand to examine it, then reached up to feel the plush of her cheeks.
At least she felt young.
“You're fine, March. You look just like you did before you fell asleep.”
“Whew! See, what'd I tell you?” March beamed. “I've got centuries on you!”
“You're not able to say that about height,” Dan Heng pointed out. “30 years later and you're still as short as ever.”
March opened her mouth to snap back, but found she had no words to say.
“Ugh, that's a way too witty comeback for someone who just woke up. Give a girl a break!”
Dan Heng smiled helplessly. His lips were pressed thin.
March couldn't take it anymore.
“I've been to ask. Are you okay?”
“I'm fine," Dan Heng replied easily. "What makes you ask?”
“I dunno. It just seemed like you were secretly hurt, or something.”
“.....”
Before Dan Heng could come up with a response, the intercom buzzed with an incoming call.
A familiar man flickered onto the hologram, but her memories were too foggy to remember who this was.
“Dan Feng. The situation has changed. We require your assistance.”
“Understood,” Dan Heng said to him. “I'll make my way over.”
The hologram flickered shut and March frowned.
“You’re not gonna tell him off for calling you Dan Feng?”
“It’s… a long story, March,” Dan Heng decided. “If you're feeling up for it, do you want to go for a walk? We can go meet up with the others. Stelle is with them. We'll tell the story of the last 30 years together.”
"Do I...!!"
March shot up in excitement, only to wither back down at the dizzy spots from sitting up too fast.
“Take things slowly,” Dan Heng said, with amusement.
He offered his hand, and she takes it. He helped her up with delicate movements, as though she could shatter at any moment.
“This time," Dan Heng promised. "I'll protect you.”
I often wonder: If I gave up everything to bring you back, if I could no longer be called the Dan Heng you journeyed with, would you still wish to trailblaze with what's left of me? Would you take me as I am now?
Stelle thinks so. She still calls me ‘Dan Heng’, but
who I waswho I hoped to be would not have made those same choices.When you wake up, and when you learn of our long journey to see you once more, I’ll introduce myself. I look forward to the day we meet.
I had meant to be more objective with this letter. As you would put it, I got all sentimental on you. The entries in the data bank should make up for it.
May you be untroubled in your dreams, and may tomorrow come soon,
- Dan Feng
Guard and Archivist of the Astral Express