Chapter Text
Stelle was never the same again after the Amphoreus mission. Each member of her crew had managed to cope in their own way; they weren’t novices at this, they already had experience and were able to handle their emotions and the tragedy that surrounded this planet—or rather, this cluster of codes. Each time, they would proudly recite ‘Ad Astra Per Aspera’ and press on.
She saw how, every time, everyone would excitedly ponder their next space voyage. And whilst she had once shared that excitement, now a fragment of her heart ached — not physically, but mentally. Something was hurting her mentally, something for which no doctor had a cure.
Amor non est medicabilis herbis. Nothing could help her.
She left her room and made her way to the main part of the Express. It felt rather empty now, as everyone except her was already there. Every now and then, her friends from across the world would visit her on the ‘space train’, so she rarely saw it empty. There was always someone there; most often it was Sparxie, who had made a bit of a tradition out of playing card games with the rest of them almost every Sunday. In which, of course, she cheated; the game was more about fun than serious play.
Only her friends from Ampoherous had ‘visited’ her once. And it hadn’t even been long enough or real enough — too little.
Stelle opened the door and immediately heard March’s loud voice.
“Are we going to Planet Screwllum?!”
followed by Welt’s reply
“Just for a formal meeting; Screwllum was kind enough to invite us”
Stelle heard enough to know what had happened, but Dan Heng shared the details of their journey with her anyway. Due to his seriousness and professional use of vocabulary, the only things she understood were “Screwllum”, “other geniuses”, “important” and “war”. March interrupted him, excited, and began to daydream about what they could do together.
“Stelle isn’t coming.”Welt said it loud and clear. He didn’t say exactly why, or at least he didn’t want to until they were alone. Dan Heng and March didn’t hide their surprise; Dan Heng muttered something under his breath, whilst March, now facing Welt, questioned him, trying to extract at least a little information from him. It wasn’t until the evening that Welt was able to talk to Stelle. They were alone then, and the only things surrounding them were the stars and planets several light-years away. It was very quiet, despite the subject matter, which was far from relaxing for her.
“Has something happened?”
There was a hint of fear in her voice. So far, she’d done brilliantly on every mission, which is why she couldn’t understand the reason for her exclusion. Had something happened that she knew nothing about? Unless she’d been mistaken about something or miscalculated. Thousands of thoughts and musings raced through her mind; in such a short time, she had imagined that this was the end. Her journey was coming to an end; Welt had come to tell her and say goodbye. She had indeed been a bit unfocused lately, but it hadn’t been particularly noticeable. Or so she thought.
“I’ve needlessly ruined the moment and drawn attention to you, I’m sorry.”
He began with an apology, then, as if in an essay, moved on to the main part of his speech. ‘First of all, I want to say that you haven’t done anything wrong, and this decision wasn’t made because of your behaviour or anything like that. I hope I haven’t worried you unnecessarily.’
“So why…?”
“You need a break, Stelle. You’ve been to so many planets, one after the other — it’s not healthy. You’re young, and as your guardian, I have to and want to look after your health.”
When he felt he’d said enough to reassure her, he began the second part of his sort of essay.
“Something’s waiting for you on Penacony. I won’t spoil the surprise, so I don’t want to go into too many details. Let’s just say it’s your holiday; we’ll manage, and you’ll come back to us refreshed. Agreed?”
He smiled encouragingly and held out his little pinkie to her. It looked ridiculously cute to see Welt making the childish gesture March had taught him. Stelle returned the smile and also held out her little finger to seal his request. She had nothing to worry about, seeing as it was just a simple celebration she’d miss out on. Indeed, her crew was known for turning even intended relaxation into chaos, but she was unable to protest. This was due to the late hour at which she’d been told.
“Okay.”
It wasn’t until the next morning, lying in bed, that Stelle fully realised what had just happened.