Work Text:
The meaning of Trailblaze is to "explore, understand, establish, and connect."
–o0o–
There were countless routines aboard the Astral Express that every passenger inevitably became part of, from starting the morning with a nutritious breakfast prepared by the conductor, to exchanging good nights before retreating to their respective cabins to rest.
“Sunday, can you make sure those two get to the screening room before I drag them out myself?”
That night was part of one of the many routines born from mutual agreement. Every Friday night, the younger members of the Express crew could usually be found gathered in front of the large screen, watching movies publicly distributed by the IPC.
Sunday, hearing Caelus’ half-threatening request, let out a soft laugh. The restrained complaint echoed lightly through the Passenger Car corridor.
“Miss March, Mr. Dan Heng, you heard that, didn’t you? Would you rather come out willingly, or be dragged out by Mr. Caelus?” He knocked gently on the pink-haired girl’s cabin door, already certain the other man would be inside as well.
Right on cue, an annoyed yell came from behind the door.
“Hold on a second! Ugh, why’s everyone in such a hurry?!” The door swung open, revealing March in a white lace nightgown, cheeks puffed in irritation as she glared at the people outside.
Dan Heng appeared behind her, dressed in clothing far lighter than the attire he usually wore as one of the Express’ guardians. There was a faint trace of satisfaction in his expression, noticeable in the slight upward curve of his lips as he watched March continue grumbling nonstop.
“Come on, Sunday!” Watching the two lead the way ahead of him, Sunday only smiled faintly. It wasn’t strange at all to see them together at every possible opportunity. Borrowing Caelus’ words, if the two of them were ever apart, then they were probably fighting. At least, that was what Caelus had told him when Sunday finally gathered the courage to ask about the pair who seemed inseparable in nearly every situation.
He followed them toward the screening room, only to find Caelus already sprawled across the large sofa spacious enough for four people. On separate couches to either side sat Himeko and Mr. Yang, both offering brief greetings as they arrived.
March was the first to dive into the mountain of cushions, shoving Caelus further to one side. Dan Heng followed soon after, seating himself beside her and effectively sandwiching March between the two young men with contrasting hair colors. A small laugh escaped her, looking perfectly content being guarded on both sides like that.
She gestured for Sunday to join them after noticing him lingering by the doorway.
“Join us, Sunday.” Dan Heng’s quiet invitation finally prompted Sunday to take the empty spot beside Caelus. The comfortable sofa and soft cushions were enough to make drowsiness creep in almost immediately.
March seemed to realize that too. She reached for the snack trolley that had been stocked two days earlier and handed it over to Dan Heng to open one package after another. As if the motions had long since become second nature, Dan Heng complied without a single complaint, opening a bag of dried strawberries coated in chocolate.
“Try this.” The moment March received the snack from him, she immediately turned to the people beside her and pushed the small square pieces into their mouths. Thankfully, the two still managed to appreciate the sweetness melting across their tongues unlike the person sitting on the other side, who visibly grimaced at the overwhelming level of sugar far beyond his preferences.
“It’s sweet, right?” March nearly burst into laughter when she noticed Dan Heng’s twisted expression, his hand quickly covering his mouth while his dislike was written plainly across his face.
“I might buy this next time.” Getting approval from a fellow sweet-lover like Sunday only made March even more excited. Her enthusiasm practically doubled as she eagerly began recommending even more snacks for them to enjoy throughout the movie night.
The four of them slowly sank into aimless, lighthearted conversation, hopping from one random topic to another as thoughts came and went. Every now and then, Mr. Yang would chime in with bits of advice, while Himeko slipped in jokes layered enough to leave everyone wondering if there was some deeper meaning behind them.
“March, can I ask you something?”
The shift in tone alone was enough to immediately stop March’s animated movements as she adjusted the pillows and plushies around her. She blinked, turning toward Caelus, who lounged comfortably against the sofa with a giant bear plush tucked in his arms, one that had somehow been smuggled out of March’s room without anyone noticing.
“Go ahead.” Not sensing any joke behind it, March answered casually before returning to fixing the cushions to her liking. At the same time, she tugged at Dan Heng, who was still occupied with his book, until he finally leaned back beside her beneath the oversized blanket they were all sharing.
“Were you really serious?” Caelus asked quietly. “What you said back when we fought Sunday?” His expression looked unusually subdued, half his face buried into the soft fur of the bear plush while the visible half stared at March with unmistakable curiosity.
Everyone turned toward Sunday at once.
Especially March, whose terrible memory left her blinking blankly as she furrowed her brows, desperately trying to recall whatever Caelus was talking about. Beside her, Dan Heng wore a similarly unreadable expression, though his carried a faint hint of suspicion instead.
“Even if the future is filled with pain, we won’t escape from it!”
Sunday answered for her. The slight flutter of the wings by his head accompanied his gentle recitation.
“Eh?” March’s face instantly burned bright red. The memory came flooding back all at once, her shouting those words at Sunday when he tried to trap all living beings inside an eternal dream. Honestly, she still didn’t know what had gone through her head back then, or what exactly pushed her to say those words.
She had only wanted her feelings to reach him, even just a little.
“Ugh, why are we bringing this up now?!” March glared at Caelus in embarrassment, nearly throwing a pillow at him as he slid halfway off the sofa together with the giant bear plush in his arms.
“And in As We’ve Written too,” Caelus continued shamelessly. “‘You really believe we’ll always stay together? That we’ll never be separated?’”
THUD.
This time, the pillow hit Caelus square in the face before he could dodge. The dramatic fall of the pillow afterward made everyone instinctively follow the direction it had come from.
“Hush. Don’t say weird things.” The culprit, Dan Heng, wore an entirely innocent expression, as though Caelus whining to Himeko about the assault had absolutely nothing to do with him.
The commotion was eventually cut short by Himeko’s calming pats, barely suppressing her laughter as she coaxed Caelus back into sitting properly. Meanwhile, Mr. Yang and Dan Heng had already begun discussing what movie they would watch tonight.
Amid the contrast of overlapping conversations, March sat quietly between them, attentively listening to both sides despite the completely different topics. She nodded whenever Dan Heng suggested a title, then nodded again when Himeko scolded Caelus for slouching too much, all while occasionally glancing toward Sunday, who had maintained the exact same polite sitting posture since the beginning.
“Then let’s go with this one…” Once the movie choice was finally agreed upon between the two vastly different age groups, March’s attention shifted completely toward them. She raised a brow, silently asking for at least a brief explanation of what exactly they were about to spend the next few hours watching.
“It’s not romance,” Dan Heng stated flatly, already switching channels with practiced efficiency after finalizing the decision with Mr. Yang.
For a split second, March nearly protested. The movie she had been recommending for months still hadn’t made it onto the watchlist. Her face scrunched up with obvious dissatisfaction and suspicion too because the people choosing tonight’s movie were two men whose taste in entertainment she seriously questioned.
“Think of it as semi-documentary.”
“No way! This is Sunday’s first movie night with us and you’re making him watch a documentary?!” Her protest came out loud and dramatic, half whining as she tugged insistently on Dan Heng’s sleeve while he still held the remote.
“Um… I really don’t mind, Miss March,” Sunday said gently instead. “Besides, documentaries sound rather interesting.”
Completely opposite to her objections, the very person she was trying to defend ended up siding with them instead. A smug smile instantly appeared on Dan Heng’s face, practically screaming, ‘See? Even Sunday isn’t complaining’
March could only swallow her defeat, lightly tapping her heel against the sofa cushioned in thick velvet soft enough that it didn’t hurt at all. The decision had already been finalized, and with the vote ending in a humiliating five against one, there was no point sulking any longer.
The movie began playing before them. And unsurprisingly, the one watching most attentively was Dan Heng, after him, Caelus unusually quiet for once, stayed focused on the screen as well, though every now and then he’d let out restrained reactions whenever something horrifying appeared onscreen. Sunday wasn’t much different either; he visibly recoiled at certain scenes, leaning back into the sofa while the wings beside his head occasionally fluttered shut over his eyes to block his view entirely.
Slowly, March stretched her legs out, drowsiness beginning to creep over her as the characters’ dialogue faded into little more than muffled sounds in her ears. Her gaze wandered lazily around the dim room, carefully taking in the faces of the people beside her, before sleep eventually claimed her alongside the faint smile lingering on her lips.
“March fell asleep?”
Himeko was the first to notice, realizing the girl’s voice had disappeared from the soft background chatter filling the room.
Dan Heng glanced toward her and found her already fast asleep, chest rising and falling steadily while her arms clung tightly to the pillow in her embrace.
“We can help carry her back to her room, Dan Heng. The three of you can finish the movie.” Mr. Yang stepped forward carrying a tray lined neatly with six mugs, though it seemed only five people in the room were still awake enough to drink them.
Dan Heng unconsciously shook his head at the offered suggestion. Sunday and Caelus silently agreed at the same time.
“Well then, don’t stay up too late, children.” Understanding the reluctant look in their eyes, Himeko simply smiled in acceptance before standing up and taking one of the mugs from Mr. Yang’s tray.
–o0o–
March woke slowly from the depths of her sleep.
The screening room had grown dimmer now that the movie had long since ended, the only remaining light coming from the soft golden lamps illuminating the corners of the room. Someone had draped a blanket over her shoulders at some point, and judging from the familiar pattern woven into the fabric, she suspected it belonged to Dan Heng.
Blinking sleepily, March cleared her vision and looked around the room. A book rested in her lap, the same one she vaguely remembered Dan Heng reading beside her earlier. Caelus’ game console had somehow ended up there too. She could feel Dan Heng’s steady breathing brushing faintly against her forehead, his head resting against her hair. One of his hands loosely held onto hers, and from this close she could feel the quiet rhythm of his heartbeat beating almost in sync with her own.
On her other side was Caelus, who had completely slid out of his proper sitting position. His head now rested squarely on March’s lap, one arm sprawled dramatically wide enough to nearly reach Dan Heng on the opposite side.
“How did he even end up like this...?” March stared at him in bewilderment as she shifted slightly, only then realizing someone was missing from her sight. Carefully, she glanced around the room again, moving as subtly as possible after remembering just how lightly Dan Heng slept.
“Sun–”
“Miss March?” She blinked at the sudden light spilling through the doorway, revealing the Halovian man standing there with a folded blanket draped over one arm.
“You’re awake?” Noticing March’s squinting eyes and rapid blinking, Sunday paused for a brief moment by the doorway before quietly closing it behind him, shutting out the strip of light. His footsteps became deliberately softer as he approached, careful not to wake the two people still fast asleep beside her.
“When did the movie end?”
March followed Sunday’s movements with her eyes, slipping in a quiet apology as she noticed him busy gathering the blankets and pillows scattered around their feet instead. Sunday simply answered with a small shake of his head before unfolding the blanket in his hands and draping it over the Trailblazer, who let out a faint groan at the added weight.
“I’m not entirely sure,” Sunday admitted softly. “To be honest, I fell asleep halfway through the movie too.”
He returned to the same seat he’d taken at the beginning of the night, seemingly unbothered by how the Trailblazer’s sleeping position had gradually forced him closer and closer to the edge of the sofa.
“Oh? Then what about them?” March tilted her head toward the two sleeping figures beside her. “When did they fall asleep?”
Her gaze lingered on them suspiciously, finding it oddly unbelievable that neither of them had woken up during their conversation.
“Not long after you fell asleep, I think? Dan Heng was the first to close his eyes, then Caelus followed after. As for their positions… well, when I woke up earlier, they were already like this.”
Sunday smiled faintly, lowering his voice again the moment he noticed the slight crease forming between Dan Heng’s brows. March immediately reached out, gently patting Dan Heng’s arm while whispering soft reassurances under her breath.
Silence settled between them afterward. With the two others still asleep beside her, March should’ve simply closed her eyes again without a second thought, letting herself drift back into dreams where all of them could remain together. But for some reason, something deep in her chest refused to let her relax. It kept her awake despite the heavy drowsiness that still clung stubbornly to her mind.
“About earlier… may I ask you something?” Perhaps her instincts had sensed it long before the universe decided to unfold it this way, because when March looked up again, she found Sunday staring directly at her from the other side of the sofa.
March adjusted her position slightly, catching Caelus before he could roll off onto the floor completely.
“You should just ask already, Sunday,” she said with a quiet laugh. “You know how forgetful I am.” She poked Caelus’ cheek absentmindedly when he let out a string of sleepy complaints from where he lay.
“Will you truly never run from the future?” Sunday asked softly. “No matter how much pain it brings you?” The question was so unexpected that March didn’t even blink at first, her mind struggling to process the weight behind his words.
“I know you already said it back in Penacony. And you proved it during everything that happened in Amphoreus. But what about after that?” His gaze never left her. “What if an even crueler future is waiting ahead of you? Would you still refuse to run away?”
March fell silent. Her eyes slowly lowered toward Caelus sleeping carelessly in her lap, then toward Dan Heng whose steady breathing still brushed faintly against her hair. Their hands remained loosely intertwined, just like she had once promised they always would.
“Of course I wouldn’t, Sunday.”
She nodded gently as she answered, certainty blooming only after realizing how warm they both felt against her. “Because even in that painful future… I know I’ll still have them. I’ll still have the Express as my home. And I’ll still have everyone who chooses to stay beside me.”
She forced a small smile afterward, offering it wholeheartedly to the person who had asked such a heavy question.
Sunday stared back at her, golden eyes trembling faintly. Confusion lingered openly across his face, as though there was something caught in his throat that he didn’t quite know how to explain. “When your memories or rather, you were taken to Amphoreus, I was tasked with tracking your disappearance.”
The words flowed quietly from him, and March listened carefully. After all, she had always felt there were parts of what happened in Amphoreus that she never fully understood from the beginning.
“That was when I picked up an incredibly strong signal,” Sunday continued. “One unmistakably tied to you. It rang out so desperately, as though reaching both hands forward and begging for one thing alone ‘Protection.’ At first, Madam Herta and I believed it was a cry for help. Or perhaps your other self trying desperately to protect you.”
Sunday slowly raised one hand, staring at the bare palm no longer covered by gloves. And March was certain she saw a soft golden shimmer flickering deep within his eyes.
“But I was wrong.” He exhaled quietly. “It was a signal you created yourself. The protection you sought… was for those two.” Sunday’s breathing grew uneven then, and without realizing it, March found herself holding her own breath too despite merely listening.
“How much did you actually sacrifice while you were there?” Their eyes met once more, Sunday’s filled with emotions too tangled to name, while March’s held only quiet realization.
For a long moment, she stared into those trembling golden eyes, trying to understand what could possibly drive him to ask something so unbearably heavy in the middle of such an unexpected night.
And then she realized it. A small smile appeared at the corner of her lips.
“You met Evernight, didn’t you?” she asked softly. “What I traded in exchange for guaranteeing their safety… was all of my memories.” She tilted her head slightly, watching Sunday’s expression shift all at once.
“Your memories? All of them? But for you, memories are–” His words stopped midway, unable to comprehend how someone could speak of a sacrifice like that so casually.
“At that time…” March looked down quietly. “It was the most reasonable price, Sunday. Memories in exchange for their safety, both of them, too. How could I possibly ignore that when I knew they would never survive without help?”
Her soft laughter echoed gently through the room. But Sunday found himself unable to hear any humor within it at all. Because what he saw hidden behind her eyes was not lightheartedness–
but bitterness, trembling with fear beneath the surface.
“What if next time memories won’t be enough?” Sunday asked quietly, staring at her with an expression far different from before. And somehow, March could almost see a reflection of herself from that day mirrored within his eyes. “If someone asks for even more from you… would you still give it away so easily?”
“I would.” Her answer came without hesitation, firm and unwavering. “To me, this life is precious, Sunday. So beautiful that I can’t imagine any other fate making me this happy.” And yet despite the certainty in her voice, a tear slowly slipped free, trailing down her cheek before she could stop it.
“That’s why I’ll do whatever I can. For everyone. For Himeko, for Mr. Yang, for Pom-Pom, for Caelus, for Dan Heng…”
Conviction remained clear even as tears steadily filled her face. And Sunday could only stare at her speechlessly, because reflected in his eyes at that moment was someone precious to him as well.
‘Robin’
“And for you too, Sunday,” March continued softly, making the bitterness in his throat grow sharper. “If you were ever in danger too, I’d do everything I possibly could for you as well. Because you’re already part of all of this. Part of us.”
Perhaps they had become too absorbed in the conversation or perhaps someone’s instincts still worked even in deep sleep.
Dan Heng shifted faintly beside her just as March realized her voice had begun trembling. She looked down to see the hand that had been resting loosely against her shoulder begin moving slowly, almost as though tracing the path of the tears on her face.
It made March hold her breath. Half startled, because even unconscious, the movement was frighteningly precise as though he were fully awake.
‘Don’t be sad, March’ Whether it was her ears deceiving her or some illusion cast by Sunday, the whisper sounded so clearly beside her head that March instinctively squirmed at the ticklish sensation.
And yet, perhaps by some miracle, Dan Heng never actually woke. Instead, his head slowly lowered until it rested against March’s shoulder, seeking comfort within the crook of her neck while mumbling something too incoherent for her to understand.
“I apologize for bringing up such a conversation right after you woke up.” March turned quickly, momentarily forgetting that Sunday had been watching her the entire time. Warmth instantly spread across her face.
She hurriedly shook her head, half to answer his apology, half to force blood circulation back through her numb body.
“It’s fine, Sunday. By the way, how long are you going to keep calling me that? Just ‘March’ is okay too.” Her hand moved absentmindedly, brushing against the line of Dan Heng’s jaw visible at the edge of her vision while her other arm had long since gone numb from the awkward position they were trapped in.
Sunday didn’t answer immediately. Which prompted March to look back at him once more, only to feel drowsiness slowly beginning to pull at her eyelids again.
“…Alright, March. Thank you for today.” March gave a faint nod, letting out one last yawn as exhaustion finally became impossible to resist.
“Good night, Sunday,” she murmured softly before her eyes fully closed, allowing the weight of her head to lean gently against Dan Heng resting on her shoulder.
And beneath the watchful gaze of the future Aeon of Order, March’s sleep quietly carried her back into dreams once more.
The room fell silent again.
Sunday stretched his legs slightly, glancing over the trio still tangled together in their awkward sleeping positions. Reaching for the unused blanket nearby, he carefully draped it over March while making sure, Caelus still sprawled across her lap, wouldn’t accidentally suffocate beneath it.
He looked back toward the darkened ceiling of the room. March’s expression and her words, they continued circling endlessly inside his mind.
His sigh sounded unusually loud in the silence as he attempted to coax himself into sleep as well. And just as he finally began drifting toward drowsiness, the sound of heavy breathing beside him made him glance sideways.
Dan Heng was awake. Sweat dampened his temples as sharp eyes immediately swept across the room in wary alertness. Sunday didn’t know what dream he had just escaped from, but judging from the tension running through his body, something unpleasant had clearly happened while he slept.
And then, as though realizing something important, Dan Heng turned without a word. The three of them had fallen asleep lined up together. His gaze landed first on Caelus sprawled across March’s lap, soft snores escaping him every few seconds. Then his eyes shifted toward March. This time lingering much longer, accompanied by a frown that refused to leave his face.
And then, almost like a movement long ingrained into instinct, Dan Heng slowly raised his hand. The back of his fingers stopped right beneath March’s nose. Only after feeling the faint warmth of her breathing brush against his skin did Dan Heng finally let out a quiet breath of his own.
Sunday watched the entire thing in silence before finally speaking in a quiet voice, careful not to startle him. “You’re afraid she’ll stop breathing again?”
The question seemed to finally pull Dan Heng back to reality, reminding him that this wasn’t a dream after all. He lifted his head slightly, only then noticing Sunday still awake among them.
It took a moment before Dan Heng answered, grounding both his thoughts and awareness after being dragged awake so abruptly.
“…I am.”
But hearing the confirmation brought Sunday no relief. Instead, another question quietly settled inside his mind. Even within the dim light filling the room, he could clearly see the sorrow lingering behind Dan Heng’s green eyes.
See the way his fingers drifted once more across March 7th’s face while she slept completely unaware, carefully brushing aside loose strands of hair that threatened to disturb her rest.
There was something Sunday had always been curious about.
Something he had once asked Caelus. ‘How does Dan Heng see March?’
At one point, Sunday had compared their relationship to the one he shared with Robin, his younger sister. Perhaps he had never been the perfect brother. And perhaps it was true that the Robin of today would always be stronger than he ever was.
Even so, he would still willingly protect her. He would still do anything for her, even without being asked.
But what about Dan Heng and March? A Scion of Permanence, and a fragment of Remembrance. Did Dan Heng look at March the same way Sunday looked at Robin?
“Before you woke up, March was awake for a little while too.” Sunday’s words made Dan Heng look toward him again, silent confusion clear in his expression.
“We talked about what happened to her in Amphoreus.” The moment those words left his mouth, Dan Heng’s expression hardened almost immediately, as though the memories of that day had returned in full. March was unconscious within that prison of ice and there had been nothing he could do, he couldn’t even feel her breathing.
“What did she say?”
“She said that no matter what happens in the future… she’ll always keep trying for your sake. For all of us.”
Dan Heng’s gaze slowly lowered once more, settling carefully on March’s sleeping face now resting fully against his shoulder. “…That really does sound like her.”
“Dan Heng,” Sunday asked quietly, sitting up a little straighter as curiosity overtook him once more, “what would you do if one day she turned her back on you?” There were too many questions lingering inside him. Questions born from these three strangers standing before a world he had never understood, especially after Amphoreus. After a journey where all of them had gambled their lives together.
There was simply too much he wanted to know. Truthfully, this wasn’t like him at all. It wasn’t his place to pry into the bonds between people. It wasn’t his place to question the choices they made with their lives. His role had always been to listen and judge suffering. Or at least, that was what he believed back in Penacony.
But around them, around these people–
it felt as though he had been given permission to ask. Permission to wonder about emotions he never realized existed in the world and somehow, when he was with them, he no longer felt like the enemy who had once tried to hurt them.
“What do you mean?” Dan Heng pulled March a little closer against him while his other hand nudged Caelus back into his original position. Yet his eyes never once left Sunday’s, locking them firmly within the conversation.
“When you met Evernight, you understood what she wanted, didn’t you?” Sunday asked softly. “To burn Amphoreus down until nothing remained.” At the mention of that name, both of them strangely felt as though icy fingers had brushed across their skin, goosebumps rising instinctively as fear curled coldly down their spines.
Sunday continued before Dan Heng could speak again. “If there hadn’t been interference from the Imperator of Amphoreus… if March had failed to persuade Evernight…”
His voice lowered further. “If Evernight had truly succeeded in burning Amphoreus and every life created by that scepter into nothing.”
Dan Heng’s breath visibly caught in his throat.
“Would you still be able,” Sunday continued gently, “you and the Trailblazer… to look at her the same way afterward?”
The room somehow felt colder again. Silence stretched between them, leaving the two men separated only by the weight of their own thoughts.
“If that ever happened…” It was Dan Heng who spoke first in the end, even though Sunday had already begun regretting asking such a question, bringing up a hypothetical future that should never have become part of a conversation in the middle of the night.
“Then my answer would still be simple, Sunday.” Dan Heng’s voice never once wavered. “No matter what she’s done, no matter who she was in the past… the only thing I know is that she’s March 7th. It’s as simple as that.”
He made sure there was no hesitation in his tone, because he knew what Sunday was searching for was an ideal answer. Even if it forced Dan Heng to imagine the scene over and over in his mind, that March awakening to the truth that her own hands had ended every life on an entire planet. How much sorrow would those small shoulders have to bear?
Sunday slowly closed his eyes, as though the same image had surfaced within his mind as well. “Pure Children of Anasrava,” he whispered softly. “Fated to enter the final battle for the seat of Aeonhood at the end of the universe.”
He knew very well that the truth behind March’s status as one of the Pure Children of Anasrava had already been erased from her memories. Only a handful of people still knew about it, including the two of them. And without ever needing to say it aloud, they had silently agreed never to bring it up in front of March herself.
The moment Sunday spoke those words, Dan Heng immediately shot him a sharp glance before checking March beside him, thankfully finding her still sleeping peacefully without issue.
“When an Aeon approaches ascension,” Sunday continued quietly, “they begin losing their connection to the mortal world. They leave behind the life they built ever since the moment they first opened their eyes.”
Sunday remembered the sensation all too clearly. That overwhelming power wrapped itself around his body, around his thoughts, until he truly believed that his hands alone were humanity’s salvation. That it was his responsibility to guide every mortal soul into the paradise they longed for.
“No one ever said losing her memories would spare her from that fate.” Sunday opened his eyes again. “Have you ever imagined the possibility that she might be the one chosen in the end?”
For the first time that night, Sunday watched Dan Heng’s composure completely falter. His gaze slowly lowered back toward March’s sleeping face, fingers tightening around the fabric of her nightclothes with visible trembling.
“When you were close to becoming Ena completely…” Dan Heng asked softly, unable to keep his voice as calm as before, “is that what you felt?”
Sunday gave a faint nod. “I could barely hear Robin’s voice anymore,” he admitted quietly. “Even while she was singing for me.” The fear within that memory was real. The terrifying realization that in exchange for greater power, what you abandoned first were the people desperately trying to keep you by their side.
“When that day comes,” Dan Heng whispered, “I’ll make sure she never has to choose between us and her own life.” And in that moment, Sunday finally realized the difference between himself and Robin… and the two people before him now. “I’ll make sure she never has to become the last person left in this universe.”
The rest of his words disappeared as he lowered his head into the crown of March’s hair, breathing softly against it while murmuring another quiet good night perhaps for the hundredth time tonight.
Dan Heng would always be the first person standing beside March, no matter what happened.
Just as March was willing to sacrifice anything to protect all of them.
Slowly, Sunday lifted one hand while the halo behind him dimmed softly.
“Thank you for this conversation, Dan Heng,” he said quietly, golden light spilling gently across Dan Heng’s face. “But I think we should end it here before you start imagining even worse possibilities.”
From his palm emerged a tiny floating creature, softly humming a lullaby. Dan Heng, initially confused, gradually began closing his eyes once more under the gentle melody.
Even then, the arm wrapped protectively around March never loosened. March had already leaned fully against him by now, and little by little, the tension in Dan Heng’s shoulders finally began to ease.
It didn’t take long before his breathing, once strained and uneven, slowed back into the same quiet rhythm from before March’s fingers had touched his jaw earlier that night.
Only after he was certain Dan Heng had truly fallen asleep again did Sunday lower his hand, exhaling deeply as the delayed exhaustion of this unbearably long night finally settled over him. March then Dan Heng. Honestly, he wouldn’t even be surprised anymore if the Trailblazer ended up waking next.
“Sunny?” The sleepy call made Sunday freeze, apparently his prediction had come true immediately.
Caelus was awake now, blinking sluggishly up at the ceiling. It didn’t take him long to push himself upright from where he’d been sprawled, rubbing at his eyes while yawning widely.
Slowly, his gaze shifted sideways. He blinked once, then twice, trying to process the absurd sleeping arrangement before him. March had fallen asleep half-curled sideways, her hair a complete mess while the blanket nearly slipped from her shoulders. Meanwhile, Dan Heng was pressed close beside her, head resting lightly against her hair while one arm remained wrapped protectively around her body.
In complete contrast to how long it had taken him to fully wake up, the moment Caelus noticed the sleeping positions of his two companions, it took him only a single blink to pull out his phone, somehow retrieved from wherever he’d hidden it before falling asleep and with the grin of a seasoned paparazzi, he immediately started taking pictures.
“O Aeon” His voice cracked from barely restrained laughter.
Sunday, who had witnessed the entire thing unfold, could only raise an eyebrow slightly while picking up the blanket that had fallen because of Caelus’ sudden movements. “What exactly are you doing?”
“Do you know how rare it is to get evidence like this?” Caelus snickered quietly, swiping through the photos while laughing to himself at the results.
“More blackmail material for later.” The satisfaction in his voice was unmistakable before he flopped back onto the sofa again, turning his gaze toward Sunday, who had simply been watching him the whole time.
“Why aren’t you sleeping? Did we wake you up?” Caelus’ golden eyes shimmered just like his own. And yet somehow, the light within them felt entirely different.
Sunday only smiled faintly. He had almost answered honestly, that he hadn’t slept because the three of them kept waking up one after another but in the end, politeness won over.
“I just woke up suddenly,” he replied instead, lifting the untouched mug Mr. Yang had left on the small table earlier.
“Oh.” The short response caught him slightly off guard. Still, before Sunday could ask anything, Caelus reached for his own mug as well, immediately grimacing at the taste the second it touched his tongue.
“Sunny, this is just a question but…” Caelus spoke again after a moment. “Have you ever been afraid?” Sunday lifted his head slightly, mildly surprised that the question had come from him instead.
Caelus traced the rim of his mug absently with his thumb, letting the question linger between them as though there was still more left unsaid.
His gaze settled on the two sleeping figures leaning against each other nearby. Gone was the sly grin from earlier; now his eyes looked softer somehow, accompanied by a faint curve resting at the corner of his lips.
“To be honest… I’ve always been afraid of the future.”
Sunday fell silent. After all, it had originally been Caelus who first brought up questions about the future long ago.
“I’m afraid that one day, the people I care about will end up sacrificing themselves for me again.”
“I keep wondering… am I really worth it?” His voice lowered quietly. “Dan Heng waited for me for thousands of years in Amphoreus. March traded away all of her memories just to guarantee we could break through Amphoreus’ protocol.”
An unusual silence settled heavily over Sunday, leaving him able to do nothing but watch quietly as Caelus reached toward the two sleeping beside him, whispering soft thank-yous and other words too quiet to fully hear. When Sunday looked back at him again, Caelus somehow appeared far more exhausted than he had only minutes ago.
“You think they were hurt because of you?” Sunday finally asked softly.
This time, Caelus fell silent instead. He let out a long breath before sinking deeper into the sofa cushions beneath him.
“Isn’t that the truth?”
Beside him, March stirred faintly in her sleep. Her fingers unconsciously tightened around the fabric of Dan Heng’s nightclothes, making him react ever so slightly despite still remaining asleep.
Caelus watched the movement briefly from the corner of his eye before speaking again. “People always call me the one who changes fate.” A small laugh escaped him, weak and hollow, more like the tired hum of a bee that had wandered too long without finding nectar.
“The person who can change anything through sheer determination.”
Beyond the Astral Express, the stars still glittered beautifully across the endless dark, proof that life throughout the universe continued moving forward no matter how still this tiny room had become.
“But sometimes I wonder…” he murmured softly, “...if fate only changes because the people around me are forced to sacrifice themselves… forced to lose parts of who they are… then was what I changed really the right thing?”
Caelus stared up at the dark ceiling above them. The question had lived inside his chest for so long that even now, it felt difficult simply holding back the tears threatening to spill from his eyes.
Sunday tilted his head slightly, breath catching faintly as he listened. He hadn’t expected it. Hadn’t expected someone like Caelus, someone who always shone so brightly, to carry such unbearably heavy questions about fate, destiny, and the will of the universe inside himself.
“The lives of people I don’t even fully know…” Caelus paused for a moment, bitterness gathering at the back of his throat until it almost made him nauseous. “…are they really equal to them?”
His eyes drifted once again toward March and Dan Heng.
Within his gaze, March appeared first as the girl who laughed louder than anyone else, endlessly cheerful and bright only for the image to fracture apart into another version of her that silent, unmoving, cracks spreading across her body like a shattered ice sculpture collapsing into pieces.
He blinked. And this time, the image of Dan Heng surfaced instead, the one who was always dependable, always steadybefore it too was replaced by the sight of his back hunched in agony while calling the name of someone who would never open their eyes again.
“They’re willing to do anything for me,” Caelus murmured quietly. “For the sake of keeping us together.” His voice lowered further.
“But Sunday… doesn’t that also mean they could end up destroying themselves because of me too?”
Silence stretched between them once more. This time, Sunday wasn’t the one asking questions, so he simply listened, becoming nothing more than the quiet recipient of Caelus’ worries.
“But they’re still willing to stay beside you, aren’t they?” Caelus seemed slightly taken aback by the answer, judging by the faint smile tugging at the corner of his lips.
“Exactly.” He shut his eyes briefly, refusing to let those visions of a future that hadn’t happened yet sink any deeper into his thoughts.
“That’s exactly what scares me.”
The room fell quiet again. Caelus let the silence linger for a while, listening to the breathing surrounding him. March’s soft, steady breaths. Dan Heng’s deeper ones. And Sunday’s, calmer and more measured than all of theirs combined.
Caelus cracked one eye open before glancing sideways at the Halovian man still watching him carefully. “Not every question needs an answer, you know.” Sunday instinctively raised an eyebrow.
Meanwhile, Caelus sighed dramatically. “Your thoughts are way too obvious,” he muttered before lightly flicking Sunday’s forehead when he noticed the crease between his brows.
“Seriously…” He grabbed the blanket that had slipped from March’s legs and tossed it carelessly toward Sunday. “Just go to sleep already.”
Sunday, entirely unprepared for the abrupt shift in attitude, could only stare at the blanket now sitting in his lap for several seconds.
“…Was that an order?” he asked with faint amusement, watching Caelus already settle himself back into the same position he’d been in when the movie first started, carefully avoiding collapsing onto March and Dan Heng again.
“Think of it as advice for clearing your head,” Caelus answered lazily, eyes fully closed now, deliberately ignoring whatever response Sunday might’ve given afterward.
But Sunday only let out a quiet sigh. The halo behind his head glowed faintly for a brief moment before he reached up and shifted it aside so it wouldn’t get in the way once he leaned back against the sofa. His gaze returned to the three people before him.
The young Nameless who had become the reason he dared step onto the path of Trailblaze himself.
This journey was nothing like the life he had once imagined for the Nameless. In his mind, ever since waking from Penacony’s dreamscape, they had seemed like heroes destined to save the universe itself. Leaders carrying the hopes of countless worlds.
But he had been wrong, terribly wrong.
The Nameless were simply people who fought harder than anyone else to protect the lives they already had. People intimately familiar with loss. People willing to sacrifice even more if it meant their loved ones could continue living. And once again, Sunday found himself asking the same question.
Could he ever become someone like them? Could he walk willingly into chaos without hesitation, simply to ensure the people precious to him survived? Unfortunately, he still didn’t know the answer.
But he wanted to try. To keep searching until one day he could finally find an answer that belonged entirely to himself, one he could speak aloud with genuine relief.
As drowsiness finally overtook him, Sunday allowed himself to lean back alongside them too, somehow making their cramped arrangement look even stranger than before.
Sunday at the very edge. Caelus beside him. March in the middle, head tilted against Dan Heng. And Dan Heng at the opposite end, one arm still wrapped around March even in sleep.
It should have felt uncomfortable, too cramped, too crowded for a proper night’s rest.
And yet, that night, warmth wrapped itself around both his body and his heart, drawing a small smile onto Sunday’s lips.
So this was what it felt like to step into fleeting dreams beside others, surrounded by questions without answers, and futures still uncertain beyond the horizon.
And somehow… It felt wonderful.
“Good night, everyone.”