Work Text:
It was terrifying. Absolutely terrifying.
Stelle thought – since she survived multiple unfair fights and situations where she shouldn’t have been able to walk alive – that she wouldn’t be scared of such a simple thing. Or was it?
Stelle staggered against the wall of the Passenger Cabin she’d been passing through, and she could swear that the whale-lights that carved the path on the ceiling multiplied, perhaps once or twice. She couldn’t really make it out anymore, her vision blurring.
Her free hand clutched her chest, a futile attempt to stop the stinging feeling in her chest that only worsened by the second, a scorching heat sent through her body with each surge.
It was like the first time the Stellaron had started to explode, but also completely different. There wasn’t anything surging outward. It was surging inward. That was what scared her.
It had never acted like this before. What if it was going to end up exploding outward anyways? What if she was going to explode the entire Astral Express? What if she was going to—
Her hands curled tighter against the wall of the Passenger Cabin. She needed to move, to get away from this hallway, to hide herself so no one would find her in this state, but all she could do was let out a weak whimper that didn’t even help in any way. Her body felt so warm that it felt like her skin was going to burn beneath the heat.
The room spun around her as she clutched onto the wall tightly, but she was starting to lose her balance. The hallway stretched weirdly before her, like the dreamlike doors back in Penacony that opened endlessly.
She sucked in a sharp breath that felt like a dagger to her heart – to where the Stellaron was. She couldn’t— she couldn’t explode the Express. Not when they were on it.
Stelle might even explode Planarcadia, where they were currently parked, in the process.
It started off small and harmless. A few lingering thoughts from everything that had happened in the past few days. The fight at the Seafeld TV Tower. The fact that Stelle had almost died once again by a blow to her chest. The rush of Wishpower that reached Stelle’s body as she tapped into the Stellaron’s power briefly. And she managed it all.
But the side-effects lingered. Her body felt heavier than usual, like it was holding more weight than before. Maybe it was the influence of Wishpower that made her feel that way, but it also – regrettably – affected the Stellaron.
She knew Mr. Yang had told her that if she were to have any issues with the Stellaron she could come to him, and she did know that was the best option. However, she was stubborn enough to determine she didn’t want to burden him with it. Besides, she could barely move, so getting to a more secluded spot so she wouldn’t embarrass herself was her utmost priority at the current moment.
She took a shaky step, her knees buckling beneath her as she fell to her knees, coughing on her hand. And when she looked back at her hand… Warm golden blood was seeping on it, slowly trickling down against her palm, towards her lower arm.
Her eyes widened and her body’s signals worsened further, causing her breath to hitch violently in her throat and in return making her cough again. It felt like there were ten hundred things going on in her body at the same time and she couldn’t determine which were harmful and which weren’t.
Was this even real? She knew the Stellaron tended to make her hallucinate things at times, make her hear other Stellaron’s whispers, but it looked so uncannily real… She felt nauseous.
Her body felt off again. That would’ve been, if it even was her body in the first place.
You’re a fake. Your body is fake. You’re an artificial vessel made for the Stellaron, just like Kafka had said before.
Those thoughts hadn’t surfaced for quite some time, but they seemed to be back again. Stelle’s hand trembled slightly as her breath hitched again. She tried swallowing the lump that was forming in her throat.
There were voices. Voices all around her. People blurring past as if time passed at a faster speed than usual. Just like the years that had gone by when she was trapped in the Exomyth.
Voices were mocking her. Antagonizing her. Looking down upon her with laughter as she sat weakly on the ground.
She clutched her heart, where she could feel the warmth of the Stellaron emanating from. Where it felt like her lungs were tightening with a sharp sting between them. She drew a shallow breath. And another. It felt like someone had wedged a dagger through her back – or chest for that matter. She wasn’t entirely unfamiliar with that feeling either, having felt it on more than one fortunate occasions where she caught the gaze of an Aeon.
The voices loudened and multiplied further.
Why couldn’t she get up? Why could she barely move this body?
Stelle miserably looked down at her hand as the heat worsened, but then another hand gently lifted her by the side of her jaw. There was someone before her, but even when she squinted her eyes, her vision remained blurred and she couldn’t make out the features of the person before her.
Only then did it dawn on her that there was possibly actually someone before her, not just another hallucination.
“—elle? —hear… me?”
Stelle tried her best, tried to recognize who was before her, but she just couldn’t. She couldn’t even mutter that she was fine, the words dying immediately in her throat. She must look ridiculous right now. She couldn’t even compose herself, her hands were both shaking.
She blinked, but everything stayed out of focus and blurry. The room was still whooshing around her and the whale’s light stretched into lines in her vision, dragging downwards slowly.
A hand steadied her back and gently nudged her back forward.
“—sy there…” the voice returned, calm… but a hint of urgency added to it. Stelle could barely make it out. Could barely make anything out still. It was definitely a male voice, and that tone…
Mr. Yang?
She tried speaking out his name to gain any sort of confirmation, but her entire body doubled over by a sudden sharp pain in her chest, she collided against something colder as she suppressed a whimper of pain. Aeons, her entire body hurt. Everything was scolding warm and she wondered how he could even touch her without flinching away in pain from the heat.
“—appened? Yo— …urning up…” his voice continued as a hand gently touched her forehead, but she couldn’t hear it over the sounds around her. The other voices were getting louder. Her ears were ringing, a sharp, discordant sound that distorted everything around her.
She winced under the pressure, before mustering up energy to talk. “‘M fine…”
Her own voice sounded distorted to herself. It scared her even further. Her breath hitched in her throat.
“—not… —ine,” said Mr. Yang. She still felt his hand on her back, stabilizing her from falling over. The only thing that kept her from doing so.
Not only that, but it felt like she was back at the TV Tower again, falling from the top after being thrown off by one of the Abundance’s tentacles.
Stelle took another shallow breath that hitched in her throat, causing her to cough into her hand again. She still didn’t know if the golden blood she coughed up was real or not.
The hand on her back was moving, she felt, yet barely registered it in the haze of everything. She couldn’t see his features, despite knowing that it was him.
She felt embarrassed. He wasn’t supposed to find her, to see her like this.
“Is th— …Ste…ron?”
Stelle tried her absolute best to make sense of the words he’d been speaking, but she didn’t know what he was talking about at all. Maybe the Stellaron.
Stelle nodded weakly and clutched her chest.
“H—hot…” she barely managed before she winced again. Aeons, why was she acting like such a child. The voices only got louder again and she pressed her hands against her ears. It didn’t stop nor weaken the voices, it only drowned out the sounds.
“—ld bath… —ight hel—, —need t… —uppress… —llaron,” Mr. Yang’s voice sounded as she released the grip on her ears. “…oing to— carry you— okay?”
Stelle nodded weakly again. She supposed he was talking about something cold, and she could definitely use that right now, especially with the sheer amount of heat her body radiated. He seemed to move with caution as he positioned himself to properly pick her up from the floor, the hand remaining behind her back and now his other arm right beneath her knees, scooping her up from the floor. Her head felt exhausted and she didn’t even notice that at some point she’d let it loll towards his chest.
She closed her eyes, her head aching from the amount of light that they moved past. The voices around her were still loud enough, like a thousand collected wishes from people were trying to be the loudest.
“The Astral Express is just a bunch of villains disguised as heroes, they mustn't win!” “That Trailblazer mustn't win the Phantasmoon games!” “I hope the Trailblazer loses their next fight and finds out about the hardships of losing!” “I wish I could be a hero too!” The words and sentences were blurring amongst each other, and Stelle could barely even make out what they were saying.
Stelle felt sensations slipping away like they were carried away by a river of water. She unconsciously tightened her grip on Mr. Yang’s sleeve without noticing, because it felt like if she didn’t she would fall again.
He seemed to be talking again. She wasn’t sure what he was talking about. She didn’t register the words, not at all.
She opened her eyes and her vision blurred again. He was still holding her, still walking. She could see light reflected on his glasses, the only feature she could make out from him. To her side, there was something – no, someone else. Silver streaks of hair with a vague golden outline.
She felt light and heavy at the same time, like she was floating in the air but also pushed down by something heavy against her chest. The voices remained, only screaming louder and louder by the second.
She just wanted everything to shut up and for the ringing to stop.
Welt had been on his way back to his own room after finishing the round of space chess he’d been doing with Sunday, clearly not anticipating anything. So of course he was severely surprised when he found Stelle collapsed against the wall, clinging onto the side and looking down at her hand as if there was something on it that disturbed her.
He did not waste time. Welt approached her immediately and crouched down before her carefully, ensuring she wouldn’t startle. Only then did he gently raise her head by holding his hand against her jaw. He almost winced at the sheer warmth he felt at the touch, as if he’d accidentally touched a warming furnace, but he didn’t retract his hand yet.
After a few more moments, he decided that she was getting too warm, and needed to have some cooling immediately. A cold bath seemed like the best option they had on the Express, and one of the only options that could work immediately. He knew the bathwater might warm up immediately already, but anything that could potentially help was adequate no matter how much it actually helped. March’s Six-Phased Ice wouldn’t help – despite being called ice, it wasn't actually cold. It was an imaginary substance, mysterious and without much known about it. He didn’t have time to experiment with this.
She instinctively curled into his grip as he carried her, something she wouldn’t consciously do. Her usual stubbornness wasn’t showing right now, and that only concerned him further. Normally, she would shrug it off, force herself through it, but it seemed that the heat in her body was causing her mind to short-circuit or something adjacent to it.
He needed to suppress the Stellaron, and quickly. The reaction it had on her body was a cycle that only worsened with each second. Welt had none to waste. Only then did he realize that he didn’t have his cane with him – a rare occurrence that shouldn’t have happened and even worsened his chances in this situation. His steps were hurried and uneven as Stelle’s warmth warmed up his own jacket.
So when Sunday rounded the corner right at that moment, he felt a wave of gratitude wash over him briefly.
“Sunday,” he said coolly. The latter perked up immediately, stopping in his track with alertness, probably at the tone Welt had.
“What’s going on Mr. Yang—?” he began.
“No time to explain. I need your help,” said Welt immediately. “I need you to get my cane from the Parlor Car. If the other crew members are there, alert them too.”
Sunday nodded curtly, taking one last glance at Stelle before hurrying off towards the Parlor Car he’d come from. Welt gritted his teeth before he made his way towards the bathroom, sliding the door open after getting ahold of it with his feet.
Stelle’s state was severely deteriorating, and he didn’t know how much worse it could get.
He’d known there was something off with that fight, seeing the footage of it. A huge surge of power had erupted from her. Undoubtedly, it was something connected to the Stellaron. He wasn’t entirely sure of it back then, but now he was. His hypothesis? The Stellaron was overloaded with the opening for Wishpower, which then caused the Stellaron to react and slowly accumulate.
Stelle either neglected this, or clearly hadn’t noticed it until the Stellaron decided it was enough. He thought it must’ve been the latter, because even though she can be quite stubborn, Stelle wouldn’t be foolish enough to let this go entirely unnoticed.
Welt carefully put her down against the wall on the floor, ensuring she wouldn’t topple over, before he turned on the tap and switched it to be cooler. Stelle was breathing heavily and still taking shallow, painful breaths.
He quickly discarded his jacket on the sink to his left, before crouching down before her. “Stelle? Hey, are you still with me?” he questioned lightly, wiping a loose strand of gray hair stained by sweat away from her face. Her eyes barely moved, but there was a small flicker that suggested she was still fighting the effects of the Stellaron. She let out a weak whimper. Good. It meant she was still aware, even if her control was starting to slip away. He silently hoped that Sunday would return soon with his cane so he could start with suppressing the Stellaron to keep it from worsening its already deteriorating state.
As if on cue, the door slid open quickly and both March, Dan Heng and Sunday came in quickly. Welt immediately looked up towards them, then eyed down at the cane Dan Heng was holding out for him as he approached with a horribly masked concerned expression on his face.
“How is she?” Dan Heng asked immediately as Welt took his cane.
“Just below stable,” he said gravely as he turned back to her. She was now slumped back against the wall, her chest heaving with every shallow breath she took.
“Unsufficient,” Dan Heng said plainly and hovered near Welt without approaching directly.
“What happened?” March asked with a voice that was filled with concern as she stepped towards Stelle without hesitation.
“Still no time to explain. Can you hold her stable?” Welt said as he readied his cane. “I am going to attempt to suppress the Stellaron once again,” he added as a small explanation.
March nodded determinedly and stepped next to the stool, her arm outstretching to stabilize Stelle, only to jolt back immediately. She gripped the hand that had touched Stelle. “Ow! She’s— she’s extremely warm!”
Welt nodded gravely once again as he raised his cane towards the front of her head. “I know.”
As suspected, it was significantly harder to suppress the Stellaron this time, given the thousands of wishes the Wishpower had powered it with. The time at the Space Station was nothing compared to this. At that time, it had only been her own wish that was siphoned into the Stellaron.
March winced again as she held Stelle, holding on this time. Dan Heng moved towards the bath, probably knowing well what Welt had wanted to do with it. He stopped the tap before it spilled over.
Welt gritted his teeth as he tried powering through the surge of power the Stellaron was emitting. It was actively fighting against suppression, let alone fighting against Stelle herself.
That wasn’t the worst. Stelle was starting to lose control as well. He saw it in the way her face flickered with exhaustion briefly. How even she — the one who was known for her stubborn will — was starting to look resigned.
“She’s getting worse—!” March said anxiously, her body moving while she was still holding Stelle, out of restlessness.
“Sunday,” Welt said rather suddenly, forming a plan B in his head already. Welt saw him snap to attention in his peripheral vision. “I know you’re still exhausted from the tuning back on Seafeld TV Tower, and I do not wish to overextend your powers, but if there’s a possibility… would you be able to use your tuning to aid Stelle with remaining conscious?”
Sunday didn’t hesitate. He probably knew the gravity of the situation too, but that also meant he’d probably not pay attention to his own limits either.
“Please do not hesitate to stop tuning if you feel like you’re going over your own limits,” Welt added quickly, his grip on his cane remaining steady as he continued trying to suppress the Stellaron. “If you manage to create an opening, I can suppress it enough to stop accelerating.”
Sunday nodded curtly and approached Stelle’s seat, standing on the side of Stelle opposite from March.
“I’ll go find Himeko and inform her about the situation,” Dan Heng said quickly as he made his way out of the bathroom.
Welt nodded briefly, but his gaze didn’t leave Stelle. He checked her face, watching how a bit of the tension relieved immediately, only to show more on Sunday’s face instead.
“Don’t overdo it,” Welt warned him briefly.
He barely reacted but a brief nod, but that was probably due to his focus on the tuning. Focus was of the essence during tuning, Welt knew.
The suppression on the Stellaron started working better — at the very least, the Stellaron was fighting against his efforts less, which created just the opening he needed.
He managed to power through as her resolve suddenly spiked, managing to suppress it enough to return to its original dormant state. Welt immediately fought the wave of dizziness he felt after using that energy to suppress the Stellaron and put his cane aside. “It’s done,” he said.
Sunday’s gaze flicked towards him briefly before he stopped the tuning and staggered backwards slightly. Enough for Welt’s gaze to sharpen at it. “March, would you take Sunday to rest and ensure he stays resting for a while? She’s stable now and I can take it from here,” Welt said. March immediately nodded, though her gaze lingered with worry. Welt gave her a reassuring nod and the two of them promptly left the bathroom afterwards, leaving Stelle and Welt alone again.
She was still burning up, way too hot for comfort, but she was definitely more awake than before.
Her clothing clung stubbornly to her skin through the sweat, probably worsening the warmth for her. He gritted his teeth before he spoke up. “Are you okay with me removing clothes for the bath?” he asked gently, awaiting any response.
There was one, albeit small. She inclined her head slightly back and forth, almost imperceptible, just recognizable enough to be a nod. Welt carefully started removing her jacket, making sure she wasn’t uncomfortable. The fabric was clinging stubbornly, hanging on dearly. Her white shirt still clung to her skin, but Welt ultimately decided it was better to leave it on and just get her into the cold water to cool her off. He swiftly took off her mismatched socks, pushing away the amusement he felt at seeing that she was wearing one golden sock and one pink, probably plucked from March’s wardrobe without her knowing.
He lifted her up again, making sure to remain gentle as he lowered her into the bathwater. Immediate relief flashed over her face and he could see some of the tension leaving her shoulders.
Welt figured Dan Heng had issues finding Himeko, given the fact that he was taking quite a long time to return with her. Not a major issue anymore, since she was stabilizing. Welt allowed himself to let out a soft exhale of relief at how the situation was handled. It could’ve gone way worse for Stelle.
Welt watched as Stelle closed her eyes and leaned against the tub's edge, resting her head on her arm, gray hair cascading down past her hands. The first thing he noticed was how tired she looked, and he silently wondered what the Stellaron had made her go through.
He, out of all people, knew the best that Stellaron’s weren’t innocent things. They twist wishes and desires, fulfilling them at huge costs. Jarilo VI’s Stellaron had been a perfect example of this, at least to their speculation. A wish to preserve the land caused the Eternal Freeze, fulfilling the wish of preserving in the extremity of freezing everything so none would decay. Who knows what the Stellaron could do with the thousands of wishes the Wishpower carried with it? Whilst the Stellaron is stable inside her body, it didn’t prevent the Stellaron from directly affecting her, given its role in her body as a ‘second heart’.
Welt simply crouched down on the side of the bath next to her, remaining there in silence as an anchor. Watching closely to see if the Stellaron would act up again, break through the suppression or anything similar to it. Normally, he wouldn’t be as concerned for something like that to happen, but this wasn’t a normal situation. Not in Welt’s dictionary, at least.
He knew the Stellaron was still straining her body, that she was still trying to put up a strong front despite the fact that she was still on the verge of passing out. That wasn’t abnormal – the heat the Stellaron emanated into her body was enormous, and even the power of the Trailblaze wouldn’t be enough to suppress the effects of it.
Stelle let out a soft groan, before murmuring something unintelligible.
“Do you want anything?” Welt inquired gently. She slightly shook her head in response.
It took a short while before Welt could hear heels clacking in the hallway, after which the door to the bathroom slid open again and Himeko emerged together with Dan Heng in the bathroom. She was wearing a concerned expression that immediately fell on Stelle and softened almost instantaneously. She approached Welt and glanced at him as she spoke. “I heard what happened.”
Welt nodded curtly, still crouched next to Stelle. “She’s stabilizing. Still extremely overheated, though. The Stellaron reacted to the Wishpower that she let the Stellaron siphon during the fight against Fulwish. At least, that’s my hypothesis,” he explained, his tone low.
Steam gently rose from where Stelle was sitting, a sign that she was cooling down by the water.
“That’s good,” Himeko said with an undoubtedly soft tone to her voice as she approached Stelle and bent down slightly to reach her, wiping strands of her hair away. “She’s still burning up…” Himeko noted, the concern returning slightly.
Welt nodded. “It’s not worsening. If anything, it’s getting better,” he responded. “I’ll stay here with her.”
Dan Heng, who had remained silent over the course of the conversation, spoke up. “I knew there was something off about the fight,” he said with a remorseful hint to his tone. Both Himeko and Welt looked at him at the same time. “And yet I failed to act on it, then proceeded to forget asking Stelle about it in the aftermath…”
“Dan Heng,” Himeko gently interrupted him with a headshake, before walking over to him and resting her hand on his shoulder, “it’s not your fault. Stellaron’s are unpredictable. That fight was stressful enough for all of you, so take it easy, alright? If anything, Stelle doesn’t need you to deprecate yourself over things you can’t change at the current moment.”
Welt watched as Dan Heng nodded, but it wasn’t entirely sincere. He was probably still – despite Himeko’s words – blaming himself for being ‘ignorant’.
“All we can do for now is help Stelle recover from it,” Himeko added with a gentle squeeze to his shoulder and a reassuring nod. “The worst has passed.”
Dan Heng hesitated, sparing Stelle a remorseful glance, but then nodded as he turned back to Himeko. “She still looks terrible though,” he said with a low voice, barely intelligible.
“She probably feels that way too, so we need to give her some space,” Himeko insisted.
Welt nodded in agreement. “She’s probably overwhelmed by the Stellaron’s influence. It might be better if she has some space now,” he explained.
“Alright,” Himeko nodded, “that might be for the best. I’ll ensure Pom-Pom prepares a light meal for her whenever she’s ready.”
Himeko stepped towards the exit of the bathroom immediately after, not even hesitating for a single second.
“I’ll stay with her,” Welt said, “I don’t trust leaving her completely on herself just yet.”
Himeko stopped in her tracks and shot a look over her shoulder, nodding briefly before her gaze fell back on Dan Heng. He lingered for a second longer before he inevitably followed her with a small appreciative nod at Welt.
He silently continued keeping watch over Stelle, ensuring she wasn’t too uncomfortable.
It was all foggy after a while. She’d been fighting against falling unconscious for a while, trying to stay awake despite wanting relief of the thousands of voices around her that kept getting louder and louder and louder.
It was only at some point, when she felt a cold touch against her skin of a familiar yet foreign touch, that the voices felt like they were being shut up, told they were in a library where silence was to be preserved. Of course, there’s always people who break the rules and remain noisy, but it got significantly less.
The heat, however, remained. It didn’t lessen, it only stopped building up further. The Stellaron stopped surging uncontrollably. She hadn’t felt this sensation before. Not aware of it, at least. It was like someone had thrown a blanket over her that muffled most of the noise around her.
And then the cold came. She felt blissfully cold water against her skin at some point, drenching her white shirt with it. She unconsciously leaned against the edge of the tub without knowing that was what she leaned against. Her body was exhausted, all the energy drained from it.
Stelle was slowly becoming more aware of her surroundings. It built up slowly, not all at once. She felt steam rising from her body, her hair cascading down past the arm she leaned on. She heard voices that she couldn't distinctly tell apart. She could feel the sharp pain throbbing in her head. Her chest ached dully, the aftermath of the Stellaron’s build-up. She hated how vulnerable she felt. If anyone were to attack her, she couldn’t even do anything against it. Not that that was going to happen on the Express, but Stelle merely hated the thought of it. Especially after everything that happened thus far with the Phantasmoon games. Who knows what crazy Fulwish fans might show up to take revenge for their beloved supplicant who Stelle brutally killed? She wouldn’t put it past them.
After that, she slowly became more aware of the other presence that was currently in the bathroom with her. She tried lifting her head despite the heavy feeling that was settled beneath her skull, her eyes fluttering open.
“Easy,” the same voice from earlier spoke up immediately and she felt an arm stabilizing her as she almost slipped against the damp edge of the tub. She weakly ran a hand through her hair so she could actually see anything.
It was only then that she fully realized that Mr. Yang had stayed with her despite everything. A warm feeling swelled in her chest at that, as she felt grateful for how he’d helped her. She didn’t remember entering the cold bath, but it was amazing.
“How are you feeling?” Mr. Yang gently prodded as he sat crouched next to the tub. There was no urgency behind it — Stelle didn’t need to answer immediately if she didn’t feel like it, and that was probably intentional, so she felt grateful for it.
When she did speak up soon after, her voice was hoarse and the words didn’t form at first, which caused her to cough again, reminding her of earlier.
“Take your time,” he reminded her, his hand remaining on the back of her drenched shirt.
“I’m feeling better,” Stelle eventually managed, clearing her throat again. “Better than before, at least,” she admitted immediately afterwards.
Mr. Yang let out a soft sigh, after which Stelle mentally prepared to be lectured about keeping silent about having issues with her Stellaron.
“That’s good,” he said. “The Stellaron seemed to be overloaded with Wishpower and responded to it. I suppressed it again and it seems to be relatively stable now,” he explained to her. Seemed plausible, she figured. The Wishpower she’d allowed to surge in at the fight against Fulwish hadn’t left her. That included both positive and negative wishes, which probably overloaded it in the process.
Stelle sucked in a breath as she started feeling guilty. “I’m sorry...” Her voice was barely above a whisper as she looked away from Mr. Yang. She felt guilty for burdening him with this in the way it happened. She should have heeded his earlier advice to go to him should she have any complications, and she felt foolish for becoming ignorant about this matter. She knew her body felt off for a while. She knew it felt off ever since the fight, and she had ignored it over the past two days that had passed even though Mr. Yang had asked her about it.
“Stelle,” she saw him shake his head in her peripheral vision, “hey, look at me.” He gently turned her head to face him. “It’s alright. You know what you could have done better and you’ll learn from it. Stellarons are the epitome of unpredictability, so this is not your fault. Not in the slightest,” he said, before a small smile painted his expression. “Besides, you’re alright now, aren’t you? Just take it easy for a while until you feel better and you’ll recover.”
Stelle swallowed the lump that was forming in her throat. A weird, fuzzy sensation in her chest that she couldn’t describe, nor place.
“Thank you,” she said quietly.
His smile warmed a bit further as his hand rose up from her cheek towards her hair and gently ruffled her damp strands. “Of course,” Mr. Yang responded to that. “Now take it easy, alright? Take all the time you need and we’ll go to the Parlor Car afterward.”
“You’re still staying?” she asked, slightly surprised despite knowing that she shouldn’t be.
“Why not?” he responded with a slight dry tone, his hand still resting on her hair for a short while.
Stelle couldn’t find the words to that, only feeling grateful that he’d stayed thus far already. She didn’t want to require more from him. Despite that, she felt glad that he’d stay. If the Stellaron were to become unstable again, he could suppress it again. He was the only one who had the relevant means for it, at least.
She was already glad the Stellaron didn’t act up while she was outside in Planarcadia. That it didn’t make the battle end up differently than it did, possibly wiping everyone on the TV Tower and in Seafeld City itself.
So she was grateful how everything ended up resolving and finally took the initiative to rest up a bit.
The door slid to the bathroom slid open and Dan Heng walked in. His gaze immediately softened as he caught sight of her, probably because of her awareness (she’d tease him about how his gaze visibly softened later). He was carrying a pile of clothes.
“I have some clean clothes for you,” he said with a cool tone as he put it on the sink and then walked over towards the bathtub. Stelle looked up at him with a small, forced smile, a weak attempt to reassure him that she was alright. “March was already pestering Himeko and I to question how you were holding up,” he said with a light huff of amusement.
“That sounds accurate,” Mr. Yang responded. Stelle let out a light chuckle before she could stop herself from doing it. To Stelle’s surprise, Mr. Yang actually smiled. “Sounds like you’re becoming more like yourself again.”
Dan Heng let out an agreeing hum. “That’s good.”
After a few more moments, Dan Heng left with the goal to tell March about Stelle’s state, or at least that’s what he implied he was going to do. Stelle allowed herself to sink against the tub’s edge and relax the strain on her muscles, not feeling ready yet to head out of the cooler water that had already relatively warmed up to her body’s temperature.
She didn’t pay it much mind. She was used to being warmer already, so cooling down to her usual temperature was good enough for her.
Stelle didn’t have to worry about anything else for now, and allowed herself to relax for once.