Chapter Text
Of all the people she ever expected to see on Planarcadia, much less work with…
…Blade and Silver Wolf of the Stellaron Hunters are not on that list.
~~~
Yeah, she knows that she would run into them at some point, but after Penacony and Amphoreus, specifically when her memories got triggered by Dahlia…
She doesn't know how to feel about them. About everything that's happened since Penacony.
Apparently… if her memories were real and not a fabrication by Lygus, Mythus, or even Evernight…
…she used to be a Stellaron Hunter.
She used to be one of the very people she thought she was against.
And that shakes her to her core.
Stelle doesn't tell anyone about it, though. About her suspicions? Fears? They're technically the same thing.
Back on the Xianzhou, she thought that the Stellaron Hunters were their enemies.
And she's one of them. Or used to be. Her memories, unfortunately, are still little to none of her time before the Space Station.
She thinks Welt and Himeko know. March and Dan Heng could figure it out. Sunday could probably pull it out of her if he really wanted to.
And now, at least, at this time of her life, the Astral Express and the Stellaron Hunters were on… not the same side but at some degree of understanding that they were traveling together in the same direction.
Anyway. Enough rambling.
Their next trip is supposed to be a vacation. To Himeko's homeland of Ahatopia, for some reason.
Stelle rarely hears Himeko talk about her homeland, or herself, really, but that's probably because Stelle and the others have been so busy chasing off Lord Ravagers and other problems the planets and stations have, they rarely have time to sit down and actually have a conversation about their pasts. March and Stelle don't remember theirs, Dan Heng has his life in fragments, Sunday spends his time in Halovian mourning, which leaves Welt, Himeko, and Pom-Pom to tell stories to cheer the group up during dinners on the Express.
(One night, about a week before they reach Ahatopia, Welt shares a haunting tale about a woman who gave her life to save a female student from the nightmares in her head. It's a strange story, one that doesn't make much sense, especially because the student is not freed from said nightmares after the woman dies, but Himeko is certain the woman did everything in her power to save her.
Welt just smiles sadly and says that the woman gave her student her “final lesson”, one that he's sure that female student treasures to the moon and back.
He rests his hands on his cane and seems to hum something.
Stelle feels awkward at the tone- and maybe she's also reminded of her time on Amphoreus- so she leaves for her room.)
But the closer the train gets to Ahatopia, the more Himeko opens up.
“Ahatopia used to be called Benzaitengoku.” She shares one night when Stelle helps her and Dan Heng with updating maps. “That was before the world was sealed away in Canvas by my Ancestor, Graphia. Now, Ahatopia is home to various species, from the powerful Yokai to the stealthy Nekomata. Even the Kappa, beings shaped like turtles with their minds full of wisdom, lead weary travelers to the hot springs and share tales about the cosmos and the world around them.”
“Why was the name changed?” Dan Heng asks. “Benzaitengoku seems like a beautiful place to live.”
Himeko sighs. “That, unfortunately, I do not know. When I was growing up, I always knew it as Ahatopia, and that it used to be Benzaitengoku. Maybe, when we finally arrive, we can find that out for ourselves.”
~~~
They reach Ahatopia.
Well.
What's left of it.
Ahatopia rests in the World In Canvas, and it's in pieces.
The biggest piece, currently being managed by the IPC, is out of the WIC (World in Canvas) and is now called Planarcadia. Stelle catches Himeko mouthing the new name to herself multiple times the first day they arrive and try to settle in.
Why was the name changed? IPC changed it. Where were all the Yokai that Himeko remembers from growing up? IPC got rid of them.
A lot of things had changed from what Himeko remembered, and it was enough to leave the navigator shaken. Stelle has seen the woman pour so many cups of undrinkable coffee for herself over the past few days that Stelle swears to throw the coffee machine (and Shush) overboard and let the woman sleep.
It's only after; after the fight with Sparxie, after the actual homicides, after dodging the new fans, after the fight with the Daybreak Squadron, after she's accused of breaking the law again (long story), and after the actual moon starts talking, that when everyone reunites on the Express, Himeko collapses on the couch, leans her head back on the headrest, and closes her eyes. Stelle and March join her, while Dan Heng, Mr. Yang, and Sunday take the opposite couch.
“So what do we do now?” March asks. “There's so much we have to prepare for! There's the games, there's Fulwish, there's General Yao Guang's prediction, there's Himeko's father…” March frowns. “Am I forgetting something?”
“The Herald of Death…” Dan Heng mutters.
“Thank you! Wait… doesn't that count as dealing with Fulwish? Because we know she has something to do with it.”
“...we need to deal with Fulwish regardless.” Himeko says finally, opening her eyes. “Stelle and I can go to Graphia Academy for information. I need to speak to my father anyway. Sunday, you're doing good work with General Yao Guang. Keep it up.”
Sunday brightens. “Thank you, Miss Himeko.”
She nods. “March can stay with Welt and protect the Express, while Dan Heng can go with Silver Wolf and Blade.”
Stelle's partially distracted during Himeko's talk. She's too busy staring at her reflection in the floor.
“...what if I go with Silver Wolf and Blade?” She wonders out loud.
Then she realizes that everyone is staring at her.
“What?” She asks.
Dan Heng hesitates. “Stelle… are you sure that's a good idea right now?”
Yes. No.
“Maybe?” She shrugs.
“It's just.” Dan Heng leans forward in his seat. “I keep thinking of everyone's eyes on you when it comes to the Games…”
“I can handle the Games, Dan Heng.”
“Stelle-”
“No, listen.” She sets her feet on the floor of the Express Car and raises her hands in defense. “Listen. My priority is the Games. Besides, Fulwish has the entirety of Planarcadia listening to her right now. Most of Planarcadia would believe a familiar face compared to a stranger's.
I know Pearl advised us to hide and go to ground, but we can't just abandon these people.” She looks around at the others. “We all know that Fulwish has something to do with the Herald of Death, we can't just figure out what that is.
So, instead of going on the defensive, we could go on the offensive, and lure her out to an area where everyone can see what's she's done.”
“Stelle…” Dan Heng begins.
“...That is exactly what she wants.” Sunday sits up from the other couch and looks at her. “She wants you to come after her. That way, she can twist the narrative back onto you. There is no winning, no matter what we do.”
Stelle frowns. “But we can't just sit back and wait, Sunday! Despite what the media says, we haven't done anything wrong!”
“Exactly!” March chimes in.
“Which is why we need to lay low and gather our information.” Himeko points out. “As much as it pains me to say it, the truth will come out eventually. We can't force Fulwish to admit to what she's done, but we can trick her into it.”
“Isn't that the same thing?” Stelle asks. Her head is starting to hurt from all the confusion.
“All I am saying is that we have to be careful here, Stelle.” Himeko sighs. “That's it.”
“But it's a good plan!” She protests.
‘Why aren't they listening to me?’
“Himeko went to school with Fulwish, right? She, March 7th, and Mr. Yang can go to Graphia Academy and gather information on her, while keeping an eye on Mr. Ryusuke. Dan Heng, Sunday, Tingyun, Ashveil, and Mr. N can track down the Research Society of Happy Smiles, while Yao Guang and Evanescia can go after the Abundance… people, I guess. I don't know if they're still people or not. I-”
‘They're not listening.’
She can already see it in their eyes, the way they look at each other with worry.
‘They're not listening to me.’
“This…” Mr. Yang looks at Himeko for some reason, then back to her.
“Stelle, this isn't… just about Planarcadia, is it?”
Stelle freezes on the couch, her mouth hanging open.
“I…”
‘Well?
What's really going on with you?’
“You don't have to answer.” Mr. Yang quickly says as she starts shaking. “It's just- something to think about as we go-”
“I JUST WANT ANSWERS!!!”
Her shout silences the group.
Everyone stares at her with wide eyes as she breathes heavily, staring into her reflection.
Her angry reflection.
“I. Want. Answers.” She repeats. “Aeons Above, there are so many things that I want answers to. I want to know who's really behind the murders. I want to know why they died. I want to know more about this planet. I want to know what drives a group of famed actors to murder someone. I want to know how to save Amphoreus for good.”
The Express Crew flinch and look at each other with dawning realization.
She hesitates.
‘Do I even say it?
…I have to, don't I?’
And says it anyway.
“...I want to know who I was. Before… Before I boarded the Express. Before I woke up on the Space Station.
I want to know who I was before Fulwish can find the information and use it against me.”
there. She said it.
it's out in the open now, the thing she's been thinking about ever since she left Herta Space Station after Amphoreus fell.
They can judge her all they want to, because she's clearly selfish at such a time like this.
“...does that really matter?”
Stelle jerks her head up in shock at the person who asks.
Because it's not Mr. Yang or Himeko who asks her. It's not Sunday or Dan Heng who looks at her with an emotion she can't identify.
It's March.
“Does knowing who you were before… before us… really matter that much to you?”
The pink haired girl stares at her from across the room.
Stelle suddenly can't breathe.
‘How could you ask me that?’ She thinks to herself. ‘How could you, the girl with at least 37 different stories for herself, ask me that? How could you, of all people, ask me that-?’
“I-”
“...Are we not enough?”
Stelle immediately flinches. “Aeons, no! March, I-”
She swallows. “I love all of you. I'm grateful to all of you for accepting me into your family.”
She looks at each member of the Astral Express as she speaks.
“I…”
She trails off, feeling her throat close over her words.
The girl swallows, then brings her knees up to her chin and wraps her arms around them.
“...I just want answers.”
The others are silent, with the only sounds in the room being everyone's breathing and the faint sounds of the distant Aedes Elysiae playing on the phonograph.
“...Do what you think is right.” Mr. Yang says finally. “We will not stop you from following your own path.”
It's meant to be reassuring.
And yet, Stelle just feels like she personally stabbed them all in the back while making full eye contact.
She might be on her way to rejoining the Stellaron Hunters after all.
…
~~~
“Alright, enough with the overcomplicated backstory already!”
Silver Wolf snaps her fingers in front of Stelle's face, startling the gray-haired girl and causing her to jump.
“Aaaa- Silver Wolf!”
“Relax!” Silver Wolf pops a bubble from the gum she's chewing on. “You looked like you're about to watch your favorite NPC's funeral after you killed them.”
“Way to summarize my mind right now.” She grumbles.
She kicks an empty can down the sidewalk as she, Blade, and Silver Wolf walk toward the TV station in Seafeld City.
Her phone is silent.
OK, more accurately, she silenced it. Both to avoid dealing with the media and avoid seeing what the Express family had to say after she basically ran upstairs to her room, slammed the door, and cried into her pillow like an immature child.
That's not even counting the part where she snuck out of the Express and just. Ran for a few miles.
Again, like an immature child, but she just.
She can't face them right now. Not after what she said to them.
Silver Wolf blows another pink gum bubble and continues tapping on her personal phone screen.
“I know you said that you're fine, you're just worried about the heist we're about to do, but.”
She frowns. “...Stelle, promise me that you know what you're doing?”
Stelle frowns at the sudden change in Silver Wolf's voice. The hacker almost sounds… worried?
…It's probably because they're about to break into the TV Station. It can't be because of her. She was probably just a means to an end for them. That's why they abandoned her.
“I promise I know what I'm doing.” She meets Silver Wolf's eyes and smiles.
It's a fake smile, one to hide the storm of emotions inside, but it should be enough to fool her, right?
Silver Wolf's eyes… sadden?
Impossible. She's seeing things.
“Dan Heng is worried about you.” Blade says suddenly.
Stelle blinks and meets the Hunter's eyes. “What?”
“Nothing.” Blade narrows his eyes at something up ahead. “Be on your guard. We're about to have company.”
Silver Wolf turns from staring at Stelle to face the possible threat. “Oh, great. A group of low level thugs already.”
She pockets her phone and nudges Stelle with her shoulder. “How much you want to bet that they're trying to stop us from reaching the Tower?”
Stelle's smile shifts to being a genuine one. “One round of Fate and back to back rounds of Impact.”
Silver Wolf blinks.
Then she grins. “Oh, you're ON!”
Silver Wolf summons her blaster, Stelle her Remembrance quill, and the three run toward the battle.
~~~
Stelle's actually not sure what she's looking at when she finds the group of seven or eight monsters stumbling out of the Tower. They're all… pink and twisted, more plant-like than human.
She swallows. ‘Are these…?’
“Denizens of Abundance.” Blade says next to her. “Although their appearance is new… they're not this…”
“Vibrant?” Silver Wolf suggests.
“...Yes.” Blade agrees. “Though something is… wrong.”
She has to agree with the older man. Even with their faces covered by magenta leaves, she can feel so many eyes on her…
“That's obvious, Bladie.” The hacker aims her blaster at the nearest one. “Stelle, think you and I can tie?”
Stelle tears her gaze away from the Abundance Denizens. “Yeah, sure.”
As soon as she raises her quill, the Denizens tense up, as if hearing something they can't.
Then they attack.
She yelps as she dodges one of them, claws extended as if to grab her.
“Wolf, Blade!” She calls to the others. “Watch out for their claws! They might be trying to grab you!”
The two nod and Silver Wolf continues to fire her blaster.
But no matter how many times she hits her target, they just… keep getting up.
‘Just like what Ashveil said…’
DANGER
She blinks.
DANGER
Was someone… talking to her?
DANGER
RUN
******* RUN
She lowers her quill.
Raises her gaze to the roofs around her.
And sees… something silver shine on top of the nearest one.
Whatever it is…
She squints her eyes against the sun to see what it is-
it… looks like a gun.
And it's…
It's pointed right at-
At Blade.
…the gun. The Elation. The people. The Abundance.
…the Abundance Emanator sealed inside of Blade.
The gun, if it even is a gun, fires.
Stelle immediately reacts.
“Blade, look out!” She screams.
Running toward the man, she lunges forward and shoves him out of the way-
Only for the bullet to sink into her temple.
~~~
Somewhere else, a black cat resting on the lap of a paralyzed girl opens its yellow eyes, rears up on all fours, and snarls.
~~~
oh
hello there
hi
Look at you
Little Stellaron girl
little stellaron hunter
isn't she with the Express
she is
but she used to be a Stellaron Hunter
No
Really
Yes
how did you know
You can see it in her eyes
you can see it in her mind
Her mind
What's in her mind
what's on her mind
What's on your mind little girl
can WE see?
Stelle jerks awake with a gasp as pain throbs through her skull.
She groans and stumbles to her feet.
Does her best to
shake it off, right?
The girl sways on her feet, blinking furiously. Already, the room is spinning and turning into swirls of whispers she can't make out (“they're laughing, Blade, why are they laughing?”) smiles that widen the second she glances their way-
hi
Hello!
hi there
can you see us?
we can see you, little stellaron girl
“Why.” Someone says, on the verge of tears, over and over again. “Why why why why WHY-”
“-Why did you do that?!” Blade shouts furiously.
Stelle jumps, startled, as he grabs her by the shoulders and stares at her. “I was finally about to-!”
He cuts himself off, blinking as she
shakes
that's how it starts, you know?
The shaking.
Uncontrollably.
Why is she shaking?
you're afraid
little stellaron girl
don't be afraid
We just wanna say hi!
Something
age
experience
recognition
fear
flashes across his face before he lets go of her shoulders and places his hands on top of them.
His face shifts back to the closed off expression they know so well.
“What's wrong?” He asks quietly.
She opens her mouth to answer, only to choke, to cough.
That's next too.
Something's in her
chest?
lungs?
throat?
mouth?
gently twisting its way up her
spine?
and throat over her tongue in such a way that her mouth tastes like-
fruit, the kind we sell at the store, you know the ones, all red and juicy insides
or
branches that move with the wind and crunch whenever you step on them, like the ones over on the way to Graphia Academy, the yellow ones
(I could have sworn they were pink)
(Don't worry about that! Just nod with the others and-)
or
leaves that crumble to dust the second they touch your palm
or
seeds the size of a bullet that can tear through skin and flesh and bone and take root in the brain?
‘...poison?’
She opens her mouth to answer, and-
sharp pain pierces her temples and her vision tilts.
Stelle finds herself on her knees in a puddle, staring down at her reflection, watching as she chokes and gasps and tries to-
She opens her mouth to just take a breath take a moment take a second to breathe-
and three yellow gingko leaves drift down and land on the puddle, crowning her head with-
…a sign of Abundance.
hello, Stelle!
(-remember to SMILE!!!)