Chapter Text
“This is it, everyone.” Himeko said, as the express began to slightly shake in preparation for the warp jump. “We must find fuel on Strion 5265, or we will be left adrift until we can find some.”
“Do we even have the fuel to jump to Strion 5265?” March asked.
“Well, if we don’t, we might have to start eating each other from starvation.” Stelle commented lightly.
March tensed, the slightest hint of red coming to her eyes.
“That was a joke.” Dan Heng reassured, from his place off to the side of them on the sofa from the parlor car. March settled, eyes returning to normal. It had been a tense several weeks, since the whole Amphoreus disaster.
Himeko and Mr. Yang seemed to be walking on glass around the group of them, careful not to trod on a tender memory or unhealed scars, probably to assuage what seemed to be mountains of unfounded guilt. Dan Heng was honestly okay with the babying (he had missed them more than he would ever admit), and it kept him close to Stelle. March… was a little bit harder for them to deal with, at the moment.
March, when she was acting…. Normal, and march like, was all for joining in the soft routines and express game and movie nights. Evernight, on the other hand, was not a fan of the babying. The trigger between them seemed to be razor thin, and the whole newness of the situation had Evernight popping out a good deal more than any of them hoped. It was better now, and Evernight really only came out when March was startled or wary. At least, far better than when they’d first gotten back and Evernight was popping out at every. damn. thing. Someone knocking on her door or brushing up against her in transit when she wasn’t expecting it, and loud noises of the train’s usual functions.
The funniest part was, that whenever March came back, she seemed to have very little idea of what her other self had been up to. That was also what made it so hard. Because March wanted to be included, but was almost entirely unaware of how quickly her friend could take over and curse them all out for their tender treatment before storming off.
“Well, but Strion’s a galactic port center, no? They’ve got to have fuel there, right?” Sunday asked.
Sunday seemed a bit of a nervous mess, to be honest. It certainly hadn’t been easy for him either, what with the first trailblazing mission he witnessed ending so terribly.
“Yes, although they’re pretty strict with what they allow others to borrow. We might be in for some tough negotiations.” Welt hummed.
Pom-Pom started counting down over the intercom, and they all settled in to watch the stars zoom by.
March hesitantly got to her feet, a pale imitation of her usual warp ritual.
After a second, Stelle got up to join her.
Dan Heng rolled his eyes, but dutifully stood up behind them, so when they inevitably fell over, he’d make sure they didn’t crack their heads on the ground.
“3….2….1….”
The world shifted around them, as it always did, Amphoreus vanishing off to the side, and the sky speeding past in all the colors you could imagine-
The express shuddered, once.
“What-“
It turned out then that it didn’t matter that Dan Heng was behind the girls.
Because when the express stopped suddenly, turning forward onto its front instead of jolting back, they both yelled, thrown the other way, and they plummeted towards the doors to the party car, crashing with a distinct thud.
Dan Heng himself had managed to lodge his spear into the seat, and stayed hanging there. Welt and Himeko had ended up tumbling together, landing seemingly unharmed on the side of the stairs.
Sunday alone was still attached to his seat, by way of the vines of imaginary magic he used in combat thoroughly tying him to his seat, and staring down at them all, startled.
“Everyone okay back there?!?” Pom-Pom asked frantically through the intercom.
“Er. Yes, yes, I believe so! What happened?” Welt asked.
“We ran out of fuel mid-jump! I’m sorry, everyone! I’m going to see if I can get us closer to flat again, then scan for nearby planets.”
They didn’t bother saying that it was unlikely. Their routes were designed not to pass too close to planets.
There was a rumbling groan, and the express began tilting again. But… oh, no-
The express was now upside down, and it was felt by everyone as they rolled to the ceiling of the express, including Dan Heng, whose spear had lost its hold halfway through the turn. Several crashing noises sounded from practically everywhere else on the express.
“What the-?” Pom-Pom cried. “There’s something interfering with gravity here, but I don’t see anything! I’m going to leave it as is for the time being until I can figure things out.”
Dan Heng brushed off his clothes and briefly inspected the mark he’d left in the sofa. As Sunday lowered himself down to the ceiling, Evernight was the first to extract herself from the pile of the others, fuming.
“Ugh! Can’t we ever have a normal jump?!?” She spat. “I need to go check on March’s room.” Evernight turned tail and walked, unbothered by all the splattered plants and furniture on the floor, towards the rooms.
Dan Heng watched her go, before Stelle jumped at him from behind, draping herself over his shoulders, best she could. “You okay, Dan Heng?” She asked.
“Fine. You? Anything hurting? Headache?” Dan Heng asked. She’d been suffering from frequent headaches as of late, and a menagerie of nightmares of her time as Lygus’s captive. She had yet to really talk about what had happened there besides the basics, but Dan Heng knew it wasn’t good. She shrugged.
Sunday, in the process of pulling Mr. Yang up, was the first to bring it up. “Do any of you see anything out the window?”
Himeko, who was adjusting her hair ornaments, paused and went to the window. “No, just stars. I don’t see anything that would have caused such a strange reaction.”
“Something’s not right, though.” Stelle said. “I can feel it.” Dan Heng clung closer to her hand. They’d just gotten off a living nightmare, could they not have had a break?
“Usually, gravitational anomalies are due to moons or planets that aren’t listed on galactic maps, but I don’t see anything close enough to have that kind of effect, unless it’s gravitational field is massive, but at that range, we’d likely be crushed by-“
“Pom-Pom.” Stelle said.
“However, there are other things it could be, although it’s really unlikely.” Pom-Pom said, jumping down to join them on the ceiling. “This corner of space is relatively unexplored, we’re just cutting through it to get to Strion, but that doesn’t mean-“
“Pom-Pom!” Stelle gasped.
“What?” Asked the conductor, but then they (and everyone else) looked to where Stelle was pointing out the window.
Right next to the express, a fragment of sorts was forming. It was grey, rocky, and…..
“Is that…. A chunk of a moon?” Sunday asked.
“Would that cause the gravitational anomaly?” Himeko asked.
“Maybe, but not one of this size, it’s really small.” Pom-Pom said. “Unless…. Oh no.”
In a rush, they took off back towards the door. They couldn’t reach the door from the ceiling though, so Dan Heng caught up, scooped up Pom-Pom, and darted through it. He heard the others following. “What’s going on?”
“If there’s one that just appeared, there’s sure to be more! I need to use the generator to pull up shields!” Pom-Pom said.
Dan Heng reached the conductor’s car and let Pom-Pom down to do what they needed, and observed. Indeed, there was several even larger chunks of a moon floating somewhere off to the left of the car. Together, they looked like they could be the whole thing.
Pom-Pom sighed in relief. “Shields up. We’re already without fuel, the last thing we need is getting bombarded with rocks!”
“Put together, would these moon shards be big enough for the gravity issue?” Welt said.
“I don’t.. I don’t think so.” Pom-Pom said.
“Not to mention…. Don’t moons usually orbit planets?” Stelle asked.
“Yeah, what are you getting at?” Sunday asked.
“Where’s the planet?”
————
One hour later left them only a few more answers. They were in the party car, having helped the bots clean up the mess the jump had caused. March had come back, no trace of Evernight in her, and cheerfully helped them. Pom- Pom had detected an impressive, planet-sized gravity void behind where the moon was. But, obviously, there was nothing there. At least, not that they could see.
“I… hmmm, I want to try something.” Welt said, standing and going to the window. He spread both hands on the window and closed his eyes. Purple tendrils of his powers came to life outside the express and streaked towards the void, and hit something, spreading out into a faint purple shield of sorts, and as Welt put more power into it, the shield grew and grew until they could see the faint purple outline of something round in the sky. It certainly looked like a planet, covered in some kind of shield.
“It is a planet. It’s blocked off by some sort of barrier. It’s powerful, but….” Welt grunted, eyes closed, starting to sweat from the power he was exerting.
“An uncharted planet?” Pom-Pom wondered. “What are the chances we’d come so close to an entirely undiscovered planet?
“Is there anything else you can tell?” Himeko asked.
“There’s a weak point.” Welt said, eyes flashing open to focus more. “Should I break through?”
“We’ll need to go there for fuel, so we might as well secure our way in now and figure it out later.”
Welt nodded tightly, slamming his eyes shut again, and focusing. The purple-lined sphere shrunk slightly in one area, then cracked. Chunks of it fell out, floating into space. Something green could be seen through it. Land. The planet within. Not all of it could be seen, but enough.
Welt gasped, stepping back and letting his hands drop. The power disappeared, and he sighed.
“Are you okay?” Himeko whispered to him, coming to his side in case he needed support.
“Quite alright.” Welt replied, lightly. “It’s just… been a while since I’ve had to use my powers on something that large.”
“Alright, we need to all have a serious discussion on who is going and who isn’t, and what our game plan is on this planet.” Himeko said, turning to the others.
“I’ll go!” March said. “I’ll try and keep Evey away, but no promises.”
“Can’t let you go alone, March.” Stelle said. “I’ll go.”
“Are you sure?” Dan Heng asked. “No one will be upset if you take a break.”
“I… I need to be out trailblazing. It’ll take my mind off things.” Stelle said.
“Then I’m coming with you.” Dan Heng said. There was no way he was letting her out of his sight.
“I’m coming, too.” Sunday said, bravely standing tall amongst them.
March huffed a laugh under her breath, and seconds later she and Stelle were both giggling at him. He clearly was forcing himself to join so he’d not get too scared from the events of Amphoreus.
“We will come along as well. There’s no use keeping too many of us on the express when there’s no power.” Himeko said. Welt made a noise like he was going to protest Himeko’s involvement, but he didn’t speak.
“I’ll take care of the express!” Pom-Pom said.
“I’d expect nothing less.” Welt acknowledged, bowing his head. “However, as far as our plan goes, we-“
“-will have to wait. The hole in the barrier…. It’s starting to close back up.” Pom-Pom squeaked.
“How long do we have?” Dan Heng asked.
“Meet at the detachable car in five minutes.” Pom-Pom announced.
————-
They had scrambled, but all made it in their five minute allotment.
March only had her bow, a sweater in case of cold, a thermos of water, and her camera.
Sunday had, with all the grace of a new trailblazer, packed way too much, seemingly wanting to be prepared for anything. Toiletries, hairbrush, reading material, extra clothes, random trinkets, probably nothing he’d end up needing.
Welt had a extensive medkit that he hopefully would never have to use, and his cane.
Himeko had her own weaponry, a small bag of coffee beans, batteries, and a repair kit, should any of their communication devices be damaged.
Dan Heng had his spear and a couple of changes of clothes. When he took on the new path of the preservation, sometimes he’d end up ripping his clothes while changing, and after a few embarrassing moments, he’d had quite enough of that.
Stelle had her bat, her lance, her phone, and a bag of snacks.
Pom-Pom ushered them all into the car. “Welt, if you need to get out, can you break a hole in the barrier again?”
“Yes, I’m too tired at the moment, but I will be able to when we need.” Welt said.
“Alright everyone stay safe! I’ll see you soon! Goodbye!”
The doors shut, plunging them all into dim light.
Stelle clung to Dan Heng’s hand, and she knew why. Last time, it had been in this very car where she had been…. Killed. He held her back.
Stars passed the windows, and they all watched, intrigued, as they got closer and closer to the barrier. It was forming again, and so close that just as they began passing through, a spike of the barrier broke off against the hull. Stelle flinched. March rubbed a soothing hand to her shoulder.
They went through the barrier to see….
There was a planet there. Green and blue clashing with sections of puffy, friendly clouds.
They moved closer.
“So, it is here!” March cheered.
Welt turned around, to see the passage close behind them. It looked like a completely different sky than their own at first glance. Then he realized that it couldn’t be possible. Unless…. That barrier…. Was the sky, at least for the people on the planet below. The express wasn’t visible, hidden behind the barrier. He tucked the knowledge away for later.
“Where are we landing?” Sunday asked.
“The car is pre-programmed to land somewhere it deems flat enough with no buildings in the nearby area.” Himeko explained. “I think we’re headed for those islands just north of where we are now.”
“Awh, really?” March asked. “But the place we’re over now is much more colorful!”
“We can come back and visit later.” Stelle offered, and March seemed good with that.
They only had to wait a few more minutes in silence before they touched down. Dan Heng was at the door first, the ever vigilant guard. Of the express, or of them? Maybe even he didn’t know.
They all stood at the ready behind him.
“Onto a new trailblazing adventure, it seems.” Welt announced.
And with that, Dan Heng pushed the door open.