Chapter 128: March 7th's Last Words
Sparkle was right, though.
"Indeed," Stelle recalled, shaking her head. "Those people laughed in a way that just felt... wrong."
"But since they're already dead... forget it. Let's just respect the dead," March 7th added. "They're gone. We can't exactly drag their bodies out for a public flogging."
"It's not like there's much left to flog," Sparkle pointed out, her tone deceptively light. "You don't expect to find a complete corpse after a run-in with the Antimatter Legion, do you?"
She tilted her head, her gaze landing on Stelle with renewed interest. "You're acting a bit strange, Little Grey Fur. You're carrying a mask of The Fool, but you're not one of us... Whose is it?"
"It's mine," Rekka explained simply. "A little something for convenience, to make getting into The Tavern easier."
"Oh~ I see," Sparkle chirped, a wide, knowing smile spreading across her face. "Someone who isn't a Masked Fool, wearing a mask of The Fool, given by one of The Fool's followers. How interesting." Her eyes crinkled. "But really, I think what you're all doing is exceptionally full of Elation."
"Elation is an attitude," Rekka replied smoothly. "Trailblaze is the engine that drives us forward."
"Makes sense~" Sparkle sang. "In that case, Sparkle will come play with you again next time~"
With a little hop, she turned and scurried away, one hand pressed firmly against her rear. No matter how you looked at it, the sight was utterly comical.
"She seems... quite happy?" March 7th scratched her head, bewildered.
"Happy after getting her butt seared with chili oil?" Stelle echoed, equally confused.
"I'm going to take a nap," Rekka announced with a massive yawn. "Call me if anything happens."
"Yeah, yeah, got it," March 7th waved him off dismissively.
A moment later, a calm, synthesized voice filled the parlor car.
"Welcome to today's [Cosmic Weather Report]. Subspace Storm No. 435 of the 2158th Amber Era has recently formed near the Sarmiento system. Due to the storm's influence, spatial sequence distortion is expected in neighboring sectors, accompanied by high-energy particle rain. The Interastral Peace Corporation's emergency response department is on standby for disaster relief. The Corporation advises all vessels in the affected sectors to evacuate the area in a timely manner. Residents are urged to suspend all outdoor activities, including space walks..."
March 7th and Stelle looked at each other.
"Stelle, did you hear that?"
"Yeah... a Subspace Storm!"
"Space walk!"
They shouted the two phrases in perfect unison, then whipped their heads back to face each other, the exact same dangerous glint sparkling in their eyes.
"I knew you were thinking the same thing!" March 7th squealed.
"Of course! A Subspace Storm! What a rare opportunity!" Stelle exclaimed, her voice buzzing with excitement. "How can a Trailblazing journey be calm and boring every single day!"
March 7th was already at the observatory window, her face practically pressed against the reinforced glass. Outside, the starfield remained serene and silent, showing no sign of the impending cosmic tempest.
Rekka had been asleep for about thirty minutes when he was violently shaken awake.
"Rekka! Rekka, something's happened!"
"Huh?... Wha?" A dazed Rekka sat up, patting his cheeks to force himself into awareness. "What's wrong, Dan Heng?"
Dan Heng pressed a hand to his forehead, letting out a long, weary sigh. "Stelle and March... they went out for a space walk."
"Oh, a space walk... so what happened? Did they scratch someone's ridiculously expensive spaceship or something?"
"Worse," Dan Heng said gravely. "They were swept away by the Subspace Storm."
"Ai-chan, initiate Hyperion tracking mode."
Meanwhile, 120,000 kilometers away, Stelle and March 7th were clinging to each other for dear life, desperately trying not to be torn apart by the chaotic currents.
Ten minutes ago, they had still been full of bravado, encouraging each other.
"It's okay! Everyone will definitely come save us!"
Now, more than thirty minutes later, Little Grey Fur and the pink-haired archer were huddled together, shivering uncontrollably. It wasn't the cold of the void that chilled them, but pure, unadulterated terror.
Though the vacuum of space was silent, the synesthesia beacon in their suits transmitted every sound, every shudder, every panicked gasp between them.
"Did... did we cause trouble?" Stelle asked, her voice small.
"Um... it seems so," March 7th whimpered.
"Rekka is definitely going to scold us... Mr. Yang will, too. And Dan Heng and Himeko will lecture us... and Pom-Pom..."
"Are we going to be drifting in space for the rest of our lives?"
"Definitely not!... Ahhh! I feel like I'm in a washing machine! I'm getting so dizzy from all the spinning!"
Time slipped away as they tumbled through the violent, silent chaos. After what felt like an eternity, Stelle's voice grew weak.
"March... I feel... I'm getting a little sleepy."
"Don't sleep!" March 7th yelped, shaking her friend frantically. "If you fall asleep in a place like this, what if we get separated? Just hold on a little longer! They'll definitely be here soon!"
Seeing Stelle's whimpering form, a fresh wave of panic washed over March 7th.
"March, wahhh..." Stelle started to sob. "I like you guys the most... I like everyone on the Express the most... I don't want to die, wahhhhh..."
"I like everyone on the Express the most, too! Wahhhhh!"
Clinging to each other, the two girls began to wail, their terror finally breaking through their bravado.
"I haven't even been confessed to by that guy Rekka yet!" March 7th blubbered through her tears. "I haven't been in a relationship, and I haven't even gotten a ring!"
"March... you really like him?" Stelle sniffled. "Don't you call him a pervert every day?"
"I... I just... it just happened without me realizing..." March 7th wiped at her eyes, her voice thick with sobs. "So what if he's a pervert? Can't I like him anyway? I just like that pervert... The music box he made for me is still sitting by my bed, wahhhhh..."
She couldn't continue, burying her face in the crook of Stelle's shoulder.
"Wahhh... I haven't even told him! I don't even know if he actually likes me! He calls me 'Senior' all day long, but who knows if he's being sincere or just teasing me! What if he only thinks of me as his senior!"
Huddled together in the cold, dark expanse, the two girls cried their eyes out, spilling all the most embarrassing, heartfelt words of their lives into the void.
Just as they were crying so hard they could barely breathe, preparing to welcome their "end," a familiar sigh suddenly crackled through the synesthesia beacon.
The voice was so familiar—so achingly, terribly familiar—that March 7th and Stelle's wails instantly got stuck in their throats.
"Hic?"
March 7th and Stelle slowly, mechanically, turned their heads.
There, in the dark, churning starfield, a massive silver-white warship was breaking through the turbulence of the Subspace Storm. Like a great whale surfacing from the deep sea, the Hyperion came to a steady, silent halt directly in front of them.
"You... Rekka?!" March 7th's voice was a squeak of pure joy.
"Wah! You guys finally came to save us!" Stelle cried, her tears of terror instantly turning into tears of relief.
Rekka: "..."
Regarding that conversation just now... maybe he should just pretend he didn't hear any of it?
He scratched his cheek, a deeply conflicted expression on his face.
Unfortunately, it seemed the open channel had broadcasted the final, most crucial part of their conversation to everyone on the Astral Express... through the parlor car's main speakers.
The warship's tractor beam hummed to life. A soft blue light enveloped the two girls, and the nauseating feeling of weightlessness gradually faded as they were steadily pulled into the Hyperion's airlock.
The outer hatch sealed shut. The air pressure hissed as it returned to normal, and the temperature began to rise.
Stelle and March 7th were still clinging to each other, their faces smeared with tears, their hair a tangled mess, and their clothes wrinkled and disheveled from the cosmic gale. Even if their outfits were made of special material, they still looked like they'd been through a wringer.
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