"Excuse me, where is this?"
He looks down, dumbfounded at his surroundings.
Standing beside him are Himeko and March 7th.
...
: Is that Misha?! The mysterious boy who appeared in the first episode is finally about to reveal himself?
: The Trailblazers' answer is actually related to Misha?
: Holy crap, when was this foreshadowed?!
---------------------------------
The audience never expected it.
After all the detours the Nameless took, the final answer ended up being related to Misha.
This guy was very mysterious when he first appeared in episode one, but later on, everyone gradually became indifferent towards him.
Just a strange, random hotel staff member.
On the Penacony Grand Stage, there are far more lively people than Misha.
He pulled some tricks with Acheron, got slashed into the Void by a single strike — Aventurine
Attacks everyone indiscriminately, foul-mouthed, and kicks people brutally — Boothill.
Nobody really knows what that lady is thinking — if asked, she just says "I'll make my move."
Each one of them livelier than the last.
Misha, who has nothing going on, finally came into play.
He's just a completely ordinary hotel bellboy.
On screen.
Himeko was gently comforting the confused Misha.
"This is a dream bubble, our consciousness has entered it."
"A gift from a Nameless to the Astral Express. But strangely, when we opened it, we found nothing inside."
"Dream bubbles are formed from memories, so I thought, as the bellboy who knows Penacony best among the Astral Express crew, little Misha, maybe you can help us solve this mystery?"
After speaking, Himeko looked gently at Misha.
This scene gave the audience an especially strange feeling.
In their impression, only Stelle had interacted much with Misha.
Himeko and March 7th really weren't familiar with him.
And yet, now they're asking someone unfamiliar to help find Mikhail's true legacy?
Before the audience could flood the screen with comments, March 7th voiced everyone's confusion, scratching her head and asking:
"Himeko, I'm still confused. Why are you so sure this has something to do with Misha?"
"I'm not sure, it's just my intuition."
Himeko shook her head, then looked at Stelle and said: "You and Miss Firefly experienced 'death' here — though now we call it Sleep — but the reason you ended up here remains unknown. My gut tells me that your arrival might be related to Misha."
"Huh?"
"How did you come to that conclusion?"
March 7th became even more confused.
With this reminder, the audience realized something.
The scene they're in isn't the Reverie Hotel, but the place where Acheron slashed through the Aventurine, causing Stelle to suddenly fall into this suspended space.
But the viewers watching the plot didn't know the name of this place.
They only remembered the terrifying encounter, Firefly's death, and the eerie music of the music box — all still fresh in their memory.
Anyway, while March 7th and Stelle were both confused, Misha timidly nodded after hearing Himeko's words, and softly said:
"Okay, I'll do my best. This place feels very familiar to me, maybe I can help you find what you're looking for."
"Uh…"
"I still don't understand what Himeko means at all, nor why Misha agreed so quickly."
March 7th's eyes spun in circles as she looked around, uncertain: "But anyway, we need to find something, right? But there are so many doors here, which way should we go?"
"Let's… let's go this way?"
After March 7th finished speaking, Misha spoke instinctively.
Himeko silently nodded to the two not-so-bright passengers of the Astral Express, signaling them to follow.
Following Misha, the three began to move forward.
Returning to the old place.
It was as gloomy as ever — the floating words in the air, the half-open yet unmovable doors — nothing had changed.
"Strange. This clearly isn't the hotel, and it's very different, but I still feel like I've been here before… and even lived here for a while."
Misha led the way with confusion. As they walked, he suddenly stopped again, thinking hard.
"If I remember correctly, along that corridor, there's a warm fireplace where the Clockie and I often sat to warm up, listening to the crackling of the firewood."
"No… no, I grew up at Dreamjolt, didn't I? Then where is this place…"
As flickering memories appeared, he instinctively pressed his head.
This scene made the audience feel even more uneasy.
...
: Ever since episode one, whenever this little boy appears, he feels oddly out of place.
: Could he be Mikhail's grandson? After all, he's familiar with this place but can't recall much, and he seems to have a strange sense of familiarity with Stelle and Clockie.
: But if Mikhail had a grandson, shouldn't Gallagher know better than us? He never mentioned it.
: What connection does he have to the Trailblaze? Having Misha appear at such a critical moment must serve a purpose.
: Could it be that this guy is a key — a key that unlocks Mikhail's legacy? That's his role?
: Damn, you're a genius. That theory makes so much sense. If he's a key, it explains why he's been mysterious yet never really involved before.
: I support this theory! Everyone in Penacony has something going on, except Misha — this might be why!
...
Amidst a brainstorming session, the audience had an epiphany — through the collective effort of the comments, they reached a very reasonable conclusion!
Misha isn't Mikhail's grandson, but he is the key Mikhail left behind!
He's essentially a tool character.
And the subsequent plot developments further validated the audience's theory.
The writings left behind everywhere, the unopened doors.
Each triggered fragments of Misha's memories, seemingly helping to peel away the layers of mystery bit by bit.
... ... ...
Until they arrived at a room full of childlike innocence.
There were books, paper birds, and toy boats.
Upon seeing all this, Misha instinctively uttered a name.
"Mikhail."
Hearing the name, March 7th's eyes lit up and she quickly said: "Right, right, the Watchmaker, that's him!"
Startled by March 7th's reaction, Misha quickly apologized: "S-sorry, I'm not very familiar with the Watchmaker, but Mikhail… Mikhail is Grandpa."
"Grandpa?"
The three of them froze for a moment.
"Yes, Grandpa Mikhail. He… he went on a new journey, so we haven't seen him in a long time."
Misha nodded like a pecking chick.
"We?"
March 7th looked even more confused.
"Yes! Clockie, Mirror Lady, the paper birds — we are all members of the Compass."
At first, Misha stammered, but as he spoke, he became more fluent, as if his memory was being restored: "There's more than one paper bird, they're a big family, following Mirror Lady's orders, handling various tasks, like… like this and that!"
"And the Compass is the ship that sails to the New World. It leads Clockie and the others through thick fog, navigating into the depths of the sea. Whenever danger arises, Clockie operates the compass to steer everyone in the right direction."
At this point, not only Stelle and March 7th were confused.
Even the audience felt like they were sitting in class as children.
That feeling when you recognize every word, but once they're put together, you have no idea what it means.