The medical bay door hissed shut behind Kevin.
He walked through the corridor slowly, each step deliberate. Warm lighting. Plush carpets. Framed photos of distant worlds.
The Astral Express.
He'd seen this place before in another life, through different eyes. Every corner familiar.
New world, same ruins. Just mine this time.
His hand brushed against the wall. Solid. Real. It had been real for a long time now.
The parlor car was ahead. Voices drifted out March's laugh, Pom-Pom's fussing.
He knew what waited inside. Who waited inside.
Kevin stepped through.
March spotted him instantly, bouncing off the couch. "Kevin! You're up!" She didn't wait for a response. "Okay okay, panic intros don't count, let's start over for real!"
March 7th, Kevin thought, watching her energy fill the room. I know. I've seen your story. The girl who chose her own name.
But she was real. Always had been, even when he didn't know it.
Just a girl, smiling at him.
"I'm March 7th! Found frozen in a literal ice block yeah, I know, totally dramatic and I had zero memories, so bam! March 7th it is!" She struck a pose, camera in hand. "Now I'm a shieldbearer, photographer, and certified bringer of positive vibes to this ride! Oh, and I'm looking for clues about my past, but honestly? The adventures are way cooler."
Kevin's expression softened slightly. "Photography's a good way to hold onto things."
Keep your memories, March. They're precious.
"Right?! You totally get it!" March beamed. She gestured toward the archives. "That's Dan Heng over there!"
The dark-haired young man glanced up from his book. Gray-green eyes, calm and assessing.
Dan Heng. Still running from a past that isn't his.
"Dan Heng," he said simply. "I maintain the archives."
He returned to his book.
March leaned in conspiratorially. "He's like that with everyone. Super mysterious protagonist vibes, right?"
"Some people prefer quiet," Dan Heng said without looking up. "It saves time."
March rolled her eyes fondly. "See?" She moved on, pointing to the silver-haired girl by the wall. "And that's Stelle! Our newest Trailblazer! Well before you"
Stelle pushed off the wall with a lazy shrug. "Stelle. Woke up with a Stellaron in my chest. No memories. They took me in."
A Cancer of All Worlds. The girl who houses destruction but chooses hope anyway.
Kevin had seen her story unfold. Her choices, her battles, her growth.
Now she stood before him real, breathing, burdened.
"Kevin Eventide Aionios," he said. "I'm searching for something."
March waited expectantly. When nothing else came, she blinked. "Okay, you and Dan Heng are gonna get along great with the whole mysterious loner thing."
If only you knew how long I've been alone.
"Pom-Pom!" The conductor hopped forward, ears perked. "Pom-Pom keeps this Express running in perfect order and ensures all passengers are comfortable!" The ears drooped dramatically. "But Pom-Pom has encountered a problem, passenger Kevin!"
Kevin tilted his head politely, though he could already guess.
"There are no spare rooms! The Express is at capacity! You'll need to share with someone temporarily "
"I don't need a room."
He gestured to the observation window where stars streaked past. "I'm fine here."
I haven't slept in decades anyway. What's one more night under the stars?
March frowned. "Wait, like... sleeping in the lobby? That's not—"
"Absolutely not!" Pom-Pom's ears shot straight up. "Pom-Pom cannot allow passengers to sleep in the parlor car! What would the other Nameless think if Pom-Pom ran such a disorderly Express?! A Trailblazer must have proper rest!"
Kevin opened his mouth to decline again—
"He can crash with me."
Everyone turned.
Stelle hadn't moved. Her expression was neutral, unreadable. "Just cleaned my room. Got space."
Of course, Kevin thought. Of course you would racoon.
He'd seen her kindness before in choices, in moments that mattered. Not a game anymore. Just Stelle real, breathing, helping because that's what she does.
March's jaw dropped. "Wait, you're offering to share? You? The same person who said your room was a 'sacred solitary domain' last week?"
"Changed my mind." Stelle's gaze met Kevin's. "You coming?"
Two people who didn't ask questions they didn't want answered.
"Thank you," Kevin said quietly. "I won't intrude."
"Don't care." Stelle headed for the corridor. "Come on."
As they left, March whispered loudly, "Character development! We're witnessing actual growth!"
Dan Heng's lips twitched. "She offered a couch, not emotional vulnerability."
"Baby steps count!"
Kevin followed Stelle through the halls he'd seen before just never from this side.
Stelle's room was organized chaos. Books stacked in precarious towers, a baseball bat leaning in the corner, trinkets from different worlds cluttering every surface.
"That's yours." Stelle pointed at the couch, already flopping onto her bed. "Bathroom's there. Don't touch my stuff."
"Understood."
Stelle rolled onto her side to look at him. "You really don't sleep?"
Kevin moved to the window. Stars blurred past in endless streams. "Not in a long time."
Decades. Since Aionios. Since I stopped feeling human.
"Mm."
No questions. No prying. Just acceptance.
Kevin appreciated that more than she knew.
Silence settled between them easy, unforced.
"Couch is there when you want it," Stelle said, staring at the ceiling now.
"Thanks."
After a moment: "Hey."
Kevin glanced back.
Stelle was still staring up, arms behind her head. "You'll see. Express is good at picking up strays."
I know. Seen it happen more times than I can count.
Didn't think I'd ever count as one of them.
"...Thanks," he said quietly. "For understanding."
Stelle gave a lazy thumbs-up without looking at him, then closed her eyes.
Kevin turned back to the window.
He'd seen so many skies. Aionios's crimson twilight. The void between stars. The endless nothing of Nihility's shadow.
But this skythis endless blur of light and possibility felt different.
For the first time in decades, he wasn't walking. Wasn't searching.
Just... standing.
The rings hummed faintly quiet company in the dark.
Maybe this is what a new beginning looks like. Nothing grand just a couch, a window, someone offering space.
He didn't sleep.
But standing there, watching the universe blur past, Kevin Eventide Aionios felt something he'd thought was lost.
Peace.