(You'll get one of these every Penacony chapter leading up to Amphoreus)

(Sorry this took so long btw, I was too busy watching edits of Mydei 🤤)

(Anyways, in honor of my lord and savior—Nikador—thou shalt observe the throwing of hands for this chapter)

After Caelus and y/n explained what had happened and what they'd been through, Welt's brows furrowed. "So the one who attacked Caelus was a girl dressed in red... adept at illusory arts, and was able to shapeshift."

"Her name is Sparkle," Black Swan chimed in, "A Masked Fool who has infiltrated Penacony." Caelus squirmed uncomfortably with a soft groan, to which the Memokeeper gave him a little smile, "No need to worry, she won't be bothering you for now. She's likely patting herself on the back for a job well done."

"You seem to know her well." Welt remarked.

"Of course, I know everyone here. On Penacony, anyone could be lying... but the Remembrance does not." the Memokeeper replied simply, "So, I should clarify, Miss Sparkle's tricks can induce hallucinations, but that strange Dreamscape? That has nothing to do with her—it originated from Penacony itself."

"I suppose that makes sense, since y/n happened to trip and end up in the strange Dreamscape as well." Himeko murmured.

"I don't like the sound of this... what do you mean 'Penacony itself'?" March 7th inquired with a small frown.

"Haven't you noticed? This apparent land of dreams is a carefully designed dream maintained by the Family through unknown means. The Memory Zone these two fell into is the true Dreamscape: chaotic, dangerous, enigmatic... a beast of memory dwells there."

Y/n and Caelus exchanged a glance as Himeko let out a soft sigh, "She's right. Everyone, do you still remember what you saw when you first entered the Dreamscape?"

"Huh? So everyone saw the same thing?" March 7th questioned, "I remember it was a room, and then through a mirror, I came to a long hallway."

Y/n blinked, 'Uh, I didn't see anything like that.'

Welt nodded, "The Gallery of Thoughts—that's what the hotel staff referred to it as."

The h/c haired woman fidgeted, '???'

"Psst, what's the problem?" Caelus whispered as he leaned closer to y/n, "Upset your date ended so soon?"

"No... just confused," she replied quietly.

"Why is that?"

"I didn't see what March described."

"Well what did you see?"

Y/n shook her head, gesturing to the others as they were yapping back and forth with Black Swan. Something about making an exchange with Black Swan. Huh. She was looking at y/n—why was she looking?

The h/c haired woman tore her eyes away right as Himeko called them off to a corner to discuss things in private. She decided to run off instead, only pausing when March called, "Hey! Where are you going?"

"Whatever decision you make, I want no part of it. I want to enjoy my vacation!" y/n gave them a thumbs up before scuttling off to her room, leaving Caelus to look to Himeko and Welt for guidance.

The fiery haired woman only shook her head, "Leave her be, if she wants to enjoy her vacation we should let her. Our earlier agreement still stands."

Caelus let out a loud groan, "How come I get stuck in the long chats while she gets to run off and do who knows what... whatever, fine, let's talk."

As Caelus did the boring story quest 💩, y/n returned to the Dreamscape to... amuse herself. Except she didn't even take four steps before no clipping through the dream AGAIN and smacking face first into a wall within the Memory Zone.

"Damn it, what is this 💩?!" y/n snapped, looking around with a small glare, "Geez, what do to now... wander? How do I get back to the normal Dreamscape?"

...

"Wander, I guess?"

As y/n was doing her wandering, blissfully unaware of the horrifying things Caelus was witnessing elsewhere, she stumbled across a very... suspicious looking hole. Conveniently sized just big enough for her to hop into. Almost as if it was urging her to hop in. Hm...

She looked left, then right. Up, then down. Up down, up down. Hm. Looked safe enough. She hopped on in, the worked blurring around her before she found herself in another part of the odd, weird dreamscape version of the hotel.

You know what? She hated this damn planet. All she wanted was a normal vacation, with normal vacation things, and no trouble. And what did she get in return? Whatever the hell this was!

'Please let the next planet be less of a 💩 show.' y/n thought irritably before pursing her lips, "Eh... my vacation is already screwed. Might as well spend it doing something productive. Like investigating that Grand Theater. If I can get to it."

Y/n gave herself a little pat on the back as she passed a red door, praising herself for her pursuit of productive activities. Right as she did so, she heard the distinct sound of someone stepping on the carpet of the hotel floor and whirled around, ready to throw hands—only to find Caelus running at her.

"What the 🚚—?" "Y/n!"

She damn near fell over when her idiot companion jumped on her, ready to start cussing him out—but she paused when she realized he was crying. Shedding tears, bawling like a baby, full on weeping.

"Y/n, it's awful— that 💩ty dragon thing killed Firefly!" he wept, shaking y/n back and forth, "Firefly! My bestie! The one sane person I've met here—!"

"Huh? Firefly's dead? People can't die in the Dreamscape, though. Believe me, I've tested it." y/n pointed out and jolted when Caelus looked at her with those teary eyes. Oh... oh he was really upset.

"There's no way she's not dead! She exploded! Poof! Right in my arms! And there wasn't anything I could do about it!" the trailblazer wailed, leaving y/n to awkwardly pat his back. She had no comforting words to offer him—something told her that if she tried, all that would come out was "suck it up!"

'I've... never seen him this distraught. Even after Tingyun... or rather what we thought was Tingyun croaked and died, he bounced back pretty well.' y/n thought with a small frown as Black Swan and Acheron, who had been traveling with the distraught Caelus, finally caught up, "Geez, I... uh, I'm sure she's fine. Otherwise, let's sue this place for all they're worth."

"Nghhhh...." was Caelus's muffled response before he went right back to bawling, wetting y/n's clothes. She heaved a small sigh, glancing at the Memokeeper and Galaxy Ranger. "So, uh... you guys heading somewhere?"

"Following memories of Firefly..." Caelus mumbled, "She was wandering with someone, and they abandoned her. Which is... ominous. This place is giving me trust issues."

"Mm." y/n glanced at Black Swan and Acheron, "Mind if I tag along? I don't want to waste my vacation here."

"You're free to." Black Swan hummed, "Besides, your companions wouldn't like it much if I simply left you to wander aimlessly."

"We could also use your help calming down Caelus. I've tried my best, but nothing seems to be easing his pain." Acheron added, casting a concerned look to the seeking trailblazer as he tucked himself close to y/n's side.

The three ladies headed out the door and into the lobby—y/n carrying the miserable Caelus on her back while Acheron lingered beside her.

"So that strange creature from before came back and killed Firefly?" y/n murmured with a frown, the smell of ashes tickling her nose, "Man... I should've taken it out while I had the chance." she sent Black Swan a scalding look, turning her attention to the burning heaps of what looked like metal ahead. Were those the Dream Troupe things that had thrown bottles of SoulGlad at her and stuff?

"There's no point in dwelling on what happened in the past. All we can do is look to learn from our mistakes in the future." the Galaxy Ranger hummed, the ashes catching her attention long enough to get her to look forward.

Black Swan's expression had become grim, "It seems like someone has been awaiting us. Ready to step into the spotlight now?" y/n frowned at the sight of an armored figure in the lobby, unfamiliar but an unmistakable threat. "Stellaron Hunter Sam."

"Eh?" Caelus glanced up from where his head was resting on y/n's shoulder as he laid eyes on the tall mech currently in the process of burning the mess out of some Dream Troupe things—whatever they were called.

"Careful," Acheron warned as her and y/n faced the Stellaron Hunter who seemed to be in the middle of taking out his anger on the creatures roaming the Memory Zone.

He dropped one of the creatures, turning to face the group and seemingly observing them, "Hm. A Galaxy Ranger. And... a Memokeeper. Leave now and nobody gets hurt. Otherwise, all of you will—" y/n didn't even give him a chance, clearing the distance within four syllables with the intent to give him the Rengoku treatment, only for the mech to grab her fist and stop her punch in an instant.

The two were left as a bit of a standstill, the mech's hand trembling ever so slightly from the force of the h/c haired trailblazer's punch but managed to keep her still.

Y/n glowered up at the metal face of the mech's helmet, the helmet staring back, "Watch the words that come out of your mouth—I don't take kindly to threats against my friend."

"Hmph, I see you've made your choice." Sam retorted, "Fine, have it your way." There was a burst of flames, Caelus letting out a squeak as his companion and the Stellaron Hunter were caught in the blaze.

A second later, the mech came flying out, only skidding to a halt thanks to the thrusters on his back—though there was little time to recover as y/n came lunging from the blaze with one of the extra crispy dream troupe creature in hand.

The charred remains twitched, then folded in one itself to morph into some kind of axe right as y/n swung, the makeshift weapon clashing with the Stellaron Hunter's forearm as he moved to block the attack.

Acheron basically teleported behind him, swinging that big 🍑 sword and forcing Sam to go whee up into the air before zooming back down with a devastating burst of flames that Acheron dodged and y/n blocked with a veryyy thick wall of roots.

They two ladies immediately attacked the Stellaron Hunter once more, leaving a unfazed Black Swan and a starry eyed Caelus to watch the conflict. Caelus was... huh, what was he doing.

'Wow. Just... wow. Who knew a mech could look so cool and so...' the trailblazer's cheeks warmed and he hugged himself with a gleeful look, 'So handsome~!'

"Caelus! Move!" the trailblazer shrieked when Sam suddenly came flying at him, only to be forced away by a brutal swing of Acheron's sheathed sword. Sam backed up, only to stop upon feeling some serious murderous intent behind him.

He barely had time to look over his shoulder before y/n slammed what looked like a bunch of those Dreamjolt troupe things squished into a hammer with roots holding together onto the poor dude's head.

Caelus was about to rush to give them some back up—though they probably didn't need it with how y/n had picked up the Stellaron Hunter and batted him away like a baseball, but Black Swan blocked his path with a little smile.

"Leave the dance stage to them, my dear." she hummed, tapping him on the forehead with a card—next thing Caelus knew, his scary buddies and the sexy mech nowhere to be found.

"What the—?" he looked around in confusion before a laugh caught his attention. He whirled around, finding Aventurine leaning against a wall. Immediately, Caelus was on guard and ready to throw hands *or perhaps a lance*, "You! What do you want?"

Black Swan strolled up behind Caelus, earning herself a little baffled look as Aventurine approached them both.

"Thank you for your efforts, Memokeeper." the man hummed as he stopped in front of them? "I must admit, that was quite a brilliant move to pit enemies against each other. When I first saw the Ranger and the Hunter together, my heart skipped a beat. I never thought you'd successfully trigger a conflict between them."

Black Swan only let out a soft chuckle, "As promised, I've delivered Caelus to you. Our transaction is complete."

"Enemies? What?" Caelus demanded, "What do you mean enemies? Acheron is chill, Sam is... well, I dunno the guy but he seems fine, and sure—y/n is y/n, but she's no enemy. What is all this anyways? Am I being betrayed or something?"

"Allow me to explain. In short, you should thank this lady here. While this might seem like a betrayal, she actually rescued you." Aventurine pointed out.

Caelus frowned, crossing his arms, "From who? I mean—I get that y/n is crazy, but still she wouldn't hurt me so what..."

"Pfft... your little friend wouldn't, I'm sure—even with how intense she is. I'm talking about that 'Galaxy Ranger'." Aventurine elaborated. He smirked a little at the sight of Caelus's flabbergasted stare, "My friend, let's be honest. That woman named Acheron isn't who she seems. She told you she was a Galaxy Ranger, right? She's actually an Emanator who brings death and finality."

"But... even if she's an Emanator, she didn't do anything bad... she was with me earlier—!" Caelus protested.

"She was there? Wait, what...?" Aventurine scanned the trailblazer's face for any sign of a lie before letting out a little laugh, "Oh my, this just got even more interesting. Here's a little IPC insider information: do you know Duke Inferno—Fetora's Ifrit?"

"Eh? Who's that? And what kind of lame name is that?" Caelus demanded and the Stoneheart chuckled.

"Ah... I'm under the impression you don't care about him. Alright, I'll cut to the chase then," the blond hummed, "This Duke Inferno is a Fire Demon from Fetora—an energy life form. It's rumored that his birth is related to a certain genius..."

"Hop to it!" "Yes, yes, I'm getting there." Aventurine turned away, "He and his thugs formed Ever-Flame Mansion and viewed Nanook as their savior—in actuality, they were led by this duke to go around burning and looting. Not even the other Annihilation Gangs were spared."

Blah blah... Family invited them... blah blah blah... burn Penacony, Caelus was not trying to listen to all that. Won't be able to attend... blah...

"—because Ifrit is dead." "Oh, wow, really? Who dunnit?"

"The assistant ruthlessly ended Ifrit and snatched the invitation. Thereafter, a mysterious Galaxy Ranger arrived on Penacony—checking into the hotel with only a music box. Do you still need me to continue my story?"

"No. Please. No..." Caelus whispered, "Just— make your main point. I don't want to listen to all of this. So what if Acheron killed some inter-galactic menace, why do I care?"

"I'm only asking you to make a choice. Either leave this place immediately without looking back and forever forsake the chance to get closer to the truth," Aventurine hummed as he glanced up at the mess of memoria floating about, "Or, you can accept my invitation and learn the truth. A truth potent enough to opened everything in Penacony."

"Okay, I'm gone." "Huh?"

Aventurine looked back in time to see Caelus trying to retreat, grabbing the trailblazer by the back of his hoodie while the young man strained to keep walking away.

"I thought you said you were giving me an option."

Caelus gave him a sidelong glare, "How much?"

"500,000 stellar jades." Aventurine chirped

Caelus's eyes lit up, "🚚 yeah, I'm in."

Aventurine let go of Caelus with a satisfied look, "Glad we could come to an agreement, friend. Come with me."

Caelus sent Black Swan one last wary look before hurting after the Stoneheart as he walked off. He followed him further into the hotel, taking a familiar route to the hotel rooms. He wasn't trying to listen to Aventurine's yapping, he was just trying to get his payment.

He gave Aventurine a questioning look as the man entered the room before him, frowning as the blond led him to the tub and swept aside a cluster of memoria bubbles. There, in the bath, was Robin. A big ole stab wound in her chest with bubbles leaking out.

'I... what the hell is this?'

. 　。　　⋆　　•　 　ﾟ　　。 .　.　.　。 .　。
⋆　　　。　　 ⋆。　 ඞ 。　 . • . . ⁎ 。　. 　。　.　　⋆. 　　。 .　 .　　 . ⋆. 。. ⁎ 。•　 　ﾟ　　。

"Easy, y/n, this one isn't our enemy."

"Yeah, but I wanna see what happens when I crack that armor. Will this 🚚er break or bleed, I wonder? Maybe both?"

Despite her harsh words, y/n made no move to attack Sam against as she crouched a distance away from Acheron and the Stellaron Hunter, watching them closely.

The three had long stopped fighting after y/n realized Black Swan and Caelus had disappeared, the young woman suddenly a whole lot more interested in tracking those two down and dragging Caelus back to the safety of the senior members of the express.

Acheron gave y/n one last glance, observing her weapon as it seemed to wither and die in her grasp before glancing back at Sam, "I can tell you had no desire to bring harm to Caelus. You only did what you did to drive myself, y/n and the Memokeeper away, but why—aside from defending yourself when this one here decided to pounce."

Sam was silent for a long moment, glancing at y/n who observed the mech with a raised brow. When the Stellaron Hunter didn't answer, y/n pointed, "I know who you are." while the mech didn't respond, there was a slight reaction, "Caelus was really messed up over what happened. I don't like it when people make the dumb🍑 upset, so be forward with him next time you two meet. I won't attack you next time—I promise."

"I... hm. I suppose it's only fair that I explain what my intentions are with the Astral Express—seeing as you'll likely break that promise the moment you start considering me a threat again." Sam murmured, "I don't intend to cause you harm, nor do I consider you all to be my enemy. My only goal is to get you all to track down the grand legacy."

"Huh? The hell is that?" y/n wondered aloud before getting up, "Eh, whatever... I'm over this—you two can yap all you want." she turned to leave, but Acheron grabbed her by the back of her clothing.

Okay... skipping out on this dialogue was out of the question, then— 'I wish I was elsewhere goofing off.'

Lucky her! While one y/n was sitting through the dialogue between Sam and Acheron, another was wandering about the Dreamscape. Upon reentering the dream, she phased through a couple of walls and tripped through some floors before finding herself at a more familiar and less scary part of the dream.

She bought some snacks and did some window shopping—she had no interest in buying anything she wasn't going to use, but a new weapon would be nice. What would she use it for? Eh, who knows. But still... a souvenir would be really cool. Something she could use to remember this weirdly 🚚ed up vacation.

Y/n wandered back to Aideen Park to torment those sentient ice cream cones, finding that she now had a taste for something sweet. As she was in the middle of chowing down, she laid eyes on a familiar individual staggering about. Was that... Aventurine?