(Did a little bit of chapter 44 revising, and yes there shall be an Argenti chapter. After the HSR Shibuya Arc)

The time had come for the Astral Express to make the jump to Penacony for the Charmony Festival. As usual, everyone was to meet up in the Parlor Car for a meeting with the Conductor, but someone was missing...

Caelus was present, shedding tears as he drank some coffee Himeko had made for them while the woman watched on with a little look of concern.

March 7th was eating a donut, subtly snapping photos of Caelus while he was crying, and Welt was conversing with the Conductor... hm.

It was as Dan Heng assumed, y/n wasn't present.
He checked the Data Bank... no sign of her.
March's room— nope, not there either.

He tried out her room next, knocking on the door with a, "Y/n, are you in there? There's a meeting in the Parlor Car."

No response.

Dan Heng waited for a long moment, silently debating on whether or not he should go in before tentatively sliding open the door.

Her room was a mess, all the weapons she'd brought with her scattered about on the floor. Dan Heng's gaze glided over all of them before he found y/n, curled up on the floor completely wrapped around a wooden polearm.

She was sleeping soundly, snoring quietly without a care in the world. From the looks of it, she'd spent a lot of time getting her hoard of weapons added to her preexisting collection and fell asleep while doing so.

It was good to see her getting some much needed rest for once, so Dan Heng decided not to disturb her. Carefully and without a sound, he shut the door and backed away as quietly as he could.

"Dan Heng, where's y/n? The meeting is gonna start soon!" Caelus asked, all loud and 💩 as he approached.

Dan Heng wordlessly turned to him, lifting a finger to his lips to gesture for Caelus to stfu. The hydrogen bomb seemed to get the point, but he couldn't resist peeking in y/n's room to see her snoozing.

...just one quick picture, just one.

After Caelus snapped a photo, Dan Heng ushered him away, leaving y/n to keep on sleeping in peace. She snoozed for a while until Caelus came knocking on her door.

She stubbornly remained laid out on the ground, ignoring her companion as he entered the room, "Y/n, we've arrived. Mr. Yang and Miss Himeko are already in the lobby and March is waiting on us."

"Hmph." she lazily waved a hand, "My stuff is packed already... sitting by the door. You two go ahead without me and I'll join you later..."

Y/n heard Caelus heave a sigh, patiently waiting for him to leave. When she could no longer hear his footsteps retreating, she got up with a quiet groan.

She retrieved her bag, took her training spear along with her, and left the room to go say goodbye to Dan Heng. Yet again he was staying behind, much to y/n's dismay, but there wasn't much to worry about.

Caelus happily took on the duty of train guard while y/n finally got her Archivist shift. Dan Heng would he handling the archives while y/n would send back information for him to drop in the Data Bank.

"Yoo-hoo, Dan Heng." y/n called as she peeked into the room. Dan Heng was checking the Data Bank, but immediately glanced at her when she spoke.

He smiled, "Are you preparing to leave?"

"Yeah, everyone else has already gone off to the lobby. I wanted say goodbye, though." y/n hummed with an expectant look on her face.

It took a moment, but Dan Heng heaved a sigh.

"Y/n."

"Please?"

"...fine."

Y/n was simply a blur as she ditched her bag and jumped on Dan Heng, the man just barely managing to catch her. He stumbled back a bit, cringing a bit when the desk smacked into his damn spine, but the pain quickly became nothing more than a dull ache.

He let out a quiet breath as he pat his companion on the head while she got comfortable resting her face in the crook of his neck. After a moment, she pulled back to give him a gleeful look.

"If I find anything cool, I'll be sure to send you information!" y/n chirped, hesitating for a moment before awkwardly mumbling, "Err... will you be alright here? Are you sure you don't want to go?"

"I'm sure, there's lots to be done on the Express. Don't worry about me, I'll see you all when you return." Dan Heng assured her, setting her down once more and gently prying her off of him before she could she could get the idea to just latch on and not let go, "You should go catch up so you can check in."

"Mm." y/n nodded, her mood brightening once more as she retrieved her bag and rushed off to catch up.

'This is going to be a relaxing trip, I'll get to collect myself and prep myself to return to train guard duties!' she thought with a look of determination despite her faltering confidence, 'Even if I've lost my reason, I'll find it again. And then I'll be able to protect everyone properly!'

...

'And hopefully get rid of this persistent gaze.'

Watching. The gaze had been watching her intently ever since they had last spoken to her back in Belobog. She hadn't heard their voice since then, much to her delight, but somehow it felt way more unsettling just to be watched all the time.

As she finally reached the lobby, the first people she caught sight of were March and Caelus. When the pair looked at her, both of their expressions lighting up, her worries melted away just as quickly as they came.

"There you are! I was scared that you weren't coming." March 7th huffed as y/n joined the two of them, "Look at this, isn't it amazing?"

Y/n gave the hotel a quick scan.

"Seriously?"

"Hehe."

"Maybe they've got one, but we should check in first." Caelus pointed out, ushering the duo along "Let's go, Mr. Yang and Miss Himeko must be waiting!"

That was all y/n needed to hear as she immediately made a break for the desk, March hurrying after her though she did stop to tell Caelus to hurry up as he was lagging behind a little bit.

When they reached the desk, however, they encountered a little problem... oh boy.

"I'm sorry, but your name really isn't in the system..." a woman at the concierge apologized as the trio approached, joining Welt and Himeko.

The fiery haired woman frowned at the unexpected claim, "But in the information I received, it states that we already reserved rooms. Please, check again."

"Yes ma'am, please give me a moment." the woman at the concierge turned away for a moment before reading aloud, "The Astral Express, four platinum chest rooms... whose names include Mr. Welt Yang, Miss Himeko, Miss March 7th, Miss Y/n, and... Mr. Dan Heng. These are the only five names on the reservation list."

A long silence.

Caelus cleared his throat before announcing in a confident voice, "And yes, I'm Mr. Dan Heng, reporting for duty."

Y/n and March simultaneously looked at him, "..."

Himeko chuckled quietly while a thoughtful look crossed Welt's face, "Dan Heng... hm, I understand. No wonder Caelus's name is missing. When we responded to The Family's invitation, he hadn't even arrived on the Express."

"You didn't need to blow my cover..." Caelus murmured with a rueful look while y/n snickered.

"Hehe, if Mr. Yang hadn't said anything, then you would've blown your own cover eventually." she pointed out before glancing at the lady, "Dan Heng ended up being unable to make it, so couldn't his room be reassigned to Caelus here? It'll still be the same number of people."

"He's a new passenger aboard our Astral Express, so we can vouch for his status." Himeko chimed in.

"I— even if that's the case, I'm afraid..."
The woman seemed hesitated, so Caelus showed her the lance he'd snatched up off of Cocolia's corpse— I mean, the one Qlipoth gave to him. "No, I'm not doubting your status, it's just..."

"It's just that right now, we're in the eve of the Charmony Festival, Penacony's most important moment of every era." a new voice announced and the group turned to look as some dude emerged from the crow.

Y/n couldn't help the look that crossed her face,
'Who the— what is all that?! He looks like a pimp!'

"And with The Family's invite, all guests from all over the cosmos have thronged to this place. Hotel security is on high alert with zero room for error. And with such a last minute change, it really isn't something that this young lady's words can resolve one a whim." the man continued, "My esteemed guests from the Astral Express, please don't make her job any harder for her."

Despite his pimpy getup, he did have captivating eyes. Tones of blue and light violet almost like the rings of a target y/n would use for archery practice. ...weird comparison but the resemblance was there.

She glanced at his short honey brown hair and her brain immediately defaulted to, 'Looks edible.'

Maybe skipping meal time to snooze instead wasn't the best decision, but the thought went away quickly enough.

Welt and Himeko exchanged a look and y/n eagerly squared for them to clap back in defense of Caelus.

"We're sorry for all the trouble our check-in seems to have caused. Might I ask for your name?" 'No, Mr. Yang, don't apologize to this weirdo!'

Clearly Caelus was having the same thoughts as bruh him and y/n gave the newcomer matching looks of wariness and slight agitation,'He shall pay for his sins of speaking so casually to our God and Goddess!'

'He was actually pretty polite.' March tried reasoning with them but she was immediately booted from the telepathic group chat as a result.

"I'm the humble Aventurine of the IPC's Strategic Investment Department, a Non-Performing Asset Liquidation Specialist and subordinate to supervisor Diamond." the man introduced himself.

Caelus clearly got none of that, "Urine...?"

"Aventurine, dumb🍑." y/n corrected.

"He has urine in his name and look at his hair..!" Caelus whispered to her frantically, "Piss man!"

"Where are you getting all this from?!" Y/n hissed back to him and he shrugged helplessly in response.

"I was cordially invited by the Watchmaker, and I also happen to be a traveler that's had to stand behind you for quite a while." Aventurine continued as y/n and Caelus turned their attention back to him with blank looks.

Was that... attitude? Towards Himeko and Welt?
Oh HELL NO—!!!

Caelus opened his mouth, probably about to spout some diabolical 💩, but fell silent when Himeko smiled at him with a gentle, "Leave it to me."

"Yes ma'am," Caelus chirped, suddenly all sunshine and rainbows as he promptly put away the lance he'd been fully prepared to stab Aventurine with.

"I've heard that the IPC has also received Penacony's invitation, so forgive me if I'm mistaken, but you must be the representative." Himeko began as she stepped forward, Caelus and y/n peering out from behind her to watch Aventurine carefully *and potentially jump him*, "The IPC's elite certainly does have an extraordinary air about them. I suppose such an exceptional figure such as yourself wouldn't mind paving a convenience for us?"

Aventurine's brows raised as an incredulous look crossed his face, still overshadowed by his business smile, "I must be hearing things— paving a convenience? Shouldn't I be saying this to you instead?"

Caelus's eye twitched and Welt immediately grabbed the back of his hoodie, warning him to stay put.

"I've been waiting here for more than ten minutes. Do you know how many credits ten minutes is worth to me?" Aventurine questioned. DAMN, Caelus hated that tone of his-!

Himeko didn't seem phased by his tone, that gentle and easy going smile still on her face, "It must be an inordinate number, which is why, now, Mr. Aventurine, I have an investment that you absolutely cannot miss out on."

"The IPC's influence runs deep and wide, and their word wields the utmost authority. We hope to borrow your status to vouch for him," she gestured to Caelus who beamed a great big smile of joy, only interrupting it to give Aventurine cold side long glance, "As such, you won't just be sparing much of your invaluable time but also forging new friendships."

"Well, this is interesting. And how will my new friends benefit me?" Aventurine challenged.

"Now this is a topic very much worth getting into. Just as we are guests of the Watchmaker, why don't we make ourselves comfortable in Penacony before getting to know each other more elaborately?" Himeko suggested as Caelus began making a vulgar gesture towards Aventurine only for March to grab his hands to stop him before he could start.

Thankfully, Aventurine didn't seem to notice — or if he did he chose not to react, "Sounds good. But Ms. Navigator, I must point out that if I do something about it now..." his tone changed, still smooth but laced with the slightest traces of venomous disdain, "...the time saved is from my own effort, not a favor from you all."

'I'm gonna bash this 🚚er's head in.' Caelus thought as Himeko let out a quiet sigh. This was probably going to end the same way but with two different reasons.

Either Caelus had to return to the Express due to Aventurine's refusal to offer them any aid— or he'd be dragged out, BANNED, and have the IPC looming over his shoulder after attacking Aventurine with his bat.

Aventurine's smile and friendly tone returned, "But what you said in the second half, I loved it! Friends, yes... nothing is more precious than friends," he glanced at Caelus who looked even more wary than before, "Especially a righteous Trailblazer like a Nameless."

Caelus crossed his arms and looked away with a small, "tch" as March 7th gave him a tired look.

"Going forward on this Penacony trip, I'll be counting on all my Trailblazer friends here. Looking forward to a delightful time with you all." Aventurine hummed.

"I don't like this guy's attitude." Caelus mumbled.

"No worries. If I stumble across him in the Dreamscape, I can promise he'll regret his behavior after I shove my foot up his 🍑." y/n replied, smiling sweetly when March gave her a mortified look.

"Y/n...! You can't do that!"

"Says who?"

"He could sue you!"

"For what? IIED?"

Y/n crossed her arms and glanced at the man as he went on about having Caelus checked in on his account, "He'll only feel it in the dreamscape, not in reality. I guess he could sue for assault, but the charges might be dropped because it was a dream."

'You decide to use your braincells for this of all things?!' March thought with a distressed look before glancing at Welt, "Mr. Yang, talk her out of it!"

"I'm sure she won't do anything like that, but still..." he gave y/n a warning look to which she winced, "Don't do anything reckless, y/n. I mean it."

"Understood, sir..." y/n sighed.

"I have an appointment with The Family's Mr. Sunday." Aventurine announced as the lady at the concierge was looking a little flustered over the whole ordeal, "I will ask him to handle this matter later. Don't worry, I won't be causing you any trouble."

"Um, but..."

"Alley, just a moment." y/n had to resist the urge to groan at the sound of a new voice. She glanced over her shoulder and— oh. Were those wings? "The Family cannot allow guests to enter a dream while bearing burdens."

"Speak of the devil, look who's here!" Aventurine exclaimed, "It's Sunday, the most handsome man in Penacony! Along with the singer renowned across the universe: Robin."

The newcomer was most definitely attractive, especially those warm golden eyes of his, but y/' was looking at those wings poking out of his silvery hair. Cool... she wanted to touch them!

The young woman beside him was certainly pretty too, especially when she gave the man beside her an amused look, "He said you were the most dashing person in Penacony, how interesting."

Whether or not Sunday appreciated the comment went unknown to the rest of them as he turned his attention to the IPC scumbag y/n and Caelus wanted to beat up.

"I've kept you waiting, Mr. Aventurine. This way please, let us speak in private." he gestured a distance away and Aventurine obliged, the two of them walking off.

Y/n pursed her lips with a small frown, but a tap on her shoulder drew her gaze to Robin. The young woman smiled sweetly, "Astral Express guests, please come this way and rest your feet."

She guided them all to a little lounge nearby as March looked at her, suddenly all star struck and amazed.
"Wait... you're...!"

Caelus, however, walked over to Aventurine to give him some choice words while y/n followed to supervise. Aventurine seemed surprised to see him and greeted him with a, "Hello, friend. How have you been? I sincerely hope you don't mind."

"I do mind." Caelus retorted, his tone cold.

Aventurine's brows raised but he quickly recovered, "My apologies for any perceived slight. To show my sincerity, I offer you 10,000 credits as a gesture of goodwill."

Y/n was curious to see Caelus's reaction to that and, unsurprisingly, he looked absolutely repulsed.

"No thanks, I'm good. You clearly have no idea what friends actually are." he said with furrowed brows.

"Such integrity, I like it! I must have you as a friend." Aventurine chimed before presenting him with a new gift, "Here, 20,000 credits!"

"Wait, I don't want your filthy—!"

"Leave them, Caelus, they're having an important talk." y/n interrupted, snatching the money and offering it back to Aventurine, "We can't accept this."

"Of course you can. Denying an act of kindness such as this is a little rude, don't you think?" Aventurine inquired with a slight tilt of his head.

Y/n matched his smile with one of her own, though it was tense as she placed the money back in his hand and closed his fingers around it, tightly gripping his hand.

For a moment, his facade faltered as he gave y/n's hand crushing his a cold look. When their gazes met, the h/c haired trailblazer was no longer smiling.

"And I see attempting to buy our forgiveness as nothing short of an insult." she retorted before her smile returned after a moment as she released Aventurine's hand, "Thanks for your kindness, but you've shown plenty of it." she glanced at Aventurine and bowed her head once, "I'll leave the two of you to your meeting. I sincerely apologize."

Y/n snatched up Caelus and dragged him away by the hood, the young man stumbling after her as she quietly scolded him for his blatant hostility towards Aventurine.

As they stumbled off, Aventurine's hand ached and throbbed. He gave it a long, curious look before chuckling, "Oh my, it seems I've made quite the interesting little group of friends today, haven't I?"

Friends? To Sunday, it looked as though y/n wished to rip Aventurine's hair out right there and then. he decided not to comment on it, "Interesting indeed."

(Im eyeing Gallagher as the Penacony buddy but who do you guys want to hang out with? Welt and Himeko aren't options because those are obvious)