"March... March, I need to sit down."

"Oh yeah? You were doing just fine in there when you were planning on committing murder on our first day aboard the Luofu."

Despite her comment, March helped y/n over to a bench where the woman sat back with a small sigh.

'Oh boy..' March internally sighed as y/n pat her cheeks fiercely, "You've been having a rough time ever since we first set foot on the Luofu, are you sure you don't want to head back to the Astral Express?"

"Dan Heng isn't here as train guard, and I'm still on shift, so I have to be here." y/n replied with a firm tone before looking down, "And... I want to remember. My past, I mean. There are people here who might know something!"

She sat back with a sigh as she pulled Mimi from her bag and lifted it to the sky to stare at it carefully, "Haa... that Yukong lady. I recognized her. That General dude too."

"You're recognizing everyone, eh?" March commented as she took a seat beside y/n, "But I suppose remembering is a good thing. Maybe you were in a position with lots of influence before you got stuck in that tree!"

"Or I was a criminal who got to see everyone at one point." y/n muttered, "Whatever it is, I definitely felt that Yukong lady looking at me pretty close."

"She probably didn't recognize you, not with Mr. Yang's scarf all wrapped around you!" March laughed, "Hehe, once we do that favor for the General, we can go check out all the places that get your memories flowing!"

Y/n rubbed the back of her neck and gave March a grateful look, "Thank you, March. I really mean it."

March 7th looked away, "You'd do the same if I were in your position. Don't think too much about it."

"Mm..." y/n smiled when she saw the light redness to the tips of her companion's ears, "That restaurant the Cloud Knight mentioned, how about we head there together after we receive our directions, hm?"

"Oh yeah, I could definitely use a meal!" March exclaimed, giving y/n an excited look before peering past her to shout over to Caelus and Welt, "Hurry up now, y/n is gonna take us to the Cloud Knight hangout spot!"

Tingyun literally popped out of nowhere, "Cloud Knight hang out spot? I think I may know what you're talking about!"

March shuddered, 'She came out of nowhere...!'

"You do?" y/n inquired.

"Why yes, the owner is another long life species who doesn't come from the Luofu. A real sweetheart, she treats every single Cloud Knight who visits like her own children!" Tingyun explained before shaking her head with a sad look, "She's a lonely little lady, though. Lost her husband before her daughter was born, her son during the Third Abundance War, and her daughter went missing during a battle on another planet."

"That's horrible..." Caelus murmured, "But, it sounds like you know her rather well, Miss Tingyun."

"Oh, not that well. That's common information, since her husband and children were all very well-respected Cloud Knights." Tingyun clarified, "She's always very guarded despite her kindness and sweet personality. You should pay her a visit sometime, but rest for now. You've all got a busy day tomorrow. Speaking of which, allow me to show you to the inn where you'll be staying.

Caelus, y/n, and March all froze.

The Petrichor Inn was nice, yes, y/n wouldn't deny it. But she didn't have the best experience with inns and hotels thanks to their little mission on Jarilo-VI.

It was still a nice little inn, and the best part...

"Madam Yukong instructed me to reserve the best rooms at the inn and have all your expenses covered. She wants to extend the full courtesy of the Xianzhou so that all of you enjoy your stay to the fullest."

Yeah. Because she was about to imprison them all.

"She specifically mentioned that if you wish to buy anything at the inn, be it cold or otherwise, just let the innkeeper know. The commission will cover the cost."

All is forgiven!

"Say thanks to Madam Yukong on our behalf!" Caelus exclaimed with glee and March rested her hands on her hips and gave him a look. Why was she being such a hater.

"Why don't you go back yourself?" she huffed before smiling happily to herself, "Ahem! Since our hosts are being so thoughtful, I guess we should help ourselves! Right, Mr. Yang!"

'💩, I still have his scarf.' y/n realized before squeezing her eyes shut, 'Noooo, I wanna keep it!'

"We should focus on our objective first." he reminded March and the two simps both swooned in perfect sync, "Seeing as Helm Master Yukong was so reluctant to get us involved, am I right to speculate that the Sky-Faring Commission has some leads on the whereabouts of Kafka?"

"That's correct." Tingyun confirmed with a nod, "The suspect is extremely cunning. She encrypted her transmission and timed her communication, so we couldn't pinpoint her exact location. However, the Divination Commission has managed to find something."

A hologram of Kafka appeared, the exact same one they'd seen back on the Astral Express. Y/n turned her head away with a frown. Something about that woman bothered her...

"Here are the coordinates. It's up to you how to proceed." the hologram said, "Our destinations may differ, but the orbits of the stars will eventually converge. See you later."

The hologram disappeared and Caelus rubbed the back of his neck, "Is there anything special about what she said?"

Y/n shook her head as she looked back to Tingyun, "Wait a minute... in the background, I heard something. It was familiar..."

Tingyun smiled, "Hehe, I knew you'd pick up on it, my dear hero. That was the sound of a device."

"Uhh, which means what exactly? This is a starship!" March pointed out, "There are all kinds of devices making weird noises all over the place."

"Miss March, to the untrained ear, these noises may sound the same. But for the craftsmen of the Artisanship Commission, every machine has a different pitch and melody." Tingyun informed the young woman before giving y/n a little glance, "Considering y/n here was able to recognize the sound, it's possible that she might have some history with the Artisanship Commission, but let's not get off track."

Artisanship Commission.

Yes... the Artisanship Commission!

Y/n kept her mouth shut despite the excitement that coursed through her veins, 'I'll tell Mr. Yang, March and Caelus later,  I need to pay attention right now.'

"The general sent for craftsmen, and they concluded that the sound came from the shipyard facilities in Stargazer Navalia." Tingyun continued, "Now, you all should get some rest and prepare yourselves for the operation ahead. I look forward to seeing you in action, especially you, my dear hero~"

Y/n blanked out, "Huh."

Tingyun was already walking away, waving to y/n from over her shoulder while the young woman tried to process what she was just told.

"Oh... y/n's got an admirer." Caelus said in a teasing tone while y/n gave him an unimpressed look.

"I'm forever loyal to Mr. Yang and Miss Himeko." she stated in a serious tone, "Admirers can admire all they want, but my position will not change."

"Ahh, your devotion is worthy of the highest praise.
...can I touch the scarf now?"

"Sure."

As Caelus was feeling the scarf, genuinely surprised by how damn soft it was, March was already pulling out her phone to snap pictures.

"I wonder how Dan Heng and Miss Himeko are doing..." she murmured before grinning, "Well! Let's just send them a text to let them know what's happened!"

Caelus almost cried when March tugged him away from the scarf with a, "More importantly, let's see how Dan Heng's doing! Ask him what he's up to, then tell him we're having loads of fun!"

"Fun? You call this fun?" y/n demanded.

"Shhh, it's all a trick to get him to come running." March replied with a wink, "Although, I think he'd be quicker if we told him y/n broke her leg or something."

Y/n gave March a look of disbelief, "Seriously?"

"Caelus, give it a go!"

"Don't you dare, Caelus!"

The young man wasn't quite listening to either of them, his brows furrowed as none of his texts managed to reach Dan Heng.

'That's odd.' he thought with a frown, 'I'll try again later.' "Let's just get some rest already, I wanna sleep..."

"Don't have to tell me twice." March huffed before hopping on y/n's back with a, "Let us retire to Caelus's room! We're sleeping there!"

"Wait, what?!"

"You heard the lady, Caelus."

As Caelus was dragged away by y/n, March still clinging to her back, Welt could only let out a tired sigh.

He had a looming feeling y/n was going to get into some type of trouble soon. He didn't know what, exactly, but he was going to keep an eye out just to make sure she didn't do anything reckless.

'Then again, she wouldn't do anything foolish if she's got my scarf with her... ah, scratch that, she'd probably do something foolish then get hurt trying to make sure nothing happens to the scarf.' Welt shook his head, 'Maybe both Himeko and I should've had a talk with her before we left the Express.'

Bah, y/n was a grown woman. She definitely had confidence in her ability to defend herself, but that confidence tended to drown out her better judgement on some occasions.

'It'll be fine.' Welt tried to assure himself, 'Caelus and March will be with her, so she'll be just fine.'

...

'Damn. I can't sleep.'

Y/n stared up at the ceiling with wide eyes. Caelus and March were sleeping soundly on either side of her, Caelus using her to guys as pillows while March had curled up close to her side.

The woman blinked once. Twice. Then tried to close her eyes and just fell asleep... trying... trying...

Yeah, no.

She wasn't going to fall asleep anytime soon.

Silently and carefully, y/n slipped a pillow under Caelus's head and another in March's grasp before silently retreating to the corner of the room where she retrieved her scabbard which held the broken sword.

Y/n gave her friends one last glance before silently exiting the room and the inn with Welt's scarf still wrapped around her head. What? You think she'd give it back? Not yet, no.

She didn't know where she was going, really, but her legs and feet seemed to. Y/n just let her legs do the work as she walked through Central Starskiff Haven, passing people on the street who happened to be out late in the evening along with her.

Where was she going?

Scent. She was following a scent.

It was the kind of smell that made one's stomach grumble, and the fragrance of spices seemed to form a trail as y/n walked along in silence.

Eventually, she came to a little restraining nestled between buildings. There didn't seem to be many customers, but y/n entered anyways.

The restaurant was pretty empty, the only exceptions being a Cloud Knight at a seat in a corner with... that smelled like alcohol. The other individual present was a young Foxian boy with hair the color of storm clouds and focused e/c eyes as he scampered around, cleaning up the tables and sweeping the floors.

He worked very quickly, y/n was quite impressed. Although, he was a bit too focused. Y/n said "excuse me" a good three times before she decided to tap him on the shoulder with a sharp, "Hey."

"EEK!!! I DIDN'T SNEAK OUT, I SWEAR!" the boy shrieked and y/n recoiled, eyes wide with surprise.

The boy looked back, then up at her, and he blinked, "Oh... you're not my mother."

Y/n tilted her head, "Yeah, I'm not."

"!!! Customer!" the boy realized before quickly turning to face her, "I'm very sorry for my rudeness! Here! Have a seat! Quickly, quickly!"

Y/n was rushed into a seat by the boy, watching curiously as he scampered away before returning with a notepad, "What would you like? We've got just about everything you can think of, just say the word!"

Y/n opened her mouth to let him know she wasn't there to buy food but stopped when she saw the sparkling in his eyes and his tail swishing from side to side behind him.

...maybe she was a little hungry...

Something she wanted to eat...

"Hm... I used to have dreams of some type of tasty snack that laughed whenever I bit into it... could you make that?" y/n inquired.

"Mm! I know exactly what you're talking about!" the boy exclaimed before eagerly scribbling something down on the notepad, "Would you like steamed puffergoat milk with that?"

"H-Huh...?" 'What's that?' "Sure..." y/n mumbled.

The boy hastily wrote something else down before exclaiming, "Got it! Give me ten— no, five minutes!"

And with that, the Foxian boy scampered away.

Before he could disappear into the kitchen, the slumped Cloud Knight called out, "Yun! Could you grab me another—"

"Nope!" Yun interrupted, "Mother told me you're limited to one for now! I'll get you some puffergoat milk instead!"

The Cloud Knight groaned as Yun disappeared in the kitchen, leaving the two of them alone at their separate tables.

Y/n took a moment to take in the sights of the restaurant, her eyes scanning the walls and the ceiling. There were many pictures along the walls, each being photos of people y/n didn't recognize. Ah— was that-?

The woman squinted, 'It is...!'

There was a picture of a that Yukong lady! While she looked no younger than she did when y/n got to see her earlier that day, there was something different about her. Her demeanor, perhaps?

She was caught in a headlock, looking furious yet playful as another woman was ruffling her hair. The other woman's face was blocked out by someone else rushing into the picture, seemingly to stop them.

Y/n's eyes moved onto the next wall, and her brows raised when her eyes landed on a bow. It looked like any other bow, although it was all but destroyed. Sheesh, what had happened to it?

Her eyes fell upon a photo just beneath the bow, and she came to realize that it was actually a little memorial. Someone close to the owner of the restaurant, perhaps?

"That's my big brother's bow." y/n was taken aback when she realized Yun had returned with the food.

The boy was staring at the bow as well, a little look of awe on his face, "He died years before I was born, but all the Cloud Knights who visit tell me how much of an awesome pilot and fighter he was!"

"Your older brother, huh?" y/n hummed as Yun set her food down in front of her, "What happened to him?"

"Mm... the Cloud Knights are always iffy about the topic when Mother is nearby, but big brother Jinhai told me it was during the Third Abundance War. He... he was outnumbered and died fighting. That's what I was told, at least." Yun murmured, "The bow and his sword was all they managed to recover. But, as you can see, the sword isn't exactly with us."

"I see." was all y/n said as she looked down at the food in front of her, unsure of what to do with it.

The cakes smelled nice enough...

"Mother told me he really liked songlotus cakes, the crunchy looking snacks right there." Yun continued with a little smile, "Apparently, when him and my big sister were really young, they'd ditch training and studying to go eat them while watching starskiffs!"

Y/n lifted one of the cakes and took a bite, almost jumping out of her own skin when the crunch made a crisp laughing noise, "Holy—!" she caught herself, "March called me crazy when I told her about the laughing cakes in my dream! Just wait till she hears this!"

Yun looked rather pleased as y/n happily chowed down on the food that he brought to her, "You dreamed of it, huh? Have you perhaps lived here? I haven't seen you around."

"No clue!" y/n exclaimed, "I've got a little amnesia problem going on, you see, but I'm a member of the Astral Express."

"Astral Express..." Yun murmured before his e/c gaze lit up, "Astral Express!!! You're part of the crew?"

"Mhm!"

"That means you've seen a ton of planets, right? What's it like? Traveling around all the time?"

"Kinda tiring, but really fun!" y/n chirped, "You get to meet all kinds of cool people, but there are some situations where the locals aren't exactly friendly."

The Foxian boy tilted his head curiously, "Speaking from experience, I'm guessing?"

"Yeah..." y/n nodded, "But it's still a great time!"

"I'd love to explore planets all over the universe!" Yun breathed before sighing, "Unfortunately, my Mother won't let me take ten steps away from the restaurant or our house unless she's there with me."

Y/n frowned, "Overprotective?"

"It's for good reason." came a new voice.

Both y/n and Yun looked over their shoulders to the Cloud Knight still seated in the corner, giving his empty bottle of alcohol a rueful look.

He glanced at them with a single brown eye through his ebony bangs , the other covered with an eyepatch.

"Your mother treats me like another son, Yun, so I won't let you talk bad about her." the man hummed and the Foxian boy puffed out his cheeks with an indignant look.

"I'm not talking bad about her, I just don't think it's fair to keep me locked up in here all the time!" Yun huffed before grabbing a broom and swiping the air with it, "I wanna be a Cloud Knight just like you!"

Y/n plucked a few dust particles out of the air whisked up by the broom, setting them a safe distance away from her food as she sipped the puffergoat milk.

...she felt oddly nauseous while drinking it.

Was it bad?

No, it was warm and sweet and she liked the taste.

It just...

'Ugh...' y/n shuddered, 'Lion breath...'

She drank it anyways. It tasted nice, but she kept shuddering and outwardly cringing in between sips.

"Your mother already let two of her children become Cloud Knights only to lose both of them." the ebony haired Cloud Knight continued, "She's definitely not gonna make the same mistake a third time."

"But it's not fair! I don't get to go out at all!"

"I will admit, that's a little extreme... but she means well." the man stated and the boy let out a heavy sigh.

He glanced at y/n, "That's big brother Side Character 10098. He was good friends with my older siblings, and Mother absolutely adores him, so he's around. A lot." Yun gave the man a sharp glare, "He's also thrown me under the bus each time I tried to go out and enjoy a nice walk own my own!"

Side Character 10098 only grunted, pulled out another bottle, and got right back to drinking, earning a little scowl from Yun.

"See? He knows it's true!" the Foxian boy huffed before his mood did a whole flip, "Anyways, I never asked for your name, Miss Trailblazer! Mind sharing?"

"Y/n, it's y/n." y/n hummed.

"I'm Yun! But, uh..." he laughed awkwardly, "You already know that now, I guess. How'd you like the food? Constructive criticism and honest opinions are greatly appreciated!"

"It was amazing, 10/10 would recommend!" y/n declared with a little grin, "Do you mind if I get something sweet to go? I'd like to bring something for my friends."

"Something sweet, huh? I've got just the thing!"

Yun hurried away again, but not before snatching Side Character 10098's alcohol away and replacing it with some puffergoat milk.

"Little 💩."

"That's what you get for snitching! Bleh!"

Y/n simply sat in silence, acutely aware of that Cloud Knight's eyes on her while she finished up her meal.

Yun returned shortly after with tuskpir wraps and puffergoat milk for her to take back to her friends, he advised that she