"After resolving the matter in Dreamville, Clockie accidentally boarded someone else's train."
Robin and Kohane sat together, looking at the picture book laid out before them.
Robin was reading the story aloud, while Kohane listened and watched with great interest.
The warm scene made it clear at a glance just how close the two of them were.
"And after Clockie's new friends found him, they didn't panic. Instead, they invited Clockie to spend some time having fun with them."
"Clockie accepted their invitation, and after they got off the train, they discovered..."
At that point, Robin suddenly stopped.
Not for any other reason than that the train had arrived at the station.
"It looks like we'll have to stop here. We can continue the rest of the story on the train back..."
Robin gently tapped Kohane on the nose. The rest of the story could wait until their return trip.
After all, what came next was the best part.
Once they went back, she could take Kohane to their room and finish reading everything that followed in one sitting.
That was the proper way to enjoy it.
For now, they needed to finish what they had promised Hotaru.
"Mm!"
Kohane nodded in agreement.
Afterward, mother and daughter led March 7th off the train.
The Iron Cavalry following behind the train also came to a stop one after another on the platform.
They looked at the small town before them, surprise showing in their eyes.
"Is this really part of Penacony too?"
"It doesn't really feel like it."
"Yeah. Compared to the Twelve Moments, the architecture here makes it feel like a completely different place."
Penacony's Twelve Moments were like a fully urbanized metropolis, while this small town was more like a rural village market.
The difference between them was obvious at a glance.
So from the moment they first saw the place, they felt that it did not fit Penacony at all.
But that doubt only stayed in their words.
They had not forgotten why they had come here.
And so the group gathered together and entered the town.
Naturally, such a large procession drew quite a bit of attention.
But after a couple of glances, the townspeople stopped paying them any mind and went back to the work in their hands.
Only when a familiar figure appeared before Robin did they finally stop.
"Well, well, well. Who would've thought we'd meet again?"
The familiar winged trash can smiled as he spoke to Robin.
However, when he saw the little girl holding Robin's hand, his round body very clearly froze for a moment.
"Mr. Trash Can, sorry to trouble you again."
"Huh? Oh, oh. It's fine, it's fine."
Hearing Robin's words, Mr. Trash Can answered as though waking from a dream.
But very quickly, he asked in confusion, "May I ask who this young lady beside you is...?"
Why was he seeing the thing he least wanted to see on this little girl?
Hearing Mr. Trash Can's question, Robin could not help smiling happily.
"Sorry, that's a secret."
She had not forgotten the commotion from earlier. They had come here to do something, not to start another uproar.
"Oh..."
Mr. Trash Can drew the sound out, but he did not move at all.
Only when Robin asked whether there was somewhere suitable for handling Hotaru's matter without disturbing anyone else did he finally turn around.
"You want a small area? I understand."
With that, he headed off in one direction. "Follow me."
Robin and the others followed behind him, steadily making their way forward.
The Iron Cavalry also looked around at that moment, surprised by the town hidden within Penacony.
Even Hotaru felt somewhat at ease with the atmosphere here.
For some reason, after arriving here, she felt her mood improve quite a bit.
She had never felt this way inside The Reverie.
Just then, her vision suddenly blurred, as if she had seen something strange.
"Sora?"
At the end of the road ahead of Hotaru stood a familiar figure.
If that was not Sora, then who else could it be?
But when she focused again, she discovered that there was no one at the end of the road.
Could I be hallucinating because I'm too focused on this?
Hotaru pinched the bridge of her nose to calm herself, then followed Robin again.
But as she walked, she suddenly realized Robin had stopped.
Just as Hotaru was wondering why, she heard a confused murmur.
"Brother?"
Along with that voice, Mr. Trash Can, who had been leading the way, also trembled.
But when he turned around, he found that Robin was not looking at him. Instead, she was looking toward the end of the road.
Seeing this, he seemed to understand something.
"Has it begun?"
No one heard Mr. Trash Can's murmur, because at that very moment, Robin was still shaken by the hallucination she had just seen.
She had just seen Sunday being led past by someone.
But when she tried to confirm it again, there was nothing at the end of the road.
Oh, no.
There was a purple-haired woman holding a large blade standing at the end of the road, looking around in confusion.
Judging from her appearance, she seemed to be lost.
When she saw Mr. Trash Can, her eyes suddenly lit up, and she quickly hurried over.
"I finally found you."
Acheron sounded very happy as she said, "Where was the takoyaki shop again?"
The corner of Mr. Trash Can's mouth twitched despite himself.
"The takoyaki shop is on the east side of town. How did you end up on the west side?"
Acheron fell silent for a moment, then said seriously, "I got lost."
Mr. Trash Can nearly choked, but fortunately, he had seen plenty and had long since built up some resilience.
He pointed to the road beside them and said to Acheron, "Follow this road straight ahead. When you reach the end, turn left, and you'll see it."
Acheron looked a little more excited after hearing that. "Thank you."
With that, she prepared to head that way.
However, just as Mr. Trash Can thought they could finally continue forward, she turned back again.
"Right. May I ask what time it is?"
She had just remembered a previous occasion when she had wanted to buy something, only to arrive after the shop had already closed because she got lost.
The lesson from that time had been carved deeply into her heart, so after realizing she had gotten lost on her way to buy something, Acheron had developed the good habit of asking the time.
Seeing this, Robin told her the current time.
"It's currently 18:00 SYSTEM time."
After hearing the time, Acheron's tone suddenly became somewhat emotional.
"So it's already this time."
"Does this time mean something?"
Kohane asked curiously.
"In my homeland, this time is called Ōmagatoki—the hour of meeting demons. It is said that during this period, the boundary between illusion and reality blurs, and different times and spaces begin to overlap..."
"For example, one might see people or things that do not originally belong to this time and space..."
Acheron spoke as if it were truly so, making both Hotaru and Robin fall into thought.
Could what they had just seen really not have been hallucinations?
But very quickly, Acheron smiled.
"Though that is only a saying from where I come from."
"So just take it as a joke."
She had never once seen her old friends during this time.
If she could see them once more, how wonderful that would be...
With that, Acheron prepared to bid the group farewell and go buy the takoyaki she had been longing for.
However, before she had gone far, she heard someone calling from behind her.
"You're going the wrong way!"
Mr. Trash Can held a hand to his lid. He had only just pointed out the road, and she had already forgotten it.
He now understood how she had managed to find this place.
After dealing with Acheron's matter, Robin and the others prepared to continue with their unfinished business.
Acheron walked forward for a while, then suddenly stopped halfway.
She seemed to have remembered something.
In her homeland, the arrival of Ōmagatoki also foretold one more thing...
"Night is coming."
When night came, ghosts and monsters emerged. One should stay at home and not wander outside.
However, when she wanted to remind them of this, she turned around and found that they had already disappeared.
It seemed some things were destined not to be conveyed to them...
Acheron sighed softly in the end, then turned and walked toward a side road.
"He said the takoyaki was at the end of this road just now. I need to hurry."
She absolutely had to eat delicious takoyaki before night arrived!
And so Acheron walked farther and farther away from the takoyaki...
Farther and farther away.
...
Honestly, when Mikhail was inspecting the train and suddenly noticed the abnormal shaking of the cars, he felt that something was wrong.
Unfortunately, before he could escape, the sound of a train whistle suddenly rang in his ears.
And so, when he came from the rear car into the passenger compartment, everyone was dumbfounded.
Everyone looked at Mikhail, who had suddenly appeared, and felt extremely surprised.
Only one figure was happy about it.
Because Ryutaros had successfully beaten Sunday in their no-blinking contest.
So he clapped his hands and cheered nonstop. "I won, I won! Just as expected, I'm the strongest!"
Unfortunately, no one had the leisure to pay attention to him right now. Everyone's eyes were focused on Mikhail.
In fact, to test whether he was an illusion, Kintaros slowly reached over and plucked out a strand of his hair.
"Ow! What are you doing?!"
Mikhail clutched his aching scalp because of that rough method.
Kintaros had not plucked out just one strand, but a small tuft.
It hurt terribly.
Only after confirming that Mikhail was neither a ghost nor an illusion did Momo finally jump out from behind Sora.
"What are we doing? I should be the one asking what you're doing!"
Momo circled around Mikhail. "I didn't see you when we were saying goodbye, so I thought you were hurt and was going to have Sora treat you."
He circled him to confirm Mikhail's physical condition.
After confirming that he was healthy, Momo finally asked his question.
"Why are you on the train?"
"Isn't that what I should be asking?"
Mikhail also felt wronged. "Why did the train start?"
In his view, since his friend's train was about to set out on a long journey, then as a former mechanic, he should at least fulfill one final duty for it.
Not to mention, at the last moment, many other repair technicians had also come to repair this damaged train together.
Repair technicians varied in skill, and Mikhail was very worried that Sora and the others would suddenly break down somewhere in the universe.
One had to know that the universe was boundless. Once an accident happened, waiting for rescue would be almost as difficult as climbing to the heavens.
So for the safety of Sora and the others, Mikhail had specifically come to perform one final inspection before their departure.
Who could have expected someone to start the train directly!
And take him along with it!
"I need to go back. Penacony can't do without me yet!"
Mikhail immediately pressed himself against the train window. Since they had not been gone for long, he should still be able to see Penacony outside.
However, after he climbed up, he discovered that the scenery outside seemed somewhat wrong...
What entered his eyes was a bright yellow desert, with patches of greenery dotting one sand dune after another.
And this train was traveling along tracks through that desert.
Honestly, if this were some scenic spot on a planet, Mikhail would absolutely have sighed over how perfect the view was.
But...
If he remembered correctly, this train had only just left Penacony.
So why had the scenery outside the window become like this?
"What... is this place?!"
Mikhail stared at the desert outside in astonishment.
"This is the Desert of Time!"
Ryutaros explained with great enthusiasm.
But this only left Mikhail even more confused...
What the hell was the Desert of Time?!
Immediately afterward, several Imagin surrounded him and began educating him about a series of baffling things.
Sunday listened from the side as well, and in the end, his gaze fell on Sora.
"So, you're the one who threw me back to this point in time?"
Previously, Sunday had been extremely puzzled as to why he had been able to return to this time.
Because he had once briefly ascended to the level of an AEON, he also understood just how difficult it was to send someone back into the past.
He absolutely did not believe this was something Gopher Wood could accomplish.
Before this, he had been listing one suspect after another in his mind.
Now, it seemed the culprit behind his time travel had appeared.
"Don't blame me. What does this have to do with me?"
Sora would not take the blame for this.
One had to know that earlier, he and Robin had spent a long time searching for Sunday.
In the end, neither of them had found any clues.
Both Sora and Robin had thought Gopher Wood had taken Sunday and fled Penacony.
He had not expected to actually see him at this point in time.
"If it wasn't you, then who else could it be?"
Sunday did not believe any of those excuses.
The ability to travel through time did not seem like something that could exist just anywhere.
Sora thought for a moment. "Maybe that bastard TERMINUS..."
Sunday froze. "TERMINUS?!"
How had this suddenly gotten connected to the AEON of FINALITY? And why could Sora say it with such familiarity?
"Because I was thrown back to the past by that guy once before..."
Sora did not say much more, but the amount of information in that one sentence was already enough to make Sunday freeze in place.
Putting everything else aside, Sora having met TERMINUS was already absurd enough on its own.
One had to know that among the records left by the major factions about TERMINUS, the descriptions were always vague and unclear.
At most, there was only one phrase: the AEON who moves backward through time.
That was why THEIR image was the most mysterious of all.
Because the present people occupied and the time THEY occupied had already diverged.
Logically speaking, observing THEM was almost impossible.
Precisely because of this, even the Creed Exequy and the Omen Vanguards, who walked the Path of FINALITY and believed in TERMINUS, had never seen the true face of their AEON.
Yet now, Sora was telling Sunday that not only had he seen TERMINUS, he had even been personally thrown back into the past by THEM.
"Are you joking?"
"What would be the point of me joking about that?"
Sora's single question left Sunday unable to refute him.
Indeed.
There was absolutely no point in Sora making such a joke.
In other words...
"You really met TERMINUS?"
Sora shrugged, silently confirming the question through action.
"Hiss..."
Sunday sucked in a breath of cold air. Only now did he finally begin to seriously observe the man before him.
Although this man was impolite, vulgar, fond of violence... and a bastard who had seduced his sister.
Looking at it this way, he did not seem simple either.
But even so, there was no way Sunday's impression of Sora would improve in any straightforward way.
Even if Sora had defeated him head-on, when it came to his sister, Sunday would not retreat even half a step!
However, it seemed he might be able to obtain some other interesting information from Sora...
Just as Sunday was about to ask further, the Imagin brought Mikhail over to Sora.
"We've decided something!"
Sora's curiosity was piqued. Something had actually made these noisy guys agree on the same thing.
"What is it?"
The Imagin simply moved aside, revealing Mikhail, who had been surrounded by them.
"I... I want to see the future Penacony..."
After learning the truth about this train, Mikhail had developed this longing in his heart.
He wanted to see what Penacony would look like in the future.
"But don't worry. I just want one look. After I see it, I'll go back!"
Perhaps afraid that Sora would refuse, Mikhail thumped his chest and promised.
He only wanted one look. He only wanted to see whether that great dream had been realized.
Sunday's brows shifted slightly when he heard this.
Others might not know, but how could he not?
Although his current identity was that of the defeated, before this, he had been the Family's decision-maker in Penacony.
He knew a thing or two about all of Penacony's secrets.
Precisely because of this, he naturally knew about Mikhail's identity as a traitor.
So he was not certain whether, if Mikhail saw the future Penacony, it would cause some butterfly effect.
One had to know that changes to the timeline could affect everything from a single point.
"I think this matter—"
"Sure. I'm here anyway."
Just as Sunday was about to warn him, Sora agreed directly.
Wasn't it just taking a look at the future Penacony? What could possibly happen?
Not to mention, he was now a Singularity Point from the future.
So to a certain extent, he could function as an anchor for a time-space node.
In the original series, Hana, as a future Singularity Point, confirmed the course of history, making it so time was destined to reach the moment of her birth.
Naturally, Sora could do the same.
Do not underestimate a Singularity Point, you bastards!
Those words left Sunday's reminder stuck in his throat, while the Imagin naturally seemed very happy.
Ryutaros said, "Great! Clock-chan will definitely be really happy when he sees the future Penacony!"
Kintaros folded his arms and laughed with a snort. "I think so too. After all, when I saw that planet back then, it was extremely prosperous."
Momo directly slung an arm around his shoulder. "If this trip weren't so rushed, I'd even want to take you driving around to experience it."
Of course, it was also possible that he simply wanted to go down and experience it himself.
Since Sora had already decided the matter, naturally no one came out to argue.
Mikhail's heart was also filled with anticipation.
What would the future Penacony be like?
Had it been built into the dreamland in his heart?
Carrying these questions, the train continued forward.
Only, the exit ahead of the tracks appeared somewhat blurry.
It was like the same track had split into two branches.
Because they were the same track, the change was not obvious.
However, the colors shown by the two branches were not the same.
One carried a faint halo, yet seemed somewhat illusory...
As if a certain objective had not been reached, and so the conditions to open it had not yet been met.
The other was a calm darkness, like the sky after nightfall.
And the train carrying Sunday and Mikhail charged directly toward that calm darkness!
...
If there was a possibility that allowed you to see the future, would you choose to look, or give it up?
Perhaps most people, after a brief hesitation, would choose to take a look.
After all, that was humanity's yearning for a beautiful future, and also the instinct by which people pursued happiness.
Everyone wanted the future to become happier and better than the present.
Mikhail was no exception.
He also wanted to see whether his ideals had ultimately come true, and to see what the future Land of Dreams looked like.
So even though he knew this matter was asking a bit much, he still chose to try.
And naturally, Sora agreed with his decision.
Although they had only met a few times, Mikhail had already proven through his actions that he was their friend.
Perhaps they would never meet again in the long river of history after this, but this friendship was undoubtedly real.
So Mikhail was allowed to take one look at the future.
Added to what the Imagin had said, he could hardly wait.
Only, just as they were about to arrive and get off, his eyes were suddenly covered by a pair of hands.
Behind him, Ryutaros said, "This is a big surprise, so it needs a proper ceremony!"
They wanted to wait until after he got off before letting him see the future.
After thinking for a moment, Mikhail accepted it.
Since this was a ceremony to reveal the future, having some sense of ceremony was indeed right.
So after the train arrived and stopped, he was guided off the train by the Imagin with his eyes covered.
His feet stepped onto land once more, and the fresh scent of soil, grass, and trees reached his nose.
There was no sand, no ash. These signs proved that this was already an age of peace.
It seemed his dream had been realized...
"Then we're opening your eyes!"
"Three!"
Along with the countdown, Mikhail's mood grew excited as well.
What would the future be like?
"Two!"
"One!"
The hands tightly covering his eyes suddenly moved away, and Mikhail's closed eyes finally saw the scene before him.
What entered his sight was prosperity.
Tall buildings, splendid towers, and jade palaces stood here like something from a dream.
No one could possibly imagine that this place had once been a prison, once a barren land.
Mikhail stared blankly at everything outside, as if wanting to imprint all of it into his mind.
"So this is what my dream looks like once it's realized?"
Looking at everything before him, Mikhail could not help murmuring.
But why did he feel that something was strange?
"No. Something's wrong here!"
Just as Mikhail sensed that something was wrong, another person's shout suddenly sounded behind him.
Sora and Sunday's expressions had both turned very strange.
The two of them were looking warily in every direction around Penacony, as if countless ambushers were hiding here.
"What's wrong? Aren't you being too sensitive?"
Momo scratched his head.
"No, senpai. I think something really is wrong!"
Urataros reached out to quiet him.
"Did you not notice? From the moment we landed, this area has been..."
"Very quiet?"
With Urataros's reminder, they finally noticed it keenly.
A city that should have been incomparably noisy was now strangely silent.
One had to know that Penacony was the Planet of Dreams, not the Planet of Sleep.
In this beautiful dream, there should have been busy traffic, blazing lights, and indulgent revelry.
Not to mention all kinds of amusement machines and special devices.
The sounds produced by those things should absolutely have been extremely noisy...
Yet at this moment, no sound reached their ears. It was as though all of Penacony had fallen asleep because night had arrived.
"Even this sky is different!"
Sunday had stayed in Penacony for so long that he sensed the abnormalities here even more clearly.
In his impression, Penacony's sky was absolutely not this dark and gloomy.
One had to know that when he was young, he and his sister had once made a promise beneath the starry sky.
Yet now, not even the faintest trace of starlight could be seen. All they could see was darkness.
"Where exactly did you bring us?"
Sunday questioned Sora.
"How would I know?!"
With him, a Singularity Point, here, the future should not be wrong.
Then where exactly was the problem?
Sora very quickly learned the answer to that question.
Because in every direction around them, a soundless wind suddenly began to rise.
That wind blew Sora's clothes and Mikhail's white hair.
And the abnormality that appeared along with the wind was endless black mist gathering continuously before their eyes.
[WHO DARES DISTURB ALL THINGS IN THEIR PURSUIT OF TRANQUILITY?!]
The black mist kept condensing and piecing itself together, finally forming something that shocked Sora.
"Isn't that your Great Septimus?"
That was right. Wasn't the figure that appeared before Sora and the others The Great Septimus, the one he had defeated before?
But if Sora remembered correctly, when he fought Sunday back then, The Great Septimus should have already evolved into "Embryo of Philosophy" Sunday.
Why was he seeing this thing again now?
"How would I know?!"
Sunday was also shocked by what was happening before his eyes.
It was a fact that he had been defeated.
His body was still ruined even now, so how could something like this appear in front of him?
"No! This isn't The Great Septimus!"
At that moment, Sunday suddenly realized something was wrong.
Because the thing pieced together from black mist before them was not The Great Septimus he had used when he ascended toward the AEON of ORDER.
"There is no sign of the Path of ORDER on it. Instead, there is some other strange power..."
Sunday sensed the other party's power, but the more he sensed it, the more wrong it felt.
The feeling that power gave him was tranquility, but behind that tranquility was an extremely violent emotion.
He had only brushed against it lightly, yet he felt as though his emotions were about to spiral out of control.
[OH? THIS FAMILIAR FEELING...]
The Great Septimus condensed from black mist also let out a sound of surprise because of Sunday's touch.
This familiar feeling could not be wrong.
[WERE YOU NOT ALREADY COMPLETELY DEVOURED BY ME?]
Immediately afterward, before Sora and the others, the black mist scattered, revealing something that shocked them all.
It was a skeleton.
And the wings behind that skeleton, along with the halo above its head, proved its identity.
That was Sunday...
"What the hell is this?!"
Forget Sora—even the others were stunned.
Was Sunday not perfectly fine beside them?
How had he become a skeleton?
"What exactly is this thing...?"
Just as Sunday wanted to pursue the question further, a voice suddenly echoed by their ears.
"This way, this way! Don't just stand there like idiots!"
Looking toward the sound, they immediately saw a small Clockie hopping continuously over there.
And beside him, Sora unexpectedly saw a familiar figure looking timidly up at the black mist.
And his identity was...
"Misha?!"
---
T/N: what the frick is going on