Sylvia's eyes widened in disbelief. This was the first time she'd heard that there was once more than one Express.
"Wait, what? There were others?"
"Oh, absolutely! Hehe. It's just that one by one, those other trains sputtered to a halt and broke down. Now, this is the only one left standing."
Sparkle only knew this because of the tall tales she'd overheard back at the Tavern. That Aeon of Elation—Aha—had no filter when it came to sharing stories with the Mourning Actors and Masked Fools.
From the time they personally blew up a train, to that stunt where they crashed into the wall built by the Preservation alongside Akivili... Aha told the Tavern everything.
Because of that, Sparkle actually knew a surprising amount about the Astral Express.
"I had no idea..." Sylvia muttered, rubbing her chin. She made a mental note to dig through the Express's Data Bank sometime to read up on the history of Trailblaze.
As for Sparkle, she was already miles ahead.
Driven by the desire to find more Origami Birds, she was suddenly itching to go hunting for those derelict trains—and she wanted to drag Sylvia along for the ride.
She kept chirping some nonsense about how a Nameless would have a "luck bonus" when searching for their own lost fleet.
Sylvia didn't buy a word of her crap and turned her down on the spot. We lived in an era where Stellaron bursts were everywhere; the current Express was struggling just to navigate and clear the old silver rail tracks.
Going off into the void to find ships that could be literally anywhere? You'd die of old age before you even found a bolt.
Just as Sylvia finished her drink and moved to leave, something clicked against the floor. The mask Sparkle had given her—the one she always kept tucked away—had somehow slipped out of her pocket.
Clatter.
"Oh my! You actually carry it with you? Sparkle is so touched!" Sparkle's face lit up with a mischievous grin as she reached down to grab it.
Sylvia, meanwhile, looked at her pocket in confusion. Her pockets were deep, and she hadn't even moved that much. Why on earth would the mask just fall out on its own?
Right then, Sparkle let out a small gasp and froze mid-reach.
Sylvia looked over and saw her doubled over, fingers hovering over the mask. Sparkle stayed there, locked in a bizarre, stiff posture like someone had hit a cosmic pause button on her.
Seeing the mask about to slide out of Sparkle's unmoving hand, Sylvia reached out and took it. The moment her fingers brushed the surface, a small star chart flooded her mind.
The map started at Penacony and pointed toward a star system not too far away.
Sylvia recalled the star charts of the areas surrounding the Asdana system; it used to be a dumping ground for convicts—a desolate, lonely stretch of space. The system the map pointed to was equally abandoned, though thankfully, the navigation charts for that sector were still active.
"..."
The biggest issue, of course, was where the hell this map had come from. She'd been carrying this mask for ages and never knew it had a storage function. Sylvia stared at the fox mask with a look of pure suspicion.
She had a sinking feeling... could the Aeon of Elation be interfering personally? Seriously? Finding "joy" in the Simulated Universe wasn't enough for you? Now you're pulling this in reality?
Sylvia's lip twitched. She resolved right then and there that she was absolutely, under no circumstances, going to that location. God only knew what kind of chaos was waiting for her.
"Whitey! Let's get moving!" Sparkle suddenly snapped out of it, energized.
"...No!"
"Aww—don't be like that!" Sparkle was practically vibrating. An Elation-seeker like her didn't care if a source of information was "eerie" or "suspicious." If it sounded fun, they jumped in headfirst.
Besides, if a message was being sent through a genuine Masked Fool's mask... who else could it be?
The thought that the Joyful One might be personally involved made Sparkle's heart skip a beat. There had to be something world-shakingly hilarious at that coordinate.
"I have a feeling nothing good ever happens at places like that."
"Not necessarily! My gut tells me there's something super fun waiting for us!"
"The word 'fun' coming from a Masked Fool is about as trustworthy as a glass hammer," Sylvia countered, remaining unmoved.
Besides, even if there was an old Astral Express train there, so what? Sylvia wasn't a mechanical engineer. She wouldn't know the first thing about repairing a multiversal locomotive.
Seeing that Sylvia was completely disinterested, Sparkle decided to play her trump card.
"Oh, come on, please? If you go with me, I'll tell you everything I know about Firefly. How does that sound?"
Sylvia's expression wavered. "You'd just tell me? Like that?"
"Well, it's not like my client explicitly told me I couldn't talk about it."
"..."
Considering she and Sparkle were technically "partners" in name, Sylvia weighed her options and finally sighed, agreeing to the deal.
After setting a time to depart, Sparkle skipped away to "get ready."
Sylvia decided she might as well spend some time in the Dreamscape looking for Origami Birds or seeing if anything else interesting was happening.
That was when Robin approached her, looking uncharacteristically troubled.
"Sylvia..."
"Robin? What are you doing out here?" Sylvia was startled. she quickly pulled the singer into a nearby booth to keep her from being swamped by a mob of fans.
Robin didn't resist. Even the wings behind her ears seemed to droop listlessly. She looked like she'd had a rough day.
"What happened?"
Sylvia looked around; their drinks were gone, so she poured Robin a glass of SoulGlad instead. Robin took the glass, whispered a thank you, and spoke in a slightly raspy voice.
"...My brother finally found a moment to meet with me privately today."
Sunday is that busy, huh? Sylvia nodded slightly. No wonder Robin looked so drained. "And... it didn't go well?"
"I'm not sure. He knows about the Stellaron. In fact, it's possible the other Families do too... It's a lot to process all at once."
Sylvia reached out and gave Robin a gentle squeeze, patting her head. At the very least, it seemed Sunday genuinely cared for his sister. He hadn't turned on her despite her questioning him.
Suddenly, Sylvia felt a flicker of movement and glanced toward the exit of the booth.
In the distance, she caught a glimpse of Sunday. He gave her a subtle, polite nod before turning to walk away, clearly having no intention of interrupting them.
"..."
Well, regardless of who was a "mole" and who wasn't, the bond between these two was clearly the real deal. Sylvia felt a bit more relieved regarding Robin's safety.
"Sylvia, I want the Family to seal the Stellaron," Robin said, leaning her head against Sylvia's shoulder. Her voice was soft, but her resolve was firm. Her bad mood hadn't shaken her goal.
"I'll support you. But there's no need to rush into it this second."
"Why?"
"No one has made a move yet. If you stick your neck out too early, it's dangerous. If you ask me, we should wait for the IPC people to show up and let them draw all the fire."
Sylvia gave the advice with total sincerity.
"I suppose you're right. In that case... can you stay with me today?" Robin looked up at her. She didn't want to work, and she certainly didn't want to be alone.
"Let me check. I promised a friend I'd go exploring today—let me see if she minds a plus-one."
Sylvia pulled out her phone and sent a message to Sparkle's burner account.
--+--
T/N: I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.