Chapter 85: Damn That Aha, He Dares to Play Me!
Rekka, March 7th, and Stelle stood over the shattered remains of three Aha-blessed figurines. They had worked in perfect, ruthless synchronization to smash the cursed things to dust. Now, they were molding three brand-new replacements from fresh clay.
"If you're going to bless something, bless this," Rekka muttered, his slight obsessive-compulsive tendencies flaring up as he carefully smoothed out the edges of the new statues.
Almost immediately, the newly minted Aha figurine pulsed with a strange, chaotic energy. It had received a blessing.
"Hahahahahaha."
The sound bubbled up from the clay—a bizarre, abstract aggregate of twisted masks and assorted Elation props. The laughter echoed in the room, grating and manic.
Rekka narrowed his eyes. "Quiet down."
Miraculously, the chaotic mass of masks instantly snapped its metaphorical mouth shut. Silence descended.
March 7th and Stelle exchanged wary glances, staring at the suddenly docile figurine resting on the table.
"It... actually stopped laughing?" March 7th leaned in, her pink hair falling over her shoulder. She extended a cautious finger and poked the abstract lump. It didn't budge. It remained as lifeless and quiet as an ordinary, non-possessed toy. "This is way too obedient."
"Ridiculous," Stelle deadpanned, her arms crossed.
"It's really not," Rekka replied, casually dusting off his hands. "I heard from Sampo that Aha actually got kicked out of the Masked Fools'Tavern. Apparently, they have a sign up that says'No Entry for Aha and Mourning Actors' or something along those lines."
March 7th's face contorted into a complicated grimace. "Wait. So... Aha was kicked out by His own followers?"
"Pretty much," Rekka said. "Sampo mentioned in a chat a while back that the fun the newer Masked Fools are seeking is just too low-level. No bottom line whatsoever. They don't take any responsibility for cleaning up the mess after their little pranks. They're mostly just causing mindless destruction instead of finding true, refined joy."
Rekka turned his attention back to the makeshift altar, casually offering incense to the other Aeon figurines as he spoke.
But just as the fragrant smoke began to curl into the air, the previously dormant Aha figurine twitched.
"...!" March 7th gasped.
"Did... did Aha just move?"
"Yeah, I think so?" Stelle muttered, her hand instinctively reaching for the baseball bat strapped to her back.
Rekka paused, tapping his chin thoughtfully. "I know how to fix this."
He pulled out his phone. No horror scene could survive the right BGM. He tapped the screen, selecting a track titled Herding Sheep.
Deng-deng-deng-deng-deng-deng-deng-deng~ Deng-deng-deng-deng-deng-deng~
A ridiculously upbeat, bouncy, farm-animal-themed melody flooded the room.
"Pfft—" March 7th slapped a hand over her mouth, her fear instantly evaporating into giggles.
"See? Now it's not scary at all, is it?" Rekka smirked. "Turns out, all you were really afraid of was the creepy background ambiance."
As if deeply offended by the goofy music, the Aha figurine suddenly vibrated violently.
"Ahahahahahahaha—!"
It burst into a deafening, manic roar of laughter, completely drowning out the bouncy sheep tune.
— — —
"So... is this why this thing appeared on the Express?"
Himeko stood in the doorway of Rekka's room, her elegant features pinched in a look of deep bewilderment. She was staring at a miniature spatial rift hovering near the ceiling. It was small, but its edges curved upward in a grotesque, jagged shape that perfectly mimicked a massive, mocking smile.
"Did you actually summon the Aeon of Elation here?" she asked, her tone dangerously calm.
"Probably, maybe, possibly... sort of?" Rekka scratched the back of his head, offering a sheepish grin. "But it seems to purely represent Aha's laughter. It doesn't actually have any special purpose or destructive power." He gestured to the floating, smiling rift. "Think of it as a purely commemorative landscape piece."
Then, his expression darkened into pure indignation. "Also, Aha stole my figurines." He pointed an accusing finger at the empty spot on his desk. "Eighteen of them! All swiped in the blink of an eye. Aha is literally worse than a stray dog."
Determined to reclaim his territory, Rekka put his extreme manual dexterity to work. Within minutes, he had crafted a small wooden board. On it, he crudely painted Aha's iconic mask, slapped a massive red 'prohibited' circle and slash over it, and proudly hung it on the outside of his bedroom door.
Aha No Entry.
"Is this... actually going to be effective?" March 7th asked, staring at the crude craftsmanship with an indescribable expression.
"I think it should be," Rekka said, planting his hands firmly on his hips. He admired the big red cross with immense satisfaction. "I heard that's exactly how the people at The Tavern keep Aha out. You hang the sign, and Aha doesn't come in. It's foolproof."
"Is it possible..." Stelle slowly raised her hand from the sidelines, her golden eyes deadpan, "...that Aha doesn't go in not because of the sign, but because He just doesn't want to?"
Rekka's confident grin froze. "...Don't ruin the moment, Stelle."
"I mean, if an Aeon really wanted to come in, do you honestly think a crappy piece of wood is going to stop Him?" she pressed, gesturing to the flimsy board.
"I've clearly expressed my boundaries and stated that He is not welcome," Rekka argued, crossing his arms defensively. "If He still forces His way in after seeing the sign, wouldn't that make Him look incredibly unrefined?"
"When has Aha ever had refinement?" Stelle countered without missing a beat.
Rekka opened his mouth to argue, then slowly closed it. He was momentarily speechless.
"Okay, that's true."
This was the same Aeon who had once blown the Astral Express completely in half just for a laugh. Refinement wasn't exactly in His vocabulary.
"Still, if it works for the Masked Fools at The Tavern, I figure it should work here too," Rekka insisted stubbornly.
"Wait, so The Tavern people kick Aha out, and then Aha really doesn't go back in?" March 7th asked, tilting her head.
"Yes."
"Then where did Aha go?"
"How should I kno—"
"Could He have come specifically to find you?" March 7th interrupted, her eyes widening.
"Not necessarily. Maybe He came for Stelle," Rekka deflected smoothly.
Stelle blinked, pointing a finger at her own chest. "Find... find me?"
Just as the words left her lips, the overhead lights in the corridor flickered. It wasn't the erratic buzzing of an unstable voltage. It was deliberate. Rhythmic. As if an unseen hand were playfully flicking the switch up and down.
One long, two short.
One long, two short.
The shadows danced wildly across the walls.
"...Do you guys think this light flickering feels a bit familiar?" March 7th whispered, her voice trembling slightly.
"Yeah," Rekka muttered, his eyes darting down the hall. "Like a cheap jump-scare trope from one of those classic horror movies."
Click.
The lights died completely. The corridor plunged into absolute, suffocating darkness.
A split second later, a horrific, bone-grinding noise echoed from inside Rekka's room. It sounded like wet meat and jagged metal forcefully squeezing through the impossibly narrow gap under the door.
"Waah! What is that sound?!" March 7th shrieked. Panic overriding her senses, she lunged at Rekka, wrapping her arms around his neck in a vice-like death grip.
"Don't scream! You're making me scared too!" Rekka yelled, shivering violently as March's scream pierced his eardrums.
"Can you two have some spine?!" Stelle scolded from the darkness. Despite her brave words, her body honestly betrayed her, rapidly retreating two steps until she was firmly hidden behind Himeko's back.
Meanwhile, Rekka's face was turning blue. March 7th was actively strangling him, cutting off his air supply, but he didn't dare push her away in the pitch black.
"No... wait... March... let go first..." he wheezed, desperately patting her arm. "I can't... breathe..."
"No! I'm scared!" she wailed, tightening her grip.
"If you're scared, why are you assassinating me?!" Rekka choked out.
Stelle poked half her head out from behind Himeko's shoulder. In the dim ambient glow of the starlight filtering through the distant windows, she could see the smiling spatial rift in Rekka's room had expanded to the height of half a person.
"Sister Himeko," Stelle whispered urgently, "should we... run?"
Zzt. Pop.
The overhead lights flared back to life, bathing the carriage in warm, artificial light.
Standing at the end of the hall was Pom-Pom, holding a heavy-duty flashlight.
"This carriage just experienced a minor power outage. What are you all... doing, Pom?" the conductor asked, their long ears drooping in confusion as they took in the chaotic pile-up of Trailblazers.
"...Huh?" Rekka blinked, gasping for air.
So... it was literally just a power outage?
March 7th immediately released her chokehold on Rekka. She took a quick step back, clearing her throat and smoothing down her collar as if she hadn't just been trying to strangle her crewmate to death.
"No, nothing's wrong! We're perfectly fine," she chirped brightly.
Stelle fully emerged from behind Himeko, glancing between the confused conductor and Rekka's bedroom. The terrifying, half-person-sized spatial rift was gone. In its place, the tiny, palm-sized smiling rift floated quietly in mid-air, looking exactly like a harmless, inconspicuous decoration.
Pom-Pom waddled closer, the flashlight still gripped in their paws. Their large, button-like eyes locked onto the crude wooden sign hanging on Rekka's door.
"Passenger Rekka, what is this, Pom?"
"...It's an insect repellent board," Rekka lied smoothly, his face a mask of utter seriousness.
"An insect repellent board?" Pom-Pom repeated, tilting their head.
"Yes. It's designed to prevent a certain, highly specific kind of pest from entering my room," Rekka nodded, not breaking eye contact. "For example, the kind of pest that steals eighteen limited-edition figurines."
Pom-Pom stared at the crude painting. "...This looks exactly like Aha, Pom."
"So..." Stelle spoke up hesitantly, still eyeing the flickering fluorescent bulbs above. "It really was just a power outage?"
"Yes," Pom-Pom confirmed.
"Damn that Aha!" Rekka suddenly exploded, his face flushing with indignation. "He dares to play me!"
He actually dared to play me!
In a fit of rage, Rekka ripped the wooden sign off the door and slammed it onto the carpeted floor. He had spent the last five minutes terrified out of his mind, thinking Aha was orchestrating a grand horror-movie prank. But it turned out Aha wasn't playing him at all—it was just a mundane power outage.
But making him think he was being played when he wasn't... wasn't that just playing him on an even deeper psychological level?!
"Unbelievable!" Rekka muttered, aggressively stomping on the wooden board a few times to vent his frustration.
Once his anger finally subsided into a low simmer, he picked up the scuffed, boot-printed sign and stubbornly hung it back on the door handle.
Eventually, the chaotic energy dissipated. Himeko, March 7th, Stelle, and Pom-Pom all dispersed, returning to their respective duties and leaving the corridor in quiet peace.
But the moment the carriage was entirely empty—
"Hehehehehehehehahahaha…"
A low, suppressed burst of manic laughter echoed through the empty hall, emanating directly from the crude painted mask on the wooden sign.
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