[Dream Depth, Dawn]
Because Sunday chose to betray them in this layer of the dreamscape, everything that followed went very smoothly.
First, they lured the Dreammaster into their trap and captured him, then sealed the Stellaron. Everything was resolved with surprising ease.
This development left Gallagher of this layer of the dreamscape in awe. He could not help lamenting to his old friend, who had already left, that the Nameless were indeed strange these days.
He had originally thought that once his fiction was seen through, he would soon disappear. However, things did not seem to be developing in that direction.
Gallagher never got the departure he had expected. The fiction still remained attached to him, and it was even more real than before. The image he had fabricated had become more vivid in the memories of many people.
This was because, in Nero's perception within this layer of the dreamscape, Gallagher was someone who had provided important clues and was supposed to be alive normally.
After all, in this layer of the dreamscape, the Astral Express crew had not even gone through the great battle. They had simply convinced Sunday to switch sides through debate and captured the Dreammaster through strategy...
Gallagher did not know the reason behind it, but perhaps not disappearing was a good thing for him. No one understood the other world, but he felt that he would probably never find that old man Mikhail again.
As long as he stayed alive and continued to exist, at least he could still come by every day to clean that old man's gravestone.
At the end of this layer of the dreamscape, the Astral Express crew, now reunited, said goodbye to the people of Penacony along with the large group of companions who had come with them, then returned to the Express.
But the problem of the two Marches had still not been resolved.
At this moment, aboard the Astral Express, in the Parlor Car.
"Attention, passengers. The route meeting is about to begin. Passengers Nero and Stelle, what are you two still standing around staring blankly for? You're already experienced Nameless. Why are you exactly the same as when you first boarded the train?"
Pom-Pom's call woke Stelle, who had been staring blankly around the carriage...
Stelle blinked and did not respond right away. She continued looking around the carriage...
Although things had developed very smoothly, for some reason, ever since she returned to the Express, she had felt a sense of incongruity.
Yet she did not know where this feeling came from, nor did she know whether the feeling was caused by a single factor or several factors.
In fact, this was not the first time Stelle had experienced such a sense of incongruity.
Even before this, ever since the train entered the Asdana system, she had occasionally experienced similar feelings.
Because she had made a fool of herself upon entering the Golden Hour, Stelle had always thought that the reason was that she was more sensitive to areas with high concentrations of memoria.
But now, this sense of incongruity had suddenly intensified, making Stelle feel that perhaps things were not as simple as she had thought.
At this moment, there were more passengers aboard the train than before, but for some reason, Stelle still felt that the place was somewhat empty, as if many things were missing...
Because of Pom-Pom's call, Stelle and Nero also walked toward Pom-Pom.
Black Swan, as well as the cowboy who had been standing with Dan Heng when they reunited, were now standing in front of the window behind Pom-Pom.
"Ahem... Everyone is here now. Then let's begin the route meeting!" Pom-Pom said.
"We're deciding where to go next, right? So, how do we do it, vote or something?" The cowboy named Boothill acted very familiar with everyone.
"Don't be so hasty, cowboy," Black Swan said. "When in someone else's home, one follows the host. Let them decide."
"So you two have decided to board the train as well?" Nero asked the two.
"Heh, just hitching a ride!" Boothill said casually.
"Let me explain." Himeko smiled at Nero. "Mr. Boothill and Miss Black Swan have each made requests to temporarily travel with the Astral Express for their own reasons..."
"As you all know, the Astral Express has never refused any traveler who yearns for distant horizons. So, they will be traveling with us for a while, until we reach our destination."
"Oh... The train is going to get lively!" March cheered. It was obvious that the girl was very excited about the new passengers boarding.
July showed the same reaction, but she quickly put on a serious expression and looked at Black Swan. "Miss Black Swan, you can't use the Memoria in the train to play pranks, okay!"
"All right, Miss March 7. I promise you that during your rest time, you absolutely will not see me in your room," Black Swan said.
For convenience, Nero called the two Marches March 7 and July 3 respectively, but Black Swan probably did not need to distinguish them that way.
"Eek... Don't scare me..." July shrank her neck.
Black Swan raised an eyebrow, wearing a half-smiling expression as she looked at July with a hint of amusement. "Really... I thought Miss March had gotten used to it long ago... After all, I'm not the only one on this train who can freely manipulate Memoria."
"I didn't know Nero could manipulate Memoria either," July said. "Besides... Nero isn't the kind of person who would just walk into a girl's room."
"Exactly," March said.
"All right, all right." Pom-Pom interrupted everyone. "Now that all the passengers have met each other, let's continue the route meeting!"
"First, the conductor would like to sincerely thank everyone. If you hadn't uncovered the truth behind Penacony, I might never have learned what happened to Mikhail and the others...
"Although what they went through was somewhat regrettable, I think they should have fulfilled their respective wishes... And that's all thanks to you. Thank you very much, everyone."
"It's really nice to hear Pom-Pom say that," July said. "Maybe a hundred years from now, the conductor will still remember us just like this!"
March blinked and sighed. "A hundred years from now... It shouldn't just be Pom-Pom. Dan Heng and Nero definitely won't forget us either. If they're still on the train by then, maybe they'll tell the new Nameless about Senior March's heroic deeds."
"Mm... No, I have to work hard to live until then. I want to personally tell the younger generations about Senior March's story and see what Nero will look like when he grows up!"
Listening to the two Marches talk, Stelle blinked.
It felt... like the atmosphere had somehow become heavy.
Pom-Pom also fell silent for a moment because of this.
"Ahem... Let's stop there for now. What we need to discuss now is the main point of this route meeting. We need to decide the train's next destination! Let the conductor introduce the current options."
"The first option comes from Himeko. It is the ocean planet Lushaka. It is a planet composed entirely of liquid water, with many aquatic races settled there. Of course, it is also the hometown of the old Nameless Mikhail."
"The second option is the Amethyst World, Melustine, provided by Welt. It is said to be one of the original explosion sites of the Stellaron disaster, as well as the place where Idrila, the Beauty, ascended. It is now a beautiful planet that exists forever."
"The third option is Edo Star. That planet is hidden within a vast ion storm tide region and is currently under invasion by the Antimatter Legion. But recently, the distress signals from there suddenly stopped. The IPC hopes that we can go and confirm the situation."
"The last one is the Glasslight Belt, Patrervinicia, provided by Black Swan. It is a huge planetary belt that was completely vitrified by the Lord Ravager Zephyro... Now, it seems to be one of the well-known theater troupe branches of the Mourning Actors."
"Oh... There are so many choices. I feel like I'm going to get dizzy trying to pick one," March said.
"Next, everyone can choose the destination they would like to visit. Then we'll vote," Himeko said.
And then...
Unexpectedly, almost everyone chose Edo Star, and the reason was almost the same. Among these four options, it seemed that Edo Star was currently the only one in danger and in need of someone to lend a helping hand.
Once their next destination had been decided, Pom-Pom announced that the meeting was over, then quickly left to adjust the route parameters.
Afterward, everyone went off to do their own things. There seemed to be nothing unusual. The two Marches, Stelle, and Nero were gathered together.
"Come to think of it, in the end, even after leaving Penacony, we still haven't figured out which one of us is the real March... But if both of us are real, that's not really possible, is it?"
Nero sat on the sofa, leaned forward, and lay against the coffee table as he spoke in a muffled voice.
"...It... does seem to be that way." Stelle belatedly realized it too, turning her gaze toward the two Marches.
March and July also froze for a moment because of Nero's words. Without realizing it, they seemed to have already gotten used to each other's existence. It was only after Nero pointed it out that they realized something seemed wrong.
"Ahahaha... If it's unlikely that both of us are real, then we can't actually still be in a dream right now, can we...?" March said.
Suddenly, everyone fell silent.
The atmosphere froze at that moment, as if even time and space had stopped.