On the other side, beyond the myth.

Zandar, a being possessing near-divine wisdom and obsession was silently observing the roiling sea of stars surrounding the Amphoreus system.

He perceived it. That nascent, boundless power of Harmony, and the will within it—familiar, yet utterly foreign.

"Aste...rion." He uttered the name in a low voice, a complex emotion flickering within it that was difficult to detect. It wasn’t purely anger, but more akin to resignation at witnessing a plan thrown into almost complete disarray by an unknown cause.

"So you’ve finally... chosen to walk this path..."

A faint, nearly imperceptible sigh echoed through that space:

"And yet... all my core research data concerning the essence of Aeons and the path to their ascension... was personally... and thoroughly destroyed by my own hand..."

His gaze seemed to pierce through the infinite void, settling upon his former greatest creation, questions surging within his mind:

"Nous... what exactly are you plotting?" His murmur carried deep inquiry and a trace of wariness. "To so conspicuously anchor his answer, even going so far as to leverage your own authority... Could it be that what you truly intend... is to facilitate the birth of a new Aeon?"

This mere possibility was enough to shake the balance of the known universe. Gazing at that fiercely warring expanse of stars, he voiced his final question:

"But... can you actually do it? Even for you, the Aeon presiding over Erudition, to interfere with the process of an Aeon’s genesis... just how do you calculate the variables and the backlash?"

...

The Astral Express, Parlor Car.

Within the warm, lived-in atmosphere of the Astral Express’s parlor car, Himeko, who was in the middle of communicating with Herta inside Amphoreus, wore a faint, barely noticeable expression of fatigue and worry.

"...Yes, we’ve already located those kids." Herta’s iconic voice, marked by a slight impatience yet calm, resonated through the car. 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

"Safety? They all seem safe for now, no one’s missing any limbs. It’s just..."

There was a pause on the other end of the communication, as if she was searching for a more accurate description:

"That little girl, March 7th, her situation is a bit... off. There’s a consciousness, or perhaps... an existence, claiming to be ’March 7th from the past’ that has temporarily taken over her activities inside Amphoreus. We’re currently trying to negotiate with her. The situation is... a bit complicated."

Then came news about another companion:

"Welt Yang? He’s fine, stable. From what those kids say, Welt is as reliable as ever. However, he did privately ask Screwllum to perform a rather... hmm, unique physical examination, with a focus on checking for any hidden cardiovascular diseases."

Herta’s tone seemed to carry the faintest hint of something close to amusement:

"Don’t worry. According to the detailed scan data and analysis report Screwllum sent back, all his physical functions are normal. His heart is as strong as a Star Destroyer’s engine, no signs of any pathology. Looks like he’s just... worrying too much..."

Only after the communication was completely cut off, listening to the dial tone from the receiver, did Himeko slowly lower the device from her ear.

Her shoulders, which had been slightly tense, finally relaxed, allowing her to lean back into the comfortable chair and breathe a genuine sigh of relief.

At the very least, the companions she was concerned about were all safe for now. But March 7th’s anomaly, and the increasingly strange and unpredictable situation in Amphoreus, still hung over her heart like a dark cloud.

The threat of the Lord Ravager, Irontomb awakening,

The trail and the words of the First Genius,

The Pure Child of Anāsrava,

That bizarre "March 7th from the past," whose behavior was so inexplicable, claiming to be from "the past,"

Not to mention the Equation of Life, a philosophy of cosmic life recently announced with great fanfare by the Genius Society in the name of Nous...

And that wasn’t even touching upon Amphoreus itself—this world originally should have only been entangled with three Paths. Yet in the brief time it took her to turn around and brew a few cups of coffee, the powers of Remembrance, Erudition, Destruction, Preservation, and the newly descended Harmony... a full five Aeonic Paths!

She truly feared that if she turned around again, a bunch of Aeons might start fighting right outside Amphoreus.

Himeko unconsciously tapped her fingers lightly on the table, her brow furrowed with an unshakable gravity.

For the first time, the cup of meticulously brewed coffee beside her—a symbol of her composure and elegance—had quietly lost its warmth and gone cold before she could even finish savoring it.

Regardless, one piece of news sufficient to ease her frayed nerves was, the kids had all been found safe.

Perhaps this was the sole comfort she could glean from this chaotic Trailblaze expedition.

But... this feeling of only being able to worry from the outside, helplessly watching as the young members of the Express crew time and again stepped willingly into—or were even drawn into—increasingly dangerous vortices, while the help she could provide seemed increasingly limited... it was truly... an indescribable torment.

It wasn’t that Himeko had never foreseen this day. She had considered that eventually, the power, knowledge, and connections she possessed might no longer be enough to fully shield these "kids" on the train.

But... it’s only been a few stops?

At Herta Space Station, the crisis, though sudden, was still within a controllable range. She could still calmly deploy her support drones, like clearing obstacles from the path for fledgling birds just leaving the nest, providing them with a stable rear guard.

On Jarilo-VI, facing an existential crisis for an ice-sealed world, she could still utilize her orbital strike system, using precise artillery fire to create critical advantages for the kids in desperate situations.

Even in the intricate webs of Penacony, she could rely on her own experience and the Express’s influence to navigate between major factions, like an invisible protective net, doing her best to ensure the kids wouldn’t lose their way in the labyrinth of realpolitik, or be devoured by its immense shadows.

But now, in Amphoreus, facing this battlefield that directly implicated multiple Aeons, she found that the help she could offer seemed reduced to merely calling in the favors and intelligence she had accumulated from her past travels across the galaxy.

This was certainly important, yet it was the first time she had felt so acutely a sense of "distance"—a distance from the heart of the battle, from the dangers the kids were facing, a distance she was powerless to close.

So... what about the next stop?

When the Express stops again, when an unknown challenge appears in an even more ferocious, hideous form, should she... while she can still provide some measure of protection, while her understanding and experience of the star sea can still illuminate the path ahead to some extent... personally accompany the kids off the train and set foot on that next uncharted land?