Narrator's Pov
Ryan sat down on to couch of the Express, looking to his right he saw Cocolia, still with her eyes glued to the screen of his phone, apparently stuck in the same level she was when he came back to the Express.
"Ryan..." She suddenly jerked her head up looking at him. "You got a message"
Cocolia offered the phone back to Ryan, who grabbed it and checked the message he had gotten.
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[Herta]
"Okay, I can investigate your new Aeon status now"
[Ryan]
"I'm on my way"
[Herta]
"Also, bring that follower you got, I'll have to investigate her too"
[Ryan]
"Okay, I'll take her too"
________________________________________
"Cocolia, we have to go to Herta" he stood up from the couch.
"I understand...how is this Herta?" She asked a bit curious.
"Let's just say she's...smart" he let out an exhausted sigh.
"That doesn't really tell me much..."
"You'll understand once you've spend at least 10 minutes around her" he walked towards the door of the express.
"I have a bad feeling" she admitted while starting to follow him.
"As you should..."
...
"So, this is your slave?"
Herta looked up at Cocolia who recoiled slightly at Herta's words.
"Follower, Herta, she's my follower" Ryan tried to correct the puppet.
"Are you...Herta?" The blonde woman raised an eyebrow.
"It's MADAM Herta for you" the puppet glared up at her.
"Sorry...Madam Herta"
"Good, now, Ryan, please enter your Aeon status and sit over there" she ordered pointing at a low table.
Ryan simply sighed at the sudden order but he still complied, entering into his Aeon form he walked to the table and sat on it.
"Uh...is that how you look? I expected something more Abstract" Herta sighed but then she walked to a small panel. "Hmmm...okay, this is something I already expected..."
"What is it? Am I gonna explode?" Ryan asked looking at Herta through the mask.
"No, I'm not gonna sugarcoat it, you're weak, your imaginary energy levels are low for an Aeon, most Emanators have higher imaginary energy in them, in that state even the weakests Emanators could beat you" Herta explained.
"I'll get stronger, I'm sure of that" He crossed his arms across his chest. "When I fought against Cocolia, I was...way stronger than now"
"Oh? That's something interesting to hear, you got weaker after your first fight, any idea why?" Herta took a hand to her chin.
"I had to retreat because the Stellaron had infected the magic in my body and was slowly killing me-"
"Wait! The Stellaron what?" Herta narrowed her eyes. "That's problematic...if Stellarons are able to infect and corrode your magic then that could tear you apart"
"I know, I was only saved because I turned into an Aeon, and that seemed to purify whatever the Stellaron did to me" Ryan made a small pause before continuing. "I also met a ghost"
"A...ghost?" Herta seemed...a bit unsure of that. "What you found probably was part of the Fragmentum, you were pretty close to the Stellaron after all...either that, or your Aeon status lets you see things we mortals can't"
"The ghost I met was the one of Alissa Rand" he spoke looking at Cocolia who widened her eyes. "We spoke and...I guess she gave her guilt to me to make me stronger."
"Able to absorb the guilt of others to grow in strength...that does sound like something you should be able to do, but if that strength is simply temporary..."
"Even if it is, it only happened once, I still don't know if that could permanently make me stronger."
"You'll have to experiment at some point...but don't be reckless, you're still not a fully fledged Aeon"
"...I'm not?" He asked as he returned to his normal form.
"I don't think you are, Aeons can't exactly turn into mortals...or at least there're no records of it, that form might as well be something of a partial transformation to display your divine status, after all, you can still hear people's guilt while in your normal form, I theorize that the moment you fully become an Aeon, you'll suffer an irreversible change" Herta explained as she then looked towards Cocolia. "You, Woman, go and sit in the table, Ryan, come back here"
"Yes, madam Herta"
The blonde woman slowly walked at the table and sat on it, while Ryan walked towards Herta standing beside her, the puppet started to again eye the screen over the panel and nodded slightly.
"As I thought...your imaginary energy levels are even lower that Ryan's, have you followed any other path before Ryan's?" She asked towards Cocolia who nodded.
"Yes, I used to follow the Preservation"
"Have you felt any kind of new power ever since following him?" Herta asked looking at the screen. "Pathstriders take power from their respective Paths"
"I...haven't really tried" Cocolia sighed. "I do feel...something"
"Try and chanel that power" Herta ordered and the blonde woman nodded.
Cocolia slowly rose her hand and closed her eyes, concentrating she could feel a sense of coldness all around her body, the tip of her fingers slowly started to be covered in Ice as if they were sharp claws, the woman let out a soft grunt and immediately stopped, the Ice around her fingers dissapearing soon after.
"Sorry... something just feels wrong" the blonde woman sighed.
"Its probably due to the path change, you might have to get used to it" Herta reasoned before looking at Ryan. "Do you plan on turning her into your Emanator?"
Ryan opened his eyes slightly wider before sighing. "I haven't even thought of that, it's already too early for me to have a follower, getting an Emanator could be more dangerous"
"Hmmm...I agree, for now, having this woman as a follower is enough, you'll have to grow your strength as an Aeon, that way, she'll also grow stronger" Herta spoke before giving a few steps back. "There isn't much to check, you and that woman can leave now"
"Thank you, Herta" Ryan nodded his head and Cocolia walked back to them. "Actually...there's something else I'd like to ask you"
"How many times do I have to say it? I don't do charity" the puppet let out a sigh of annoyance.
"I see...I suppose that even if you accepted, it might not be possible for you..."
"..." Herta glared up at Ryan. "Fine, tell me what it is"
At the puppet's words, Ryan could only smile, looks like striking directly at her ego was a good strategy against someone like the great Madam Herta
...
"Ugh...I take it back, it WAS quite messy" Serval sighed deeply.
She let herself fall on one of the couches of the main wagon of the express, Stelle approached and looked down at her with a smile.
"It wasn't really that dirty, just a bunch of boxes"
"You say that because you went to check our room AFTER I had moved more than half of said boxes" she sat on the couch and stretched her arms.
"Sounds like a skill issue~" Stelle sat beside the woman. "Pom-Pom!"
"Ah! So you are the new trailblazer?!"
"Uh?" Serval looked around after hearing an unfamiliar voice.
"Down here!"
The woman looked down and saw the white and black creature staring up at her, a mixture of excitement and eagerness in their eyes.
"Oh my god you're so cute~!" Serval smiled and walked to Pom-pom squatting down to be at eye level. "I am indeed the new trailblazer"
"Well! Then be sure to follow the rules of the Express carefully! I'm Pom-pom, the conductor" the creature presented themselves putting their paws on his hips.
"Sure, but can I hug you for a bit? You look really fluffy" Serval smiled with some excitement.
"No! I have work to do, make sure to not cause any mess" before the blonde woman could put her hands on them, Pom-pom quickly ran away.
"Uh...I feel rejected" Serval sighed dissapointed.
"Don't worry~ you'll hunt him eventually" Stelle smiled.
"Please, don't bully the poor creature"
Both looked at Welt who approached them alongside Himeko, the red haired woman let out a soft chuckle and then started to speak.
"Ryan texted me that Herta already finished recording all the information she needed, so now we can start the meeting regarding our next destination" She smiled and Serval stood up with a smile.
"Oh! Do we get multiple choices?"
"This time our destination is already chosen, Serval, but don't worry, we can put it to vote next time" Welt smiled lightly.
"Should I go get March and Dan Heng?" Stelle asked as she stood up from the couch.
"That won't be necessary, Dan Heng already knows where we are going and March...she said she wasn't feeling good, so she might stay in her room for a while" Himeko explained.
"Could she have caught a cold?"
Welt was about to answer but the lights of the wagon started to flicker for a few seconds, then, in the middle of the gathered trailblazers a blue glow formed quickly turning into an hologram of Kafka, the woman turned around slowly to see around her before smiling.
"Hello, Astral Express Crew, it's Kafka" her eyes slowly started to wander around the trailblazers. "Looks like I came at a good time, most of you are here" her eyes stopped on Serval. "You shouldn't be here, but an extra pair of hands won't hurt"
"There's no need for mysterious introductions...Stellarons Hunter" Himeko frowned slightly and the woman smiled.
"Himeko, correct?" Kafka smirked lightly at the woman before speaking again. "Sorry for interrupting your little get-together, but I'd like you to make a little...destination alteration"
After she spoke, an ethereal sword was thrown at her, of course, going right through the hologram and burying itself in one of the Express's couches before dissipating away, everyone looked at the entrance of the Express where Ryan and Cocolia stood.
"That was very rude, Ace" Kafka mused with a little smile and then her eyes looked at Cocolia. "And that woman...was it a wise choice to let her live?"
"I don't think it concerns you, what are you doing here?" He asked as he approached the group alongside Cocolia.
"Hmmm~ have any of you heard of the Luofu?" She asked and Welt immediately replied.
"The Xianzhou Luofu? It belongs to the Hexafleet of the Xianzhou Alliance"
"Good, but what you haven't heard is that it's quite close to you, just a few warp jumps away" she mused and Himeko narrowed her eyes. "And also, 45 system hours ago...a Stellarons Burst occurred on the Luofu, an unexpected calamity, don't you think?"
"You want...the express to go to the Luofu and deal with the Stellaron?" Ryan asked narrowing his eyes and the woman nodded her head.
"You see...that Stellaron has nothing to do with us, but the Xianzhou is convinced that we're responsible" she waved her hand and an hologram of a man appeared static beside her. "My companion Blade, has been taken by the Cloud Knights, I simply want to bring him back, for that you would need to resolve this Stellaron crisis and clear our names"
"And what stops us from saying no? you can't expect us to blindly believe you" Serval crossed her arms across her chest making Kafka smile.
"I like you already, of course, you're free to not trust me and instead follow as you planned to, the Stellaron hasn't seriously infected that region of space, I'm sure you can jump past it, but sooner or later the star rail will be blocked, I can also tell you what the future holds..." She made a small pause before talking. "If you don't go to the Luofu, The Stellaron will eventually contaminate the entire ship and more than half of the population will perish"
"She's...telling the truth, I know that the Stellaron Hunter able to see the future has a real ability, if Kafka says it, it's true" Ryan thought with a little frown.
"Could you, brave trailblazers, turn a blind eye to that" Kafka spoke with a slightly teasing tone before rising up one of her hands making Himeko's phone ring making her narrow her eyes. "My companion just sent you the coordinates, it's up to you how to proceed"
Without saying anything else, Kafka's and Blade's holograms dissapeared without leaving any trace behind, the wagon was entirely silent before Himeko let out a soft sigh.
"Serval, Stelle, could you two please go and get March and Dan Heng?" She asked and both trailblazers nodded and walked out of the wagon.
"Are you going to the Luofu?" Ryan asked making Himeko sigh.
"Serval said it, we can't blindly trust what Kafka says, there is information about the leader of the Stellaron Hunters having the ability to see the future...but that doesn't mean that Kafka was telling the truth, but whatever the truth is, we can't simply ignore what she said" the red haired woman shook her head slightly. "We'll put it to a vote"
"I understand, whatever the Express decides, I'll find a way to help" he nodded.
"Ryan, you already helped in Jarilo-VI, I wouldn't like to get you involved in this too" Welt sighed softly but Ryan smiled.
"Mr.Yang, the Express has been helping me ever since I arrived here and you'll continue helping me...I can't just not pay you back"
Welt looked down at Ryan for a few seconds but then sighed. "Fine, but just to make sure, I'll join you this time"
"If you're coming with us, Mr.Yang, I don't think we'll have that much trouble" Ryan smiled at the adult man who slowly smiled back.
"By the way Ryan..." Himeko spoke catching his attentions.
"Yes, Miss Himeko?" He asked a bit curious and the woman pointed at the deep cut in the couch where he shd thrown his ethereal sword.
"Please fix the couch..."
★ ★ ★
A/N: The Luofu Arc will begin woohoo~ the game will be already finished once I get to Amphoreus I swear-
Anyways, there isn't much to say, hope you enjoyed!