Gaze

Prologue: Just Another Day On The Astral Express...

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Yuu is having a normal day
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Yuu POV

I wake up to the sound of the alarm on my phone. Groaning, I shut it off and rub my eyes.

My field of vision clears, and I can see my room- some bookshelves there to store any trinkets or interesting books I find that I decided to keep, and a table there to put other souvenirs that didn't look right on the shelves or the occasional open book that I didn't finish reading on other days. My bed with pillows, the kotatsu I had forgotten to put away, and the other pillows sprawled around.

I sniff the air, a delicious, mouth-watering aroma coming from somewhere on the train. It was time for breakfast, it seems.

I put on my clothes and walk on over. As I do, I look out the many wide windows of the Astral Express.

So many things have happened since I came on board. It was a long journey, but we somehow managed to gain truce with The Destruction on terms that they can keep destroying stuff as long as they begin to pay more of their time to the Annihilation Gang, because honestly? It's the Annihilation Gang that does more damage than the Stellarons, as far as I have observed in my journey. Now, less stuff in the universe is getting destroyed because the Annihilation Gang is too busy soaking in their aeon's attention.

My head begins to spin as I recall the events. I seriously don't know how we did that and came out alive without killing the aeon or dying. Kafka even told me Elio was surprised when she came over to congratulate us, and that's saying something.

Nevertheless, it was one heck of a ride.

I walk over to the dining room cabin, where I was greeted by the sight of the Astral Express Crew. "Yuu, over here!" March 7th, the ever cheery photographer, looks up from her plate and waves me over to get me to join the table. The guard and archivist, Dan Heng, looks up from his book and nods at me with a smile. "Good morning." He used to be so much more quiet than that. I'm glad he's making progress. "Good morning, Yuu." The navigator, Miss Himeko, greets me with a cup of coffee in her hand, and Mr. Welt, the animator (and unofficial history teacher to me), reads a newspaper, having finished his breakfast.

I nod, rubbing my eyes. "Good morning, everyone."

The adorable conductor, Pom-Pom, walks up to me. "Good morning, Yuu! Pom-Pom hopes you've slept well. Actually, I think you did- your food's nearly gone cold! Come on, you need to eat! Breakfast is the most important meal of the day!"

"Okay... (yawn)..."

I sit down on my seat, and take a bite out of my food. The delicious taste immediately wakes me up, and I hum happily as I munch down.

"Good morning sleepyhead! Did you have nice dreams? It's not like you to be sleeping for so long!"

"March is right. You're usually a light sleeper. Did something happen on one of our expeditions that has been causing this?"

"Mmh, as much as I wanna tell you guys... (nom) ...I don't know either."

"Hm... well, we did just meet an Aeon face-to-face weeks ago. It must've been stressful, knowing that you're negotiating with a being that can erase your existence with a flick of their wrist if you say the wrong words." Himeko comments, sipping her coffee as she looks at me worriedly.

"You're right... Yuu, how about you stay on the train this time? It might help you relax and fix your sleep problem." Welt looks up from his newspaper.

"Sure. I've been meaning to catch up on my newly downloaded MMORPG's story quest line anyway. And read that new book I got from a bookstore from Belobog. And arrange the souvenirs from the last stop in alphabetical order. Oh, and..."

I don't notice everyone making shocked faces as I talk about the many things I need to do.

March gets up, goes around the table and places a hand on my shoulder, stopping me from listing everything that I'm doing for today. "Wow, Yuu! How are you so busy that even when you aren't up and about running errands and doing tasks for people all over the galaxy, you still have things to go about? You're busier than the researchers in Herta Space Station!"

"I think Yuu staying on the train from time to time is mandatory now. Get some rest, okay?"

"Alright."

As breakfast finishes, I play my new video game on the lounge sofa. My mind wanders as I wait for everyone to finish preparing. I've never told anyone, but I've been having this strange, life-like, repetitive dream whenever  I slept.

It was a dream of a black castle.

Sometimes the dream changed. In one variation, I would be sitting inside a carriage. When I look out the window, I would see this black castle, and immediately black out. In another, I would be walking through mysterious corridors, end up outside, turn around, see the castle, and black out again.

Sometimes I would be studying in a library with floating books, standing in front of a strange mirror, or walking out on an open field. It didn't matter what I was doing in the dream, because it always ended the same- with me looking at the black castle, and waking up.

It has been reoccurring ever since we made that deal with The Destruction, the first time being the day after. But there was no way that The Destruction was the cause for it, they'd either accidentally break half my bones or accidentally pulverize my body if they ever tried to induce something like vivid dreams of gothic castles.

When it first happened, I just chocked it up to me being exhausted and let it be, but now? I'm starting to suspect that it's the work of the Stellaron inside me. The only thing who could induce such detailed dreams in my sleep is the burning, bright yellow ball that is contained within my body, as it gave me dreams about Belobog's previous Supreme Guardian Cocolia and it's Stellaron talking to each other. But the repetitive dream I am having right now did not have the whispers of a Stellaron or anyone else conversing with it.

Was it trying to tell me something...?

"Ahem! Hi, hello~ Attention all passengers." Pom-Pom's voice rings out from the intercom. "The Express is about to make the jump- The Express is about to make the jump- Please be seated and hold on!"

I turn off my phone, placing it in my pocket. I wonder what sort of world today's Trailblazing team would explore today.

I close my eyes.

"The train is going to make the jump! 5, 4, 3, 2, 1!-"

But instead of a vibrant light blue enveloping the whole train, it shook harshly than never before, causing me to open my eyes in surprise and tumble off the seat, my head hitting the floor dead-on.

I could hear Pom-Pom's panicked voice as the world begins to spin around.

Are we under attack?

I use the table to support myself and try to rise up, taking out my good-old, reliable bat and looking around.

Keyword: try. I slip and fall face flat on the floor, causing my vision to become more confusing to comprehend.

And all at once, I feel it: The gazes of all the Aeons on me. They're usually not this interested in a few shakes, unless...

<Child of Trailblaze.> A voice rings out. Nanook? <What is...>

I couldn't hold my eyes open any longer, drifting off into unconsciousness as their voice fades away.

And before I did, the last thing I saw was a black carriage.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
Hi! I'm the author of this fic! Some of you who read this might know me from my other fic "Candy Girl's Bizzare Days", and if you're worried that I'm dropping the fic: I'm not! I'm just taking a break from it. For how long is unclear, but I'll definitely pick it up once I get the motivation to do so!

Anyways, behold! Skit!

Yuu: Hey, today is kind of nice! Guess I've got it in the bag. Imma sit down and rest, the last few months have been pretty-
The Black Carriage: (Steals her away while she's unconscious)
Yuu: ...AEONS! Guess the universe don't want me to catch a break!