And here we go, the final chapter of this story, that started at the beginning of this year.

Given it's only ten chapters long, then I guess this took a little longer than expected, but hey, it finished! And that's all that matters :)

Anyway, I don't have any grandiose speech to end this story on, so I'll just shut up and let you enjoy the story.

Hilda honestly felt a little nervous as everybody walked through the portal door to the next, and final, Car.

This was it. After several days of walking along the Infinity Train, she was in the last few steps remaining before she earned her freedom.

Granted, it felt like it had gone for longer than a few days, probably a few months at the very least, but that didn't matter: what mattered was that she was this close to going home.

"Okay, this Car should do the trick," Helga remarked. "I've heard this Car has the ability to let somebody live out past memories. I bet seeing your Mum's memories should get your numbers straight to zero."

Hilda nodded, and after a short pause, she asked:

"How do you feel, Helga?"

The Hilda lookalike turned back to her sister.

"I mean, you just said it: we're about to leave. And once we do, we're probably not coming back," Hilda turned to her mother. "Right?"

"That's how it normally works, yeah," Johanna replied. "Once the number reaches zero and you leave, you never return to the Infinity Train. Although, there are times when Passengers do return, but they're rare."

"And you're asking if I'll feel sad when you eventually leave," Helga sighed. "Hilda, I've been waiting for you to arrive so I could help you through your issues and come out a better person. When you leave, I'll have accomplished that, and that's fine by me."

"Yeah, but, what will happen to you once we leave?"

Helga paused for a moment, then began looking around for a way to start the flashback.

"I can't see anything we could use to kickstart a flashback. Maybe Johanna needs to think about it?"

Accepting Helga's lack of an answer for now, Hilda turned to Johanna as the woman took a deep breath, and tried to remember.

As soon as the faintest memory reached her, the Car transformed, resembling a rather fancy bedroom... with a younger Johanna sitting on the bed, looking quite forlorn.

And Hilda could tell it was her mother because she had the exact same hairstyle as she does now.

"Wow, your hair's been the same ever since you were my age?" Hilda looked at Johanna. "How did you do that, Mum?"

"It wasn't easy, that's for sure," Johanna laughed nervously. "And besides, that's not important right now. What comes next, however, is."

Hilda turned back to the memory, and saw Johanna climbing down a makeshift rope made from her bedsheets. Guess that's where Hilda picked it up.

Anyway, the younger Johanna fully climbed down, and ran off to the distance... though she didn't get too far away before she came upon a familiar sight.

The Infinity Train, whose arrival brought her escape to a halt. Then, it opened its Car, revealing a green portal.

Johanna looked back home... then hardened her expression before hopping in.

The room morphed soon after, this time showcasing another memory: in this one, Johanna was in her teens, or at least she looked like it, given the shirt and pants she was wearing, probably a "gift" from another Passenger. She also held a spear in one hand, which she held tightly as she scanned her surroundings.

Eventually, she heard some rustling from the bushes, and aimed her spear at them as a teen guy walked out of there, sporting an unusual hair color and a worried expression.

"Wait, don't attack!" he pleaded. "I'm not armed!"

Then, he raised his head... and as soon as they saw each other, Johanna lowered her spear, and the guy stood up.

"Hi," Johanna greeted. "I'm Johanna D'Arc."

"I'm..." the guy blushed. "I'm Irving."

"So that's where I got my hair!" Hilda chirped before playing with her bangs. "I've always wondered why I was born with blue hair."

"Hehe, yeah..." Johanna sighed. "A lot of things happened after that."

The room rapidly morphed to show several memories in quick succession: their dates, their marriage, them building a house in the Woff King Car, and so on and so forth... until eventually, they reached one more memory.

One that began with Johanna looking at the zero on her palm, then at the portal door right next to her.

Then, she looked back at Irving, who was holding back tears.

"I'll... I'll do my best to return home."

Johanna put a hand on her stomach, then smiled before nodding.

"I'll wait for you when you come back."

With those words spoken, Johanna stepped through the portal door, and left the Infinity Train forever, the door slowly vanishing from existence as Irving waved goodbye with a melancholic look.

And that was the last thing Hilda saw before the room turned back to normal. At that point, the trio left the Car and went to the outside, Helga watching the wasteland around them as the mother and daughter duo shared some words.

"That was the last time I saw your father," Johanna sighed, putting a hand on Hilda's shoulder. "I waited and waited for him to leave, but eventually, you were born, and I had to move on from that point."

"And eventually, some jerks called the Apex entered the Car and struck him down," Hilda turned to Helga. "At least, that's what she told me."

Helga turned to the pair as they looked at the numbers on their palms: Johanna, to her relief, saw her number reach zero, while Hilda... shrunk down to ten.

"Well, my number reached zero," Johanna looked at her daughter. "But Hilda still has a number."

"And I think I know why that is," Helga faced her sister. "It's the Apex, isn't it?"

Hilda lowered her eyelids as Helga explained:

"You waited all this time to find out what happened to your father, and when you finally do, you discover a group of jerks that consider themselves the owners of the Train killed him in cold blood."

Helga lowered her head. "All because he chose to protect a Denizen."

Then, she reached for her back and took out a pipe, which she handed to Hilda as she added:

"Well, now I'll give you one last choice. See, the Apex talk a big game, but all you really need to put them down is this. One pipe, aimed really well, and they're out of commission. But, it's up to whether you-"

"Helga, I won't do it."

Johanna sighed in relief alongside the group, except for Helga, who looked confused.

"What do you mean you won't do it?"

"You showed me what the Apex is like: they're a bunch of savages who go the extra mile to seed fear and get rid of anybody who stands in their way," Hilda shrugged. "Besides, even if I wanted to do it, who's to say I can? Dad tried to fight back, and he was immediately outnumbered, even being as strong as he was! Meanwhile, I'm just a kid."

Hilda grabbed the pipe and looked at it with melancholy.

"Even if all of us were to face them, I don't think we'd be able to beat them. So, while I believe somebody will eventually defeat the Apex..."

Hilda handed the pipe back to Helga as she stated, with pure conviction.

"That somebody won't be me."

Helga stared at her sister for a while, until eventually, she flashed a proud smile.

"And that's exactly what I wanted to hear."

"Hilda, your palm!" Alfur exclaimed.

The Bluette looked at her palm on instinct, and to her absolute joy, her number shrunk down until it was zero, blinking a couple times before dispersing into green sparkles, which bathed the mother-daughter duo as they rejoiced, the portal to their freedom opening on one of the walls.

"Congratulations, Hilda, you've earned your ticket back home," Helga stated, folding her arms behind her back as she walked to her sister. "You know, I did feel very close to giving up on you a couple of times, but you eventually came around. Sure, I would've preferred if you didn't need a beating to see it, but-"

Hilda grabbed Helga's hand. "Why don't you come with us?!"

"Hilda!" Johanna exclaimed. "At least talk to me about this before you leap to it!"

Hilda flashed a nervous smile at her mother, and the smile vanished as Helga gently separated her hand.

"I'm a Denizen, Hilda. One whose purpose was to help you reach a better state of mind, and work through your issues."

Helga walked to the portal, and reached for it... Only for her hand to stand strictly on the view outside, like she was touching an invisible wall.

"Besides, Denizens can't stay far away from the Train. So even if I wanted to leave... I can't."

She looked saddened for a moment, then shook it off and flashed a smile.

"But I'm happy regardless. You know why? Because I got to help you change for the better."

Hilda smiled slightly. "I'm gonna miss you, Helga."

"And thanks," Johanna added. "For everything."

"It's the least I could do," Helga looked at her wrist. "But oh my, look at that! Time to go home!"

The pair chuckled and nodded before heading through the portal door, Hilda waving goodbye one last time to Helga before she and her mother were teleported back...

To the library, where Kaisa held David and Frida in the air inside purple magic bubbles.

And once she noticed this, she put the kids down and popped the bubbles, just in time for Hilda to flash a smile and say:

"Hi everybody... I'm back."

The next day, back at home, Hilda, Frida, and David sat down at the table, the former having just finished recapping her trip on the Train to the latter two.

"Wow, sounds like you had quite an adventure on this Infinity Train," David remarked before frowning. "Sorry that we ultimately couldn't help you get through it, Hilda."

"That's fine, guys, I understand you did all you could," Hilda replied. "Besides, I wasn't exactly in my best state of mind through it all. I'd probably die of embarassment if you learned just how childish I acted."

"I can imagine."

The trio shared a hearty laugh, and at that point Johanna arrived and chimed in:

"Alright, I hope you've had a good breakfast, 'cause it's time for you to go to school. And Hilda, is there something you wanna tell me?"

Hilda looked at her friends, who raised an eyebrow as she twiddled her fingers and answered:

"Actually, Mum, we're gonna go on a field trip on Vittra territory, and I was wondering if I could have your permission to go speak to them so we don't run into trouble."

"I'm afraid not, Hilda; I mean, last time you spoke to them, you nearly got crushed in a trash compactor."

Frida faced Hilda. "You told her about that?!"

"And the Great Raven, and the Lindworm, and the Marra, and the Ghosts, and David's crush on Kaisa-"

"How did you know?!" David exclaimed. "And more importantly, why would you spill the beans now? I thought you wanted to keep your adventures a secret from your Mum?"

"Not anymore: my trip on the Train taught me a lot of things, and the biggest lesson I learned," Hilda looked at Johanna and flashed a little smile. "I gotta be more honest with my Mum."

"And what I say, goes," Johanna added. "So when I say you're not gonna talk with the Vittra, you won't do it. Understood, Hilda?"

Hilda nodded. "Crystal clear."

"Alright then, I'm gonna get to work now," Johanna waved goodbye and approached the door. "And you three should go to school now."

"Mum, wait! Before you go!" Hilda exclaimed as she stood up and ran to her mother's side. "There's something I gotta tell you!"

Johanna turned to her daughter. "What is it?"

Hilda flashed an awkward smile and blushed as she said:

"I love you."

Johanna returned the smile, but hers was more confident and motherly, especially as she crouched down to Hilda's height and replied:

"I love you too, sweetie."

Johanna kissed Hilda's forehead and left the house, all while her daughter waved goodbye with a wide smile. With her gone, Hilda's friends walked to her side.

"Huh, looks like you and your Mum's relationship's stronger than ever."

"And all you had to do was get kidnapped by an interdimensional therapy train."

"Of course!" Hilda chuckled. "Now come on, let's get ready for school."

And so, the trio went back to Hilda's room to get prepared, and once they had put on their uniforms, they quickly went to the door.

But not before checking up on one other thing.

"Hilda!"

"Alfur?" the Bluette turned around and looked at the elf. "What's up?"

"I finished my report on the Infinity Train!" the elf cheered while showing the paperwork to Hilda. "I'm gonna see if I can deliver it to the elf tribes so I can spread awareness of that entity!"

"Well, I wish you good luck with that," Hilda shrugged. "I can only imagine how hard it'll be to convince the elves that an interdimensional train exists."

"Very. The answer is very," Alfur sighed. "But I won't give up!"

"That's the spirit! Anyway, I gotta go, see ya, Alfur!"

The elf waved goodbye, and the trio-and a cheerful Twig-left the apartment and began walking to school.

Along the way, they came across two familiar faces.

"Amanda? Kelly?" David and Frida asked in unison.

"Hey twerps!" Amanda chirped. "Looks like your friend got through her train trip just fine."

"I see Kelly came out just fine, too," Frida scratched the back of her head. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Kelly flashed a little smile. "Feeling a whole lot better now."

"Good to know," David shrugged. "Well, we gotta get going."

"Have a nice day."

The trio nodded and walked past the duo, Kelly watching them leave as her fellow Marra looked confused.

"Uh, "have a nice day"? Who are you, and what did you do to Kelly?"

The Marra snickered and walked away, Amanda following her as the trio kept walking while Frida noticed something about Hilda.

"You're smiling, Hilda. Are you happy?"

"Yup," Hilda raised her head and wrapped her arms around her friends' shoulders. "It feels good to be back."

The trio nodded in unison, and kept walking to school, feeling quite relieved that it was over at last.