And here we go.

Also, I apologize for not specifying this earlier but I'll compile a reading guide for every chapter going forward for when certain events play out. That way nobody's too confused why text looks a certain way.

Honkai Star Rail is property of Hoyoverse. I own nothing.

"dialogue"

"call"

system

:text:

"altered"

"mental conversation"

"flashback"

SOUND EFFECT

"Ugh, there you are! About time! I told you to keep your phone handy! What took you so long?"

The moment Caelus stepped into Herta's office her displeasure hit him like a tidal wave. The puppet's voice, shrill and piercing, grated on his nerves, a perfect match for her perpetual state of irritation.

He rubbed his temples, trying to stay calm. "I was asleep," he replied, fighting to keep the annoyance out of his voice.

The first real rest he'd gotten in days, and Herta's incessant messages had nearly ruined it. He'd finally put his phone on silent just to get some proper shuteye.

A damning mistake on his part as it turned out.

The instant Herta registered him on the station, she sent Arlan, of all people, to fetch him. The station's head of security clearly hated being relegated to the puppet's errand boy, whispering apologies to Caelus and even reprimanding a guard who got too rough with him.

Yet, his efforts were of small comfort against Herta's summons. She had insisted on a private meeting, and her usual edge of exasperation was sharper than ever.

Against her rants, Caelus steeled himself. He was here to do a job, and Herta, as abrasive as she was, needed him. A fact which was proven correct since she did little but wave off his comments, as if they were nothing more than bugs flitting about her.

"Sleep on your own time, then. This matter can't wait any longer." Without waiting for a response, she strode to the far end of her office. Her hand pressed against a specific wall panel, causing it to slide away, revealing a concealed elevator.

"And where does that lead…?" he wondered aloud, but before he could finish, Herta yanked him down by his collar, her eyes blazing with uncharacteristic intensity.

"Listen to me very carefully and engrave my words into your little trailblazer brain," she hissed, clearly signaling that commentary would not be welcomed. He wisely kept his mouth shut, nodding to her to continue. "This elevator leads to my curio collection—the one I've had to hastily secure thanks to the legion's recent antics. Right now, it's home to some of the most volatile, experimental, and fascinating curios I've ever encountered. You are not to breathe a word of what you see down there to anyone. Do not touch anything. If even a speck of dust is out of place, I'll make that little slap fight you had with the Ruan Mei's pet downstairs look like mere teatime compared to what I'll do to you. Capiche?"

He nodded vigorously, not trusting his voice to avoid saying something that might provoke her further. Herta was unpredictable on the best of days, and today was clearly not one of those days.

Seemingly satisfied with his compliance, Herta released him. "Good. Now, there's a calyx down there. I want you to go pluck it."

Caelus blinked at the puppet, taken aback by the simplicity of the task. "A calyx? That's it?"

Calyxes were strange constructs. Welt had once explained them as doorways to alternate spaces that probed his mind and manifested past foes as guardians. Some were relatively simple, others far more challenging. He'd lost count of how many times he'd bitten off more than he could chew with them. One particularly memorable instance involved a void trampler that had kicked him straight out of the Calyx, much to March 7th's amusement, camera in hand to commemorate the event.

And more importantly, he couldn't imagine how one could "pluck" one of those.

"Normally, you'd be right," Herta conceded, her tone sharp. "But this one is a sapling—it sprouted just the other day. It hasn't fully embedded itself in reality yet, so you can deal with it if you're quick enough."

"Just sprouted? Then why—"

"Enough jabbering!" Herta snapped, her patience wearing thin. She moved behind him and began shoving him towards the elevator. "Just go down there and deal with it!"

Anyone walking in would have been treated to the sight of the great Madam Herta struggling to push the trailblazer towards the lift. Humorous as the notion might be, the idea of her squashing him with her mallet was enough to make him reconsider that line of thought.

With little choice, he let her shove him into the elevator. The doors closed behind him with a definitive click, sealing him in.

"I'll be monitoring you from here, so behave yourself down there!"

Unceremoniously, the lift plummeted at an alarming speed, causing his stomach to lurch. After what felt like an eternity, he braced himself as gravity returned to normal, waiting for the door to open.

The elevator revealed a dimly lit corridor, the only light within emanating from cases housing strange, otherworldly items. The air was cold and stale, and he shivered, buttoning up his jacket against the chill. "Now where to…?"

VRR VRR

His phone vibrated. Herta's message was already open:

:Head straight down the hall, take a left, right, straight, and then left again. I'll be your progress watching on the cameras.:

:Why couldn't you deal with this yourself?:

:Do I look like I have time for this? Besides, I designed a special field that disables any of my puppets from entering—for security reasons. I've deactivated several other features just to let you down there, but not for long. Better get moving before you get vaporized:

:Wait, what?! How long—?:

Hi, I'm currently unavailable, and I won't be contacting you later.

"Dammit, Herta," he muttered, shoving his phone into his pocket. "No point waiting around. Better find that calyx.

His footsteps echoed through the hall as he moved, taking in the curios that lined the walls. They were unlike anything he had seen in Herta's public collection—more ancient, more unique, with geometric shapes and runes hinting at their significance. They were heavily secured with layers of protective measures far beyond the standard stasis fields he was used to.

Caelus wisely kept his distance, wary of disturbing anything. Herta was unpredictable enough without the added fury of having one of her precious curios tampered with. The fact she was also an Emanator of Erudition loomed largely in his mind, adding to the growing dread.

Recalling her instructions and the unspecified time limit, he broke into a run. The corridor stretched on, lined with pairs of blast doors, each sealed with the same stringent security.

All except one at the far end…

Caelus skidded around the corner, finding the calyx that had sprouted into Herta's latest problem. It resembled the ominous yet beautiful flowers he had seen on his travels, its withered state belying its potential danger.

He took a cautious step towards it, ready to summon his bat. Idly, he noticed a solitary display case at the far end of the room, heavily fortified and glowing with an eerie light. Another curio it looked like, but this one was isolated, as if it posed a special threat.

Best stay away from that, he decided, swallowing hard.

He reached out, lightly grazing the decayed limbs of the Calyx…

That was all it took.

The calyx flared to life, glowing a bright gold. Three familiar figures materialized before him: two Void Rangers of the Reaver class and a Distorter. The levitating creature hissed, its spiny claw aimed at Caelus, while the Reavers settled into aggressive stances.

Caelus tightened his grip on his bat, the cool metal grounding him in the chaos that surrounded him. He bounced lightly on the balls of his feet, his body coiled like a spring, ready to unleash its full force. The cavernous chamber echoed with the ominous hum of machinery, the shadows of the Reavers flickering against the walls. He could almost hear his own heartbeat, a drum in the silence before the storm.

The Reavers lunged at him simultaneously, their dual blades crackling with a ghostly, blue energy that shimmered in the dim light. Caelus's eyes narrowed, tracking their movements with precision. He shifted his weight, bracing himself for the onslaught. The first Reaver's blade arced towards him, a blur of motion. Caelus parried the strike with a swift upward flick of his bat, the force of the impact reverberating up his arms.

Without losing momentum, he spun on his heel, bringing his leg up in a powerful, controlled kick. His boot connected with the helm of the second Reaver, the force of the blow knocking it off balance. The metallic creature stumbled, its footing unsteady. Caelus saw his opportunity and took it without hesitation. With a grunt of exertion, he swung his bat in a powerful, diagonal arc. The blow connected with the Reaver's carapace with a sickening crunch, shattering it into fragments.

The remains of the Reaver were immediately sucked into a swirling singularity that formed at the center of the wreckage, disappearing without a trace. Caelus didn't stop to watch; he was already moving, his eyes locked on the remaining Reaver. The creature snarled, a guttural sound that echoed through the chamber. It raised its arms in a defensive stance, but Caelus noticed its midsection was exposed.

With a surge of speed, he closed the distance, his body a blur of motion. He delivered a powerful kick to the Reaver's abdomen, the impact sending a shockwave through the creature. Its defenses shattered, and Caelus seized the moment. Gripping his bat with both hands, he swung it with all his might. The bat cleaved through the Reaver's midsection, the creature splitting in half. Its form disintegrated, the fragments vanishing into another singularity.

Caelus panted, his breath coming in ragged gasps. His muscles burned with exertion, but the adrenaline coursing through his veins drowned out the fatigue. He allowed himself a brief moment of triumph, his lips curling into a smirk as he surveyed the battlefield. Two down.

His attention snapped to the Distorter, which was charging a blast of quantum energy. He saw the beam form, a pulsating line of destructive power, and instinctively twisted his body, evading the attack by a hair's breadth. The air crackled where the beam had passed, leaving a scorched trail in its wake.

Without wasting a second, Caelus surged forward, closing the distance between him and the Distorter. His bat glowed with a fiery aura, the energy resonating with his own determination. The Distorter's eyes widened in what could almost be fear as it tried to retreat, but Caelus was faster. "Where are you going?" he growled, his voice low and dangerous.

With a flick of his wrist, he hurled his bat like a throwing axe. The weapon spun through the air, crackling with energy. It struck the Distorter squarely in the chest, the impact obliterating the creature into thousands of tiny pieces. Each fragment was consumed by a singularity, disappearing into the void.

Caelus stood there, chest heaving, the rush of the fight still singing in his veins. He turned slowly back to the calyx, which glowed ominously, a challenge that had yet to be bested. He knew what he was supposed to do – pluck the calyx like Herta had instructed. But the ceaseless turmoil, frustration, and lack of sleep had kindled a fire in his blood. He was not ready to back down, not now.

"Is that all you've got?" he shouted, his voice echoing in the chamber. "Come on, give me something worth the effort! I can take it!"

As if in response to his challenge, the calyx emitted a new opponent. A guardian shadow materialized before him, a twisted echo of a past Belobog leader. The shadow floated above the ground, its staff humming with dark, malevolent energy.

Unlike the Reavers, this shadow didn't rush to attack. It drifted towards the far end of the room, moving with an eerie grace. Caelus could sense the difference – this one was more potent, more aware. He shook off the unsettling feeling and moved to retrieve his bat, his eyes never leaving the shadow.

He expected a spell to be hurled at him any second, but the shadow didn't strike. Instead, it approached the fortified curio at the far end of the chamber. With a sudden, violent motion, the shadow slammed its staff into the curio's casing. The impact shattered the casing instantly, light bursting forth in a blinding flash. Alarms blared, a cacophony of klaxons nearly deafening him.

"Oi, leave that alone!" Caelus roared, charging at the shadow with renewed fury. He swung his bat, aiming for the shadow's head, but the creature moved with lightning speed. It blocked his strike effortlessly, a gloved hand clamping around his face with iron strength.

Caelus struggled against the shadow's grip, his vision blurring from the pressure. He could feel the dark energy pulsing through the creature's hand, its strength overwhelming. But he wasn't about to give up. Summoning every ounce of his remaining strength, he twisted his body, bringing his knee up in a desperate strike against the shadow's midsection.

The blow landed, but the shadow barely flinched. Its grip tightened, and Caelus felt his consciousness slipping.

For one grim moment, he really thought it was the end.

"Fool," a familiar voice echoed in his mind, sending a chill down his spine.

Is that—?

The shadow hurled him away like a ragdoll before his thoughts could meet up. He crashed through the calyx, which dissipated upon contact as if it had never existed.

What…?

The doors slammed shut with a resounding boom, trapping him in the room with the shadow. It turned its attention to the shattered curio—a cube thrumming with power. Raising its staff, the shadow tore open reality itself, revealing a swirling golden maw.

Caelus watched in stunned disbelief as the shadow dropped the curio and smashed it with the butt of its staff. The curio crackled and sparked before releasing a wave of energy, throwing him to the ground.

An ominous hum filled the air, and a voice, eerily similar to Herta's, began to speak over the alarms.

"SECURITY BREACH DETECTED. ADMINISTRATIVE PERMISSIONS OVERWRITTEN. SAFEGUARDS ACTIVATED. BEGIN CHARGING DARK MATTER FIELD. T-MINUS 60 SECONDS TO ACTIVATION."

Caelus's heart plummeted. Dark matter. Herta's safeguard was dark matter—a force of raw, destructive power. Stellaron or not, he wouldn't survive this.

Scrambling to his feet, he charged at the shadow as it turned to face him. "Get back here!" He lunged, but the shadow stepped into the portal, vanishing. Its parting words echoed in his mind:

"Come, trailblazer."

As the shadow disappeared, he caught a glimpse of its eyes—or the voids where eyes should have been. The image of a woman's face, lovely yet terrifying with jet-black orbs staring into his soul, seared into his memory.

Caelus stood frozen, rattled to his core. The room began to hum with the build-up of dark matter energy. He had to move. He had to get out.

Frantically, he fumbled for his phone, quickly composing a message to send off to Herta. Her messages were already there, each one more frantic than the last.

:What just happened?!:

:I told you what would happen if—!:

:Oh no… The safeguards are active!:

:I can't stop them! RUN YOU IDIOT!:

"I CAN'T!" he shouted, though he knew it was useless. The countdown continued mercilessly.

"T-MINUS 30 SECONDS TO ACTIVATION."

Desperate, he scanned the room for any way out. His eyes landed on the blast doors, but they were sealed tight. He swung his bat against the bulkhead, hoping to break through, but it bounced off harmlessly. He swung again and again, each strike futile.

"DAMMIT! There has to be some way-!"

His gaze fell on the portal the shadow had opened. It was still there, a swirling vortex leading to who-knew-where. But anywhere had to be better than being vaporized.

"T-MINUS 10 SECONDS TO ACTIVATION."

"To hell with it!" he growled, sprinting towards the portal. As the countdown reached its final seconds, he dove headfirst into the unknown.

"5…4…3…2…1…"

A roar of defiance ripped its way from his throat as he flung himself into the portal, the room behind him erupting into a blinding white light.

Diving into the portal had not been his salvation, but neither was it an end to his trailblazing. Instead, Caelus found himself in a limbo of swirling chaos, a boundless sea of colors and gravity-defying currents that defied any sense of reality.

It reminded him of the Express mid-warp, but with a vibrancy that was overwhelming.

"What is all this?!" he shouted into the void, but the cacophony of colors offered no answer.

As he tumbled through this kaleidoscopic abyss, time seemed to stretch and distort, each moment pulling him deeper into the unknown. There was nothing to grasp, nothing to ground him in this endless maelstrom.

He was adrift in a spectral river, with no end in sight.

There has to be something, he thought desperately, his eyes scanning the swirling torrent for any point of reference, anything to anchor himself. But there was nothing—just the relentless current dragging him along.

Then, far in the distance, he saw it—a gigantic, glowing tree. Its silhouette loomed like a monolith, and it was in that instant that a primal dread washed over him. It was as if he were an ant gazing up at a boot, no, a god – insignificant and powerless.

The closer he drifted, the more massive the tree became, dwarfing everything in its vicinity until all Caelus could see was the tree. Its sheer presence exuded a power that made his skin crawl, as though it were staring back at him with a consciousness that he could feel rather than see.

For all his racing thoughts, all his doubts and questions; staring up the gargantuan entity, Caelus had only one, spin-chilling thought:

I shouldn't be here.

"Intimidating, isn't it?"

Caelus flinched, or tried to, startled to find the guardian shadow floating beside him, serene and unthreatening as if their previous battle had never happened.

As if it hadn't just destroyed the curio that forced him here in the first place.

"YOU—!" He wanted to summon his bat, to fight, but he was helpless in this void, and all he could do was snarl and glare at the being responsible for his predicament.

The shadow turned to him with naught a word, merely raising a gloved finger to its pale lips in a shushing gesture.

Caelus's instincts screamed danger, every fiber of his being alert to the imminent threat that the tree posed.

"It is aware of us," the shadow remarked, its gaze now fixed on the colossal tree.

What is it? Caelus wondered despite his outrage but kept silent, wary of provoking the entity further.

The shadow floated forward, closer to the tree, and raised its hands as if in prayer. "Oh, Great Tree, sovereign of reality! I come before you now to make an exchange!"

Caelus didn't hear the tree respond, but rather felt it. A wave of energy pulsed from it, and his entire being quivered under the weight of its silent acknowledgment.

He only just barely swallowed a scream. The sensation was like being slowly eroded by an invisible force.

"Hear me, Great Tree! For it is not his life that is to be given but mine!"

Caelus's eyes widened. He stared at the shadow, confusion and disbelief etched on his face.

Another pulse from the tree threatened to tear him apart, but he clung to consciousness through sheer willpower. He refused to succumb, determined to find a way back, to understand why the shadow was offering its life for his.

Why would it sacrifice itself for me?

The shadow, sensing his turmoil, glanced back at him briefly before continuing its plea to the tree. "I come here knowing the conditions set forth cannot be refused. For a life to be given, a life must be taken. Thus, I offer myself—and all the others of my line in exchange for this one to be spared!"

Caelus stared incredulously at the shadow, trying to grasp the enormity of its words.

Then a crazy notion crossed his mind, insane in bearing but one he could not help but utter all the same, "Cocolia…?"

The shadow paused, turning towards him and it was now he was able to get a good long look at what made this shadow different from all the others. Apart from the blonde hair, little was recognizable about the woman who had haunted his dreams. Her once-vibrant eyes were now hollow, black voids, but the face, though marred, was unmistakable.

"Not as you would know her, but you are not wrong in that assumption either," the shadow replied with a bitter smile. "I told you we would meet again, trailblazer."

Caelus gaped, awestruck. It really was her, the woman who had damn near skewered him the night before. It wasn't just a dream… well it was, but somehow the last fragments of Cocolia's spirit had managed to connect with him, of all people.

"But… how? How are you—?"

A third pulse from the tree silenced him, a silent command for patience.

Cocolia—if that was indeed who she was—seemed unaffected by the pulses. "There is no time to explain. All you need to understand is only one of us will be leaving this realm, and I shall ensure it will be you."

"But why me? Why sacrifice yourself for someone who stood against you?"

"Why indeed. It's the height of foolishness, to be sure. We all know this."

"We?"

Before his eyes, seven more spectral figures materialized around Cocolia. They looked more like the Cocolia he remembered—some almost unrecognizable in their decayed state, save for one in a sage-green military uniform, who looked particularly bitter about something.

Their presence finally made it clear to Caelus what or rather whom he was seeing.

They're all her, each of them… But why are they here?

"I am the most recent victim of a damned existence, forced to repeat a tragic end over and over at the hands of those I cherish most," Cocolia explained. "The specters that surround us are all that remains of their existences, little more than tattered vestiges rather than people at this point. But to you, I am all that remains of Cocolia Rand, former supreme guardian of Belobog."

"So why bring me here?"

"Because you will soon play a crucial role in ensuring certain events do not come to pass, as they did here."

Caelus's mind reeled at the implication of that statement. What she was suggesting was insane, but was it really? A quick look around assured him that the realm of sanity had long since left him behind, leaving him talking with someone who should, by all intents and purposes, be dead. "The way you're making this out… it's like you're talking about sending me to the past. Is that even possible for you?"

But to his surprise, the shadow of Cocolia shook her head. "Even were it within my power, I do not wish to rip away all that my daughter has gained just for my own benefit. My demise, while unfortunate, was necessary for her future."

Caelus opened his mouth to argue that belief but as another pulse from the tree threatened to rip him apart, Cocolia turned away, facing the colossal entity with resolve.

She was on borrowed time – they both were. If this really was the last chance he would get to ask her anything, he had to know…

"Why did you choose me then? Why not anyone else… why not Bronya? If she knew you were still here, she would-"

"Because I will not have my daughter watch her mother die anymore," Cocolia cut him off heatedly. "As for why it is you… Call it the last whim of the damned. Recall what you said to me in your dreams; you told me you would save me, your enemy, if you found I could still be saved. Were your words false then, or did they have merit?"

Well that all but confirmed she was responsible for the dreams in the first place, but he set that little tidbit aside for now. "I meant them," Caelus uttered, refusing to lie even at this point.

"Then I shall not regret my final actions here. My time may have passed, but there is one last vestige that can be saved – and it shall fall to you to do so."

"But I'm just one person – what can I do?" Caelus questioned, dubiously.

Before she could issue an answer, her entire form began to waver noticeably, like the frequency of a radio channel beginning to jam. "…our time is up. A life given for a life taken. These are the conditions set for those who dare broach upon this sacred space. You shall depart this realm and you shall carry on my last intent in a world not dissimilar from the one you already know. From there, its fate will be yours to decide."

Her form flickered violently, becoming translucent. Caelus watched in horror as she began to fade right before his eyes.

"Wait, there has to be another way! Send me back and we'll find one! I'll get the Express and the others to help too!"

"There is, and it has already happened. You cannot return to our… It took everything left of me to bring you here to begin with!" Cocolia hissed at him before letting out a sigh. "The die has been cast. My fate has been sealed, but there is one last chance to bring an end to this cycle of tragedy."

"But you'll die!"

"I am already dead, boy. This only makes it official. Do not mourn me for I do not deserve it, not after all I have done… especially to you and my daughter."

"LIKE HELL YOU DON'T!" Caelus roared, surprising even himself let alone the woman in question. He drew a deep breath, making sure she heard every word. "People can call you a monster, a hero, whatever they want, but you were just as human as the rest of us! Humans aren't perfect, and neither are you, Supreme Guardian! Your own daughter doesn't blame you, so why should you?"

Another pulse shuddered through Cocolia's form, distorting her like a ripple in water. Yet, a faint, remorseful smile touched her lips. "Foolish indeed, but that is why I made such a choice. Now it shall be you and you alone who will hold the power to spare her a fate destined to repeat unceasingly."

And with a final, agonized cry, Cocolia's body dissolved into cosmic dust, her expression one of peace as she faded away.

"Cocolia—!" Caelus reached out, but the dust from her remains swirled around him, enveloping him in a torrent of images and sounds.

Familiar faces and places flashed before his eyes, too fast to comprehend.

Voices, some recognizable, others foreign, echoed in his ears, coalescing into a deafening roar.

Though it all, the image of a glacial world—a jewel in space he knew all too well—remained constant amidst the chaos, as well as two gems of amethyst that punctuated the dark expanse.

Gasping for breath, Caelus found himself alone once more, floating before the Great Tree. The titan glowed with a deep, ominous purple, its light intensifying as it surrounded him.

A new voice, deep and ancient boomed in his mind, threatening to flay his brain with each syllable uttered.

"THIS EXCHANGE HAS BEEN ACCEPTED. BEGONE."

Then, with a forceful shove, the Tree expelled him from its presence and sent him hurtling back through space once more.

Silence consumed his reality thereafter leaving him fumbling about in some void with nothing other than himself. But even that brief interlude was interrupted by the sound of wind rushing through his ears – blistering gusts that battered his body, chilling him to the bone.

Wait…

When amber eyes chanced a peek, found not the limitless expanse where that Tree resided, but a frozen land far below, dotted with treacherous looking landscapes – which were growing larger, and more importantly closer with each second.

"Wait, am I falling?!" he exclaimed, looking around wildly as the wind roared past him, stinging his eyes. He let out a grunt, orienting himself into a sort of starfish position, staring down at the rapidly approaching white expanse. "I'm gonna end up as a stain if I don't do something!"

His attention once more was caught by some of the mountains below, leading him to come up with an insane idea. Caelus summoned the blazing lance, its residual heat a brief comfort to him against the frigid gale before he spun it into place beside him. "Please don't die, please don't die," he chanted as he spun the lance downward, "please don't DIEEEEEE!"

His screams were drowned out by the billowing winds, battering his form all the way down on a collision course with the tallest mountain he could find. The lance helped his descent greatly, turning him into manmade meteor of sorts with tongues of flame trailing brightly behind him.

The very next second, the peak of said mountain was blown apart as if a bomb had been placed inside, Caelus steaking through the rubble with a curse. "Come on, next one!" The next face he struck had similar results, despite his attempts grab onto something as he passed. On and on this went for a few more landing spots before Caelus spotted something down below, one that had his heart leaping into his throat. A patch of razor-sharp icicles lay down the line, promising certain death to anything that struck them with the right amount of speed and force.

Not even the powers of Qlippoth would protect him from that. There was only one chance he had to prevent such a gruesome end.

Caelus twisted himself in mid-air, drawing back the lance before jabbing it into the mountainside, the lance cutting a molten swathe down the slope with no signs of slowing down. The boy growled, shoving his foot into the mountainside to provide some sort of buffer, nearly slipping at first before he got a firm footing.

His speed didn't slow, and the outcropping of icy death loomed ever closer by the second. His feet began to grow increasingly warm from all the friction, no doubt soon to wear through if he didn't catch a break quick.

"Come on…COME ON!" he growled, turning to put all his weight onto the lance with both feet planted firmly on the slope. Finally, his momentum decreased at the cost of a burning sensation in his feet which he forced himself to ignore for the moment.

To his horror, the lance suddenly struck something that dislodged it completely, sending him flying into the air. Caelus screamed in pure terror, expecting to go right through this outcropping and into the icy pit.

THWACK.

His body landed squarely on the ledge instead, burying itself somewhat in the mountain – but mercifully, alive.

Caelus remained where he was, both out of fear that his salvation could collapse at any second and the pain he had been ignoring until now.

"OW…." He groaned, his body screaming from the abuse it had been put through. "That could've… gone better." Digging himself out of his manmade crater was a chore, but he managed to get unstuck all the same. Caelus rolled over onto the rocky ground, mindful of the little barbs pressing uncomfortably against his back but otherwise content.

He hadn't died after all.

But why did I end up back on Jarilo-VI? Was all that just now another dream?

He let out a sigh, watching the cloud of vapor dissipate naturally for a few moments before he started fishing around in his pocket. "No use worrying about it now," he supposed, pulling out his phone. "Better tell Herta I'm alive."

When he got his hands on that puppet of hers…

Even so, he pulled up the chat log with her and quickly inputted his response – something snarky, just because he felt like it – and hit send. Instead of his message being displayed like all the others, there was a slight delay followed by a warning in bold red letters-

SIGNAL LOST

Caelus blinked thrice, staring at the screen for a few moments before he tried again – same result. "Huh, weird."

It could've been possible she had her phone off which was highly likely, which therefore meant there was little hope of getting through to her.

"When in doubt, Asta," he uttered, chuckling a bit at the phrase some of the researchers had thrown around before – thankfully out of earshot of the person in question. The boy ratted off a quick message to her, much friendlier this time around since Asta had been nothing but good to him and hit send.

SIGNAL LOST

A sliver of worry slowly crept into his mind before he dismissed it, refusing to jump to conclusions too quickly. "Maybe Arlan finally confiscated her phone," he remarked with a wry grin, thumbing over to the chat log he had with the station security head. Another message drummed up, explaining what happened and off he sent it-

SIGNAL LOST

A cold feeling that had nothing to do with his surroundings started to fill his stomach.

Something had to be wrong with the station if he couldn't contact either of them. Arlan always had his phone, and Asta never let anyone touch hers unless she needed to get access back to her accounts for… reasons.

Maybe the station's comm buoys are on the fritz, he concluded, trying hard not to let his worries consume him. I'll just let the others know where I am.

Pulling up the group chat with the rest of the express crew brought a smile to his lips. The last messages had been mainly about March whining about having to throw out so many things she bought, Himeko reminding her that this was what she agreed to, and Welt backing up Himeko. Dan Heng and Pom-Pom were not sympathetic either, knowing how bad March could get with her shopping sprees.

Caelus input his response to the group, pressing send, expecting to at least get through to them…

SIGNAL LOST

His eyes widened.

"No." He tried again, and again… and again.

He couldn't get ahold of anyone from the express, not even Pom-Pom. That sickening feeling in his stomach grew worse by the second, his heart starting to race much faster than what was considered healthy.

"This can't be happening," he muttered, distraught. "This can't be-!" He froze suddenly, remembering where he was. "That's it! Bronya! If I'm on Jarilo-VI, then I can get a hold of her at least. Local connection should be stronger, right?"

Caelus opened up his chat log with Bronya, sending off yet another message to her explaining what was going on. After a moment's hesitation, he thumbed the send button once more and felt his spirits skyrocket when it wasn't immediately cut off with the same error message. For a moment, he dared to hope that someone would answer him… But the message he received back killed whatever optimism he'd been trying to nurture in his heart.

USER NOT FOUND

It was all he could do not to scream in frustration. He tried Bronya again with the same result, then everyone else he knew in Belobog.

Serval… Gepard… Natasha… Seele… even Hook; not a single one went through, merely displaying the previous error message prominently and adamantly in his face.

Just where the hell had he ended up? This was Jarilo-VI, right? If so, he should've been able to reach someone or at least get a notice that they weren't online. But Signal Lost? User not found?

An unsettling feeling manifested in his gut, a weight he couldn't ignore no matter how hard he tried.

Then, a sudden gust streaked across his form, eliciting a shiver from him. The temperature was beginning to drop and from the looks of things, it would be nightfall soon. "Gotta… find somewhere to think." Stellaron or not, extreme cold was not something he could survive in long and if there was one thing he'd rather not die of it was hypothermia.

Descending from the mountain was a trial, especially with the strong frigid gusts of air that battered against his body, sometimes threatening to blow him completely off the mountain. His first thought had been to at least get to the base of it, but one powerful arctic blast forced him to cut his losses and seek shelter for the night.

Lynx's impromptu survival training was coming in handy here it seems.

Part of him briefly wondered if this place was home to something but he quickly shoved it aside, settling down to make himself something to eat. Fortunately, the apps on his phone seemed to still work and allowed him to bring out the portable synthesizer to make some grub. The tasty warmth helped raise his spirits for a moment but only that, and a cloud of dread soon fell back in over him.

He looked back down at his phone, still displaying the error messages from earlier.

"None of this makes sense. How did I get here… or rather, where is here?"

His fingers glossed over the screen to hover over the navigation function, tapping it to bring up a map of the region. This place didn't feel much different from the Jarilo-VI he knew but if so, then maybe he could at least find something to latch onto – some kind of beacon he could set to lead him where he needed to go. If he had landed somewhere near his old stomping grounds, then getting to civilization shouldn't be too taxing.

But what the screen showed next nearly made him drop his skewer in shock.

DATA NOT FOUND

"T-that's… that's impossible," he breathed, eyes widening.

But no matter what he did – even going so far as to restart his phone – nothing changed. The error messages remained the same, and the data he had gathered on his journey was all gone.

Caelus tucked his phone away with a deep sigh, running his hands through his hair in quick, agitated motions. His thoughts stirred, raced, and threatened to get the better of him, leaving him a desolate wreck.

"You shall depart this realm and carry on my last intent in a world not dissimilar from the one you already know. From there, its fate will be yours to decide."

Cocolia's earlier words did little to calm him, but they did make him think.

A world not dissimilar…

And then, like one of Luka's punches, it hit him.

It hadn't been another dream after all. It was real – this was real.

Nearly getting vaporized, the ominous tree, and Cocolia…

Caelus let his body rest against the icy wall, shock dominating his thoughts.

Against all logic, he had been sent here by the Tree after she had given what was left of herself in exchange for his life – and he still had no clue why, not that it mattered now.

Her actions had effectively stranded him here with no way to contact his friends, or anyone for that matter. He was well and truly alone…

Panic threatened to grip him like a vice, shaking whatever was left of his self-discipline until he was left howling at the unfairness of it all. Had he not gone through as much as he had, he might well have.

But he'd faced the Doomsday Beast and lived.

He'd gone toe to toe with Svarog and lived.

Cocolia herself had nearly killed him, but he'd come out on top – his earlier dream of her notwithstanding, anyways.

Not even the denizens of Abundance and a Lord Ravager had been able to stop him.

And this wouldn't either. Stranded or not, he would survive to leave this place… somehow.

Cocolia had sent him here for a purpose though what she had meant exactly was still up in the air. Whatever this place was and why he was here didn't matter. What did was the here and now, and what he would do next.

Caelus let out a shaky breath, feeling his heart thump forcefully in his chest. "Ok… ok, ok, this is happening… No going around it, Caelus."

He glanced outside, watching as a blizzard rolled in and shuddered, for once grateful that the stellaron inside him was at least keeping him from freezing to death. Even with the lance burning beside him, it only just staved off the cold. He slunk down to his knees against the cave wall, hugging them tightly to his chest, his hood coming up over his head.

"Assuming I ended up on Jarilo-VI, I'll hunker down here for the night and try to get to Belobog somehow… if it exists anyways. From there… well, I'll cross that glacier when I get to it." He chuckled at his own joke, if only to stave off the tide of uncertainty swelling inside him.

Unbidden, thoughts of his friends… his family all raced through mind, smiling at him, and leaving him with a deep emptiness that threatened to bring tears to his eyes.

Had they realized what happened yet? Herta was sly but even she wouldn't be able to stave off the entirety of the express if they came looking for him.

"The Nameless look after our own," Himeko had once said to him.

If that was true… they had to be worried sick.

"I have to get back to them," he swore, sniffling a bit as the temperature dipped even more. "There has to be a way. Somewhere…"

Exhaustion soon claimed him, drawing him into a restless sleep but one filled with the faces of those he longed to see once more.

"I will get back."

And there we have it. Allow me to introduce you to our new playground going forward. Contrary to Caelus' wishes, we won't be leaving this place for a long, long time...

Look, let's shoo the elephant out of the room. I realize the setup here with Cocolia could've been handled better. I can think of a couple different writers who would be able to punch this this out and make it look believable. That is a bit beyond my capabilities sadly, so this we get. I can however promise better quality chapters going forward and decidedly longer ones to boot.

As for the Tree... if there are any 3rd Impact fans here, they'll realize what that is and why I deserved to raked over the coals for using it in this manner. I hope it's acceptable if nothing else but given that this thing is responsible for upholding the multiverse, I had to work it in somehow.

Last but not least. Cocolia Rand is "dead", finally. That shadow was the last vestige of her... Of her anyways.