When they finally "won," it was mostly thanks to Welt Yang's skills, largely because Kafka was bored, and lastly because of the surprise arrival of Fu Xuan, Luofu's Head Diviner/interrogator. Caelus was so disoriented from constant flash-bangs and Kafka's siren song by that point that he ceased to be a terribly effective hostage.

"Oh, you appear to have caught me," Kafka said, smirking.

It was clearly still part of the plan. They could only hope the powers that be on this ship have some way to keep her contained.

"I'm so sorry." Caelus bowed profusely, making certain to apologize to March specifically.

He'd swung at them all, even breaking through March 7th's shields and knocking her clear to the ground. March, who had managed to throw her aim off to miss Caelus even under the same persuasive trance. And he'd paid them back with a full-force out of the park grand slam.

"Don't worry, Caelus. We all got hit with her strange voice ability at least once," March said. "Sorry for freezing your sneakers off."

Caelus chuckled, but his limbs still felt heavy from accumulated guilt.

"It was so… weird. Like for a split second, everything went blurry, and I thought I was aiming at her, but it was you all along." March said.

"Yeah, exactly." Caelus rubbed his neck.

He didn't have the heart to say that he saw everything clear as day, even while under the influence of Kafka's unique method of persuasion. She just said a word, and he knew he'd be fighting for her for the time being. Only thing that snapped him out of it was seeing the looks of his companions as he stabbed or swung at them. Hurting his friends proved too much, even for whatever hooks Kafka had buried into his mind.

Worse: everything he'd come to associate with Kafka's beauty still applied. The grape shampoo-scent in her hair. Her lips, which didn't have any lipstick yet but drew the eyes whenever they were pursed. The way her voice left a suave, sensual echo in his mind even when not under persuasion. Aeons, she was so…

Caelus felt his loyalty slipping, even though the object of his less-than-willing obsession was being escorted off by the cloud knights. He shook his head, forcing himself back into reality.

It was a good thing he didn't have to face Kafka alone. Five minutes of uninterruptedpersuasion, and there'd be another loyal stellaron hunter loose on the galaxy. Sure, that was a risk for everyone – hence the injured cloud knights that had mugged the crew like Kafka was their longtime CO. But at least the rest of the crew could at leasttryto resist.

Caelus now had many more questions. And wouldn't you know it, the Luofu had promised to give the Astral Express crew first dibs on Kafka's interrogation.

After some runaround and errands aboard the Luofu, the crew prepped the ship's divination machine on an ornate tower high above the city streets. Kafka was brought into the center of the arcane device, and the interrogation began.

The criminal mastermind floated, hands bound, as the diviner saw into her mind. A know-it-all smirk never left Kafka's face during the entire procedure.

Fu Xuan did not like what she discovered.

"She's here for you, not the stellaron," she said, then stormed off to discuss these findings with the ship's acting general.

Yep, still part of her plan. The stellaron going haywire, the Astral Express pulling into station. Just as planned. It was all preordained, or at least predicted to the point where there was little difference.

Kafka was all alone, guarded only by the trailblazers.

"I don't want to talk to her at all," March said.

"Why don't you talk to her?" Welt asked Caelus.

Caelus cocked his head. "Why me?"

He was compromised, clearly. Play this wrong, drop his guard for just a moment, and she could have him swinging the bat at anyone and everything. Sending Caelus in was probably what the huntress wanted.

"You certainly have a unique connection to our prisoner," Welt explained. "It should be possible to use that to our advantage. She may be more willing to divulge information to you than a relative stranger. Just… try to do something she can't predict."

Alright. Caelus took a deep breath, ready for anything. Somehow, this plan left him feeling like a pawn as well.

Of course, the cloud knights had relieved her of her coat. Kafka's bare shoulders were scrunched tight at her side, arms bound in front of her. Still, she stood tall and smirked. Her eyes and kind-yet-icy smile had a spark of familiarity to them, like she was meeting a long-lost old friend. There was a warmness there she only let slip for the Trailblazer.

"… You haven't changed a bit. Sorry you have to see me in such a sorry state."

Okay, I'm not going to fall for her charms, Caelus 're not friends. Going to play bad cop all the way. Don't even give her the tiniest foothold to work her magic.

"Are you alright?" Caelus asked immediately, concern in his voice. "Are you hurt?"

"Oh, worried about me?" she began, sounding just a bit relieved behind her haughty mask.

Failed step one, Caelus.

There goes that weird lightness in his heart again.

What is this feeling?

She went on to explain that she knew they'd get some quality alone time here, enough time for him to ask about anything he desired.

As for the next question, well, it apparently didn't matter. Regardless of what was asked, it was already in the script, and the answer would not change. In fact, just being here to ask a predictable question was a good sign for the Stellaron Hunters. There was more to the story, about the reasons for coming to the Luofu. About planting seeds to be sown later, not necessarily to the Astral Express' detriment but certainly to the hunter's benefit. And there were tales of the Aeons, and how even gods could die. Things Caelus felt the Stellaron Hunters were going to involve him in, that he may already be involved in, whether he wanted it or not.

There really is nothing I can say she hasn't already planned for.

Was he truly just a pawn for this woman, and her employer? Caelus had no past – aside from her – and no future that wasn't already foreseen, written down, and accounted for.

Even now she was waiting for some new grand distraction. Wouldn't be having such a polite conversation if it wasn't also necessary to the plan.

And there was nothing he could say that she didn't know in advance. Except…

"You're the reason I can't say no to older women, aren't you?"

Kafka kept to the script, still smiling. "…So, you see, these are the stories that those on the straight and narrow would never tell –wait, What!?"

doesn't really work with my title convention. You can find the full and unabridged titles at... another fanfic repository :p