That day came without any warning.
Chara was walking down the train’s corridor, holding Flowey’s newly repotted ceramic flower pot in her arms.
She was heading to the Parlor Car to place the pot on the windowsill to soak up some simulated sunlight.
When she reached the middle of the corridor, her footsteps suddenly stopped.
The red heart in her chest gave a violent throb.
A tremor from the depths of her SOUL, as if something had collapsed with a massive boom far away, the shockwaves traveling through the entire universe and reaching her body.
Then she felt a pang of heartache, as if she had lost something…
She pressed her hand against her chest and leaned against the wall to steady herself.
Flowey poked his head out of the pot.
“What’s wrong?”
She could feel the train trembling in an extremely faint, continuous vibration, like a massive beast letting out a silent wail.
It came from the train’s keel, from the end of the star rail, from every place that had ever been touched by the Path of Trailblaze.
Then she heard a voice.
● Akivili has departed.
The moment this thought surfaced, she couldn’t believe it.
That massive, sky-covering Aeon had actually…
fallen?!
…
The Parlor Car was already in chaos.
Pom-Pom stood in the center of the car, clutching a rag in his hands, his whole face crumpled.
Honestly, this was the first time Chara had ever seen Pom-Pom cry.
Those round eyes were full of tears, dropping onto the floor of the car.
It was even more miserable than when that cup of milk shattered.
“Akivili, you jerk!
You’re simply the worst Nameless!”
Pom-Pom’s voice was choked and out of tune, high and hoarse, as if a lump of cotton was stuck in his throat.
“You didn’t even say goodbye!
You didn’t even let Pom-Pom clean your room for you!
I haven’t even finished fixing the things you broke last time!”
“If you have the guts to leave, then don’t come back!”
Pom-Pom paced back and forth in the car, clutching the rag.
His shoes stepped on the wooden floor, making rapid pat-pat sounds.
“Even if you come back, Pom-Pom won’t open the door for you!
Pom-Pom won’t prepare your meals!
Won’t wash your cups!
Won’t tidy your cape!”
“Do you hear me!
Pom-Pom means what he says!”
Pom-Pom’s voice grew hoarser and quieter, until it finally stopped.
He stood by the window, looking out at the void lit up by starlight.
Pom-Pom stood there for a long time.
Then he folded the rag neatly into a small square and put it in his pocket.
Chara stood at the door, watching Pom-Pom’s back disappear at the end of the corridor.
She didn’t chase after him.
…
When she walked into the Parlor Car, she saw Dolly sitting by the window.
Chara sat down in front of Dolly.
“Are you okay, Dolly?”
“I don’t know…
I have no idea what to do next…”
She took a sip of the cold tea in her cup and put it down.
“He told me before He left.
He said that one day He would leave, that the train would keep going, and that we needed to keep going.
I thought He was joking back then…
but Akivili never jokes.
He just…
acts like He’s joking.”
Dolly put down her teacup, stood up, and patted the nonexistent dust off her skirt.
“I’ll be fine in a bit.
You go ahead and do your work.”
Chara sat by the window, turning to look at the vast starry sky outside.
Isee walked in.
He didn’t look at anyone, walking straight to the corner and sitting down.
He wasn’t holding a teacup.
He looked at the stars outside the window, silent for a long time, then said one sentence.
“He’s really gone.”
“You once said you wanted to find the true end of the world,” Chara said.
“Do you think He found it?”
Isee looked out the window.
The light of the stars reflected in his eyes, with tiny specks of light reflecting in his light-colored pupils.
“I think He found it,” he said.
“But…
He didn’t tell us where that end is.”
…
At the same time, in various corners of the universe.
On that massive, void-spanning long wall, Qlipoth stopped the stone slab in His hand.
The slab hovered in midair for a few seconds, neither placed down nor withdrawn.
His gaze pierced through countless light-years of distance, looking in a certain direction, silent for a long time.
Then He slowly turned His head back, looking at the stone slab in His hand.
He didn’t put it up.
Instead, He withdrew it.
Yaoshi, the Aeon of Abundance.
Before Her massive body was a vibrant planet.
The plants around the planet grew wildly with Her breath.
“May you cast aside your heavy burdens, be free from future existences, and attain liberation and freedom…”
Then She lowered Her head, looking at the greenery spreading out at Her feet.
She didn’t do anything extra.
Just sighed, and walked away.
Aha, the Aeon of Elation.
Behind that giant red mask, laughter echoed through a corner of the entire void.
That laughter was as loud as always, piercing through countless star domains and star rails, making the surrounding asteroids tremble gently.
He laughed for a long time, so long that his voice started to become hoarse, before slowly stopping.
“Aiya~ Akivili, oh Akivili, you actually left without making a peep?
What a pity, Aha still has so much fun waiting for you and me to find together!”
“What a shame.
Now that you’re gone, a lot of the fun has decreased.
That blockhead ignores me, and that pile of scrap metal has no fun in him.
Aha is really losing face.”
Then he started laughing again, until…
a drop of transparent liquid seeped out from one of the hollow slits on the mask.
“Don’t worry, Aha will find you, Akivili.
Otherwise…
I’ll steal your passengers away~”
Then he just turned around and slowly floated away towards the starlight.
The laughter didn’t ring out again.
That tear floated in the void, not dissipating.
…
The train kept running, as if nothing had happened.
Pom-Pom returned to the driver’s cab.
Dolly went to the dining car to pour a new cup of hot tea.
Isee sat by the window until daybreak.
Chara sat in the Parlor Car the whole night.
Flowey’s flower pot was on her knees, his vines resting on the back of her hand, never letting go.
At the same time, in various places on the train, or among the Nameless who had already disembarked, a feeling of heartache appeared at almost the exact same time.
Sadness, loss, reluctance, parting…
all sorts of strange emotions lingered in the hearts of all the Nameless on and off the train.
Something important has been lost!
This thought rose in the hearts of all the Nameless.
Then a massive wave of sorrow surged up, and tears unconsciously flowed from the corners of their eyes.
When they came to their senses, all the Nameless showed expressions of disbelief on their faces.
Without a word, they all knew one thing, an unacceptable thing: Akivili, the Aeon of Trailblaze, had fallen.
“Forget it.
I won’t force you.”
He smiled, then disappeared at the door with a loud laugh.
Chara closed her eyes and slowly exhaled.