#ᴛᴏ ꜱᴇᴇᴋ ꜰᴀᴛᴇ ᴡɪᴛʜᴏᴜᴛ ᴋɴᴏᴡɪɴɢ ᴡʜʏ. [in character]

[stardustaces]

"Are you so sure that you don't have a heart?"

"...I dunno. I can't... just look inside. But I figure... if there is something in there, inside us-- then we'd feel it, wouldn't we?"

"True enough."

[stardustaces]

"I don't get it."

"Why've they been calling me 'Caelus...?'"

Before Sei, there was Caelus-- the Stellaron Hunter.

"You once followed Kafka, didn't you? There was a time she was on a mission-- you were next to her. I remember. I've yet to see anyone follow her for as long as you did... and live to tell the tale."

Before the inquisitive, thoughtful, wide-eyed Trailblazer, there was a young man who yearned for the simple pleasures in life. Long before the boy with a chasm for a face and a void where his heart ought to be, there was a boy with a hollowness that needed to be filled- a desire most desperate to smile, to weep, to mourn, to dream; to feel.

If all the world was a stage, and he and everyone in it were merely actors, the boy named Caelus sought to play his part with as much extravagance and as much passion as he could muster. He sought to live in a way that would make his heart race, that would drip sweat down his brow and send the stench of adrenaline and of cortisol surging through his veins- to live the life he had to the fullest.

The boy would beg, steal, borrow, barter his way into learning anything he so desired- education, combat, sociability, every side to the die known as life. He made a presence of himself wherever he went, unflinchingly and unapologetically, decidedly proud to make friends and decidedly prouder still to make enemies. Surely, those were the signs of a life well lived, of a role well played- the crowd can cheer for you. The crowd can boo you down. It mattered not, as long as the crowd was not silent.

Yet, for as much of a young menace that Caelus made of himself, his heart remained steady. His brow remained dry. The surge of stress and of adrenaline did not come, no matter how much he forced his body to move, to rush recklessly into every opportunity he could to live life to the fullest. All of it, damn it all- for nothing.

All he felt was an emptiness- an absence of joy, of sorrow, of grief.

An absence, pointedly, of fear.

That absence would make him a fine Stellaron Hunter- the lack of fear of consequences, pain, danger, perhaps to the point of foolishness- a good soldier who would follow orders without question.

Precisely what a scriptwriter would demand of a good actor.

In the end, was that not his destiny, from birth? To serve the Hunters' demands, to serve the preordained purpose Elio had given him?

Perhaps Caelus elected to be part of the plan that would see his memories wiped, his heart excised, and a Stellaron lodged in his chest cavity.

What would it matter, right? All part of the script, right?

Or perhaps there was more to it- perhaps he saw a way out of the constant emptiness plaguing him. Perhaps he saw a means to be made free of the nothingness in his heart, by starting anew.

One thing is for sure- whether Sei is in on it or not, Caelus made a choice.

"Go fight against your fate."

[stardustaces]

"You know, the more I talk to him, the more I think I like this guy."

[stardustaces]

Whispering 'pspspspsps' as she traverses the streets of the Luofu.

[stardustaces]

If there were yet more room to pour irritation from his brain into his expression, surely, it would show on his face. Was it all a joke to her? No, he had no way of determining whether or not Blade was speaking on his own or under Kafka's influence. Of course he didn't.

Sei turns his back to Kafka, his lungs drawing in air- breathe slow, breathe deep, he commands himself internally. His body follows suit, and he feels cool air enter through his nose, and warmer air exit through his mouth.

It does little to help calm himself down.

It had to be the truth, didn't it? He just... felt it, somewhere in the hollow of his chest cavity.

"I'm kidding. Our Bladie isn't the type of person who cares for wordplay or lying."

Our Bladie. 'Our,' as in the Stellaron Hunters'? 'Our,' as in 'yours and mine?'

It strikes Sei that both can be true. Both are probably true- or at least were, at some point- because he was once one of them.

'Our' Bladie, as in 'yours, mine, and the other Stellaron Hunters.'

He turns himself back towards Kafka- as if a dog hearing its name called, just in time for his nose to be poked- he recoils slightly, taken aback at the sudden closeness.

"Does that satisfy your curiousity?"

He nods- reflexively. It's too late to stop himself- he reacted too soon. No, he wasn't satisfied. There was still more to know...

"So... what's that make us? Family?"

Her silence is a pointed one, smile never changing, as Kafka patiently waits for the Trailblazer to sort out his own conclusions. That was in fact the point of her game and it seems he is finally cluing in.

The stellaron hunter did not appear the least bit surprised at the reveal of Blade being the one who exposed her lie, though she is not above admitting that she has underestimated just how much having a past meant to them.

"He did, did he? And you believed him." Kafka humoured. A deliberate tilt of her head is given in careful calculation. "How can you determine if he's truly telling you that of his own accord...or if he did so under the influence of my spirit whisper?"

Silence stretches thin between the both of them for a few tense seconds before she takes pity on messing with him.

"I'm kidding. Our Bladie isn't the type of person who cares for wordplay or lying."

Reclining on her seat, Kafka hums softly as she mulls over Sei's demands. Finally she leans forward....and promptly pokes the tip of his nose briefly.

"You are someone who was destined to receive and host a Stellaron from the moment of your birth. Before that task is concluded however, I was responsible for teaching you combat skills, general knowledge and protecting you. The reason why you don’t remember is that I wiped your memory before the operation at Herta Space Station. Does that satisfy your curiousity?"

@stardustaces

[stardustaces]

IMMEDIATELY WALKING BACK HER COMMENT.

[stardustaces]

"You and I are going to get along smoothly, Doctor."

[stardustaces]

"I don't care what you laced that cake with. I'm not gonna forget you, or what you did here."

"'s not really my thing, to forget."

"I'm gonna remember you, so you better remember me, and when you do, you come back here. You made these things, so take good care of them. And if you don't, I'm gonna come find you, and bring you back here myself."

"Got it memorized?"

[stardustaces]

"Well? Didn't think this far ahead, didja~?"

Snickering to herself, struggling to hold on to March.

"Say uncle and we'll call it a truce,"

This tight hug is indeed TIGHT. Her limbs flail about similarly to that of a cat whom is eerily close to a tub of bathwater.

"....T-Touché....."

[stardustaces]

"Once we're done squashing this bug, remind me to put R.uan M.ei in a headlock for everything she's put me through tonight..."

[stardustaces]

First, the Xenohydro, then Cirrus, now this lady with the Anti-Truth Serum...

One can hardly blame a Trailblazer for growing weary of the ever-vexing (and seemingly ever-present) imitation game.

"Anyone else wanna do something to me that makes me say things I don't want to?!"

[stardustaces]

"..dare I ask, what matter of 'impeccably perfect biological specimen' doesn't have a heartbeat?"

[stardustaces]

"Today makes 255."

"What's that about?"

"It's been that many days since we first joined the Nameless. Man, time flies."

"So, you got the number memorized, do you?"

"Yeah. Have to hang on to something, right?"

[stardustaces]

From the moment she laid eyes on the mirror that led to the Illusory Maze, Kyu could tell something was off.

It was the first time she'd ever seen her own reflection, instead of the chasm that typically greeted her.

"That's... that's my face?"

"...No way. No way that's what I actually look like--"

It wasn't until she found her way out through the same mirror that the reflection that greeted her began to look... more familiar.

[stardustaces]

"You once followed Kafka, didn't you? There was a time she was on a mission-- you were next to her. I remember. I've yet to see anyone follow her for as long as you did... and live to tell the tale."

Something stops cold inside the Trailblazer's chest. The thrumming beneath his sternum, the one he'd grown accustomed to feeling in place of a heartbeat-- the sensation of it pausing felt even more unnerving than its usuall constant hum.

For a second, he could swear his blood ran cold in his veins. The answer Kafka had given him, when asked who he was- "a being accidentally created by an Aeon, a body but no soul--"

Aeons, he felt stupid-- witless, simpleminded even-- for not catching on for asking himself this question- but by some possibility, could Kafka have been lying to Sei? Was that not the point of their little game?

Well, just because you didn't lie to her...

In Blade's steely gaze, the vessel finds something he didn't think he'd find, not in the eyes of anyone who called themself a Stellaron Hunter, not in the eyes of anyone remotely affiliated with Kafka.

Certainty.

As the Stellaron Hunters take their leave, he wants so badly to give chase- to call after Kafka, and tell her he knows she lied to him. To call after Blade, and ask him what else he knows...

A fist clenches.

Why let them leave?

Sei turns his back, auric eyes catching his reflection in a nearby mirror as he turns- the void swallowing his face was gone. In his reflected double, he saw his own face again.

So you and I... we were allies. I followed you back then.

I had a past. You were part of it... and I'm willing to bet you're the reason I forgot it all, too.

Every answer he chased led back to her- it stood to reason this would not be the last time their paths crossed.

One way or another, he resolved- I will get the truth from you.

[stardustaces]

"Good, uh... good goin', Jing Yuan..."