Chapter Text
Stelle made a wish with Stellaron. Now the Aeons that once gazed upon her were added in a private groupchat.
Nanook was never online. No matter how much time she pinged THEM or waxed poetry about their hotness.
Qlipoth only appeared at the beginning of every month to give her pocket money after a single sentence.
Xipe was recently added and THEY were always online responding to her rambling stream with colorful emojis when Stelle was overwhelmed.
Stelle thought this was quite nice. Even if the Aeons were rarely online (or never in Nanook case), this groupchat gave her a sense of peace and safety to vent her emotions.
Until she and Dan Heng were stuck in Amphoreus.
After the dramatic landing in this mysterious world, the Stellaron added Dan Heng in this groupchat too since she wished for a way to have a private conversation with him to share their information without Aglaea poking around.
Too bad the Aeons seemed to be disconnected from Amphoreus too.
Stelle would like to see Dan Heng losing his shit when the Aeons (Xipe and Qlipoth when that time of the month) replied to their text.
After Phainon fell the Strife’s trial, the Stellaron added the Chrysos Heir to the groupchat in response to Stelle’s wish to cheer the white hair boy up.
Groupchat: Me, Him and THEM
Phainon was added to the group chat
Phainon: Uhm? Stelle? Dan Heng?
Stelle: ???
Dan Heng: How?
Stelle: Is it because I made a wish with the thing you know what it is? I just want to know how to cheer Phainon up!
Phainon: Oh, thank you for caring about me. I’m alright though, no need to worry about me, friends.
Dan Heng: …
Stelle: See!
Dan Heng: I understand why you made that decision. However, I don’t understand why the thing which you already know what I am talking about added Phainon in this groupchat.
Stelle: I dunno either. This groupchat is operated by the one whom you know so …
Phainon: Would you mind if I ask what you two are talking about? The thing you know what it is; the thing which you already know what I am talking about and … the one whom you know?
Stelle: … my intrusive thoughts?
Phainon could feel Stelle’s unwillingness to talk about this. He would ask her about this later when everything settled down. His failure left a burden on them already.
Groupchat: Me, Him and THEM
Phainon: When you are ready, I am here if you want to talk.
Dan Heng: We appreciate that. Thank you, Phainon.
Phainon: So this is the group chat with you, Stelle and … three others?
Stelle: Oh three OTHERS, upper case. Well they rarely respond so you can ignore them.
If she said so …
Later, Stelle and Dan Heng made him crinkles cookies (?) to subtly cheer him up. The cookies smelled sweeter than the honey brew made by Phagousa so Phainon shared them with other Heirs, without thinking if there is one left for him.
Mydei, as the demigod of Strife, was going to leave Okhema to fight the black tide, just like the God of Strife one had.
Stelle was running around bothering Mydei more than usual. Maybe she missed him just like he did. And yet …
Phainon woke up to Stelle venting her heart out in the strange groupchat. Wanting to comfort his friend, Phainon tried to chat in the groupchat, but the groupchat locked him out of it. Still worried about Stelle, Phainon thought about bringing some honeycakes to comfort her (just like she and Dan Heng once did for him).
Then, one of the silent others suddenly replied.
Groupchat: Me, Him and THEM
Stelle: I feared that this might be our last meeting. What if the black tide takes him too, just like how the fucking greedy minds of the old Kremnos killed Gnaeus?
Stelle: I … don’t want to think about it …
Singing Three Heads: ( ´･･)ﾉ(๑ᯅ๑;)
Stelle: It’s you! Thank you for comforting me.
Singing Three Heads: (˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶)
Singing Three Heads: ( ੭ ˘ ³˘)੭°｡⋆♡‧₊˚
Singing Three Heads: → ᕙ( •̀ ᗜ •́ )ᕗ ( ◡̀ ᴗ ◡́)و
Singing Three Heads: ✧⋆٩(ˊᗜˋ )و ♡✧
Singing Three Heads: ♩¨̮(ง ˙˘˙ )ว♩¨̮
Stelle: You are right. Mydei is strong. There is no way the black tide can win against him. Man with those muscles is definitely blessed by the god of victory whether THEY exist or not.
Singing Three Heads: ♪⁽⁽٩( ᐖ )۶⁾⁾ ₍₍٩( ᐛ )۶₎₎♪
Stelle: If anything happens to Mydei, I will breakdance the black tide to death!
Singing Three Heads: ദ്ദി(˵ •̀ ᴗ - ˵ ) ✧
Then Stelle went offline. So did the … Singing Three Heads?
The departure with Mydei might upset Stelle more than he thought.
Tomorrow, when the Lucid Hour knocked on the Okhema’s doors, Phainon brought three warm honeycakes, five freshly-made Janus’ double-sided pancakes and Castorice’s special Thanatos' Requiem Puddings. The happy face of Stelle and Dan Heng when they saw the sweets warmed his heart and somewhat relieved the invisible uneasiness that had been weighing on him recently.
Phainon tried not to think too hard about it. However, when Phainon texted the trailblazers asking about their sparring plan, one of the silent three responded, shocking the cool off Dan Heng and putting a smile on Stelle’s face.
Groupchat: Me, Him and THEM
Rock Gramp/Granny: Today is the day.
Stelle: YES. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE.
Dan Heng: Seriously, Stelle?
Stelle: I cannot LOGIN Dan Heng! I entirely depend on THEM for my Stellar Jades savings.
Rock Gramp/Granny: Where are you?
Stelle: Me and Daniel is at Amphoreus.
Rock Gramp/Granny: … I cannot enter?
Rock Gramp/Granny: Nous, Fuli and … Nanook?
Rock Gramp/Granny: Seriously?
Stelle: Did you just SPOIL something very important?!
Dan Heng: If Nanook is involved, do you think THEY are responsible for the black tide? Its destructive power is quite similar to what The Antimatter Legion would possess.
What?
Phainon knew those names. Dan Heng told him about the Aeons from beyond the sky and Stelle told him how she got cool powers from Aeons. The Amazing Galactic Bat when she was gazed by Nanook - cool white hair guy looking at her as if she was an interesting insect when she was just born in the space station. The Flaming Lance when she carried the will of Preservation resided in the heart of brave and resilient people from a dying and isolating planet. The Watchmaker’s Hat when Xipe sided with her in the fight with Ena’s Eternal Dream where the former Nameless passed down their legacy to the current Nameless passengers.
Rock Gramp/Granny: Depend.
Depend on what?! Phainon sprinted through the market, desperately trying to reach the trailblazers’ room as soon as possible.
Rock Gramp/Granny: Nous and Fuli cause too.
Rock Gramp/Granny: Your Stellar Jades are here.
Rock Gramp/Granny: My job here is done.
Rock Gramp/Granny: Farewell, Namelesses.
Phainon: Please don’t leave yet!
Phainon: Would you mind telling us anything you know about The Black Tide? Please, I beg you, we need your help. If you know anything, please tell us.
Stelle: Phainon …
Rock Gramp/Granny: Is he your friend?
Phainon took a deep breath. He was in front of the Nameless travellers’ room, but suddenly he lost all the strengths to knock on their door.
Stelle: Yes, he is. He is my very dear friend.
Dan Heng: We are ever grateful if you could tell us any information about The Black Tide. One of our friends is fighting it to no end and we are all worried about him.
Rock Gramp/Granny: I see.
Rock Gramp/Granny: I will try.
Rock Gramp/Granny: Online in three days.
Stelle: Thank you, old gramp/granny!
Dan Heng: Thank you so much.
Phainon: Thank you so much. No word can describe how thankful I am.
Stelle: He is doing code yellow again!
Rock Gramp/Granny: You should come in.
And then, the Preservation was offline.
And Phainon knocked on the trailblazers’ door.
In the groupchat, Stelle said THEY were the Aeons’ consciousness formed when she was gazed by THEM or to put it simply, THEY were the physical/spiritual form of how Stelle viewed these PATH. Because of that, their powers were extremely limited compared to the original Aeons. Both the travellers were unsure whether the OTHERS could do anything about what happened at Amphoreus.
Seeing their troubled faces, Phainon decided to keep this as a secret. Today, he just came here to scold them for missing their sparring plan, nothing more nothing less.
That was the longest three days.
The groupchat was so silent and the trailblazers kept glancing at him in guilt for days. It took him great effort to ease his friends’ worry, assuring them he would not be disappointed, whatever the outcome. Even the red hair trio and Castorice can sense the trailblazers’ distress, asking him if he had any idea why the trailblazers’ spirits had waned.