Fate's Slave - Shadow Slave X Honkai Star Rail

"After all those millennia... is this what Jarilo-VI has become?"

Himeko frowned as she gazed down upon the planet. Sunny wasn’t sure a planet covered entirely by snow was very ’lush’ or ’verdant’. March had a perplexed expression on her face.

"Huh? So that snowy planet is our destination this time?"

Himeko sighed.

"Yes... Looks like this trailblazing expedition won’t be easy."

A moment later, Pom-Pom spoke through the speakers of the Express.

"Spatial readout anomaly! Star rail stability is down to twelve percent! Schedule alteration: Seven-day stopover time extended indefinitely!"

Listening to the announcement, Sunny curiously asked:

"Anomaly?"

Himeko answered him as she stared at the planet.

"The complex locality of this world has been... affected somehow. The star rail has been blocked off by something. Take an ordinary train as an example: It’s like the tracks up ahead have suddenly snapped, and the way forward leads straight into a collapsing abyss... The only sensible thing to do would be to brake hard, right?"

Pom-Pom and Welt had entered the Parlor Car, catching on to the tail end of Himeko’s explanation.

"If we try to force our way ahead, there could be a hefty price to pay!"

March frowned at Pom-Pom’s statement.

"This again... Don’t tell me, it’s gotta be..."

Welt was the one who continued.

"The results of the preliminary analysis are here — the anomaly stems from a Stellaron, as always."

Sunny’s eyes widened. He had been hearing that word quite a lot recently, considering that he had one waiting to detonate inside of him.

"Stellaron..."

Nodding towards him, Welt confirmed Sunny’s suspicions.

"Yes, Sunless — just like the one that’s been placed inside your body."

Looking back towards the planet that was experiencing an Ice Age, he wondered what the Stellarons really were. Why was there one inside him? Why were they so dangerous? Where did they come from?

However, one question in particular stood out to him, since it was relevant to the current situation.

"What should we do?"

If Stellarons were really that dangerous, then it wouldn’t be something that they could just ignore. It was blocking their path after all. Based on Welt and March’s words, he could guess that they must have had a way to deal with them before.

Thankfully, Himeko answered his question.

"Don’t worry. It’s not the first time our route has been obstructed by a Stellaron. Stellarons are clouded in mystery — even Herta isn’t able to fully understand them... but at least we know how to neutralize their influences."

Welt adjusted his glasses with his index finger.

"The only thing we can say for sure is that their arrival causes massive changes to civilizations and ecosystems. They also generate distortions in space such as Fragmentums."

He remembered from Herta that the space station was partially affected by a Fragmentum. It’s description reminded him of Nightmare Gates.

’Why do things have to be so complex?’

Maybe he should have just stayed in the outskirts. One of these days, he might actually get himself killed by an Unholy Titan!

"There must be an inextricable connection between the Stellaron we’re dealing with here, and Jarilo-VI becoming a frozen planet." 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

As Sunny looked down at the planet, he realized that it wouldn’t be too surprising for something supernatural to be able to do something like this; and on such a large scale as well. In fact, he could bet that a Corrupted Titan could achieve a similar effect, probably only on a multi-continental scale though.

Out of curiosity, Sunny asked:

"Where do Stellarons come from?"

Himeko answered him.

"Our current theory is that Stellarons are seeds of disaster planted by a certain Aeon throughout the universe. We can’t continue to Trailblaze without removing the source of the disaster."

Sunny knew where this was going.

"That means we’ve gotta get get busy!"

And March only confirmed it.

The people on the planet naturally wouldn’t be able to save themselves, as they would need to rely on the power of Awakened to deal with the Stellaron. Not only that, but the Awakened would need to know how to do so.

Considering the fact that Jarilo-VI doesn’t have any contact to the outside world, they would naturally be limited to only their own Awakened. Hell, if their situation was similar to Earth’s, there might not even be any Awakened on the planet.

In that scenario, there would be no way to save themselves without an outside force.

And unfortunately, Sunny was a part of that outside force. His face fell in dismay.

"Sunny."

At the call of his name, he turned his attention back to Himeko.

"I’d like to entrust this trailblazing expedition to March, Dan Heng, and you. In particular, I’d like you to lead."

"...Huh?"

Sunny understood going on the expedition himself, but leading others wasn’t really in his skill set. His whole thing was being sneaky while stabbing others when they least expect it, so wouldn’t it have made more sense for Dan Heng to lead? He had more experience when it came to Trailblazing after all, and he wasn’t March.

However, Sunny didn’t voice his complaints. He knew that the main reason for it was because of what had occurred on the Forgotten Shore, despite the fact that he couldn’t recall it. Not only that, but his strategic thinking against the Doomsday Beast must have left an impression.

Due to this, Sunny simply nodded in agreement.

"The objective is clear: Find the Stellaron responsible for the disaster and the spatial distortions, and bring it back to the Express. We’ll deal with the rest."

At Himeko’s words, March turned towards Sunny. She leaned forward a dangerous amount, causing Sunny to lean back.

"Awesome! We get to work as a team again, Sunny!"

However, for a split second, Sunny made contact with her clothing. He saw a radiant tapestry of nodes, connected by numerous strings of light.

’Wait... that’s a Memory!’

It seemed to be quite powerful as well. How did she get her hands on a Transcendent Memory of the third tier as an Awakened? He guessed that she must have brought it — which would mean that she had really hefty pockets — but he couldn’t discount the possibility that she somehow killed a Transcendent Demon.

Despite how unbelievable such a statement was.

’If March has a Transcendent garment, what about Dan Heng?’

Actually, it was probably a custom Memory made by someone with a Memory-making Aspect. Sunny didn’t think that it was possible to get such a garment Memory through natural means.

’Well, I’ll just ask her later.’

Sunny noticed that neither Himeko nor Welt were coming. Although he understood the former, as it wouldn’t be very safe for a non-Awakened to be in the midst of danger, he wasn’t sure why Welt couldn’t come.

"Why is it just us three?"

"Because you three made a great team back in the space station. My guess is that if you spend even longer together, we’ll see something even more impressive."

Sunny... didn’t really understand.

Welt sighed.

"So it’s still not our turn..."

Himeko patted the spectacled man on the back.

"I know you really want to go, but we should give the youngsters a chance to get out there on their own. It’ll be a good opportunity for them to bond."

Turning towards Sunny and March, Himeko continued.

"Sunny, March, if you two are ready, why not go and find Dan Heng? He’s probably already started collating the ecological data and survey results for Jarilo-VI. It’s always good to know more about the destination before you start a journey."

Nodding, Sunny turned to head over to Dan Heng’s room as Himeko and Welt took a seat in the Parlor Car. After a few steps, he paused and looked back at March. She was simply standing there as she looked towards Jarilo-VI with a complicated expression as she mumbled something to herself.

Out of curiosity, Sunny used Shadow Step to silently get behind March. Not noticing him, she continued to talk to herself.

’Who even does that?’

Sunny froze as he realized that he has talked to himself before.

"A planet covered in snow and ice... Will I find my answer here...?"

"What answer?"

Jumping with a little shriek, March whirled around with an accusatory finger.

"You— Don’t sneak up on me like that!"

Sunny tilted his head.

"So... are you going to answer my question?"

Instead of doing so, March started to push Sunny in the direction of Dan Heng’s room.

"Maybe you should mind your own business!"

Sunny looked back at her with a smug smirk.

"Maybe you shouldn’t talk to yourself, you lunatic."

"Shut up!"

Himeko watched this interaction with a pleased smile on her face. She spoke to Welt, who sat just next to her.

"Don’t they get along great, Welt?"

Welt, who was currently forcing himself to survive Himeko’s deadly coffee, started to cough at both her statement and the bitterness of the liquid.

"Ack...! Uh, do you think so? They look like they would strangle each other if given the chance..."

"Exactly!"

"...I’m not following."

***

Standing in front of Dan Heng’s room, Sunny attempted to knock on the door with March by his side. However, before he could do so, Dan Heng’s voice echoed out of his room, telling them that they could come in.

’Seriously, what type of ability is that?!’

Sliding the door open, the duo could see Dan Heng looking over some data at his desk. The boy turned around towards them, looking directly at Sunny.

"Are you doing okay after your first jump? Dizziness or retching are normal reactions. You’ll feel better once you get used to it."

Rubbing the back of his hand, Sunny answered his question while asking one of his own.

"Well, I don’t have any issues right now... but is it normal to hallucinate right before the jump?"

Blinking, Dan Heng thought about it for a moment. After a few seconds, he gave him a hesitant answer.

"...No, that isn’t normal at all. Since you’re an Awakened, it can’t be a mundane illness. You couldn’t have been hit by a mind attack, right?"

Sunny shook his head. Although he doesn’t remember why, he knew what a mind attack felt like. He didn’t feel anything seeping into his mind recently.

Shrugging it off, Dan Heng looked back at his screen that was filled with data.

"I went through the Express’ database, and it seems the environment on Jarilo-VI has undergone drastic changes in the past few centuries. It was not a frozen planet to begin with..."

March pitched in suddenly.

"Welt says it was caused by a Stellaron!"

"He said so? Hm... considering the spatial obstacles that the star rail has encountered, it’s highly possible. I’ve conducted a preliminary survey and found that there’s one area with a relatively normal temperature on the surface of the planet. By ’normal’, I mean a temperature that just about allows for human survival. If I had to choose a site for initial investigation on this Trailblazing expedition, that would be it."

’...What?’

Did that mean... that humans were practically extinct on this planet? If there was only a single area in which they could survive, then the best case scenario would be that a small civilization of humans are alive, but it’s very unlikely.

Sunny could tell that this was going to be a real pain. Even though he was an Awakened, that didn’t mean that he could survive extreme cold. His tolerance to the elements was exponentially higher than a normal human, but not to this degree.

Sighing, Sunny explained what they were going to do.

"Himeko wants you, me, and March 7th to go together."

Dan Heng nodded.

"As I expected. Before you came, whenever March wanted to go anywhere, Himeko would make Mr. Yang and me go with her."

’I wonder why...’

Sunny side-eyed March, who was glaring at Dan Heng in betrayal.

Sighing, Dan Heng continued.

"And even after you arrived, I didn’t suppose I’d be the one to be liberated of that duty."

Standing up from his seat after turning his screen off, Dan Heng walked over to the other two.

"I assume the Trailblazing objective this time is to find the Stellaron on Jarilo-VI and dispel the effect it’s exerting on the Star Rail... right?"

***

As the Express got closer to the planet in order to land, the three of them stood in the Parlor Car, getting ready for their expedition.

And by getting ready, this meant that Sunny was trying to convince himself that this wasn’t a bad idea.

’Well... I could learn more about Stellarons? I might get a really strong weapon? I might get blessed by a god again? All three?’

After a couple minutes of looking at the frozen planet, he realized that he might actually freeze to death. That, or get impaled by a huge icicle! His luck was simply that abysmal.

’Damnation!’

At his expression of pure terror, March attempted to reassure him.

"Relax, Sunny! Dan Heng and I are experienced Trailblazers! We got your back!"

Sunny stared at her for a second, before scoffing in disbelief.

"Yeah... that only makes it worse."

"What’s that supposed to mean?!"

"My chances would probably be better if I didn’t have to look over my shoulder every three seconds."

"...You hear that Dan Heng? He thinks you’re a hassle to deal with!"

"...I think he was talking about you, March."

Looking between the two boys, March pouted at the fact that she was being teamed up on. Sighing, Sunny continued to look at the approaching planet. The soft hum of the Astral Express was the only sound anyone could hear.

After a few minutes, March broke the silence filling the Parlor Car.

"When I first saw this planet, I thought: A world covered in ice... could it have something to do with my past? Now I can’t stop thinking about it."

Sunny wondered why she was suddenly bringing this up. After a moment, he realized that she must have been answering his question from earlier, when she was mumbling to herself.

"Still, the ice that trapped me was Six-Phased Ice — a very rare substance. I don’t think you can find it on your average planet... plus, it might have just been the ice produced by my Aspect."

Sunny felt a little obligated to respond. Unfortunately, he couldn’t say anything positive due to his Flaw.

"I doubt that this planet is where you’re from."

’Nice one Sunny, just rub salt in the wound, right?’

Surprisingly, March nodded to what he said.

"To be honest, I think I’d be kind of annoyed if I found out this was my homeworld. It looks freezing... pretty girls aren’t frost-resistant!"

’...Seriously?’

She just kept staring at him, not elaborating anymore.

"...What? Is there something on my face?"

She snapped out of her trance, suddenly giggling to herself.

"Nah~ I was just imagining all the fun we’re gonna have here... hee-hee!"

Sunny and Dan Heng looked at each other. The latter sighed.

"...I feel sorry for this world. First the Stellaron, and now you..."

Sunny facepalmed, realizing that he was in for a lot of trouble. That trouble was standing right in front of him with a confused expression on her face.

"Let’s... go..."

March nodded with a chipper vibe around her.

"Alright! Here comes, the Jarilo-VI Trailblaze Team!"