Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

After the cold, barren nothingness of Jarilo-VI, the mechanical Luofu and Space Station, and the endless twinkling cityscapes of Penacony, Caelus was almost glad to be on a planet that held heat in spades. Despite how it may look, those places were cold. Well, Belobog definitely looked cold. Everywhere else didn’t really look like they might be cold, but take this from Caelus’ expert opinion: they were. And so Caelus was too. The stellaron in his chest didn’t pump warm blood through his veins, no, not at all. Sometimes Caelus thought he might be like a reptile. 

Speaking of reptiles, Caelus can’t imagine how cold Dan Heng must be all the time. 

Dan Heng is an actual reptile! Dragon. Are Vidyadharas cold blooded? Caelus never thought to ask that. Maybe he should. 

Not now, though. Currently, the two cold blooded trailblazers were speeding across this vast desert planet, having borrowed a sand skiff from the Express’ vehicle reserves. Yeah, the Express had a vehicle reserve. It was Caelus’ first time hearing about that particular cabin, too. Where was this sand skiff when they landed on Jarilo-VI? Well, Dan Heng said this particular skiff only worked on sand, which made sense, but Caelus could still be salty about it. 

He leaned forward to speak directly into Dan Heng’s ear, glancing at the projection map on his wrist. “About 500 meters!” Dan Heng nodded in acknowledgement and Caelus tightened his hold on Dan Heng’s waist. Was he still upset about not being allowed to drive? Yeah, a little. He’ll have to bat his eyelashes at Dan Heng and ask super nicely next time. That usually worked. 

So! Desert! Heat! Caelus gratefully soaked it in. Nothing beat the warmth of an actual sun, not some synthetic heat lamp or complicated replication system. Though the wind whipped at his coat and tossed Dan Heng’s ribbons into his mouth every so often, Caelus couldn’t think of a better solo adventure. Lizards are totally on to something, sitting out on warm rocks all the time. 

As the map on Caelus’ wrist flashed, indicating that they were about to reach their destination, Dan Heng slowed the skiff to a gentle cruise, a sandstone city cresting the vast dunes. Caelus hooked his chin over Dan Heng’s shoulder. 

“Easy-peasy!” He said.

“Yes, that was the easy part.”

Oh, forever pessimistic Dan Heng. Some things never change. 

The two trailblazers had no issue riding through the front gate, gliding right past the soldiers stationed there and into the inner city. Inside, a glimmering outdoor market sprawled over every available surface, hoards of people in flowing fabrics accompanied by the steady hum of conversation. It was all in a language that Caelus’s couldn’t really pick out, but that's fine. They were only here for one thing, he didn't need to have his IPC translator on all the time. 

“Remind me who we’re looking for again?” Caelus asked, absently watching the various stalls pass them by. It didn't seem unusual that they were on a skiff, or at least, nobody really paid them any mind. Perfectly fine with Caelus, unwanted attention always seemed to land them in sticky situations. 

“An exiled herbologist from the Xianzhou alliance,” said Dan Heng, and Caelus could tell from his voice that he wasn’t exactly happy about the connection they shared. “She’s from the Zhuming originally, and was exiled for collusion with the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus.”

“And we’re sure she can help us?”

“Her dealings with the Denizens of Abundance were never truly confirmed,” Dan Heng shrugged, “And yes, she’s our best bet.”

Caelus shrugged as well. “If you say so.” He wasn’t keen on questioning how Dan Heng knew about this particular exiled herbologist. Some secrets are better left buried, and he knew better than to dig into Dan Heng’s Xianzhou memories. 

After a few more minutes of searching, Dan Heng suddenly slammed the breaks on the skiff, which wasn’t going very fast, all things considered. Still, Caelus knocked against Dan Heng’s back and teetered off balance. 

“She’s here,” Dan Heng said, stepping off the skiff.

“She’s where?” Caelus removed the googles he’d been so generously gifted by their fellow trailblazers and squinted at the alleyway. It looked the same as all of the others they’d seen on their little skiff tour of this city, even down to the setup of the stalls. 

Dan Heng pointed at the stall tucked behind another, small and unassuming, but filled to the brim with various plants, potion bottles, and essences. Caelus probably should’ve been able to deduce that much from the smell alone, but that sort of herbal fragrance was pretty much everywhere at this market. Dan Heng carefully stepped forward, Caelus right on his heels. 

The lady took one look at the pair of approaching trailblazers and her expression quickly soured, pausing whatever concoction she was cooking up to glare at them through the long strands of hair that fell over her eyes. 

“I don’t serve Xianzhou folk,” she said bitterly, her gravely tone making her sound years older than she appeared, “I have no business with them anymore.”

“We’re not with the Xianzhou.” Dan Heng flashed his Astral Express passenger ticket at the woman, keeping it concealed inside his sleeve. 

“That won’t work, either,” the woman spat, “I may be exiled, but even I know the Astral Express has dealings with the Luofu.”

“It is true that we are allies, but that’s not why we’re here. Our reasons are entirely personal, and relate to the Astral Express alone.”

This seemed to placate the woman, at least somewhat. “What do you want?”

Ah. The thought Caelus had been trying to shove down and ignore since they’d disembarked. Why were they on this planet anyway?

Well…

“We need a bottle of Yinguo brew,” Dan Heng said simply.

“Yinguo brew? Didn’t you say you had no business with the Xianzhou?”

“We don’t,” Caelus interjected. He did promise to keep quiet and let Dan Heng do all of the talking, but this was getting frustrating and they were running out of time. 

“Don’t play dumb! Yinguo brew treats an illness that can only be found on a ship from the Xianzhou alliance. You had to have been there recently if you need this remedy.”

Dan Heng sighed, the clear indication that he was getting frustrated, too. “Listen. Nobody from the Xianzhou alliance knows that we are seeking your help. I doubt they even know you’re here. So, please, let us get what we need, and we will leave you alone.”

The woman glared at Dan Heng, thinking, before picking up her mortar and pestle once again. “Alright. But you best stay on your toes, Vidyadhara. I’ll know if you sell me out.” She produced a small bottle of golden liquid the same color as the leaves that grow on the mara-struck, and handed it over to Dan Heng. Caelus’ stomach did a little backflip. Dan Heng quickly transferred the credits and turned on his heel, beelining for their skiff. 

“Does that look right to you, Dan Heng?” Caelus asked, eyeing the bottle again, “That was all really fishy.”

Dan Heng swirled the liquid inside and sighed. “It looks fine. Besides, we don’t have any better options.”

Right… March needed their help. It was just their luck that she picked up an illness on their most recent Luofu pit-stop, and since they didn't have enough fuel to warp all the way back to the Luofu and make it to their destination planet, a remote desert planet along the way was their only hope. Thank whatever Aeons above for Dan Heng’s extensive database and his mysterious knowledge of back alleys and lawless marketplaces. Again, not Caelus’ place to judge. It ended up working out in the end. Dan Heng hopped on the skiff and tapped at the controls. 

“Let’s get back to the Express as quickly as possible.”

“Don’t have to tell me twice,” Caelus said, slotting himself behind Dan Heng as the engine whirred to life. They left the woman and her stall in the dust, speeding off in the way they came without a second glance. 

As they whizzed through the streets, something tugged at Caelus. It was… pulling him back to that stall, back to that empty space between the sand and the smell of herbs in the air. It hurt. Why did it hurt? Why was a piece of him tethered to a place he’d never been to before? Caelus wrapped his arms tighter around Dan Heng’s waist, shoving his cheek into Dan Heng’s shoulder. He groaned softly as the pain worsened, hoping the wind took it away from his friend’s ears. It did not. 

Dan Heng stiffened against him. “Caelus? Are you alright?” The skiff slowed, Dan Heng cautiously glancing at the top of Caelus’ head as he spoke. 

“I’m fine. Just keep going.”

“Are you feeling too warm? We can take a break in the shade before we have to go back across the sand dunes.”

“No, no, it’s o—“ Another wave of force tugged at Caelus and he groaned again involuntarily, like a thousand hands grasping at his spine so as to rip it out of him. Caelus felt Dan Heng suck in a breath and he turned the skiff down a side alley, pulling over beneath the shade of a sturdy sandstone building. 

“Caelus, what’s—“ Belatedly, Caelus realized that he was leaning his entire weight onto Dan Heng, and when the latter tried to step off the skiff, Caelus listed sideways. Strong arms held Caelus up by the shoulders, his head still glued to Dan Heng’s collarbone. He wasn’t breathing normally. Why would Dan Heng be worried? It was probably just heat stroke. He’d lizard-ed too close to the sun, that was all. Hah. Literally. But wasn’t Dan Heng the lizard?

Caelus pried his eyes open and found only white and sea green fabrics, waves of gold wafting around them like sun-touched sand. He brought up a hand to grasp Dan Heng’s wrist, and to his surprise, noticed that the golden sand was coming from him. It bled from him in a mist-like stream, wafting upward and quickly being pulled behind them. Interestingly, the color of the mist looked a little bit like the aura of a stellaron. How funny. 

“That’s them! Right there, he harbors the stellaron!”

That voice… It sounded like the woman from the stall. But why? Caelus couldn’t really think straight, dizzying colors swirling around him and mixing with the golden dust. It felt like his lifeblood was being siphoned away, leaving only nausea, the tugging, and Dan Heng’s rigid forearms. He collapsed further into his friend. 

“They’re after the stellaron in your body?” Dan Heng murmured with increasing horror, fingertips pressing into Caelus’ bones. It didn’t hurt as much as it should. “What is that thing?”

Caelus tried to speak, but the pain was too great. Instead, he mustered the strength to crane his neck and peer over his own shoulder, through the mist that rose from him in spades, and across the side alley they’d been whisked into. A few paces away stood five people in official-looking uniforms, the exiled woman, and a grotesque-looking worm, which was gobbling up Caelus’ golden dust with a ravaging hunger and hundreds of teeth. Even in his delirium Caelus nearly gagged at the sight. What was that thing? Why was it eating his stellaron dust? Oh, didn’t Dan Heng just say that? Yikes, if even Dan Heng doesn’t know what that ugly-looking worm-thing is, they must be in real trouble. 

The people holding the worm said something, but Caelus was too far away to hear what it was. Y’know… he felt kinda dizzy. Standing hurt. Breathing hurt. Existing hurt. He wanted to go home. 

Dan Heng’s voice filtered through the cotton in his ears. “I’m going to sit you down, okay? Don’t move, Caelus. I’ll take care of this one.”

It was all Caelus could to do nod. He didn’t think he’d be able to go anywhere with the way his bones felt like they were dissolving. Dan Heng gently lowered Caelus to the sandy ground, his back propped up against the shady side of the building they’d stopped next to. Something fierce glinted in Dan Heng’s eyes as his fingertips lingered around Caelus’. Weakly, Caelus squeezed his friend’s hand. I’ll be okay. Don’t worry about me. 

As if all of that could be conveyed in a small hand-squeeze. 

Dan Heng seemed to understand well enough. Though it looked like it pained him physically to leave Caelus’ side, the guard of the Express stood, summoning Cloudpiercer to his hand. It was the last thing Caelus saw before the gold dust enveloped his vision and the world slipped from his grasp. 

Chapter Text

It was not like Dan Heng to lose his composure. 

It was not like Dan Heng to be reckless. 

But Aeons, he didn’t regret a single thing. 

Caelus quickly slipped into unconsciousness as that worm sucked away more and more of his life force, falling into an inky blackness that Dan Heng couldn’t reach into. It pained him more than he could ever imagine. Watching Caelus be impaled in Belobog gave him a similar sinking feeling, but that was before he knew the kind of person Caelus was. Both physically and mentally, Dan Heng’s fellow trailblazer held more strength than he ever could’ve imagined. A simple impaling could not stop the man who caught glances from Aeons like it was nothing. 

A simple impaling couldn’t stop Dan Heng, either, but who was counting?

He fixed his stare on the small gathering of guards in front of him. Really, the only thing that made this group dangerous was the strange worm creature one of them held, and even then, the thing looked to be easily impaled. Unless it too, was hiding some sort of secret strength. Dan Heng had never seen a creature such as this before, so nothing was off the table, he supposed. All in all, though, five regular guards plus a frail Xianzhou exile and a fleshy worm was nothing to Dan Heng. The rage that bubbled beneath his skin fueled his decision to leave them all bleeding in the sand. Rational Dan Heng told him to pry for information. Irrational Dan Heng wanted nothing more than to string that worm out by its organs. 

Rational Dan Heng won the fight, for now. “What do you want?” he snarled, brandishing Cloudpiercer’s point at the group, “We came here in peace, and we did not break any laws.” 

The soldier holding the worm scoffed. “You think we’d let you bring a stellaron into this place without consequences?”

There’s no way they could’ve known about the stellaron that is Caelus’ life force. To the average eye, Caelus was as normal a person as any. Besides, the only people who knew about the stellaron were the passengers on the Express, a few citizens of Belobog, the higher ups on the Luofu, and the Stellaron Hunters, none of whom would have the chance or motive to sell them out to the local police force. Which means…

“You,” Dan Heng said, leveling the point of his weapon at the old woman safely positioned behind her gaggle of soldiers. “You sold us out. Why? We did nothing to you.”

The woman didn’t even have the decency to look guilty. She smirked wickedly. “Credits, what else? Bringing a stellaron into this place is practically a death sentence.”

“Enough chatter,” the main soldier said, cutting Dan Heng off before he had the chance to interrogate the woman further. She must’ve had access to some important cross-alliance documents aboard the Zhuming. How else could she know about Caelus’ constitution? Dan Heng sectioned the thought away as the soldiers took out their weapons. “We’re taking you in.”

“You can try.”

Finally, irrational Dan Heng got to have his moment. As soon as the first solider took a leaping strike at him, Dan Heng swiftly dodged and rushed in for the worm, slicing it in half easily. He may have also sliced through the arms that held the worm aloft, but that was neither here nor there. It was all in self defense. And perhaps a little vengeance. 

The burly soldier wailed in agony and collapsed to the ground, crimson spurting everywhere. Deftly blocking strikes from his left and right, Dan Heng let the fight unfold. He was correct in assuming these soldiers were nothing special, their attacks were hardly worth blocking. He only did so to watch the golden dust coagulate around the now severed halves of that freakish worm, gathering into a barely contained sphere of pure energy just above the limp body. Nothing else really mattered. Dan Heng just kept deflecting and sidestepping, one eye trained on the life force of his friend. After a few minutes of the mist hanging over the wailing soldier and the two halves of the worm, Dan Heng started to get worried. Why wasn’t it doing anything? Did Caelus need to be awake for the stellaron to respond? Dan Heng clinked the point of his spear against the twin swords that went for his throat and stepped back over to the dead worm. It was just the first soldier over here now, the others preoccupied with trying to land a hit on Dan Heng. 

As soon as he neared the coagulated dust, it suddenly pulsed with golden light and sank back into the wrinkled pink flesh of the worm halves, disappearing into the folds. Dan Heng watched with increasing horror as the worm regenerated the cells he’d cut away only moments ago. Nausea roiled in his gut. 

Alive once again, the worm resumed its task of siphoning Caelus’ stellaron, and Dan Heng wasted no time in cutting it once again. This time, he slashed the thing to pieces, but he could not get the sphere of energy to make its way back across the stretch of sandstone and back into Caelus. Again, the worm regenerated, and again, Dan Heng minced it until the thing was unrecognizable. Blood and sweat coated his hands, again and again, splashing on his white coat, his pristine ribbons, his desperate face. 

Heaving, Dan Heng stepped back after another bout of worm obliteration. Cloudpiercer weighed heavy in his iron grip. The desecrated pieces began to slot themselves back together again and Dan Heng watched helplessly, feeling the hum of magic thrumming within him. His skin itched with the question, the request, the demand to release it, and seeing no other options, Dan Heng gave in. Letting his facade fall away is not painful. In fact, sometimes, it feels more like a relief than anything. Horns pushed through Dan Heng’s bangs and the staff of Cloudpiercer fell away, leaving only the Cloudhymn orb that channeled his magic. Before the worm could fully regenerate, Dan Heng trapped the pieces and the dust of the stellaron in a watery lotus, halting the process. Though he could feel how the stellaron pushed against the boundaries of his magic, Dan Heng held firm. This was manageable. 

Dan Heng turned slowly, knowing he still had to deal with the soldiers he’d been ignoring throughout this process. He wondered why none of them had bothered to attack him since he’d locked his attention on the worm. Ah, it might’ve been because of his recklessness. He was sure he must’ve appeared like an inhuman beast, cutting up that worm over and over again. And now, he’d resorted to the side of himself he didn’t like to show. Though a pair of horns and a tail could not be that jarring to a city full of exiles, surely?

Instantly, Dan Heng locked his eyes on Caelus. Still unconscious, but thankfully untouched alongside their skiff. What Dan Heng was not expecting, however, was the crowd of soldiers he had to look through in order to confirm this. What was once five had now turned into more than twenty, no, perhaps more than thirty. A ripple of surprise passed through the waters of his lotus prison. 

“Stop where you are!” one of the soldiers screamed, all thirty of them brandishing various weapons at Dan Heng, “Step away from the commander!”

Ah. Right. He had cut that one soldier’s hands off. In his current state, Dan Heng figured he could easily take on the entire crowd of soldiers before him, plus that backstabbing Xianzhou native hiding behind them. Her crimes kept growing— she must’ve sent for reinforcements. And yet, the sheer force of the stellaron was absorbing all of Dan Heng’s attention, the orb of Cloudpiercer spinning wildly with the effort to keep it contained. If he were to try and fight all of these soldiers at once, he feared he may catch Caelus in the crossfire. That was not an option. 

Dan Heng made a frustrated growl and dropped into a low, defensive stance. He’d have to take the long way out of this one. 

The soldiers threw themselves at him, swinging wildly in wave after wave. It was all Dan Heng could do to keep them at bay, a wild watery dragon sweeping back and forth in desperate attempts to establish a border between himself and the hoard. It wasn’t working. Sand and blood kicked up into Dan Heng’s face and he could feel his strength slipping, the stellaron pulsing like a migraine behind his eyes. 

When the coarse, brown ropes flung themselves around Dan Heng, he was already too weak to do much else but remain standing. 

Though he staggered briefly, Dan Heng was able to keep himself upright, and most importantly, keep the hold on the stellaron. Another net was tossed over Dan Heng’s head and the weights knocked against his knees, painful shockwaves unfolding from his head and his bones. The third net is what brings him to the ground. Dan Heng focuses all of his energy on maintaining his hold on the stellaron, the pain from collapsing to the ground pulsing faintly in the background. He writhed against the netting and tried to free himself, but to no avail. 

“Stay down,” a voice above him snarled. A heavy kick was delivered to his abdomen. Dan Heng curled in on himself despite his better judgement. The stellaron spun and spun against its watery prison, as if it were a living, breathing being that had grown desperate under the lack of oxygen. Dan Heng felt similarly. He couldn’t get a full breath in, not with all of the weighted netting on top of the strain the stellaron was causing. 

It was going to break free. It was going to break free and Dan Heng was going to pass out. Who knew what these soldiers would do with the regenerating worm and the stellaron? As far as Dan Heng could gather, none of those options ended with Caelus walking away unharmed. If he could separate the stellaron from the worm pieces… 

Dan Heng focused on pulling away the chunks of flesh and discarding them from the water as quickly as he could. The soldiers hadn’t noticed yet, too busy conversing in a language Dan Heng couldn’t quite make out. The force of the stellaron pressed in Dan Heng’s lungs as he worked, painstakingly, until at last, only the golden dust remained trapped in the lotus. At least, he thinks it just the stellaron. It’ll have to do. 

Compressing the lotus, Dan Heng commanded the waters to rise and carry the prison high over their solider’s heads, soaring in the direction of Caelus. He added in a last-ditch illusion spell just as the lotus reached the peak of its trajectory, and with one final burst of magic, flung the water at his friend and let it implode. In the ensuing chaos, water and sand and energy spewed everywhere, falling like harsh, coarse rain. Dan Heng could only watch as the stellaron whizzed towards Caelus and the pressure dissipated from his ribcage. 

After that, it was only darkness. 

Chapter Text

Metal pressed against flesh often left indents, scars that would not fade for hours. Maybe even days, depending on exposure time. The weight of them was too familiar, too real, it made Dan Heng feel like he was drowning. Drowning in the reddened skin around his arms, legs, torso, the cutting wires that strung themselves around his wrists and ankles, all of it. Dan Heng couldn’t drown, not really. He’d never known what that feeling was like. But this aching pressure, the stars that danced behind his eyes and the panic that rose in his throat like bile… was this what drowning felt like?

The chains dug deeper into Dan Heng’s skin and he sucked in a gasp, sinking deeper and deeper.

<~>

“He must know something. Tampering with your own hatching rebirth is exactly the kind of thing that traitor would do.”

“I don’t disagree. But surely, if he knew, he would’ve told us by now? It’s been years.”

“Hm. Has it? No time at all for a Vidyadhara, then. I know he’s still holding out on us. Perhaps I ought to be more harsh this time around.”

A pause. Tension rippled in the damp air, even through the stone walls and metal doors. 

“If you must. Though I don’t believe your efforts will bear much fruit, preceptor.”

“Tch. You’re starting to sound like our bleeding heart General. We’ll keep him here as long as it takes.”

The other person did not say anything in response. Dan Feng  assumed the distant click of footsteps was the fault of this other person whom he could not place. A newer voice, one he hadn’t bothered to match a face to. 

His most regular visitor pushed open the door instead. 

The Vidyadhara Preceptors truly knew no bounds when it came to their relentless pursuit of information he did not have. Those memories—the ones he wasn’t supposed to know— they didn’t hold any secrets. They were fuzzy, nonsensical, and perhaps most importantly, painful. The mental anguish they caused was similar to the physical ones inflicted upon him every day. It was a loss either way. Dan Feng  glared at the so-called leader of his people. He did not speak. 

It seemed as though the conversation he’d overheard from outside his cell left this particular Preceptor in a bad mood. The murderous glint in his eyes was unmistakable. “I’ve just about had it with you,” he spat, marching over to Dan Feng’s  restraints and pulling them taut. The air was squeezed from Dan Feng’s  lungs involuntarily. 

“Today is the day you tell us everything. I don’t care if I have to pluck out your scales one by one. I will have my answers.” The Preceptor’s snarl deepened and he pulled at the chains again, so tight that the metal drew blood in some places. Dan Feng  fought to retain his scowl, but he couldn’t hold back the pained whimper that arose from his chest being constricted to the point of breaking. Panic bubbled in his throat as the walls seemed to cave in, the world blurring as the Preceptor raised his free arm. 

The first blow always hurt the most.

Coupled with the fact Dan Feng  could barely breathe, each recoil doubled the pain of the last, his joints screaming against his bindings as they shook and clattered from the force of it all. Dirt kicked up from the bottom of the cell as Dan Feng  thrashed, unable to do anything other than hang suspended above the ground, at the complete and utter mercy of someone who was supposed to raise and protect him. 

He isn’t who they say he is. 

Hatching rebirths strip away the memories of the previous incarnation, dropping them into the inky abyss of the Permanence. 

He’s not Dan Feng .

He doesn’t know…

What greater punishment is there than a forced hatching rebirth?

Could he have truly been so terrible?

The life that came before him… The life whose shadow he stands in… 

Did he fail?

Alone, soiled, bloody, near unrecognizable, Dan Heng wonders if his previous incarnation regretted his fate. He wonders if he, too, will ever have regrets. 

<~>

Hot, relentless tears fall to the dusty ground, glinting in the lone patch of light from above. The chains shake, shifting uncomfortably, until every inch of his exposed skin is red and raw. He chokes on the dry air. Alone. Soiled. Bloody. 

He’s not sure how long he cries. The sun hardly moves in the little window, far too high for him to reach. It’s not until the light changes into a pale blue that Dan Heng is able to register that time had passed at all, numb with dry eyes and chapped lips. His own ragged breathing grates against his ears. 

Golden light suddenly dances across the powdered sandstone floor, lighting up the dust in the air like fireflies. Dan Heng thinks it looks like fireworks. He would be able to see celebratory fireworks from his old cell on occasion, flashing on the walls in dazzling blues, pinks, and yellows, colors he’d never seen before. The impact of their explosion would rattle the bricks and send stray pieces of stone cascading from the ceiling, but Dan Heng never cared. It was almost enough to imagine what they looked like in person. 

Soon, even his fleeting sliver of comfort would subside, dropping Dan Heng back into darkness just as he’d found the light. Dusty grey enveloped everything once again. Just like always. The chains tightened even further. 

Distantly, sounds of crashing and pained shouts drifted along the sandstone corridors, reaching through the cotton in Dan Heng’s ears. He didn't think much of it. Prisoners fought back. Dan Heng knew not to fight back anymore. 

It wasn’t until the shouting and crashing got closer that Dan Heng started to care. It was a muted, detached thing, but the curiosity tugged at his feeble mind regardless. He couldn’t do much else other than be vaguely interested in what all of the ruckus was about. Mostly with the goal of willing it to stop. 

The bars of his cage slid open and all Dan Feng  could see was that cursed Preceptor, high and mighty, coming to interrogate him once again. He didn’t give the Preceptor the dignity of being looked at in full focus. He didn’t deserve it. At what point did the sins of the Preceptors outweigh his own? At what point was this beyond punishment, at what point could he atone? Dan Feng  scowled and turned his face to the side indignantly. 

“Dan Heng?” A hand reached out to cup Dan Heng’s cheek, and when the calloused palm made contact, it burned with the force of a thousand suns. Fire rippled through Dan Fe Heng’s body and he jerked away as best he could, thrashing against his restraints and pulling sand away from the walls. Each breath felt like pure smoke. Each minute movement set his veins ablaze, the heat crawling into his heart like thousands of flaming insects. Chest convulsing under the lack of oxygen, Dan Heng attempted to put as much distance between himself and the person who laid their hands on him. 

“I don’t know anything,” he wheezed, watching the blurry grey Preceptor waver in and out of focus, “I’m not him…”

Even with his vision impaired, Dan Heng could see the person visibly deflate. “Dan Heng… it’s okay. You’re not there anymore. Look at me.”

He tried. Despite the fire that still raced through his veins at the contact, he tried to focus on the figure in front of him, letting his arms and legs go slack against their chains. They loosened ever so slightly, and Dan Heng sucked in a grateful breath. 

A rush of oxygen burst into Dan Heng’s mind, cool waters smoothing over the blood that boiled within him. The cell threw itself back into his view. Moonlit sandstone, drifting dust, and a grey haired figure with the most heartbroken expression plastered over his face. Dan Heng met his eyes.

“Caelus?” he breathed.

His gloved hand rose to cup Dan Heng’s cheek again, and this time, Dan Heng didn’t even flinch. “It’s me. I’m okay.”

It took everything within him to not crumble to dust right then and there. “You’re alive,” Dan Heng managed.

“Of course I am,” Caelus smiled, though the corners of his eyes didn’t crease. “Thanks to you.”

“It worked…?” In all honesty, Dan Heng hadn’t quite expected his last ditch attempt at returning the stellaron to be a success. All of the time spent here, in these chains, only proved to further his hypothesis. 

“Yeah, it did. You cut that worm to death, Dan Heng.”

Feeling some of the energy filter back into his veins, Dan Heng allowed a fond smile to bubble to the surface. “It was really ugly.”

“I was half asleep, and even I could tell that it was ugly!” Caelus flashed him a genuine smile, and Dan Heng felt his heart explode. “Let’s get you out of those chains, hm?”

Caelus made short work of Dan Heng’s bindings, Destruction-amplified baseball bat taking them clean off the stone walls. He worked so carefully, so delicately, it almost seemed uncharacteristic. He unwound the chains from Dan Heng’s ankles first, steady fingers brushing over the exposed skin of Dan Heng’s ripped pants. Then, for the higher suspensions keeping Dan Heng aloft, Caelus tossed his Harmony hat up to explode in a flurry of clocks and coins, leaving only the chains around his chest. Those, interestingly, were attached to the ceiling. 

Stepping back to gauge the distance, Caelus hummed thoughtfully. “I’m going to break the chains up there, but I’ll have to catch you. I’ll give you a countdown. "Dan Heng nodded to show he understood, and Caelus readied his hat. 

“Three of a kind, two pair…

—Ace.”

Debris and endless sand rained down as the chain was pulled from its attachment, but Dan Heng couldn’t care in the slightest. He collapsed into Caelus’ arms, sidestepping the falling slack, and held him like he might disappear at any moment. Like he had disappeared, and this was their first meeting in a thousand years. 

I thought you died.

And I was the one who killed you.

I couldn’t save you in time…

“I’m sorry,” he whispered, burying his nose further into the crook of Caelus’ neck. 

“For what?”

“Everything. For bringing you here, for lashing out at you. It’s my fault, you can blame me this time.”

Caelus’ fingers dug further into Dan Heng’s back, as if he were trying to pry him open. Dan Heng would let him. “I could never blame you,” he murmured, the rumble of his voice reverberating in Dan Heng’s bones.

He knew it was useless to argue at this point. Caelus always won. He always did. So, Dan Heng will take his little victory, too, clutching at the solidity that is his closest friend. The life that burned within him, the unwavering spirit. Alive, breathing, here. With him. 

As if that wasn’t the biggest victory of them all. 

Caelus gave Dan Heng another rib-crushing squeeze and threaded their fingers together. 

“Let’s go home, Dan Heng.”

Chapter Text

Getting out of the crumbling prison was not as easy as one might guess. 

The halls held no guards. There were a few unconscious bodies, but Dan Heng made sure all of them were still breathing. Based on the clear sounds of a struggle he’d heard before, a few unconscious guards were to be expected. Dan Heng just followed Caelus, his wrist encircled by his companion’s, and stepped over them with as much care as he could.

What proved to be the most difficult, however, was getting out of the sandstone walls themselves. The entire building had started to collapse in on itself, sand and rubble falling like coarse snow on a silent night. More than once, Dan Heng had to sidestep a falling rock, and more than once, he watched Caelus narrowly avoid being flattened by a stray stone slab. Caelus led them through a crumbling staircase up to the surface, sending a few tiny rocks skittering back down below, and soon, the low amber glow of the sun crested Dan Heng’s head. 

Only… the light he thought was the sun was no sun at all. 

The once vast desert had been completely liquefied, set aglow by streaming rivulets of molten fire. Deep, orange clouds hung low over the sand, and the sun looked red behind the smog of it all. Dan Heng stumbled over the rubble. Caelus’ hold on his wrist was the only sense of familiarity that remained. They’d emerged in what looked like the remains of the market from earlier that day. The market… it had been completely destroyed. Sandstone crumbled among the embers of charred fabric and the smell of burning flesh. Marks of ash splayed over some of the structures that still remained. 

“Caelus…” Dan Heng tried, his tongue sticking to the roof of his mouth, “What—“

A guttural moan sounded from somewhere to their left, both boys whipping their heads to pinpoint the source of the sound. A blackened figure reached out to grasp at the two trailblazers, looking eerily mara struck, yet at the same time, human. Caelus’ bat ran clean through the figure’s head before Dan Heng could so much as blink. The figure turned to ashen dust. 

Caelus giggled sheepishly and flashed a smile at Dan Heng. “Sorry about that! I thought I took care of them all.”

“Did… you do this?” More ash rained down upon them like blackened snow in the silence. Caelus’ smile faltered for just a fraction of a second. 

“I handled the monsters, don’t worry,” he said instead of answering Dan Heng’s question, “We just have to get back to the Express now! Sorry I can’t find our skiff.”

Dan Heng shook his head. “It’s… alright. Have you messaged Himeko or Mr. Yang?”

“Nah, my phone hasn’t worked since I woke up. We’ll have to walk.”

“Caelus, I…”

Caelus furrowed his brows. “Oh, is it too far to walk? That’s fine. I can carry you.”

“No, Caelus, listen—“

“Or, we could keep looking for our skiff? Gah, I could’ve sworn it was somewhere around here…”

Dan Heng stopped in his tracks. “Caelus.”

Caelus’ arm went rigid against the strain in their connection. He kept his eyes on the ground. “Yeah?” he said, voice pitching. 

“I’m not going to be upset with you. I just want the truth.”

“That is the truth, Dan Heng. I really don’t know where it went.”

“You and I both know that’s not what I’m talking about.”

Caelus took in an uneasy breath, hitching slightly like the soot had gotten caught in his throat. He smiled, the pieces of his mask clicking into place, but it trembled, held together by fraying threads. “I… I don’t know. I don’t know what happened.” Caelus’ voice shook ever so slightly, the faint tremble from his fingers sending shockwaves up Dan Heng’s arm. 

“Did you do this?” Dan Heng asked again. 

The nod that shifted the tufts of Caelus’ hair was almost imperceptible. Amber light pushed at the stray strands. “I think I might’ve. Or, I guess the stellaron did this.”

Caelus finally brought his eyes back up to Dan Heng, misty and crinkled at the edges. “But I found you, didn’t I? That’s all that matters.”

Dan Heng passed his eyes over the destruction that surrounded them, rivers of lava and deep orange sunlight, burning buildings and charred bodies. All of it. Something close to nausea simmered in his stomach.

As Trailblazers, it is their sworn duty to connect all the planets in the universe along the silver rail, forging new paths and fulfilling the will of the Trailblaze. Most of their more memorable Trailblazing expeditions had to do with a stellaron, whether that was dealing with the fallout of one, or preventing the disaster it was sure to cause. Dan Heng knew what stellarons did. He’d seen them up close. 

Something similar had happened on Herta Space Station. When the Doomsday Beast attacked, Caelus only freshly awoken, the stellaron that lived within him reacted to the gaze of Nanook and began to spiral out of control. If it weren’t for Mr. Yang’s interference, would the Space Station have turned out like this desert planet?

Was this the power of the Destruction?

Caelus caught Dan Heng’s conflicted stare and leaned down to tear him away from the soot-stained shadow he was looking at. “Are you mad at me? You said you wouldn’t be mad…”

“I could never be upset with you,” Dan Heng breathed on instinct, “I just…”

Usually, Caelus would ask, "You just what?”, but he didn’t. He waited for Dan Heng to sort out his thoughts, chest scarcely rising and falling. 

“Sometimes, I forget the kind of destruction a stellaron can bring.”

Caelus exhaled deeply. “Yeah. Me, too.”

Peeking through the soot-filled clouds, a ray of familiar light washed over the pair. Whirring engines and distant gasps filled the air, strangely audible above the crackle of flames all around them. Dan Heng grabbed Caelus’ wrist back and squeezed, earning a blinding smile from his fellow trailblazer. 

“That’s them! Passengers Caelus and Dan Heng have been located!”

The Astral Express crested the sand dunes and pulled alongside the crumbling city, like a snake sliding over a rock. Pom-Pom excitedly hopped from one foot to the other, pointing a paw in their direction. When Dan Heng caught their eye, they sheepishly looked away and let Himeko take the forefront. 

“Mr. Yang! Himeko!” Caelus beamed. 

“There you are,” Mr. Yang sighed, “What happened here?”

“It’s… a long story,” said Caelus. 

“You can tell us after you’ve recovered.” Himeko reached out a hand to help Caelus up onto the platform of the train car, Dan Heng just a half step behind him. “I’ll set up a few more beds in the infirmary.”

A lightbulb went off in Caelus’ mind, and he whipped his head over to Dan Heng. Based on that reaction, Dan Heng could already tell what his next sentence was going to be. “The infirmary! Dan Heng, did—“

“Don’t worry,” he said, producing the vial of Yinguo brew, “I kept it safe.”

Caelus’ posture deflated. “You’re so reliable, Dan Heng.”

“Alright, you two. Let’s get you inside.” Mr. Yang gently pushed at Caelus’ back and the car door slid shut behind them. For the first time in hours, Dan Heng felt like he could finally breathe. 

<~>

“So you’re telling me, the stellaron inside you destroyed a whole planet, all by itself?”

Caelus tapped his chin. “Yeah, that’s about right.”

“How is that even possible? Dan Heng, tell me he’s lying!”

“I can’t say for sure. I wasn’t there when it happened.”

“Argh! You two are impossible, destroying an entire planet and getting yourselves hurt for my sake! The IPC is going to lock us up forever!”

“That’s if they can catch us,” Caelus smirked.

Before March could make another indignant response, Dan Heng shifted in his seat and met eyes with her. “Are you feeling any better, March?”

“Don’t change the subject! But… yeah, I am. Thanks, Dan Heng.”

“What about me?” Caelus pouted, “I’m the one who risked my stellaron for your medicine!”

“I’m not done with you!” March countered, and Dan Heng sighed as their mock argument launched itself back into the forefront of their conversation. He was just glad that all of them were here, alive, and well enough to bicker. 

That was enough.