Chapter Text
It all happened so fast that Dan Heng hardly had time to process it. One moment, they had successfully breached the barrier surrounding Amphoreus, and the next, something had struck them, sending the detached train car plummeting towards the ground. It couldn’t have been more than twenty seconds, maybe thirty, before the sound of metal tearing open filled his ears and he was flying through the air, landing hard on what felt like cold stone. He should have taken a minute to rest, to breathe, but instead, he lifted his head and saw the state of the train car.
About ten feet from the back end of it had seemingly torn off after crashing into what looked like a crumbling wall and now lay nearly perpendicular to the rest of the train car. The metal scraping on stone must have caused sparks to fly because just outside the door on the side, which had flung itself open and now barely hung on by a single metal hinge, flames were licking up the side of the car. He could feel an ache creeping up his spine and into his right shoulder, which had collided with the wall behind him, but he didn’t have time to worry about that now. He and Caelus needed to get to their feet and get away from the car before—
“Caelus?” The question came out a little strained, his lungs still struggling to take in air, throat starting to burn from the smoke slowly filling the air. But there was no time to think about that, head swiveling right and left as he pushed himself to his feet, but to no avail. There was no sign of grey hair, no brown jacket with a yellow loop for him to grab and ensure the blockhead didn’t run back into the train car for anything. Panic began to set in, so he ran to check the train car, convincing himself the trash racoon was fine — he had to be.
“Caelus!” he called out, worry leaking into his words as he reached the torn metal. It was only then that he realized burning rocks were falling from the sky, almost like a hellish rain sent just for their arrival, and there was still no sign of Caelus. But the Vidyadhara didn’t waste time thinking about what to do next, his body moving on instinct. He’d been on plenty of dangerous missions, and March 7th was more than clumsy, sometimes being so much as downright dangerous. From the moment he’d hit the ground, Dan Heng’s mind had been racing with a million thoughts: different courses of action he could take, how they would manage without the supplies from the train, whether they would be able to get back off of Amphoreus. He was thinking a hundred miles a minute right up until those eyes landed on his fellow Nameless — and then they crashed into silence, just like the train had.
He was in the very back of the train, clearly flung backwards from the force of the collision. The guard had assumed maybe he’d been confused or disoriented on landing, but hadn’t expected him to be unconscious. Or bleeding from somewhere on his head, and bad. Time felt like it stopped for a minute, stretching on forever as he tried to reconcile what he was seeing. Dan Heng wasn’t even sure when he’d started moving again, only that he had, and without realizing, he was kneeling beside the eerily limp body of his companion, shaking his shoulder. “Caelus?”
Nothing. Another shake, and that was when it hit him: he wasn’t breathing. Panic surged through him, but the glow of orange dancing in those lifeless golden eyes was a reminder that they couldn’t stay there. There was no time. Normally, he would have helped the man to his feet and half-carried him, but he found him surprisingly heavy this time. Dead weight is always heavier, he thought before shaking it from his mind. He had to focus. Maneuvering behind the limp figure, the Xianzhou native managed to loop his arms under the others and around his chest, linking his fingers together in front. There was no way he could get him out of the end of the car without scraping him up with torn metal, not quite strong enough in his current state to fully lift him. Luckily for them both, the flames had yet to engulf the side door, and Dan Heng dragged the other man out as quickly as he could, which was not very quickly at all. At least, it didn’t feel like it was.
We need to get as far from the train car as possible. Every step made him realize something was wrong with his left leg. He could feel a sharp sting shooting up into his knee every time he took a step, much more distinct now that he was trying to carry both their weight. It was impossible to concentrate on it though. Not when he could feel the distinct lack of breathing with his arms wrapped so tightly against his friend’s chest. No rising and falling. No warm air on his hands. Nothing but silence and deadweight. All he had to do was get away from the flames, out of the line of fire of those rocks and he could save him. He knew CPR. He knew basic first aid. He could stop the bleeding, even if it was bad enough that it was now seeping onto the front of his coat, risking stains on the white fabric. No. No no no no, please. We’re supposed to do this together this time. “Caelus, hold on, I’ll—“
A sharp pain seared through his skull as a rock struck him, throwing him off balance. Try as he might, he couldn’t hold on, and Caelus fell to the ground with a hard thud beside him. Lifeless. Dan Heng reached out, desperate to help him, to save him , but his vision wavered for a moment before fading entirely to black. Hearing what sounded like agonized screaming fading in the distance. March…?
The very moment his vision faded, Dang Heng shot upright in bed, breathing heavily, sweat soaking the back of his shirt. Instead of the crash site, his eyes confusedly moved around a room with odd decor that was bathed in the warm light of a midday sun. Both fists were balled up in the light blanket draped over his lap, and to his right, he could hear a distinct, relaxed snore. Ocean eyes that had just been darting around finally came to settle on Caelus, curled up on the bed beside him, sleeping so soundly one would thing none of it had happened. Confusion was rapidly followed by realization, and the tension in his muscles slowly started to unwind. It was just a dream.
No, not a dream. A nightmare. The same one he’d had numerous times since they’d arrived in the Holy City of Okhema a few stressful days earlier. He was able to keep busy and not think about it during the day, pouring over historical texts and local mythology, but at night? There was no escaping it. If it had been something else, he might have been grateful to not dream of the Shackling Prison, but reliving what he, in the moment, thought was Caelus’ death over and over again was arguably just as bad as all those years of solitude. And tonight, it had been particularly vivid, more so than nights prior.
Flipping off the blanket and sliding on his shoes, he shuffled his way out of the room Aglaea had gifted them for the duration of their stay. Not towards the bath houses, but out onto the private balcony it featured, past the comfortable lounge chairs placed there on his request so he could study in the sunlight. No, tonight, he went straight for the balcony’s edge, elbows leaning up against it as he peered out at the near-silent city below. Clearly, the Lucid Hour hadn’t come about yet, and for once he was almost glad for that. He still had no idea how Caelus had even survived that ordeal the day they arrived, the dream always ending the moment he was struck in the head with a rock and inevitably lost consciousness. It was some time later that his friend had woken him by shaking his shoulder, a beaming smile on his face as he informed him he’d drug him off to safety.
Dang Heng hadn’t had the heart to tell the man what he’d just witnessed — how could he when he stood before him seemingly unscathed now? Those golden eyes were full of life and wonder again, so he’d bitten his tongue. Maybe it had something to do with the Stellaron, something about it keeping him alive, or healing him. He’s never healed like this before. The man had patched his friend up more than once in the past — after their fight with Cocolia, after their affairs on the Xianzhou, even after a couple of fights on the real side of Penacony. This wasn’t normal, even for Caelus, who had a Stellaron in his chest and was the definition of abnormal .
“Dan Heng?” came a tired, groggy voice from behind him. Turning his head, he could see the tuft of messy gray hair sticking up in all directions in his peripherals, a microscopic smile tugging at the corners of his lips. He’s alive. That’s what matters. Standing to his full height, Dan Heng was careful to conceal the turmoil in his features, wearing the usual apathetic expression he always did. Even if he did simultaneously want to scoff and laugh at the way Caelus hugged the thin blanket around himself. It wasn’t cold on Amphoreus like it was on the Express. At least not here. “Is it morning already? I feel like I just fell asleep.”
”No,” he stated simply with a small shake of his head, turning back to look out over the balcony’s edge. “You still have time to get more sleep. We aren’t needed today.”
He’d expected little more than a grunt in return, followed by the shuffling of feet as the other crawled his way back into bed. Instead, there was an extended moment of silence before the shuffling of feet on stone. At least now, he didn’t have to worry about keeping his composure, not fully anyway. Except, instead of the sound of Caelus’ body dropping back down onto the bed, he felt something press against his upper back, directly against his spine. Seconds ticked by before he realized it was the other’s forehead pressed to his back, but he didn’t react. Didn’t say anything. He just.. stood there. Confused.
“Why you up?” A genuine question, mumbled so quietly a human wouldn’t have caught it. Dan Heng pressed his lips into a thin line, pondering how to answer that. He didn’t exactly want to tell him he’d had a nightmare about him dying, not now. Silence extended between them, stretching so long it might have caused tension in the air between anyone else. Luckily, Dan Heng was always quiet, reluctant to admit anything aloud, and Caelus was… well, Caelus. It was difficult to make things awkward between them, and after what felt like a few minutes of silence, the latter let out a loud yawn. “Yeah, you’re right. Don’t stay up moping all night.”
And then, without another word, he lifted his head off of his back and shuffled away, at which point Dan Heng let out a long, quiet breath. Had he been holding it that whole time? I doubt he noticed if I was. Not wanting to think on it too hard, he relented, pushing himself up straight and turning to make his way back into the room. Even if he couldn’t get back to sleep just yet, there would at least be some comfort in the sound of the soft snoring that had already resumed in the next bed over while he read.
Doubtful as Dan Heng was in his friend’s perceptive abilities, Caelus had noticed, and those brief few moments replayed in his dreams for the remainder of the night, only the silence between them in his dreams felt like it stretched until morning. Tense. Uncomfortable. That was something he hadn’t experienced around the former High Elder since they had left the Luofu, and it nagged at him. So much so that he was still thinking about it when he woke the next morning. Even if he had intended to ask his friend about it, he couldn’t have, surprised to find that he hadn’t left the room to find more study material like he had in the days since they’d arrived. No, for what felt like the first time since they’d gotten there, Dan Heng was actually laying in bed, an open book laying open across his chest. His thumb was still tucked in between the pages where he’d seemingly dozed into dreams.
Ha, he actually listened to me. He couldn’t help but feel a little pride in that. Normally, he was the one getting bossed around, the one everyone was worrying about, and honestly, he understood why. Caelus had a knack for running head first into danger without really thinking about his own safety. Which he knew was stupid to begin with, but especially so when he remembered that he had a damn Stellaron nestled into his ribcage.
The Stellaron… He couldn’t help but wonder if that was why his friend had been acting so strange ever since they’d arrived on Amphoreus and lost contact with the other Nameless. At first, he’d assumed it was worry, or maybe that Dan Heng was missing March 7th. It wasn’t like he hadn’t noticed the way her eyes lit up like a kid on Christmas every time she looked at him specifically. He’d been the first person she trusted after being thawed from her icy prison, sure, but there was something about the way her cheeks flushed when he turned his attention away from a book for her that was so obvious. Just like every other time he thought about it for too long, irritation started to creep up in him. He wasn’t sure why, really — even if there was something going on, it was very obvious that the two of them preferred hanging out with him more often than without him.
Come to think of it.. are they ever alone? How his train of thought had taken such a hard left, Caelus wasn’t really sure. Luckily, the sounds of Dan Heng shuffling in his blankets snapped him out of his weird spiral, drawing his attention back his way. At first, he thought he was waking up, but it didn’t seem that way, which was odd because Dan Heng didn’t toss and turn in his sleep much. That only happened when images of the Shackling Prison haunted his dreams, which was something he’d only learned after they left Penacony. It had just so happened that the Vidyadhara woke in a cold sweat one night when Caelus had just slid the door to the archives open in search of company on another sleepless night.
He’d shot upright in bed, his breathing so heavy that the other might have thought he’d run a marathon if he hadn’t seen him laying in his beds mere seconds before. There had been a glassy look in his eyes, and a mixture of confusion and fear had flashed across his features when he spotted the figure in his doorway. It had been awkward, but the night had ended in them both laying on the floor of the archives, telling each other about the things they had nightmares about. After that, anytime one of them had a nightmare (or, at least, whenever he did, and Dan Heng sometimes too), they had found one another. Not to be comforted from the feelings the images had stirred in them, not directly. But since that night, the silence between them felt comforting, understanding , in a way that Caelus didn’t quite feel with others on the Express. He wasn’t entirely sure if that feeling was mutual or not, but a small part of him almost hoped it was. Okay dude, cheesy.
If it wasn’t for that same look of fear slowly creeping into Dan Heng’s features, he might have smiled to himself at how dumb the thought was. Definitely a nightmare . This was a first though, and Caelus wasn’t entirely sure what to do. Did he leave his friend to sleep through it? Did he wake him? Just as he resigned to leave him and bathe for the day, since they had such a nice private bath right there in the room, Dan Heng started muttering under his breath. Oh. That’s new. At first, it was unintelligible, but after a moment of him straining to make anything out, the other spoke a little clearer.
“Cae.. lus..” The trailblazer froze, the mumble so quiet he tried to brush it off at first. Maybe he was having a nightmare about Belobog, when they’d fought Cocolia and he had almost died, closely followed by both himself and March. What a time… And then it happened again, only this time, his voice sounded concerned, a little more coherent. So much so the other Nameless had to check that he was still sleeping. “Caelus?”
”I’m right here, man.” He didn’t know why he bothered saying it — it wasn’t as if the man could hear him through the veil of sleep. Maybe he’s having a nightmare about the Stellaron… That thought twisted his gut a little bit. Did he cause that much anxiety by being around? He could only hope he didn’t, but suddenly, the thought of watching Dan Heng struggle in his sleep against invisible demons felt invasive. He hates being seen like this. He knew that much, at least — vulnerability was like poison for him. Pushing to his feet, the grey-haired trailblazer turned to head to the baths, to wash up and hope the other had awoken by the time he got back.
“Caelus!” cried Dan Heng as he bolted upright in bed for the second time that night. The nightmare had haunted him again, only this time, he could have sworn he heard March sobbing in the distance instead of screaming. Sweat dripped down his brow, his hair damp to the touch and sticking to his forehead; his shirt was no better off, the back and right side of it completely stuck to him. His blanket had fallen partly off him when he shot up, but he couldn’t be bothered to fix it, not when he still couldn’t quite breathe right. These are almost worse than dreaming about the Shackling Prison. He was sticky, and uncomfortable, and desperately needed to clean himself up, he decided, eyes raising to glance at the sleeping figure next to him.
Only, Caelus wasn’t laying in bed, snoring away like he usually was when Dan Heng woke up. Panic began to swell in him like an ocean current, but as soon as he looked around, a different kind of fear raised in his chest. Caelus wasn’t in bed because he was standing only a few feet away, one hand raised as if he was going to reach out. The look on his face was enough for him to know that yes, he had almost certainly been in the room when he awoke just now. Fuck.
“S-sorry..” he managed to stammer out, hand coming up to wipe the sweat from his brow with the back of his palm, ripping his eyes away before those golden ones could read the desperation in them. The relief. He’s alive. Those words were turning into a mantra for him at this rate. Silence for a few moments, and neither of them moved. Neither said anything. What do I say? He still didn’t want to tell him, to scare him with the details of that day for no reason. Luckily, he wouldn’t have to.
“Don’t even worry about it, I was already on my way to save the day!” There was that confidence only Caelus knew how to wield so effortlessly, a beaming smile on his lips when Dan Heng finally managed to raise those eyes to meet his again. It was almost like permission for him to offer a small, but genuine smile in return, something he knew the other would understand. It wasn’t like smiles were something he gave very often, after all, and the other seemed to understand just fine. “I was just about to catch a bath. Wanna join me?”
“Yeah. I could use one,” he sighed out, almost comforted by the fact that bathing with others was more normal than bathing alone on Amphoreus. It was like that amongst the Vidyadhara as well, and he was surprised to find it was a practice he naturally fell into, even finding it more comforting than showering alone. Must be instincts. As awkward as he felt, the last thing Dan Heng wanted right now was to be left to his thoughts, and he was fortunate enough that Caelus had another silly theory about Amphoreus to prattle on about while they bathed. It was just what he needed.