However, not everyone was filled with gratitude.
The sudden, monuntal change in Belobog's environnt also caused restless thoughts to stir in the shadows. In the Underworld, troublemakers incited occasional riots among the vagrants. In the Overworld, the old, disgruntled aristocrats began plotting in their gilded halls.
But under the swift and decisive response of Cocolia and Bronya, the fluctuations in the Overworld were quickly quelled. Cocolia's restored authority and Bronya's sharp, efficient command made short work of the dissenters.
anwhile, Seele returned to the Underworld. Working alongside Natasha, she stabilized the hearts and minds of Wildfire, and the brief turmoil settled just as quickly as it had begun. The scattered riots were extinguished before they could truly catch fla.
Through everyone's tireless efforts, the Overworld and Underworld were reconnected. The long-isolated passage, a relic of a bygone era of division, was opened once again.
For the first ti in her life, Hook stepped onto the soil of the Overworld.
"Wu… Wuu-wah! Th-this is… such a big, blue roof!" she gasped, her eyes wide as saucers as she pointed a trembling finger at the sky in utter amazent.
"That's not a roof, Hook…" Natasha's eyes grew moist, and she knelt to explain softly, her voice thick with emotion. "That's the sky."
This child, and so many others, were seeing the true sky for the very first ti.
"Is this… the Overworld?" Clara asked in a hushed voice, taking a deep, experintal breath. "The sll in the air… it's very different from below."
"Analysis conclusion: The concentration of rust and Geomarrow dust in the air of the Overworld is significantly lower than in the Underworld," Svarog's chanical voice rang out, ever the pragmatist.
"Breathe to your heart's content," Leon said with a warm smile, gesturing to the open expanse around them. "This is the scent of freedom."
While the other mbers of the Astral Express crew had already thrown themselves into the grand project of rebuilding Belobog, Leon had been tasked with escorting Natasha and the others to the surface.
"It's strange… when I was on the cable car, my mind was filled with all the things I wanted to do in the future," Natasha murmured, her gaze sweeping over the busy yet vibrant streets. She let out a soft sigh. "But now, I just want to find a place to sit quietly and watch the crowds go by. I could just space out like this for the whole day."
The change had co so fast, so completely, that it left her feeling a bit dazed, almost dreamlike. Fortunately, with the help of Seele and the Astral Express, everything was not only on track but thriving.
"Enjoy this mont of peace, Natasha," Leon said gently. "You've more than earned it."
Just then, Leon's communicator vibrated in his pocket. He pulled it out to see a ssage from Cocolia, containing only a short, tantalizing sentence: "Are you coming tonight?"
Leon chuckled, a low, knowing sound. He typed back a simple reply: "Coming."
Almost at the sa instant, another ssage notification popped up. This one was from Serval.
'Hmm? Did you two sisters coordinate this?' Leon's eyebrows quirked in amusent as he tapped open the new ssage.
Serval: [Leon, you there? You there?]
Serval: [I was cleaning up and found two drink vouchers for the Goethe Hotel. Want to go grab so together?]
Leon smiled. He typed back: [A free drink is a free drink. Don't you dare run off now.]
Serval: [It's a deal. Whoever doesn't show up is a Snowland Rat!]
Serval: [Anyway, there's a spot next to the lobby. Be there or be square.]
On the other end of the connection, Serval put down her phone and took a deep, steadying breath. Her finger unconsciously traced the edge of the table, a subtle tell of her nervousness.
Leon sent one last ssage before heading out. [Be right there. Help order a cup of that…]
He chuckled to himself, pocketing his device, and made his way leisurely toward the hotel.
He found Serval standing before the lobby's floor-to-ceiling windows, staring blankly at the reviving street scene outside. Her profile, silhouetted against the afternoon light, revealed a subtle, hard-to-detect tension.
"Where is he… why hasn't he arrived yet…" Serval murmured under her breath, her anxiety leaking out in a whisper.
Seeing her like this, Leon decided it was ti to make his entrance. He stepped out from behind a pillar.
"Speak of the devil. I was just wondering what had you looking so lost in thought."
Serval's shoulders gave a violent tremble. She spun around, her face quickly arranging itself into her usual hearty smile, though the tips of her ears were a tell-tale shade of faint red.
"After all, there's free afternoon tea to be had," Leon said smoothly, walking to her side.
"Rest assured, there are plenty of drinks and desserts. It's my treat today, so order whatever you want," Serval said, trying to make her tone sound as natural as possible. "After all… I might have a lot of things to consult you about today, so I had to use this thod to 'bribe' you a bit."
She paused, glancing at the sowhat noisy surroundings. "But it's really crowded today. I'm afraid we'll have to stand and talk."
"Then I'll just have to drink my fill," Leon chuckled.
"Don't drink too much, or you'll have trouble sleeping tonight," Serval replied subconsciously. She then cleared her throat, realizing what she'd said, and quickly tried to get down to business. "Actually, I asked you out because I have sothing to ask of you…"
"I knew it," Leon's voice suddenly dropped to a low, conspiratorial whisper. He leaned in closer, his eyes glinting with pure mirth. "You're coveting my body… go ahead, I don't mind."
Serval was visibly stunned, her brain seeming to crash for a solid second.
Then, as the aning of his words fully registered, her cheeks turned beet red with a resounding whoosh. For so reason, those half-teasing, half-frank 'bold words' from her private chat with Cocolia a few days ago flashed through her mind—wait! No!
She didn't an that at all!
"You—! That's not what I ant!" Serval yelped, both embarrassed and anxious. Her voice rose a few notches, causing so of the nearby patrons to glance over curiously.
"I understand, I know. It's a girl's reserve, right?" Leon adopted an expression of deep understanding. "Goethe Hotel, the two of us, drinking alone… I understand your intentions completely!"
He even managed to put on a "shy" expression, a perfect picture of bashful acceptance. "Actually… I like you quite a bit, too."
Serval just stared. 'What on earth is going on here?'
She could feel the heat on her face refusing to go down, and her heart was beating a bit too erratically for comfort. She really, really hadn't ant that… but asking him out alone to a hotel in the evening, and acting so nervous herself… it did seem easy to misunderstand, didn't it?
And did he just say 'like you too'? Isn't he with Cocolia…? So, he feels that way about her as well? Serval felt her train of thought was about to tie itself into an impossible knot.
"Sigh… I really didn't an that!" she insisted, rubbing her burning face as she tried to pull the derailed topic back on track. "Let think how to start… If I rember correctly, you, March, Stelle, Welt, and Dan Heng ca to Belobog on the Astral Express, right?"
She took a deep breath and finally asked the question that had been circling in her mind for days.
"Actually, what I wanted to ask was… does your train still welco new passengers?"
"So it was just that?" Leon put on a look of deep disappointnt.
"What do you an 'just that'…?" Serval didn't know whether to laugh or cry, her face still flushed a brilliant red. Leon's crestfallen expression made her feel a bit embarrassed, but at the sa ti, a faint, inexplicable sense of pride blood in her heart.
Serval had originally thought that with things settled, the Stellaron crisis solved, and Cocolia having stepped down as Supre Guardian to find her own place to belong, there wasn't much left for her in Belobog. Her days would consist of repairing equipnt in the Neverwinter Workshop and practicing her guitar.
Of course, there were occasional performances, and the atmosphere was good, but the audience was always the sa familiar faces.
For soone like Serval, a woman with a background in scientific research and an insatiable curiosity, the grand opportunity to explore a new world—the entire universe—was right in front of her. How could she not be tempted?
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