"Sigh, you silly girl. Your reaction was a bit slow, but at least you haven't forgotten everything I taught you."
Seeing March 7th finally put the pieces together, Wende felt a little comforted. It was better than her forgetting completely. It seemed March really had taken his lessons to heart.
"Wen... Wende, how did you end up like this? You didn't... die, did you...? Could it be... your spirit is protecting me...?"
March looked at the skull, which was nodding its head in a gratified manner. Tears welled up in her eyes without her realizing it. She lowered her head, looking utterly pitiable, and her voice came out a bit hoarse.
"###"
Veins bulged on Wende's forehead. He took back his previous feeling of gratification. This girl's train of thought... was as profound as ever.
"BONK!"
"Ouch!"
Under Wende's control, the metal skull tapped lightly on March's head, causing her to squat down in pain, clutching her head with teary eyes.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry! Can't you see I was wrong?! It was just a joke, don't take it so seriously!"
March quickly raised her hands in surrender to the skull. Although she'd been hit, she didn't sense any malice from it. She didn't know what had happened, but the person controlling the skull was definitely Wende!
"Sigh, you silly girl."
Wende shook his head, feeling quite helpless.
For now, the priority was to find a way to free March from this dreamscape.
Wende closed his eyes again, spreading his Chaos energy out like a sheet, searching for any clues within the dream train's carriage.
Soon, he discovered something amiss. In a corner of the Parlor Car, there was a fissure completely distinct from the train itself. Why distinct? Because it didn't seem to exist on the same plane as the train, like a crack that had appeared out of thin air in the middle of space. This had to be the key to helping March escape the dream.
Wende guided the skull to spin in place, signaling March to focus her attention on it. Then, like a tour guide, he began to lead the way.
Although March's thought process was quite bizarre, she really wasn't dense! Well, at least not at critical moments. At the very least, she understood what Wende was trying to convey and decisively followed the skull he was controlling.
---o---
Pushing open the bedroom door, March peeked her little head out furtively. She looked both ways and, after confirming there were no monsters, she quietly followed the skull in front of her, her footsteps as light as a cat's.
Suddenly, the floating metal skull stopped moving. It hovered left and right in front of March, signaling her not to follow. Then, under her confused gaze, it floated around a corner.
"BONK! BONK!"
Two crisp thwacks sounded from a room to the side. That was the train's data bank...
A few seconds later, the metal skull slowly floated out of the data bank and thoughtfully closed the door for March, preventing her from seeing any "violent" scenes she shouldn't.
Just as Wende had figured, everyone in this train, aside from March, was being played by these dream monsters. Since this was a Punklorde illusion, it wasn't surprising that the monsters were all Punklorde scavengers.
It was just that... the fake Dan Heng he'd just bludgeoned to death with a skull... hmm, it was quite comical.
And so, to ensure March's safety, Wende began a roll call of sorts.
For a moment, the sound of "bonk, bonk" echoed throughout the entire train, as crisp and moving as village percussion music. Truly, only the most rustic of instruments (not) could produce such a pleasant melody.
March could only tremble in fear behind Wende, praying he wouldn't get addicted to head-knocking and start using her and Stelle's heads as percussion instruments in the future... Actually, just use Stelle's head! Stelle's head is hard as iron!
(At this moment, Stelle, who was in her own illusion: Achoo!)
Alright, that should be all of them, right? Now they could touch the fissure.
Wende controlled the skull to lead March directly to the crack. The metal skull bobbed up and down, signaling her to touch the fissure suspended in the gap within the train.
Staring at the completely illogical crack before her, March scratched her head in confusion. She looked quizzically at the skull; it was her only channel of communication with Wende in this dream.
"What is this...? Am I supposed to touch it?"
The skull nodded.
"Alright then. See you on the outside."
March nodded back at the skull, then, with a solemn expression, reached her hand toward the fissure she hadn't noticed until now...
In an instant, the entire space disintegrated. Wende was expelled from March's dream, and his perspective returned to the initial space.
Gazing at the slowly disappearing erosion on March's body, it seemed her side of the problem was solved. Next up...
His eyes fell upon Stelle, who had appeared at some point. Like March, her body was glowing with the light of erosion. Without a moment's hesitation, Wende reached out his hand toward the sleeping Stelle and began the next dream rescue...
---o---
"Wende~ Wende, I'm hungry! I want mung bean milk over rice!"
In the illusion, Stelle was nestled between "Wende" and "Kafka," cooing at Wende in a sickeningly sweet voice.
"...Thwack!"
Wende, having just entered Stelle's dream, was immediately greeted by this scene. He slapped his own forehead, a headache already forming.
This rebellious child! What kind of dream was this?! This dream of hers was a menace to society! He was out there desperately saving people, and here she was, enjoying the "pleasure of having two partners"?! Wait, no, that was an extremely inappropriate way to describe this.
Wende took a deep breath, calming the impulse to give the goofy-looking Stelle a super-duper-lightning-needle-pro-max-plus version of a shock, just so she could properly experience what "fatherly love" was all about!
The situation was the same as March's. Aside from a few extra "imposters" who shouldn't have been on the train, there didn't seem to be much difference.
It was just that these guys hadn't started baring their fangs yet. Did they know their combat strength was no match for Berserker Stelle? Were they planning to take a different approach?
Watching the fake Wende who had just left, Wende pondered for a moment and decided to follow him to investigate. After all, he was currently in some kind of... quantum state?