"Goodbye, Acheron. I look forward to our next date."
"Mm, goodbye."
Lumina waved goodbye with a smile, subtly laying the groundwork for their next meeting.
Acheron, constantly influenced by the Nihility, was no match for Lumina's schemes. Completely unsuspecting of her carefully laid plans, she simply waved back, nodded, and offered a calm farewell.
"I'm off," Lumina said, tilting her head slightly in acknowledgement. With a swift turn, her entire figure vanished without leaving even a lingering shadow.
"Looks like it's something urgent..." Watching Lumina's hasty departure, a flicker of complex emotions stirred within Acheron's usually placid eyes.
If I had agreed to be Lumina's friend from the start, would she have accepted my request for help earlier?
Seeing Lumina's frantic urgency, it was clear that whatever had happened was far more serious than she had let on.
Acheron stared blankly at the spot where Lumina had disappeared. After a moment, she snapped out of her daze, her expression returning to its usual impassivity, as if the earlier display of emotion had been produced by someone else entirely.
"Hmph... Forget it."
Sensing the lingering trace of Lumina's presence in the air, Acheron turned and left without a backward glance.
"Miss Himeko, Mr. Welt, March, what's happened to Stelle?"
Lumina punched through Penacony's Dreamscape again, arriving at The Reverie Hotel in reality. Following the coordinates March 7th had sent, she quickly found the group.
"I don't know! We can't find her in either reality or the Dreamscape... Could she have fallen into some terrifying abyss?" March 7th blurted out, her face contorting with fear as she recalled the horror videos she'd been watching.
"I told you to stop watching so many short videos," Lumina said with a chuckle. "You're already a bit clueless; if you keep watching, who knows what you'll do?"
While March 7th's point was valid, it didn't excuse her addiction to short videos. When discipline was needed, Lumina never hesitated to speak her mind.
Nodding to Himeko and Welt, Lumina continued, "I encountered Stelle in Penacony's Dreamscape. She was with a charming stage performer."
"A Memokeeper?"
The similar pronunciation of "忆" (memory) and "艺" (stage performance) seemed to have caused a misunderstanding. Welt and Himeko's expressions immediately darkened.
Seeing their expressions, Lumina immediately realized what they were thinking. Smiling, she clarified, "Stage performer, not Memokeeper.
However, her explanation seemed to only confuse Welt and Himeko further.
"Firefly, the stage performer from the Penacony Iris Family, is a very sweet girl." Realizing her explanation was too convoluted, Lumina decided to directly introduce Firefly's identity while reassuring them:
"Don't worry. Stelle has a Storage Ring I left with her. Unless she encounters an Aeon-level enemy, she'll be safe."
Hearing this, the tension between Himeko and Welt's brows eased slightly.
They exhaled in relief and exchanged glances before Himeko spoke up: "Miss Lumina, just moments ago, a Memokeeper claiming to be from the Garden of Recollection approached us."
"She said she could retrieve Stelle and instructed us to wait here."
"She claimed Stelle had fallen into Penacony's own Dream..."
"Miss Lumina, are you familiar with such a place?"
Although Black Swan had promised to bring Stelle back safely, and Lumina had assured her that Stelle would be safe with the ring, Himeko couldn't help but worry. Perhaps this was simply the eternal anxiety parents feel for their children.
"Hmm... I don't know," Lumina said after a moment's thought, shaking her head. Then, shifting her tone, she asked, "But I do know the Memokeeper you mentioned. Her name is Black Swan, right?"
"Yes, Miss Lumina, you know her? Can she be trusted?"
"Whether she can earn the Astral Express's trust is up to you to decide, not me."
"At least, in my eyes, she still seems trustworthy."
"After all, she's just a fervent [Memory] collector—what harm could she possibly do?"
Lumina shrugged, offering a faint smile as she openly voiced her assessment of Black Swan.
"Though she came here to help you find Stelle, it seems that's no longer necessary."
Sensing the approaching presence behind her, Lumina's lips curled into a slight smirk.
Didn't expect this, did you, Black Swan? If you won't come looking for me, I'll come looking for you~