The first sensation he experienced was weightlessness. He tried to move, flailing his limbs in search of something to grab, something to stand on, or anything to feel. Yet he touched nothing. Did he even have limbs? He couldn't be sure.
When he opened his eyes, or what he perceived as eyes, he saw not just emptiness, but a bizarre blend of everything and nothing at once. Visions of the past, present, and future flashed before him, only to be forgotten almost instantly.
He closed his eyes, no longer wanting to confront the void.
.....
He waited and waited for something to happen. How long has it been? Time seemed meaningless here. Perhaps only a few seconds have passed, yet why does it feel like an eternity?
In his 'head' he began counting. From 1 to 10 to 100 to 1000 to 10000 to 10^10 000.
By the time he stopped counting, he was sure that he had long passed infinity.
.....
A touch. He felt it. He didn't know when or how, but something resembling tendrils wrapped around him, pulling him somewhere. To where? He had no idea. Yet anything that was not the void would be welcomed.
As the unknown tendrils drew him closer to their destination, a single question emerged in his mind, a question he hadn't considered before: "Who am I?"
.....
THUD!
"Whoa! What was that? Did the train just hit something?" March exclaimed as she fell onto the ground from the impact.
A man with brown hair adjusted his glasses and looked around. The Nameless of the Astral Express had just finished their meeting on their next destination to Trailblaze when something hit the train. "March, Dan Heng, stay here. Himeko and I will investigate. Make sure to be ready for anything." He instructed the two newest members of the Express.
Dan Heng and March nodded, readying their spear and bow respectively. While they might not show it, they were both a bit frightened at what had probably managed to get inside the Express.
A frightened Pom-Pom clutched their broom tightly while Himeko and Welt went to check the furthest train car, where the collision had most likely occurred.
As Welt and Himeko's forms disappear from sight, the trio held their breath as they waited for the two to return. Hopefully with good news.
Suddenly, a vibration in their pockets made March jump in surprise. She pulled out her phone and discovered a message from Himeko.
"Dan Heng, March, come over here. There's something you need to see. Make sure to bring Pom-Pom along."
Both of them exchanged glances and nodded, realising that whatever they had discovered must have been extraordinary. As they left the train car, Pom-Pom followed after them.
Arriving at the furthest train car, their initial tension was soon replaced by confusion when they found Welt and Himeko standing in front of a giant egg.
"Is that an egg from the Swarm?" Dan Heng asked, uncertainty lacing his tone. He had seen what an egg from the Swarm was like; this one, however, was much different and seemed much closer in size to a person.
"I don't know. Still, just because it seems harmless, we need to be careful," Welt said, his eyes analysing the potential danger the egg might pose.
"This isn't the start of some horror movie, right? You know, the one where a crew on a space station is being hunted by a monster?" March added. "Wahh!"
As March finished speaking, the egg began to shake, revealing that whatever was inside was trying to break free from its shell.
The crew of the Astral Express readied their weapons, holding their breath as they awaited the emergence of whatever was inside, hoping it wouldn't be dangerous.
Plop
When the egg fully hatched, the crew of the Astral Express could only look on in disbelief at what had just come out of it. A human boy in a fetal position with some odd-looking insectoid features.
Although still covered by a thin membrane, various pitch-black, mixed with red, armors resembling those of an insect dotted the boy's body, appearing rather unfinished, as some patches revealed his pale white skin. His arms, meanwhile, are entirely covered by an exoskeleton, resembling a gauntlet, with what would be fingers replaced by tiny claws, five on each hand.
On his back, a still-soft shell failed to conceal two pairs of membranous wings that looked both fragile and sturdy at the same time.
When the Express crew examined the boy's head and face, they found him sleeping peacefully, with strands of his light pink hair tipped with dark blue covering part of his face. The sides of his cheeks near his mouth adorn a pair of tiny mandibles barely reaching the front which are currently moving rather erratically. On the top of his head, a pair of small pink wings juts out, forming a rather cute shape of a heart.
Evidently, the silent commotion around the boy must have stirred him awake, as they noticed his eyelids fluttering before he finally opened them. A pink iris stared back at them, and the crew braced themselves for what might happen next.
They were expecting various outcomes, ranging from the boy suddenly lunging at them to him transforming into some kind of monster. However, what they did not anticipate was for him to simply wave his left hand at them.