[Between the Paths of Fate]
Believers, warriors, seekers of knowledge. There are always mortals who, intentionally or not, step onto a Path governed by an Aeon, and from that moment on become Pathstriders who put its ideals into practice.
But…
For most Pathstriders, Aeons neither see nor care.
Still, if a Pathstrider pulls off something truly outrageous, an Aeon might glance their way out of amusement, approval, or pity.
The place where one bears that glance and audiences an Aeon is called the Interstice of Paths. Put simply, it is the kind of experience worth bragging about for the rest of your life.
"Listen carefully, Jin Lajitzde."
Stelle's expression had never been so serious (╰_╯). She stretched out a finger and pointed straight at the trash can in front of her.
"If I get out of here and find that Jarilo-VI is already destroyed, I will make public every single embarrassing thing about you and the King of Trash, Tatalov!
For example, while other trash can heroes were fighting the final boss, you two were busy playing on a seesaw at the most critical moment, and you ended up getting launched by Tatalov, smashing headfirst into the long-foreshadowed final boss and killing it by accident!"
Svarog said Jarilo-VI had only three minutes left before annihilation. Yet Stelle had already been wandering around the Path Space for more than thirty minutes.
This Jin Lajitzde really was unreliable!
Other people finished their Interstice walks in just a few minutes. His was like waiting in line at a tourist attraction where the queue speeds up and slows down at random, with no idea when your turn will ever come.
Every single trash can demanded a conversation.
And you had to listen to each one ramble about domestic nonsense. It was interesting at first, but by now Stelle's mind had gone completely blank.
"Hiss—"
Jin Lajitzde sucked in a sharp breath. On the surface of the can appeared a recently popular blank stare expression (⊙_⊙).
"Oh! My dear little friend! How do you know about that? I do not even remember writing it into my Memoirs myself!"
"Heh. Probably because you are old and forgetful."
Stelle delivered the jab with a flat expression.
"Giggle, you are absolutely right! How could I forget that!"
Jin Lajitzde clapped his hands.
The beach ball and poker cards on his body hugged each other, and then a crying expression appeared on the can as he dropped to his knees and clasped Stelle's hands.
"Oh my goodness, please, I beg you. Just this one thing. Little friend, you absolutely must not let this get out!"
Stelle: (⊙_⊙)
In Jin Lajitzde's Memoirs, there were plenty of sections marked with "Gigigigi, this is too embarrassing, I will delete it later." Most of them were related to the Sage of Trash Cans, Jin Lajitzde himself.
But for some reason, none of it had ever been deleted.
And now it was actually useful. Stelle had started to grow curious about why, when Jin Lajitzde spoke through tears:
"Just this one thing. Just this one thing. The incident of 'cheerfully playing on a seesaw, trying to launch Akivili, only to get launched by Akivili instead, and accidentally smash the world-destroying demon lord to death.' I, Aha, do not want anyone to ever know about it! Waaaah!"
"Wait, you—"
Stelle's face went rigid with shock.
Akivili. Aha. As a tester of the Simulated Universe, as a Nameless of the Astral Express, those two names were burned deeply into her memory.
The former was the Aeon of Trailblaze.
The latter was the Aeon of Elation, who wrecked havoc every time the simulation refreshed, crashing Herta's Simulated Universe and giving her endless headaches.
"Aren't you the Sage of Trash Cans, Jin Lajitzde? When did you get swapped out for Aha? What did you do to Jin Lajitzde? Give me back the trash can I summoned!"
Stelle (╰_╯) whipped out her bat and leapt backward, staring warily at this clearly replaced trash can.
Aha: Oh no! I let it slip!
As one of the highest Aeons in the universe, the clever Aha found a remedy in less than a second.
Sudden laughter erupted. Spark-like joy with arms and legs leapt out, dancing around Stelle.
Jin Lajitzde's trash can body shattered on the spot. Accompanied by the sounds of little horns and magic boxes, the Aeon of Elation, Aha, revealed himself.
This time, however, it was not a virtual Aeon constructed within the Simulated Universe.
It was the real thing. Tangible. Reachable.
"That Jin Lajitzde guy is already done for by me! The other trash cans probably ran off to the Underworld. Well, whatever!"
Aha extended a horn-shaped hand, and a strange seesaw appeared at the center of the Interstice of Paths.
"Next up is you, King of Trash, Tatalov!"
"Haki-Aha, you bastard!"
Under the influence of Elation illusions, Stelle very naturally slipped into the role of the King of Trash, Tatalov, and puffed angrily at Haki-Aha, the villain who persecuted the trash can clan in this story.
Carrying the bearing of the Trash King, Stelle strode toward the strange seesaw.
"Oh? Coming straight at me? You are not even trying to run, but instead challenging me, Haki-Aha, at the seesaw game I excel at most? Ho ho, King of Trash, Tatalov, I acknowledge you!"
With boundless confidence, Aha walked toward the seesaw as well.
Ten meters.
Nine meters.
Eight meters.
When the distance closed to eight meters!
With resolute looks (⊙_⊙) in their eyes, Aha and Stelle leapt high at the same time, throwing their full strength into landing on the seesaw.
"Haah!" Stelle roared.
"Aha!" Aha roared back.
The two rode opposite ends of the seesaw, straining with all their might to launch the other. Yet because their strength was evenly matched, the seesaw remained perfectly balanced, locked in stalemate.
At that moment.
Golden cloud-like projections of trash cans suddenly appeared in the sky of the Path Space. In Stelle's view, it was the Sage of Trash Cans, Jin Lajitzde, who had been assassinated by the Aeon of Elation, Aha.
[Jin Lajitzde: Stelle, do not give up. Never give up. As long as you keep moving forward, the road will continue to stretch out before you. All trash cans believe in you!]
As the Sage of Trash Cans spoke.
Countless trash cans appeared in the form of golden clouds. The original Pure Beauty Trash Can, the Gang Trash Can, the Order Trash Can that had been active across Jarilo-VI, and the trash cans who had pioneered the Underworld together with Stelle and the others.
[Pure Beauty Trash Can: You need not worry, Stelle. After fulfilling Pure Beauty's mission, I will go seek the next land in need of protection…]
[Order Trash Can: Stelle, I believe you can turn this world, where people become like trash cans and trash cans become like people, into a world without shadows, a happy world where people are people and trash cans are trash cans.]
[Gang Trash Can: Hey, I am not great with words, living on the streets and all. You are the first to understand trash cans this deeply. What a pity we met so late. May garbage sorting be with you!]
[…]
Receiving the power of her trash can seniors, Stelle's face twisted into an angry glare (╰_╯). Her strength surged, spiked, and exploded. The balance of the magical seesaw began tilting toward victory.
"This… this is impossible!"
Aha, now at a disadvantage, had no face, but the shock was clear in his voice.
"Just a trash can! Damn it! I, Aha… I, the great Haki-Aha… haaah—"
As Stelle's side sank to the lowest point, the Aeon of Elation, Aha, seemed to trigger some kind of mechanism. Along with his balls, horns, and gift boxes, he was launched away, leaving behind only a fool's mask and a round die.
"Just you wait! Damn you, Tatalov! I, Haki-Aha, will come back for revenge—!"
Aha vanished into the sea of stars.
"Hmph."
Stelle struck a cool pose.
"The reason you failed is simple. Extremely simple! Haki-Aha, you dared to swap out my guaranteed drop as the Galactic Baseball Bat Hero. You really did piss me off!"
Picking up the mask and die Aha had dropped, a transparent portal appeared before Stelle.
"Hm… according to the Sage of Trash Cans, Jin Lajitzde's final plan, stepping through this door should lead me to the final battlefield, where I can stop Cocolia's scheme. I hope it is not too late."
With that,
Stelle, eyes filled with resolve, stepped into the portal.
…
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Let me know if I got a name wrong. I know basically nothing about MyGO.