You hadn't exactly been on the Astral Express crew for very long, maybe a month or so at most. Everyone had been so happy and overjoyed by the new presence on the express, especially Welt and Himeko, to see a new young arrival raring to go on each adventure, and you were just as excited to get to know everyone and be part of the crew, and everything was great.

On your latest adventure at the planet the Astral Express had stopped at to resolve a stelleron crisis resulted in pure disaster, explosions left and right, and you failed to seal it before the casualty tolls could rise. Himeko only just managed to seal it before the rest of the crew and citizens of that world could get hurt or worse, but not before the death count made it to 507.

Welt had been one of them; he didn't survive the ordeal. At the start of the mission, you had been buddied up with Welt, so when everything went to chaos, it was he who put his life on the line to try and protect you when everything had gone pear-shaped. Even though it wasn't your fault, you almost blame yourself for it.

You had been helping Himeko go through his things to clear out his room on the express; it's not like he was here anymore to need it exactly... as much as it hurt, it had to be done so that there would be a room for any new passengers on board following this. Picking a photo of her and Welt off his shelf to place into a box, she stared at it for a few long seconds before speaking.

"Hey, Welt, can you pass me-..."

She caught herself mid-sentence, realizing that she had just called you "Welt"; she really was struggling with this, wasn't she?. She let out a discontented sigh as she placed the photo down

"S-sorry, I didn't mean to call you that. I know he's gone... I just... Struggling to process it all."