Caelus

Kelus died.
Two Earth years ago.
He was killed by Dan Heng—with his own hands—to prevent a catastrophe that could have destroyed all life. Kelus never completed the Path of Completion.
At first, no one could believe what had happened. They couldn't accept that the Pioneer's journey, which had traversed such a long and arduous path, had ended like this.
The Star Express plunged into mourning. Everyone tried to find a way out, a way to fix everything, to turn back time, to change the unchangeable.
But that really was the end.
Himeko, Welt, Pom-Pom, Sunday, and Mart tried their best to maintain their old spirit. Only Dan Heng had completely withdrawn.

At some point, Dan Heng began receiving strange messages from an unknown number. Their content seemed even stranger: short, almost meaningless phrases.

— "The stars are falling upward. "*
—* "How are you? "*
—* "The eons are sleeping. " *
—* "Do you like soy soda? "*

Dan Heng began to suspect that he was going crazy. Dan Heng didn’t tell anyone about the messages. And after some time, he began to answer.
Sometimes the answers sounded as if Kelus himself had written.

One night, Dan Heng was lying in the archives with his eyes closed. Sleep would not come. Memories returned him to that day again and again. Over and over.
And suddenly he felt a strange heaviness from above.
His exhausted body instantly tensed. Dan Heng opened his eyes — and everything inside him went cold.
Goosebumps ran across his skin. A primal fear stirred in his chest.
Kelus.
Kelus sat on him.
For several long seconds, Dan Heng could only stare at him, certain he had finally lost his mind.
— You…
Kelus tilted his head slightly to the side. In the darkness, his face was barely visible, but a familiar sly smile played on his lips.
— Hello.
Dan Heng froze. The air caught in his lungs, and only after several agonizing moments did he manage to squeeze out:
— You are dead. I killed you.
Kelus's smile wavered.
Only for a moment—but Dan Heng noticed.
— I know, — he answered quietly.
The voice was the same. Painfully familiar: slightly hoarse, calm, with a barely perceptible mockery. This is exactly how Dan Heng remembered him from endless conversations in the train car, from dangerous forays and the rare nights when they both couldn’t sleep.
But the dead don’t talk.
The dead don’t smile.
And they certainly don’t sit on the chest of the one who ended their life.
“Get off me,” Dan Heng demanded quietly.
“Are you afraid?”
“Get off.”
Kelus sighed, as if this was exactly the answer he expected to hear. He pointed a finger at his chest.
“Here,” he said thoughtfully. “You pierced me right here.”
A blinding light flashed in his memory. Blood on his hands. Golden eyes wide with pain. A last, barely audible breath.
Dan Heng swallowed.
— What are you?
— I am Kelus.
— Kelus is dead.
— You already said that.
— I saw you die.
— And I felt it.
Kelus lifted his shirt. Beneath the fabric, where the fatal blow had once passed, a gaping wound. There was no blood. Only impenetrable darkness, in the depths of which tiny stars flickered faintly.
Dan Heng felt a chill rise in his throat.
— What is this?
— I have no idea, Kelus covered the wound again. — But it's getting bigger.
— Himeko needs to see this.
Dan Heng reached for the phone, but Kelus instantly grabbed his wrist.
The touch burned with warmth.
Real warmth.
— No.
— Let go.
— They can't know I've returned.
— Why?
— Because I didn't return alone.
Somewhere beyond the walls of the archive, a dull metallic scraping sound was heard.
Both of them froze.
In the ensuing darkness, Dan Heng heard Pom-Pom's voice coming from the public address system:
— All passengers, assemble in the main car immediately! A foreign presence has been detected on the Express!
The message was cut off by a sharp noise.
Kelus's fingers tightened around Dan Heng's wrist.
— Quiet.
Kelus looked towards the door.
Footsteps were heard outside.
Slow.
Uneven.
They were approaching down the corridor, accompanied by a soft whisper. It was the voice of* "Kelus."

• Dan Heng...
  The steps stopped right at the door.
  “Don’t open it,” he mouthed.
  There was a knock.
  Three short blows.
  And then a voice behind the door said:
• Dan Heng, get away from him. He's not human.

When someone asks why a dead man would travel among the stars, Kelus only smiles and replies:
"To find out one day where they fall. Maybe one of them fell right on me."