"All aboard!" A conductor shouted, alerting everyone to get on board. Just behind the gates lay a forty-foot train that opened its doors to various men, women, and children boarding it. "Riza, you can read more on the train ride there, we gotta get on." Sonalius hurried her along. She flipped the book closed, her golden eyes laced with determination. They approached the doors as many soldiers stood near it.
"Are you foreigners?" A guard inquired and looked at Sonalius.
"I"m a citizen," Sonalius replied casually, "here"s my pa.s.s." He gave the guard a blue slip, and the guard ran his energy into it.
"Sonalius Isiria, elite guard as of twenty-five years ago... this is outdated sir."
"Is there a problem with it being a bit old?" Sonalius glared at the man, making him feel extremely uncomfortable.
"N-no, sir. It"s just that there was a naked young man who is extremely powerful that a.s.sailed our city, killing several men and women. He has long black hair, a disturbing smile, black eyes, and used the s.p.a.ce law. Have you seen someone matching that description?"
"That"s tragic!" Sonalius blurted out in a loud voice, frightening the people around him. "But we haven"t seen anyone like that. I do hope our Sun Empire can find out what happened, though. Our condolences, may Sol protect us all." After lying to the guards, the two entered in and sat down. Lychni and shades crowded every visible s.p.a.ce of the train. There were over a hundred people all stuffed together in an enclosed s.p.a.ce.
"Way too suspicious, Sonalius!" Riza nagged him, "who shouts like th"
"A kid‽ You pansies can"t even fight off a single kid‽ No, you idiot! Do I look like I"ve seen him? He"d be dead or worse if he came across me!" A man shouted and stormed onto the train. Riza blushed and looked down, feeling awkward. He came on board and stood near them.
"Alright, listen up!" He shouted. "Your commander is speaking now." The lychni halted their conversations and straightened up. "We found the s.p.a.ce creature dead just west of this city."
"Dead? We killed it?" the crowd was elated and whispered endlessly.
"We did not kill it!" The commander sighed, "It wasn"t us, and the s.p.a.ce creature we were looking for... this seems to be its child that we found dead! There were deep cut marks that covered its body, so we believe this was done by a swordsman! We didn"t find the adult creature that wreaked havoc yet, however. Be vigilant and recover your strength, it"ll likely be coming after whoever killed its son. Once we get back to the city of Halgore, I"ll talk to you all again. Rest up!" He laid against the metal side of the train as it slowly took off. The wheels continued to spin on the track as Riza looked back, wondering where Rey was.
In the far south, beyond the city of Lorea,
"You were a bookworm for the first fifteen years of your life, yet you don"t even remember the applications of what you read, do you, Rey? The Aggra flower isn"t effective in creating sedatives by itself… but if mixed with Honeyflower and Daydream tree sap... its effect is enhanced 900 times over. But you don"t remember this, do you? How gracious I am to remind you then." He spoke curiously as he gulped down a green concoction. His long white hair fluttered in the wind. "This should buy both of us some time," He laughed and, using vines, tied himself to the base of a tree.
"Where is your instinct, fallen one? Have you come for revenge so soon? Abide in me, and your instinct will flourish. Give yourself to me, Rey. I"ll protect what you cannot hope to keep." As Rey spoke, his blood pulsed red, and he grabbed at his own heart. "So soon? Do you really think you can stop him better than I can‽ You can"t do anything apart from me!" Rey screamed and howled aloud as his white hair, eyes, veins, claws, and teeth reverted to normal within that moment as Rey"s head sunk and his eyes closed. Within a split second, Rey"s eyes were fully open as he struggled to get loose.
"Ouranos! I sought to help you, and yet you surround me with thorns and blood! Very well, then I will use even the plants and blood you provided to help you-" Soma"s shouting got quieter and quieter until his eyelids twitched and he fell asleep.
Rey"s consciousness was pushed further back into the cage when he woke up. His head buzzed as he remembered what he had just done. "I"m still coherent?" Rey flashed his eyes wide and saw he was still in the void. Thinking he failed, he trembled and looked around before his eyes fell on the white blood covered all over him. He could feel its unyielding desire to escape and shed the prison around it. Suddenly, the white blood crawled underneath his skin and into his heart. He felt what it felt, and remembered what it remembered.
"She"s alright?" Rey sighed, "it worked, and I wasn"t lost in emotion either." He got up and saw the iron bars were repaired completely. "I won"t be defeated so easily. I"ll use my own strength to fight back. I"m not giving myself up to you, whatever you are." Rey sighed and went into Sanctuary. He was supposed to meet up with Grey Kioko about destroying Soma beforehand, but he got sidetracked with needing to breakthrough and Soma pursuing Riza.
Rey ran through the gates and adorned simple clothing again. He called Grey, and after several moments, he finally picked up.