-WARNING-

May contain violence, gore, blood, some things may be spoiler territory if you are not up to date with the manga, also there's a vivid death scene or at least as vivid as I could write it. Read with caution!

-NOTE-

Now the ball is starting to roll, hopefully this chapter is also to your liking and not to rushed, I wrote this with the help of some Yuki Kajuira songs, as usual. Anyway.

Enjoy!

-CHAPTER TWO-

~*RED OBLIVION*~

Yet another early morning. The money for her education was sent to the college she will be attending, her bags are packed and set in the back of the van, her father was ready to drive her to the train station. Even though it's the 21st century Arianna felt like a train ride would be quicker then going all the way by car and less nauseating then flying in a plane, not to mention trains are always fun to ride in. Her misty green eyes closed for a moment as she sat in her room, later in the day or at night she would be at a dorm, in two months she will be officially nineteen. Events felt crushed together, causing her head to spin like a merry-go-round. Ugh it doesn't even feel all that long ago that I didn't know which college to attend, she thought.

Understandably she chose a college that wasn't too far from her home town, at any time she can race back home if called.

Quickly getting up from her chair she ran through the list of things to bring, making sure she had grabbed everything she needed such as clothes, books, and pictures. Looking into her full body mirror she looked at the clothes she had chosen to wear. Her hair is in pigtails using dark green ribbons, a dark green blouse with elbow length sleeves, black pants, with shoe. I look fine…its college not a fashion contest. Besides your usually a tomboy when it comes to clothes, this hair style and blouse is probably the girliest thing you've ever worn!

Stifling a sigh she grabbed her black purse. Before heading out her bedroom door she turned around and stared at her room for a good two minutes.

A familiar comfortable bed, ivory white carpeting that she scrubbed for hours once when she dropped a bottle of black nail polish on it, pastel green walls she painted herself, paintings and sketches she had done herself, a vase of roses she had picked herself. Blinking she walked over to the vase and grabbed it, "good bye" she whispered to the room. It couldn't respond back but nonetheless it looked mournful at her leaving. She firmly shut the door behind her.

As she entered the hall she made a detour over to the babies room, painted a cheerful yellow. A crib, blankets and stuffed animals ready for the new life soon to come, with a smile Arianna set the vase of roses on the dresser near the window. She stepped back then stepped forward again as she grabbed a blank small piece of paper and a pen.

Hope the baby likes them!

~Love Arianna

She stuck the note near the vase, a corner underneath so it didn't fall or fly away from a sudden gust if the window is opened. When she felt satisfied, she stuck the pen back in her purse and walked away, closing that rooms door behind her as well before walking out of the hallway toward the kitchen. The scene is as usual Rhoda cooking breakfast and her father reading his newspaper, this time however Rhoda spun around, as best she could. In her hands is a big stack of pancakes. "Congratulations! I made your favorite, pancakes with peanut butter spread on top" she chirped happily. Her blond hair seemed to shimmer in the light, her brown eyes full of cheer.

"Thanks Rhoda!" Arianna said enthusiastically.

She sat down, Rhoda gave her the plate of pancakes along with the jar of peanut butter and syrup. There's nothing like this combination in the world, she could hardly believe anyone could find this combo gross in anyway.

Soon all three were sitting enjoying breakfast, "have you decided what you want to do after you get your associates?"

"Hmm…I was thinking something art related like Graphic Design" she replied before cutting a huge piece of pancake and putting it in her mouth.

"That sounds wonderful! When did you think of that?"

"Last night actually" Arianna admitted, yeah just before I heard a weird voice in my head.

"You're an excellent artist, I'm sure you'll do great. Plus with such a talent you can do many side projects like painting, people will pay you a lot of money for portraits" she pointed out as she ate some eggs with bacon and ketchup. The poor woman has had so many weird cravings since the pregnancy.

"That's what I'm thinking".

Although her father never joined in like she had been hoping for she did enjoy the conversation with Rhoda. Regretfully there haven't been many over the years she's lived in this house, maybe I'm just the problem because I make myself the problem. The time away will clear my head and perhaps we'll be a real family when I visit one day.

She held hope in her heart for this day.

After breakfast was finished her father fixed the tie of his business suit then fetched the keys, it's going to be quite a drive, a very awkward one at that. Breathing in and out she slowly made her way out the door with Rhoda following behind, "now make sure you study hard, I know college kids love to party but never neglect your studies, also watch your diet eat plenty of fruit and vegetables".

It would have been easier to hate you too if you weren't such a good person, Arianna thought with a slight smile as she listened to Rhoda.

Her father walked over to the car, while he did Arianna looked over to the woman. "So a friend of yours is coming over?"

She nodded, "yes so I'll be fine by myself".

Arianna gave a small nod to this, for a brief moment she was silent, then she pushed herself forward to give Rhoda a hug. "Thanks for everything, when the babies born, tell me so I can send a present okay?"

Rhoda seemed genuinely surprised by this action however she slowly hugged the girl back, "I will, please remember that you're a part of this family…I swear I will make sure things are much brighter when you arrive home. I just wish I could have done more while you were living here".

"Its okay, you've done a lot already" she whispered.

Finally the two separated, sad smiles on both their faces. "Good bye and good luck".

"Right!" Arianna gave a firm nod with determination on her face. She will have a good future, she didn't want to be miserable, even if she deserved it.

Without looking back Arianna went to the passenger side of the car and hopped inside, "bye! You both have a safe trip".

Her father started up the car, gave a small wave to his wife then drove away from the house, then drove down the road.

Like she predicted the car is awkwardly quiet, her eyes wandered over to her father then she looked away out the window. Since she was rather nervous to speak the first word with him, after all she wanted things to get better not worse. She decided to think about what had occurred last night. The voice was ominous, its words rather strange. What had it meant by a foreign element? What would be interesting? These questions engulfed her head like a storm, perhaps she was going a little crazy and the voice was just a figment of her imagination. Her father cleared his throat, she flinched to look at him but he didn't say a word.

Yeah, just my imagination. She thought dully.

She kept her eyes out the window, outside if the window are the sights she use to see all the time in her town. The high school where she lived out her four years of education, sitting alone at the cafeteria table not talking to anyone around her, the fast food restaurant she often went to when she didn't want to go home right away, the middle school she attended and slowly started to allow her friends to drift away, the park she liked to sit at to enjoy the warmth of the sun. The most painful things to leave behind are the ones that contained good memories. The elementary school she had attended, where she was forced to endure ridiculous plays such as the one where she had to dress up as a horse and her parents couldn't contain their laughter, the ice cream shop her mother use to take her to whenever she got an award or did something well, the creek her father use to take her to since her mother wasn't an out doors sort of woman. All of it escaping her sight, she would have to burn it all to memory so it never left her, no matter how much things change over time.

After an hour had passed the car had finally arrived at the station, she quickly got out of the car, went over to the back to grab her luggage which was just two small suitcases. One for clothes, essentials like a toothbrush, while the other had another pair of shoes along with art supplies. Once she had everything in hand she walked over to her fathers side of the car, "bye dad, and good luck with everything I wish you well" she said in an almost low voice. "I'll visit when I can".

Her father nodded, "bye Arianna good luck with school" it appeared that he wanted to say more but shook his head. "Rhoda will call when the baby arrives".

"She said she would inform me, love you dad".

He nodded again but didn't say anything, Arianna stared for a moment then she finally began to walk away and head towards the train, it made a loud sound as people boarded. As she looked at the giant piece of machinery her heart leapt with anxiousness.

This is it, new place, new opportunities. It almost made her jealous to think that other high school graduates moving to college had a more eventful leaving.

Don't think like that, be positive for once.

Sucking in a breath she handed in her ticket then boarded on to the train, once she was satisfied with the spot she was in she put her stuff in the compartments over her head then took her seat. From what she could remember this ride was a pretty nice one, first you go past the town then it slowly takes you toward a wooded area as the tracks slowly went from dirt to rock since close by was a rock face. The most fun thing to do is actually hike up it and see the train from above, you can also see the town.

She placed her forehead on the window as the train made one final warning call to all those who wanted to board, afterward people who work on the train talked to the passengers of that cart then went around to make sure luggage was secure. "The train is now ready to leave!" she heard someone shout. About fifteen minutes later she felt a tug as it started to slowly move.

Tears threatened to spring to her eyes, don't cry! She demanded from herself, blinking it away she folded her arms over her chest and let her head rest on the window. Arianna tuned everything out except for the voices of other people around her.

A woman talking to another older woman. A family of three. A couple of people who seem to be on business with their fancy suits. A couple of elderly. A few seated by themselves who were busy reading or listening to their MP3.

The voice of a woman was the first to reach her ears, "I was planning on giving him that coat! But I'm not so sure" she made a humph sound. "Men are so hard to shop for!"

The older giggled, "I'm sure my son will like whatever you give him sweet heart".

Voices of men could be heard next. "What a drag! We didn't sell anyone on the idea".

"What did you expect? Besides its not like they had much natural fuel underneath them, we'll have better luck in another town".

"With our luck this town would have actually had uranium instead! Do we use that for anything?"

"Don't think so".

A family of three were playing with their toddler, until the mother started to read her a story to calm her down.

Arianna opened her eyes to watch as they seemed to become further and further off the ground as the train went down the wide rock ledge near the cliff face, where she is sitting Arianna was able to see the ledge, which is far so no one can possibly become sick from the height. She slowly closed her eyes again and listened to the moving train, the words of the people around her, and her own inner thoughts.

I wonder what father did when he arrived home? Is he relieved or sad that I left? Arianna hoped for the second one, she hoped her father missed her but all at the same time she thought that he didn't deserve anymore pain. Everything with mom is my fault in the end, isn't it? I am after all a selfish girl who's naïve and stupid. This next step is my chance to improve upon myself a little or at least forget my mistakes.

'Is that so?'

Arianna flinched when she heard the familiar voice.

'Chess doesn't add a pawn but lets see what happens'.

Oh god…I'm losing it! I'm hearing that voice again. She thought with dread and panic, okay…okay I'll check myself at a doctor so I can maybe receive counseling and maybe pills! Yeah then by the time I visit home I'll be completely normal and not a lunatic who hears voices!

Calming herself down she tried to think of how she could possibly have begun to hear voices, I blame how much a daydream.

"What was that sound just now?" someone inquired.

Arianna looked around and saw that it was one of the business men, she blinked and listened closely. A distinct cracking sound, or clattering.

"Maybe the train ran something over?" one of the other men said.

"I don't think so it sounded farther away like its above us".

Arianna looked around, then she scooted from the seat and moved to a window on the opposite side of where she had been sitting so she was looking at the cliff face.

CRACK!

This one sounded more like thunder, startling everyone within that train cart.

The train shook violently as a rumbling sound thundered toward them, in a flash Arianna saw that what was happening, was a land slide. The train struggled to stay on the tracks however the effort was in vain as huge rocks came along and quite literally knocked the train right off the tracks causing it to slide toward the ledge then soon slide down ward.

Screams and shrieks erupted from all sides as people tried to brace themselves and hang on as best they could, a few who had accidentally let go met the other side of the train. Arianna meanwhile had fallen down when the mud slide hit, now that she couldn't sit safely in a seat she ended up clinging to it for dear life. Don't let go! Don't let go! Looking up she saw the window crack as pressure built from the rocks stacking on it. Metal screeched in her ears as it kept sliding, people gasping loudly as they fell to the floor or were throttled by falling luggage. Crushing sounds, cracking sounds with more horrified screams filled the air in a constant state like a wicked symphony.

Suddenly everything stopped.

The train itself had stopped, something, perhaps a rock had caught it.

Unfortunately the Laws of Motion is a wicked creature, a few, Arianna herself included were thrown backward straight into whatever had been behind them, everything then abruptly was thrown into slow motion.

She stared at her hand that had been loyally gripping on to the seat, it had slipped. Now she was falling, ahead she saw that the cracked window was now broken all the way, glass shards chasing after her like silver snow. Pretty…was the stray thought that came to mind, it seemed to dance front of her vision shining brilliantly seemingly accompanied with other colors, a ballet of light. She then felt her back hit the window behind her.

BAM!CRACK!

The window which was weak as well from the slide down the cliff face, had easily shattered. More glass gathered in front of her sight, soon she could see the outside of that window, then she could almost see the entire train. Just barely she turned her head to peek at what was below her, she quickly looked away as she hit the trees simultaneously the slow motion snapped back into real motion allowing Arianna to feel a loud crack near her ears as she finally landed on solid ground.

Pain filled her being, so much pain that she was numb.

Warm liquid trickled from her head, the trees softened the blow just a little. Enough to injure her head but not enough to crack the skull open, groaning and rasping she willed her head to move up a little to see the damage that had been inflicted upon her. Her head felt like it was being weighed down by rocks. Lethargically she lifted her head, allowed her eyes to wander downward, there she saw that the trees had indeed softened the blow a little, but a loose branch came down with her and impaled her. Judging from her breathing she would have to guess that this branch had punctured her lung, along with this a few glass shards that hadn't been caught be the trees, were now sticking out of her leg, one had sliced a good side gash at her side, another was stuck in her left palm. She allowed her head to rest, bright specks started to invade her vision, so she couldn't tell if any limbs were at odd angles, she couldn't even tell if there were other people down here as well.

How cruel…I-I…didn't…die right away…

A cough erupted from her mouth blood gushed out, possibly from the lung.

Staring up she saw that more huge rocks were hitting the train, soon the whole thing would come down again.

Somewhere along the way her hair had become unbound from its pigtails now it looked like a halo around her head as it became drenched in her blood. Coughing again, tears of sorrow started to come to her eyes.

Dad….Daddy… Mom….Rhoda….somebody…help me…please…

Darkness slowly swallowed her sight as she finally started to die, I don't want to die…. The thought is weak almost barely present within her mind as she slipped away.

The train made a loud sound, the screech being the last thing filling her ears as her eyes slowly became vacant. A force tugged at her soul, pulling it down into utter oblivion.

Surprise! Hey I told you up top at the warning that there would be a vivid-ish character death, don't say I didn't warn you guys.

No worries though there's more to come in the next chapter, hopefully by then we'll start seeing familiar characters or at least hearing about them.

Hope this story is slowly becoming interesting!