Night's Children: Cetera Desunt

AN: I noticed that the chapters have gotten rather 'heavy' in content, so this one's going to be a bit on the lighter side .

I just read Book Three of SOTD (Yes, I am behind) but OMG! That was quite a load of madness for poor Nymmie. It made me have to rethink/plan the next book for NC, as it is Imy centric, so that I could match up canon with this series as closely as possible. As I've said before, this series does not follow the actual storyline of DOTM after book eleven (kind of obvious, as Tianna's still alive), but I will try as hard as I can to get the two to coincide.

Chapter Eight: Penance, Part One

"KIRIAK!" Screamed Suiren, as she shoved Aria out of her way and cradled her fallen comrade's head in her lap, her small hands trailing to his pulse and falling limply to the ground when she discovered its absence.

Rena was next, as her tiny buckled shoes clomped across the floor, she began to poke him, and when she was not greeted by the tell-tall growl, her round green eyes commenced to fill with tears. Loki stood to the side, straightening the collar of his dress shirt, relief flooding his features, which Aria attributed to the orange man's uneasy partnership with the Russian.

Out of the entire group, only Agatha seemed to remain unmoved, as her violet eyes landed on Chuck, "You've murdered one of our own," Was all she said flatly, "You and the girl will not escape punishment."

Chuck shifted his grip on the gun, as if he were not quite sure what to do with it, and muttered, "Okay." Not looking at all regretful.

Aria quickly snapped out of her haze and darted to Chuck's side, knowing that she was far too close to the grieving members of the team of once seven, now five. "Thank you," She whispered.

His shot her a side-glance, "I don't really know how to use this," He whispered quietly, "And I don't want to shoot the old broad or the little creepy kid." His eyes narrowed as he gestured to the corpse of the man who had attempted to strangle him earlier, "But that sick bastard had it coming."

Amber eyes trailed to the passengers and she sighed, knowing what she had to do. Even so, she was reluctant to leave Chuck standing on his own against the supernatural opponents, "Chuck," She whispered, "I need to heal the passengers."

He snorted, "You have magical band-aids or something?"

Aria groaned at her own stupidity as she realized that Chuck had been unconscious for the duration of the events that had occurred moments ago, "Please, I can do it." She stated with conviction.

Chuck looked at her, and Aria felt herself blushing a bit despite of the circumstances as she once again remarked inwardly on the fact that he was incredibly handsome, "What do you want me to do?" He asked, seemingly oblivious.

Aria cleared her throat, "Just make sure no one kills me."

The tinniest of smirks graced his features, "No promises, but I'll do my best."

Aria nodded and carefully approached the passengers, all of them still staring at the dead body of Kiriak with mixtures of appreciation and trepidation.

"Hey, old bat," She heard Chuck say, his gun aimed at Agatha's head, "Make sure none of your cronies move or I'll fire a bullet into your skull," The mirth in his eyes made Aria want to punch him in the face, especially when he said, "That sounded cool," To himself happily.

Agatha eyed him with obvious disgust as she carefully fingered the four tarot cards that bore the resemblances to Selene's daughters as well as their souls. "She can heal them," Agatha spat, "Those fools mean nothing to us, but then we will kill both of you."

Chuck blinked slowly, before muttering, "That hardly seems fair…"

Aria knelt down next to Lilian, and immediately deducted that she wasn't lying when she had proclaimed herself as Tessa's cousin. While she was far more heavily made-up, there was a certain facial similarity between the two, "I'm going to help you." Aria whispered in her most helpful tone.

Lilian's only response was a pathetic whimpering as her hands clenched against the wound in her thigh. Gently, Aria pried them away, and the blue light circled through her hands once again as she closed her eyes. Her fingers seemed to act of their own accord as she carefully located and extracted the bullet in her leg before painlessly knotting back the torn muscles and shattered bone. A dull ache began to throb in her leg when she finished, but almost instantaneously it disappeared. Aria back away slowly, admiring her handiwork as all that remained was the tinniest pale scar. Somewhere in the background, she heard Chuck give a, "Holy shit!" declaration at the exercise of her gift, but Aria just ignored him and focused on her patient.

Lilian stared at the one agonizing wound, her blue eyes darting from her thigh to Aria, "Thank you," She finally whispered. Aria gave the tinniest of smiles before going to the next victim, Otis.

Otis was far more hesitant in accepting her help, as was his wife, "Get away from him!" Miranda declared, as Otis pathetically attempted to drag himself away from her. "You freaks have done enough damage!"

At the word 'freaks', Aria's head snapped back as if she had been slapped, but she quickly recovered, "Please," She whispered, "He needs my help."

"It's your fault he's hurt!" Miranda proclaimed, tears rolling down from her brown eyes.

Aria bit her lower lip as she began to restrain from crying herself, for she knew Miranda's words were one hundred percent accurate, "Yes, it is." She muttered, grasping Miranda's hand gently in her own. The woman flinched at the contact, but made no move to take her hand back, "I've been screwing up a lot lately," She continued, gesturing towards Agatha and her newest four favorite cards, "Because of me, three of my…teammates and my mentor are at her mercy." Tears leaked out anyway, "I'm trying to…make amends." She sighed, "Please, let me save him."

Miranda looked at the teenager before her warily, then turned to her husband. His face was ashen and his fingers clenched around his gut desperately as he grunted in pain. The shot to his kneecap had let out a lot of blood, and it was easy to see the considerable mess he was in. Cautiously, Miranda nodded and stepped to the side, allowing Aria to see to the man.

She gave a genuine smile, "Thank you."

The periwinkle collected around her palms once again as she pressed her hand to the wound in his gut first, slowly drawing out the bullet, and scooping it out harmlessly and depositing it carefully on the ground. After that, she began to surgically reform the shot out sections of his small intestine, and to halt all of the internal bleeding. After she was satisfied with the healing, she turned her attention to the middle-aged man's shot out kneecap. Easily a more delicate structure to rebuild, Aria turned her attention to his patellar region. Carefully, she connected the tissues and ligaments, before fixing the shattered bones of his upper tibia. Once she had finished, Otis was out cold, and a fierce cramp had collected within her own stomach, as well as a faint pain in her own knee.

Miranda stood to the side, her hands clasped together over her mouth before she rushed over to her husband, relieved tears and kisses being spread all over him.

"Tick tock healer," Came Agatha, sounding profoundly annoyed.

Aria nodded and slightly hobbled over to Thomas, due to the pain in her knee. His initial grunting and moaning seemed to have died out, and he lay there limply, his eyes slightly dazed and drooped. Asking silent permission, Aria hesitated, but proceeded when the old man gave her the barest of nods. Aria repeated the process she had undergone with Otis, and soon the old man was laying there contently, a hand still over his stomach.

"You're like her," Thomas muttered weakly, his voice hoarse.

Aria ignored the increasing pain in her abdomen as she stared at him, "Like who?"

The old man gave a small smirk, making him appear almost boyish again, "My sister, she can't heal like you, but she had the same…light," His breaths were wheezy, but he seemed intent to tell her his message.

"Who is she?" Aria asked gently, a part of her genuinely wanting to know.

His smirk faded, "Her name was Zoe Reese, she's passed on now."

The young healer spoke apologetically, "I'm sorry."

The man nodded slightly before he began to sleep, worn out from the loss of blood combined with the stress of the evening.

"Are you ready to begin now?" Agatha spat, the other three conscious guardians glaring at her, tensing and prepared to jump in at any moment.

Aria sighed, as she stared at her bloodstained hands before nodding slowly, "Two conditions."

Agatha laughed, "I don't allow conditions."

Aria shook her head, "Too bad. Condition one, you let all of these people off of the train."

The old woman looked at the four innocent bystanders, "Accepted," She calmly drawled, "They'll only get in the way."

Aria lifted up two fingers, "Two, you release the souls of the other Daughters from your cards, I was the only one who destroyed Mammon."

"No," Her words were cold and blunt, "These are my collectors' items," She declared cruelly, lifting up the High Priestess card, "I'm finding the illustrations quite to my liking."

Chuck seemed to squint at the card for a moment in confusion, before he dazedly shook his head and tightened his grip on the gun.

Agatha lifted the Judgment card up once again, "This will be your container," She turned and seemed to evaluate Chuck before withdrawing another card from the deck, "This one's yours."

"The Fool!" Chuck scoffed, seemingly offended, before turning towards Aria, "What a spiteful old witch." Aria gave a wane smile at this, while Agatha's eyes narrowed and she hissed between her clenched teeth.

"Enough wasting time!" The said 'old witch' cried, as she gave the barest of nods to Suiren, who stood up hesitantly from Kiriak's corpse, "Suiren, go stop the train."

The older girl gave another, almost sorrowful, look at the dead Kiriak before swerving on her heel and calmly leaving the group to head towards the drivers' car.

Agatha gave a small tsk, "Poor little Suiren," She commented in a tone that sounded far from sympathetic, "She can't feel any emotions, you see. So Kiriak's death is somewhat hard to process."

Loki snorted and leaned against the wall, "It was going to happen sooner or later," He replied without attachment. He seemed to hold a calculating interest air about him, even though it was carefully concealed.

Aria couldn't feel the urge to comment, but she was also confused by the guilt of the gunman's death. She tried to reassure herself with the fact that Kiriak had shot mercilessly at the passengers, and had almost suffocated herself and Chuck, more than likely would have killed everyone without restraint. She looked towards her newest partner, and saw that his eyes were concentrated harshly on Agatha, resolve and determination shining through. In a way, he almost reminded her of Jimena at that moment.

That is, until he broke that stupid smile of his. "This is such an adrenaline high!" He declared happily.

Aria's eyes widened remarkably. "We're about to battle warriors sent from the Underworld and you think it's fun!"

Chuck shrugged, "Not as fun as surfing."

"You're an idiot!" She declared, hitting him on the arm reflexively. He winced, slightly.

"What was that for?"

"Incompetent children," Agatha mused scathingly, "When you behave so foolishly I hardly can see how Mammon and Kiriak met their end." She sneered, "They deserve their places if they allow themselves to be outdone by two runny-nose brats. You have no dignity, to be making such light of these instances." Her eyes narrowed, "You ought to be ashamed, little Healer."

Her icy tone dried up all of the frivolous mood Aria had attained. She exhaled slowly as the gravity of the situation fell upon her yet again. This was not a game, it would be all too easy for someone else to die, the passengers had come close enough as it was, and in a roundabout sense Aria was responsible for the deaths of two…people. She swallowed, her throat suddenly dry. It didn't matter how insane or sadistic the two were, she had still caused harm to fall upon human beings, even inadvertently on innocents. This went against everything she believed in on a moral standpoint, as well as the credo of Selene for her Daughters. She was tainted, it didn't matter how many 'bad guys' she defeated, or how many people she saved with her powers, nothing could undo the damage that had been committed two nights ago, and just now.

"Jimena," Chuck said, using the pseudonym that Aria had given the robbers earlier, "Don't let the bat distract you."

Aria turned to look at him in a confused manner.

"She's messing with your mind, making you feel guilty," Chuck elaborated, gesturing to the newly healed passengers, "She's the one that ordered the big guy to shoot them, not you."

Aria blinked rapidly, trying to see Chuck's view, "But, I still killed two people." She whispered, "It's against what I'm supposed to stand for."

"I shot Kiriak, don't take my actions as a mark against you," His reddish-brown eyes narrowed, "Besides chica, you think Kiriak had any reservations about killing you?" His tone picked up an intensity that reminded her of a certain Magna Mater, "You think that guy would have felt guilty for strangling you to death?" The surfer snorted, "I didn't know this Mammon guy these losers won't shut up about, but I'm guessing he's like the rest of his happy little group." Chuck stared down the leader, whose anger was practically radiating off of her, and drew out his next words. "Ruthless, selfish, and flat-out disgusting."

Rena's lower lip began to quiver, "You're mean!" She cried.

"I'm honest," Chuck countered.

Aria ignored the exchange between the pint-sized guardian and Chuck, as her mind replayed the fight at the bank. The Follower she had destroyed, Mammon, had all intentions of killing three of her companions, and would have if she had not destroyed him first. Whereas she had a justified cause to fight the spy, saving her teammates, the man had acted on a whim, with no suitable motive. He had injured Riley and Imy for no purpose, but she had killed him to protect those she…somewhat cared for.

While her actions were not what Selene intended, they were necessary.

Shooting Kiriak had been necessary.

Shooting passengers had not.

As if to conclude her thoughts, the train came to an abrupt halt, making everyone wobble slightly on their feet. Chuck turned his attention back to the goddess, "What's it going to be?" He licked his lips nervously, "It's us or them, and personally, I'd like to think of ourselves as the good guys."

"Good guys who commit murder," Came Loki caustically.

Aria looked at her opponents, and then back to her partner. Slowly, she nodded her head, "I'm not going to leave," She declared softly, turning to look at Chuck, "We need to get those cards back."

"You got it," He replied easily.

Loki sauntered over to the train's door, and carelessly kicked it open, "Everyone without supernatural powers given to them by a Greek deity get the hell out." He said flatly, obviously annoyed. Chuck smirked at his comment before Loki pointed at him, "Except for the dirty bum with a gun."

"I'm not dirty!" He protested.

Aria stared at him, wondering if the boy had some sort of split personality. One moment, he was hardcore and intense, the next, feeling offended by remarks about his personal hygiene. It baffled her completely.

Her attention shifted as she saw the passengers exiting the train ride from hell, and a small breath of relief escaped her. Lilian was the first to get off, sprinting to the side and jumping off eagerly, completely forgetting her purse on the bench. Otis and Miranda were next, the husband keeping a protective grip around his wife's shoulders and constantly checking behind him, more than likely awaiting another gunshot wound. The last one to exit, was Thomas, who sluggishly stood up and began to follow the others' example. Before he left, he turned and gave Aria a brief smile of gratitude, which she attempted to return.

Agatha waited for a few moments, until she was convinced that all of the passengers had vacated the premises. She turned to Loki, "Dump him," She commanded cruelly, tilting her head to indicate Kiriak's corpse.

Loki said nothing as he walked over and gripped the dead man by the underarms, dragging him to the door and gracelessly shoving him out onto the ground. Rena gave a tiny wave goodbye as he toppled down the train's side stairway.

"Heartless," Aria muttered under her breath, but she went ignored.

"Now him," Agatha declared, pointing at Damien.

Loki's eyes widened a fraction, "But he's alive." He protested meekly.

"He was a failure. Leave him here until he finds a way to prove himself," Her words were clipped, cold.

"But-!" Rena stared, but was silenced immediately by the freezing stare she received.

The process underwent with Kiriak was repeated with the unconscious Damien, albeit much more gently. The group, excluding Agatha who was disinterested, and Chuck, whose sole attention was on Agatha, watched the knocked out boy topple down the hill side, landing about two feet away from Kiriak. There was a few pregnant pauses, before it began.

It was Rena, who struck first. Quickly dropping her stuffed rabbit, her hands clutched around her pistol as she shot at Aria. Aria's instinct saved her, as she dove to the floor at the precise moment. Fortunately for her, Rena had terrible control of the gun, the backfire of the shot too much for her young, weak arms as she shot backwards and landed on her butt. Aria took this moment to scramble up and reach for her gun, but her hand was knocked away by Loki, whose long, pale fingers crushed her hand tightly. She winced as she heard the distinct popping sounds followed by pure agony, knowing his grip was breaking the bones in her fingers.

"Naughty, naughty," He observed.

Across from her, Chuck was having his own problems as he attempted to dodge a series of vicious kicks and punches from the newly arrived Suiren. He ducked in time to dodge the fist aimed for his face, but not fast enough to avoid the kick to his side. Suiren's gray-blue eyes were flat and uninterested, acting like a programmed machine as she began to pummel Chuck with what was left of Kiriak's copied speed. He continued to swerve and evade as best as he could, but he was given no window of opportunity to go on the offensive.

Suiren's assault seemed never ceasing, so Chuck took the opportunity to observe the patterns of her hits and punches, dropping his defense slightly as his eyes calculated her movements. When there was a second's hesitation, Chuck blindly aimed his gun and fired off a round. He was awarded with a gasp of surprise, and a halt of the onslaught. Slowly, he looked at Suiren, who was staring at her foot, a clean, round hole present at the top of her red boots.

Aria immediately squeezed her eyes shut at the sound of the gun being shot, but didn't waste the distraction it caused for Loki. Acting as quickly as she could, she ignited the healing power to both of her palms. While one mended the broken bones of her hands, the other shot up and plunged onto Loki's abdomen.

Loki's eyes widened at the sensation, and obvious confusion fell over him, "What…what is this?" He questioned, staring at spot where Aria was placing her burning hand over. His face screwed up in pain, before he let loose the most primal howl Aria had ever heard. "IT HURTS!" He cried, shoving her away from him before he collapsed on the floor, swearing and spastically flailing.

"You, you hurt Loki," Rena's eyes widened, "No one's ever hurt Loki! Never ever!"

Briefly, Aria muddily remembered the orange-haired man remarking about being invulnerable to physical harm, and the barest of smiles appeared on her face when she realized that the damage she was causing was purely spiritual. She was cleansing the evil out of their souls, not their bodies.

Her victory did not last long, however, as Rena latched onto her back and began pulling her hair, biting and clawing at everything available, "No one hurts Mr. Loki!" She announced, as Aria pathetically tried to pry the little demon girl off of her.

Chuck also faced problems as he was now dealing with an adrenaline-fueled Suiren, the girl's supernatural speed seemed to have faded away, but even still, she was far faster than Chuck could ever hope to be. He fired off more rounds, hoping that he hit something, anything…besides Aria. Joy filled him when a slug caught Suiren in the thigh, and she slumped the ground, groaning. Like Aria, his victory did not last long as he felt something heavy clock him in the back of the head, and stars danced across his eyes. Confused, he turned around to see Agatha standing over him victoriously, her cane in hand.

"Aria," He croaked, his head still spinning, "A little help here?"

Aria turned sharply, noticing Chuck's rather serious predicament. Her eyes glanced behind her to the little girl who was currently attacking her back without mercy. She exhaled and muttered a, "Sorry," to Rena before grabbing the girl around the collar of her dress and propelling her off. She wasn't able to toss her with the strength of one hand, so Rena simply landed against the ground with an audible 'thud'.

Aria caught her breath before igniting her hands with the power once again. They flared up and she charged quickly towards Agatha. The old woman swerved out of the way of Aria's purifying hands, and smirked at the girl, "Not fast enough." She purred.

"Chuck!" Aria called.

"Yeah, yeah," He muttered as he sluggishly pulled himself off of the floor, the stars slowly disappearing from his view, "What?" He groaned.

Aria charged again at Agatha, who was seemingly annoyed with the girl. The woman couldn't fight physically, Aria understood that, but she wanted to get the upper hand before she was granted a supernatural power that she deemed 'necessary'. The goddess's eyes drifted to the hip pack on the woman's waist, the one that contained those stupid tarot cards of hers. Her eyes narrowed in concentration, knowing that would be her goal.

But it wasn't her only goal. She knew right now it appeared as if her and Chuck were ahead in this battle against the guardians of hell, but that couldn't be farther from the truth. Their opponents had simply underestimated them, and that would change with the drop of a hat. She glanced at Chuck, who was rocking slightly on his feet, and she knew that he couldn't continue fighting much longer. Aria was also running low, the extra strength borrowed from whoever had answered her prayer was long gone. Quickly, a plan formulated in her mind.

"Chuck, go start the train!" She cried.

Chuck looked at her as if she were a few sticks sort of a bundle, "Why?" He asked.

Aria grit her teeth, "Just do it!" She spat in irritation as she sent more punches towards Agatha, who had begun to slow down a bit.

The surfer looked between Aria and the other minions of Hades, "Are you sure? I don't want to leave you alone." He stated.

"GO!" She bellowed, annoyed beyond belief that he wouldn't just take her word and leave.

He held up his hands in protest, "Alright, alright." He stated, swerving on his heel and sprinting as fast as he could towards the head of the train.

"Rena! Loki! Go after him!" Agatha declared while simultaneously hitting Aria's hands with her wooden cane.

Rena automatically took after him, but Loki was much slower. Pure hatred surrounded him, and he directed this towards the healer. Aria swallowed dryly as she realized how badly he wanted revenge. He was panting, and still in obvious agony. "I'll get you." He hissed.

"GET THE BOY!" Agatha screeched, something out of her character.

Loki flinched slightly, but slowly scrambled up to his feet, sending one last glare towards Aria before following the little girl. Aria shook her head slowly and turned towards the old woman, "Just you and me," She whispered, somewhat shaky.

Agatha's lip twitched slightly, "You won't find me as easy to defeat as Kiriak or Mammon."

Aria slowly shook her head, "I'm not trying to beat you."

Agatha sent her a curious look, prompting for her to give an explanation, but none was delivered as Aria shot out rapidly, her fists a flurry of light blue. Agatha simply snorted, and started to twirl her cane in a windmill fashion, blocking most of them.

"So it begins," She croaked, "I hope you enjoyed your little visit on Earth, little Goddess, because I'll be the one returning you to Tartarus."

OoO

Chuck heaved as he darted straight forward through the train cars' various walkways, dodging the randomly strewed luggage all of the floor. His sides were aching, as was his head, from the beat down he had received, but his motions became mechanical. The pain was ignored, and he pushed himself to go as fast as humanly possible.

"No fear, no fear, no fear," He repeated to himself between pants, his father's favorite piece of zen drifting through him and giving a little boost in his step.

It wasn't until he heard footsteps and doors slamming open behind him that he realized he was being tailed. Chuck arched his head back slightly, to see the cabbage patch kid running after him, her eyes determined. He exhaled a breath of relief, knowing that if they only sent the little girl after him, all he had to be worried about was being annoyed to death…

But then, Loki chose that moment to run up behind Rena, and Chuck swore.

He looked pissed.

That was all the motivation Chuck needed to start running faster.

His heart thudded in his chest painfully as he rocketed forwards, slamming the doors behind him as he ran. Inwardly, he knew that a closed door would only be a miniscule obstacle for the two pursuing him, and his assumptions were confirmed when he door slammed open behind him.

His sepia eyes darted towards the end of the train, exhaling in relief when he saw the heavy looking door that read 'Employees Only'. It was cracked open slightly, revealing several different buttons and contraptions. The footsteps and breathing behind him were becoming louder, so Chuck dove into the room as quickly as he could, slamming and dead bolting the door behind him.

He leaned against the doorframe and attempted to catch his breath. On the other side, he could hear Loki swearing and Rena crying, but he knew for the moment he was safe. The door appeared to be some sort of reinforced metal, so he had no worries about shots being fired through the doorway.

His gaze drifted up to look at the control button, and his eyes widened when he saw all of the different switches, lights, and odd contraptions. He groaned and flopped down on the floor.

"How the hell do you start a train?"

OoO

There was a satisfying crunch when Aria finally managed to land a hit on the crone, her chunky sandal connected with the underside of Agatha's chin, and her head snapped back. She blinked for a few moments, obviously in a daze. And Aria knew that this was the moment she needed.

Quickly, her hands shot out and latched onto the pack Agatha held at her hip, and quickly she ripped it off. Exhaling happily, she unzipped the bag and pulled out all the cards, knowing that Agatha would not be unfocused long enough to let her sort through them.

And she was right, the second she had deposited the cards in the pockets of her capris, she felt the heavy cane crash into her ribs. She struggled to maintain her balance, but she eventually fell. She winced, but exhaled happily as her healing powers immediately absorbed the damage.

"Give me those back, little girl, or are you a thief as well as a murderer?" Agatha spoke condescendingly.

Aria shook her head, "No way hag."

Agatha's lip twitched and she turned to her remaining subordinate, Suiren. The girl was currently propped up against the wall, her head lolled to the side and fixed absently on the blood flowing from her leg and foot. "Suiren! Get up and handle this mess!" She barked.

Suiren's gray stare darted up to her leader, but slowly, she shook her head. "No." Her voice was a whisper.

Agatha's eyebrows shot up to her hairline, "You dare defy me?"

Suiren nodded, and Aria noticed that it wasn't her blood she was staring at, but rather the stain Kiriak had left behind. Her mind quickly put two and two together.

So, apparently, did Agatha's, "Don't be so small-minded," She chided, "Kiriak died for a greater cause, now get up and finish the work he started."

Suiren's hands began to shake, and she stared at Agatha another time, "I'm tired," She whispered, before her eyes rolled up into her head and she passed out from blood loss.

"Worthless!" Agatha cried, stomping her foot against the floor and reminding Aria instantly of a two-year-old.

"Leave her alone," Aria whispered, pity emanating from her, despite the fact that both Suiren and Kiriak had been her enemies.

Agatha turned her wrath on the Daughter upon hearing her voice, "This is all your fault!" She proclaimed.

Aria's eyes narrowed, "You send your henchmen to kill me and the other Daughters of the Moon and this is my fault!"

Then, it became obvious that Agatha's composure flew out the window, as all Aria felt was a peppering of blows from the wooden cane. She coughed and wheezed from the pain, but found herself unable the move as the hail of pain came. She settled for clenching her hand around the deck of cards from within her pocket and gritting her teeth.

"Hurry up and start the damn train Chuck," Aria swore inwardly.

OoO

Sweat was dripping from his brow as Chuck began to absently flip and press random things on the train's control panel, the loud and angry noises coming from the other side of the door adding incredible pressure. "Shit!" He muttered, his hands moving in a flurry as he pressed everything. "Start you goddamn thing!"

"OPEN THE DOOR OR I'LL GUT YOU!" Growled Loki from the other side.

"YEAH!" Contributed Rena.

Chuck rolled his eyes, "They need to work on their incentives."

It had been about ten minutes of attempting to start the train, and his thoughts flew back to Aria, wondering how she was holding out against the bag of bones and the shot girl. Worry flitted through him, she seemed like a cool enough chick, he didn't want her to die. He shook his head, and he continued his efforts at a higher speed.

It wasn't until he saw the obscure little blue button in the corner of the console that he felt his jaw drop. It was labeled 'START'. He groaned, "You've got to be shitting me." He muttered, running a hand through his hair. He gingerly pressed the button in, and the engines soon roared to life. He face-palmed himself, "I'm such an idiot, Aria's going to kill me."

The thundering on the opposite side of the door drew his attention back, "Shit, Aria!" His eyes widened with worry. Quickly, he pried open the metal door, and was met with a livid pair of hell guardians.

Chuck settled for a little wave, "Hey," He proclaimed, "I'd love to fight, but I've got to rescue a carnival freak."

Loki's fist came rocketing towards him, but his body moved on autopilot, nimbly dodging the blow as well as the kick Rena had sent to his shins. He shook his head, wondering how he could almost see the moves before they landed. But that thought was discarded as soon as Loki presented an opening. Dodging quickly, he made his way past the orange-haired assailant and started running back towards the car Aria and the hag were in.

He turned around and winked, "Later!" He stated, sprinting as fast as he could, Loki and Rena not too far behind him.

OoO

Aria felt a flutter in her heart when she noticed that the train was beginning to move forward, "Thank God," She whispered under her breath, the pain from Agatha's blows feeling less sharp.

"What is the meaning of this?" Agatha demanded as she stopped her onslaught to look at the flickering scenery outside of the train's windows.

Aria smirked and took her momentary distraction to swing her legs around, hitting Agatha in the back of the knees. She fell hard to the ground, and Aria managed to pick herself up, bruises automatically healing. She ran her fingers over the cards and placed one glowing blue hand around Agatha's neck, "How do I put them back?" She queried fiercely, her amber eyes hard.

Agatha threw her head back and laughed, a clear, malicious sound. "Why would I tell you?" She barked.

Aria's blue healing energy began to encompass Agatha's throat, "I'll kill you." She grit, even though she could feel her hesitance bubbling.

Agatha's laughter continued, "You can't kill me." She chided, "I have powers of necessity, the minute you attempt to, I'll develop some sort of shield."

The goddess's eyebrows furrowed as she struggled to determine if the old woman's words were a bluff or not.

"ARIA I HOPE YOU HAVE A PLAN!" She heard Chuck before she saw him, as he yelled and then crashed through the compartment door. He looked dazed for a moment when he saw the teenager's hand strangling to older woman. "What's going on?" He asked sheepishly.

Aria shook her head clear of all the violent thoughts she had for Agatha, before turning, "Open the side door." She instructed.

Chuck's eyes widened, "You mean the one that leads to the outside?"

Aria nodded.

A goofy grin crept onto the surfer's face, "We're going to jump off, aren't we?"

Another nod.

"Kick ass!"

She felt the hiss of irritation leave her lips, but returned her attention back to the leader, "I'll figure it out on my own," She muttered, releasing the choke hold. She could hear Loki and Rena thundering down the halls, only a second or two away. She sprinted over towards Chuck, who had pried open the door.

The wind whipped around them fiercely, but they were fortunate in the fact that the train had yet to reach its maximum speed. Aria stood there for a moment, a tremor of fear filling through her as she watched the ground move as a blur. Suddenly, she felt a warm hand envelop hers. She turned her head to meet Chuck's gaze.

"Ready?" He asked, his grin growing.

Aria shook her head, "You're insane."

He gestured his head backwards, towards the compartment where Agatha was slowly getting back to her feet, "They're worse."

She dipped her head in thought, "Good point." She squeezed his hand, "Let's do this."

"Okay, on the count of three-" Chuck started, but was cut off as Loki kicked open the door, "On second thought, let's just jump?"

Aria nodded, and held her breath as she pushed her feet off of the platform, dragging Chuck with her.

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Am I hinting at a Suiren x Kiriak ship? You're damn right I am!

This chapter was supposed to have some Aria/Chuck action, but it turned out longer than I thought it would, so next chap, I promise!

Anyways, I'm not going to lie, I needed a little break from this story. On the plus side though, I laid out the groundwork for the next book, as well as two side stories…so uh, that's a compromise? Right? No? Well, uh, it's about twice longer than usual…yep…:nym backs away slowly:

Next Up: Chuck and Aria are on the run, but can they escape? Also, not-so-secret secrets are revealed! Plus, is it hot in here or is it just Chuck? (Chuck: It's me alright!) And a break from the constant fight scenes! Hooray!

Til next time!

!nym!