Chapter 7: The Temple Car
When walking through the large jungle-like area, I could feel the moisture in the air, the sunlight beaming down through the clouds, and the old green colored rock beneath my feet as we trekked forward. Hazel and I were being led down a stone path surrounded by tall trees with the sun shining directly above us.
"Shouldn't be too long now." Shay said ahead of us, "We'll see the Apex any minute now."
Shay's words were only met with silence. It's been like that ever since the origami car. For the past couple of days of us being grappled over the train cars and stopping at other little outposts, I've been almost completely quiet. The only exceptions were when David or his friends tried making small talk, which usually ends with me asking them to leave me alone. Hazel, on the other hand, hasn't said a word since our conversation. She's been sulking to herself, or keeping a watchful eye on Shay and the others. As long as she left me alone, I didn't really care.
A moment passes before David tries to break the tension.
"I can hardly wait," He said behind us. "After a mission this long, I need some serious R & R, and I've got a beanbag chair with my name on it. Hey, you guys think we'll get rewarded for this one?"
"I doubt it," said a boy with medium length dark brown hair. "Shay did all the work, remember?"
"Yeah, sorry David," responded another with a chubby face and short orange hair, "Alex has a point there, but I agree with the bean bag thing. I hate being away for this long."
"C'mon Billy, not you too! I mean, we gotta get something for this," David said before looking ahead of us. "Right Shay?"
"I can't promise anything, but I'll put in a good word for you later."
"Hell yeah!" he exclaimed.
I rolled my eyes listening to this. Of all the people in the Apex to kidnap me, why did it have to be David's group? I changed the subject before he could pipe up again.
"So when we're at your little base, what's gonna happen with us?"
"Well, first things first, once we're there we'll be bringing you to meet our leader." Shay explained. "From there it really depends on your cooperation."
"Oh don't worry, I totally get it, obey or die, right?" I asked blankly.
"We're not like that. We don't wheel things anymore, especially not fellow passengers." Shay said, before turning her head to look at me. "You know, believe it or not, you two are our guests here. Not prisoners."
"Oh yeah, I totally forgot that when you're a guest somewhere, you get your hands tied for completely free." I said, holding up the rope around my wrists.
This unintentionally earned a snicker from David and Alex before Shay replied.
"That's just protocol for when other people try fighting us. It's a precaution for potentially dangerous passengers."
"Oh yeah? Have you guys even had a quote-unquote, 'Dangerous' passenger in the Apex before?"
Shay looked forward with an uncomfortable expression.
"Once, but… we don't really talk about him much."
The silence returns, only this time it came with a feeling of unease instead of awkwardness. However, it didn't last long, because something was coming into view.
"Oh, thank goodness." Shay said, relieved. "Alright you two. Behold, the Apex."
As Shay gestured forward, I saw green buildings ahead, past the trees. We were approaching what looked like a stone city. The buildings seemed old and were only about one story high, but the further back they were, the taller and more renovated they seemed. Especially the one in the very back. It was a large green stone structure made of simple shapes high on a hill with green stairs leading up to a large door. It had three enormous towers that stretched high above the main building, with bridges connecting them. There were a few more short towers in front and each structure had at least one window carved into it, but the most prominent part was the infinity symbol carved on the tallest tower with a large red A painted over it. Just looking at the massive temple, I could already tell this car wasn't built for these people. They took it for themselves.
I only felt annoyed by the sight, and actually walking through it only made it worse. As we entered the city. I could immediately see all the graffiti covering the carved images in the walls of every building we passed. I mean, I did notice some additions like glass windows, wooden doors, and street lamps, which were nice to see, but the fact that they still deface the rest was just unbearable. The graffiti consisted of pretty simple stuff like names, signatures, or just the Apex's logo, but some of it was more complicated things like people, scenes, or even just plain art. Though as much as there was, most of the graffiti looked like children had drawn all of it. Which was fitting, since that's what the Apex seemed to be mostly composed of.
We passed tons of Apex members as we went, and most of them were just kids. The passengers running around only seemed to be between 10 and 16. I think I saw a couple members who looked maybe around 18-ish, but other than that, Shay and Hazel were the only adults in sight.
As we were approaching an open central area with a fountain in the middle, David's friend Billy walked up next to me as we continued forward.
"Whaddaya think of the Apex so far?" he asked. "Pretty cool right?"
I was about to say something sarcastic to get him to shut up, but Hazel then spoke up with an angered tone.
"We're not here to sightsee! I thought you said we'd be meeting your leader. So? Where is she?"
Everyone stopped walking to look at Hazel. I had a feeling I knew who she was talking about, but I wasn't sure if she was still the leader, or heck, if they even knew who this Grace lady was. David, Alex, and Billy's expressions were ones of confusion.
"She?" Asked Alex, "Hate to break it to you lady, but our leader is a guy."
I was expecting Shay to say more on this, but she didn't. Unlike the boys, Shay didn't look confused. Her expression was one of surprise. Alex broke her out of it as he continued.
"And if you're in that big a rush, he's just up ahead."
Past the fountain, there were several passengers lined up at the bottom of the stairs leading to the temple. They looked like they all had stuff in their hands, and were presenting said things to a man next to a wooden cart in front.
"Oh, damn it!" David said, annoyed. "Did we really miss a raid?"
As we got closer, I could see the man more clearly. This would be the third and final adult I'd see today. This man had worn brown boots, blue jeans, leather and metal armor for a top, a black torn hooded cloak, and a white mask with a cracked face and that same red line across it that everyone else had here. When we approached, he was looking down at a kid holding a large pelt of cyan fur.
"Not sure what it's from, but it's soft, whatever it is." The kid said.
"Hmm…" The man looked down at the fur for a moment. "Could be useful. Throw it in with the rest."
The cart next to him was filled with a variety of things. There were things like leather hides, antlers, a lamp, and even a rifle. Everything in the cart looked like they were taken straight from a hunting lodge.
"Aw man," the kid said sadly as he placed the fur on the pile and walked away. "I wanted to keep it."
The next kid walked up with something big covered by a little tarp. I was curious what could be underneath, but the man seemed unimpressed.
"And what is that supposed to be?"
"Are you ready for this, Leader Mono?" the kid asked with a grin. "This thing is so cool it just might blow you away." With a single flourish, the kid threw the tarp up, revealing what it was covering. "Tada!"
In both his hands was a large grey wolf's head stuck to a wooden plaque. It had bright yellow eyes and sharpened fangs in its open mouth. The moment he saw it, the man visibly flinched as he took a step back. A second later and he composed himself, before yelling at the kid.
"You little bastard! Get that thing out of my sight before I break it over your head!"
"Ahh! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" The kid exclaimed as he ran off.
The man took a moment to calm himself before noticing us walking up to him.
"We'll cut this short today. The rest of you keep whatever crap you got from the car."
This earned a few cheers from most of the children in line before they dispersed. The man then approached us.
"Shay, not dead I see. I trust that means your little recruitment mission was a success?"
"See for yourself. This is Meg and Hazel." She said before turning to the two of us. "I'd like you guys to meet Leader Mono, the man in charge of the Apex."
Mono looked at Hazel and me for a moment. But when looking at me, he tilted his head down some. I could tell the blue glow in my hands caught his eye. Before anything else, Mono quickly snatched my tied arms and turned over my right hand to look at my number. It was now at 199.
"Hey!" I yelled.
"Well, well, it looks like you three weren't lying after all." He said to David's group. "I guess I can see why this would be worth looking into."
"Hands off!" I said, as I yanked my hands away from him.
Mono glared at me in silence for a moment. With his face covered, I couldn't really tell what he was thinking. But I doubted it was pleasant, whatever it was.
"Of course, where are my manners?" He said, sounding a little annoyed. "It's just now that I'm actually seeing it, I admit your number is pretty interesting."
"Yeah well… whatever." I would've argued, but I've waited long enough to get my answers. "So, you're the asshat in charge? Then maybe you can answer my questions."
"Excuse me?"
"Uh… Meg?" Shay said, "Maybe you shouldn't-"
Before she could continue, Mono cut her off.
"I would stop talking if I were you. I don't care if you're special, I will not tolerate that kind of tongue in my car."
"Your car? Heh, I doubt the denizens you must've kicked out would agree with that. I don't care about your Apex BS, I just want to know what you did to a girl named Em-"
Mono now cut me off. He suddenly grabbed the front of my hoodie and lifted me up closer to his mask.
"Listen here you brat," He said with a dark tone. "If you don't want me to knock your teeth in right now, you're gonna do what I say and shut the hell-"
Before he could finish, I spit right in his stupid masked face. After everything that's happened up to this point, I was not in the mood for this garbage. In response, Mono threw me back to the ground as he wiped his arm over his mask in disgust. I was about to get up from my sitting position, but Hazel quickly stepped forward, getting in between him and me defensively. When Mono finished cleaning off his mask, he looked down at me with rage building more and more. He then took a step forward with a clenched fist at his side, looking like he was ready to punch straight through Hazel to get to me.
"How dare you! You little-"
"Mono, please wait!" Shay intervened.
This surprisingly made him stop.
"You ask for my mercy, but this is what you bring to me, Shay? A disrespectful child, and a woman working for that damn white ball?" He said, motioning to Hazel's belt.
"Hey!" Cut in Hazel, "For your information, that white ball is the very conductor of this train you're aboard. Not some all powerful passenger like you all seem to think."
Mono just stared at Hazel like she was an idiot for a moment.
"No shit." Mono said, surprising Hazel.
"What?"
"Obviously that robot is the thing responsible for this train. After we were told the truth, it made perfect sense that only an unfeeling machine could run a place like this…" There was a dark tone in his voice as he said this. Afterwards, he turned to Shay again. "I've had enough of these two. Escort the woman out of this car and take the blue numbered girl to the-"
"Wait!" a different voice yelled.
Back toward the stairs, a girl from the line who had stayed back was now running up after getting our attention. This girl had light brown boots, Black overalls with a red Apex logo on it, a white undershirt, thick black gloves, long blue hair, and a welding mask hiding her face. She ran straight up to Mono before kneeling down with her hands together.
"Leader Mono, please! Don't throw them out." She said, practically begging. "Let them prove they can be helpful."
This sudden outburst surprised everyone, but I think Mono was the most thrown off by it.
"You want me to let them prove themselves? Even after hearing this one's disobedient tone?"
"I beg of you, please! I know her, and I promise she can be of use to you. Just please don't kick her out."
At first, I assumed she meant Hazel when she said this. I mean, I didn't know too many passengers on the train, but the more I heard her voice, the more familiar it sounded. It clicked little by little before I realised.
"No… no way…" I whispered, "Em…"
I was so overwhelmed that I couldn't say it. Could she really be here? Have I finally found her? In silence, Mono looked down at the girl, thinking before giving his answer.
"...Very well."
The girl gasped in excitement.
"Th- Thank you Leader Mo-"
"But do not make me regret this. If something happens because of these two, I'm holding you personally responsible. And you do not want that."
"Understood! And I promise you won't be disappointed." The girl said with a salute.
With that, Mono turned around and walked up the stairs to the temple with Shay following behind. At some point David and his friends left too, so it was just me, Hazel, and the girl. After Mono was a respectful distance away, the girl let out a sigh of relief.
"That was the second scariest thing I've ever done in my life."
"... Emily?" I asked, still shocked.
The girl turned toward me and silently stared forward. With Emily's name repeating in my head, everything about this girl looked so familiar now. After a moment, she began closing the distance between us. When she was right in front of me, she lifted her welding mask. Looking at the girl's face made me feel so many things. I'm not sure if I could describe them all. This girl had light brown skin, minty green eyes, a cute button nose, and long jet black hair dyed blue about halfway down. She also had that wavy red line above her nose, but I couldn't care less about that. It was actually her! Emily looked at me with a smile as I tried to speak.
"Emily… Hey, I… I just can't believe… I."
I couldn't find the words. Every time I tried to say something, my words would just get caught up in my throat. Luckily for me, Emily did the talking for me as she rushed forward and wrapped her arms around me.
"Meg, I thought I'd never see you again." Emily said as she soon teared up. "I'm so happy you're here right now."
I felt a blush on my face for a moment, but as I looked down at her, the warmth and happiness from her presence washed away all thoughts of nervousness. After all this time of searching, after all the lonely days without her, she was right here in front of me. I had finally found her. A smile of my own formed, and though I couldn't return Emily's hug, I rested my head on her shoulder as I started to tear up as well.
"Me too."
As we walked up the stairs to his temple, I looked at Mono, surprised. It was one thing to give David another shot, but I still couldn't believe he spared Meg after what she did. It felt strange, to be honest.
"I think that's the first time you've ever not punished someone who pissed you off, Mono."
"If Emily does indeed know that brat, then punishing her would just be counter-intuitive."
"How so?"
"Ever since you brought Emily here, she has contributed much to the Apex. If I had imprisoned the blue numbered girl, then we might have lost our most useful asset as well. Besides, who better to figure out what's going on with the brat's number than her own friend?"
"Wow, I'm impressed! Since when do you think ahead like this?"
Mono then stopped to look back at me.
"I have a better question for you. Why did you bring that Hazel woman here?"
"What?"
"You were only interested in that brat's number, so why would you bring the apparent conductor's pet with you too?"
I was silent for a moment before answering.
"... When we found them, I ended up fighting Hazel in a foggy car, and she nearly beat me too. I just think someone of her skill could be very useful to the Apex."
This was the truth. I believed Hazel's talents could be helpful to us, but that wasn't all of it. From what I've seen so far, I knew there was something special with Hazel too. First, the scales. I know I didn't imagine that. And second, her number. When she was out cold, I made sure to check her number. It wasn't blue like Meg's, but it was just as far away from normal. David, Alex, and Billy were doing their own thing at the time, so I'm the only person who knows she's different. I wanted to keep it that way, at least for now. I'm sure the moment I mention scales, Mono might jump to the wrong conclusion. Well, if it is the wrong conclusion, that is.
"Mono, let me at least try to get them on our side."
"You realise since Hazel works under the conductor, just how difficult that'll be?" He asked, unconvinced.
"I can do it." I said determinedly, "Trust me."
His answer took what felt like a while, but he eventually agreed.
"Fine, but I want you to keep a close eye on the both of them. I'll decide what becomes of them after we figure out what the brat's number means."
"Understood. Thank you, Mono."
After that, I went back down the stairs toward town, leaving Mono to walk up to the temple alone. With everything fine now, I wanted to get some answers from Hazel herself.
"And then he pretty much drove my body into some hair salon car, totally against my free will!" Emily said, annoyed. "I'm kinda glad we didn't find each other till now… That jerk would've made me do so many stupid things."
"I think I would've been able to tell something was off with you." replied Meg. "Besides, I would like to meet this denizen… Just so I can kick the crap out of him for controlling you like that."
After Emily and Meg's reunion, Emily had cut our bindings off and was now leading us through the Apex, giving us a tour of the place. She was just telling us what happened to her after she got on the train.
"You'd have to get in line, Meg. I'm still angry about all the stuff he made me do. I mean, just look at what he did to my hair!" Emily exclaimed, holding some of her dyed hair in her hands.
"I don't know. You might have to thank him for that one. I think it looks cute on you."
That made Emily stammer a little.
"O- Oh… Y- You think so? Well, I still wish it was my choice."
From what Meg had told me about Emily, I could tell even then just how much she meant to her. The fact that she went on an entire journey just to find her, and stopped at nothing to continue her search. Just seeing these two friends united again was so nice to see. Although, seeing how they interact with each other now, I noticed there was something else going on here besides friendship that I'm surprised I didn't pick up on sooner. I was walking just behind them, but I could see the red spreading on their faces. It was incredibly cute.
"So…" Meg continued, now feeling awkward, "what happened after that?"
"That's when the Apex came in for a raid. Long story short, Shay got that glob thing out of my mouth and she took me to the Apex. Now I'm a full on engineer here. I've been building tech for the Apex ever since, and I even have my own workshop. Isn't that so cool? Oh, oh! I should take you guys there! I can show off this invisibility thing I'm working on."
Meg wasn't exaggerating in the slightest. Emily is incredibly passionate about engineering. Kinda like someone else I know.
"You know, Emily," I began. "You kind of remind me of my mentor, she-"
Before I could finish talking, Meg turned around and stopped in between Emily and I, causing us to stop as well in confusion.
"Meg?" Emily asked, worried.
Meg did not respond. Instead, she just stood there and glared at me, staring into my eyes with a stern expression. I wasn't sure what gotten into her… until I remembered what she said to me a couple days ago.
'When we do find Emily, we are through.'
I had almost forgotten. After meeting with the Apex's leader and finding Emily, I thought everything was fine now. But Meg did not forget. I could see the distrust in her eyes, and it reminded me this was something I knew I couldn't make right. Not fully.
"On second thought… I'll just look around on my own for now. I'd end up being a third wheel anyway."
"Uh… Okay? You sure?" asked Emily.
"Yeah, you two catch up. I'll be around if you need me."
I then turned around and walked back toward the way we came. I could feel the both of them watching me as I walked off. Meg with an icy glare, and Emily with eyes of worry. I wanted to stick with the pair in case anything happened, but Meg wanted nothing to do with me. Not that I could blame her. I let out a sigh as I walked. I'll need to get Meg to trust me again, but it looked like she still needed to cool off. If nothing else, I had time to investigate. I still had no idea what happened to Grace.
For the next thirty minutes, I've been asking around about previous leaders, or anyone of high command here. Unfortunately, I got nothing. Out of all the passengers I've asked, they only told me about Mono and his second in command. From what I've been told, there have been tons of members that came and gone in the past, but Mono and Shay were the first. Which I did not believe. I don't know how old Mono is, but Shay is probably a decade younger than Grace. Of course, no one else seems to know of people before them, and the times I used Grace's name, I only got confused looks.
With nothing as much as a peep regarding Grace, I was back at the fountain again, just staring at the green structure. It was pointless to ask these children stuff they wouldn't know, so I was taking a break. I looked up at the stone carving sticking out of the middle and saw various images engraved in. Like everything else, they were spray painted over, but I could still make out a story, and just from seeing a few of them, I knew One created this car when he was still whole. The carvings depicted an enormous machine with a giant ball above it, with a single eye and a bright light behind it. From the bottom of the machine jutted out a gigantic line made up of metal rooms circling into infinity. Each room seemed to be filled with tons of life, and denizens that were praising the machine and the ball. From what I could tell, the denizens that lived here must have seen One as a god, which I guess kinda made sense for them. I could only guess how the denizens saw passengers, but judging from some of the gruesome carvings I've seen on the way here, I didn't really want to know.
Honestly, in a car like this it would be pretty easy to convince people One is a bad guy. I wonder if that was the idea. I shuddered looking at this. Unfortunately, as I was analyzing the stonework, I failed to notice a woman walking up next to me.
"What's the matter? Don't enjoy seeing your boss like this?" asked Shay, sounding as casually as the first time we met.
"He's not my boss, he's the conductor."
"Oh, my bad." she said. "Forgive me if I don't use the holy ball's official title."
"He's not a god, he's just trying to help the passengers with the train."
"Sure he is. How exactly do huge blood thirsty flowers, crazy Godzilla sized monsters, and gross cockroach dog things that suck out people's souls help anybody?"
"Do you want something?" I shot back at her.
Shay's reaction seemed different from what Mono's would've been. Instead of getting mad at my attitude, she dialed back the sarcasm and now spoke with a more sincere, yet stern tone.
"I'm just letting you know I'm keeping an eye on you. Mono doesn't want you or Meg to cause us any problems."
"Well, you can tell Mono that we'll be on our best behavior."
"Good," Shay said before a grin replaced her more serious look. "Cause I really don't wanna have to kick your butt."
"Excuse me?" I asked, appalled. "Just who won our fight again?"
"You only won because I didn't know what you could do back then. Now I'm pretty confident I can take you down."
I turned back to the fountain with a groan and an eye roll.
"Well lucky for you, we won't have to find out."
We exchange no words from there. There was only silence between Shay and I for a minute as we just stood there, looking at the fountain with only the sound of flowing water present. I expected her to go off somewhere, but she never did. I glanced over at her out of the corner of my eye. As far as I was aware, our conversation was done, so I wasn't sure why Shay was still standing with me.
"Was there… something else?" I asked.
"Yes, actually. I was hoping you could answer some questions of mine."
"Questions?" I repeated. She wasn't the only one. I think I would've been reluctant to answer any, but I then realised that if anyone could answer my own, then it would be the second in command of the Apex. "I've got questions I want answered too, you know."
"Well perfect." She said contently. "We can help each other then. I'll even give you the first one. Shoot."
I was somewhat nervous here. What if Shay didn't have the answers I needed? What if she knew as little as the others? I'd have to give her information in return, and even if I got the answers I'm looking for, I fear of what they could be. Nevertheless, I couldn't just let this go, and I would never find out if I don't at least ask.
"Okay then. Tell me what you know about a woman named-"
Before I could finish asking, a sudden alarm rang loudly throughout the whole car, making me jump in surprise.
"Oh crap!" Shay exclaimed.
"What is that alarm?" I yelled over it.
"…They're back again."
A bit of time after Hazel left, Emily had brought me to a sort of cafe made for the passengers here. Although this place seemed a lot less chaotic than the outside. There were two teenagers behind a counter, one taking orders, and another manning some odd microwave that seemed to make anything from nothing. Probably something taken from a car. That wasn't all either. Like everywhere else, there was graffiti all over the walls, except the art here wasn't random at all, but actually fit the theme of the cafe. There was stuff like coffee mugs, bagels, and milkshakes painted on the walls, the latter of which Emily got for us. We sat at a table together while I sipped from a strawberry shake while a chocolate one sat untouched in front of Emily.
"The Apex has a jerk of a leader, but at least they got some pretty good milkshakes." I said, half joking.
Emily didn't respond right away. She looked over at me with a worried expression. One that I noticed easily.
"What?" I asked.
"Meg… are you sure everything's alright? Did something happen between you and Hazel?"
After that stand off with Hazel, I tried to go back to just being happy to find Emily, but it still irritated me that Hazel was trying to talk with us. But afterwards, I felt guilty. Most of that anger turned to me for treating her so cruelly. I wanted to ignore it and focus on Emily, but I wasn't doing a good job. She could tell something was upsetting me. Looking at her face of concern made my heart hurt. I knew I couldn't lie to her.
"…Yeah," I replied, a little more somberly. "I found out recently that she went behind my back before we actually met. When I was asleep, she took some of my blood without me knowing. I know I should just forgive her, but…"
"Wait, she took your blood? Why would she do that?"
"Just to figure out what's with my damn number."
Emily looked a bit shocked at this, but then to a more remorseful look.
"Oh… right. When Shay left for her mission, she mentioned a girl with a strange number. I guess that was you, huh?"
"Yeah…" I said as I rested my hand on the table for her to see, "Guess so."
"Whoa…" Emily stared at my number in shocked confusion. "It's… blue? What does that even mean?"
"That's what everyone wants to know." I suddenly shook my head. "I don't even care about this number anymore. The only reason I left home in the first place was to find you, not to deal with all this stupid train stuff. I just wanted to forget all this and spend time with you again. I just wanted…"
I tried to fight it, but I could tell I was close to crying again. I knew I shouldn't be. The person I've been searching for this whole time was right in front of me, but I think everything up to this point was really getting to me. Everything with Mom, Dad, Hazel, the passengers, and the denizens. All the distrust, violence, and lies I've gone through were going to turn me into a blubbering mess right in front of Emily. Fortunately, Emily was there to prevent it. She quickly placed a hand over mind before speaking softly.
"Hey, it's okay, Meg. You did it. You found me. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bring this up. Let's just forget about all this and spend the day together. Just you and me."
"I… Thank you, Emily."
Like magic, my mood had improved. Just knowing that Emily was with me made me feel so much better.
"Honestly after everything, I'm just happy we're together again." I said. "Now we can finally get our numbers down and go home."
Suddenly, Emily pulled her hand back.
"Go home?" she said, surprised. Meg… I-"
Before she could go on, I could hear a loud alarm from outside.
"Oh no…" Emily said.
"What is it?"
"We need to get to my workshop right now!"
Wasting no time, Emily grabbed my arm and rushed us out of the cafe into the now emptying streets. All the passengers were running north of the car in the direction of Mono's temple. The mood of the car changed so quickly from a calm hangout to sheer panic, and Emily was leading us in the complete opposite direction with no explanation.
"Emily, what's going on?" I yelled over the alarm.
"Why today? Why today?" She muttered to herself.
Soon the surrounding roads were completely vacant. Everyone had run off while Emily and I sprinted forward. Whatever the situation was, I knew it was serious. How could it not if these Apex kids were panicking too. As we ran, Emily pulled out a little blue radar looking thing. The screen was an empty grid with static all over it.
"Come on. Work you-!" Emily said, shaking it.
And shaking it seemed to fix it. The grid now showed a series of dots that were scattered about, but they mostly concentrated on the bottom of the screen, presumably back near the temple area. Emily was focusing hard on the screen, maybe even more than running.
"Emily! Will you please tell me what is going-"
Before I could finish asking, Emily stopped running in just an instant. She only stared ahead with a fearful expression. The radar showed a dot right in front of us, and when I looked up, I understood Emily's fear. In the middle of the stone street ahead of us sat a lone dark brown creature with four dog-like legs, see through wings, and many many tendrils coming out of its head. At that moment, I knew what the alarm was for.
"Ghoms."
Emily's grip on my arm tightened. She took a step back, while trying not to make any sudden movements. Unfortunately, it didn't seem to matter. The ghom could sense our presence. It perked its head up and suddenly looked toward us with a vile screech.
"Run!" Emily yelled as she led us down an adjacent alleyway.
We got out of the way right at the last minute as the Ghom jumped right past, just barely getting us, and when the ghom landed, it immediately gave chase. With all the motivation in the world, I ran with all I could to get away from the disgusting creature, but also to keep up with Emily, who was going fast enough to feel like she was about to rip my arm off. It made me wonder if she was always this fast. We continued down the alley until Emily had us take a right onto the next street over, which had a high stack of wooden crates sitting next to a building's entrance. A stack that Emily made full use of. When we got closer to it, Emily let go of my arm and ducked over to the bottom crate. Whoever stacked those crates did it super poorly. All it took was one good push, and they toppled over into the street. Unfortunately, that only slowed it down a little. The ghom simply climbed over the pile before chasing us again.
"It's still on our tail!" I said. "Please tell me you have something else to stop it."
Emily took something out of her pocket and desperately started putting it on over her wrist. Since I wasn't paying attention to where I was going in this moment, I failed to notice the one loose brick in the road until I tripped on it.
"Meg!" Emily yelled as I fell to the ground.
I turned to look at the ghom, who was almost right on top of me, and I scrambled to get back up. Before it could reach me however, a blast of force had hit the ghom, sending it back a couple feet. I turned back to Emily, who was pointing her arm toward it. The thing on her wrist looked like a metal bracelet with holes along the sides with little half tubes pointed forward. Emily looked ready to shoot it again, except a part of the bracelet blew off with electricity coming out of it. Emily bore a look of pain as she took it off and threw it to the side. I got up and hurried over to her as the ghom had about recovered from the first blast.
"Emily! Are you-"
"I'm fine, just run!"
We were back to running again, and soon Emily had led us to her workshop. We just managed to shut the metal door before a loud bang came through it. Emily rushed over to some shelves and drawers, pulling various items out and throwing them to the floor, franticly searching for something..
"Where is it? Where is it? I know it's here somewhere!" Emily said, panicked.
The door was again met with another bang as the ghom continued ramming into it. I could see more and more dents as it happened.
"Uh… Emily? I don't think that's gonna hold it long. Whatever you're looking for, you should probably hurry."
"Don't worry, I've almost got… Ugh! Where are you, damn it!?" she yelled into her drawers.
This was bad. Even if she found whatever it was in time, the ghom would still make quick work of the door before Emily had time to use it. I looked around the room for something to block the entrance, but it was no good. Most structures here were either part of the walls or too light to even help. There just had to be a way to give Emily more time. Just then, I noticed something outside through a window. The window on the building across from us was completely blacked out, making it reflective from the outside. That gave me an idea. I quickly took off my bag to rummage through it until I pulled out a hand mirror. It was the one Hazel lent to me not too long ago.
"I hope this works…" I said.
I turned my back to the window and held up the mirror so I could see my reflection. When I tilted the mirror more toward it, the black window glowed until it was a shining white like what happened before. I sighed with relief before I turned to Emily.
"You keep looking for that thing of yours. I'll keep ugly out there distracted."
"What are you talking ab-"
Before Emily could fully turn around, I tapped on the window's reflection, making the light spread to the entire mirror and immediately sucking me into it. After a brief moment of discomfort, I was spat outside through the surface of the black window, still holding onto the hand mirror. I felt a chill go up my spine when it was over. Sure, I discovered I can teleport to any reflective surface I can see, and that's cool and all, but it still has a super weird feeling to it.
"I'm never gonna get used to that."
I turned to the ghom and threw a nearby loose brick at it, getting its full attention on me. I could see Emily run up to the workshops window and stare at me in shock.
"Meg! How did you-? Get back in here!"
"No time! Just find that thing." I said before the ghom screeched at me menacingly, "And hurry, please."
As it leaped forward, I thrusted spear in hand at a ghom trying to get past me. I got it right in the head, and it squirmed on the floor as I held it down there. I waited for it to stop moving before I pulled it back out. After that alarm interrupted us, Shay asked for my help at the bottom of the temples stairs. Now me and her were fighting off ghoms as passengers retreated inside. At first, dozens of passengers poured up the stairs, but now we were waiting for any stragglers to make their way toward us. Speaking of which, David and his friends were running up on our right.
"Hurry!" I said.
"Well no sh-"
Just then a ghom had leaped into the group's path, getting ready to attack them. Before it could however, I quickly sped over and jumped roughly over twenty feet onto the ghom's back before driving my spear into it. I looked up at David in front of me.
"Go now!"
"Yes ma'am." He squeaked out. I think I scared the three a little, cause they ran even faster from my order than the alarm made them.
When the three were to safety, I backed up next to Shay once more.
"Is that about everyone?" I asked.
"No, I think we're still missing a few!" Shay exclaimed as she swat another ghom away.
"Damn it. Meg's still out there too. I need to go find her!"
"Go then, most of the ghoms will go for the temple instead of you."
"What about you? There's no way you can take on this many on your own."
This made Shay smirk. She motioned behind her as she continued.
"Maybe not, but I know they can't handle all of us."
Back from up the stairs, several older teens came running down with makeshift weapons in their hands. The Apex members seemed to regroup and were coming down to fight. I looked back at Shay, who gave me a nod, one that I gratefully returned before sprinting forward. All the ghoms I passed barely even glanced at me as I passed. I assumed this mostly had to do with the small troop of Apex, but I also know the ghoms like going after passengers more than denizens. Of course, I'll still have to be careful.
Soon I was back at the last place I saw Meg and Emily, but they weren't here anymore. I'd have to keep looking. Now that I was further from the temple, the stray ghoms I came across tried going for me. Fortunately for me, I had a weapon to deal with them more discreetly. If Shay hadn't given me this spear, then I'd have to use brute force to fight them off like before. Which would be a dead giveaway to what I actually am. The Apex of all groups did not need to know. Eventually, I found what I was looking for. When running past building after building, I saw Meg in the distance. Except she wasn't alone. She was running from a ghom. The sight made me run even faster after the both of them.
"Meg!"
"No, no, no, no! Where the heck is it!" I shouted.
I was currently in my workshop, opening every drawer, looking through every cabinet, and ripping open every box to find the one thing that can save my best friend.
"Please! I can't lose her again."
I just got Meg back, and knowing she was out there with that thing made me terrified I would lose her again. I could not let that happen. But as much as I looked, I couldn't find it anywhere.
"Where is it, where is it, where-" My words were cut short when I saw a little black remote with a little dish and antenna at the bottom of a box. "There! There you are!"
I swiped it up in my hands faster than I have for anything else in my life. I quickly pushed a large red button on it and fell to my knees with a precise mixture of fear and relief. This was actually the first time I got to test this remote. I just hoped to god it works. Meg's life might just depend on it.
"Please… Please work."
I probably didn't think this all the way through, if I'm being honest. I'm certain I'd be giving Emily enough time to find her thing, but I wasn't really sure if I could outrun this ghom. Sure it couldn't hide under the ground like the one in the desert, but as much as I ran, there was still no losing it. And the worst part? It was actually catching up to me. I would've hidden in the mirror world when I was far enough or something, but at some point the renovations for the buildings just stop. All the structures were just that. Stone structures made only of green brick.
I managed to dodge the ghom when running around corners, but I knew I wouldn't be able to do it forever. Soon I was close to the entrance of the city. There were two gigantic green pillars sitting opposite from each other on the road leading to the jungle. Seeing the solid structures gave me a new idea. I took off my bag and threw it at the ghom, slowing it down just enough, then stood in front of the pillar on my left before turning back to the ghom. It quickly shook off the attack and charged forward. I wasn't worried though… okay, maybe a little, but I had a plan. The ghom stopped a few feet away and then leaped forward, but right before it could get me I ducked out of the way, letting the ghom slam head first into the pillar, giving it a few cracks from impact.
"Ha! Eat that you piece of-" before I could finish my insult, I could hear Hazel in the distance.
"Meg, watch out!"
"Wha-?" Before I could react to her warning, the ghom had almost instantly recovered and pounced right on top of me.
I tried to get up, but the ghom wastes no time and starts to suck out my life energy. Before long though, a loud piercing noise rang out through the car. It was probably the most painful thing I've ever listened to in my life, and the ghom seemed to agree. It quickly backed away with a screech and shook its head around violently. So much so that it slammed into the pillar a few more times, damaging it even more. Eventually, the ghom couldn't take it anymore and retreated toward the jungle before burrowing into the ground to escape.
A few more minutes passed before the excruciating sound stopped. I tried to stand, but after that noise and the ghom trying to get my soul or whatever, I was feeling pretty wiped out. I saw Hazel up ahead of me and she was clutching her head. Looks like that noise affected her, too. She took a moment to shake it off before looking toward me, but when she did, she looked instantly worried.
"Look out!" she yelled.
I quickly turned and saw the pillar the ghom hit. The cracks at the bottom were spreading, and pieces started to come off. Soon, the entire structure toppled over right above me. I tried to move, but I only fell to the ground, exhausted. I screamed as I closed my eyes, bracing myself for the incoming green stone. But it never came. When I opened my eyes again, I saw not a pile of bricks on top of me, but instead a tall bulky turtle woman wearing the same outfit as Hazel, holding the debris on her back over me.
"W- What? Who are…" I asked.
The turtle woman and I locked eyes when she spoke.
"Don't worry, I got this, Meg."
She knew my name? That only confused me more. How could this person… But then I gradually began to realise. Just based on the outfit, I might've guessed this was that friend Hazel mentioned who saved me, but there was more to it than that. The blond hair, the similar face structure, and the dark-colored eyes. Her eyes really made me understand. They had that same protective worry about them.
"Hazel…?"
She didn't respond. She only looked down at me with an expression filled with regret. Her carefully shifting the debris off of her was the last thing I saw before passing out.
When I was unconscious, I had another vision. This one was strange because it was a conversation in black space between two people I've never met before. It might've happened here in the temple car, but I don't think that was the case.
"Simon, I know you're hurt, but I had to keep Hazel safe! I've made a lot of mistakes, but that wasn't one of them. We've been doing it all wrong. The denizens, they aren't just nothing, we don't have to hurt them to survive. We can still change."
"I see… You're even worse than a void, Grace. You're a full-blown traitor now!"
"Simon…"
"Enough talk. You'll be wheeled, one way or another."
I gently opened my eyes when I woke up, and I could see a green stone ceiling above me. The room I was in had medical equipment, some surgical tools hanging on the back wall, and a couple of sinks in the corners. I was in some kind of makeshift clinic. There was a row of clean white beds, one of which I was resting in, and white curtains used to separate patients, but the one to my right was open. When I sat up, I saw Hazel sitting on the bed next to mine, looking at me and smiling awkwardly.
"Hey, how are you feeling?" She asked.
"Better. That ghom really took a lot out of me."
"Yeah, I can imagine, heh."
Silence. That's all that was heard between us in this moment. Awkward silence. Clearly there was something to talk about here, but the both of us were dreading the conversation, more so Hazel. But she braved it by starting herself.
"So… I'm sure you have questions…"
"Only one, actually. What… what are you exactly, Hazel?"
She let out a sigh before she spoke. This was the only question I could really ask her right now, but I think she was hoping it'd be something else.
"My mentor… she lost someone very close to her, and when she got here, she tried her hardest to remake him using the train's technology. She experimented day and night just to get him perfect, but she could never get him right. This led to her creating human-like denizens, one's that have turtle features… like me."
Hazel took off her glove and looked down at her palm. She took a deep breath before turning it around for me to see. She had a black number on her hand that read 337.
"I'm not a passenger, Meg. I'm a denizen of the train, based off him."
I would say I was shocked, and sure it still surprised me she was a denizen of all things, but from the beginning I knew something was different about Hazel. The way she talked about passengers and denizens, how she defended the cars against David and that James guy, and her crazy abilities. Deep down I knew, but hearing it from her finally made it click. I stared at Hazel in awe.
"I understand that you're still mad at me, and I'm not saying you shouldn't be. But I promise you, I did what I did for your sake and I still want to help you. I am sorry that I-"
"No…" I interrupted.
"What?"
"You don't have to be sorry, Hazel. You have risked your life to help me so many times now. Without you, I'd be dead, and Emily would be alone with these jerks forever. You have been a good friend to me. I forgive you Hazel, and… I'm sorry for being such a jerk myself." Hazel's smile returned, only more genuine. I had mostly gotten over it, but that doesn't mean I'm not gonna tease her about it from time to time. "Though I still think I'm gonna be salty about the whole blood thing." I said grinning.
"Fair enough." Hazel said with a chuckle.
Just then, Hazel and I heard footsteps from outside. Before long, a girl with black and blue hair rushed inside. Hazel quickly put her glove on upon seeing Emily run in.
"Meg!" Emily yelled, before speeding next to me. "Meg, are you alright?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. Hazel saved me again, and so did you I think."
"Oh thank goodness." Emily said as she fell to sit on the bed. "I was so worried when you ran off, please never do that again."
"Heh, sorry about that."
It was odd to see Emily worry about me, cause it's usually the other way around. When she gets in trouble, or gets hurt, I'm the one super worried for her. I already knew she cared, but it still felt nice. Though I felt bad making her worry too.
"Emily," Hazel said. "I wanted to ask, how long have the ghoms been a problem here exactly?"
"Well, it's apparently been happening even before I joined. And pretty frequently too. In fact, this is the fifth time this month." Emily said as she pulled out a little remote. "That's why I've been working on this."
"What is it?" I asked.
"It's sort of a ghom repellent. I designed it to let out a noise that will hurt any ghom that hears it."
"So that's what that was. Well I'd say it works, cause that noise was super annoying."
"Wait, you actually heard it? How? It's at a frequency that only-"
Before Emily could continue, Hazel groaned in annoyance.
"This makes no sense. Large groups of passengers can attract the ghoms, but there's only a couple hundred people here. That should only attract a few at the most. Not a hoard of them."
"Maybe there's something else attracting them here?" I suggested.
"Whatever the case, I bet Mono knows what the cause is. Damn it, if Grace were here she wouldn't let something like this happen."
"Grace?" Emily asked, confused.
"She was a member of the Apex. You wouldn't know her, nobody does."
"Actually, I think I've heard the name before."
Hazel's eyes went wide before she was right in Emily's face.
"You have? Where?"
"Uh… Shay mentioned someone named Grace a couple times, but I don't know if-"
"Where is Shay now?"
"Over by the training area, I think. It's just west of the fount-"
Without another word, Hazel sped off, leaving Emily and I baffled.
"Man, she's really determined to find this Grace person."
"Yeah, I think I get why."
The moment I heard Grace's name, I was almost immediately out the door. I jogged from the north-east part of the city all the way west. It took me some time, but I eventually found the training building.
It was a lot larger than other structures, giving it a lot of room to train in. Once inside, I could see a wooden floor, hanging lights, tons of exercise equipment, weapons, and training dummies. There weren't that many passengers inside, but Shay was indeed here. She was in the middle of the area talking with David, Alex, and Billy, who were all holding bo staffs.
"Something you need to keep in mind is your opponent's balance." Shay said to the three. "They can't fight well if you knock them flat on their ass. David, be my opponent for a sec."
"I really don't like the sound of this."
"Don't worry, it'll be quick."
David reluctantly walked forward and stood opposite from Shay. They both stood defensively before David charged forward. In response, Shay dodged out of the way before sweeping his legs out from under him. He was about to get up until he noticed Shay's staff in his face.
"See? Quick." Shay said as she helped David up.
Alex and Billy silently snickered in the back, making David flustered.
"Commander Shay, why do we need to learn this stuff anyway? I mean I think we can take on whatever comes our way when it's all of us."
"Maybe, but what if you three are facing a ghom on your own? You'll have to know how to fight them. Me or even Hazel won't always be able to save you."
"Hey, we didn't need your guy's help. Besides, I don't even think Hazel's all that tough."
Shay then noticed me walking up. She glanced at me with a smirk before addressing David again.
"Really? Then how come you guys looked terrified when she killed that ghom in front of you?"
"Well… we were worried about the ghoms getting us. It had nothing to do with-"
"Shay." I said, causing David to jump from fear.
"Ah! Where did you come from!?"
"I need to talk with you." I said, ignoring David's question. "Just you."
"Oh my, so forward." Shay joked. "Alright you three, I guess that's enough for today."
"Fine by me." David said before gesturing to his friends. "Come on, guys."
The three boys then sped out of the room, leaving Shay and I to speak in relative private.
"You know, I never got to thank you for defending our people back there. I know you haven't had the best experience with us, but I really appreciate-"
The run over here calmed me down some, but I was still in a big enough rush to cut Shay off.
"Where is Grace?" I blurted out.
"I… what? How do you even-"
"I know you know about her, so where is Grace?"
"She…" Shay stared at me in disbelief before she looked down. "She's not here anymore."
That could mean several things, but my first guess was to the most likely on the train.
"So she's off the train then? She got her number down?"
Shay shook her head in response before answering with a grim look on her face.
"No… she never left the train, but… she's gone."
Her words gave me a pit in my stomach. The gloom in her voice told me exactly what she meant. I didn't want to believe it, but I knew from the start. I just couldn't accept it. Back in One's engine room, I occasionally tried looking up Grace's data on Amelia's terminal, but I could never find her. I assumed that something was wrong with the system and that's partly why I left in the first place. But now that I knew the truth, I was building with anger.
"How…?"
Shay looked reluctant, but she answered anyway.
"…Do you remember that dangerous passenger I mentioned on the way here?"
Knowing it was an actual person made it worse. I grabbed Shay by the front of her jacket before yelling.
"Who did it!?" I screamed. "Who killed Grace?"
Today has been a complete mess. Firstly, Shay brings back that brat and the conductor sympathiser here, and then we have another ghom attack. I guess I should be thankful that no one died this time, but honestly, I was mostly just pissed off from the attack itself. But I'd have to put that aside for now. I had an old friend to visit.
I was in the lower part of my temple, walking down a corridor of stairs to a dungeon. There were special torches hanging on the walls that never go out, and the stone here was clean and preserved, completely untouched by spray paint. The only people allowed in this place are myself, and Shay. At the bottom of the stairs was a wooden door with a big lock on it, and after a moment of unlocking it with a big red key, I walked through. Inside was a long room with many cells with iron bars spread on the left and right walls, but these cells were not what I was looking for. My focus was on the end of the room. As I walked by them, I could sense the terror from inside the cells when I passed. Soon I had reached my destination. On the far back wall opposite from the entrance sat a full steel door with several locks and a sliding panel. When I was right in front of it, I slid the metal panel to the side and looked within.
It was a padded room inside with various tears on the central part of the ground. But the most interesting part was the man sitting in the middle with his back to me. This man had long blond hair, white skin and was wearing a black tank top, tan pants torn on the left leg, white socks, and steel chains welded together on his torso. His number spread on both his arms and a green glow could be seen in front of him. I knocked on the metal door to get his attention. He didn't turn, but I knew he heard me.
"What do you want?" He asked.
"Well, well, he speaks. I thought you would've died from boredom after all this time. I mean, how long has it been since my last visit?"
"One year, six months, and twelve days, but who's counting? And I refuse to die, not when there's a chance of getting out of here."
"You will never get out of here." I assured him. "Not while I'm still the leader."
The man spit on the floor at my words. I could tell he was still bitter.
"You will never be the true leader because you're unfit to lead us to glory. You are nothing but a damn void."
"Void… I hope you know that term means nothing here. You only made it up as an excuse to turn the Apex against the one person who cared about you."
"Shut up." he said.
"Why? It's the truth. You couldn't accept that she was growing old of you and look what happened because of it."
"I said shut up!"
I smiled to myself. This was part of the reason I kept him around. Getting him angry was so entertaining, and I knew just what would throw him over the edge.
"I don't see why you're getting so mad. After all, I'm not the one who murdered her."
That was the last straw for him. The man quickly stood up and sprinted toward me in anger, but he didn't get far. There was a chain anchoring him to the floor, only allowing him to get halfway to me. I could see his number growing on his face as he stared at me with rage in his eyes.
"Touched a nerve, did I?" I said, calmly.
"Damn you! You have no right to speak of Grace. She was ten times the leader you could ever be."
"And then you killed her because she went soft."
"She only went soft because that girl got to her. If we never met her, then Grace would still be here."
"You would've betrayed her eventually."
The man turned around in annoyance and got straight to business.
"You didn't answer my question. What the hell do you want? I know you didn't come here just to taunt me."
"That's correct. You've been on this train the longer than anyone here, so I want to know what you can tell me about blue numbers."
The man thought for a moment before answering.
"Blue numbers? I've heard nothing like that before. Why?"
Damn, I was hoping this murderer could at least give me something, but he's proving to be as useless as ever. No matter, but there was something else that I wanted to do before I left.
"No reason. By the way, what was the name of that girl you talked about? The one that you and Grace met."
"…Hazel." He said with venom. I laughed at hearing his answer.
"In that case, I think you'll find this interesting." I said as I threw a photograph into his cell. It floated down toward his feet before he bent down to grab it. "Recently, a woman who fit the description of that girl was brought here to the Apex. Thought you'd want to know."
The man looked down at the photo of Hazel in silence. He breathed heavily before he crumpled it in a fist. That's when I closed the metal panel and walked away with a smug grin under my mask. I could hear him screaming in the distance as I walked back up the stairs, making me chuckle.
"Until next visit, Simon."