Awakening – Part 1
Eve awoke to the feeling of a soft bed underneath her and the light sting of alcohol on her brows. Confused, she vaguely registered the feeling of a heavy anvil pounding in her mid regions – a sign of her nano machines working way past their limit – as she pushed her way up into a sitting position.
"You shouldn't move you know. Hell, you should be dead by all accounts."
Ojiisan. Memories flashed quickly past her eyes, before the recollection of the explosion sent pain tingling down her spine. She collapsed gratefully back down, letting the annoyingly clumsy ministrations continue.
"Where's Sven?" she asked scratchily.
He pointed at the makeshift bed of blankets behind him. "I found the eye patch guy dumped in an alley two blocks away from here. I was scavenging for food through the garbage. I thought he was a rotting corpse. I was mentally thinking of where to bury him before I saw that he was breathing shallowly. Amazing that he survived with all his limbs intact, though he hasn't woken up yet."
Eve cut off the mindless babble in favor of staring at Sven. There were so many bandages wrapped around him that he looked like a mummy. It would have been funny had the situation not been so serious. She bet Train would laugh in this situation anyways. Speaking of whom…
"Where is the baka?"
"You mean the brunette that was with you?"
Eve nodded, looking around for Train, probably casually leaning against a doorway somewhere, drinking some milk and acting as if nothing happened.
"Well, I found him," Ojiisan jabbed behind his back at Sven, "by chance. You miraculously came flying out of nowhere and landed on my doorsteps. I have no idea where your companion is." His tone was one of uncaring casualness, though his eyes glittered with concern.
Eve's guts clenched in dread, even as she reassured herself that Train was alright, probably out there lost on the streets, spending all that was left of their money on sushi or something equally stupid. Even so…
"Don't worry Nee-chan! Train nii-san will come back and help Kou steal more apples!" came a little chirp from underneath her bed. She looked down, only to come face to face with an angelic smile that was missing a few baby teeth.
"Kou will help Nee-san look for him. Kou is really good at finding people. Kou has lotsa people who can help. Aniki is always helping Kou. Aniki can find Nii-san. Aniki knows everyone -" The said Kou dragged Eve out of bed, oblivious of the wince on her face or the reprimanding old man at her bedside.
"Wait! Where are we going?" Eve pounced at the chance to squeeze her question in as the little boy stopped to take a deep breath of air.
The little boy blinked. "To the Volts of course."
Eve stared, too shocked to do anything but follow the boy onto the streets.
Train smiled. The painful tingling was leaving his body, and in its wake, his body control was returning to him. He looked around, noting the silvery white mist that surrounded him in a tight cylindrical structure. Following the wall of mist up with his eyes, he saw it reached far into the distance, though he could make out a speck of black sky if he squinted. No escape way up there.
The presence of someone familiar suddenly registered on his instincts, and he watched with a cold face as Creed Deskance stepped through the mist. He was still burning with rage from the insults Creed had thrown at Seiya, but he kept calm pretty well considering.
"Train, join the Hoshi no Shinto and rule to world by my side." So it was right onto business huh?
Noting the silence, Creed pushed resolutely on. "I know I've made the offer before, but you must reconsider. After all, your friends have abandoned you to me. They are powerless. I, on the other hand, can take over the world." Creed stroked Train's cheek with the back of his knuckles. "We can have so much fun together," he whispered.
Train could barely refrain from the shudder of disgust that rose from within. He stared into Creed's dark eyes, taking pleasure in the hope there, before spitting out a succinct "Never."
Disappointment, pain and longing rushed into Creed's face, before being completely covered up by his maniacal grin.
"I had hoped that you would answer differently. But, since I was underestimating that witch's power over you, I guess I must use desperate methods." Here, Creed stepped away from Train, turned around, and stuck his head through the mist. An echoing, eerie sound could be heard from the other side.
"Oh Docter!"
The said man stepped through the mist, a huge cart following after him. Various sinister tools lay glinting dangerously on it. Train shuddered when he caught sight of 40 different scalpels in a neat row under an electric razor.
"Mmm…I'll let Doctor take care of you Train. You'll wake up much happier." With that, Creed skipped out into the mist, leaving Train to stare nervously and yet defiantly Doctor.
Doctor raised a needle. "Do you wish to have anesthetic Train-san?"
Train ignored him, and looked up at the sky instead. Freedom was so close, but he had a feeling that this was going to be the last time he saw those twinkling stars.