Okay, so, from this point forward, I'm gonna stop replying reviews, which I wasn't getting many of them anyway, so that I can focus a bit more finishing this story.

Because lord knows I have a bad habit of not doing that XD.

Anyway, after this chapter, we should be halfway through the story, if not nearing the halfway point.

So... yeah, I'll go radio silence for now, and if anything else happens, I'll let you know.

The doors to the Trolberg Library opened, and the young boy known as David walked inside, looking around the bookshelves nervously before he was interjected by Kaisa.

"Hi, David. What brings you to the library?"

"Uh, hi, Kai... Libra..." David paused. "Sorry, I don't know what to call you while you're on the job."

"Kaisa's just fine," the Witch pocketed her hands. "Let's not make the situation any more complicated than it already is, okay?"

David was kinda tempted to ask whether Kaisa meant the situation with her name, or the situation with the Train. But he wasn't in the mood to take risks right now.

"Well, we were given the task to write a book report," David scratched his head. "I was wondering if you could help me find the book I'm looking for."

Kaisa scratched her chin. "That depends, what exactly are you looking for?"

"Well, we weren't given a specific book, persay," David twiddled his thumbs. "We were told to write a report about a book belonging to specific genre and-"

"You're here for info on the Infinity Train, aren't you?" Kaisa asked with a bored expression.

"I'm here for info on the Infinity Train."

Hey, David was many things, but he wasn't dishonest.

"Kid, I already told you, the Infinity Train is something way too dangerous for you to tackle," Kaisa crouched down. "I mean, at least with the wilderness, you can expect to face the same things multiple times: Trolls, Vittra, what have you, they stay consistent. Nothing is consistent on the Infinity Train!"

David lowered his head. "But... I want to help Hilda..."

"And I hate to tell you this, David, I really do, but there's nothing you can do for Hilda right now," Kaisa stood up. "As soon as she stepped on the Train, she embarked on a quest that only she could see to its completion. If you or any of her friends hopped in as well, you'd be stuck on your own, individual quest! You'd have to be lucky just to find her!"

David rubbed his arm, and looked away from Kaisa.

"Look, the best thing you, or anybody really, can do for Hilda right now is be patient and hope for the best," Kaisa smiled. "Besides, we both know Hilda's a tough cookie. If there's anybody in Trolberg that can survive the Infinity Train without being a witch, it's her. She'll return eventually."

David remained silent, but his sadness did seem to go away, if only slightly. However, Kaisa couldn't talk with David anymore, she had work to do.

"Okay, so, yeah, that's all you gotta know. Trust me, patience will be rewarded."

And so, Kaisa began to walk away...

"Wait, there's one more thing I'd like to ask," David blurted. "It's about Hilda's Mum."

Kaisa stopped, her heart skipping a beat at the statement. "Johanna?"

"Yeah, her. Our teacher asked our class to send Hilda the homework she missed, but when I went to the apartment, nobody answered." David tilted his head. "Do you know where she is?"

Kaisa looked elsewhere. "Um..."

"So, wait, what do you mean my mind's the problem?" Hilda inquired.

"I mean," Kelly sipped her drink. "That the most important thing in everything is the mind. A clear mind will get you through thick and thin; a clouded mind will betray you."

Hilda frowned. "I don't get it."

"Ugh, okay, look, why did I slap and yell at you? Because your attitude clouded my mind with rage," Kelly pointed out, Hilda instinctively grabbing her slapped cheek. "And it was only once I calmed down and cleared my mind of those thoughts that I managed to get my point across. You, in a sense, have a similar problem."

"But my mind's not clouded with rage."

"Rage isn't the only thing that can cloud a mind, Hilda," Helga pointed. "Sadness, fear, disgust, self-loathing, pride, these and many others can cloud even the toughest minds."

And now, Hilda was reminded of her little walk to the outskirt of Trolberg, right before she hopped on the Train. Now that she had some more time to think things through, she now understood that she wasn't on her best mind when she did that. The anger and disbelief at the fight she had with her mother completely overpowered any other thought she might've had.

Granted, it would've been nicer if she had found out about this earlier, preferrably before hopping into a mystical, omniversal Train. But it was too late to think about what could've been.

"You're in luck, you know?" Kelly remarked. "It seems like we're about to enter a super race."

"Super race? What's that?"

Kelly pointed at the track, where a large number of artificial bikers emerged from the ground and got ready to start the race.

Counting Hilda's group and the other bikers, the number of people competing in the upcoming race easily reached a hundred.

"You call that lucky!?" Hilda snapped.

"Those bikers are part of the car, and they serve as a way to not keep anybody trapped here," Kelly explained. "If any of them pass the race, they'll immediately get the chance to pass to the next Car, and then they'll give that chance to one of the passengers in here."

Hilda calmed down. "So, in other words, even if I don't get anywhere near the top three, I'll still be able to go to the next Car!"

Then, the Bluette turned to Helga. "Did you know anything about this?"

"I was stuck at the Woff Car for most of my life," Helga answered, calmly taking a bite out of her food. "Everything that's new to you, is new to me as well."

"Well, look at the bright side, Hilda!" Alfur chirped. "At least even if you lose, you'll win!"

Hilda hummed about it for a moment, and as the group finished eating and went to the finish line, Hilda sported a concerned expression, which Kelly eventually noticed.

"Let me guess, you're worried that the rest of the Train isn't going to be nearly as merciful as this Car, and that there's a good chance that you could be stuck here for days?"

Hilda nodded, lowering her eyelids slightly.

"Well, in that case, the only thing you can really do is grin and bear it."

Hilda flinched. "But my Mum-"

"Like I just explained to you, no matter how hard you want to leave, you're stuck here as long as your number's anything bigger than zero," Kelly interjected. "And you can't just rush into things because that'll only get you a longer stay here. So, what do you do? Take one step at a time: in a few minutes we'll go to the starting line in order to participate in the next race. If we win, that's fine, if we don't win, that's also fine. Understood?"

Hilda looked away and nodded.

*BANG!*

And with that sound, the bike started, Hilda's short pause at the start causing her to end up dead last among the bikers, even the artificial ones.

The Bluette gasped and quickly began pedaling, getting an uneasy start before she managed to move forward.

Hilda kept looking at her bike for a moment before she raised her head... only to find Helga waving goodbye as she sped ahead.

"H-Hey, wait for me!"

"Wait for you? This is a race, kid!" Kelly exclaimed. "A race we'll win regardless, granted, but I won't settle for third or second place!"

"Having fun is the name of the game here, Hilda!" Helga exclaimed. "Just enjoy the ride and you'll do fine!"

And with those words, the duo sped up, leaving Hilda to continue trying to catch up to the other bikers.

"Arf!"

The sudden bark caught Hilda's attention, and when she turned around, she saw her friendly deerfox companion Twig running alongside her.

"Twig!" Hilda giggled. "You're not supposed to be here!"

The deerfox just sped up, waggling his tail as he trottled past some of the artificial bikers.

"Oh, I see, you wanna play?" Hilda tightly gripped her handle. "Let's play!"

Hilda giggled as she began pedaling faster, going past a few of the artificial bikers as she chased after the deerfox, a wide smile on her face.

They kept at this for a while as the race track began to morph: the ground moved to form a few turns and inclines downwards, the latter causing Hilda to chuckle as she stopped pedaling and let the incline do its job.

Twig didn't get the memo in time, however, causing him to slide down into a ball that began rolling towards Hilda, who reached for him.

"I'm gonna get you, Twig!"

However, the incline suddenly stopped, causing Hilda to trip and drop off her bike, rolling a bit before she stopped, giggling all the way.

She tried to snatch Twig as soon as he rolled into her, but he quickly uncurled and hopped away.

Hilda quickly got up, dusted herself, and got back on her bike, speeding after the fleeting deerfox while getting past several of the bikers, both artificial and passengers.

This continued until the duo reached the finish line, wherein Hilda got on top of her bike, and once she crossed the line, she lunged forward and grabbed Twig, rolling in a ball until they stopped, laughing as she hugged her companion and rubbed cheeks with him.

"Looks like you had fun."

Hilda looked up, and saw Helga and Kelly looking at her, both sporting pleased smiles.

And then a mechanical voice spoke:

Dear Passengers, the Bike Race Car is about to close. Please change back to your regular outfits and prepare to leave the car.

Repeat, please change back to your regular outfits and prepare to leave the car.

"How many more times is it going to say that?"

"Presumably until everybody leaves," Kelly sighed. "You'd be surprised at how many people try to stay behind for one more race."

Hilda's group had already changed to their regular clothes, and as they waited for their portals to open, Hilda looked up at the rankings: while Helga had landed around the 70s, and Kelly did get first place as she wanted, Hilda landed squarely at the 50th spot.

Hilda sighed and put her arms behind her head. "Man, that sucks! And I thought I did pretty well, too!"

"You did do well, it's just that the Car's bikers were infinitely better," Kelly shrugged. "Since, you know, them winning's kinda their entire purpose?"

Hilda took a deep breath, and remained silent as Helga walked to her side, arms folded behind her back.

"The 50th spot. That's quite an achievement."

"I bet it's a one in a million chance to get it." Hilda giggled.

Helga paused, and faced Hilda. "And you're not angry about it?"

"Well, I certainly wouldn't complain if I had reached the top three, but... I'm not mad, no. I got to race with Twig, I remembered some good times I had with everyone and... my Mum... I feel... satisfied."

A glow emanated from Hilda's palm, and when she looked, she saw her numbered had lowered to 200, a sight that stunned her.

"M-My number! It went down!" Hilda showed her palm to Helga. "My number went down!"

"I can see that," Helga nodded with a smile.

Then she showed it to Kelly. "My number went down!"

"Well, guess what?" Kelly showed off her palm, which sported the number 20. "So did mine."

Hilda and Kelly exchanged smiles at their smaller numbers, then shook hands, by Hilda's suggestion, of course.

"I don't say this often, but... what was it again?"

"I think the word you're looking for is "thank you."

"Yeah, that!"

It was then that a portal opened for Hilda's group.

"Well, it was... interesting, to see you again, Kelly," Hilda said. "I guess you're not an unrepentant jerk like I thought you were."

"Don't get your hopes up, kid: I'm a Marra, I kinda need to be an unrepentant jerk to survive," Kelly chuckled. "But once I get off this Train, I hope I'll be... a bit nicer, and a bit more stable."

Then, as Hilda approached the portal, Kelly waved goodbye and said:

"Good luck, Hilda!"

Hilda waved back with a smile, hopped through the portal alongside her group...

And immediately came to regret it.

The very next Car didn't look that strange, it was the passengers who freaked Hilda out: they all had flames somewhere around their body, the fire being slightly see-through, but causing them visible pain.

"What is this place?" Hilda asked.

"It's disturbing, isn't it?" Helga added.

"You can say that again."

The girls winced and turned around, Hilda's eyes widening at seeing a familiar brunette woman sitting on a bench.

"... Mum?"

The woman smiled wearily.

"I'm glad to see you're okay, Hilda."