Faris could smell the stink as he followed the trail she dripped. His concoction serving both purposes, allowing him to easily track his opponents, and distracting his enemy. Eventually the smell stopped, signifying that the girl had used magic to get rid of it. He smiled, hoping it had brought her terrible discomfort, he slipped into the next train car, looking for anything to help him take her down…

"How's Yacob doing?" Bartholomew asked, "I know he graduated."

"Oh? Him?!" Yana pouted angrily. "Half a year after coming back he went down to join the mage forces in Surda against the golden Horde, last I heard he's in a squad with this guy named Namor, and they're making names for themselves. But he doesn't visit at all, even during scheduled off time for his troop." She frowns. "Others beside herself with worry, first father, now brother's away from the family, fighting to prove himself loyal when it wasn't even his fault!" She looked mad, then turned when she saw Venka wal into the cart, Venka looked at her, pondered for a few seconds, then sighed.

"Hi Yana, how is your family."

"What do you care, your boyfriend got my father killed."

An uncomfortable silence took hold of the room, as they turned to Venka, who kept a pleasant smile on her face as she continued. "Look, I'm certain you loved your father, but I loved both my parents too, the people responsible for killing my parents are people your father worked with, people who kidnapped and almost killed Faris. I care because I forgave you already."

Yana ignored her comments, causing Venka, to clench her fist but otherwise do nothing but sit down, opposite her…

Faris began walking through the room, and recognized that it was one of the guard lounges, he began scrambling through the room, looking around until he found the smallest guard uniform, for a woman no less, which was still a bit larger than he was. He slipped it on, marvelling at the quartz stone, he then turned to a piece of paper on the desk.

"...Resir" The quartz glowed, and he felt magic suffusing through him, for the first time in a year, his eyes rose in excitement, and tears glimmered, he could feel the magic envelop him, small as it was, go through his body reach his mind, excite areas he thought had been long dormant, suffusing and ready to do its task… But nothing. The paper didn't move, he felt a tiny bit of exhaustion, as well as the exhilaration of his mind connecting to magic, but nothing happened. He doubled over, wounds throbbing as his attempt left his body wracked with pain. The stone was enchanted to allow those without magic to use a few limited spells, he felt the drain, if it didn't work…. "Don't kid yourself, it hasn't worked all this while, it's not going to work now." Faris took out the pill, popping it in, and feeling relief flood his body. He stood straight, walking into the next cart. It was the cook's area. And it was a disaster, the cook was red faced, screaming his head off at one of the guards, a girl who was barely an adult, crying over what looked to be a spilled gallon of milk.

"Dammit Girl! You spilled the milk! The cream of potato soup will be ruined! Faris looked between the cook, crying girl, and white faced guards before shaking his head and heading over.

"What the heck do you want!" The cook, a portly man with large cheeks yelled, red faced.

Faris looked at the kitchen, then back at the cook. "What happened sir."

"I'll tell you what happened! One of your stupid coworkers spilled the milk! Now the soup our VIP's registered is ruined!" The girl just kept crying.

"Was only the milk spilled?"

"Does that matter!?" The cook asked. Faris ignored the question to his question and looked around, he spotted a bag full of rice, a few sweet fruits that reminded him of dattes, and water.

"Yes, I believe we can make a substitute for the natural milk." The cook's eyes widened.

"How?! We don't have goat milk?!" He looked mad but hopeful as Faris walked over to the rice bag.

"This will be difficult, but doable, I'll need all your help." He turns to the first bunch of guards. "I need you to start washing this rice! After you do! Clean it! Clean it very very well! If you need strain the water off by using magic to keep the rice stationary as you dump the water. Once you do!" He turns to another group. "Put it in the pot and begin to boil it! Add more water than normal, we want the rice soft for wet for what we're doing!" As they began to follow his instructions he turned to the cook. "By any chance, do you have a blender."

"A what?"

"Nevermind." Faris went to a bowl, "I'll need some strong hands that also know how to tinker." The girl to his surprise tapped his side. "Alright, I'll need you to create a 3/4ths unit diameter circle, a hole punched perfectly into the center of the pot. He handed the girl a special drill he developed. The tip and sides were diamond dust-lined for best use. He was impressed as the girl got to it quickly, getting done quite efficiently. "Good job." She smiled at his complement. "Now do the same for this." He took out a long double ended blade with a thicker blunt mid section. It was just slightly thicker than a butcher knife, but it tapered to a sharp point dramatically. Faris took out 3 more pieces of metal, a screw with two smooth bits outside the railing grooves, and two washers. After cleaning the washers and screw thoroughly he, dried them then applied a healthy dosage of cooking oil to the washers, he applied it to the screw bit and the metal, screwing it in place, Testing it he smiled as it rotated rapidly. "How's the rice?"

"Extremely soft, the fruit as well." One of the guards said. "I still don't understand though how…"

"Does anyone's stone have an enchantment to move an object?" After a few uncomfortable seconds some of the guards raised their hand. "Alright, when we pour it in, I'll need you to say, Thrysta unin bollr."(Round Thrust, or literally: Thrust in Round) After a bit of coaching, the guards nodded, looking down at the new contraption. Faris prayed his blender would work. "I need some guards to also use their spells to hold the nail in place." A few more nodded. "Good." He turned to the cook and smiled. "This will definitely work sir." He hoped. "Okay, my pushers, when saying the words, imagine the blades spinning rapidly, like so." He rotated it manually, holding unto the nail to keep it from wobbling. "And holders, keep the nail from moving." He cleared the way and they began to pour the watery rice into the bowl, along with the soft fruits, "Now." It began as a light whirring, then began to rise rapidly, Faris shoved a lid on the bowl and held on to it tightly, tears streaming as his broken arm, pain renewed, throbbed with the insane vibrations. He grit his teeth and counted the seconds, after 652 seconds he didn't feel the drag of the blender as much and the hum and vibrations moved to a much more regular beat. He told them to stop, after doing so he opened the lid, and turned to the cook, who took out a ladle to taste the white liquid, after a few seconds, he looked at Faris with astonishment, and took the bowl to begin mixing it in with the soup.

The guards relaxed as the cook smiled. They patted Faris on the back, offering him thanks and congratulations for his efforts. After that they filed out, distributing the soup into smaller bowls before cocooks added their garnish. Faris turned to leave but the cook grabbed him. "Thank you,but don't forget the job, I'll need you to bring the soup over to our VIP's, Eva will assist you." He turns to the girl grouchily, "Try not to slip up." Faris shook his head as he pushed the cart along, the young woman opening it up for him.

"Thanks for saving my job."

"No problem." Faris sighed, "so, Eva was it? What brings you to work here?"

"I love locomotives, I've always wanted to work in one, and I had high compatibility with the crystal, so I got to work here. But…." She smiled awkwardly, "I have bad vision, so I tend to drop things easily."

"Nothing a good pair of spectacles can't fix." Faris pushed the cart along, apparently the VIP's where at the end of the train cart.

"Haha, imagine if I had the money.…" The girl sighed. "So, what's your name?"

"Damien."

"Damien." The girl giggled before looking at him slyly, "That's an odd way of saying Monica."

Faris paused, looked at his shirt's nametag, and groaned.

"Don't worry!" Eva smiled, "You saved us all from the chef's wrath, so your secret is safe with me, but, what are you doing on the train?"

"I… I'm after a thief."

"Oh? How'd they sneak into the train?"

Faris laughed, "If I told you I'd have to knock you out."

"Duly noted, yes, here are our VIP's, she pointed over to a group of seven teens. Faris gave a double-take when he recognized his friends, and felt his blood boil as he saw Yana, Yacob's sister….

"So Yana, what brings you into the city?" Seya asked. Yana smiled.

"Oh… you know, this and that."

The guards walked up to them, passing out bowls of soup. "Compliments of the chef." The woman said, smiling.

"Oh wow, it smells delicious!" Morgan said, sniffing the soup. "What is it?"

"Cream of Potato and Mushroom soup." She smiled.

"It's delicious!" Venka took several deep slurps. Soon everyone delved into the meal. As they did Seya turned to the girl guard.

"Excuse me, miss…"

"Eva." The woman smiled.

"Yes, the cream of soup is normally made with milk, but this, while similar it's a little different, less fat? What milk did you use?"

"Oh actually we made a special milk substitute using rice and a special fruit from the south."

The kids raised their eyes. "I couldn't taste any real difference, but, now that you mention it it is pretty sweet." Katya said. "I'd love to thank the genius who came up with it."

Yana chuckled as she drank her soup, it's warm spread around, making her feel light and strong. This lightness and strength was replaced with a feeling of disgust and nausea almost immediately. She rushed to the restroom, leaving Faris's friends concerned and confused, as she entered the restroom there was someone waiting for her.

"Cardus Weed, it is a muscle relaxant when burned and smoked, calming the nerves and causing the brain to inject more dopamine into the system. But if ground and ingested, it causes light constipation and nausea, the sad part is it's almost impossible to throw up unless you forcefully do it yourself." Faris stepped out from the darkness.

"You!" Venka leaned to the back of the door, trying to find the knob. "Jierda!"

Faris cocked his head. "Sorry, that won't work on me this time."

"What did you do to me?!" Yana began to panc, fumbling for the knob as Faris inched ever closer.

"Trade secret miss." Faris winked, "Now… do you remember me?"

"What the hell are you talking about yo-" Yana was interrupted, yelping as Faris punched the door hard enough to form deep cracks in the wood, with a little effort Faris tugged his hand out.

"Let's try that again, do you, remember me?" Faris frowed as the girl shook her head. "Too bad, either way, you're under arrest." As he took out his cuffs a knock was heard on the door.

"Yana? You alright?" Yana turned, triumph and terror on her face as she opened the door.

"Some weirdo is in here! He's about to attack me!" They burst in the room, magic on their fingertips.

Katya peered into the room. "Finna du fjandí unin thornessa breoal" (find the enemy in this room) After a few seconds she strode to a curtain, pulling it back to find, no one, just a closed window, and the city whizzing by. "Someone was here, but they're probably long gone Yana, you're sa-" She turned, but like the others, was confused to see Yana had disappeared...

Yana made her way quickly through the train cars, looking for an empty one to hide in. That boy, whoever he was he was unrelenting, and she needed to escape, somehow, for some reason her magic wasn't working, and that scared her. She also didn't need to stick to those mage-in-training. They would ask too many questions, questions she didn't need to answer.

"Going somewhere?"

She froze, turning left and right fearfully, until she opened her pack, revealing a wicked looking dagger. "Show yourself coward!" She shifted uncomfortably in the room, trying to keep from the corners. As she inched towards the end of the rail car she felt the wind get knocked out as someone kicked her from behind. As she fell she lashed out widely, her panicked mined registering satisfaction as her dagger caught on, then tore through something. Rolling and picking herself up she saw the boy who had been chasing her, he stood over her confidently, but one arm hung uselessly to the side, a deep knife wound just below the shoulder, his other arm seemed wrapped in some odd splint, his forearm was broken, and other arm useless. Despite these infirmities he was a terrifying presence to behold. "Why are you so persistent?!" She screamed in rage, charging towards him. She almost lost consciousness as his leg seemed to come out of nowhere, hitting her hard enough to almost break her ribs.

"Darn…" Faris stumbled forward, his damaged arms lead to lack of balance, making his kick lose power and focus, he had meant for her chin. Yana looked at him in terror. "That's better…" Faris began, "That's exactly how he looked at you, terror, hate, pain, the only difference being his only crime was being in the wrong place at the wrong time…" Faris lunged forward, the girl screamed in fear, throwing her hands and legs together to block it, Faris didn't hesitate as he kicked savagely, and the girl screamed as he struck her femur, he smiled grimly as he hear the tell tale cracks of a vicious breakage. The girl screamed in pain. He raised his leg to kick, only to be cut along his standing calf, falling forward he looked up in time to see Yana limp away from him, running towards the entrance of the cart. He picked himself up, hobbling weakly and using his workable shoulder and arm up to the elbow to bring himself forward, bit by bit, he reached the end of the cart, and began to climb the ladder, rung by painstaking rung. He got to the top just in time to feel the knife plunge to his injured leg, he fell on top of the train car. The pain bit and pulled and tore at his flesh, and he felt himself slipping off the train, in a panic he sunk his arm in a groove in between the partition of the train, using it to hold on as the train cleared a tight turn. He was losing blood slowly, and to make matters worse.

"Take this!" Faris screamed as Yana kicked him harshly in the side, again and again. Breathing hard, she smiled, face flushed. "I remember now…" She grinned as she kicked him hard again for good measure. "I'd come to this capital, to meet someone, and to be tested." She laughed, "I don't know what you did to my magic, but I can feel it, in the back of my mind, it's coming back soon." She kicked him again. "That job was way easier than this one's turned out to be." She kicked again, Faris coughed out blood, wheezing now. She took her foot and stepped on his broken arm, twisting it and applying pressure, causing him to scream out. "You're awfully quiet you know." She laughed, "The guy, who I think you're referring to, oh… I remember, you were there, and you made a fool of yourself trying to convince everyone else…" She kicked him harder, causing him to shake loose from the train, he attempted to roll up but she kicked him, stepping on his chest.

"Do you still remember the words you said back then?" Faris asked, barely squeaking out the words.

"That was maybe six month ago, I don't care, and whatever it was, it's not as important as what I need."

Faris shook his head. "Fuck you." The train took a sharp rise, causing Yana to lose balance, Faris jerked, causing her to fall, when she did, he got up and started sprinting forward, but instead of kicking her he ran off the ledge, leaping with all his might. He ignored Yana's shocked face, angling his fall in tandem with the slope of the train, counting the seconds as he fell past the raised tracks.

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

On the eighth second his fall began to slow down. And on the twelfth second, he felt the magic begin to tug him back on board. But the train had been moving in the opposite direction, this gap mixed with his fall created a large level of tension. Like a slingshot he launched back towards the train, and into Yana. As they crashed into each other Faris's last thought before the pain overtook him was a grim satisfaction...

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Afterword:

So, there is a history, small as it is, between Faris and Yana, I'll interact with it in a few chapters. Also, if you are curious about what Faris did? In the previous chapter there's a line about the train being enchanted to keep people from falling. I imagined it would be like a bounce house/ tether like system, where force is introduced to return the user back to their normal spot. The further away from the normal spot, the more force is required, thus the loop hole, the train is on a steep rise, just as he leaps off. As the magic slows his fall, it now needs to supply as much force as required to put him back on the train, and unfortunately it will continually get further and further away, so in order to make up for said lost time it will accelerate him up as quickly as possible, and he used that extra force to crash into and subdue Yana. As for why the blow won't simply kill them both? The train is moving at a level while slower than Faris, is still quite fast relative, meaning his movement is more like a running/leaping kick, than a bullet crash-land.