"Vasilisa and Alexandreina sure are taking their time." Mizuki had her legs propped up on the back of the seat in front of her. Her head banging against the window.
Seraphina had resorted back to reading the rest of the paper and was currently absorbed into an advice column. "How stupid do you have to be to ask the news paper if they should leave their spouse? I mean if their being stupid get rid of them!" Mizuki nodded in agreement.
Sarra and Eas were playing cards. Eas was beside the compartment door, Sarra across from her. Eas was teaching her the basics of poker.
"I think you have to work out your problems!" Sarra objected.
"No, I agree with the others, if he's getting out of hand, ditch 'em." Eas nodded.
"Love's going to have tests and trials! How are you going to work over that if you can't learn forgiveness?" Sarra pointed out.
"If a man challenges me, I'll kick his ass." Mizuki concluded with a shrug. Seraphina snorted and Eas nodded with a smile. Sarra shook her head in disbelief.
Distant footsteps snapped Eas to attention. "Looks like the girls are back!" she called to the girls. They quieted their voices and strained their ears for the foot steps. Eas second guessed herself when she noticed once the cabin was quiet that their was only one set of steps. "Ummm, who else could be walking back here on an empty freight?" Eas asked hesitantly. The girls tensed with speculation.
"Who ever it is, their not welcome here." Seraphina glared at the compartment door, her whip out and ready.
The girls braced themselves as the footsteps stopped. Eas slid as close to the window as she could and slipped down on the bench to conceal herself. Sarra had her hand on her sling shot, prepared for any actions necessary. Mizuki even had her innocence invocated.
The door slid open with a desperate squeal. Wind escaped into the cabin and rustled the girls' hair. With a final, dramatic push, the door slammed completely open. The bulky overalls and cap accompanied a man around the age of forty, sporting a bushy beard and a steely gaze.
The girls sighed in relief as they assessed the intruder.
Seraphina stayed suspicious. "Where are our friends?" She asked with an accusing tone.
"Your friends?" The conductor thought. "Oh, you mean the kids that burst into the off limits section, bothering me about an empty train!"
"Those are the ones!" Mizuki laughed.
"Yeah, their talking to the others. We thought it kinda strange too, this is usually one of our busier hauls!" He continued.
The suspicion continued through Seraphina's speech. "Why are you here? Shouldn't you be conducting the train, or whatever you're job is?"
"Well, I came down to see if what the little lass's were saying was true! And it's being taken care of by one of my buds." He smiled at Seraphina, sure he'd trumped her.
Seraphina continued to glare at him, her suspicion not satisfied.
"So why are you fair ladies traveling so far this fine day?" He changed the subject, trying to ease the tension amidst in the air.
"I don't think that's any of your business." Seraphina answered coldly.
Sarra gave Seraphina a stern glance and smiled at the conductor. "We have an earand to run!"
The conductor smiled briefly in reply. "It must be a big errand to be running so far out here for, what is your destination?"
"Japan, I suppose. We're trying to catch up with some acquaintances!" Sarra revealed.
"You are? And are your acquaintances from the black order as well?" He pushed.
"This information is classified, conductor, and for you to press this matter while thoroughly knowing where we come from is prohibited." Seraphina sneered, annoyed.
"My apologies, miss, I was just curious!" He smiled at her. "No need to act like an Akuma!"
The light grew in the dim room, an eerie green illuminating the distrusting faces of the exorcists. Mizuki's bow was drawn back, arrow pointed at the conductor's chest. Seraphina's whip was pulled out and rested in a thin coil on the ground, her body unconsciously coiling with it into a battle stance. Sarra had her sling shot out, a marble shaped green glowing sphere in her other fist.
"Oops, did I say something wrong?" He asked, taking a step back, his eyes adjusting to the fierce glare.
"How do you know about the Akuma?" Mizuki asked her voice cold and sharp.
"Oh, so that's what set you off!" The conductor smiled.
"Tell us, if you don't want your head blown off!" Seraphina barked.
"And it would have been so much more fun if I could have fully earned your trust! Oh well, might as well have as much fun as I can before the others come." As he ended his sentence, his voice was no bigger than a whisper.
Sarra heard. "What?" Her hand jumped to her sling shot as his hand shot to her. His long, course arm wrapped around her neck before she could even load one marble. He yanked her up and held her in front of him as a shield.
As his thick arm strangled her, Sarra brought her hands to it, scratching at him to release her. She had dropped her sling shot and marble when he grabbed her. She hadn't accounted for that to happen so when it did she was taken fully by surprise.
"Let go of me!" She cried as she swung her body around, her feet were nearly half a meter above the ground.
"Ha! This is perfect!" The conductor screamed with joy. "Your so small, without you're innocence your nothing! I was lucky the weakest one was sitting so conveniently close to me!" He laughed, his egotistical side coming through.
Sarra stopped squirming, her fingers still shoved in his skin, revealing his armoured body. The conductor figured she had passed out and his confidence rose as his laugh escalated into near hysterics.
"What did you call me?" A whisper escaped from Sarra's lips, barely audible.
The akuma settled down as he sensed her ferocity. "Eh, what'd ya say, little exorcist?" He asked through giggles, bending his head down to look at her.
Sarra's long brown hair fell from her high pony tail in a dramatic sweep, covering her face and draping over her shoulders.
"I said," She began, louder.
"Are you crying? Did I hurt your feelings?" The Akuma smiled in delight, ignoring the fact that she spoke.
Her shoulders trembled slightly. "You EFING CALL ME SHORT?"
The Akuma cocked his head at her ferocity.
Sarra's head bolted back, to stare up at the Akuma, her face a blatant mix of loathing and extreme anger. "Did you just call me short?" She demanded.
The Akuma stared down at her, dumbstruck. "Yeah, why?"
Mizuki dismantled her arrow and sighed.
"What are you doing?" Seraphina whispered harshly to her.
"Did you hear what he called her? She'll take care of him, don't worry." She rested back on the opposite side of the seat, her butt on the edge so she could watch the match.
Sarra's foot launched itself into the crotch area of the Akuma, propelling herself foreword. He lost his grip on her as she did so, allowing her so fly forward, twisting in mid air and grabbing the edge of a bench to stop her.
Before the Akuma was able to reassert himself, Sarra launched herself at him, her boot smashing into his face, sending him through the door.
"Boot to face!" Mizuki cheered, delighted. She had pulled pom-poms out of no-where and was waving the neon coloured pom-poms around in a hyper motion.
Seraphina was crouched on the bench, facing them. Her whip was now held loosely in her hand as she felt no need to use it. "Sure. He calls her an assortment of weak and pathetic, and she takes offence to his short comment." She shook her head with distaste.
Sarra was stomping on the Akuma, jumping up and down for extra effect while the two chatted about her strategies and tender spots. When she got tired of having little effect, Sarra popped out a marble from the long, narrow holder running up her leg. She had left her sling shot back in the cabin but felt no need to use it then.
"You think I'm a short little shrimp that can't reach the cookie jar without my mothers help, that wont ever attract a guy cuz I'd need a stool to kiss him, that I'm a small little big that you can only see with a magnifying glass, or an amoeba that you can't even see? You think I'm so small, do ya? Well, Mr., I'd like you top know that I'm a healthy "5, 0" The height many girls wish they were!"
She began chucking the marbles at him; his collapsed figure still sprawled between carts. She paid no attention to there abilities, wanting only to damage him as much as possible.
The marbles fell on him, activating their ability's on contact. Some exploded when they touched him, some merely stuck to him like a bur. Others acted like acid and others still had nearly no effect, meant to be used as more of a bullet then something to be merely thrown.
When the Akuma was nearly at it's limit, Sarra picked its head up, it hadn't gotten the chance to even transform yet, and whispered into his ear; "That's why you don't pick on the short and weak ones!"
With that, she chucked him over board, its body flying into a column and exploding with impressive volume.
After watching the explosion, Sarra promptly made her way back into the cabin where the others waited.
"Haha, you are one scary kid!" Mizuki chuckled, thoroughly satisfied by the entertainment.
"Shut up! I'm not a kid! I'm not small! I'm 18 for god's sake! I'm a woman! Damnit!" Sarra kicked the side of the bench and then collapsed back in it, tired from all the yelling.
"Wow." Seraphina concluded in amazement. Mizuki fell beck in hysterics from her fit.
"Don't worry," Eas whispered, getting up from her hiding place. "You're taller than me!"
Sarra frowned; her body sprawled across the bench, her chest heaving. "Yeah, but your like 14! I'm almost five years older than you!"
"Only four." Eas scowled at the thought of being any younger. "And I still look like I'm eight!"
Sarra smiled tentatively. "I guess were in the same boat then."
Eas giggled. "I guess so."
"Hey guys, it's nice to know you missed us!" Alexandreina walked through the open freight. Her face was slightly scraped and it looked like she'd been a tussle, but her face was what set everyone off edge. Though her smile was pasted on, as usual, those who knew her better could see her real emotions through her cover-up. And from what they could see, she was pissed.
"Haha, well we were a bit busy here, too." Mizuki defended them.
"Yeah, a very rude Akuma came barging in here only a few minutes ago!" Sarra exclaimed, sitting up, her own face still showing her annoyance.
"Oh, only one puny Akuma? We where battling 3!" Alexandreina smiled a sweet but deadly smile, her voice full of tension.
"Hey, I thought you loved fighting Akuma!" Seraphina pointed out, returning to her paper.
"True, but one was really annoying so I guess it didn't relieve as much stress as I thought it would, regardless, I got my revenge." Her voice chimed with disturbing blood thirst.
Vasilisa sat down on one of the benches, exhausted. She hung her arms over the back of her seat and rested her head on the crease in her arm. The contrast of the cold steel and soft padding relaxed her and the tension built up from the fight quickly melted along with any needs to move.
"I don't mean to be the burden of bad news, but all the people running the train are kind of disposed of, and I can't imagine the train will reach our destination without them." Alexandreina pointed out when she settled herself.
"Yeah, that's not the best news I've heard." Mizuki chuckled as she slumped back in her chair.
"Unless there are obstacles in our way, I can't imagine any need to panic. We'll just have to prepare for a possible long walk to the closest village when it runs out of steam." Seraphina mused.
Vasilisa pondered this. "We're in the country though, I can't imagine their wont be cattle crossings along the way, and I don't believe any of us know how to ride a train…"
Alexandreina nodded in thought. "There is that possibility."
"Or maybe the Akuma have set a trap for the train by building up a coming tunnel with explosives." Eas offered. The others looked over to her, their faces a mixture of disbelief, curiosity and hilarity. Eas was staring intently out the window, her eyes locked to the front of the train.
"What did you say?" Sarra asked, her face confused.
"Well, I don't think I'm imagining it, but it looks like way down there at the cliff face, theirs a bunch of boxes stacked across the tracks." Eas pointed in the direction she was looking. The gang quickly crowded around her, pulling down the windows to get a better look. Sure enough, what she had said was true. About three crates blocked the trains entrance to the tunnel.
"Wow, ok then, though we don't necessarily know what's in those crates, I think we can make a safe bet that it's not good." Alexandreina concluded.
"Time to pack!" Mizuki sang.
The girls loaded their small packs and ran to the back of the train. The tracks were disappearing with great speed as the girls hesitated to jump.
"Wow, the trains going pretty fast." Eas pointed out, her arms slung across Mizuki's shoulders and her legs hooked around her waist.
"We'll be fine." Sarra smiled, though her tone was off.
"We've got no time to ponder!" Seraphina scolded. "We've got to get off this train now!"
The girls nodded together, and at the same time, they leaped off the train, sailing through the air and with no grace, tumbling to the ground.
As the girls regained their balance, Mizuki nodded, brushing herself off. "That was pretty skilled. I feel like a cowboy!"
The others looked at her questioningly and she shrugged her shoulders. "They're western thieves. Kinda."
The train ran dead to the horizon, bustling straight for the boxes.
"The explosion wouldn't reach us from here, right?" Eas asked worried.
"Nah, it'll be far away enough that we'll be fine." Mizuki smiled.
As the train collided with the boxes, an array of light erupted from its point, momentarily blinding the scene. Small red cylinders flew in all directions, colourful sparks following them. The train bustled through, mostly unharmed.
"What was that?" Eas asked, in awe.
A cylinder landed close to Seraphina so she bent down and retrieved it for inspection. "Hmm, weird, this looks just like one of Komui's useless creations. He made this enclosed capsule filled with gun powder and who-knows-what. When he lit it, it would fly into the air spewing colourful sparks. I think he called them cracking fire or something."
The girls nodded in wonder.
"That sounds like a great creation!" Mizuki cheered, thinking of the possibility's it could posses.
"So on a separate note; do we know where the next village is?" Sarra asked, looking around.
"Well, in the paper it lists the general areas surrounding that town, and if I estimate our distance to be maybe seventy miles away, possibly, then there should be a fairly large village to the right of here. If we just keep walking, I imagine we'll find it eventually." Seraphina concluded, taking out her badly abused paper.
"Wow, that paper has everything!" Alexandreina announced in amazement.
"It is oddly thorough." Seraphina confirmed.
"Ok! Time to set off for the long quest!" Mizuki pointed in the general direction they were to walk.
"Yeah, sorry, I didn't know it would be that stuff, and not explosives." Eas apologized.
"No need, we'd have had to get off at one point or another anyways." Sarra reminded her.
The girls hurried through the vegetation and in the general direction of the town. Before too long, they came across a rather large hill, in which it took a good chunk of their time climbing. When they were about three quarters up the hill, they sat to rest. The sun was already low in the sky. They took out some of the food they had saved for the trip, some biscuits and water.
"I don't think we'll ever get there!" Sarra complained, sprawling out on the thick grass.
"We're so late!" Mizuki groaned.
"Wow, even I have no desire to do anything!" Alexandreina gasped. Vasilisa was on the verge of slumber as she lay back on the grass beside her sister.
"I wonder how much further we have." Mizuki contemplated, looking at the rest of the hill.
"I have no idea." Seraphina replied, a canister plastered across her forehead.
"I suppose it's time to get back up." Mizuki sighed, pushing herself off the ground. "We need to get there before nightfall, at the very least."
"Your right, it wouldn't be wise to sleep out here." Sarra agreed.
"C'mon sis, we need to keep going." Alexandreina tugged at Vasilisa's arm as she lay limp.
"No! Just leave me! I don't care if I die out here! Just let me sleep!" She replied.
"No. You have to get your butt up here and walk just like the rest of us!" Alexandreina demanded.
"Nooo! I'll only slow you down!" Vasilisa cried.
"Get up! You're so lazy!" Alexandreina whined, yanking hard at her arm.
"I am
lazy! That's me! Lazy Vasilisa!" She announced, her eyes now open
and glaring at
Alexandreina.
"At least you understand that. Now get up." She said with one last yank.
"Fine." Vasilisa pouted, standing up and trudging towards the peak.
As they reached the peak of the hill, the girls collapsed in exhaustion.
"If I have to take one more step, I'm going to faint." Sarra cried her face to the ground.
"I don't care about wolves, or Akuma, let them come! I just wanna sleep!" Vasilisa whimpered.
"Haha, it looks like that may not have to be a necessity." Mizuki laughed.
"Why?" Seraphina growled. Mizuki pointed at the base of the hill, where a small complex on the outskirts of a much larger village sat.
"Oh thank god!" Alexandreina smiled, tugging at Vasilisa's hand once more. "Time to go, sis. The town is just a slide away." When Vasilisa refused to move, instead of screaming at her, Alexandreina merely pulled her to the edge of the hill and let gravity take its toll, pulling the girls down to its base. The others followed promptly.
Getting a carriage wasn't a hard thing. It was deciding whether to carry on, or spend the night that was the challenge. After they were properly fed and briefly rested, the girls regained the sense to decide which to take. Of the votes, the surprising majority was to continue the trek. Of that majority, two were of dutiful minds, one of a selfish, personal mind, and the other merely a sensible one. The others consisted of the other two, who decided not to vote since they where fast asleep. That being Eas and Vasilisa, who ended up slumped across one side of the carriage as it rode to the train station.
Luckily for the girls, they reached the train at a suitable boarding time, allowing them access to a separate compartment to themselves. As Eas and Vasilisa slept soundly beside them, the girls addressed the situation.
"It seams we'll be a bit later getting there, but we should have expected that. We do need to hurry to Tiedolls group, but we need not go to extreme lengths. I believe we should have enough time to rest a night before leaving, besides, whatever Komui has set up for us will likely need preparation. Or even re-thinking." Mizuki relayed to the girls. They nodded in agreement, especially to the last part.
"How many days do you suppose it will take?" Sarra asked.
"Well, it will take at least four days by boat, which is what I assume we'll be taking. Also, if we take a night to rest, I assume it will take at least five days to get there. The others will most likely be there and Tiedolls group may already be far within the boundaries of Japan. We'll know when were within a ten mile radius of them." Mizuki answered.
"So regardless, we have a long ways to go until we find the others, and we may not be of any use at all." Seraphina groaned.
"That seems about right." Mizuki sighed, adjusting herself to a more comfortable position. "This is going to be a tight mission, all determined by time, and luck."
"It's a good thing we're all fairly lucky." Alexandreina laughed. "We'd be sunk otherwise."
"Poor Allen." Sarra was reminded of her injured companion who inevitably had no luck what-so-ever.
"Poor us! We may never get to see the battle field!" Alexandreina cried, waving her arms to relay the importance of her statement.
"We may be too late to help our comrades." Seraphina whispered; her stomach dropping at the thought.
"We'll be fine!" Mizuki reassured them, holding her hands up. "There's no use brooding over it!"
"You're right, let's just see how this plays out." Sarra nodded.
"Vasilisa, Eas, c'mon guys! We can't carry you! You're going to have to wake up! Hey we're here!" Sarra and Mizuki were shaking the two girls as the train slowed to the station. The others were ready to go, waiting at the cabin's door.
"Seriously, guys! You need to wake up!" Mizuki shouted at them. Before she could blink, Alexandreina was in front of her, Seraphina's rolled up newspaper in her hand, and who identical smack marks across the two sleeping faces. While Mizuki regained her sense of thought, Alexandreina was having fun, smashing the newspaper into the girls heads repetitively until their sleepy eyes adjusted to their tormenter.
"What do you think you're doing?" Vasilisa asked, catching the newspaper when Alexandreina tried to hit her one more time.
"Waking you up. You guys were dead to the world." Alexandreina smiled in response.
"So you decide to wake us by beating us maliciously with a newspaper?" Vasilisa growled, slightly annoyed that she had been woken.
"Yup."
The two girls screamed, one in anger, one in delight as Vasilisa quickly tackled Alexandreina to the ground. When Alexandreina found an opportunity to run, she quickly bolted for the door, closely followed by Vasilisa.
"Well, I guess we don't have to worry about them now." Seraphina shrugged.
Mizuki piggy backed Eas, who had fallen back asleep, onto the plat form.
Once the girls found a suitable hotel, they checked in, and headed straight for their rooms. Once Mizuki was free of Eas, her first notion was to call Komui. The others reserved a placing at a restaurant within the hotel, and waited while Mizuki hooked up her Golem.
"Hello, Komui? We're finally here. Yeah, we got held back at the last station, sorry. We've chosen to stay the night here, we're too exhausted and we'll operate better after we're rested. Have you found a way across the sea? Ok. The Harbour? How about dawn, we need an early start if we want to catch up." Her mouth cracked into a grin with his response. "Three days is impossible." She responded sharply. "We're not going to be some Guiney pigs for one of your experiments! No, I don't happen to care if it saves us time, I'd rather not risk my life, thank you! Fine, we'll try. I'll call you if we have any complications. Bye." She hung up the receiver and detached her Golem, shaking her head. Once she had joined the group, she relayed the information.
"So Komui's got a solution to our time problem, but I can't say it won't be dangerous. He seems to be pretty proud of it, which can never be good."
"What do you mean, we're not going to get there by boat?" Seraphina asked, sceptical.
"I don't know how we're going to get there, but Komui says he's got us covered, and if he can save us two days, then I'll put one of his experiments into consideration." Mizuki finished.
"So when can we set sail, or whatever it is we're going to do?" Alexandreina asked, calculating it in her head.
"Around dawn, we'll be getting a full day in." Mizuki concluded.
"Sounds good." Seraphina nodded, flipping through her order once more.