Two Destinies Chapter 4: The Trouble with Trains
Author's Preface: So… I have officially decided that this story is my obligatory summer project, and I'm gonna hopefully be able to submit this to my Creative Writing class come September. ^_^ Which means there's gonna be a constant flow of chapters coming in! Great for all of you who want a good read! *shot* Keep those reviews flowing! ;) And I own nothing!
"You sure you're okay carrying that?" Reala asked Kyle. The blond teenager smiled.
"Yeah, I'm fine…" He said. "At least I'm not carrying the end anymore…" Kyle looked at Reid, who was having an easier time holding up the end of the Train Cage than Kyle had had. Reid smiled.
"A-ok on this end!" He said. Reala smiled back.
"So, Meredy…" Keele said. "How far is the train station?" Meredy twirled around to face Keele.
"Station should not be far away from Imen." Meredy said. "We should be at station in about an hour." Keele breathed a sigh of relief.
"Good. The less time those three with the cage have to carry that thing, the less chance we'll have our forces compromised in case of a battle." Just then, laughter erupted from near the Train Cage. Keele turned around and put his hands on his hips. "What's so funny, Reid?" Keele asked indignantly. Reid laughed again.
"What's the matter, Keele?" Reid said mockingly. "Afraid of taking the front line in battle?" Keele growled. Reid laughed again, and then continued. "If you're so afraid of getting into a battle, why not use one of your Holy Bottles?"
"Stop bringing up the Holy Bottles, Reid!" Keele barked. "I am NOT afraid of any monsters!"
"Guys, don't argue!" Farah said. "We're not getting anywhere with you two bickering… Besides, what chance is there that we're gonna run into some monsters?"
"It's higher than you think, Farah…" Reala said. "Look! Monsters!" She pointed toward three rabbit monsters quickly hopping in their direction. Meredy gasped.
"Rapid Rabbits!" She said. "We have to fight them! Let's go, Keele!" Meredy grabbed Keele's arm. The blue haired scholar's face turned red.
"A-all right, all right…" Keele stuttered nervously. He pulled out his staff. The red gem perched atop the rod glimmered in the light. Quickie leaped off of Meredy's shoulders. His fur bristled and he growled a challenge to the oncoming monsters. "Let's do this!" Keele cried out, brandishing his staff.
"There!" Meredy commanded, sending Quickie to attack a Rapid Rabbit. The two creatures got into a tussle.
"Our physical attacks aren't probably going to do much damage…" Reala said as her staff sailed over the head of a ducking enemy. The rabbit retaliated, kicking Reala squarely in the chest. Reala fell over from the blow, but quickly returned to her feet. Keele jumped back from an attack, then whacked the attacking enemy away. As the enemy recovered, Keele pulled out an item from his robes. It looked like an ornate magnifying glass – it was a Spectacles. Upon holding it up to his eye, Keele was able to view the enemy's statistics, including its weakness to…
"Water!" Keele cried out. "They're weak against water attacks!" Reala pointed her staff at the enemies.
"I'll take care of this!" She said as her staff-wielding arm went up to shoulder height. The Lens pendant on her neck glowed with a blue aura. Kyle peeked around the Train Cage to see this and gasped.
"Reala!" He cried out. "Stop! Wait a second!" He was too late. Reala pointed her staff at the enemies.
"Take this!" She called out. The tip of her staff glowed blue. "Aqua Spiral!" A spinning jet of water fired out of the tip of Reala's staff, launching a Rapid Rabbit backward. Seconds later, Reala fell to her knees, clutching her chest and breathing heavily.
"What's going on?" She gasped. Meredy ran over to Reala.
"Is Reala okay?" Meredy asked. "Meredy will make Reala feel better! First Aid!" Reala stood up after her body sparkled for a second, newly reenergized.
"Thank you, Meredy." She smiled at the purple haired girl. Meredy grinned, and then looked back to the attacking enemies.
"More water magic!" She said. "Spread!" A fountain of water came up underneath a Rapid Rabbit, launching it high into the air. "That's one down!" Meredy said happily.
"Reala!" Kyle's voice was filled with seriousness. "You could have killed yourself!" You don't have the ability to use Water Caramel…"
"CRAY-mel!" Keele interjected.
"…Water CRAY-mel Magic yet!" Kyle finished. Reala gasped.
"I totally forgot!" She said. "I can't use any of my spells until I get my Lens enchanted by Craymels…" Meredy smiled.
"Meredy has Undine!" She announced. "Meredy can give you Water Craymel power!" Reala was happy.
"You do?!?" She said. "Can you enchant my Lens now?" Meredy nodded. Keele grunted.
"Guys? A little help here? Aqua Edge!" Three blades of water attacked the oncoming enemies, but it didn't hold them back for long. Once again, they made their way toward Keele. "I can't hold these guys off forever!"
"Sorry, Keele…" Reala said. "You're going to have to hold them off for a little longer…" To Meredy, she said, "Let's do this! And quickly! Keele needs us!" Meredy nodded, then pulled out her Craymel Cage.
"Waitun, Undine!" Meredy said in Melnics. "Nmuwaaemuti andi Runmusu bautia yaiodi puibandi!*" A blue glow emanated from Meredy's Craymel Cage. When it was the size of a golf ball, it flew off towards Reala's Lens and disappeared upon touching it. The lens glowed blue for a couple seconds.
"Good. You're done." Keele said. "Now, a little help here? Ack!" A Rapid Rabbit kicked Keele in the knee, and the other kicked him in the chest while his defenses were down, which brought him to the ground. Meredy gasped.
"Keele!" She said. "Meredy will heal you! Eek!" While trying to get to Keele, Meredy was stopped by a blockade of Rapid Rabbit feet trying to kick her to the ground. Reala gasped.
"Hold on, Meredy!" She cried. Her Lens glowed blue once again as she held up her staff to cast. As Meredy fought back an onslaught of flying feet for some time, Reala gathered energy from the Craymel energy stored in the Lens. However, Meredy was at the end of her endurance. One of the Rapid Rabbits broke through Meredy's defense.
"Ow!" Meredy cried out as she got kicked. She fell over. "Meredy can't take anymore…" Seeing Meredy defeated, the Rabbits bounced toward their next target: Reala. Reid got concerned.
"Oh, no…" He said. "If she goes down, we're gonna have no choice to put this thing down and risk it getting dented and fight!" Fortunately, Reid's concerns were abolished. Reala threw her arm up toward the sky, sending a blue ball of energy into the air over the two enemies. The confused foes looked up at the sky, rather dazed.
"Splash!" Reala cried out. The blue orb exploded, sending many gallons of water cascading onto the enemies with the force of a waterfall. The Rapid Rabbits drowned in the onslaught of water, and, when the spell subsided, the bodies of the enemies lay lifeless in a heap. "All right!" Reala cried out in victory, and then sighed with relief. Afterward, she ran over to Meredy. "Are you all right, Meredy?" She extended a hand to the purple haired girl, who used it to stand up.
"Meredy a bit hurt…" She said. "…But Meredy can heal herself… First Aid!" Meredy's body glowed for a second, and her battle bruises vanished. The two girls looked at Keele.
"Are you all right?" Reala asked. Keele groaned.
"I got the wind knocked out of me." He whispered. "I can't stand up…" Reala chuckled.
"Here, let me help you…" She said as she held her staff over Keele. "Resurrection!" Upon feeling the effects of the spell, Keele was able to stand up. After shaking off his robes, he looked at Reala.
"Thanks…" He said. "…But I wasn't dead, y'know…"
"Well, now that the battle's done, let's keep going." Farah said. She and the two swordsmen continued transporting the heavy object in their arms. The other three people took the lead, heading out toward the unknown…
Like Meredy said, after about an hour of traveling, the six adventurers came across a lonely platform and abandoned train in the middle of nowhere. Meredy smiled.
"This is the Imen Train Station!" She announced. "We can get to Luishka from here!"
"Where does this go, Meredy?" Reid grunted, tired from toting the 350-pound object for a long time. Meredy pulled open a door on the train, and the three carriers brought the cumbersome cage into the train. Meredy examined the apparatus for a few seconds, and then found where the Train Cage went.
"Aha!" She said. "Old one is gone, so put Train Cage in here!" Meredy helped direct the Train Cage into position. After fussing with the cage for a minute, the cage fell snuggly into place and locked in with a click. Relieved of the load, Reid sighed with much relief and sat down next to a wall to rest his exhausted body. Farah shook out her arms.
"Well, that wasn't TOO terrible, was it, Reid?" She said behind a smile. Just then, she heard a loud thud from behind her. Looking over her shoulder, Farah saw Kyle sprawled out on the ground. Apparently, he had just fainted. Keele sighed.
"Get up, Kyle…" He said. "You didn't carry as much weight as Farah or Reid…" Farah chuckled.
"Cut him a break, Keele…" She said. "He carried his fair share of weight, y'know…"
"Besides, he carried more weight than you did, Keele…" Reid sneered. "Why don't you help carry a 350-pound object like he did for a long time and THEN talk?" Keele shot the red haired hunter a dirty look.
"Guys, please don't start fighting…" Reala, who was kneeling over Kyle, said quietly.
"Yeah…" Farah agreed. "Why don't you start the train up, Keele?"
"Why me?" Keele complained. Reid sighed.
"I thought you were the smart one here, Keele." Keele turned to face Reid.
"G-gimme a minute and I'll figure it…" A loud rumble, followed by the ground shaking, interrupted Keele. Reala scooped her hand under Kyle's head to prevent him from hitting his head on the shaking ground. Keele turned around to see Meredy in front of the machine. "…Out…" he finished. "H-how did you do that, Meredy?" Meredy smiled.
"It was easy, Keele!" She said. Reid began laughing, despite his sore ribs.
"You got outsmarted by Meredy!" He laughed. Keele growled indignantly. Just then, there was a groan from nearby. Kyle sat up and held his forehead.
"Ugh…" He grunted. "My head is killing me… And my arms feel like lead…" Reala wrapped her arms around Kyle's torso.
"Are you okay, Kyle?" She said. Kyle shot a grin over his shoulder at Reala.
"I'll be fine…" He said. His hand dropped from his forehead to his waist, where it lay atop Reala's hands. "Especially because I'm with you." Reala wrapped her arms around the blond swordsman even tighter.
"So, Meredy…" Farah asked. "How far to Luishka?" The Celestian girl grinned.
"We go to next station!" Meredy said. "It should be about 20 minutes if we go this speed." Just then, Meredy felt a clammy hand on hers. It was Keele's sweaty palm, and his face had turned red.
"I-I'll take over…" He said, trying to hide his shyness. Meredy took her hand away from under Keele's and smiled sheepishly at him.
"Keele can drive train now." She said, feigning her usual joyful countenance. Keele's face was bright red as he gripped the steering apparatus and turned away from Meredy. However, he was looking straight at Kyle and Reala, the former looking at Keele's beet-red face.
"Something wrong, Keele?" Kyle asked innocently. "Your face is all red…" Keele's face wanted to turn even redder in embarrassment, but it couldn't. Instead, he just swallowed hard, and then harrumphed and looked away from Kyle. The blond teenager's face wrinkled in confusion, but he shrugged it off a second later when Reala changed her grip around his body. Reid gave a small chuckle of amusement, and then stood up to stretch out his arms and legs.
Just then, Meredy, who had wandered over to the side of the train to look out at the tracks, came back into the train in a panic. "Keele!" She yelled. "There is an obstacle on the track! Slow down!" Keele was alarmed by the announcement, and he instantly went to pull the brake. However, his hands were still too sweaty from the earlier incident with Meredy, and he could not pull hard enough. Reid ran over to the right side of the train to see what Meredy had been talking about. Just then, Keele yelled out in frustration.
"I-I can't pull the brake hard enough!" He yelled. "It won't slow down fast enough, and it's actually going even faster now!" Farah ran over to the braking apparatus to try and do what Keele couldn't. The brake was really old, though, and it wouldn't really budge easily.
"Kyle! Reala! Hold onto something! We're gonna go over that thing at high speed!" The twosome who had been addressed got up and ran to the opposite sides of the train to hang onto the railings. Kyle ran right, and Reala ran left. Kyle, having ended up near Reid, called out to the red haired swordsman.
"Hey, Reid!" Kyle yelled. "Get back in here and hang on!" Reid looked at Kyle, and then let go of the railing he was holding onto so as to move back inside.
However, as soon as Reid had let go, the train ran over the obstacle, launching the left side of the train into the air. Reala screamed as she hung almost vertically over on her side, and Kyle was flattened against the wall. The force of the train tipping, as well as having no handhold, caused Reid to flip over the railing and off the side of the train.
"REID!!!" Farah yelled. The train righted itself with a loud bang. Farah turned to Keele. "Hey! We've got to stop the train! Reid fell off!" Keele, whose hands were no longer sweaty, tugged on the brake again, but the train only increased in speed. Keele swore under his breath.
"The bang we heard was the brakes breaking!" He yelled. "We're on a speeding death trap with no way of stopping it!" Reala gasped.
"DAMMIT!" Kyle swore loudly. "That means we're gonna have to jump!" Keele looked at Kyle as if he was crazy.
"We'll DIE if we jump out of a train going this fast!" Keele gesticulated frustratedly.
"It's either that or we die when this thing crashes at the end of the line!" Farah said.
"Meredy has an idea!" Meredy said. "Keele can use Sylph to cushion our fall when we jump!" Keele's face lit up. He almost wanted to hug Meredy for her suggestion.
"That's brilliant!" He said. "Now, let's get off this train!"
"And hurry!" Reala yelled. "The station is approaching quickly!" The five of them hurried to the side of the train. Keele pulled out his Craymel Cage.
"All right! We need to hold hands for this to happen correctly!" He yelled over the screaming of the train. The five adventurers joined hands and clutched the other's hands tightly. Keele, who had been left with one hand free, held up his Craymel Cage. "Come, Sylph!" He announced. "Shield our fall with a cushion of air!" Green Craymel energy came out of the cage and spread its magic under the five adventurers as they held hands. "Now…" Keele addressed his friends. "All together…" He paused for a split second as the station passed into view. "JUMP!" The five of them leaped from the train, hands still joined, and fell slowly thanks to Keele's enchantment. Everybody was relieved when his or her feet touched the ground safely. A few seconds later, they heard a loud explosion from somewhat nearby and watched as flames flew into the sky. The five adventurers fell to their knees, grateful to be alive and lucky to have not been on the train when that explosion occurred.
"Whew…" Farah said. "That was a close one… At least we're all still alive and okay…" Kyle stared at the ground.
"Reid…" He said, sighing. "What about Reid? It was my fault Reid fell off…" Kyle looked backward in the direction they had just come from, then continued. "He let go because I told him to get back into the train…" Meredy tried to change the subject.
"At least we made it to Luishka Station…" She said. Keele stood up.
"We should wait here for a few days in case Reid comes…" He said. "If Reid's alive, he'll follow the tracks and end up here. If he's not, we'll just keep going without him." Meredy stood up.
"But Meredy need Reid's Fibrill!" She said. "Meredy cannot stop Grand Fall without Fibrill!" Farah stood up as well.
"In that case…" Farah said. "Let's just cross our fingers and hope that Reid is still alive…" Reala and Kyle stood up.
"I'm hoping that if he is alive…" Reala said. "…That he follows the tracks in the right direction… Or else, he'll end up at the Imen station and, by the time he realizes it and gets here, we're probably gonna have headed out…"
By the time Reid had reawakened, it was getting late in the day. His body was sore from hitting the ground hard. Thankfully, he hadn't broken any of his bones from the fall, thanks to landing on a soft patch of grass. Holding his head, Reid stood up. He saw that he had ended up a couple feet away from the tracks. "Looks like I rolled a little…" He said. Once he stepped onto the tracks, he looked down the tracks one way, then the other way. The view in both directions was blurred by fog that had rolled in. Reid sighed.
"Geez, which way do I go to get to Luishka?" He said, scratching his head. "Hmm… Let's see… If I fell off the right side of the train, I think I need to travel with my left side facing the tracks… Meaning… I should go this way…" He began to walk in the direction towards where he thought Luishka was. Little did he know that he HAD rolled… More so than he thought he did. In fact, when he fell off the train, he had landed on his side, and the wind force of the speeding train had pulled him over to the other side of the track… The left side of the tracks… Reid had no idea, but he was actually headed back towards Imen Station…
Author's Nota Bene: Dun dun DUN! Will Reid ever be reunited with his friends at this rate? When will he realize that he's going in the wrong direction? By the time he finds out, will it be too late to catch up to his friends waiting for him at Luishka Station?!? Find out next chapter! So, as usual, if you liked this chapter, write a review! ;) And I apologize if anything sounds extremely odd… I wrote part of this at 4 AM on 7/3/09 because I had a bit of insomnia… Damn lumpy bed at my dad's house… XD Thanks for reading! (Also, it just so happened that this chapter has broken the chain of each of my chapters getting longer and longer! I just hope I can still keep over 3000 word long chapters going!)
(Time for an obligatory footnote...)
* This sentence means, "Come, Undine! Enchant her Lens with your power!" in Melnics.
EDIT: I had put "Nota Bene" (which means "Final Note", if you weren't aware) at the beginning of the chapter, which is usually where the Preface goes... Fortunately, I caught the mistake, and now it's a Preface again... XDD