"A Dinner for Two"

"What the heck do you think you're doing?" A voice snapped from behind me.

I whipped around to see Sven standing there, his hands on his hips, a cigarette in his frowning mouth, and his toe tapping as impatiently as ever. I felt my chest tighten and it was all I could do not to rush towards him.

"Well?" He asked again, his voice harsh, but a hint of warmth lay somewhere in his words.

"I-er-" I stammered idiotically. "I was waiting for you."

"Well get a grip, Train," He snapped, his voice suddenly cold. "We're not coming for you-hell, we're not even looking for you."

I woke up with a jolt and jerked forward. I glanced around frantically, the room in front of me exactly how it had been only hours before. Somewhere in all my thinking I had fallen asleep, and now I was awake again, back in a place I'd rather not think about.

I glanced over my shoulder, through the window and out onto the crashing waves below. The sun had sunk below the horizon line at some point, and now the moon hung high above the rooftops, washing me in its eerie blue beams.

I swiveled around until I was facing the window and unlatched the window, pushing both panes open so that a gust of light wind brushed over my face. I leaned forward, dangerously close to the edge as I stared down at the churning water.

It would be easy just to throw myself down into the swirling waves below, just to jump, or even pretend to fall. At least that way I'd be out of here and away from this prison I was supposed to call home, but I knew, in the end, I didn't want that.

I let the breeze play across my face as I lifted my head and looked up at the moon above. I was alone here, whether physically or not, everything I stood for-everything I believe in didn't belong here. I knew sooner or later Creed would expect me to join the Apostles of the Stars, and to change my way of life, but what he didn't know, was that I would refuse.

"Sven," I let my voice barely whisper, only to be carried away in the night air. "Where are you?"

As I stared up at the sky I couldn't help but remembering-thinking about memories that I had never been able to erase.

"Train-kun," Her smile was always warm-I remembered that. "What have you been up to tonight?"

I remember when I first met her…that song she used to sing. She was always so carefree, but then again she always wanted to know everyone else's business. I remember being annoyed by her at first-maybe just a little, but she'd grown on me faster that I thought possible.

We'd never been romantic, no matter what Eve said, instead we were simply friends-two people who needed and found each other at the right time.

I sighed and leaned back, before pushing off the bay seat and standing in the darkness of the room. I couldn't sit there forever reminiscing about memories I couldn't bring back.

I turned around, my coat feeling strange as it moved with me. I was going to have to get used to this for now until I could get out of here and find some new clothes, seeing as Creed had ruined my old ones.

I closed the space between the door and myself slowly, and reached for the handle before jerked to a stop as my stomach let out a disgruntled growl of hunger. Was I really going to do this? If I left this room it meant I was going to have to deal with Creed, but I figured, deep down somewhere, that was the only way I was getting out of here.

With yet another sigh I grasped the doorknob, twisted it, and yanked the door open.

I half expected the entirety of the Apostles of the Stars to be standing there, weapons ready to blow me to smithereens, but instead I was greeted by a brightly lit, yet empty hallway.

What was with this place? It seemed like no one was alive here anymore. I hadn't heard a noise all day from the confines of my room and no one, besides that maid and Creed had come in my room.

I shut the door behind me and was about to step into the hallway when something caught my eye. I turned around to see a note taped to the door with curly, intertwined writing standing out against its stark, white surface.

I pulled the note off the wall and squinted as I began to decipher the all too familiar writing:

Train,

Please, if you would be so kind, meet me in the dining hall. It is located two floors directly beneath your room, and I trust you will find your way just fine. I know you have a lot on your mind, which I would enjoy discussing with you.

Sincerely,

Creed

"What the hell?" I growled as I crumpled the note into a ball and shoved it in my coat pocket.

First he beats the living hell out of me, then he kidnaps me, practically tries to rape me, and now he wants to have dinner? I knew Creed was…well…weird from the moment I had met him.

Chronos had teamed the two of us up, seeing us as ideal partners for missions. Originally I had wanted nothing to do with him, but I eventually became used to his presence on missions and later we became what one might call acquaintances, though Creed obviously saw it as something entirely different.

My hand still in my pocket I dug my nails into what recently was Creed's note. What was I supposed to do? If I didn't go Creed would most likely show up at my door and either demand I go or repeat another version of the disturbing episode earlier today.

I kicked the wall hard before turning and glancing up and down the hallway. How was I supposed to "find my way" as Creed had claimed he "knew" I would?

I leaned forward and craned my neck, gazing down one end of the hall then the other until I finally caught sight of what looked like a set of double doors. With a begrudging look, and a disgruntled sigh I headed down that direction.

I yanked my hand out of my pocket and slammed the door open to see a flight of long, winding stairs that spiraled downward.

After several minutes of stairs, stairs, and well, more stairs I found myself standing in an arched doorway and beyond that what looked like a lavishly decorated ballroom.

I stepped out from the safety of the doorway and into the shining, gold room only to hear a voice echo from somewhere in the room.

"Train,"

I whipped around to see Creed standing beside a long, shining table, its surface full of dishes of different looking foods. He stood there with that stupid, lovesick look on his face he always held when I entered his sight, or for that matter the same continent as him.

He wore a long, dark robe that was tied at the waist with his regular Apostles of the Stars outfit beneath it. He pushed away from the table and slowly made his way towards me, his arms folded and a rose hanging from on of his hands.

"Stop," I growled, feeling my nerves rising.

Creed jerked to a stop and looked at me as though I had physically hurt him. With a slight frown he brought the rose up close to his face and studied me.

"You have to learn to trust me, Train," His frown was quickly replaced by an all too warm smile. "Especially since you'll be staying here with-"

"I'm not staying with you," I cut him off, my temper rising and the tone of my voice lowering. "Who would want to be with a person like you, anyways?"

"Train," He whimpered as he took another step towards me.

"Creed?" I snapped.

"Please," He took a step to the side and gestured towards the table. "Join me."

I eyed him for several seconds with raised eyebrows and a frown before looking past him to the table. Deep down I knew how hungry I was, and that if I wanted to get out of here I would be fighting my way out, in other words I needed all the strength I could get.

"You won't leave me alone until I do, will you?" I asked accusingly.

He smiled at this and let out a little laugh before reaching out and taking hold of my shoulder, leading me towards the table.

I sat down in the chair Creed had provided for me as Creed took his at the opposite end of the table. I felt awkward as he studied me across the expanse of table top and food, the silence of the room making me nervous.

"Train," Creed spoke, my head snapping up as our eyes met. "I know you don't want to be here, but-"

"But what?" I snapped back, my anger getting the best of me. "But I have to stay? But I have to choice but to stick around? Well, you know what Creed I-"

"I know, I know," Creed chuckled, waving away my anger with his hand, before looking at me with sincere eyes. "You'll learn to like it here. I'll introduce you to the others here, you'll get along."

"What? Am I in preschool now?" I snapped, meeting Creed's gaze with a glare.

"Train, please," Creed whimpered again, looking suddenly tired. "Why do you even want to go back to being a sweeper-to traveling around with those people?"

"Because they're my friends," I growled. "And they actually give a damn."

"Do they?" Creed questioned, his look odd as his words came out. "Don't you find it odd that they haven't come for you yet? That they haven't made some sort of contact?"

"What are you talking about?" I muttered, cocking my head and squinting at him.

"They've made no attempt to save you, they've made no attempt to contact you," He replied airily. "I don't see that as them "giving a damn", Train."

"Maybe they haven't yet," I snapped. "But I've only been here a day, you can't expect them to find this place that fast."

"A day?" Creed laughed. "Is that how long you think you've been here?"

I felt my blood boil as he laughed again.

"Train," He even laughed as he said my name. "You've been here for three weeks. You were unconscious for all of this time until now, in fact I was even beginning to worry you might not wake up."

"Th-three weeks?" I stammered, my throat suddenly tightening. "But that's not-that's not possible. I mean, I would've-I-"

I fell silent as Creeds words hit home. It had been three weeks…a whole month…and there had been no sign of Eve, Sven, or Rinslet. Of course Creed could be lying but why wouldn't Sven have contacted me somehow? He was smart enough to invent some way of contacting me without Creed finding out.

"You see, Train," Creed smile warmly as I looked up at him. "I am the only one who truly, as you put it, gives a damn. Do you see that now?"

I couldn't find it in me to meet his sentence with a disgruntled look, or to shoot back some smart remark.

"Please," Creed beckoned towards the food in front of me. "Eat something. You look famished, and I know you must be."

We ate in silence. Creed seemed too focused on watching me, and I was far too preoccupied with the dark thoughts going through my mind. Sven, Eve, and Rinslet really weren't coming…that dream I had had only hours before was exactly how it was. They didn't care, so…should I?

Honestly, deep down I knew I was wrong. Regardless if they came for me or not I should still want out of this situation. And beyond that, what if Rinslet, Eve, and Sven really were looking for me and Creed had somehow been able to disguise this place of his so that they couldn't find it?

A million voices raced through my mind as if I was surrounded by a crowd of screaming people, each yelling something different at me. I wanted to rip my hair out, to kick something, or even shoot something.

I threw my napkin on the ground and slammed my fork down on the tabletop before standing up and shoving my chair back with the backs of my knees.

"Train-"

"Creed!" I threw my hands up in the air. "Just stop, okay? Just…stop!"

At that I whipped around and left the room, climbing back up the hundreds of stairs, back to my room, and back to wondering how in hell I was getting out of here.

Hey guys! Thanks for the great reviews, I really appreciate them! It's nice to know what people think, because a lot of the time I can't tell if what I'm writing is just a bunch of junk lol.

To girl-over-bored, no there won't be any Saya coming back to life. I've always thought that could be a cool idea, but like you I think her death was extremely important to the storyline both in the anime and manga, though this story is based on the anime.

To Ruine, thank you so much for such a nice review! School gets in the way but I hope to update regularly! And I think Sephiria and Creed rock too, though Train's my fav, which is why this story is from his point of view.

To CPV-Phantoms-CTFA I love you too lol

As for the question to what pairing this story will include, well, it's a secret! I'm sure if you've read this chapter you'll get a hint as to who the two might be, but for now I think it'll make the story better if it suddenly happens, ya know?

The next installment will be a bit of a twist, and I think it'll be interesting to write. I hope you enjoy reading it, I should have it up within the next couple of days, I've still got to write it, though I know exactly what I want to happen. I hope you enjoy and thank you so much for giving my fanfic a chance seeing as this is the first I've ever published!