A/N: Please Rate and Review! I would appreciate feedback from whoever is reading this. Please correct me on the lyrics to Saya's song if I'm wrong!
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Sephiria Arks, captain of the Chronos Numbers, knocked on the door to Train, Sven and Eve's apartment at exactly nine o'clock in the morning. She went over the reasons why she was there in her head. I'm here to kill Train Heartnet because he is an enemy to Chronos, but before he dies, I will find out the reason why he deserted us in the first place.
Train answered the door.
"Sephiria, what are you doing here?!"
She didn't bother to answer Train's question and stepped inside the doorway and took a look around at Train's apartment. It had a few windows scattered around the rooms. There was a quaint breakfast nook which she thought was pretty interesting. The living room consisted of a couch, a loveseat, and a flat screen TV. The kitchen had a stainless steel refrigerator, oven, sink, and washer machine. Linoleum tiles littered the floor. Sephiria guessed that there were two bedrooms somewhere, but she couldn't see them because of where she was standing. Cheap-looking material made up the countertops. She noticed that there was a small island protruding from the countertops with a few wood chairs lined up alongside it. Sephiria was sad to know that Train wouldn't be able to sleep in his bed anymore after she was done here.
"Your time has come, Train Heartnet. Before you join the other souls in the netherworld, do you wish to tell me why you deserted Chronos?" She pulled out her sword, Christ, as she spoke.
"The reason why I deserted Chronos was because I met a sweeper," Train said, putting it simply. If he mentioned Creed killing Saya, he would get angry at Creed all over again.
"Go on," Sephiria pressed.
Train, who was not pleased with Sephiria's pressing, said, "If you want more details, here they are. The sweeper was a woman. We were only friends, nothing more, nothing less. She told me that I should use a pistol to protect and not to kill. In case you're wondering why I left Chronos, I left mostly on my own free will and partly because of a conversation we had."
"What was her name?"
"Saya."
"Saya…" her tone implied that Train should go on.
"Saya Minatsuki."
"We have a report that claims that she is dead. What was the cause of her death?"
"Creed Diskenth killed her." Train said the words quietly.
"I should've known that he would've gone and done something like that. In that case, Heartnet, I shall proceed to assassinate you. Do you have any last words before you join all the people that you've assassinated over the years that you've been a Number?"
At that moment, Sven and Eve came into the doorway.
"What are you doing?" Sven asked Sephiria.
"I was preparing to kill Train. Do you have anything to say to him before he leaves this world and goes to the netherworld?"
"Don't try to kill him. Let's talk this out."
"Sven, it's useless."
"Sephiria Arks, please sit down and put your sword away. Train, get over here right now. Sit and calm down."
Train sat and calmed down. Sephiria also sat, but she still held her sword in its sheath. Train waited for her to speak again.
"The reason that I came here was to find out why Train left Chronos. Now that I have found out the reason to why he left, I can now proceed with my plans to kill him." She rose to and unsheathed her sword again.
"Why do you want to kill him?" Eve asked.
"Because you either live inside Chronos or die outside of it. Once you leave Chronos, you can never come back."
"She tried to kill me before, but I fled because I gave Saya my gun because I was leaving Chronos," Train explained.
"So that's where your gun was," Sephiria muttered to herself.
Oh, crap, Train thought. I just told her why I didn't have Hades when we fought six months ago.
After a few seconds of uneasy silence, Train said, "If you want to kill me, Sephiria, go right ahead."
After contemplating whether or not to kill Train, Sephiria finally made up her mind. "I will let you live, Train Heartnet, former agent Number XIII. However, you are still an enemy of Chronos."
Train wasn't sure of how he should respond to that, so he just sat there and said nothing. His mind was whirling with questions, but only one kept repeating itself: Why didn't she kill me?
At Chronos Headquarters, Willzark was talking to Sephiria through his screen.
"Why haven't you killed Number XIII?" he asked.
"He is a sweeper now, Willzark. I would not feel right killing a sweeper. I still feel much animosity toward him leaving, but that was six months ago. I feel that it is time to put the past behind us and take steps toward the future."
"He is still an enemy, though," Willzark said.
"I know," Sephiria said.
Just then, Kin and Shin appeared on their screens.
"We heard that you have not succeeded in killing Heartnet, Number I," Kin said. "Do you have anything to say about this, Belze?"
"Yes," Belze said truthfully. "I know that I wouldn't feel right killing a sweeper, either. Besides, he served us well while he was a number. Now that he is a sweeper, we know that he will put his skills to use. I am personally hoping that he will do his job as a sweeper well."
Sephiria, Willzark, Shin and Kin stared at Belze in slight shock for a few long minutes. After the uncomfortable pause, Belze said, "Although Heartnet is still an enemy, we must continue to keep track of where he has been and what he has done. We cannot afford to lose track of him."
Shin turned to Sephiria and said, "Have you been successful in keeping track of him?"
"Yes," Sephiria said. "He is trying to find a girl that has supposedly been brought back from the dead. I believe that the girl is Saya Minatsuki. She was his friend before Creed killed her."
"Creed Diskenth killed her?" Willzark asked incredulously.
"Yes, he did," Sephiria said. "I regret to inform you of that, but it is true."
"Why did he kill her?" Belze asked.
"She was Heartnet's first true friend," Sephiria explained. "Creed was obviously jealous of the relationship that Train and Saya had, so he killed her to end the so-called spell that she cast on Train."
"Spell?" Kin asked. "Was she a witch?"
"She was a sweeper. She introduced the idea that pistols should be used for protecting, not killing, to Train. Creed called her a witch because he thought that she was putting a spell on Train. However, it turns out that Creed was obsessed with the murderer that Train was, not the real Train. So he went and killed Saya Minatsuki."
"I am not pleased with this Saya Minatsuki," Shin said angrily. "She caused Number XIII to leave Chronos."
"That is not a very good reason to dislike her," Kin said calmly. "She let Number XIII see the world in a different way."
After a few seconds of pondering, Willzark finally said, "This Saya woman unlocked the true Number XIII and changed his life for the better. I agree with Kin. Sephiria, do you have a picture of her?"
"I am afraid that I do not have an image of her, Willzark," Sephiria said.
"Then send someone to take a snapshot," Willzark said simply.
"We don't know if she's alive yet, though," Belze said. "Once Number XIII finds her, then we can send someone in."
"Agreed," Willzark said. "In the meantime, let us watch Number XIII closely and make sure that he finds this Saya woman."
--
Saya was singing her usual song on the rooftop. Train watched from afar, his ears listening to the sound of her beautiful voice.
Here, now, our lives will last.
Fall down, fall down, falls the rain,
Here, now, we live at last.
She sang a few more lines.
My life is not in vain.
Saya turned around to see Train standing there, listening to her sing.
"Saya!"
"Train, is that you?"
"Saya, it's me! It's me, Train!"
"Train!"
Train and Saya embraced each other for a full minute, enjoying each other's warmth and hearing their hearts beat as one.
"Train, I missed you," Saya said quietly into Train's ear.
"I missed you, too," Train whispered to Saya.
"Did you like my song?" she asked.
"Yes. I never get tired of hearing it. I think it's beautiful, just like you."
--
Train went onto the rooftop and lay there, pondering about his dream. He had the feeling that something special was going to happen tonight. The buildings that were around him gave him mixed feelings as memories of six months ago were evoked. As he looked around at all the familiar houses, apartment complexes, churches, streets, parking lots, and other things that were in Braccio City, he felt a sense of belonging. He lay down and observed that there was a ceremony going on at the church. It's a wedding, he realized. Weddings weren't important to Train, but he momentarily saw him and Saya getting married. He went inside after a few minutes of sunbathing and saw that Sven had made breakfast. His plate was piled with toast, bacon, and eggs. Does Sven think that I'm going to eat all of this? Train thought.
That was when Rinslet Walker decided to knock on the door.
Jeez! Can't I eat in peace? Train thought.
"Hi, Rins," he said casually.
"Hey, Train. Long time, no see. I heard that Chronos visited you guys this morning. How'd it go?"
"Okay, I guess," Train said before he started eating.
Rinslet asked, "What did they want you for?"
"First off, only Sephiria visited. Second, she wanted me dead."
"What?! Why did she want you dead?"
"She just wanted to find out why I left Chronos, that's all. Then she was like, 'Are you ready to visit the souls that you assassinated over the years as a Number?' It was creepy. I haven't seen her like that since six months ago."
"I guess that she still considers you a traitor," Rinslet sighed.
"Yeah. They still consider me a threat."
"Oh."
"The Elders keep giving me one last chance to rejoin them. They say that my skills are too great to become a 'lowly' sweeper."
"Then why don't you just go back, tell them that you're a sweeper and that you're done with them now?"
"That's a good plan, but I don't really want to do that right now. It doesn't seem like the right time."
"And will there ever be a 'right time'?"
"Relax, Rins. I'll tell them when I think I should tell them."
"I also heard that there was this girl that was brought back from the dead."
"We're trying to search for her."
"You guys are trying to find her?"
"Of course we are. Why wouldn't we?"
"For all you know, she could be dangerous!"
"Rins, she's not dangerous."
"How do you know that she's not dangerous?"
"I just know."
"That's a crappy excuse!"
"Hi, Rinslet. What are you two fighting about?"
"Rinslet thinks that the girl that we're trying to find is dangerous," Train said.
"If she was dangerous, the newspaper would've told us that," Eve said.
Rinslet stopped arguing because she knew that she couldn't win the argument.
"So, besides for finding the girl, what else are you guys planning on doing?" she asked Sven. Train had finished eating.
"We're still going to catch criminals," Sven said.
"There's probably no reason for me to hang around here anymore, so I'm going. Tell me if you find the girl."
"You're leaving already?" Train asked. "You just got here five minutes ago!"
"I'm going to get some necklaces or something. Again, tell me if you find that mysterious ghost."
"She's not a ghost!" Train said before Rinslet shut the door.
"You really like that girl, don't you, Train?" Sven asked. "You know, the one we're searching for."
"It's not like that, okay?" Train blushed as he quickly turned his head away from Sven and Eve.
"You're blushing again, Train," Eve said. Train just groaned. The day seemed to pass by slowly. Train mulled over the dream that he had had and decided not to bug Sven into getting him more food when he had finished eating his dinner. When night finally fell, he sat on the rooftop while moongazing. His cat friend pawed the dish that it was drinking out until Train finally poured some more milk into the dish. The cat finished that within a few minutes. It ran away after meowing. Train suddenly heard singing from the rooftop next to him.
Sing a song unto the world,
Rising high, the clouds unfurl.
Fan the flames into the past.
Here, now, our lives will last.
You'll never know the times of pain.
Fall down, fall down, falls the rain,
My life won't be plain.
Here, now, we live at last.
She sang a few more lines.
My life is not in vain.
Train looked at the girl who was on the rooftop next to him. She looked back at him. Train knew who it was the second their eyes met.