Happy New Years everyone! Hope you all had a great time. Time for my present to you all! Welcome to the second annual Seven Days of Updates! Seven chapters, one week! Let's get it started! Remember, no complaints about length! I worked my ass off to get seven done, so not complaints!

Enjoy!

As the person in the phone booth left, Drake breathed a sigh of relief as he finally got his turn. It wasn't like him to do something like this, but he felt it would be a nice thing to do. Dialling his own number, he brought the phone to his ear and waited. It didn't take his mother long to pick up.

"Hello?" She asked. Drake smiled to himself.

"Hey Mom," he said. "It's me."

"Oh, hey Drake. What's up? Why did you call?" Why had he called, exactly? It wasn't like him to do so, but something had propelled him to do it.

"I felt like making sure you knew I made it to Onibus safely," He said, laying on a sarcastic tone for his mother. "Cause you're so worried about me these days." His response started with a snort.

"My favourite son," she said. "Coincidentally also my only son. Hmm. Oh, I'm glad you called! I've got something to tell you and I'm so excited!"

"Oh yeah?" He asked, pocketing his free hand. "What's that?"

"I found the perfect name for your little kitty!" Drake rolled his eyes at this. It was typical of his mother to not listen to his wishes.

"What did I tell you?" He demanded. "Don't name her for me."

"But it's perfect, trust me!" Knowing their was no way out of this without at least hearing the name, Drake sighed.

"What is it mother?" He asked.

"Don't you think Kaida is a beautiful name?"

...

There was an awkward silence over the phone as Drake took a moment to process what she'd just asked him. Kaida. That was the name she'd come up with. The snort came from Drake's mouth before he realised it.

"What?" His mother asked. "Don't like it?"

"Ah...It's not that," Drake said, holding in a laugh. It was a long story, and he'd rather keep it to himself in case twenty years down the line he had a little sister to mock about it. "I just think you shouldn't name my cat. That's that." He heard an audible moan at this.

You are so difficult!" She said, sounding exasperated. "Just name the cat Drake, you've had her for months!"

"Nah," He replied. "I'll name her later, it's fun watching you get irritated about it." He smiled to himself as his mother groaned.

"Get on that train and suffer you ass," she said, hanging up on him. Chuckling to himself, Drake left the phone booth and walked back towards the girls, who were waiting for him silently.

"How'd that go?" Elise asked. "You look amused." Drake knew there was no point in telling either of them, neither would get the joke.

"We can go now," he said, ignoring her question. "Ready to go?"

"Yep," Steph replied, brandishing a ticket at him, probably for the train. "I bought these while you were in there, we're leaving in half an hour."

"How close are we going to be?" He asked, taking his ticket and examining it.

"It'll be a three hour walk from the train station we stop at," Steph replied. "but it'll take us pretty much the rest of today to get that close, so we'll be on the train for a while." This caused both Drake and Elise to visibly flinch.

"Great," Elise muttered. "Exactly what I wanted to happen today."

"At least the train will be warm," Drake muttered. "So I have something to look forward too." Steph rolled her eyes and then rolled up her sleeves, looking down at her watch.

"It's getting kinda late, do you guys want to eat before we get on the train?" She asked, smirking. "Or is that too much for you to handle?"

Wipe that look off your face or I'll eat as much as humanly possible," Elise threatened, looking rather irritated. Drake had to admit, he was pretty hungry. He'd barely eaten that morning, but if he was going to spend all afternoon on a train, did he really want to eat?

"If you want to eat go ahead," Drake said to Steph. "I'll pass. What about you Elise?"

"Pass," Elise replied, looking sick already. "I don't want to think about eating and then train hopping. Ugh." With this Steph turned and marched off in search of something to eat, the Dragon Slayers following close behind. Neither said anything as they watched Steph peruse what Onibus Square had to offer them, neither having anything that they needed to say.

"...Drake?" Elise asked, making Drake snap out of his stupor. He looked towards her, seeing her with her mouth buried in her jacket.

"What?" He asked. Elise didn't reply right away, but soon her red eyes moved to look at him.

"What're we doing once we find Ultear?" She asked quietly. Drake stared at her for a moment before he looked back to watch Steph order some fried thing on a stick, happy as can be.

"We stick around," he replied. "Maybe help her with her job."

"Then what?"

"..."

"...Are you trying to find everyone?" Drake didn't reply to this right away, trying to gauge what his response should be. Looking over at Elise told him she already knew his answer, she just wanted to see if he'd lie or not.

"...Maybe I am," He replied, burying his own face into Nashi's scarf, finding comfort in the warmth it brought him. "Maybe that's what we need."

"How do you expect to find them?" She asked. "Simon's with his dad, and they could be anywhere in the world right now. And nobody knows where Damien went except for Damien."

"We'll find a way, it's time we stopped running."

"How do you find someone you don't know how to look for?"

"Nashi's alive, and she needs your help."

Drake frowned as END's words echoed in his head. He hadn't forgotten about his visions of the demon girl, and what she'd said to him. Maybe Elise was right. How do you find something you don't know how to look for?

"You find a way," he said, looking back at her. "We're a family, Elise. We stick together. What happened at Mt. Olympus...Hurt us. All of us. And we buried it away. Ran. Running never solved anything. So we find them and deal with what we're feeling. We'll deal with it as it comes along." Elise didn't say anything more,which Drake appreciated because he had nothing else to say. He believed what he said, but most of it had been pulled right of of thin air.

But, then again, how do you find what you don't know what to search for? What might not want to be found? That, to Drake, seemed like a long and never ending search.

The snowy plains outside of the train car did little to soothe Elise's swirling stomach. Was there any end to this madness?

"You okay?" Steph asked. Elise moved her head slightly to look at Steph, who sat across from her in their booth. Drake had his head on her lap and looked to be unconscious, Steph running her hands through his hair.

"I'll be fine," she mumbled, wiping the sweat from her forehead. "I've been working on controlling my stomach on vehicles, so it's not that bad right now."

"Let's hope it doesn't get bumpy." Steph teased, making Elise somehow go paler than she was.

"Please God no," she whispered, making Steph laugh.

"Get comfy, we'll be on here for a while yet," she said, looking out the window. "We won't reach our next stop until after the sun sets, and then we'll have to stay the night there."

"Good," Elise grumbled, crossing her arms even tighter. "Getting sick makes me tired." Silence fell over the pair, and Elise glanced back at Steph. She was still looking through the window, fingers absentmindedly twirling in Drake's untamed mane of maroon coloured hair. He seemed to be comfortable as far as she could tell, which made her wonder if what Steph was doing was some kind of soothing technique.

Truth be told, Elise couldn't gauge what the pair had going on. Half the time it seemed like normal teasing, but other time Elise felt like there was something bigger going on they hadn't told her about. She'd alluded to it earlier that day with the jab about them sleeping together, which was not something she didn't somewhat believe. They seemed closer than friends, but both shut her down when she'd inquired about it. were they hiding it?

"You okay Elise?" Elise was taken from her thoughts as Steph spoke up, now watching her worriedly. "You're spacing out."

"Uh, yeah." Elise replied, looking back out the window, embarrassed she'd been caught. "Just thinking."

"About what?" Elise wasn't sure if she should say the truth, glancing back at Steph. The girl was smiling at her warmly, still playing with Drake's hair. What did she have to worry about?

"Well...you two," she said, gesturing to Drake. "And what's been going on this past year."

"Hm?" Steph seemed confused by this, which didn't surprise Elise. It wasn't a very well worded statement. Taking a deep breath, Elise looked over at Steph again.

"I wasn't completely joking when I asked if you two had banged," she said simply. "I was, and am, curious." Steph was quiet for a moment before she tilted her head slightly to the left.

"Seriously?" She asked. "Drake and I? You think that'd work out?" Elise was taken aback by this, and shrugged weakly.

"I dunno," she replied. "You guys seem super close, I just figured maybe love bloomed or some corny shit like that. You're playing with his hair for God sake." Steph looked down, as if just realising now she was indeed doing that. She paused for a moment, before slowly continuing to play with his hair.

"We aren't involved," she said with a smile. "I don't look at him like that. Never have, never will. He's like another brother to me." This made Elise raise an eyebrow.

"Huh," she said. "Interesting."

"Why's that?" Steph asked. Elise made a face.

"Drake's, ah...Quite the ladies man," she said. "Girls flock to him for some reason. Hell, I used to crush on him a few years ago. So, I suppose I was wondering if he'd gotten you too."

"Were you crushing on him around the same time he walked in on you naked?" Steph asked, causing vomit to rise into Elise's throat. Swallowing hard at this, Elise felt heat rising to her face.

"W-What's that supposed to mean?!" She demanded, making Steph smirk evilly. "Who cares if it was?! It was still an accident!"

"Oh I'm sure it was!" Steph said knowingly. Somehow Drake stayed unconscious through this, although Elise didn't really care why. She was just glad he was.

"My point being," Elise said. "I was just curious about it, that's all."

"Nope, not interested." Steph replied. "Never will be."

"Alright, that's it then." Elise said, looking out the window again, wanting to escape the conversation desperately now that that naked accident had come up. There was silence for some time between the girls, which allowed Elise to relax a little, closing her eyes in an attempt to lull off to sleep like Drake.

"...Elise?"

"Hm?" Elise lazily opened one eye and looked over at Steph, who was also looking out the window. She had a faraway look in her eyes, one Elise couldn't place. "What's up?" Steph didn't say anything for a minute, before she looked back at Elise. Her gaze was soft, and it confused Elise.

"When I say I'm not interested, I mean it." She said, voice so low Elise wasn't sure a normal person could have picked up on it. "I'm not into him." Elise made a face.

"Okay, I believe you." she said. "End of discussion. Force it anymore and I'll think you're trying to trick me." Smiling at her own joke, Elise closed her eyes again. After more silence, Steph sighed.

"Elise," she said. Elise opened her eyes again, and saw a stern yet worried look on Steph's face.

"What?" She asked. Steph's cheeks grew pink, eyes darting out the window. The seconds ticked by as Steph remained silent, before she took a deep breath and looked back at Elise, looking stern yet nervous.

"When I say I'm not interested..." She started, looking down at her feet. "...I'm not interested."

What the hell was she getting at?

As Steph looked back up at Elise and their eyes locked, the silence grew tense and strange. it was a long and uncomfortable silence, one Elise was desperate to escape.

"...Okay," Elise said. "I get it."

No. No she didn't.

Steph didn't say anything more and looked out the window again, not playing with Drake's hair anymore. Now she just looked lost, but Elise didn't get it. Especially not while her body was in this state of sickness.

Looking back out the window, Elise noted how long and never ending the tracks seemed on both side of the train. Were they ever going to reach their destination?

The second they'd checked into their hotel room at their stop, Steph had gotten into one of the free beds and gone to sleep, ignoring both Drake and Elise. He didn't understand what her problem was, but she looked a little upset. Elise didn't know either, but Drake felt like she wasn't saying as much as she knew when he'd asked.

Regardless, he was tired.

Throwing himself into another free bed, Drake stared up at the roof and pondered what the next few days would hold for him. Truth be told, he was a bit nervous to find out. What would change in the next few days? Would he like what happened?

"Nashi's alive, and she needs you."

Again Drake was reminded of this voice, the one belonging to Nashi. Or rather, the being that claimed to be END. Who was she, exactly? Was she telling the truth or lying? He didn't know, so he'd shoved it from his mind. He'd tried not to think about it the past few days, but now it was all he could think about. Was she telling him the truth? Was Nashi alive?

He was reminded of the empty coffin beneath the ground.

Drake closed his eyes and sighed, mind muddled with ideas and concerns. However, after a few minutes, a solid thought floated to the front of his mind.

If you are alive Nashi, I'll find you. I promise.

Chapter 289: Arkney