It is early morning, and to those of you travelling from the Kingdoms the emerald rolling plains wind out before your caravans as you travel under the warm, welcoming sun. Above you chirping birds glide and flitter against a picture perfect sky, painted with soft cottonball clouds and lifted by a cool, gentle wind. There is only a slight early day chill as you approach the great grey-white wall, a wall that slopes slightly away from you and curves back round upwards to meet the sky. It is a breathtaking sight, snaking off into the horizon indefinitely either side. Rising before you, right slap bang in the middle of it, stands The Gate That Never Was. Despite it's foreboding history, it is glorious.

You never expected it to be so beautiful, but the intricate ornate carvings curling around it's sides speak of a lost time known only to ancients, poets and dreamers. As the megalithic doors rumble open with a sound that reverberates through the depth of your being, you could not even begin to imagine the extent of the strangeness written in your future stars.

It seemed too cheerful a day to step into the dangerous unknown, to step into a world you couldn't possibly begin to understand, but such is fate. As it was, within the first hour of your arrival in these lands, things did not so much take a turn to the unusual as they did nosedive into the abyss of the strange and peculier...

Targilde felt a sense of quiet excitement as he sat with perfect posture in his little carriage. He ran a white gloved hand along the window's edge, rubbing his fingers together as he inspected the dust with a contented smile.

Ah, what would it be like to live in World's End? Would the people have manners? No doubt they'd be in need of extra services, out here in the wilderness. It would take some effort to create appropriate living conditions, there would be plenty of cleaning and tidying to be done...

He peered longingly out the window, abscentmindedly wondering what that strange blur of colour was.

The carriage buckled as Targilde was thrown violently to the ground, his eyes widening as he watched the metal crumple above him and crunch to the side, Targilde along with it. His hand ragdolled over his body as he rolled sideways, his perfectly presented platinum hair sweeping across the ground. The sound of cackling barely registered above the dull ache of his body, his brow furrowing as he finally dared examine his predicament.

Oh dear. This was one of those Not Good things, wasn't it?

Gosh, he did so hate to cause a ruckus.

_{"Excu- Exc..."} oh this simply wouldn't do. He cleared his throat of dust, managing to pull himself up onto his elbows and squint into the next room. By the looks of things, he had almost been crushed under the weight of the wall and ceiling. A structural gurder of some description was blocking him from crawling out the hole in the door. One wrong move and it could be kaput for him.

"Excuse me, sirs or madames? Is anybody there? This is frightfully inappropriate, but I could perhaps do with a hand." he admitted reluctantly.

---

---

Melanie was curled up cozy in her seat, knees snug against her chest, panda hoodie pulled down over her neon-pink hair. She picked at her luminescent nail varnish until it bored her, and then found herself nibbling on her fingernails as her eerie eyes finally bothered to glance up at the view.

Oh. There wasn't one. Had they arrived already? The darkness explained why her nail varnish was glowing. Still, this place didn't seem right to her. Not one bit.

Like a cat stretching after a day's nap Melanie lazily extended a high-topped foot and shoved her duffel bag over her shoulder. She adjusted the weight for a moment before striding towards one of the metal doors and fidgetted with the lever until she finally got it to open. It squabbled with her for a moment, but soon a wave of musty air hit her right in the face. Suddenly this didn't seem like the best idea in the world.

She fidgetted from one foot to the other, not sure if she should get down or what. It all was a little... creepy.

"Uh, hello?" she called, eyeing the platform next to her. Was it possible she was the only one on the train? Well that was an unsettling thought. It seemed unlikely, though...right?

---

---

ok, the mists were a little bit creepy.

Humphrey was about in tune as most run of the mill gents, and he certainly had the enthusiasm to boot. At least, for a while, it had made him feel more comfortable. Or rather - he doesn't remember when he started to sing, or how he got here, but he was here now and singing, so everything was probably fiiine.

Over one shoulder slung a stick with a red-and-white patterned cloth, full of something or other. His shoes were scuffed, his clothes a touch on the poor side, but the beaming smile on his face made it clear he didn't much care.

Also, he had a fabulous mane of blonde hair, and obviously that's all the mattered.

Speaking of, Humphrey was now sweeping said hair back out of his eyes, as he peered beyond into the obscured world before him.

How likely was it for a mysterious mist to be deadly, he wondered. If it was a big monster, he could run away from it, but there was no way of really knowing when the mists were about to let up. So he did what any logical sane person would do: he continued singing at the top of his lungs to keep up his spirits as he braved into the unknown.

A small smile had been plastered onto the blonde's face ever since she entered her carriage. Kaleo had been waiting for this for quite some time and to finally be approaching World's End with such a breathtaking sight to boot? It reminded her so much of home. Reluctantly pulling her eyes away from the scenery as it rolled by, Kaleo rested her hand on the cover of the book she had planned to read on the way there before opening to the first page...

Much like the beginning of any journey, things didn't go initially as planned, as the moment Kaleo turned the page, the entire carriage began to shake. Kaleo thought nothing of it at first, but when her body collided with the side of the carriage, she had reason to worry.
"A-Ack!" The blonde screamed in surprise as the book she was holding, as well as the ones in her bag, were now sprawled across the ground. She waited to gather herself, as her left side was burning from the sudden collision. Just as she was about get to the bottom of what had happened, Kaleo's heterochromic eyes widen in shock as she saw the carriage next to her own crumple in on itself in a similar fashion. Her wide eyes remained locked on the crushed carriage, as she was far to frightened to move. She probably would have stayed there and waited for help, if it weren't for the disgusting shrieks of the creatures who probably caused this became known to the girl. Kaleo wasted not time sprinting towards the engine room in hopes of there being some kind of escape.

However, there was a voice that caused the blonde to stop in her tracks. Kaleo turned towards the direction of the crushed carriage, her eyes wide with surprise. Did they survive, whoever was under there? Too panicked to really think, Kaleo turned around and headed towards the crushed carriage, being sure to pick up a few books on the way there. She stopped in front of a structural girder that appeared to be preventing whoever was inside from meeting their demise.
"U-Um, excuse m-me?" Although her voice was light, Kaleo couldn't hide the shakiness in her voice and that she looked about ready to cry. "I-Is someone there? H-Hello?" Fear was laced into each word she said as her eyes continued to dart towards the sounds of the creature possibly approaching. Knowing that she couldn't just wait for an answer nor do anything rash without one, Kaleo crouched down and tried to peak through the spaces that the girder didn't block, hoping to identify where the voice was coming from...

---

Farran had been fast asleep ever since the train departed, his had leaning against the wall. It was tough being alone at a young age, having to fend of himself, so he slept and ate whenever he had the chance. As the train began to slow down, the white haired boy's head leaned forward until he himself was awake and sitting up. The blindfolded boy let out a tired yawn before looking to his left then right. It was darker than normal...and the train stopped...maybe they arrived?

The boy quickly stood before grabbing his back and heading out of his carriage as he wasn't a fan of accidentally making people wait because of him. As he pushed over his compartment door, Farran couldn't help but furrow his brows. Why did it feel so tight? Panic quickly began to emerge as the boy sucked in a few breaths.
"H-Hello? I somebody there?! HELLO?!" The young teen shouted as he was already running along the side of the train, hoping that someone would answer him. What if he was the only one on the train? What if everyone died? What if this was a trap? What if he was already dead?! "OHMYGOD, SOMEONE PLEASE ANSW--" Farran's shouting was cut short as he turned and ran right into an open compartment door. The sound was sickening and enough to bring Farran to tears as he stumbled backwards, covering his now. Instead of checking to make sure he was okay, the boy straightened and bowed towards the door. "I-I'm sorry door! I-I'm so sorry!" He spoke with repeated bows before standing straight again. If no one came of the sound he just made then he really is alone, huh...

---

Okay, something was definitely not right. Wakana had been relaxing in her carriage, bright eyes framed by large glasses staring out of the window. She had been humming quietly to the rhythm that the train gave off, but as any great musician could have noticed, the train's sounds were changing. Where once the steady chug of machinery and the engine was replaced with an uncomfortable ticking that could put anyone off. Still, Wakana kept in rhythm, tapping her feet and clicking her tongue to match the ticking. She knew she probably should have been worrying, but she was too far into the groove to stop then.

Unfortunately, this didn't last long as the ginger's foot stopped producing anymore sound. Arching her eyebrows, Wakana was met with the sight of a green squishy...thingy? The girl couldn't put her finger on it, but all she knew was that it was gross. She stood up to move away from the thing, only to freeze as more began to rain down upon her. She looked up only of a second...but it was a second too much. The girl let out a high pitched scream as she started flailing about to get the kidney shaped monstrosities off of her, grabbed her luggage and ran to whichever door was closest in order to get away from those disgusting, off rhythm little demons. Unfortunately, the carriage she had bumped into didn't necessarily relief her of the earlier events...

Rowen sighed deeply. The initial excitement she had felt when she had first boarded the train had faded away, replaced with boredom and apathy. It felt like she had been on this rolling metal box for ages—literally days. In fact, exactly how long had she been on this train anyway? Time had become some sort of monotonous blur.

Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.

The young woman's brows furrowed together. She looked around curiously to find the source of the noise, only to realize that her carriage compartment had stretched out much larger than when she first arrived. And there was an unfamiliar door as well. Her curiosity was immediately tickled. Rowen was just a half second away from lifting herself off her seat, when she felt something land atop her head. "Hmm?" Dagny reached her hands up, her fingers finding something very soft and warm. She lifted the squishy little thing gently in front of her, and found herself facing a small blue and orange bird.

"Chirp! Chirp! Chirp!" The creature sang before her.

"Chirp! Chirp!" Rowen replied back, a smile hidden underneath her mask. It seemed to be no more than a fledgling, but even a brief inspection couldn't reveal to her its breed. She searched around her compartment for its nest, thinking that somehow a bird had built one on the train and the baby had fallen out, but as she expected there was none.

"Just where did you come from, little one?" She asked it quietly. The bird answered her with more chirps. With no home to return it to and what would likely soon become a very hungry baby, Wen had only one choice. She would have to adopt it. First step: getting the bird to imprint on her.

But before she could fully begin the journey to bird mom, a bespectacled girl with orange hair came screeching into her compartment. Wen immediately hid her baby bird defensively within her jacket, her body tense with the expectation of danger. That's why the girl was fleeing, right? Because of danger? "What is it?" Rowen asked the girl almost quietly.

Perfect, just perfect...

Some expedition this turned out to be. Not only is he stuck here with these godawful pricks, the idiot with the blonde hair is singing some nonsensical, off-key, cacophony about who knows what. Taking in to his surroundings for a few moments, the reptilian surveyed the area. Yep, there's nothing but fog. The occasional sliver of a shadow here and there but other than that, nothing. At the very least, it wouldn't make things complicated for him, Crusz was unsure about the others though, they could die right here for all he cared. Although...that neglects the fact that they are important to his goal, and they've yet to prove useful.

He kept on exploring alongside the others, the one who goes by the name of "Humphrey" still refraining from ceasing his incessant babbling. "Oi!" He called out to him once. "Oi!" he tried again to capture his attention and make it stop. When that didn't work, Crusz growled and thought of the only way he knew how to shut his yap.

Gripping the hilt of his blade, Crusz let the fool move ahead of him for a while. The kobold took a few deep breaths and made a few hops in place to get himself aligned just right. Then...with a guttural growl that could have probably alerted any nearby creatures, the Kobold sprang into the air and with all the force he could muster, brought down the hilt of his sword to the back of the head of the moron. Damn, didn't look like it was a clean hit...Hopefully that oughta shut him up for the next few hours.

Castiel had grown accustomed to solitude, but he had never felt as lonely as he did on the trip to World's End. The young man had barely moved a muscle since he'd boarded the train but it was the most emotionally-drained he'd felt since his grandfather's death, so he sat quietly in his seat and occasionally fumbled with his Tarot Cards in an attempt to pass the time. It did little to numb the growing fear in his chest, so he closed his eyes in search of sleep. Eventually, darkness claimed him and chased away his insecurities and worries.

He awoke later to the same darkness and a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach.

Cold sweat dotted his forehead as a multitude of voices rang hotly in his ears - there one moment then gone the next, a familiar presence on the forefront of his mind that was both there and not.

The train had stopped, but was this really their destination? Castiel pulled himself to his feet, reaching clumsily for his rucksack before he ambled toward the carriage door. It was no longer locked. Cautiously, he exited the train and surveyed his surroundings. A tunnel, a sealed exit, stairs that descended to darkness - more voices. "Is anyone there?" He called out.

The voices grew louder, loud enough to hurt. Castiel had gone through this time and time again. It was always startling when it happened, but by now, it was second nature to him. Please, show yourself. I'll listen to what you have to say."

Silence - a luminescent girl who was surely no older than 16 - whispers of a wicked witch.

Things straight out of a fairy tale, things Castiel knew to be true. Thank you for speaking to me. I'll hold your warning close to my heart. He allowed her to finish speaking before he resumed. It was never wise to ignore the words of a dead person, he knew from experience. "These rooms, what do you mean... wait, I have more questions for you." Before he could ask, she disappeared. He was, once again, alone. At least, until he heard the loud wailing of a child.

"OHMYGOD, SOMEONE PLEASE ANSW--"

The voice was enough to snap him back to his senses, and he waded through the darkness in hopes of reaching it. "Hello? Are you another passenger? Please calm down, I'm here to assist you. He followed the voice until he was close enough to see a frazzled boy bowing at something - err, someone. He noticed her shortly after he'd noticed the boy, neon-pink hair and an outfit that told him he wasn't from the Old Country. "Hello," introductions had never been Castiel's strong point. "I take it you're both as clueless as I am, but this isn't the station, is it? Are you by any chance, the other passengers?" The young man spun around and cupped his hands over his mouth. "Is anybody else out there?"

---

Someone was singing.

In the foggy emptiness, Viola didn't know whether such an act was reassuring or downright eerie. It was foggy and she was alone. That was the only thing she was certain of - that, and the fact that she'd been chosen to pay the toll Beyond the Gate at World's End. Surreal was the only word she could think of to describe the predicament she'd found herself in.

Then again, her life had always been a series of trails to overcome. This was merely another one of them.

She'd survive and go home to her family. The young woman repeated the thought over and over in her head, had etched it into the depths of her mind like a holy prayer. "I'm not afraid," her lips trembled as she said the words, but the mere act of saying it egged her on. Viola continued to walk through the haze, calling out every now and then as she progressed through the empty whiteness.

And then she caught sight of a child, perched on a tall man's shoulders. She approached them, one hand resting casually on the hilt of her blade. One could never be too cautious beyond the gate. "You two," she called out. "Passengers from the train?"

Amidst the clamor of the world, amidst an ever-expanding sideshow of absurdity that took the form of a gathering of people, a single self beats back against the current defined by the reality that it occupied. Tiresias, standing before those with sight but incapable of reaching Truth. Brahma, standing before He of Ten Heads as the gift to surpass a world was granted. Something transcendentally Other, eroding at reason by virtue of existence. In this fashion, she takes form in the ephemeral foundation of a world, defined by her resistance to definition.

"-Why are there marbles?"

Behold, her transcendent might.

There was relatively little to be said about Diane's time in the train up until now, having been busying herself with a book that she'd evidently brought with her and paying little regard to the passage of time. Given everything she'd heard about that world beyond the Gate, she'd assumed that she would have been plagued by monsters by now, or something similar. It was thus a pleasant surprise when there were no monsters, but instead there were what looked like marbles. That was neat. Unless they were bombs or something, marbles were much nicer than monsters.

Hefting herself out of her seat, Diane glanced around at her own compartment for a handful of seconds before shrugging, bending over to pick up and pocket a handful of the marbles in a gesture that would be idiocy at its finest if they were in fact bombs, before moving to exit her compartment. As she did so, the sound of what was either a girl screaming or a very strange monster hunting for prey sounded along the train, causing Diane to quirk up slightly. Her exploratory step out of her compartment became a headlong charge as she moved in the direction of the scream. A sharp yell cut through the air, a bleeding dance of wind and chaos that melted into the surrounding cacophony.

"Don't worry, prospective sidekick! Your salvation is at hand!"

The protagonist had made her descent.

Michael was flying. Standing on top of a giant metal box and flying. It was... This one moment alone trumped his whole life to this point. He had been married to a woman that he loved and that was nothing compared to the wind flowing through his hair, over his skin, filling his ears and setting his senses on fire. Michael laughed into the sky and held his arms out wide into the wind, feeling it push on him just a little bit. The feeling just made the whole moment feel even more amazing. The world fell away below him, revealing to him all its color and majesty. Blue and white-tipped mountains rose on the horizon, floating islands with waterfalls that somehow never ran dry, patches of rainbow forests, lakes, all of which extended just as far away as the wall did up. It was beautiful. Michael felt like he was king of the sky, like he was born to live above the clouds. He embraced the cool moisture as the faeries took them up through a small cloud, and smiled when he opened his damp eyes to the sky within the sky. Michael felt like lightning, ready to streak through the sky.

Michael felt like Death, ready to sweep down on his prey.

That last feeling made Michael stop short in his enjoyment of flying. That was... He swallowed, and forced his attention to the yellow orbs flying around his head. "Hey," he shouted over the wind. "Mind if I ask what, uhm, what you mean by blessing me?"

The little orbs giggled, as they'd been doing alot as they had been watching Michael, and darted across his face like tiny delicate fireworks.



Michael looked at the little sparkles and came to realise that they weren't just glowing orbs as he origionally thought, but tiny little stars. He thought about their offer for a long moment, and turned back at the landscape again. It ripped his breath away like a tiger rips away its prey's throat.

"I... I might have to take you up on that. Flying... Seeing the world like this... It's amazing," he breathed, watching the world fade away into the great blue yonder. He walked up to the edge of the train, closed his eyes, and held his arms out in the wind. It was still amazing, even if he was guarding against some of the feelings he felt at first. He wasn't going to let his instincts make him pretend he was something he was not.

Darkness. Lloyd supposed that "darkness" was the most apt term for the situation. He couldn't see a thing. His mask didn't help, either. The small eye-holes let even less light in. It would seem that he was alone in this pitch-black metal death-trap. Well, he thought this until he heard someone speak. While he couldn't discern what the voice was saying, he knew that there was only one voice. Rather odd that only one person would hold a conversation. He contemplated staying silent and remaining in his carriage, but suddenly, a quiet crunch crunch resounded through the air. Whatever caused that noise certainly wouldn't be friendly.

Lloyd decided that the best course of action would be getting prepared for whatever would happen. He quickly did a lunge, his legs stretching as he crept closer to the ground. If anything, he would be prepared to run away if something bad happened. He grabbed his ball and chain, opened the door and stepped through. It was dark, save for the fire that burnt a rather large distance away. More voices. This time, they were audible.

"Is anybody else out there?"

The words emanated through the darkness. Well, Lloyd was definitely out there. He froze for a brief moment before lifting up the ball. A light began to shine upon wherever that voice came from. Whoever was calling out would either be illuminated by the lantern's glow or witness the rather spooky face carved into the lantern spew out light.

"Greetings, voice!" Lloyd yelled out. He was excited. Meeting other people was sure to bring safety and excitement to this time of darkness.

This is definitely reaching Customer Service.

Kain exhaled slowly and wrenched his fingers off the nearby handle. When the yipping started, he reached for his bow and quiver- he had refused to be separated from his weapons- because what the hell. Force of habit. Then, that. Gods above and below, for a second there he swore he felt his soul cross planes. But enough about that. He wasn't about to let their mystery guests catch him ass up. Not today, at least. The mercenary stretched his arms and leaned over the next seat, wincing when the inner workings of the train creaked whenever his weight shifted to a different point. However, climbing up to the only exit proved to be no trouble for someone with his level of fitness; in a single, continuous motion, Kain pushed himself off the last booth and swung a leg over the carriage exit to stabilize himself. His fingers were already reaching for an arrow and drawing the bow taut before he could even scan the environment for the threat.

The creatures below were anything but normal, that was for sure. At first he thought they were hyenas, but it was just… wrong. Their bodies were grotesque lumps of multicolored flesh and bone, with a patchwork of scars and scabs running in places that promised a macabre tale. Kain had difficulty telling which or what began and ended where. His dominant hand loosened its grip for a second and- thunk- the bow descended right in the middle of the horror party. The abominations sniffed the new addition and started cackling.

Great.

Which lead to the next bad decision: retrieving said weapon from midst of the cackling, drooling beasties. Preferably without any of them noticing him. He failed at that too, by the way- the treacherous train decided to let out this horrendous squeal just as his boots touched the ground. The only reason they hadn't all lunged at him like he were premium dog chow was because most seemed to be winded, but he was sure that creatures such as these wised up quick. And as if the possibility of getting mauled to death by horrific flesh monsters wasn't enough, the larger ones convulsed wildly before ripping into two smaller versions. Four split off from the pack and ambled off towards his general direction.

"So…" Kain whispered as he looked over his shoulder and dropped into a crouch, stepping back as softly as he could. "I reckon saying "good boys" won't cut it this time?"

---

---

The trip was pleasant enough, and the sight of the Gate would have been memorable at any other time. But the further they traveled from human lands, the worse Seona felt. She barely registered the passing scenery and the window glass reflected her pinched, unhappy expression. All the while, her thoughts ran amok. What of the situation back home? Seneschal Vir was trustworthy- the estate couldn't have been left in better hands- but… Well, there was a limit to what he could do. Speaking of, her siblings were too young to assume any position in the household. Should anything happen…

Seona vigorously shook her head and sunk down to the table in front of her, willing her fears to ebb away. It didn't quite work, but at least she could pretend to do something else…

Wait. Where were they going? She gathered up her skirts and pressed her cheek to the window. The landscape was but a swath of color below, and they were surrounded by rich tones of blue swirling with soft strokes of white. It couldn't be... Is the train flying!? Since when!?

The noblewoman stood up from her seat, looking around for someone who could reaffirm what she was seeing. She walked down the aisle, heading for the refreshments tucked by the exit. The next cabin was curiously unlocked. Gathering some courage, Seona peered into the next room and its lone occupant. "Greetings. My deepest apologies for inconveniencing you. Have we somehow missed our destination?"

Targilde shuffled forwards on his elbows army-style, resigned to the possibility his suit were getting worn down. Still, there was nothing else for it - it was indeed the option of scuffing his suit or perhaps being crushed, after all.

Perhaps he would have time to make himself presentable after the excitement died down. Targilde would hate to look unproffessional when he finally came to meet his fellows he'd be living out here with. He did so hope "living" was the operative word.

"Help!"

Targilde heard a voice ring out from somewhere beneath him and it seemed genuinely petrified. Such a sincere request for assistance was something Targilde could simply not ignore as a gentlemen and a servant. "I'm coming!" he called back, spying the gap between the end of his carriage and the next. He shuffled forward with eager speed. As he approached, he reached for the edge of the compartment in the hopes of pulling himself through.

"Don't worry sir, I'm coming to assist yAHHHGGRRRR-" a wicked chunk of metal disloged by his movements plummetted down from above. Into the soft flesh between his thumb and forefinger on his right hand it went, burying itself there on impact. Blood pooled under his shaking hand and trickled down and out the carriage to the ground beneath near the mysterious voice.

Targilde stared at it with only the smallest twitch as he succcessfully regained his composure.

"U-Um, excuse m-me? I-Is someone there? H-Hello?" came the afraid young voice of the passenger in the next compartment.

"Hello yes! Me and another gentleman are here! He seems to be stuck under the train." he called, slowly pulling his right hand back as he reached forward with his left.

"My sincerest apologies, ma'am, but I appear to be bleeding. Would you be so kind to attempt to pull me out? My own efforts have been ill-fated and I think I require some assistance."

He paused for a moment, staring up at the grinding metal above him and trying not to think too hard about when it planned to fall on him more.

---

---

"H-Hello? I somebody there?! HELLO?! OHMYGOD, SOMEONE PLEASE ANSW--"

The next sound Melanie heard was a soft THUMP. She peered round the door to see the perplexing scene of a young teenage boy in the midst of apologising profusely to the offending item.

"I-I'm sorry door! I-I'm so sorry!"

She swung her leg over the side of the train and hopped down beside the hysterical boy, taking a moment to examine him.

Gee he was sure wound up.

"Hey don't sweat it, I'm sure the door doesn't mind." she placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder, trying to calm him."More importantly, are you ok? Running straight into a metal door's gotta hurt a little."

Further down the train, a voice approached with a light behind them. She'd heard bits and pieces of a conversation, so she wasn't surprised to see two more people appear. Melanie was, however, perplexed by their state of dress.

She'd heard of Kingdoms outside of Veldamar, but all three of them looked like they were out of a cartoon or something. Not that Melanie had seen many cartoons. She vaguely understood that there would be Tolls very unlike her here, but that had seemed such a far away concept. It was quite strange to be presented with the reality.

Melanie felt like she was at the start of a horror movie or something.

"Yo." she said, with a lazy flick-of-the-wrist wave with her spare hand.

"Hello? Are you another passenger? Please calm down, I'm here to assist you." Melanie took a small step back to allow all four of them to stand together at the platform, should they want. It would at least take her mind off of the creepy surroundings. Speaking of creepy...

"Nice night light." she said with a small nod to the weird lantern-thing the masked guy was sporting. Yep, now the horror-movie vibe was reaaally sinking in.

"I take it you're both as clueless as I am, but this isn't the station, is it? Are you by any chance, the other passengers?"

"Yeah I'm a passenger. Travelling from Veldamar. Not really sure if this is the station or what - they should of at least bothered to give a brochure or something." Melanie paused at his question. Honestly, she hadn't even thought about the possibility that these people weren't passengers. But it was entirely possible, wouldn't it?

She stared at the masked guy with her deeply unsettling black and pink eyes, trying to work out if he was an axe murderer or not, and oblivious to the fact she looked pretty weird herself.

---

---

Humphrey stuttered forward and then regained his lost balance. He swung around in a big comical arc as he looked for his assailant, one arm raising to touch the sensitive skin on the back of his skull.

He was momentarily confused as he stared off into the mists. Some sort of invisible being, perhaps?

That's when he finally thought to look down. He was greted by the sight of glowing purple eyes that pierced through the mists, matt rosewood scales, and armor and weaponary far heftier then the creature he beheld.

Clearly he was haunted by a demon.

Humphrey backed away, arms now raised in defense.

"What in the devil are you?" he exclaimed, existing somewhere between awe, fear and suspicion.

Kaleo couldn't help but let out a gasp as someone actually responded back to her; so she wasn't just hearing things! Now knowing that there was one...no two people in need of help, she couldn't just leave, even if it was putting her in danger in the process.

The blonde wasted no time as she quickly gathered herself before sitting on her knees in order to one, set her books down, and two attach a body to this voice that's been calling out to her. And sure enough, there he was, yet another blonde but in a suit. His elbows were the only things keeping him perched up. His most notable feature was his right hand, which was bleeding profusely and showed no signs of stopping. Of course, Kaleo was disgusted, scared, and already tired, but leaving this man here to die was not how one like herself should act.
"Don't worry! I'll help you. Please, just give me your hand!" She spoke as she stood. She wasted no time placing one of her open books over her arm, spine facing her, kneeling down, and reaching out for the man's now slightly visible hand. As they locked hands, the book on Kaleo's arm began to pull away for her, in turn, giving her the strength to pull out the man in the suit; although it didn't turnout as greatly as Kaleo hoped.

For one, acting as the string that connected the book to hurting man, was painful to say the least; it was as if two people were trying to pull her apart. But more importantly, she could have sworn the other saw her. How couldn't he have, she made it far too obvious...but at this point in time it didn't matter, so long as she saved someone.

Once the man in the suit was completely pulled out and now inside of her own carriage, Kaleo released him, letting out a groan as she rubbed her sore arms. She didn't let the dull pain stop her for long as she pulled off her tie and grabbed the other's injured hand, wrapping the fabric around the wound.
"It won't do much, but please hold his to your wound." She said softly before looking back at the crushed compartment. "Might you know where the other man is? We must help him quickly!" She said as she pointed to the beasts which were slowly but surely approaching the train.

---

Farran proceeded to rub the metal door with a gloved hand while his other hand was still covering his nose. His hysterical yelling continued until the sound of another voice shut him up rather quickly and made him unintentionally hold his breath. He turned to face the girl that had been talking to him just as she placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Y-You really think so?" He questioned as he turned to face the door, tilting his head in the process. After a few seconds of silence, a smile appeared on Farran's face as the door did appear to be perfectly fine in the end.

Hearing the same girl from before question if he was okay, the white haired boy quickly nodded.
"U-Un! I'm okay! If anything th-the door had it worse! Th-Thank you for asking, Miss!" He said quickly as he removed his hand from his face, revealing a bloody nose. Despite claiming that he was okay, he probably didn't even notice that his nose was bleeding, seeing as he was still smiling.

He perked up once he felt light hit the side of his face, hoping that it was possibly other passengers or someone coming to rescue them. Once they were close enough, Farran did a 90 degree bow towards the two newcomers, his expression becoming a little stiff due to more people being around.
"W-We aren't alone anymore!" He stuttered, mostly as a way to reassure himself that he would be okay so long as he stuck with these guys.

As Melanie brought up the light that one of the newcomers had brought up, Farran nodded quickly in agreement.
"Thank you for the l-light, Mister! I-I really appreciate it!" He spoke before nodding again toward the masked man. He then turned to the other that matched how own hair color and nodded once again. "I-I'm a passenger too...I-I swear!" He claimed as he rubbed his shaky hands together to calm himself. "M-Maybe there's something b-blocking the train? S-So they had to stop?" Farran then inquired with a tilted head as he faced the others to see what they thought.

---

The first thing Wakana saw upon entering the new carriage was a rather cute girl with green hair and a gas mask on. While she was curious as to why she had one on, there were some things that were a little more important to her at the time being. Hearing the other question what her problem was, the ginger proceeded to hold her bag away from her and towards the other girl, as those kidney shaped green thingies where still attached to it and sliding off of her bag rather slowly.
"Gross..." Was all she could muster to say before violently shaking her bag, causing the green kidneys to fall and bounce on the ground a little.

Shuddering at the sight and making sure that there were not still stuck on her, the rather short girl hurried over to the girl with gas mask and sat next to her without asking. She then reached into her bag and pulled out a notepad and pencil and began scribbling down a few sentences; while writing, she did note how the other girl appeared to be covering something in her jacket, but once again, it could wait. All in a matter of seconds, the ginger had invaded privacy and now space as she shoved the notepad into the other's face, hoping she would read what was on it.
'Sorry if I scared you or anything. Those creepy green kidney thingies over there were raining down on me in my carriage, so I got scared and came here. Could I possibly stay here with you for the rest of the train ride?' The note was short, simple and sweet, and the heterochromatic girl could only hope that the green hared girl would say yes.

However, before she could even get a response from the other, Wakana let out a sneeze, causing her glasses to slide down her nose a little bit. Was...was someone talking about her?

Train... voices... Misery Hounds. Those were his choices. For now he preferred the voices above.

Someone had answered his call for help. And called him 'sir'. What sort of monstrosity would niceities in a time like this? Ignatus took a deep breath, perhaps who or whatever was on the other side of this train (or rather on the inside of this train) would be easy enough to deal with once he was out of here. Unless they use this opportunity to do something to me.... This thought seemed to resound inside his mind heavily. He was completely stuck under here. He could do nothing if whoever had answered him intended to attack him instead. Why did you call for help? But he hadn't meant to, it was involuntary.

And then there was a scream,a nd something warm and wet seemed to trickle down to where he had been stuck. Ignatus could feel his heart pounding is chest. Was that his blood? No... he hadn't been cut up enough for this. Was it... his eyes widened behind his glasses. The familiar cackling was still audible, had it gotten closer? Were the hounds in the train above him? Had they gotten to whoever had answered him.

They were so close now, weren't they? He could picture the garrish pathwork dogs tearing the flesh off some faceless figure above. But if felt different. None had gone after him yet. Surely they would hear his breathing, would have heard him shout, would have smelled him. It was only when a new voice spoke out and the voice that had answered him spoke once again that Ignatus realized whatever had happened was not related to the Misery Hounds. The blood was from something else. Ignatus tried to calm down some, taking a few deep breaths. Wait.... Almost as if being hit by a ton of bricks (but far less painful) Ignatus realized that the blood was coming down. There had to be some sort of opening somewhere, but where?

He seemed completely ok with running his hands through a stranger's blood, trying to follow the trail to somehwere, anywhere other than trapped in here. An opening, perhaps, or a simple crack in the walls that pinned him down, but the blood fell from somewhere and managed to land near him. "Where are you coming from?" he muttered under his breath.





Though his face was concealed, his eyes were clearly relieved when he head shouting, a thud, and then the sudden silence that followed. The singing had stopped and Oxe seemed to relax a bit from it.

He could hear Alexis above him laugh, and he couldn't help but follow suit. But then his eyes wandered again towards...something hidden in the mists. His eyes narrowed, wondeing what it could be. He had been about to walk towards it when a voice from behind called to them.

Oxe turned to face the the girl as Alexis tapped his shoulder. "I'll talk to her!" She said brightly, clamboring off his shoulders to talk to the her.

"Yes, we were both on the train, we didn't know if there were any others." Alexis said, running up to her. "We have no idea what had happened to it." She said biting her lip. She glanced back towards Oxe who glanced back at her as if in reassurace.

Oxe's mouth twitched slightly, eyeing the two of them for a moment before moving towards the object he had seen.

He approached it carefully, his brow knitting in the middle as he realized what it was. A table, on top of it a tea pot sitting perfectly in the middle, and there seemed to be a hint of steam pouring from its spout. The round teapot was surrounded by five plain cups sitting upside down, completely surrounding the teapot. They appeared to all be the same distance away. It looked as if someone had set up a garden tea party in the middle of the mists. He then noticed the chairs stacked neatly behind the table, as if whoever set it up expected their guests to get their own chairs...

Oxe walked around the table, inspecting the table carefully, his hand almost absently reaching out to pick up one of the grey yunomi cups. He hestitated for a moment, turning to look over towards Alexis and the other girl, wondering if he should call Alexis over. Oxe's free hand rubbed his mouth as his other hand was hovering over the upside down cup nearest him before wrapping his hand around it gently to get a closer look at it.

"Gross..." The bespectacled girl replied as she held out her bag with what appeared to be green kidney beans. Rowen snatched a couple of them up, and sniffed them gingerly. They seemed to be nothing more than harmless, edible kidney beans. Just… jumping. Was this truly what the girl had came in running and screaming from?

It must have been, as the girl then proceeded to make herself comfortable as she sat down and pulled out a notebook, no longer afraid. As she began to scribble down something inside it, the jumping of the girl's kidney beans gave Rowen an idea. She pulled out a bean and squished it into a paste between her thumb and forefinger. She glanced cautiously at the glasses girl, before she gently pulled her newfound fledgling out from hiding. "He's mine," Rowen quickly mumbled, in case the girl had any thoughts of stealing him.

Wen held a finger full of bean paste before the bird's beak. He chirped hungrily as he inspected it, but he seemed hesitant to eat it. "Chirp, chirp," Rowen chirped with soft encouragement. It worked, and the fledgling began to eat. Just as Wen was finishing feeding him, the other girl had finished writing as well and had unflinchingly pushed her notebook in front of Rowen's face.

Surprisingly, the Dominion girl was unfazed, instead intrigued by the other girl's set of action as her brown eyes stared forward at the words scribbled on the page before her. Glasses has already proved she was capable of speaking, so why was she insisting on writing instead? She must not like to speak out loud for some reason... "What does it say?" Rowen asked curiously. She leaned her head so that her gaze peered around the notebook and instead at Glasses. But just then, Wen heard yet another screaming voice nearing her carriage compartment.

"Don't worry, prospective sidekick! Your salvation is at hand!"

"Play along," Rowen quickly whispered to Glasses, a flash of excitement in her eyes, before she hurriedly scrambled back over to the conjoining door. She pulled it shut and locked it, then spoke in a deep and dramatic voice. "You are too late!" Wen shouted back. "If you wish to enter my domain, then you must first pass my test! You must answer… my riddle."

A masked man appeared from the shadows, and Castiel would have been more wary if it weren't for his enthusiastic greeting. What kind of murderer screamed out their greetings. The most dangerous things, he believed, were the ones that struck from the shadows - the ones that remained hidden until it was far too late to do anything. "A lantern. That will be most useful considering our current circumstances." Venturing out into the darkness by himself would have been suicide, especially since a spirit had warned him. But now that they had numbers on their side and a light source of some sort, Castiel considered the probability of venturing away from the train.

"Yes," he was mostly speaking to himself. "We might be able to figure things out with this." It was only then that he noticed the child's distress. He clamped a hand on Farran's shoulder and did what his grandfather used to whenever he was feeling anxious, he gave the boy's shoulder a comforting squeeze then clapped him on the back. Castiel did it somewhat awkwardly - he had always been on the receiving end of these gestures after all. He'd never tried to comfort anyone before because they mostly avoided him. When that was said and done his gaze flitted from the rather calm woman to the mysterious masked man. "Sorry. I forget my manners and talk to myself sometimes. I'm Castiel, but you can call me Cas if you'd like. Might I ask for your names? I have an idea I'd like to propose, since you have that light... we might be able investigate somewhat and try to figure out why we're stuck here. I have a bad feeling about staying in one place for too long." He didn't tell them about the spirit who'd appeared to him, he made it a point not to tell people about his rather odd ability because it usually never led to anything good.

"It'll be safer if we go together," he added, hoping they'd at least consider.

---

They were passengers, just like her. Or at least, that was what the little girl claimed they were. Viola wasn't the sort to be hesitant, but anything could happen beyond the gate and she'd made a promise to her parents. She'd overcome whatever was thrown her way and make it back home. Thinking about it left an ache in her chest so she stopped and mustered up a smile.

"I see, I'm glad I ran into you both. It'll be easier to find our way out of the fog if we work as a group." She noticed the tall man walking off and eyed his actions curiously, figuring that he wasn't up to anything fishy, she let go of her sword's hilt and nodded at the little girl. She was so young, and yet, she was chosen to pay the toll as well? Viola wanted to scoff at the unfairness of it all but she kept her calm and kept up the strained smile she wore on her face. "It's nice to meet you, let's go follow your friend. It wouldn't be wise to split up in the fog." Viola held out her hand so Alexis could hold onto it if she wanted to then made her way towards the tall man.

It was then that she saw the tables. Curiouser and curiouser. "A tea party here? Talk about ominous. We should leave, if we linger for too long, we might run into whoever set this up and I doubt they'd be passengers like ourselves."

Crusz could only mutter with distaste and irritation as the blonde man didn't fall down. He sighed, next time for sure he'll make sure his skull cracks, might have to use the actual blade too. The reptilian looked up and sized the man from top to bottom even as he raised in what petty defenses he had.

"What in the devil are you?"

He exclaimed and Crusz nodded...Devil, eh? He doesn't know what the word means but clearly if it incites fear and terror to humans then it's a good sign. He made a small mental note at the back of his head; "Proudly proclaim yourself as the Red Devil next time you encounter humans." To answer the man's question, he hefted his blade up, standing on his tip toes and attempted to point the tip of the blade in front of the man but the sword was heavier than he had remembered it. Trying to endure the weight of the sword while still trying to appear as frightening, Crusz began to speak.

"What?! Never seen a Kobold before?!" the reptilian said on his somewhat-shaky legs. He didn't really expect the man to answer his question anyway, but decided that if he could at least have some idea as to what they were then his job would become easier but perhaps simplifying things would be better...Stories can wait by a campfire and not in some deadbeat place surrounded by ghost whispers. "I'm gonna put an end to the likes of you human scum!! So take me to your leader!" he says with a smile on his face, but that would soon fade as the Kobold finds himself losing balance trying to look intimidating and finds himself toppling over and tripping face-first on the grass below, his blade dropping flatly beside him. So much for intimidating...

"I'd thought you'd never ask!" Lloyd exclaimed after hearing the posh one introduce himself. Almost instantly, Lloyd dropped his lantern. The large metal ball collided with the ground, permitting a loud clang to ring out through the cavernous hole they seemed to be in. Rather quickly, Lloyd placed one foot on top of the lantern, contracted his arms to his chest, and curled his back. He began to shake extremely quickly, as if something was about to come out...

"I am..." He said, his voice ragged as if afflicted by a bad spell of pain.

"Tut-dadadaaa - Lloyd Llewyn!" He exclaimed, his back straightening and his arms exploding out. It was as if his entrance was supposed to be supplemented by confetti, fanfare, and a long carpet. None of that came. It was incredibly awkward.

After a brief intermission of silence, Lloyd quickly picked up his lantern, slung it over his back, and practically bounced to Castiel. "I completely agree and understand," he said as his arm seemed to wrap around Castiel's shoulders, "when a man sees a dark hole, is it not his nature to try to explore it!"

He raised his hand, pointing it to the sky - more accurately, the top of the roof. "Small-Child and Pinkie," he exclaimed, "the call to adventure calls to you both! And it says you should totally come on an adventure with Lloyd and Cas."

Minutes passed with Michael standing there on the edge of the train, arms spread in the wind and his eyes closed. In his mind he was a great beast with wings the size of continents that flew between worlds. His dream faded however, as his body all too quickly figured out that there was a difference between 'flying' and 'being flown.' With this unpleasant realization, his euphoria finally fell out of his grasp, and Michael opened his eyes again. Sighting, he sat down with his legs hanging over the edge of the train. He was still smiling at the corners of his lips, he was still in love the feel of air, but he was no longer high on it. He looked at the stars that had offered him such a distinct eupnea, and slowly opened his mouth to ask a question that had been pestering him, even when he was an interplanar skybeast. "So, uh, what are you?" He asked all of them at once.

They spun around each other in small circles as they climbed above Michael, dancing a feet above his head.



They sang out in harmonious chimes, spinning and chanting. Suddenly they darted in front of Michael's eyes, and he felt their soothing warmth at his shoulders.



They sang. Michael's eyes went wide as he realized what they were offering. Or, at least, he was pretty sure they were offering. He took a deep breath. "Wh-what do you mean, fly with you?" He asked, feeling like he might be acting a little stupid for doing so, but this wasn't exactly an everyday kind of offer. "Also, how?"



They shone and span, and Michael began to feel lighter and lighter, realizing his shoulders were now covered in a glowing golden dust.



Michael didn't quite understand, but he gave it a try. Up, he thought tenatively, and his feet detached from the roof the car. "Holy shit..." He looked down at his feet for a second, then back up at the starthings. "Thank you," was all he could think to say. He tried thinking in other directions, and moved in those ones too. In no time Michael was flying around above the train, getting comfortable with the new kinds of motion he was experiencing. He was a quick learner, and in no time he was practicing swoops in the air. He stopped when he passed by a window and saw someone in one of the metal boxes.

He flew himself up behind Sinead as she peaked inside Druuk's car and cleared his throat politely, trying to get her attention without scaring her. Forgetting the fact he was flying.

Aight, here's the story. When he was a wee boy, Kain walked past a bunch of rubble. Exciting, right? Now what made this rubble special wasn't the fact that it was rubble- everyday stuff in the Old Lands- but rather what it had in front of it: a mound of bread on a chipped but otherwise clean plate. There was also a few sticks of odd, smoking wood arranged in front of the display. At the time, Kain didn't think much on it and gulped the food down, but now he was pretty sure that blasted loaf was left out there as tribute to some vengeful, grain-loving god.

Said deity was now exacting their punishment.

"God. It didn't even taste good," Kain grumbled as he raised his head from the ground. He attempted to escape, but apparently the only thing in here that had managed to do any escaping at all was his dignity; when he started to run from the wolves, he instantly tripped on a rock and hit his head on- you guessed it- another rock. His forehead felt like the Devil was leading a conga line down his brow. Low, malicious hacks and giggles rumbled from far away, every cry rooting itself within his unsettled psyche. He found the humor to chuckle at his run of bad luck, although a deeper part of him expressed concern that he was already starting to imitate the monsters, even for a matter as trivial as mockery.

The mercenary started to feel a warm sensation pattering down the better half of his face and his toes hurt like shit, but none of these were enough to make him forget the approaching danger. Emboldened by the presence of the threat and his own instincts for self-preservation, Kain heaved himself off the ground and resumed his pace. He maintained a brisk stride that was halfway between a walk and a run, and the faint noises from behind alerted him that none of the beasts have gotten the notion to chase him like prey. Yet.

Speaking of notions, the cargo hold provided shelter but little else. Looks like Plan B went tits up as well. What a bleeding shame. Kain's eyes fell on the various planks of wood strewn about, a result of the boxes crashing into each other from the tumult of the disaster, and he wiped his brow. This was no gold mine but... Yeah, he can work with some wood. He marched down to the middle of the carriage and pulled one sturdy-looking pole from the debris, while his fingers fished out the dagger he always kept on his person. Time to make something dangerous.

---

---

Well. The man was certainly quite stoic. Seona was about to repeat her question, but thought better of it. She would just have to find a better way to solve this mystery! Preferably, with an outcome where the train and its lovely inhabitants aren't dashed to the ground. First, she would have to find out why and how it had ascended in the first place. If this was the work of some highly advanced technology formed by the Empire, she would've heard about it. The most impressive inventions always make their debut in front of the Queen and her grand court. She would know; she was there.

"… Oh. It would have been so nice to have someone to talk to," Seona whispered with a sigh as she placed her hands over her cheeks. Stealing one last glance at the imposing man, the lady readied herself to continue walking down Druuk's carriage to reach the next one when…

Hm?

"Oh!" Seona whirled around, positively sure there was supposed to be no other person in her cabin except her, and wrung her hands out. When she realized it was a fellow tribute, she relaxed and let her hands drop to her sides. "You surprised me, dear sir. I- oh, heavens." The noble's eyes went wide as she realized what she was seeing. This man… He was being held aloft by a motley of luminescent orbs! In a flash, the girl seemed more terrified, for now she was regarding the 'fairies' with a mixture of suspicion and confusion. "That's… That's not safe at all. Are you alright? Do you feel strange? Oh, wait!"

Seona whisked her skirts from side to side as she turned around to look for a sufficient object. Dissatisfied with what she saw, the noblewoman raised a hand and offered it to the stranger. "Just in case you are at risk of drifting away…?"