The train's cabin trembled for a few seconds once more as everything came to a sudden stop with static returning behind the windows. The conductor soon rushed through the cabin and, with a long swing of his arm, swung the door open, revealing the light of the outside world.
A small black device appeared in his palm, seemingly forming out of thin air. He pressed it against his lips tightly, his voice soon reverberating throughout the whole bullet train.
"We have arrived at the first Checkpoint! Please don't forget your belongings and have a nice stay!"
His voice ended with the usual static of speakers turning off as soon as the entire cabin was flooded with people gathering at the exit and pushing themself through, disregarding others.
Marco did the same, standing up from his seat and reaching for the rack above us, soon pulling out a large light blue duffel bag that I occasionally stole glances at from beneath the little openings in the racks.
"What? You don't have anything?"
He turned to me with a raised brow, to which I could only shrug as the weight of the pills in my pocket reminded me of my scar and its current condition.
"I didn't pack anything; my friend was the one supposed to bring it, he's probably on the other side of the train."
"I doubt that."
We shook each other's hands as a goodbye, which, strangely enough, felt better than I expected.
With Cesar's absence, it was he who took on the role of my guide of sorts, helping me navigate around the train and get a little familiar with its layout in the span of a few hours. It might have been more since he didn't specify for how long the barrier knocked me unconscious, but it was surely not short, with us already being almost at the first stop.
Marco's bag barely avoided landing on the floor as he nimbly caught it mid-fall and swung it over his shoulder in a practiced motion.
'It's a little strange that he hadn't brought up the invitation more than twice, but that doesn't matter for now.'
With stiff legs, I soon stood up, following after Marco and other passengers who didn't care about pushing themself into others sides.
Passing by the conductor, I gave him a curt nod to which he almost instinctively nodded back before his eyes widened and he caught himself by the neck.
'That's just ridiculous.'
Watching everyone try to avoid me was one thing, but for them to act like it was an offense to treat me like this so openly was different.
- Sigh.
Not that I could do anything to stop it because it is, after all, what I deserved.
Walking through the door right after Marco, I expected to be flashed by sunlight, already preparing my hands to cover my eyes.
But instead, I was met with a couple of strange glances and a lack of the usual warm sensation caressing my skin from above the clouds.
I braced the chilly breeze, looking up from the short set of stairs that led me down to the cobble streets.
It wasn't like the train station back in Grondier, lacking the buildings necessary to even count it as one. Around us was but a simple, empty street, now filled with passengers who came from the cabins further down the train.
Behind the train, there seemed to be a towering stone wall that rose behind the train and circled far off into the distance; it was well over ten times my height, which came out to be roughly eighteen meters tall, not that impressive considering the citadel was a couple of kilometers tall.
- Bump!
My feet stumbled, barely managing to keep myself standing.
"Ugh, watch it!"
Someone said from behind my back as they pushed me forward, away from the train, and soon the man stopped in their tracks with wide, red eyes.
It didn't take long for me to see him fall to the ground and let out words I couldn't understand.
People around us stopped, watching the man's limp body let out crackling sounds.
'!'
Static suddenly burst from all around me, so fast that I had no time to react and had to watch it reach my face, digging into my skull as if it were a mechanical drill digging its way in. The barrier next to the door crackled, letting out sparks that landed on other passengers and made them let out sounds of pain.
A low groan managed to come out as I couldn't bear it and fell to my knee, nails digging into my scalp.
The backlash came back, weaker, but not enough to make much of a difference. The least I could do is not pass out on the floor like the first time on the train.
My teeth screeched against each other as I took out the pill from my pocket, not caring about hiding in a restroom or any private space that might have been too far anyway.
I could already feel blood pooling beneath my cheek, ready to burst from within and splatter all over the cobble path outside the train.
'Hold it in!'
As blood accumulated under my lips, people around started to get affected as well.
A woman's voice turned into a screech as lightning tore through her chest, looking like a spear impaling right through her heart. It was the woman who pushed me to the side when I couldn't open the door. Her voice made my pain ease slightly.
Then a man roared, screaming as sparks lit his clothes on fire, making him roll on the ground like a manic next to me and almost taking me with him.
"What's going on-gh!"
The conductor wasn't spared either, with his voice slowly turning into an echo of his past cheerful self, replaced by hollow eyes and smoke coming from his silhouette.
'F-fucking hold it in!'
I bit my lip, drawing some blood and tasting its warm metallic texture.
The pill in my hands kept shaking, threatening to fall to the ground each time I tried to swallow it. That was the only thing that would keep me from dying on this cobble, not even lightning tearing at my brain mattered as I strained my arm muscles and with everything I could muster, chucked the pill deep into my throat.
- Gulp.
***
The room turned dead silent, as two of us hadn't uttered a word more. I scratched my wrist out of habit as I took one more look around us.
It was a messy place, with paint splattered all over the floor and unrecognizable drawings decorating the white walls. Our eyes crossed for a brief second, making me grumble.
He stared me with his deep red pupils like a wild beast before turning around on his little stool and laughing.
Not a fake laugh but a genuine one that made him choke on his breath as he held onto the rim of his wooden stool.
"That's a good one!" He spat with a big smile as he laughed heartily in front of his window, staring at the bullet train that still had a thick crowd next to it.
"For a mundane human to cause such a ruckus without moving a muscle, this is the exact reason why no one like you got to make it here!"
Loki chuckled as he wiped a tear from his eye, still grinning from ear to ear.
"You even sounded like you enjoyed them getting electrocuted around you..."
He clapped his knee, which looked as if he was exaggerating the situation's severity, and tried to do something else but giggle at other passengers' behaviour.
'It really is such a joke.'
To come to the rift checkpoint in such an unsightly way...
It was truly deserving of him to laugh at me for it.