SORA

Having been up late last night, I finally went to sleep at four in the morning in my cabin, sleeping in until around noon until I get woken up by a jolt above our cabin's roof. My eyes snap open and I furrow my eyebrows, tired and annoyed but alerted. The noise appears again and I sit up on the seat that I fell asleep on, looking around to see that Merrick and Reverence are both gone.

Having a sinking feeling, I make my way to the window and slide it open, wind and snow blowing in my face and making me splutter in surprise as I notice we're in the mountains of Rialta. Shades of dark blue, light blue, white, and grey blur by as we race further along the tracks, and I cautiously stick my head out of the window to see a figure in a black cloak running along the roof of the train.

"The hell..." I mutter and make the split second decision to fly out the window and up above the train, hovering for a moment before I fly towards the figure.

The petite figure glances over their shoulder and turns their body sideways, and I catch a glimpse of black skinny jeans and tall black boots with a teal top that has a bow in the front before a silver dagger comes flying my direction. I manage to fly aside to dodge the dagger and land on the train, running after the suspect in question.

I summon my longsword and send a slash of green flames in their direction, which they counter by turning and holding their arms up in a criss-cross, a golden energy shield forming in front of them and nullifying the flames. My eyes widen in surprise whenever I see a tunnel approaching and I immediately drop down to the roof of the train, lying flat, and the figure in front of me whips their gaze around to see the tunnel just in time to jump off of the side of the train, gripping onto one of the ladders and pressing their body up against the train.

After the train passes through the tunnel, the figure's head moves in my direction and it's then that I realize the figure is a woman, and I don't think I'll ever forget the look of her blazing emerald eyes underneath her black hood, standing out like fire in the darkness.

The woman leaps off of the train ladder and over the edge of the mountain, and I nearly fly out to catch her, my eyes widening in surprise, but instead I stop whenever I watch her run through the air, platforms of golden energy forming beneath her feet as she runs, disappearing behind her once she's passed them.

I stand on top of the train for a few more moments, the wind blowing through my hair as I frown, watching the direction in which the woman ran off in before I decide to make my way back to my window.

"Sora, you awake? I brought back some—" Merrick trails off from our open cabin door as I'm climbing back through the window, and I smile sheepishly at him as he drops the bag of food he brought back onto the ground, staring in disbelief.

"What...are you doing?" Merrick furrows his eyebrows, flickering his gaze between me and the open window.

"Something banging on the roof woke me up," I sigh and turn around to close the window. "I went to investigate and I found some woman up there."

"Some woman?" Merrick frowns in concern, walking further into the room after picking his bag back up. "What happened?"

"She attacked me, actually," I frown and Merrick's breath hitches. "I'm fine, but she got away. She was...she was able to walk on air. She disappeared into the mountains of Rialta. And she, I'm not sure if I saw correctly, but I think she was able to stay unaffected by my powers..."

"She...what? She canceled your powers out? Did you clearly see what she looked like?" Merrick asks, his concern rising.

"Mainly, I noticed her emerald eyes," I sigh, "and her dark cloak and the color of her clothes, but that's it. I don't know who she was, what she wanted, or why she was up there."

"I'm just glad you're okay," Merrick sighs and walks forwards to hug me.

"Yeah," I breathe out, hugging Merrick in return. "Me too. Unfortunately, there's not much we can do about the threat now except for staying alert and asking people if they saw anything or if they know anything. And...where's Reverence?"

"He's with Miroslava and Azuma," Merrick says. "The three of them are having breakfast in the dining area. I went to bring you back something, thought it might make you feel better. Clearly, you were dealing with bigger problems than just lack of sleep, though."

"Yeah," I sigh before I smile at Merrick's thoughtfulness. "You know...we have a few minutes to ourselves..."

"Sora," Merrick groans. "You should know not to tempt me. I'd love to, but we should focus on the fact that we have to—"

Merrick gasps and trails off whenever I lean down to lightly kiss underneath his jaw, working my way down his neck, stopping at the crook of his neck where I leave a mark, pulling away with a grin.

"Damnit," Merrick groans, throwing the bag aside to wrap his arms around my neck, "I'm weak."

I grin against Merrick's lips as he leans up and kisses me, knowing that I won. I pull him in by his hips and kiss him back slowly, wanting to actually take the time to treasure his presence for the first time in days.

"It would be tempting to stay here all day and lie with you," I sigh as I pull back and press a kiss to his cheek, hugging him tightly, "but I know we can't do that."

"I know..." Merrick says softly, hugging me in return and moving to rest his head on my shoulder. "Wishful thinking, I guess."

"Come on," I say, slowly pulling away before I place another kiss to his lips and he hums in return. "Let's go talk to Azuma and the others about what happened and then I promise I'll heat up the food you brought back for me."

"Alright," Merrick smiles fondly and I throw an arm around his shoulders as the two of us make our way to the cabin door and I move to open it for him.

I let Merrick lead me to the dining area where there are multiple circular wooden river tables set up with chairs with a bar off to the left, windows on the right. A champagne and gold chandelier hangs over the bar and orb lights rest on the center of the river tables.

I spot Miroslava sitting by herself in the corner with one of her legs crossed over the other, her arms crossed against her chest as she looks out the window, her plate with a half eaten omelette sitting in front of her. Reverence sits glumly across from her, his face leaning against his left arm, which is propped up against the table, as his coffee steams in the white mug in front of him, and Azuma sits at a table a few feet away from them, eating a small angel food cake with strawberries and some tea.

"I'm going to go order a hot chocolate. Would you like a drink?" Merrick asks and I pause for a moment in thought before I tell him to just bring me a hot chocolate as well, having been debating between that and a cola.

I make my way over to Azuma and sit down across from her, making her eyebrows raise in surprise before she huffs.

"Just sit down wherever you please, I suppose," Azuma snorts, her lavender eyes flickering over from me to the window.

"Would it kill you to be a little kinder to people?" I frown. "I came here to warn you, you know."

"Warn me?" Azuma hums, continuing to watch out the window with disinterest. "About what?"

"There was a woman on the train," I start. "She had dark hair and emerald eyes. She attacked me when I went to investigate what she was doing because I heard noises coming from above my room and I flew out to look around and found her. I don't know who she was or what she wanted, but I feel as if you might."

"Dark hair and emerald eyes?" Azuma frowns, her eyes flickering back over to me. "I can't say that I do, but..."

"But?" I ask, searching her expression for answers.

"My sister went to an elite school when she was a bit younger," Azuma starts. "It was to train her how to properly control her magic. While she was there, there was a woman who was always envious of her. I remember my sister mentioned her name quite a few times. If I remember correctly, I think it was Emilia. My sister said she had piercing emerald eyes that could see through your soul, not into your soul, but through it. That's the one thing that always made her feel uneasy around her."

"What's going on?" Miroslava asks, having made her way over to us with Reverence just as Merrick comes over with our drinks.

"There was a woman on the train," I say, gratefully taking a hot chocolate from Merrick as he sits down on my left, there being four chairs at the circular table. "I was woken up to noises coming from above my room and when I made the decision to go investigate them, I found her. She immediately ran from me and attacked me when I started getting too close. I don't know who she was...but whoever she was, she was able to block out my abilities."

"Wait," Miroslava frowns. "She was able to counter your powers by blocking them out when they hit her?"

"That sounds like a Harmony gift," Azuma frowns. "That really may have been Emilia."

"She fled into the mountains of Rialta, last I saw," I sigh. "I don't know why, if what Azuma said is true about it being vacant."

"The Rialtan mountains?" Azuma's eyebrows furrow. "I don't understand what she could want there unless she was simply escaping, but that makes me feel...unsettled."

"I'll go ask passengers if they happened to see anything," Reverence says.

"I'll go with you," Miroslava says. "In the meantime, we should keep a close watch on Azuma. Something tells me whoever we're dealing with has something to do with her or Harmony."

"Yeah..." Merrick breathes out, looking down at the hot chocolate that his hands are cupping.

"Who does she think she is, saying that I need protection?" Azuma scoffs and crosses her arms as she watches Miroslava and Reverence walk off.

"Would it kill you to be a little kinder to people?" Merrick scowls. "She's trying to look out for you, even though she doesn't like you. She wants what's best for you, even though the two of you don't get along. Why can't you do that?"

"How do you know that?" Azuma asks warily, looking back over at Merrick.

"I'm able to sense people's desires, remember?" Merrick raises a brow before he sighs. "Look, you don't have to believe me if you don't want to. I don't know what happened between you two before, but she's offering you a hand. For shit's sake, take it."

"What if I don't want it?" Azuma says quietly, looking back to the window. "I'm used to being alone, anyway."

"You don't have a lot of people on your side, Azuma," Merrick shakes his head. "You can't afford to turn them down. There's a difference between protecting someone because you want to and protecting someone because you have to. Contrary to what you may believe, the whole world isn't out to get you, you know."

I watch as Merrick stands up and takes his hot chocolate with him, moving to walk away, Azuma staring down at the table so that her hair hides her face.

"And, Azuma," Merrick says as he glances over his shoulder, his expression knowing, "there's a difference between what you want and what you need, and there's a difference between being alone and being lonely. Don't think I don't see it, because I do. And I see it in you, and I see that you don't like it, but you're the only one who continues to keep it that way."

As Merrick walks away, I sneak a glance back at Azuma after watching Merrick for a few seconds, and I notice the way her right hand is clenched around her teacup until a crack starts to split down the side, and she slowly releases it from her grip. And I can't help but think that maybe Azuma is like that very same teacup— porcelain, able to fracture like the rest of us, constantly filled and emptied again with false promises, and ultimately— used.