Honorine's Run To Save The World - Chapter Six (Patreon)

Of all the buildings I've seen in this country, there are few as far from Streician design as Solais Station. The station's high ceilings, dark colors and recurring use of cubes and rectangles in its architecture put it in an entirely different category from the low, white, circular room I'd found Alessia in, and yet strangely enough, she seems more at home here than she has since we left Claudette's house. True, she's still hovering in my vicinity—she hasn't gone any further than an arm's length away from me since our encounter with Sabrina—but her posture is significantly more relaxed than before, and she seems genuinely interested in her surroundings.

I want to let her look around to her heart's content, but I'm more interested in making sure we catch the absolute first train we possibly can. Even if I wasn't, I don't think Alessia would appreciate the delay; she's already given me a stern talking-to at Champirac Central for taking too long to nose around and investigate the guards there, and I'd rather not repeat that.

Given that, and the fact that I'm also trying to spot any enemies in the crowd, I don't notice the perturbed look on Alessia's face until we've settled down in our compartment on the train. She doesn't seem too bothered, so it's likely nothing pressing, but I should ask anyway.

"Alessia, is something the matter?"

"Yes, actually. I will concede that it is a very trivial concern, but I notice that we have not purchased a ticket for this train, nor were we checked for one at the entrance. This is not the way things were prior to my interment… Is this normal, or is there some special quality to this train?"

"Well… The answer's kind of both." I tap the back cushion of my seat, pointing at the floral insignia embroidered on it in gold. "This train's property of the Rail Office. They don't charge for passenger trips on trains that carry both people and cargo, like this one."

"Intriguing. Before I was interred, payment was required to travel on any train. And yet… Credit where credit is due, your trains appear to be far superior to ours, and, given what I have seen of Solais Station, I think it is safe to say that the rest of your rail network is, too."

Her manner of speaking has noticeably relaxed, and so has her body. In fact, she seems to even be smiling… Is this conversation of some interest to her? There's only one way to find out. "How so? I thought the Streicians were supposed to be more advanced than us across the board?"

"That is understandable, given the level of technology our structures that are built for far-future use tend to contain." She speaks in her usual manner, then continues in the more relaxed voice she's just demonstrated: "Anyway, I am sure that I have mentioned this before, but your society does not actually fall on a linear scale of advancement compared to ours. Some aspects are less advanced, such as your means of transport, but others, such as this train, are more advanced. As a result of this, my experience since my awakening has been rather interesting..."

—

"Er, before it slips my mind again: How does your sword function?"

As it turns out, Alessia is really talkative when asked about a topic that interests her. My watch is still broken, so I can't tell exactly how long she's been talking, but it looks like it's late afternoon outside. Considering she started at around noon, it's safe to say we've been at this for four to five hours, and she looks ready to go for five more.

Strangely enough, I am too; I could sit here and listen to her all day, if only because of the sheer volume of hitherto unknown information about Streicia that she's dispensing. In the face of all that, my sword feels kind of underwhelming, but I'll just bite the bullet and answer.

"Well, the blade itself is made of silver, and you've seen pretty much all that can do. The real magic, so to speak, is in the amethyst core, which—" I'm just about to get to the good part when the train grinds to a halt. A quick look outside tells me we've just arrived at a station, which would've been reassuring if I couldn't also see the rather suspicious amount of similarly-dressed men waiting on the platform.

I watch them as closely as I can while still keeping my distance from the window so I can't be seen, but they don't do anything worth raising a brow at (or, if they do, not where I can see it); all they do is enter the train, and then we continue on our merry way. I start looking the other way, toward the back of the train, and once I'm certain that we're not being followed, I go back to explaining to Alessia how my weapon works.

Again I get to the good part, and again the train begins to stop right I'm about to start the aforementioned good part. This time, however, there's no station for us to have stopped at: Someone seems to have stopped our train and, judging by the evident nobility of their dress, I think it might be the men from the station.

Still, just because I think it’s them doesn’t necessarily mean that that’s the case. I signal Alessia to stay put, and get out of my seat to go investigate. Our carriage is further back, and I’m far from the only one on this train who wants to know why we’ve stopped, so I have my work cut out for me as I wade through the crowd to get to the carriage the men boarded at.

Luckily, the newcomers have also been searching the train, and I only have to cross two carriages before I spot the first of them. His back is to me because he’s talking to one of his comrades, but I’ve been on enough trains to recognize the outfit; he’s from the Rail Office. He’s wearing the red jacket of train staff, but if anything had happened that required a change or increase of staff, we’d have been informed--not to mention the burgundy piping on his jacket doesn’t line up with any of the piping colors I know of. Could these men be faking their officer status?

My train of thought is cut off when he starts to turn, and my eyes land on the sword at his side. That’s not normal conductor equipment, either. Stranger and stranger...

The man turns back around; he hasn't seen me. I'm going to take advantage of this to try and slowly return to the carriage…

"She's here."

...Clever. He says it in a casual tone, speaking in the aristocratic cant; if I didn't know what he was saying, I wouldn't have suspected a thing. That historical linguistics minor did turn out to be useful, after all.

Still, minor or no minor, I've got a problem; there's a man with a sword in front of me, with more behind him, and a crowd behind me. I only have one choice: I draw my sword.

A soft hum fills the air when the quillons leave the scabbard, growing in intensity as the rest of the sword is drawn. There's lots of magic here. Almost too much.

No, there is too much magic. The second the blade is fully drawn it starts to vibrate, faster than I'd ever known it to, threatening to shake itself apart. Great, so I can't use the sword; if I want to take down all these men I'd have to do it with my fists, and frankly, I don't have the time or the energy for that.

Time for plan B: Sheathing the sword and kicking the officer away. Just as planned, he staggers backwards, and I take advantage of his temporary disorientation to vanish into the crowd as best I can. More people have gotten out of their compartments while I was out investigating the weird influx of conductors, so the crowds are thicker; there’s no way the officers will be able to pinpoint me now. All I have to do now is get back into our compartment and we should be good to go.

“There!”

The voice rings out just before I’ve ducked into the compartment. I’m not out of the woods just yet. I get down and hide in the crawl space under my seat, signaling for Alessia to do the same. It meets with little success at first, with her doing nothing more than tilting her head at me and blinking, and it’s only when I hiss at her to “get down!” that she gets the message and complies, not a moment too soon; the door to our compartment opens right as Alessia takes her place next to me, and two officers sidle in. They peek into the compartment, giving it a once-over, and turn to leave. Before they can do so, though, something in the compartment catches their eye and they step inside.

The compartment’s a small one, and it’s not long before they’re right next to us, so close I can see the trim on their trouser legs: Railroad tracks overgrown with flower vines, all done up in gold thread. The owners of those trousers have stopped moving for a bit, so I move as close as I can without compromising my position, to get a better look at the threads. They’re genuine gold--meaning the men searching our compartment right now aren’t pretending, they are Rail Office, or at least affiliated with it. That’s not good.

“I apologize for being so sudden,” Alessia whispers in my ear, “but our positions may have been compromised. One of our pursuers has just suggested that they should check under the seats.”

Now that she brings it up, the men are saying something, and if it’s what she says it is, it’s worth a listen.

“Don’t be an idiot, Jourdain. There’s nothing but luggage down there. Who would hide with the luggage? To say nothing of the little time she had before we got here, it would have been impossible to make room.”

“You’ll seriously make that judgement without trying first? These luggage spaces are deceptive, and if she’s traveling light she may not have needed to make room under the seat to begin with. Check regardless, if only so that you don’t have to hear these arguments from Otto himself.”

“Ah, fine! But only to appease you and that sniveling--”

“Oi!” A third voice calls out from the hallway, forceful and gruff.”Hurry it up, you clowns; we’ve still got five more cars to go, and the more time we give ‘er the more time she has to make a break for it!”

Jourdain and his friend groan in unison at the order but, much to my relief, they comply and leave the compartment. That was close. Too close. We shuffle out of our under-seat hiding place, and move to leave via the window. The lock opens easily when I hit it with my sword, but figuring it out takes just a little too long for comfort. I let her out the window first, then move to climb out myself. A noise from the compartment door catches my attention, and I turn around to investigate… Oh, no.

In the doorway stands a man who is inarguably the leader of the party that's stopped the train. He's dressed far more fancily than any of his subordinates, and wears an insignia bearing a flower and a sword. I don't even need to look at his face to recognize him as Otto Pelargonia, heir of the merchant clan that just so happens to have agents on every freight line in western Crouze.

And, in turning around to figure out what was making that noise at the door, I've shown him my face. Absolutely brilliant. Still, the self-pity can wait; I push the window open and vault outside, starting to run as soon as I've hit the ground and only looking back to make sure Alessia is still with me. She is, and to our luck, we're able to lose Otto and his men in the thickly wooded area around the train.

That's good, obviously, we're safe for now, but we have a new problem: With the Pelargonias on our tail--and the Rail Office on their side, too--trains are off the table, so how in the world are we going to get to Zephyr Coast within the deadline?

Or, more pressingly, where in Crouze are we, anyway?

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