Arrival

‘This can’t be…’

Atsuo’s eyes widened, as he hastily turned to the compartment door.

He tried to open it, but it was locked from the outside.

Atsuo turned to the window, opening it wide and looking outside.

He looked to the left and right in hopes of finding something that refuted his ears.

Out of nowhere, he felt a pair of hands force him out of the window.

‘Huh?’

Bewildered, he could not react in time, falling over the edge and plunging down the cliff.

He spun in mid air, his mind in disarray.

Despite that, he knew he was gradually reaching his demise.

“AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH–”

*DNGG*

Atsuo’s eyes snapped open at the sound. He found himself back at the compartment, sitting on his side of the table.

“Oh, sleeper!” Lord Kaiser called out, “help me out over here…”

Both his hands were occupied as he carefully held their breakfast, leading to the careless and noisy swinging of the compartment door.

Atsuo wondered how he even managed to open the door.

Lord Kaiser stared expectantly for a few seconds, until Atsuo finally got up and helped him.

Still trying to understand what just happened, Atsuo was undergoing severe disorientation.

Regaining some of his composure as Lord Kaiser split the food, he wanted to get something out of the way first.

“Where are we?” he asked seriously.

“Huh?” Lord Kaiser looked at him perplexed, “The train…”

“Have you hit your head sleeper?” he asked.

“I know we’re on the train,” Atsuo said irritably, through his teeth, “where, relative to Uverd?”

Lord Kaiser stared at him again, before responding.

“What’s wrong with you all of a sudden…” Lord Kaiser asked, “bad sleep?”

Atsuo felt unexplainable rage spread within him, but before he could retort, Lord Kaiser quickly added.

“Assuming we got on at around one in the morning, and are set to arrive at noon, we should be a little past the half way mark… so around five more hours…” Lord Kaiser noted, “why?”

“It’s nothing…” Atsuo spewed, to which Lord Kaiser met him with even more confusion.

“Whatever…” he said, “eat before it gets cold…”

They ate in silence with Atsuo occasionally looking at the door. Lord Kaiser saw this, but seeing that he was in a vile mood, decided not to bring it up.

After they ate, Lord Kaiser decided to take a nap, while Atsuo glared outside the window.

With a disgusted expression on his face, he couldn’t understand whether what he saw or felt back there was a dream.

He was feeling disconnected from reality. Repulsed, he looked away from the window and turned to Lord Kaiser.

Seeing him lying down, on the verge of falling asleep, made Atsuo drift into yet another slumber. Realizing this, he jerked awake and looked away.

He glanced around the compartment, trying to find something to turn his attention to in the meantime.

Before he could find it, he heard another announcement.

“Now arriving at… Uverd Station…”

Atsuo’s eyes widened.

‘What happened to five hours?’ he thought in a panic, looking around.

He sprang up from his seat, shaking Lord Kaiser to wake up, but he was unresponsive.

Suddenly everything went black.

The train started moving down a dark red tunnel at incredible speed.

All Atsuo could do was watch the train accelerate beyond human comprehension as they delved into what looked like the depths of hell.

Atsuo fell back in his seat, seeing something out of the corner of his eye.

A Dreig in Red, stood outside the door, motionless.

“What if… What if I’m hallucinating…” Atsuo said anxiously.

Nothing happened.

“What if you disappear…” he continued, as the Dreig opened the door.

“What if you aren’t real…” Atsuo said, trying desperately to snap back to reality as the Dreig entered the compartment.

“What if…” he began helplessly, as the Dreig’s arm reached his head, “…What if…”

“…what…”

Atsuo fainted.

***

Atsuo opened his eyes to Lord Kaiser slapping him repeatedly.

“Sleeper!” he kept reiterating, until he saw Atsuo’s eyes squint.

“Finally!” he said, after Atsuo got up, comforting his burning cheeks.

“Sometimes I just wish I slept as well as you…” he continued, shaking his head.

“Are you fucking serious…” Atsuo said in outrage.

“Sleeper–”

“No,” Atsuo intervened, “Were you ‘ejected’ from the train? Or blessed by the Red Dreig’s presence? Well…?”

Lord Kaiser stared at him in disbelief.

“Sleeper… I’m sorry to hear that…” he said, sincerely, to which Atsuo turned to the window.

“Are you… alright?” he asked, concerned.

“I’m fine…” Atsuo replied, a little annoyed, “where are we now?”

“Still on the tr–”

Atsuo looked at him irately, to which he burst out laughing.

“I’m joking, I’m joking…” Lord Kaiser said, “we’re a couple of minutes away. That’s why I was trying to wake you up…”

Atsuo looked outside the window, finding a large city coming into view.

The city of Uverd stood on flat, nearly barren terrain, ready to welcome them.

Lord Kaiser and Atsuo didn’t know climate could change that quickly, as humidity enveloped them and the train.

They stopped moving, and exited onto Uverd station, which was a depressing and desolate looking platform.

It felt like no one stopped there in forever, or people used some other means of transportation. Additionally, the stop was so unusually far away from society, amidst the barren lands, that one wondered whether something happened here in the past.

Regardless, Lord Kaiser and Atsuo exchanged glances and moved towards the city.