The airship hung in the air above a train station. Next to the train station, train tracks ran onwards, splitting the faraway mountains.
"What do you mean nothing happened?! You would've noticed a world falling!" The Wanderer hit angrily against the counter, while the postmaster behind the bars smiled.
"I'm sorry, ma'am, but I don't know what you're talking about. I can send a telegram to my boss if you would like?" The postmaster replied, smiling.
"No, it's ok. And don't call me that." The Wanderer turned back to Colin, who was examining a flower rooted into the wooden floor. They are clearly frustrated, but can't do anything. "Where are the libraries here?"
"20 miles west, there's Project Neu Library. 15, Stem Academy. 80, The Capitol Library. Would you like a ticket to Stem or Capitol?"
"Yes, please. Stem." The postmaster reached below the counter and pulled out a paper scrap.
"10 teks, please." The Wanderer reached into their bag and pulled out a handful of silver sticks. The postmaster nodded and passed the paper back.
"The train to Stem will be here in.." The postmaster looked up. "An hour."
"Thank you." The Wanderer said. Colin stands and walked out with The Wanderer.
"Why can't we take the airship?" Colin asked, pointing to the ship above. The Wanderer paused.
"Good point. " They paused again, thinking. "Well, we can find other people on the train. Maybe we can ask them. "
"Alrighty then. Until then, what?" Colin asked, looking at the woods surrounding the station.
"Well, time is precious, so we should see if we can find any other ripples." The Wanderer began to scale the rope ladder and looked down. Colin gazed at the dark forest, then began to climb.
Eventually, the train did come. There was no one else at the station. There were, however, people on the train. A few. A lady dressed in a fancy dress and hat. A man in a formal suit sitting across from her. They were gazing into each other's eyes and whispering their love to each other. Sitting behind the woman, a man sat, trying not to hear them. He wore cargo shorts and a red t-shirt. He looked to be young, a teenager. Stringy unkempt brown hair fell over his eyes. He fiddled with a green ethereal string. Colin got up and walked over to him.
"Can I sit here? It seems like you need someone to talk to." He stood politely next to the table. The man, motioned to the seat, dissolving the string.
"Please." Colin sat down and held out his hand.
"I'm Colin." The stranger took it and shook it with a firm grip.
"Sevron. " Colin shook his hand and massaged it when Sevron let go.
"Wow. You have a firm grip."
"That's how you establish dominance." Sevron chuckled. "You crush their bones." Colin stared. "It's a joke, calm down." Sevron looked up thoughtfully. "Though not a bad idea. Why are you on this train?"
"Oh, we're going to Stem."
"Stem? I used to go to university there." Colin perked up.
"You've lived here for a while?"
"Oh yeah, I used to live in Wanter."
"Where's that?"
"Here, I can show you." Sevron clasped his hands together, then pulled them apart. As he pulled them apart, and green map appeared. It was made of millions of green strings, the same ones he was playing with before. "See this?" He pointed to a thick line, leading off the table. "That's the train." He waved his hand over the map, and it shrunk into less definition. Now, the rail was smaller. Empty spots and paths on the map were lakes and rivers. Glowing green dots were cities. He pointed to the rail and pointed to a dot a finger's length away. It was next to a river, one that the train would soon be riding over. "Now, obviously my home's not as close as it seems. But if you look far enough down that river, you might be able to see it." He closed his hands, and the map disappeared.
"You're not like them, are you." It wasn't a question. Colin looked up at Servron.
"What'd you mean?" Sevron's eyes were kind, but something hid behind them.
"You've traveled The Tree."
"Ah, I have. Have you?"
"Kind of. It's why we're here." Colin nodded back to The Wanderer, who was engrossed in a book. "According to them, some kind of reality-shifting event happened here." Sevron's eyes shifted. "Do you know anything about that?"
"Yes, actually. Watch." The train rattled off the bridge, and onto the land. Sevron held out his palm, where an image of a beast and a figure stood. "It happened after a treasure was released." The figure opened a box, and a monster jumped out of it.
"Pandora."
"Perhaps. Soon, the monster began to feed." The monster began to form into a man, wings on its back and horns peeking out of its head. It walked through a town, destroying buildings. It began to pick up the buildings and put them on like armor. "It was not satisfied. It began to feed on reality itself." The strings that made up the towns and people began to disappear, flowing into the monster. "Eventually, three heroes rose." Three figures rose out of the string, one holding a sword, one holding a spear, and another holding a pike. "They fought the beast.." The ground under the figures began to rise up, and they jumped from piece to piece, stabbing and slicing at the monster. "but they began to fall, one by one." The first figure with the spear stabbed it into the beast and was knocked down. Then, the figure with the pike was knocked down too, the pike falling to the last one with the sword. "Only one stood, and they dealt the final blow." the figure took the pike and jumped up, wings similar to the monster sprouting out. They stabbed the beast and fell, cutting it in half. "They killed the beast, and reality fell back into place." The pieces of land fell back into place. "And the figure left, going to some other place." Sevron closed his hand, and the picture fell apart.
"I. Uh. Do they know?" Colin asked, referring to the people behind both of them. They were engrossed in sitting next to each other, while The Wanderer had apparently moved to another book.
"They don't reality has a way of healing itself."
"What happened to the heroes?"
"None of them were remembered. Their sacrifice was forgotten, only remembered by the last hero. "
"That's sad."
"How much of your history do you remember? Who built your house, who built your cities, your machines, factories?" Sevron paused. "It's sad, but it's the way of the realms."
They sat and listened to the steady CLICK CLACK of the train.
"Where are you going?"
"I'm going to visit the grave of my boyfriend."
"I'm sorry."
"Not your fault. Besides, it happened a while ago." Sevron looks out the window. "I don't understand that." He motioned to the two lovers behind them, who now were eating a meal together. "How can you just get up with someone? I saw them staring at each other when I got on this train, what.." He checked a clock above the door. "3 hours ago. Wow. This has been a long train ride."
"Wait." Colin interrupted him. "How do you know about those three heroes?"
"A few people remember them. Like me, like my boyfriend."
"Ah. Continue."
"Yes. At first, they were just eyeing each other. Then, the man walked over and sat at her table. Then he got her flowers, somehow. Then, they started doing that weird gazing into each other's eyes thing. Weird."
"Uh. I've always been single, so I can't help with any of that."
"It's like people just see each other and then fall in love. Weird."
"Yeah, I never understood Romeo and Juliet either."
"Weird." The conversation dwindled down. The train began to slow. "Look, I have to go soon, but I think you need to hear this." Sevron took Colin's hands. "Don't mess with reality. You don't need to solve it. Reality explains and solves itself. Sure, there are weird bits of inconsistency, but that's ok. Nothing ever stays the same, entropy forces change." The train stopped, and Sevron got up. "Oh, and tell that guy that he needs to stop reading." He pointed to The Wanderer. When Colin looked back up, Sevron was gone.
It was not their stop.
