Rail trail to Neo Nova,
somewhere in Ostara, near Sal-Ca
"Urgh! It's no use!"
Rereading the scripts what felt like the millionth time in a row, Lisha threw his head back in aspiration, banging it against the worn-down leather headpiece. The gibberish texts making no sense to him,
only left him with a massive headache instead of satisfying answers.
The train went smoothly away as he tilted his head to the side, his gaze caught temporarily at the ivory landscape passing him by. Winter was nowhere near as they rushed through the mountain hills of Sal-Ca, yet the giant piles made out of salt and crystals brought out the illusion of snow.
Stirring awake beside him, Nesta rose from her nap, still weak from the previous assault afflicted on her. Grumpy eyes met his as she stared up at him in crossness at disturbing her much-needed sleep. Well, thank you, he thought in sourness.
I haven't slept at all.
"What is it?"
Finally breaking the silence after a couple of minutes went by, Nesta watched him drown in thoughts,
his eyes lost in the endless scenery of white.
He didn't turn to look back at her as he complied with her question, still focusing on the window next to him.
"Nothing makes sense."
Scrunching her nose at his passive behavior, she closed her eyes again, trying to relax in the uncomfortable passenger seat underneath her.
"What exactly?"
"The files we stole, especially the ones you got as you posed as the general."
Nesta didn't acknowledge his ramblings with words but still managed to push out a simple hmmpf, implying for him to go on. Her body was still sore from God-knows-what as she rubbed at her temple, hoping to avoid the upcoming headache worming its way to her brain.
Lisha pursed his lips in silent amusement and didn't glance back as he continued on.
"Basic information about the branches is not the issue here. X and Y are currently under the order of branch Z. Easy cake, but this is where it gets messy. There is no real input from the soul holders there, or who is really classified as one.
The best part yet is the European and Asian branches."
"Hmm, why?"
Instead of directly answering her,
Lisha threw back a question himself.
"Nessy, how many soul holders do you think exist?"
Popping one eye open at the oddity of his question,
she breathed out a long sigh.
"Beats me, why? ...and don't call me that."
"Yes, the same goes for me, but it goes like this."
Lisha went on,
ignoring her spiteful comment at the end.
"'While a variety of children appeared with unique abilities, it can be brought down to seven individuals with the original essence of infinity written into their soul,
yet further research led to nothing.
The eight aspects of life left unfulfilled'."
This made Nesta shoot up from her seat,
straightening her posture.
"The eight aspects of life? What is that?"
"The hell I know, but according to the papers,
the eight aspects are listed as,
Strength,
Freedom,
Bliss,
Love,
Immortality,
Beauty,
Peace
and
Knowledge.
The religious belief behind it is simple, achieve all eight and you will be blessed with infinity.
Basically, you will become the 'only one'."
"The only one? Isn't this the God of the Infinity Church? Since when was the military a religious bunch?"
Pushing her chin against the soft cushion of her inner palm, Nesta slapped her eyes closed again,
the dreaded headache now fully coming onto her.
"They aren't, but the files only get more confusing from this point on, and every time the eight aspects are mentioned, I don't know... It gets blank, and suddenly it's back to seven again. It's like..."
For the first time since their conversation started, Lisha looked back at her,
bewilderment stretching across his face.
"It's like... Nesta... Why are we here again?"
Staring back at him in confusion as she wanted to push out an answer, asking herself if he turned dumb all of a sudden, but then just blankness.
Sharing his confusion, Nesta let her vision wander across the compartment of the train, devoid of any other human being, their surroundings eerily quiet.
"Wha-?"
Were they alone in this wagon from the start?
He couldn't remember seeing anyone else.
Why are they here again?
"I think what ya wanted to say was that it's like the author of the scripts was forgetting every single time."
A third voice reached their ears as both snapped their heads in the direction of the sudden noise, spotting a man sitting across from them in the four-seat booth.
Dangling a noodle with his chopsticks in front of their faces, Anan continued to glance at them leisurely, enjoying his meal while observing them.
Dread washed over them at the sight; completely forgotten was their own exhaustion. Gripping the edge of her seat, Nesta's nails expanded,
cutting into the old leather beneath her.
"You! The one who attacked me!"
His round glasses slipped at the base of his nose as he wrinkled it, waving his chopsticks from left to right, and dismissed her outburst.
"First of all, ya attacked me first, remember?
I just wanted to talk.
Second, relax already;
this is already the third time you're screamin' at me."
Embarrassment dusted her cheeks as she tried to remember ever screaming at this dude before.
"I was no-"
Stopping herself before she could rage again, a now unexpected familiar scene replaying in her mind,
her unnerved tone going down,
"I did."
Lisha stared ahead as he too remembered her last outburst at their fellow soul holder—the exact same words used four hours prior—as they boarded the train in Jana.
Narrowing his slate-tinted eyes in distrust as he watched Anan nod in silent agreement,
there was a slight tiredness in his movement.
"She did. How many times did this happen already?"
Anan's face lit up for a second before dimming down again, surprise gracing his facial features. Gulping the last of the contents from his lunch box down, he shoved the tips of his greasy chopsticks in front of Lisha.
"Aren't you a perceptive one? Good job. Like I said – it's the third time she exploded on me."
Lisha leaned back in his seat, not reciprocating Anan's impatient gaze. He pushed at the messy silver bangs against his forehead, combing them back as his headache started to finally ebb away—now only a dull echo in the back of his head.
What a nightmare.
"What's wrong? Got an ache?
Don't worry, it will fade away soon."
Knowing golden eyes drifted to the slumped form of Nesta, who as equally messaged her finger against her temple, watching him in disbelief.
"Same goes for you."
Hissing out an annoyed sight at his boldness, Nesta returned to rubbing at her eyelids instead,
sharp feline claws back to a human length.
"What kind of soul holder is this?
I can't believe we forgot about him a third time."
Realization hit them both as she finished her statement; the implication was all too clear.
"No. That can't be.
Our powers don't work against each other."
Clapping his hands together, Anan could almost feel the gears in their skulls turning like crazy.
"Well, ain't that true. Whoever said I was one, though?"
The train rumbled as a rough railroad came ahead, driving further up inside a tunnel and bathing them in darkness.
Gold clashed against slate and lavender as three pairs of eyes lit up like neon lights.
"...ever heard of lost children?"
CHAPTER 46 END