Chương 155: Chapter 154 - Between Stops

The interior of the train had settled into a comfortable dimness. Outside the windows, purple void stretched endlessly. Mist swirled like living thoughts, occasionally parting to reveal debris floating in impossible formations. Islands suspended in nothing. Ruins from ancient civilizations that had learned too late what ambition cost. Inside, warmth from the fireplace flickered across three faces gathered around a small table. Lucid sat with his back to the windows, cards fanned out in his hands.

His expression was one of deep concentration that fooled absolutely nobody. Ayame sat directly across from him, her posture perfect, spine straight. Her own cards were held loosely in pale fingers. Black eyes fixed not on her hand but on his. Arthur sat between them, perpendicular to both, relaxed with a faint smile playing at his lips.

"Your turn," Arthur said. Lucid squinted at his cards. Five of them. All terrible. He had a two, a three, a seven, a ten, and something he was pretty sure was not even supposed to be in this deck.

"What kind of card game is this again?" he asked.

"Merchant's Gambit," Arthur replied.

"I told you the rules three times."

"Tell me again."

"No." Across the table, Ayame's hand moved. She laid down a card face up. A six. Then, while adjusting her remaining cards, she tilted her hand ever so slightly toward Lucid. Just enough for him to see the queen she was holding. A moment later, she discarded that queen face down into the discard pile. Lucid drew from the deck. Found a queen waiting for him on top. He glanced up. Met Ayame's red eyes. She showed nothing. Just watched him with that same unblinking stare. He pretended not to notice.

Picked up the queen. Much better. He discarded his two and drew again. Another terrible card. A four.

"This game hates me," he muttered.

"The game is neutral," Arthur said, laying down a pair of eights.

"Your luck, however, appears to have strong opinions."

"My luck is fine. The deck is rigged."

"I shuffled it myself."

"Exactly. Rigged." Arthur laughed. The sound was quiet, genuine. The kind of laugh that made the dimness feel warmer. Ayame laid down three sevens without a word. Just watched Lucid with those unblinking red eyes. Lucid stared at his cards. Then at hers. Then at Arthur's smug face.

"How are you both so good at this?"

"Practice," Arthur said simply. Ayame said nothing. But Lucid noticed her hand drift to her side, where the fabric of her clothes had started to darken slightly. The bleeding was starting again. She noticed him noticing. Pulled her hand away. Focused back on her cards. Lucid frowned but said nothing. Not yet. Not in front of Arthur. They played another round. Lucid's cards remained terrible. He drew. Discarded. Drew again. Nothing improved. Arthur laid down a straight. Five cards in perfect sequence.

"How," Lucid said flatly.

"How do you keep doing that?"

"Luck."

"Lies." Ayame laid down four of a kind. Jacks. All of them. Lucid stared across the table at her.

"Where did you even get four jacks? I have seen maybe two jacks this entire game." She said nothing. Just looked at him with those dark eyes that held the faintest hint of amusement.

"You are both cheating. I do not know how. But you are."

"Lucid," Arthur said patiently.

"We are not cheating. You are simply very bad at this."

"I am not bad. I am unlucky."

"Those are often the same thing." Lucid glared at his cards. Glared at the deck. Glared at the purple void outside as if it had personally wronged him. Then Arthur leaned forward slightly. Glanced at Lucid's hand.

"If you discard the four and draw from the—""No!" Lucid snapped, pulling his cards against his chest.

"Absolutely not! You do not get to give me advice! That is cheating!" Arthur blinked.

"I am trying to help you."

"I do not want help! I want you to treat me like an enemy! With dignity! With respect! Like someone you are trying to defeat, not some charity case who cannot play cards!" Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. Arthur's expression shifted. Something between surprise and genuine contrition.

"You are right. I apologize."

"Thank you!" Lucid huffed.

"Finally. Someone understands the sanctity of competitive card games." Across the table, Ayame's lips twitched. Just slightly. The ghost of a smile. Lucid's heart did that weird flutter thing. The same one from when he saw her smile in Vex. He forced himself to focus on his cards. Still terrible. But now he was losing with dignity. He drew another card. A king. Actually useful. He discarded his four and laid down a pair of kings with probably too much triumph.

"Ha! See? I am not completely hopeless."

"Congratulations," Arthur said with a completely straight face.

"You have achieved mediocrity."

"I will take it." They played in comfortable silence for a while. The only sounds were cards being shuffled, discarded, drawn. The crackle of the fireplace. The distant hum of the train cutting through void. Outside, the purple mist thickened. Occasionally, shapes moved through it. Large shapes. Things that lived between continents. Lucid tried not to think about what would happen if the train stopped working.

"Question," Ayame said suddenly. Both Lucid and Arthur looked at her. She rarely initiated conversation.

"Yes?" Lucid said.

"Why did you agree to this?" She gestured vaguely. At the train. At the mission. At everything.

"The queen. The expedition. Port Vexis. You could have refused."

"She would have killed me."

"Perhaps. But you agreed before that became clear." Lucid set down his cards. Thought for a moment.

"Honestly? I do not know. Maybe for the money. Maybe because I was curious. Maybe because refusing felt like losing, and I hate losing." He looked at his terrible hand of cards.

"Even when I am very bad at winning." Arthur spoke quietly.

"I agreed because it was the right thing to do. The oath I swore. To protect. To serve. Even if the one I serve is..." He paused, choosing words carefully.

"Complicated." Ayame nodded.

"I agreed because my clan needs revival. And this might be the only path to that." She looked at Lucid.

"But you. You said six diamond coins. That was your price. Nothing more." Lucid picked up his cards again. Studied them like they might reveal secrets.

"Maybe I am just greedy."

"You are," Arthur agreed.

"But that is not the whole truth." Lucid glared at him.

"You know, for someone so quiet and pragmatic, you are very good at being annoying." Ayame tilted her head slightly, still watching Lucid.

"You could tell us. We are on the same train now. Heading to the same place." Lucid sighed. Long. Dramatic.

"Fine. You want the truth? I was on a mission before all of this happened... and supposedly it happens so that I achived that mission." He gestured vaguely with open arms twords the interior of the carriage.

"But I never heard back from them afterwards..."

"You mean... Karmen." Arthur asked. He laid down his cards. Still terrible.

"The queen is using us. I know that. But maybe I can use this too. Get stronger. Learn more. And figure things out so I can get home—" He fell quiet.

"Home?" Arthur repeated. Lucid's word's caught in his throat.

"I.. I mean home yes... to Tyriana!"

"Oh that's right, I seem to have forgotten you were from Tyriana" Then Arthur laid down a royal flush.

"I win again." Lucid threw his entire hand at him. Cards scattered across the table.

"I hate you so much right now." Arthur laughed. Ayame's lips twitched again, that ghost of a smile appearing and vanishing like starlight through clouds. And despite everything, despite the mission and the danger and the purple void pressing against the windows, Lucid found himself laughing too.

"Another round," he demanded.

"You are just going to lose again," Arthur said.

"Then I will lose with dignity. Like an enemy. Not a charity case." They shuffled. Dealt. Played. Lucid lost seven more games in a row. But somewhere around the fifth loss, with Ayame subtly helping him from across the table and Arthur offering unhelpful commentary, he realized he did not actually mind. This was nice. Strange. Unexpected. Completely outside anything he had planned. But nice. After the ninth consecutive loss, Arthur finally stood and stretched.

"I think I will check the controls," he said.

"Make sure we are still on course. The void can be unpredictable."

"Running away from your inevitable defeat?" Lucid called after him.

"Running toward responsibility. You should try it sometime." Arthur disappeared down the narrow corridor toward the front of the train where the control panel waited. The moment he was gone, the comfortable atmosphere shifted slightly. Not uncomfortable but different. Lucid looked across the table at Ayame. She was already looking at him, red eyes reflecting the firelight. Her hand had drifted back to her side. The fabric there was definitely darker now. Blood seeping through despite her attempts to hide it.

"Come here," Lucid said quietly. Ayame stood without a word. Moved around the table with that unnaturally smooth grace she had. Sat down where Arthur had been sitting, closer to Lucid now. He internally focused and manifested bright luminescent chains that seem to dim, The Chain of Heart. The metal links caught the firelight, gleaming softly. They were different from normal chains. Lighter. More delicate. Inscribed with runes that pulsed faintly even when dormant. Recently, he had discovered something useful.

The Chain of Heart acted as an excellent conduit for fate essence. More than that, it could store and release that essence in a steady stream. Which meant it could provide Ayame with a constant reserve of fate essence to combat her bleeding.

"This is going to help more than before," he said.

"I figured out how to channel fate essence through it properly."

"You practiced?"

"Sort of. Mostly I just kept trying until it stopped exploding."

"It exploded?"

"Only twice. Small explosions. Barely noticeable." Lucid carefully unwrapped the old chains from around her torso. The fabric beneath was stained dark red. The wound ran along her ribs, a thin line that refused to close completely. Something from the rift. Something that had marked her in ways even healing could not fix. He focused instead on the task. The chains wrapped carefully over her shoulder. Around her waist. Back up across her chest in an X pattern. His fingers worked with practiced efficiency now.

He had done this enough times to know exactly how tight to make it. How to position the links for maximum coverage. As he sealed the final connection, he channeled his fate essence into the chains. They lit up immediately. Golden-white light bloomed along every link, flowing like liquid starlight through the metal that seemed to dim with each passing second as he was now purposely reducing it. The light was warm. Like sunlight through a window. The bleeding stopped. Completely this time. Not just slowed.

Actually stopped. Ayame's eyes widened slightly.

"It feels different. Warmer."

"That is the fate essence. It should keep feeding you a steady supply. Should last longer than before. Maybe two hours instead of one."

"Thank you," she said quietly.

"You do not have to thank me every time."

"I do." Lucid met her eyes. For a moment, something passed between them. An understanding.

"Does it hurt?" he asked.

"No. It feels..." She paused, searching for words.

"Safe." Something in Lucid's chest tightened. He looked away, suddenly very interested in making sure the chains were properly secured.

"Good. That is good. Just tell me if it starts to feel weird or if the bleeding starts again."

"I will." They sat in silence for a moment. The chains continued to glow softly between them. The fireplace crackled. Outside, the purple void stretched endlessly.

"Why do you help me?" Ayame asked suddenly. Lucid glanced at her.

"What kind of question is that?"

"A genuine one. You could have left me in the red mountains. Could have let me bleed out. Could have abandoned me at any point. But you did not. Why?" Lucid thought about it. About the real answer beneath the easy jokes.

"Because... we share a path now... and we are companions" he said finally.

"And comrades do not let friends bleed to death on trains traveling through the void." Ayame was quiet for a long moment. Then, so softly he almost missed it: "We are friends?."

"Well. Now you have two. Me and the Arthur""Why?" She looked down tightening her hand over a chain.

"I had other things in mind." Lucid looked confused. Arthur's voice carried through the carriage.

"Hey! Guys we have arrived!"