I threw out several handfuls of talismans as big fires began to blaze through the surroundings.
What was once a winter landscape quickly turned into a hellscape with fire surging across the ground like waves and ash falling from the sky.
The occasional ember fell onto me as I flicked it away.
I could feel the train getting ready to set off as it anchored down to the leylines.
"Sorry about that, just needed to take care of something." I returned to my call with both Artoria and Mordred. "Where was I?"
"You were about to tell us about everything from the beginning. However, is there a concern? This can wait until you are not preoccupied." Artoria spoke from her end of the phone.
"No, no." I quickly waved that off. "Just cleaning up the remnants of something a little icky."
Salem's Grimm were still ripping at anything moving or even charging at any wooden silhouettes that were larger than the size of a person, even if they were on fire, burning away.
I'm guessing that Salem gave them the command to just destroy anything resembling the Dead Apostle in the area.
And I hadn't seen any more ghouls spawn out of the trees.
After the core died, there was nothing to…instigate the creation of the things. Perhaps the 'production' facilities were still existent, but there was no one to work the proverbial equipment to get them running.
But I digress.
Burnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn.
There are few times in my life where I have an excuse to set the world on fire.
[This is nostalgic], Ddraig said wistfully inside of me. [I used to set so many things on fire when I was younger. Anything interesting looking? Set it on fire. Enemies? Set them on fire. The Ocean? You better believe I tried to set it on fire when I was still a dumb whelp.]
"Sorry, spaced out for a second, Ddraig is being an idiot. Yeah, so Salem and Venelana and I come to the Train Auction; you know about it, I presume."
"We've heard the details."
"We meet Waver and a few of his students; among them is Gray."
Artoria took a short but sharp breath. "I suppose we should have had this conversation earlier."
"Who's Gray?" Mordred seemed confused.
"Would you…?" I looked at Artoria.
She shook her head. "You should continue; I presume you can explain it better than I could."
"A certain witch seemingly had a plan to revive Artoria through bloodline and certain magical resonances. Gray was the unlucky girl to be born in the family that upheld the rituals through the years that the witch originally devised. To make matters short, she essentially got the template of 'Artoria' overlaid on top of her and overwritten physically. She looks almost exactly like Artoria bar pale eyes, skin, and hair."
Mordred scrunched her nose. "God dammit, Mom…" She whispered.
Artoria nodded solemnly. "I met her once, and only once. She was…..unfortunate, and there was nothing I could do to help. My presence, however, was severely discomforting towards her, so I have kept my distance thereafter."
"The good news is, I think she's a bit…over that?" I wasn't quite sure how to phrase her newfound…attitude. Well, I couldn't claim to know her thoughts completely, but she no longer recoiled at the mere mention of anything Artoria-related. "I offered to 'fix' her, so to speak."
Artoria smiled brightly. "That was very kind of you, Wilhelm."
"Well, my 'fixing' is mostly having Meridia do something, if not Izzy."
Mordred snorted. "Still, it's good that she's getting help. Feels kind of personal even if she's the victim."
I nodded, not saying anything in Gray's defense because Mordred was entitled to her own feelings too. As she said, even if Gray is the victim, Mordred has her own 'thoughts' on the issue.
She sees her 'family' as something sacred; seeing someone with Artoria's face directly related to Artoria in this circumstance would be odd for Mordred. But she's handling it well; she's matured a lot since living here with us.
"I assume that you are building up to something; you have that look on your face." Artoria pointed out.
"I don't have a look." I defended.
"You totally have a look." Mordred supported her accusation.
I rolled my eyes. "She has a Mystic Code; it's been passed down in her family, from what I could gather, created by you-know-who."
"How many babies does it need to eat to work?" Mordred asked. "Maybe blood sacrifices? Virgins?"
"Mordred, hush." Artoria, not quite playfully, but she stopped Mordred's rant with a good-natured shushing.
They had gotten a lot closer.
"It has a pseudo personality. A perfect copy of someone's personality, you wouldn't even be able to tell the difference. For all intents and purposes, it's the person, copied, cloned, or whatever you want to call it."
Artoria's face hardened, clearly understanding what I said. "Who?"
"Kay."
She closed her eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath. "I see."
"That idiot?" Mordred blurted out.
Funny enough, Artoria didn't scold her for calling him an idiot. "Call him Uncle when you see him, Mordred."
There was a small, almost wistful smile that slowly crawled up on her face. "Is he doing well at least?"
I nodded. "He's been supporting Gray this whole time; they're pretty close from what I could tell. By the way, I told him about us. I call him Brother-in-law too."
Artoria nearly sputtered as I revealed that, and very quickly, her cheeks turned a rosy red. "T-that is…not incorrect, I suppose." She puffed up, nonetheless. "D-did you tell him everything?"
"Like what we do in the bedroom?"
"Wilhelm!"
"Oh my god, if you start with that, I'm going to go kill myself." Mordred retched from the side.
"Joking!" I quickly called out, but it eased the tension a little bit. "I told him a bit; I'm with Salem and Venelana, so he was able to put two and two together. I think his words were, 'If Arty wasn't fine with it, you wouldn't be in one piece right now.' I may be paraphrasing."
"Hmph." Artoria gave me an indignant huff. "Of course, Kay isn't a fool."
"He's an idiot." Mordred pointed out.
"Yes." Artoria nodded to that.
"He was nice." Mordred said, a bit softer. "Easy to get along with too. Fricking annoying in a fight, though. It wasn't even that he fought dirty; he would just do the most annoying things possible when we sparred."
Artoria genuinely smiled as Mordred said that.
It was very cute.
"I kind of skipped events. There's a younger version of Olga here, the director back at Chaldea. You may be seeing more of her because there was an incident where her…nanny? Secretary? Something along those lines—she was assassinated. Still not entirely sure who is responsible."
"Probably the cunt."
"Mordred, language." Artoria chided her.
"What? It's her." Mordred rolled her eyes.
"But I agree, if my sister is nearby, it's very easy to assume she's responsible."
"Funny enough…she was actually targeted too." I told them.
"What dumbass thought that was a good idea?" Mordred spoke incredulously.
I shrugged. "There was actually a Servant summoned that I fought. Kinda weak though; she apparently had some connection to Iskander."
Artoria immediately perked up. "I have not thought about Rider in some time. You say this servant had a connection to him."
"In some manner of speaking, she spoke about him and got all pissy at Waver about him being Iskander's master. I didn't really care much because she all but confirmed she was in cahoots with the one responsible for the 'assassination.' So, I expressed my dissatisfaction with her and her presumed 'Master.'"
"So, you killed her." Mordred rolled her eyes again. "Just say that."
"Actually… I didn't kill her."
"Well, color me shocked." Mordred snorted. "What happened to her then?"
"She got eaten by a vampire tree."
"...the fuck is happening over there?"
"Things, things are happening." I sighed. "But that's not really important; it was handled. Back to Olga, Venelana used an Evil Piece on the woman, having taken a liking to Olga. One thing led to another, and I figured out Morgan's identity; she was hiding her face. Then Kay and I rip into her, verbally of course."
"You didn't fight her?" Artoria raised an eyebrow.
"I admit, the desire was great. But I learned from my mistake with Izzy and Susanoo. I know it's not what you would want me to do, and I didn't want to overstep."
Artoria looked pleased. "It sounds like you held back; I appreciate your efforts."
"I mean, you could have pissed her off enough for her to attack you." Mordred grumbled.
"I may or may not have said some choice words that did eventually make her lose her temper." I cleared my throat. "But in my defense, Kay joined in."
Artoria's lips twitched. "I can't believe I'm having to say this again after so many years, but don't let my brother be a bad influence on you."
"Even Salem and Venelana took a couple shots at her."
"I'm sure it was well deserved." Artoria barely bats an eye.
I feel like there's some favoritism going on there.
"That about sums it up."
"You've been gone like a day." Mordred pointed out.
"It's been a long day." I responded. "Oh, one interesting tidbit. You know the whole reason I'm here, right? Gramps mentioned something about a special Mystic Eyes being auctioned."
Artoria nodded. "Venelana sends updates."
Of course she does; she's good at keeping everyone in the loop. I'm lucky to have her helping out with things like this.
"Apparently, it's Morgan who is supplying these supposed Mystic Eyes for the Train to auction off. She not-so-subtly revealed that someone asked her to do it. I'm a little concerned about who or what could get her to go through all the effort of summoning herself as a Servant and crossing over from the Reverse Side just to do that. Also, she apparently knew I would be present; she wasn't at all surprised by my existence or presence here."
Artoria furrowed her brow. "I apologize, Wilhelm, but I have no insight to offer you. I know not who my sister confides in enough to be moved in such a way. Nor could I fathom what plans she conspires. I can only warn you to be cautious, as she is clearly up to something."
"Yeah—" The train jerked, and it started to slowly move. "That's about what I thought. But the train is starting to move; I need to go. Love you."
Artoria smiled beautifully. "I love you as well, Wilhelm; be careful."
I quickly hung up and put my phone away.
I could feel the train sort of sinking down a bit, locking onto the Leyline as the magical energy flooded out.
I keep praising this thing, but really, it's a wonder of magical engineering. Harnessing the power of a Leyline is difficult and annoying at the best of times, and someone made a train that can use it as a track.
{Are you not going to go back inside?} My Zanpakutō Spirit questioned. {You are well aware of what's about to happen.}
"I kind of want to see it firsthand?" I shrugged, taking one last look at the fires and the Grimm.
[Are you just going to leave those things running around?] Ddraig spoke up this time.
"I have no doubts that Salem had considerations, that she just didn't leave them to start wandering around. I don't think any of us is as careless as that."
Ten bucks say that she commanded them to kill themselves after all this crap was dealt with.
The train started to move forward faster.
The thing about mana is that it's not normally visible.
You need to either agitate it, flaring it up, or have it in such condensed quantities that it reflects physically in the world.
At this moment, colorful auroras were kicked up by the train's wheels as it abruptly accelerated, tearing through anything in its way. Remnants of the Vampire treat? They were utterly ripped apart as they touched the train.
And the train continued to move faster, yet from the outside, it would look like it was moving at a 'normal' speed.
Space-time was being bent around the train due to the sheer amount of magical energy from the Leyline that was being kicked up.
The train and everything around it turned into a blur as it shot forward at speeds that left sound in the dust.
I felt my cheeks and lips flap as the force of wind pressed against me, and I grabbed onto the grain to hold on. It wasn't just the wind; the sheer amount of magical energy smacking into me was like a tidal wave.
Even with my immense strength, I was losing my grip.
But the scene around me was breathtaking.
The Train was bouncing between the normal world and the Reverse Side for the briefest moments, as the Leylines are sort of intersections.
The lifelines of the world that intersected at every layer of the world's reality.
Stars, skies, earth, and seas all appeared at different angles, at different points, because 'direction' was no longer about up or down, left or right. The Train needed to lock onto the Leyline because it's the only way to properly navigate like this.
I couldn't hold on any longer; my grip loosened, and rather quickly, I found myself being flung off the side of the train.
I was, for the briefest moment, reminded of the church person I had thrown off the moving train. And I believe this is close to what he felt, as now I too was going cartwheeling past the side of the train.
Was this karma?
Possibly.
My perception was enough that I could see at every window as my body sort of flailed past.
To my surprise, I locked eyes with someone sitting in their room, looking out the window.
It was Morgan, the witch from just minutes ago who had stomped away.
Her eyes met mine, and slowly her mouth opened in confusion and utter disbelief.
I was upside down at this point, or mid-spin as I flew past. But I kept my expression completely blank as I stared into her eyes, not blinking, as my body flew past and the train disappeared.
Dominance asserted.
And then I hit the ground.
[Line Break]
"Owwwww." I whined, lying on the ground.
{You know very well that was coming, and you fully deserve this.} My Zanpakutō scolded me.
[Didn't you just talk about how you aren't 'careless'?] Ddraig snorted.
"With other people." I protested, climbing to my feet. "If I can't willingly hazard myself at my own discretion for flights of fancy, what's the point of my strength and power?"
Was what I did stupid?
Of course.
Did I do it knowing it was stupid?
Absolutely.
When would I get to ride a Leyline like that again? Sure, I could have watched it from inside, out the window, and all that. But I wanted to see it properly from the outside!
Fuck, where was I?
I looked up to see an utterly massive desert, complete with canyons and mountains.
"Am I at the Grand Canyon!?" I couldn't help but blurt out.
[Well done.]
{It's honestly impressive.}
"Oh, fuck off, both of you." I grumbled. "Tell me that you both didn't enjoy it just as much as I did."
They were silent.
Yeah, I thought so.
It was more than just 'ooh pretty lights'. It was genuinely an experience I don't regret having even if it hurt on the way out.
It was also still pretty bright out over here. It should be nighttime back where I should be.
I had to brush myself off because I was covered in dirt now. And some of my clothes were a bit torn. Who knew that my magical assembly wasn't rated for being flung through a Leyline to the other side of the world?
Admittedly, I felt some aches here and there. It wasn't the roughest landing ever; I think being blasted by the equivalent of a hundred Excaliburs by someone piloting a Solomon meat suit beats it.
But still, ow.
[Oh, stop your whining. For you, it's like the equivalent of a random human falling off their bike.] Ddraig snorted.
And that fucking hurts!
I've fallen off a bike before, thank you very much.
I pulled out my phone and dialed someone up. And I smiled seeing Salem on the other end. "Hello, Dear~"
Salem's unamused expression answered back. "How odd. I look out the window, and the sun has already set, yet it's daytime behind you."
"...I got lost."
She snorted. "Are you coming back?"
"Of course, I just need to ping you to find the coordinates, thank you."
"Hmph. Most have retired for the night. Your other paramour is keeping the young child company through the night." She told me before hanging up.
That was basically just her saying not to rush into Olga's room and disturb them.
She's considerate in her own way.
Well, now I could easily lock down Salem's coordinates as I pulled out Mirage and did a few calculations. Just in case, I didn't want to pop over right inside or on top of the train. Leylines can still fuck with my portals even if I get all the calculations right.
With a flourishing of my hand, I opened a portal and stepped on through.
Day disappeared into night, and the sound of a train immediately hit my ears.
Part of me wanted to hover outside Morgan's window and just make her uncomfortable, but I decided against it. I used up my pettiness quota for today.
Instead, with a burst of Shunpo, I hopped onto the caboose, touching down on the metal plating before opening the back door and finally walking back inside the train.
Salem was right; it seemed like most people retreated to their cabins. I could imagine that it was a stressful time for most on the train. A Dead Apostle of that quality wasn't something you encountered every day.
And frankly, it was kind of fucking terrifying.
Like a tree zombie apocalypse.
I walked past Olga's room, gently placing my finger on the door to make sure it was secured magically.
It was, so I just nodded to myself and continued onwards.
I barely opened the door to my own compartment, and Salem was already there.
She gave me a once-over, probably making sure I wasn't 'hurt' before accepting me into the room.
"Your clothes are a mess."
"I had an accident." I admitted.
"Where did you end up?" She went over to the dressers—I don't know why she stored stuff there when she has a storage bracelet. Force of habit? Some kind of formality? But I didn't say anything. She took out what looked like a small handkerchief and used it to dab my cheek. "You have some blood smeared on your cheek."
Ah, my heart was beating faster.
"The other side of the planet."
She snorted but still gently made sure my face was cleaned up. "There."
She went to put it away, slightly bending over the dresser.
"By the way, what happened to the Grimm left behind?"
"I ordered them to kill themselves after a period." She said dismissively.
Ah, as I expected, but I was preoccupied with something else.
I stared.
I'm not ashamed to say that my intrusive thoughts won out.
Without hesitation, I pushed my face into her butt.
[Line Break]
I feel like it's been a while since I've had a good night's sleep.
Honestly, I'm bouncing around with so many things so often that I can go days, even weeks, without sleeping. It's not super detrimental to me, but I can get a bit tired just as well.
Though, technically, I think I could probably forgo sleeping for months, maybe even years, if I absolutely had to.
That being said.
There was a knocking at the door, and I didn't want Salem to wake up.
I had a feeling she was going to be…cranky, based on what I did last night.
Frankly, I think it's her fault. What am I supposed to do when, rather than getting 'mad' at me for burying my face in her butt, she instead lifts up her dress and says, 'Who told you to stop?'.
When things escalate, I think the blame is entirely laid at her feet.
Yup, I'm completely without fault.
I gently lifted up the blanket and admired the fact that she wasn't wearing any clothes.
A gentle, albeit crisp, swat of a hand smacked me, followed by an unamused snort from the woman next to me.
Welp, she's awake.
"You better not be expecting me to get up and see who's knocking after what you did to me." She huffed indignantly. "My rear and legs are still sore."
I may or may not have put her in some interesting 'positions' during our time together.
No regrets.
I got up, quickly putting some clothing on as Salem pulled the blanket up over her head.
It was not who I expected to be at the door as I cracked it open.
"Good morning, Lord Schweinorg." The auctioneer is the one who greeted me. "I apologize for my late attendance. On behalf of the Rail Zeppelin, I wanted to express our gratitude for your assistance in dealing with the anomaly yesterday. You disappeared for a period afterwards, and I was not sure when you would return. Thus, I did not wish to disturb you until now."
"No problem." I waved it off. "Killing Dead Apostles isn't something I particularly dislike."
Her lips twitched slightly. "Be that as it may, we are truly grateful. I wished to personally come here to convey an update in our auction schedule."
"Before that, if I wanted to ask you about the supplier of a certain pair of Mystic Eyes…"
"I'm afraid that we are sworn to confidentiality regarding nearly anything you might find relevant."
"Of course." I let out a sigh. "Proceed."
She most likely put them under a Geass of some sort.
She smiled politely. "The first phase of the auction officially begins in roughly an hour—noon."
Noon? Did I sleep in that much?
Huh, I must have tired myself out more than I expected.
"That's the personal auction, yes?"
She nodded once. "That's correct. As a reminder, we hold no authority over this 'auction' other than to ensure proper decorum. All bids, all items—they are at your own discretion."
"That's not what you were updating about though."
"The true auction has been...pushed ahead, due to recent events. Rather than taking place tomorrow, it will be taking place later tonight, with a break between both events, of course. Due to the nature of our departure from the incident last night, the train will need to undergo repair and maintenance sooner than expected."
Well, I suppose that's to be expected.
Even a marvel like this can't have suffered no damage—even minor—by jumping a Leyline like it did.
"Where are we right now, exactly?"
"We are currently running through Mongolia, Lord Schweinorg." She informed me rather casually.
Exactly.
The Train literally jumped almost across the world. From England—an water locked country, mind you—to Eastern Asia in a matter of minutes.
There was a reason I got flung so far away.
Ten out of ten, would probably do it again if given the chance.
"Thank you for the update; I'll be sure to attend." I gave her a polite reply.
"Thank you for your time; have a good day." She returned and left with that.
I looked at Salem, still under the blanket. "I was going to go check on Venelana. Do you—"
"Give me a minute." She grumbled, her hand reached out, and she shooed me away. "I'll follow."
Cute.
Olga's room wasn't far away, just down the corridor to the next train car.
I knocked, of course. Need to be polite when entering someone else's 'living area.'
"Come in." I heard Venelana's voice from the other side, and the magic on my end deactivated, allowing entry.
I poked my head inside, and what I wanted to say was immediately pushed down because I stared at the newest member of the Devil Race, finally awake.
Well, this should be interesting.
[Line break]
A/N
We're moving along, this arc only has a few chapters left.
If you want to read 10 chapters ahead or support me, visit my p.a.t.r.e.o.n.c.o.m / astoryforone
I also have a boosty if you can't use the above under the same name.