"Is that the guy?"
"It can't be..."
"So young? By the gods."
"That doesn't matter whether hes young or not."
"What in the..."
"Eek! So scary!"
'So damn annoying.'
Vlad stood on the side with his eyes closed, supporting his back on one of the brick pillars. There wasn't much reason behind him standing there and waiting for Cesar to buy them tickets for the train; on the contrary, he liked the feeling of the brick against his back.
'I would have preferred if they added some bricks to the citadel; it would be nice.'
He remembered the grueling times when he was still adapting to the citadel; his attempts at trying to walk through the corridors were useless, as he couldn't even take a step without slipping and slamming his face against the wall. Or maybe it was a mistake on his part that he didn't want to wear his shoes all the time.
'Three years wasted for nothing.'
His brows furrowed as another passerby commented about his scar, sending him a look of disdain.
Vlad ignored it without much thought, focusing on the distant view of the fog.
'Frigora is in the west-east if I'm not wrong.'
There were four citadels in existence, with them standing close to the rift like the very walls that protected humanity; that was also why it would take less than a week to get there, since the only transport they would have to take is the Lightning Express.
It was a name given to the train station that helped you get over the rift to another country, something that once again Hammer Corporation had come up with.
Maybe it was the fact that it was filled with researchers that contributed to them constructing the very vehicles and cities people resided in. With the power of Flux, no one had to worry about running out of power. A source with no end is what they called it after announcing that their research would be halted for the time being.
- Step
Vlad turned his head in that direction. Someone had walked over to him without criticizing his mark, simply standing there in front of him without uttering a word.
'Who is that?'
He wondered. It wasn't someone he knew, nor was it a person of high fame, just a boy dressed in casual clothes that anyone could find in a low-end store.
Seeing that he didn't move or speak to Vlad, he tried to ignore his strange presence. They stood there next to the pillar, both waiting for something to happen.
'Is he just standing there? Does he not see my scar?'
He took a closer look at the boy, who wore nothing but a long, dark leather hoodie with some deep blue stripes running alongside his sides; he had his hoodie on, trying to most likely hide his face from the crowd. It didn't help a lot as he drew quite a bit of attention standing next to Vlad as if there was nothing strange about him.
He didn't have a good pair of pants, with grey cargo pants hanging from his waist down to his ankles. He didn't seem to have any socks, just two shoes that looked worn with signs of oil splattered at their soles.
Suddenly, he turned to Vlad, revealing his two deep sapphire eyes and strands of dark-blue hair that moved like water from underneath his hoodie.
"What are you staring at?"
'Huh?'
Vlad raised his eyebrows as the boy scoffed and turned away without continuing.
'Who is this guy-'
"Vlad!"
Cesar's voice came from within the crowd, drawing some unwanted stares.
He squeezed through it, barely managing to stop in front of Vlad, where an empty space formed around the pillar.
Cesar looked at the strange boy who stood next to the two, and then back at Vlad before giving a weird smile.
"What?"
He nudged him with his elbow.
"Making friends already?"
"The hell? Why would I?"
Vlad turned to the strange boy who didn't even look their way, only standing at a distance where it would be considered comfortable.
"It doesn't even matter, anyways... Did you get the tickets?"
"That, yes i did."
He smirked, pulling out a pair of tickets from the pocket of his jacket.
They shone weakly as the lamps flashed on the ceiling, indicating that it was starting to get late.
'I hope we can at least board the train before it's nighttime."
No matter where you were, it was always cold at night, so staying on the street while wearing nothing but a white shirt and a pair of leather pants was quite a bad idea, no matter how you looked at it.
"Just give them to me."
Vlad extended his palm, on which Cesar placed one of the tickets.
It felt warm to touch, probably freshly printed, with how a small drop of ink slid down the scrap of red and white paper. With a rectangular shape that was too long to fit in a palm and a 'Lightning Express' printed at the corner with a small hammer symbol instead of the letter 't', it really looked like something one would see on the news broadcasts.
'It really is just like in the photos.'
He pulled it with two hands, testing the papers strenght until Cesar stopped him, grabbing one of his fists.
"It's pretty fragile, so try not to rip it in half, though, you can always exchange it with mine if that happens."
He didn't need to explain why; the meaning was obvious. If you did something wrong, people would look down on you no matter what you did to repair it.
'So annoying.'
Vlad snorted before stuffing the ticket into one of his pockets.
A second later, the sound of bells rang out all over the place, prompting the crowd of people to quiet down and listen to the incoming announcement.
The speakers buzzed for a short moment, slowly turning into a clear female voice that was accompanied by static.
"This is a platform announcement... The train shall depart from platform four in half an hour. Passengers for nineteen thirty-five to Frigora, please make your way to platform four. I repeat..."
"Oh! Its our train!"
Cesar said as he pointed at the wide black screen mounted on the wall. It had a clock on the side showing that the train was going to depart in just half an hour; next to it was a list of different trains, probably heading to Frigora or other countries at a later time.
"I know where platform four is!"
He said, pulling on the hem of Vlad's shirt like an excited child.
'It really is pretty fast.'
Vlad felt relieved that everything was going so well.
...
"What?"
Cesar asked, surprised, his eyes almost popping out of their sockets.
The conductor looked at the two dejectedly, his apologetic look obviously false after he smirked at Vlad, who was digging through his pockets.
'I swear I put it in there..."
"If you don't have the ticket, I'm afraid you won't be able to board the Lightning Express."
Conductor spoke to Vlad, who did one final pat down on his pockets. He turned to Cesar with a sour look, then looked down at the ground as if it were his fault.
"I think I know what happened to it."
He said, gritting his teeth.
"It was that damn kid who stood quietly next to us! He must have taken it when you pulled me into the crowd, that's also why I didn't notice it going missing until now..."
"Fuck..."
Cesar mumbled a long curse as he pulled a hand down his face. He seemed to fall into thought for a second, looking back and forth between Vlad and the crowd behind them.
'?'
All of a sudden, he pushed his ticket into Vlad's hands.
"Take mine then."
"But what abou-"
"I'll take care of it."
He bent his knees slightly, and then like a whisp, dissapeared into thin air as if he wasn't here in the first place.
The conductor was left shocked as he watched Cesar rush into the crowd and dodge them with increasing ease. He felt something touch his hands, shaking him awake and making him look at Vlad, who put the ticket in his hands and went inside the train with a last look at Cesar.