The train shook, sending Vlad flying back into his seat with a grunt.
His hands grabbed onto the seat's arms, and with his teeth clenched, he watched as everything in his sight started to flicker.
The door through which he entered was now covered in tiny azure sparks that moved alongside the shaky train; it was just like the scene he was watching through the window. Little streaks of lightning slowly manifested alongside the cabin's walls, crackling each time they got close to the steel rails below.
"Please remain in your designated seats, the barriers will stabilize shortly...-Buzz!"
The announcement echoed in the shaky train loudly, leaving Vlad's ears aching from the screech that was the static in her voice.
'B-barriers?'
Vlad repeated it inside his shaky mind as his nails dug deeper into the tough leather seat.
He was familiar with the term; after all, he was a constant victim of barriers.
It was something akin to his pulseband, a device that drew out its power from surroundings to properly activate and function as a whole.
Barriers would charge themselves using the naturally formed flux lingering in the air, away from the naked eye. Depending on the use, the time to recharge could take hours, maybe days if one were unlucky. And it was never guaranteed if it would work.
The stairs inside his citadel were a barrier he could never activate, their shape always remaining uneven despite his countless attempts at fooling the system. But he could never break through, no matter how many times he tried; they refused to turn even, making him eventually give up on trying.
Judging by the lack of commotion in the cabin, he calmed down, his racing heart trying to slow down.
'I-is it just me t-then?'
Vlad was sure now that the violent tremors he experienced were nothing but a part of the procedure that activated the barrier.
And just like he thought, after some effort and shifting in the seat, he got high enough to see his surroundings and look around the cabin.
He noticed other passengers sitting quietly in their seats, not doing anything in particular except wasting time on their pulse bands.
Nothing seemed off about the train either; the feeling of everything slowly decomposing was just an after-effect his brain experienced after stray sparks of lightning flux struck him in the head.
"A-am I-i going t-to stay like t-this forever-r?!"
He voiced his thoughts as the grip on the seat tightened.
It was possible that the flux that entered your body could mess with your brain to the point of no return and maybe leave a permanent scar.
"Nah, not really."
Someone shrugged from the side, speaking to Vlad in a calm tone.
"W-what?"
"It's as I said."
The person walked over to Vlad, appearing for a brief second at the corner of his eye and then disappearing the moment his mind was filled with nothing but static.
His hand suddenly turned numb.
"Ugh-"
"So what brings you here?"
As if the person didn't care about Vlad holding onto his seat for his dear life, he started speaking to him in a friendly manner. Even with his mind blown away, his ears were perfectly functional, catching the occasional crunching sounds coming from his neighbouring seat.
"A-are you Enjoy-ying this-s?"
Vlad could already see the guy smirking like Cesar, the boy's voice coming right into his ear.
"More than you can think."
Vlad looked at his pale skin, the image distorting in his eyes, then he tried to turn to the boy, but failed with a lousy grunt.
"T-to Frigor-ra."
"Oh?"
The boy, perhaps surprised by Vlad talking, leaned forward enough for him to be visible.
"What about Frigora?"
Vlad swallowed heavily.
"Your-r ques-sti-ion."
He turned quiet for a moment, not answering Vlad, who barely managed to keep his eyes open. And then he seemed to have smiled, or maybe it was the static playing tricks on Vlad's eyes.
"Three."
His voice turned distant, sounding far but also close, though the former was strange.
"Two."
Vlad deduced that he started to count down; maybe he knew that something was about to happen soon.
"One."
He closed his eyes, bracing for something to hit him. For static that was coursing through his body to explode from within and decorate this place with crimson ribbons of flesh...
And then he opened one of them.
The boy watched him with a small smile that looked way too wide for anyone to be possible to make. His eyes, like two drops of water, were locked on Vlad's shaky body while the deep blue hair that flowed down his neck seemed as if it were just a current flowing from within his skull.
"Now."
And the world turned dark.
***
'This... Damn!'
Cesar struck the train cabin out of frustration, his hand flinging back the instant it touched the lightning barrier over the train's walls.
It has been a minute already, and the lightning had covered most of the train, leaving only tiny cracks that were filling up by the second.
There was no contact he could make with Vlad, not that he expected him to actually be able to respond; the barrier is supposed to get rid of anything that might endanger the passengers, but what would happen if it couldn't even sense Vlad?
'I should have killed him.'
He clenched his fists tighter, the thought of the boy disappearing into nothing but a puddle of water still sat in his mind like a reminder that he was still not strong enough to...
- Clang!
An explosion tore through platform four, sending Cesar flying back a few steps towards a nearby pillar. With his groan muffled by the explosion, he managed to open his eyes just enough to watch as the train started to slowly hover over the ground.
It was a sight one would see each time the train departed.
Lightning Express.
The name given to it wasn't some kind of metaphor.
It was a literal name of the barrier that turned this entire train into a living bolt of lightning.
- Bang
- Boom
Electric shocks crackled below on the metal rails, sending tiny explosions of pure lightning and old metal in the air.
With gritted teeth, Cesar watched as the train moved forward.
Each second made the lightning brighter, stronger, and faster.
And at the very end of the train station, where a long wall of fog extended into nothingness.
A bright flash pierced through it, coming from the train's barrier that had stabilized moments ago.
Cabins disappeared one by one, engulfed by the heavy fog that soon swallowed the cabin Vlad was supposed to be in.