Night Eighty Five
Age 1991
Oleander Train Station...
"Alright!" Hero announced holding his arm up. "New mission!" He announced loudly only to be shushed by an annoyed looking Irene and Ken.
Ken let out an annoyed sigh as she rolled her eyes. "It is way too early for this..." She muttered out. "Why don't the others have to wake up this early?" She questioned.
"Because the train to Dandelion won't be here until 6 A.M..." Dawson said giving a shrug. "The train to Chrysanthemum arrives at 2 A.M... I don't get to pick the scheduling of how the trains function." The Squad Six Reserve member said simply.
"It's so early..." Irene sighed shaking her head.
"Meh." Kitsune shrugged. "Master was always waking Devil Arm and me up to do stupid torture training randomly so we're used to it." Kitsune nodded.
"And I don't need sleep!" Light announced. "I mean it helps but my body can stay up forever without needing sleep. You know, as long as I don't use 'that' power-"
"Nobody cares Light." Hero said cutting the blind boy off.
"Well, what about those other guys?" Ken questioned. "I thought some Squad Seven members would be here? Why is it just us?"
"Yeah but it's Sif... You think you're a morning person, you should see how hard it is waking that girl up..." Dawson sighed out as he folded his arms. "Unfortunately for us, we're stuck waiting for them to arrive."
"This sucks..." Ken sighed out.
"It could be worse." Hero said giving a shrug.
"How?"
"I don't know but it could?"
Ken let out a sigh as she shook her head. "I can't believe I thought I loved you..."
"What?"
"What?"
"Hey Hero..." Irene said for a moment getting the boy to look over to her.
"What's up?"
"Can I talk to you for a moment."
"Sure." Hero walked over towards her as Irene moved them further away from the group. "What do you want to talk about?"
"I wanted you to have this." Irene said handing something over.
Hero took it staring down at it. The thing was a small black box. He faintly remembered it was the one Dawson had handed him way back. The thing they were supposed to use if they were ever in trouble. "This is the-"
"I want you to have it." Irene nodded. "On our last mission I could have used it to save the day but I didn't... I let my arrogance blind me... Instead of using whatever is in that box I figured we could handle the problem and got the Equation destroyed because of my foolishness."
"You're not in the wrong." Hero said cutting the blonde girl off as he shook his head. "Several things went wrong that mission. Are you sure you trust me with this though? I just got it and I already want to push the button just to see what'll happen..."
"I'm sure you'll be fine." Irene smiled as she reached out patting his head. "I trust you."
"Lucky bastard..." Kitsune muttered when he noticed Irene and Ken were both still looking at Hero.
"Big Brother has always been a ladies man." Light nodded.
Dawson cleared his throat as he shook his head getting the group to turn back to him. There was a loud hissing sound as the gang turned to find Sif, Nick, Emma, Lucy, and Sera, as well as young woman, and the big four legged Bestia Macht, that had taken Kitsune. "Oh thank God..." Dawson sighed out when he saw them. "I was already getting tired of listening to Ken bemoan how early it was-"
"God it's so early!" Sif bemoaned.
"Oh God damn it..."
Sif gave a small tired wave as she rode on the back of her Bestia Macht which walked towards the group slowly. "Sorry, we're late..." Nick said giving a bow.
"It is no issue Vice-Captain Nick, Captain Sif..." Dawson said also bowing. He turned to look at the unnamed woman. "I'm sorry... I don't think we've met..." He said holding his hand out.
The girl gave a small smile as she took his hand. "I am Serenity." The woman said simply. She was a young woman in her early twenties much like Dawson. She wore a light black dress, and she had long white hair, with what appeared to be a pair of sad blue eyes. She gave a half bow to the man for a moment. "It is an honor to meet someone like you..." She said giving another small smile. "Red Demon of Squad Six."
"I'm sure the honor is mine." Dawson said giving a bow of his own.
"Ahh! Loyal subject!"
"Oh no..." Hero muttered backing up as Sera marched towards him. Hero ducked behind Ken holding her out in front of him. "Out of all the recruits, why did it have to be you..." He whined.
Emma and Lucy watched amused as Sera moved over to Hero.
Sera gave a heavy frown as she pulled out a fan covering the lower half of her face with it. "My... And I thought your time around Kitsune would have done you good in learning how to treat your Nobles..."
"You know Kit?" Ken said frowning. "I suddenly don't like you. Also Hero how do you know her?"
"Long story..." Hero said bluntly still hiding behind Ken and eying Sera up. "All you need to know is she's one of them fancy Noble people..."
"Twenty Sacred Branches." Kitsune called out.
"Yeah those guys... She's part of the Aka family or something... Same family as my Master. I think she's his granddaughter or something..."
"Okay but more importantly she knows Kitsune?" Ken said nodding her head. "Reason enough to not like her."
"Hey!" Kitsune yelled.
"But of course I know Kitsune!" Sera announced loudly. "He is much like me one of the twenty sacred branches-"
"Okay... I keep hearing that but what the hell does that mean?" Ken questioned.
Sera let out a horrified gasp as she clutched her chest. "How could you have not known of the sacred branches?" Sera questioned with a frown. "There are twenty families. A position that goes beyond the rank of a Noble. The twenty sacred branches. It was a rank gifted to us by our Lord, the entity God for helping him create the black wall. As a Sister of the Church you should have known this. Five Branches were each separated into the four nations. This is because each of the four nations are ruled by an Emperor. The rank of the Emperor can only be held by someone who is a sacred branch. In our Nation, the Nation of Red, the five families who are from the twenty sacred branches are the Nine, which Kitsune, your teammate is from, Aka, which is the family I am from, Storm, which your Vice-Captain is from, as well as the Lancelot family, which is unfortunately dead, and finally the Pendragon family. Lady Lin Aka, is the current Empress of our nation and my mother. The family of Aka has been the family to reach the rank of Emperor and Empress for nearly one thousand ages thus my blood is far above even other Nobles..."
"I don't like Nobles..." Hero sighed pitching his nose.
"It's very simple." Irene nodded.
"I agree." Light nodded.
"I hate both of you now." Hero said flatly.
"Do you understand now?" Sera asked giving Ken a curious look.
Ken stared at the girl for a few moments. "Why are you here again?"
Sera fell back clutching her chest once again.
"Sera is a special case for me..." The two squad six members turned seeing Sif walking towards them. "Sera is the only Enforcer who has never received a letter... Rather she sent a letter in herself requesting she join. Sera is by far the weakest person I have ever seen. She has no physical strength, no control over her powers, and has no skill what so ever... Absolutely pathetic."
"That sounds about right." Hero nodded.
"But... But I got a lot stronger though right!" Sera stated proudly.
"No..."
Sera fell back clutching her chest once again, again. That seemed to be her favorite thing to do...
'She is kind of bad..." Emma nodded as she let out a small giggle. "But Sera works just as hard."
"No she doesn't." Lucy cut in speaking in her emotionless tone.
Nick gave a small laugh. "Well it would seem like our train is here." He announced as everyone turned to see the giant steel train pulling up to the station. "With any luck, we'll arrive at the city in a few hours..." The Vice-Captain stated letting out another laugh. "Lady Sif you know you won't be able to take your pet with you..."
Sif let out an annoyed yawn as she slid off of the creature and into the arms of Nick who caught her. A small sigh escaped her lips as she reached petting the beast. "Okay, Adolfo..." Sif said frowning. She reached up pulling out a tiny silver whistle. "Come to me if you hear this..."
The Beast, let out a huff as it bowed its head. It turned its body and simply jumped away.
"You know..." Dawson said slowly. "You could just-"
"I'm not stuffing my pet in a tiny black box..." Sif hissed out.
Dawson gave a shrug. "Silky seems to like it..."
"Your pet is an abomination." Sif nodded.
"All Bestia Macht are..." Irene nodded.
A few minutes later...
Everyone found themselves a seat on the train which was completely empty. Most people weren't allowed to ride out of a city unless they had a permit, were rich, or an Enforcer, and most people weren't dumb enough to go to a city like Chrysanthemum... Because of this, it was mostly completely silent save for the current small group of Enforcers who now rested on the train.
"So..." Dawson said slowly as he cupped his hands together. "We're heading to Chrysanthemum... Hero, Kitsune, Irene, Light, and Ken, while it is true you are on my Squad, for this mission you will be listening to Vice-Captain Nick, and Captain Sif..." He stated in a serious tone as he stared at the two recruits.
"I...Is that all?" Hero asked.
"Yes... Go do whatever you want on the train I don't care..." Dawson sighed turning away.
Sif let out a yawn as she slowly laid back on her seat passing out. Dawson took a seat next to Serenity as the Squad Six, and Squad Seven recruits followed after Vice Captain Nick.
"Can I help you?" Nick questioned when he saw the large group that was behind him.
"So Ms. Scary girl? What's up with her?" Hero asked curiously. "Somehow Sera, Emma, and Lucy all three grew in power, by like... I dunno ten times in such a short amount of time? I didn't even double in power yet, and Ken only got like two and a half times stronger and she's like mega busted and broken. So how did they all grow so quickly? What is Sif doing exactly?"
"I got stronger." Light nodded.
"No one cares Light."
Nick let out a small chuckle as he folded his arms. "Lady Sif... Well, she's amazing. She was voted in by Captain Katrina, and she is the youngest Captain at only seventeen..."
"Wow... You're older than her?" Ken stated.
"She's only a year older then me?" Hero said nodding.
"She's the same age as me..." Irene pouted.
"Yeah... Lady Sif is an enigma. The only person crazier then her in terms of power is the current First Captain... Sif is sometimes called a miracle worker as she is able to make normal everyday Enforcers into absolute monsters..." Nick stated. "I'm sure you know a bit about Lines and the growth. Well, Sif exploits them. We don't know how but somehow she is able to do it, she is somehow able to get rid of the negative side effects of a rapid growth. By being near Sif and recovering from several events, each one pushing you closer, and closer to near death but then recovering from it, you are able to grow in power to a ridiculous extent. Not to mention Sif is good friends with the Squad Twelve Captain. Because of this you will be placed near death then healed. Then if you pissed her off you'll be placed near death again... It can be terrible at times, but the massive power gaps can be seen..."
"Oh." Hero was. "Yeah. I was told I also had several power up thingys after mission-"
"Several?" Nick asked raising an eyebrow.
"Yeah. Long story I ate a sword and changed my power."
"What?"
"Well? Why not have everyone be trained by Sif?" Ken questioned.
"Simple... She doesn't like training anyone unless she is bored... Also, according to Lady Sif that particular gift she has only works on certain people."
"Training is way to hard..." Sera whined folding her arms up.
"As you can see... It even works on spoiled Nobles like young Sera here..." Nick sighed out.
"Hey!"
Over with Dawson the man quietly sat next to Ren as the two young adults stared out the window. "You... You're a very sad individual aren't you Mr. Blight..."
"W...What?" Dawson said startled by the sudden comment.
"My Cursed Equation..." Serenity said quietly as she stared down at her hands. "Emotional Joyment..." She stated quietly. "With it, anyone near me is affected by it... It causes you to feel joy. I can increase the amount by concentrating on a person showing them actual joyful moments from their lives. No matter what though my ability is always active and yet... You aren't being affected by it. It's possible for a person to brush it off if they are filled by another emotion... After watching this world I've come to the conclusion that in most situations sadness is the thing my joy can't conquer."
Dawson stared at her for a few moments before finally crossing his arms. "Well... I wouldn't say it is a sadness that I am filled with but... I am filled with something..."
"Well then... As one Enforcer to another... Would you mind if we talked about it?"
Dawson gave a small smile. "I'd like that..."