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Arthur Ishviel POV...
Waking up, it's about 5:30. I look out the window before brushing my hair out of my eyes. I just woke up and I already wanna take a nap.
Gram is still to my left, seemingly having woken up before me. He's reading a book, one with black leather and a silver trim... weirdly fancy book, but ok. Clara is... still sleeping on my shoulder and... oh, she's drooling. I want to lean away, but don't want to wake her up.
I resign myself to the eternal yuck that is being drooled on, looking forward and out the anterior cabin window. The train ride has been boring, without any stops in cool places or particularly cool views. Hell, I should probably lower my expectation... or maybe I should start appreciating more stuff.
"Hahh..." I sigh, to which Gram notices and closes his book. Maybe he doesn't want me to know what genre he likes.
"G-Good morning, Arthur," He says, his voice still meek. God, how much of a nerd do you have to be to hit me with a 'G-Good morning'? Maybe I'm an asshole...
"Good morning, Gram. Did you sleep well?" I ask, hoping to finally stop being mean for no reason.
"Yeah... it's not my first time on a train," He says, looking forward again. Huh... that doesn't sound right.
"So you've taken this train before?" I ask, looking down at Clara on my shoulder. She would be kinda cute... if she wasn't weirdly obsessed with my dad.
"Oh, uh... yeah," Gram replies with a nod that only seems half confident. I shrug and don't ask any further, it being way too early for me to do so.
And just like that, back to silence. I would be lying if I said that I didn't want to break the silence at this point. Anything is better than silence at this point.
I look out the window, finally being greeted with a proper view. An extremely large city, mostly composed of almost Victorian buildings. The sun is finally out, making the city almost shine. Clara shakes a little before jolting up and acting as if she was awake the whole time.
"Ah, so we're in Ostrin. It's a nice place, if not for it's... blemishes," Clara doesn't elaborate on the statement. Instead, she just looks over at me with a smile. "The second largest city in Istantetzia. Some people even call it the second capital! Get a good look, because you'll never see me this close the city ever again!"
"O... okay?" I say, trying to decipher why she seems so passive aggressive towards this city. I don't question any deeper about why she seems so angry at the city. "So what's it's main thing? Cleras has the academy, so why is Ostrin so big that they nearly place it on the same level?"
"It's simple, actually. Ostrin is the most advanced place when it comes to medicine. At least, in Istantetzia," Clara says with a nod, gesturing towards the window. "See that big building off in the distance? The really tall one?"
"Yeah, what about it?" I ask, looking at the faraway building. At this point, Gram is also listening to her explanation of the city. To Clara, we must look like 2 uninformed country bumpkins right now.
"That, my dear boys, is one of the most important buildings in our glorious kingdom!" She says, seeming to revel in the fact that we're listening so intently. "It houses some of the best healers and alchemists of our generation and also the devil!"
"The devil?" I ask, wanting more explanation on why she said that. It's obviously not the actual devil, but still.
"My mother," Clara says, crossing her arms. Don't tell me I just triggered some sort of unwarranted trauma dumping.
"Oh... okay," I say, pulling a Gram and deciding to just stare forward and stay quiet. Gram was doing that ever since she said the word 'devil', so I guess I'm late to the party.
Clara looks disappointed that we didn't inquire further, but leans back in the seat and grumbles to herself. The train eventually stops at the Ostrin station and people get on. It's a few more than when we first got on, but it's to be expected from the size of the train.
Maybe 12 people board our particular cart, all of them dressed in nice clothing. I feel a bit underdressed with my simple clothes, but convince myself that they are simply all overdressed.
A girl gets on and takes a seat across from the 3 of us, crossing her legs and sitting like a noblewoman. She's maybe 15, ginger with yellow eyes, and her face just screams of arrogance. Wearing a frilly yellow and white dress and adorned in fancy jewelry, she's definitely been spoiled some bit.
There's that weird feeling again... I'm probably just being paranoid, but they say to trust your instincts. I look over at Gram. He looks wildly uncomfortable being in a space with so many people he doesn't know, although his gaze is focused on the girl in yellow as well.
I see the girl pull out a concave mirror, checking her face. For a second, I think her eyes dart over to me and Gram. That single second is electric, dangerous even... but quick enough to dismiss.
"I think I'll get up and use the bathroom," I say, excusing myself and standing up. "Be right back."
I walk through the cabin and into the bathroom, locking it behind me. Ew, is that puke in the trashcan?!? Ignoring the disgust, I turn and look at the wall. I'm just guesstimating, but he should be around here.
A feeling hits me again as I look at where Gram should be through the wall. I do the same for the girl in yellow and, sure enough, the weird feeling is there too. The experiment worked.
"Huh..." I say, putting my hand on my chin.
I'm connected to the two somehow, but I don't know exactly how. Even then, what do I even do to bring it up while sounding sane? I haven't spoken a word to the girl and I don't know Gram well enough yet... best to keep thinking for now.
I flush the toilet and wash my hands to make it sound like I had genuinely used the bathroom. I exit the bathroom and walk back to my seat, sitting down between Gram and Clara once again.
The conductor walks down the aisle, checking the tickets of everyone new. He arrives at the girl in yellow eventually, extending his hand towards her.
"Excuse me, may I see your ticket please?" He says, waiting for cooperation.
The girl scoffs, but pulls out a white ticket from her pocket. The man stamps it, handing it back to her. I guess it must be a different ticket from Clara's. She doesn't say anything, clearly not wanting to let her attitude overtake her.
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Girl In Yellow POV...
Man, this shit sucks. That guy was totally disrespectful! Who does he think he is?!? I'm going to Lumin academy, for gods sake! He should know his place! I grumble, leaning back as I try my best not to pout. Those boys across from me have totally been staring at me... heh. I bet they think I'm pretty...
But they keep giving me this weird feeling... it's annoying. I look at everyone in the cart one by one, seeing if any other people give me that feeling. Nope, not a single one. I start looking at everyone in different orders, seeing if that matters. Nope! It's just them... so what the hell is special about them?
They aren't dressed nice, but they still look good. They aren't powerful, but neither am I, so I should keep my mouth shut. The girl next to them is definitely powerful, but she doesn't give that same feeling they do.
"Hey Gram, did you know that Arthur's dad is totally hot-" I accidentally overhear some of her conversation, much to my displeasure. How embarrassed he must be right now.
Although it does give me good information without talking to them. The one with white hair is named Arthur and the one with black hair is Gram. I'll make sure to remember that for the future... they should consider themselves lucky that I'll do so.
It's only maybe 12 hours until we arrive at Cleras, so not long. Thank goodness I live close to the capital, I don't think I could handle being couped up with all these... undesirables. If I had just awakened my mana earlier, I could've just asked for a cart all by myself!
I look out the window as the train pulls away from the station, my home city leaving me for the first time. Until we meet again, my beautiful Ostrin.
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Arthur Ishviel POV...
It's a silent train now, not being empty enough for me, Gram and Clara to talk amongst each other. Thank god Clara stopped ranting about my dad. I pull my journal out from my bag, beginning to write again.
'Journal entry, update. I still get that weird feeling when looking at Gram, but now there's another. A girl in a frilly yellow dress who boarded the train from Ostrin. I don't mean to guess like this, but I think she's also going to Lumin. Maybe she's the young master type...'
I close the journal before Gram can start to read it, putting it back into my bag. I wish I had an inventory or something...
A second later, I see Gram's eyes widen as well as the girl in yellow's. Weird... nothing even happened. God, why has everyone except my parents been weird?
I shrug it off, amounting it to a weird coincidence. I can see the girl in yellow's eyes darting about, whereas Gram has practically folded into himself. Clara, seeing that no one is listening to her rant about my dad, finally stops talking.
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