The Greater The Shadow

"Come on before something gets off." Kairo said, entering one of the more modern train cars. I follow behind him. Stepping onto the train felt like any other ordinary train car, nothing seemed to be out of order, or no new sensation had hit me as I sat opposite Kairo.

"This train was odd..." I said to Kairo, who seemed to be trying to doze off again.

"It's a train that takes us to the place of lost things, so the train itself consists of lost things." He rested his head on the back of the chair and tightly gripped the sidebar.

"The Black Forst train is disappearing. Nothing has surfaced." Once again, the lady's voice plays over the intercom.

"Appearing and disappearing? It's a train, shouldn't she say, approaching and departing?" Kairo smirked at my question.

"You should brace yourself." The train takes off without any warning. The force pushes me against the side bars of the chair. I try to struggle against it, but the train's speed keeps rising. I peer through the car window to see the usual tunnels passing by in a haze. Right before my eyes, the tunnel begins to warp and crack, revealing cosmic light from behind until the entire image breaks away and a void of celestial hues replaces the ordinary brick tunnel.

"What is it?" I asked, awestruck by the beauty of this new world.

"People aren't really sure, but we refer to it as the Highway." I stare into the expanse exasperated by its endlessness but slowly I couldn't help but feel like someone or something began staring back. I quickly turned my attention back to the inside of the car because of this.

"Don't worry. Everyone feels that way, staring into this celestial expanse, whether it be the light or the abyss it calls to each of us."

"The abyss?" I asked, concerned about what new experience I was to be trusted into again.

"Oh, you might wanna really hold on. We should be hitting the abyss any moment now."

"What's that, and hold on to what, it's a train!?" As if just now remembering I'm new to this but also being slightly annoyed by this fact, he creates a couple of hand signs at me which form two straps of light across my chest, holding me against the seat.

"Please try not to scream." He asked before slumping into the seat. I looked out the window and noticed the train car had begun to tilt at a downward angle. A black liquid seemed to be engulfing us as we tipped more and more into the ground. I started to get the sinking feeling right before the drop of a roller coaster when you're at its peak.

"After we break through the surface, it's all downhil-" he didn't get to finish his sentence before the train entered free fall. My feet left the floor, and the only thing keeping me in place were the two bands of light across my chest. I gripped them with brutal white-knuckling strength as the force of the fall racked against my body.

A shrill scream escaped my lips as the free fall seemed never to end but almost as abrupt as it began it leveled out. The train seemed to swim slowly through a sea of darkness rather than chug on a straight railway. It slithered through the abyss towards the Black Forest like a snake submerged in oil.

"Sorry... For screaming." I couldn't help but feel the embarrassment burning on my cheeks.

"It's alright. Salem was sick his first time to the Black Forest. Everything he had for breakfast was all across his shoes." Kairo chuckled, which eased my nerves.

"So you all have been to the black forest?"

"Yup, Joker wanted to see if any of us could get a contract with a familiar only two of us were able, though."

"How many devils are in the Devils Advocates?" I asked, realizing I wasn't sure what kind of group I had joined.

"There's five of us. You'll be meeting them after this. I think if I can find the bloody drunken bastard Lonan, he'll be the first you meet if he isn't somewhere drinking someone dry."

"What's he like, a vampire?" I jokingly blurted.

"No, he's a leprechaun and a siren." Kairo replied plainly.

"So there is a vampire?" I asked, coming to grips with the fact that everything might actually exist.

"Yeah, that's Benni. You might swing by her club later."

"If you don't mind me asking, what are you, Kairo?" His eyebrows perked up as if surprised by the question.

"Right, you wouldn't know, would ya... I'm technically human and a sorcerer. My mother can do magic, but she wasn't born with it, and my father, the king of sorcerers, passed on his powers to me and my bro... my brother."

"You're the son of a king sorcerer?! Wow, that's amazing, and is your brother in the Devil's Advocates, too?" Kairo grew quiet at my question. The same glazed-over look from earlier appeared. I could have sworn I caught a glint from his one amber eye.

"Kairo?" The glint from his amber eye became a glow as the ethereal words from earlier appeared.

Who must wander?

Will pay the cost

For the key

to the Land of Lost

The words swirled around and around Kairo as he entered a hypnotic state. The bands of light restricted me, so I couldn't jolt him awake.

"The wa-ders requ-st now heading to th- -and of L-st." The intercom lady's voice was eerie and distorted. Panic ran down my spine as I furiously kicked against the straps of light.

"Kairo! KAIRO!" I screamed, hoping to break his trance.

Mare Mare

Mare Mare

The phrases changed to repeating this name in front of me. I feel the train curve change course and swim in another direction.

"Say it..." The voice in my head demands.

"Say it quickly!"

"Mare!" I scream, and this seems to break him from his trance. He stares at me again as if he can see me. The words slowly begin to fade away as his consciousness returns.

"Wanderer request recanted returning to usual course." The train changes the course again and smoothly resumes its swimming.

"What happened?" Kairo asked, still dazed.

"The words appeared again. It tried to steer the train somewhere." I cautiously watched Kairo. His melancholy expression was back in full force as he stared into the inky abyss.

"Who is Mare?" I ask sheepishly. Kairo doesn't react, keeping his gaze on the abyss.

"He's my brother... was my brother." Pain filled his voice.

"What happened to him?"

"He doesn't exist anymore...here or anywhere."

"How's that possible?"

"How indeed..." Kairo responds plainly. I could tell this wasn't the time to talk about his brother, so I dropped the subject and stared out my window. The abyss reminded me of when I put on the ring back at Trickster Trinkets. I peered into the ichor once more to try and glimpse what I could. As I did, my eyes adjusted to the darkness, and I could swear I saw an eye peer back before quickly swimming away. A pain shot through my hand, and it reminds me of the thing that took a nibble of it back then.

"Careful." Kairo warns.

"You stare too long, and you might invite something terrible into the car with us." He finishes returning his attention out the window, feeling defeated and unsafe, I lean my head against the chair and rest my eyes, allowing the exhaustion of the day to take me.

~End of Chapter 3