I glanced up at Aurelius and the others as soon as I landed on the train. My gaze met Kanja's, causing me to turn my head away. Could we trust her? My dad gave my brother's kidnappers a chance at repentance, but some of them ended up hurting him again. I didn't want to see Carter or anyone else get hurt by her later on.

"Hey, Nate!" Carter yelled. Much to my shock, he jumped out of Aurelius' wind barrier and landed next to me.

How could a Xelerian have such endurance?

"Something wrong?" I asked.

He scoffed as he rose to his full height. "I should be asking you that."

I looked down. Did I worry him and Aurelius? Perhaps I should've been more subtle with my disdain toward Kanja.

Carter grabbed my face and pulled my head up until I was looking directly at his orange eyes. "Don't try to lie! Aurelius told me-" He let go of me and turned away to curse himself.

I blinked. "He told you what?"

"N-nothing!" He laughed nervously and ran off.

What in the world was wrong with him? Maybe he was hungry. I did hear that people weren't always themselves when in need of nourishment. And I could believe that. Sometimes my big brother Alex would react all grumpy when hungry.

I gasped. Wait. Could it be that Aurelius told him about Dan? I laughed. No wonder he shut up. Aurelius probably told Carter not to give away his source.

"Is everything fine with Carter?" Aurelius asked as he and Kanja landed.

"You told him about I told you a few days ago, didn't you?" I asked.

Aurelius bit his lip. "Yeah. Wait, is that why Carter ran off? Because he broke his word?"

I smiled impishly. "He stopped himself from telling me what you said."

"What a weird guy," Kanja said, snickering.

"Me?"

"No, Carter." She shifted her eyes toward the right. "Listen, if you don't want me here, then I'll go. I'm only here because that guy dragged me here."

The look in her eyes was a sad one.

"You're lying," I said, turning away.

"Huh? About what?" she asked angrily.

"You aren't only here because of him. There's something you're longing for, isn't there?"

Kanja ruffled her curly silver hair. "What do you care?"

My eyes widened for a second. I laughed. She sounded a bit like my big brothers and Amun.

"W-what's so funny?" she yelled, glaring at me.

I covered my mouth. "Nothing. I'm just a little out of it, is all." I dropped to one knee as the fatigue finally set in. I'd burned through more prana than I initially thought.

"Hey, be careful," Aurelius said, grabbing my arms. "You might fall off of the train."

"I'm fine." I patted my thighs. "I've got sturdy legs."

"They are nice, but the gales up here can be quite strong," Kanja said.

I gulped. Did she just try to flirt with me?

"I meant that they are in a nice shape!" she said, blushing.

I continued to leer at her. "Sure, you don't have a leg or at least a thigh fetish?" I whispered.

"I do not!" she yelled before stomping away like Carter had earlier.

"Seems like another weird one has joined us," Aurelius said, smiling as he helped me up.

I nodded. "Yeah. Wonder who else we'll meet on this trip."

The two of us followed after Kanja. Her warning was right; the gales up here were strong. Even Aurelius was nearly knocked off once or twice. Then again, he didn't seem to be in any better shape than me. Hopefully, Koukyuu had prana restoring drinks waiting for us.

When we finally caught up with Kanja and Carter, the two were staring at the scene of their fight. Not that it was much of a battle, to begin with. Carter didn't attack more than the metal door.

"You really think that I'll be able to go with you?" I overheard Kanja whispering to Carter.

"Just leave it to me! I'll convince the others. Though Nate will probably be the hardest nut to crack."

I jumped down and landed on the balcony of our cart. "is that so?"

"Ah! Nate!" Carter said, jumping.

I chuckled. "Why are you acting as if you just saw a ghost?"

"You aren't a ghost, but you are a bit creepy," he said, scratching his cheek.

"Creepy?" I asked, taken aback.

He grinned. "Yeah, you scare me sometimes. Like when you were trying to get information from Kage."

"The darkness mage?" I pouted. "I did it so that he would tell us everything." I glanced up at Kanja, who was looking away. "Why did you choose to attack a train?"

"We heard that there was going to be a princess on board," Kanja said.

"A-a princess?" Carter asked, blushing.

"It must be Koukyuu," I said, rubbing my chin.

"She's a princess?" Aurelius asked.

"Koukyuu does have that vibe to her," Carter did, fidgeting.

"Yeah, she's a princess in my world."

"She comes from another world too?"

"Yeah. Though her mom is from this world. Not to mention, her brother is the current King Consort of Kyuu Seishin."

"So you're an alien?" Kanja asked.

I waved my hand. "Yup!" The extra-dimensional kind.

She turned to face Carter. "This school you're going to must be good if it can draw someone from another world to it."

I grinned. "Yeah! B-but w-we first have to pass the entrance exam."

"Is it a written test? If so, I might be able to pass it."

"It does have a written part, but there's more to it than that," a voice called out. Koukyuu had stepped out of the first-class cart. She smirked. "Not that I can say more than that."

Kanja stepped forward. "Can I join you?"

Koukyuu crossed her arms. "You did just kidnap one of the kids I was assigned to escort to the test site. Not to mention, you did try to rob us and everyone else in this train."

She lowered her head. "I'm deeply sorry about that, but please let me accompany you to Wahkan! I want to change my path in life. Unlike my dad, I don't have what it takes to last in the world of thievery. Even if I did, I probably would fear my life ending like his did—on the run, with only the clothes on my back to warm me. Not able to see my family and friends."

"Considering that he hurt a lot of families and their friends, it was likely warranted," I mumbled as I turned around and entered the train.

I sat down on one of the seats, now restored to their former glory by the train conductors. Huo and Lydia sat on the other, sleeping. It seemed that the two of them couldn't catch a break from eventful days. If only my brother could've reclaimed their country.

"How unfair, the ones who hurt others can fix their lives, but those who bore the ultimate losses can't," I mumbled as I put an arm over my eyes.

The next thing I knew, I found myself in a field of zinnia. Standing in the middle of the area was a tall black-haired man with his back to me. I could only tell it was a guy due to his build.

I strode to the mysterious figure. "Who are you?" I asked.

The man turned his head toward me, but his image soon shifted to that of a gray-haired man with large fox tails.

The flowers around me died off as frost spread throughout the field.

I gulped and stepped back. Chills ran down my spine as fox tails lurched at me.

"Nate, lunch is ready," a voice called out. It was Koukyuu.

I screamed as I shot up.

she furrowed her brow and let go of my shoulder. "Had a nightmare?"

I nodded. "Yeah. I was in a field of zinnia, and they were suddenly frozen over by a gray-haired man."

"Zinnia, huh?" Aurelius said, putting down his fork. He and the others were seated on the other seat, eating spaghetti.

"Are they pretty?" Lidia asked.

"They look like it based on pictures I've seen in books," Huo said as he blew on his food.

"What's so interesting about a flower?" Kanja asked, looking up from her plate. Carter must've succeeded in convincing Koukyuu to let her come with us despite her recent actions.

"I'm not sure if they have a meaning where Nate's from, but according to the book I read, the flower means endurance. It can also mean friendship and remembrance."

"Endurance and remembrance, huh?" I said, rubbing my head. Tears rolled down my face. The zinnia was Dan's favorite flower.

Koukyuu sat down beside me as I brought my knees to my chin. She reached her hand out and stroked my head. "There, there, sweetie. It's alright. Don't cry. It was just a dream."

"It could be a warning," Aurelius said, glancing at the gray ceiling.

"From who?" Kanja asked.

"The gods. They could be trying to tell Nate something important. Dreams are often a way for the divine to communicate with people. In my land, dream readers are searched for high and wide."

"You value dreams that much?"

Aurelius nodded. "Yeah. Even if they might mean nothing, it's best to not assume that they do."

"In my home, they're important too," I said, recalling how mom used to write down her dreams and make interpretations from them. She even dreamed of Dan vanishing, and he did...

"Can't assuming that they're serious also lead to bad stuff at times? LIke, what if you dream of an enemy tribe attacking yours and decide to attack them instead? But in reality, they weren't planning to attack," Carter said.

"Well, we wouldn't attack them. Instead, we would fortify our position and gather guards. We would also send people out to check out any suspicious movements."

"Oh, that's smart."

Aurelius smiled. "Thanks. Dad knows a thing or two about self-fulfilling prophecies."

"You mean visions that people try to stop but end up making them happen?" Kanja asked.

"Yeah. That said, Nate's dream seems to be what we call a symbolic dream. Opposed to a direct vision."

"So he won't actually stand on a field of zinnia that freeze over?" Carter asked.

"Most likely not."

"That's good," Lidia said, smiling.

Koukyuu lowered her head. "A gray-haired man that freezes over a field of zinnia. Sounds like that pesky fox abysmal."

My body tensed up. "Are you saying that he's still alive?"

Koukyuu looked away and rubbed her arms. "It is possible."

"Fox abysmal? What's that?" Kanja asked.

"An abysmal who can take the shape of a fox," I said.

"Meant more of what an abysmal is."

"It's a creature from another world. One full of darkness," Koukyuu said.

"Abysmal? Weren't the Barragan trio after something with that name?" Lidia asked, glancing at Huo.

"I think so," Huo said, nodding.

Hide said that several gates opened up, but they were closed. If he returned through one of them...

"Is it like a shadow man?" Aurelius asked.

"What's that?" Carter asked.

"It's a man made up of shadows. It's said to look similar to Kage when he de-materialized into darkness. According to legends, they come from the sea of shadows on the other side."

"Sea of shadows? That is similar to the abysmals," Koukyuu said, nodding.

"Maybe the dream was about those creatures in general," I mumbled.

Koukyuu held out a plate of spaghetti at me. "Perhaps, but you can reflect on it later. For now, eat. You need to recover your energy."

I smiled as I took the plate. "Thanks. Also, thank you for the blanket," I said.

"It wasn't me who put it on you."

I stared at the green and red blanket. It looked handmade.

I glanced up at Aurelius. "Then it had to be you."

Aurelius laughed. "It's mine, but the one who put it on you was-"

Kanja elbowed him in the stomach.

"I mean, it was me."

I glanced at Kanja. "It was you?"

"Y-yes, what of it?" she asked, peering at her now empty plate.

I smiled. "Thanks, Ms. Thigh Fetish."

She glared at me. "Say that again, and I'll stab you!"

"Thigh fetish?" Carter asked before looking at his thighs.

"Why are you looking at your thighs?" Kanja asked, blushing.

Carter cleared his throat. "N-no reason!"

"Seriously? Arms are better," Lidia said, chuckling. It was hard to tell if she was serious or if she was joking.

Huo stared at his arms but quickly looked back at his bowl.

Koukyuu leaned her chin on her right hand and chuckled. "Aww, the awkwardness of teenage-hood."

I covered my mouth and snickered.

"Eat up," Kanja said, glaring at me.

"Okay," I said. Just before I looked back at my plate, I noticed it was dark outside. It didn't feel like I had been asleep for long. The dream was short. "Say, where are we?"

"We should be arriving in Azie soon," Koukyuu said, glancing outside of the window. The train was zooming by fast. Likely to make up for the lost time. "We're going to rest there and take a rental car to the coast first thing in the morning. From there, we're taking a boat to Hoin. That's where our next scheduled pickup is."

"I see," I said as the train started to lose speed until it crawled to a halt.

"Looks like we made it to the border," Kanja said.

"Yup!" Carter said. "We're one step closer to our destination!"

I laughed. "Say that once we've picked up the next person on the list."

"How many are there?"

"I was tasked with eight. So that leaves three more," Koukyuu said.

"Aren't more people taking the test than that?" Carter asked.

"Yeah. There are multiple guides just like me. Some pick up a lot, while others only get assigned a few. Mine are usually small."

"I see. Well, all nine of us will pass!" Carter yelled.

Kanja smiled. "Thanks for including me."

His face turned deep red. "D-don't mention it!"

Huo sighed. "When will he stop doing that?"

Lidia giggled. "I don't know, I think it's kind of cute."

"Y-you do?" Cart asked, spinning around to look at her.

"Wait, how do those not scheduled join?" I asked, turning to look at Koukyuu.

"We fill out paperwork. It's really tedious, but it's worth it once you meet a kid who really wants to participate," Koukyuu said as the train started to move again.

"Thanks for doing all of this for me," Kanja said, fidgeting.

Koukyuu leaned back and stretched her arms. "Yeah, thank me by passing."

The silver-haired girl nodded. "I will."

"Arrived at Saoji, Azie," the conductor announced over the intercom.

"We're here!" Koukyuu said, jumping to her feet. "Let's go!"

The rest of us stood up and stepped out of the bus. The train had stopped in a tiny open-air train station.

"Is it me, or is this place eerily silent?" Carter asked, glancing around. The station only had a pair of benches and a box with paper stuffed inside.

"We are the only ones who were going to Azie," I said as I jumped off the train.

"We were alone on that train since the last stop?" he asked, amazed.

"Not counting the conductors," Kanja said.

I watched as several of the conductors stepped out to run service on the train. Today must've been hectic for them, given that a certain someone and her group of goons decided to attack it.

"Let's go to the hotel!" Carter yelled, running on ahead.

"Wait up! You don't even know where we're going!" Kanja yelled, chasing after him. Aurelius, Huo, and Lidia went after them. Leaving Koukyuu me and alone in the terminal.

I glanced up at the starry sky. The stars were different, but they reminded me of the sky back home.

"Was I really asleep for hours?" I asked.

"Yeah, Carter wanted to wake you up, but I told him to let you rest," Koukyuu said. She ran a hand through her white hair. "Honestly, you brothers sure love pushing yourselves to the limit."

I laughed drily. We really did have a habit of doing that. Kiara did too. "Say, can I borrow your phone later? I would like to call home."

She patted my head. "Sure you can, kid. Just try to keep it a secret. I don't want the others to think that I'm playing favorites."

I smiled. "I'll keep mum."

"Deal!" she said, nudging me forward. "Let's go before the others get lost."

I chuckled. "Alright."

**Solar Note: Hope that you enjoyed this chapter ^_^. Overall thoughts? Predictions?**