Mildry - 11/03 7:44 pm 51EE

Yuro and the others walked into the motel room they rented for the night. The wallpaper was peeling and the light beige carpet was dotted with odd yellow stains. The room gave off a cheap mint smell that barely disguised the utter foulness of the room. Eliowen blocked his nose as Rina snarled.

Crux stepped forward and put his hands on his hips.

"Smell that?"

Crux took a deep sniff.

"Smells like a true home-"

He quickly hunched over, gagging, as his cheeks puffed up. He swallowed loudly before catching his breath.

"Holy shit this place smells awful..."

Yuro fanned his hand over his nose.

"No kidding. What else did I expect though... We aren't exactly rich. Most of the money we were lent was spent on the train tickets and hotels at Splinter Scape."

Yuro pouts.

Eliowen walks in, he feels his heel sink into the soggy carpet causing him to cringe.

"Ew. As gross as this place smells it somehow doesn't beat Werren's house..."

Rina nodded.

"Weruhnm Nirh."

Rina carries Petra inside and gently places her in a nearby cabinet.

"I don't mind it. I used to live in lots of places like this when I first came to the Central Continent. It gets a homey feeling once you finally realise it's your home."

Eliowen plops down on one of the beds.

"I don't know about you but I don't plan on making this place my home any time soon."

Petra sighs.

"I suppose living the life of an Archbishop's son gives one standard. Anyway, there are more pressing matters to speak about."

Crux walks down a small corridor to a bathroom. He opens the door as a green gas escapes out. He quickly slams the door shut, holding his nose.

"Bathroom is a no-go..."

Yuro is lifted onto a bed with Rina's help.

"Thank you."

Yuro plops down as he looks defeated.

"It's only for one night. We should divide the sleeping arrangements since there are only two beds."

Petra raised an eyebrow.

"Uh, hello? I have important news to tell everyone!"

Eliowen shrugs.

"I don't really care. These beds feel like logs so I doubt I'll even get any sleep."

Crux jumps onto the bed Eliowen is sitting on.

"WOOHOO! I wasn't plannin' on sleeping either! Wanna build a pillow fort?"

Petra's face contorts to one of fury.

"Guys! We have a real problem!"

Eliowen nervously waves his hands around.

"A wh-what?"

Crux has a huge grin.

"Pillow fort! I haven't been able to tinker on anything for almost ten HOURS! Building a good ol' pillow fort oughta scratch that itch!"

Petra desperately pleaded for everyone's attention.

"Can you guys shut up for a second!? Listen to me!"

Rina crawls beneath the other bed, releasing all of her babies which she kept hidden in her coat.

"Biurhh mrihn lurrjm."

Yuro lays back on his bed.

"I suppose that means I'll be having this bed all to myself."

Petra burst into a booming scream.

"ALRIGHT IF YOU COCKROACHES DON'T LET ME SPEAK I'LL JUST LET YOU ALL DIE WHEN THOSE IMPOSTERS COME TO KILL US!"

Everyone stared at Petra, their looks one of confusion.

Crux scratches his head.

"Why are you yelling?"

Petra gives up trying to speak with them.

"Fuck you all. I'm going to sleep."

Petra flopped herself over and rolled to a quiet corner of the room to sleep.

Crux looked around with an offended expression as he shrugged, unsure of why Petra was so angry. Yuro rolled shrugged and rolled his eyes in response.

Eliowen's stomach then rumbled.

"Ah. S-sorry."

Crux put his arm around Eliowen.

"Don't worry about it! Stomach rumbles are natural and a sign of your commitment to food!"

Eliowen smiled awkwardly.

"I just haven't eaten since this morning..."

Crux leapt up from the bed.

"Let's go get something then! I'm feeling pretty hungry as well. I think there's a vending machine by the front desk of the motel."

Eliowen smiled softly.

"Sure, whatever gets me out of this room for a bit."

Crux and Eliowen departed from the room in search of food. The air outside was very humid, the skyline was plastered with smoke from distant factories, metal clambering of nearby construction sites and warehouses deafened the sea of cars passing along the main road. Eliowen and Crux walked down towards a vending machine.

Eliowen was silent but had many wonders about Crux.

"What's being an Initiate like? I haven't heard much about their efforts, most things I know about them are from passing conversations."

Crux thinks for a moment.

"It's a pretty sweet job, I like it. It's not for everyone though, most of the time we aren't even on the ground and doing operations. When we are on the ground, most missions last only a couple of weeks."

"You mentioned being in space on the train. You weren't actually in space right?"

Crux stood up proudly.

"Oh yes, I was! The Initiates pride themselves on humanity's greatest establishment, space travel! See for Eras the Initiates spent themselves cooped up at the southern end of the Central Continent, dealing with all sorts of Necrobeasts and discovering the known world. However as the world grew and grew, the Initiates couldn't as easily help people. For a while the Initiates were nothing but a bunch of phonies, pretending to be protectors but ultimately failing at that."

The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

Crux clenched his fist.

"Our ancestors took it upon themselves to never let anyone who'd call out for help be met with silence so the greatest minds came together and constructed a beauty to sail in the stars."

Crux put his hand to the sky, tracing the constellations with his fingers, his eyes shining brightly.

"The Argo Navis. A space station fit to house thousands of people. When there are people in need of protection we descend from the stars to aid them, our blazing entrance is meant to signify hope. May none be left alone ever."

Crux gazed at the sky with conviction.

Eliowen was blown away by the absolute passion in his voice.

"That sounds amazing... what are the stars like from up there?"

Crux smiles and continues walking.

"They're our friends. They guide us to wherever we may go. Everyone should see them, no words can describe their beauty."

Eliowen smiled.

"I'd love to see them."

Crux threw his fist in the air.

"Yeah, you do! Listen, next time I come back down to Sundial I'll have a gizmo prepared to let you see again, then you'll be coming up to the Argo Navis to speak with the stars!"

Crux gave a determined gaze.

"I promise!"

Eliowen smiled.

"Really!? That sounds amazing!"

Crux smiled, his face full of a comforting warmth. Soon they reached the vending machine and decided on all the snacks they wanted. However, with no money, there was no way they could pay for everything so Crux opted for his mechanic expertise to pay the bills. With a few well-timed and critical strikes he fried the machinery of the vending machine causing it to spit out as many snacks as they wanted. Crux danced around with an armful of snacks. Eliowen carried many bottles of water and soda as they went back to the motel room.

Crux burst in.

"GUESS WHO STRUCK GOLD!"

Yuro looked star-struck.

"Wh- you- I- How!?"

Crux dumped all of the snacks on the floor.

"Because I'm amazing that's how!"

Eliowen handed out drinks to everyone.

"He's got some strange secrets."

The night continued to pass and slowly the town of Mildry died down as the day had closed.

11:12 pm 11/03

Eliowen and Crux bellowed in laughter. They had constructed a pillow fort, using the two parallel beds as frames, they munched on snacks as Crux recounted the many adventures he had been on.

"Werren was a REAL hard-ass back then. So serious that, hardly broke into a smile or had any fun. I suppose Navie took a lot after him once he promoted her to captain."

Crux sighed and leaned back.

Eliowen giggled.

"I've rarely seen him act serious or get angry. I'm surprised to hear of his more serious days."

Rina had her head poked in as she idly listened along, her eyes heavy.

Crux sat up.

"Oh man, I have to tell you about this one time that Werren got SUPER mad. No one's ever seen him so angry."

Eliowen leaned closer.

"So basically, we had just done our spring cleaning of the Advance when Cinna accidentally caused a fire in the lower decks. It was partially my fault since I wanted to teach her how to operate the cannons but man did he go off, the whole airship ended up burning and it took MONTHS to fully clean it again."

Crux gave a hearty chuckle.

Eliowen laughed alongside Crux.

"That sounds bizarre. One question though... who's Cinna?"

Crux raised an eyebrow.

"You don't know Cinna? Werren's daughter. Nice kid, she was a big help despite being so young. I do wonder why Werren was so harsh on her..."

Eliowen's face morphs into shock.

"D-Daughter!? This is the first I've heard about this."

Crux's face softens to an expressionless look.

"Oh. Uh... maybe I shouldn't speak too much about it then. I heard they haven't seen each other for a long time..."

Eliowen hears the uncertainty in Crux's voice and chooses not to push the subject further.

"Alright then. It's getting pretty late, I might head to the bathroom then go to sleep."

Eliowen leaves the pillow fort.

Crux waves.

"Alright, I think there are public bathrooms at the end of the motel, to the right."

Eliowen nods before leaving the motel room. He glides his hand along the wall to point him in the right direction. As he continues walking he listens to the soft patter of his footsteps. The rhythm helped him remember how far away the motel room was. As he kept walking he heard the soft chirping of crickets and the buzz of flies passing him. Once he reached the bathroom he went inside to use it. From the distance, outside of the bathroom, the conductor stood, his cap covering his face as he held his head low however his wide grin was still visible.

Eliowen soon left the bathroom and began to retrace his steps to the motel room, he counted his steps as he got closer when suddenly another pair of footsteps could be heard. Eliowen stopped, his ears twitching as he listened. He couldn't hear anything however and kept walking to the room, he counted each footstep he heard but soon lost count when it sounded as if his footsteps were doubled. He stopped once more and gently ran his hand along the bottom of his shoe. He couldn't feel anything amiss so he continued walking until he reached a door, behind it he heard snoring. He opened it to find himself back in the motel room. Yuro was passed out on the bed, Crux had fallen asleep on the floor, the pillow fort disassembled. Rina was curled up beneath Yuro's bed, holding onto her babies tightly. In the corner, Petra was sleeping. Eliowen closed the door behind him and laid on his bed, glad to finally get some rest.

As he closed his eyes to get some sleep, a silence fell over everyone as they all peacefully rested unaware of the dark figure standing in their room. The conductor kept his contorted grin as he went up to Crux, his eyes scanning over Crux's flesh. The conductor moved to inspect everyone one by one, except for Petra who he did not notice. The conductor crept to Eliowen and gently caressed his cheek as he felt Eliowen's smooth skin. His grin grew wider, so wide that his skin began to tear. The conductor soon went to the front door and opened it, standing outside were the dozen or so attendants, all holding a similar grin.

With haste, they all entered the small motel room and surrounded everyone, looking down at their sleeping, defenceless bodies. The conductor stood in the middle and raised his arms.

"Commence the feast."

"WAKE UP!"

Petra shouted as everyone's eyes shot open. The conductor looked enraged as the room's lights flickered on.

"What the-"

Petra was bewildered to see so many attendants packed into the room.

The attendants and conductor all sprang to action, set on ripping them all apart.

"Don't stop. Continue the feast."

Crux sprung up and kicked the conductor through a window. He tumbled out as Crux took out his screwdriver and transformed it into a long metal staff.

"Outside! Now!"

Crux swiftly twirled his staff around knocking many of the attendants down as everyone else scurried out the door.

Rina grabbed Petra and her babies as they got outside to see the conductor standing back up.

"Grhnm..."

Eliowen looked worried.

"What's happening!?"

Yuro looked around, dread consuming his face.

"No... it can't be... no..."

Petra groaned.

"IF YOU IDIOTS WOULD HAVE LISTENED TO ME THIS COULD HAVE BEEN PREVENTED."

Crux burst out from the motel room, his feet skidding across the ground as he twirled his staff around.

"Damnit... I should have been more perceptive. Why did I let my guard down."

As the attendants flooded out from the motel Crux swung his staff around, cracking many of their skulls. His attacks were fruitless however as the attendants would stand back up, their heads disfigured and their faces covered in blood.

"What the hell!? Isn't this the lady from the train? Some terrible service, I never even got my hot chocolate!"

Crux bashed the lunging attendants as he slowly stepped back.

The conductor shook his head and lost his grin.

"How disappointing. Mommy won't be happy about this."

Crux threw his staff at the conductor, smashing his skull before the staff flew back to Crux's hands.

"I'll keep them at bay, you lot just run."

Rina shook her head and handed Eliowen Petra and her babies.

"R-Rina!? What am I supposed to do with these?"

Petra looked mortified.

"EXCUSE ME!? 'These' has a NAME thank you."

Rina's red hair began to turn white as wings sprouted from her back and her hands turned into monstrous claws.

"Cruhh."

Frothing drool seeped from her fangs.

Crux turned to Rina and smiled.

"Glad to see you can still fight."

Crux and Rina faced the beaten bodies of the attendants and conductor, their weapons raised.

"This brings back memories. Let's show them not to mess with Lockdown!"

Crux and Rina engaged in a horrifying fight against the attendants and conductor, buying time for Eliowen and the others to run to safety. As midnight approaches, the gaze of an intimidating presence grows ever so stronger...