Nera’s body felt like it was covered with pin needles as she was manhandled by the monstrous Wraith that resembled a man mixed with a sea serpent, Fossegrim. Before it could slam her head grasped in its claws into the train car’s wall, a figure collided into Nera’s side and whisked her away just in time.

“Good one, Iyo.” Nera voiced her gratitude as they landed back on the ground. The taciturn Oni let her get back to her feet on her own. She wobbled for a bit before eventually regaining her balance. Nera could feel several small lesions that had opened up around her body.

“...Ugh, why was I affected? I thought only people who used magic got targeted.” The young woman groaned in bewilderment.

“To be direct, perhaps we were too quick to dismiss the discrepancy of Katelyn also being a victim to the Wraith’s power when she has no magical ability of her own.” Iyo rationally brought up.

“Whatever the case, it’s best if you two get moving.” Xalia declared as Foessegrim swiped its enormous tail at them. The pair swiftly got out of the way as Nera mulled over what was different about her last attack. Unlike before, when she was trying to conserve her energy, she had put her all into that move.

“...What did Allen tell me about Fossil-grim?” Nera recalled what she heard from Allen in passing as they were moving through the cars earlier. According to him, the Fossegrim was a mythical Norse water spirit that was supernaturally disciplined in the violin. The Fossegrim would even take humans as disciples if they brought a suitable goat as a sacrifice for him.

From what she could see with her own eyes, this Fossegrim had nothing to do with ritualistic goat sacrifice, so there must be something else hidden in its myth it drew its power from. Nera jumped over its tail and slid along the slippery surface to reach the main body,only to miss entirely as it swerved out of the way. All the while, she dwelled again on her partner’s words. “Let’s see…I need to pay more attention when he goes on his ramblings.”

Eventually, she managed to recall the rest of Fossegrim’s tale. If the goat is too lean, Fossegrim will only teach how to tune the violin, but if the sacrifice is adequately sized, the spirit’s disciple will be given a lesson until their fingers bleed. At which point, they will play the violin so well as to make the trees in the forest dance to their music.

There were other bits and pieces thrown in the mix of what Allen told her. Such as the Fossegrim sometimes taking the form of an aquatic beast, a full human, or something in between like they were seeing now. However, Nera zeroed in on the truly pertinent piece of information among what he said.

“A lesson so rigorous it causes the fingers to bleed...” Nera murmured to herself as it all started to dawn on her. That described exactly what happened to Katelyn after she played the violin when Fossegrim first appeared on the train. It was possible that magic was not a deciding factor whether one's veins would rupture from the Wraith’s music. It was an aspect much more mundane.

“Listen up, it’s about how much effort you put out!” Nera declared to the others.

Skeptically, Xalia asked. “What made you come to that conclusion?”

Nera dodged under another tail lashing and pressed forward. “If I’m getting affected, then the trigger isn’t magical. Its power only got to me when I used all of my strength. Try using your abilities at a lower level than usual.”

“That’s easier said than done, but I’ll give it a shot.” Xalia started making bubbles of increasingly lower density until she received no painful feedback. When she no longer felt any pinpricks, the bubbles barely had more liquid content than a regular soap bubble.

“I don’t think these will do much damage on their own. Their force comes from condensing a large amount of moisture from the air into a compact space, and that takes much more concentration than I can muster without being victim to this Wraith’s power.” Xalia stated while pelting Fossegrim with her weakened water spheres. The liquid bombs barely left scratches on its tough scales.

Meanwhile, Nera’s kicks and punches were not doing much of anything either. Using their abilities to their utmost would trigger grave consequences, but holding back limited what they could do severely.

“Dammit, what are we supposed to do then?”

“I’ll take care of it.” Iyo proclaimed stoically as he brandished his sheathed knife. “We might not be able to beat it, but I can carve a path out to the next car and leave it trapped in this one.”

“You’ll sacrifice yourself for our sake?” Xalia lauded mockingly with an opened palm on her forehead. “I never expected you to be such a knight in shining armor.”

“No, I don’t intend on throwing away my life.” Iyo quickly dismissed. “I’m making my way out too.”

“What about the Wraith, then?” Nera questioned scathingly.

“It’s more important to get the train moving.” Iyo explained calmly. “I’m sure there will be security at such a high profile event more than capable to take care of this problem.”

While Nera considered the option, Xalia shook her head dismissively. “Now, that just won’t do. If we let someone else interfere, that could get in the way of my payday by them taking the credit. I can’t have that after just getting my entire workshop destroyed.”

“And what do you just suggest we do instead, then?” Iyo asked while dodging behind a cushioned seat to avoid another wild rush from the Specter.

“Simple. A collaborative mixture of the both of us. I’ll lay as many bubbles as I can around the monster, then you set them off with your Mystic Trait.” Xalia detailed her highly dangerous plan as if it werenot filled with glaring holes. Aside from Nera, the other two had just barely managed to avoid its chaotic tail lashings by staying as far away as possible from it for as long as possible. Going in close enough to set and ignite a bunch of Xalia’s bubbles was a tall mountain to ascend compared to that.

“I’m not going along with this ill-conceived plan. I’ve made vows I need to keep, and I’m not risking my life by relying on someone I can barely trust...” Iyo refused.

In response, Xalia’s shoulders slumped with a sigh. “If that’s the case, then there’s no way I can change your mind. I’ll just-” The young Witch never finished her sentence and instantly sprinted toward the giant serpentine monster. She leaped in a zigzag pattern from the top of the seats as the Fossegrim’s serpentine body continued to thrash wildly in all directions.

Simultaneously, she was drawing circular Sigils in the air to spawn numerous bubbles to dot her trail as she made her way to the beast’s head.

Nera watched on in awe, Xalia had to be minimally using her aura to enhance her physical abilities due to Fossegrim’s power, but she was still able to move almost as well as Nera was. On top of that, being able to chant, draw Sigils, and move swiftly was a feat unto itself. Just what kind of intense training had she gone through? Was that level of skill not pushing her limits?

Nera inhaled sharply. “Above you! Watch out!” A chandelier hanging from the ceiling had snapped away completely and was now falling right down toward Xalia. Heeding Nera’s words, Xalia vaulted off the portion of Fossegrim’s tail she was on, using it like a springboard. Her long blue hair whooshing as she headed directly to its main body while airborne.

The Witch had the idea to place her last bubble somewhere she knew it would definitely, seriously hurt. As if in defiance, Fossegrim dug into the strings of his lyre fiercer than ever before, until even its own fingers bled, and that crimson liquid spread to all the strings of its instrument. With a high-pitched shriek, it raked its claws across the lyre, and five diagonal blades of blood came flying at Xalia at a tremendous speed.

‘Using its power on itself, that’s a cheap trick. That makes us even.’ Xalia thought right before she bounded off a bubble she had conjured at her feet that exploded in tandem with her movements to propel her even further and faster.

Straightening out her body, the young woman watched nonchalantly as razor-sharp blades of blood whizzed past her eyes. With a twirl of her wrist, she placed one last explosive water sphere inside the maw of the Wraith. She returned to the ground on her feet, only to be hit with intense spasms of pain that made her fall to her knees. In that brief instance, the blades had cut through a sliver of the back of both her calves. She could get back up soon, but she would not have the time with Fossegrim’s claws right on top of her.

A streak of orange light sliced through the bubble still lodged in Fossegrim’s mouth. It left a winding trail that reached through every single one of the bubbles Xalia had set beforehand. At once, they all exploded with a blinding light. Xalia shielded herself from the strong blast of air with her arm.

When she uncovered her eyes, Xalia found the Wraith crashing down to the floor, its mouth fuming with smoke as it landed to the ground with a thunderous noise that shook the entire car. Gaping wounds akin to that one now covered Fossegrim’s entire body. It would soon disappear into nothingness, just like all other Specters.

“Heh.” Xalia chuckled as she got to her feet. “I knew you’d find a way to help regardless of what you said.” Despite her words, Iyo stood nowhere next to her. In fact, he was still at the same spot he was when she broke out in her reckless charge. Iyo raised his hand to catch the spinning knife he had thrown a moment prior.

“Being able to hit all of them from a distance wasn’t something I considered beforehand. You had no way of knowing if I could pull it off, so why would you trust me to do so?” Iyo questioned as he and Nera began walking over.

“I guess I just wanted to confirm what type of person you are in a do-or-die moment. I think I’m finally getting a taste of the real you.” Xalia mused cryptically.

“Enough of your blabbering, we’re going to the engine room and getting this train moving.” Nera took the reins and headed in front of Xalia and Iyo to the next car.

“What about the other two?” Iyo asked, and Nera realized Nathan and Connor had gone missing amidst the confusion.

“Those idiots!” Nera growled while raking her fingers through her hair. “Change of plans, we need to go and find them!” She tried to turn back, but Iyo stopped her with a raised hand.

“We still need to check on the train operators, and they knew the consequences of leaving this car. Everyone has their own reason to be in this fight, it seems they’re just following their own.”

Nera’s widened in thought before her brows furrowed in a sour expression. “Ugh, fine. Let them die at the bottom of the ocean or whatever. Let’s go already!”’ She turned back to where she was headed initially with Xalia while Iyo voiced that he would stay behind to make sure Fossegrim was truly finished off. It was taking too long to disintegrate for his liking.

***

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“It’s as I said. The rest of the Concealers are after Katelyn for becoming a participant in the The Sword in Stone Festival. They fear her involvement in it could motivate certain city officials into training other Craftless for using magical tools. That’s not a future that would be good for anyone.” Tierney explained coldly. Katelyn seemed saddened by her blunt explanation. All this time, she had been working for the good of her troupe and the people that made it up and now, apparently, that was putting a target on their leader’s back.

“Even if that’s the case, do you really need to kill Nathan? If you want Katelyn to stop, I’m sure she’d much rather do that than going to that ridiculous extreme.” Allen argued fiercely.

Tierney rebutted, ”I would if that was an option I was given, but my superiors are not the type to take any chances. All I could muster was convincing them that if Nathan was taken care of, then the troupe would blame Katelyn and strip her of the Mermaid’s Teardop. The Concealers had already been scrutinizing the former Uncrowned King for quite some time, this is just the moment they’ve been waiting for.”

Allen groaned. “If that’s the case, then you should’ve pushed for a third option anyway. You said it yourself, those higher-ups you’re talking about could take an interest in Katelyn’s talent. They gotta have the power to end this.” The young man turned to Katelyn for back up, but she averted his gaze.

“I’m not sure I’m ready to go up on stage anymore. If so much is at stake, I don’t think my parlor trick will matter. I can’t even actually summon a Spirit, remember?” Katelyn said pessimistically.

Allen’s will faltered. If even the person he was fighting for did not believe in their goal, he was not sure what he was hoping to accomplish. In the end, whether this matter was resolved peacefully even after this fight would rely on Katelyn, not him.

“Even so…” Allen thought back to the reason he had become a sorry excuse for a detective. Nera had gotten caught up in forces way beyond him, vying for a power that could warp this city unrecognizably. Even if they managed to get a Theurgist’s Periapt to rid Nera of her curse, he still could not be sure that she would be safe. However, he still wanted to at least give her that choice. “...that’s the least I can do.”

“I know I won’t be able to fix everything on my own but, I’ll at least give her the opportunity to decide what she wants to do next. Taking care of the Fossegrim is the job she requested of us, after all.” Allen spoke resolutely, and Tierney simply readied her bow once more.

“Looks like you can’t be swayed. I hoped I could change your mind. Oh well, that’s the hubris of youth.” The elven archer let loose another volley of arrows that Allen blocked with his vortex of his wind.

“You don’t seem that wise either, whether you looked your age or not.” Allen sprinted toward Tierney as she continued her onslaught of spirit birds that could pierce through steel with their beaks.

“You say you want to protect Katelyn, but I haven’t heard a word about how she’ll feel once you ruin her dream right before her eyes!”

Tierney grimaced and shoved her indignation down her throat. She could not allow this outsider, this novice, to get to her. Even if Katelyn hated her and had to start from zero once again, that was better than her being killed. What could someone as weak as her powerless apprentice offer to the ones who ran everything? She would be nothing more than a mere object of curiosity.

As Allen closed the gap again, the vortex would soon dissipate, leaving him open. Tierney was counting on that.

Right before that could happen, Allen spoke again with the knowledge he would not have much time to do so once his shield disappeared. “Katelyn, what do you want to choose? However small that possibility is, I’ll grasp hold of it!”

As they locked eyes, he could see a resolve pass through the young woman’s eyes and she gestured as best she could while cuffed to an armrest. It was directed to a spot on one of the seats next to Tierney.

With a gust of air, the whirlwind that defended Allen vanished, but instead of diving toward Tierney like she anticipated. He snatched a pair of objects resting on a seat beside her, the Mermaid’s Teardrop and its bow.

He lobbed them in Tierney’s direction, and she paused her firing and avoided the two. Angered that he would use such a cowardly tactic to throw her off, Tierney chanted as Allen rushed forward with his silvery axe in hand. The crack along its blade had grown even wider and splintered.

“Command: Augment!” Tierney shot at the floor instead of Allen, and a field of towering spikes erupted from the ground and attempted to impale the young man. He coated his entire body in aura like Helena had taught him and guarded his chest with his axe. But no matter how much he tried, he could not stop himself from being thrust out of the car and into the open ocean. He was sent flying for over a dozen meters before eventually coming to a stop.

Suspended in the ocean next to the stationary train, Allen pondered his situation. ‘I must still be within the Mirage if I’m not drowning by now, but how do I get close to her with that swiss army supply of arrows?’ He thought while floating in the water. The outer edge of the Mirage was still breathable but felt like regular water. It was a one-of-a-kind experience Allen was amazed by.

He shook his head to get out of the trance, “Alright, enough admiring the scenery.” Allen reached to the card deck. “Eject Slot 2!”

He pulled out another card and infused it with the Mandrake Stone this time. The resulting weapon that he drew resembled one of the Specter’s vines just like Allen had hoped for.

“Huh?” Out of the corner of his eye, Allen caught sight of a familiar woman made of pure gold.

She was the same figure he had seen when he encountered the Mandrake all those days ago, except this time, she spoke.

“Wait, your eyes…you can see me?!” The golden woman from Allen’s memories called out to him. He gawked at her before regaining his ability to speak after that shock.

“I thought you were just an illusion. Are you some kind of Spirit instead?” Allen asked, dumbfounded.

“A Spirit..you mean like a ghost?” The transparent entity raised a finger to chin in confusion. “Hmm, I suppose that every stone has a lingering dream left behind that recalls something or someone important to the dreamer.”

The lines on Allen’s forehead creased as he tried to understand the cryptic words. “Sorry, I didn’t understand half of that. Who are you exactly?”

“...I’m what was left behind of a possibility that was never achieved, or maybe one that was never attainable in the first place.” The golden woman answered solemnly.

“Uh, I meant what’s your name?” Allen said frankly. He gave up on trying to understand the entity’s nature but wanted something to call them by anyway.

‘Ah, sorry I got lost in my own ramblings.” The spectral figure visibly blushed while Allen desperately hoped this was not just a hallucination brought upon by oxygen deprivation with him actually drowning in the middle of the ocean. “If it’s a name you’re looking for then call me Flos.”

“Flower, huh? I didn’t expect a whatever-you-are to know Latin.” Allen commented to a surprised Flos before preparing a return back to the train. “Nice chat but I’ll have to get back to another conversation I was having.”

Allen tried flinging the whip at the train car but it only flailed in the space in front of him. Unfortunately, whatever power it held was not an extension ability like Allen wanted.

“Ah, I think I get what you’re trying to do,” Flos murmured before hatching an idea. “I wonder if this will work.”

“If what will wor-” Allen was interrupted by his whip shooting out toward the Subatlantic Express.

Meanwhile, Tierney was watching out for any possible avenue of attack from Allen. The half-elf reasoned he could not return too quickly since he would need to swim back. She was not expecting the blur of speed that came launching at her instead.

A green whip reached into the open-air train car and grabbed hold of one the seats before pulling Allen in quickly. He came back with a flying kick that Tierney swiftly avoided, but he did not skip a beat and immediately rushed at her with his silver handaxe once more. The elven archer unleashed a volley of arrows with a single shot that was deflected by a third wind vortex.

Crack.

Allen was just about to close the distance when his weapon shattered into pieces and he was left completely exposed.

“Go that way!” In a voice only Allen could hear, Flos commanded the vine-whip to pull the teen out of the way of the remaining spirit arrows.

“So, you can freely control my weapon however you want to?” Allen asked Flos from a seat he was dragged behind.

“If you think about it, the whip originally came from my stone, right?” Flos bashfully explained.

Allen tilted his head in pondering. “Fair point, you think you could keep pulling me out of danger?” He asked while the back of the seat was pelted by another barrage of ethereal projectiles.

“Sure, it shouldn’t be much of a problem. The whip feels like an extension of myself.”

Allen nodded as Tierney began another chant to switch the nature of her arrows.

“Command: Transform”

Figuring this one the best chance to attack, Allen burst out from behind the seat he was using as a shield. He drew out another card and infused it with his penultimate specter stone, the one that was dropped by the Warg. This weapon took on the form of an oddly-shaped dagger that resembled the fang of a giant wolf.

When Tierney fired off another army of spiritual projectiles, Allen stirred the magical energy in his weapon and it created a suction effect that pulled the countless arrows to the tip of the dagger. With a twirl of his wrist, he sent them all headed back to the archer they shot them.

Tierney nimbly sidestepped the attacks and changed to an entirely different Spirit with the words. “Run: Naut Command: Transform”

At this point, Allen had realized that “Run” referred to the Spirit she was switching to while “Command” specified whether the arrows would change shape or whatever they hit would. If he remembered correctly, “Naut” was going to be a Spirit different from any of the ones he had seen before.

Exactly as he inferred, a raging dark red bull manifested from the next arrow that Tierney let loose. Allen tried to alter the trajectory of this projectile as well only to be sent backward as soon as the bull’s horn hit the tip of his wolf-toothed dagger. It was like he had been caught on the bull’s horns and dragged along on its reckless charge.

“Flos!” Allen called out and she immediately responded back.

“On it! Hang on and I’ll try not to crush your wrist!”

“Wait, what do you mean?”

Worried, Allen felt the vine wind around his wrist tightly before it stretched around the leg of one the seats to prevent him from being carried all the way back to the other end of the car. He held on for dear life as the whip flung him back toward Tierney. Thinking quickly, Allen picked up some debris from the ground with his dagger’s suction ability.

After another bull-arrow came his way while in mid-air, he had it hit the debris he was carrying which whisked them off in the direction of the bull’s charge instead of him. Surprised, Tierney was left open as Allen landed right in front of her.

She tried to back away but Allen used the dagger to pull her in instead.

“I got you-” Allen’s eyes widened as he noticed what was in his sight. A young woman dressed similar to Tierney except with brown hair and hazel eyes like grain. Her freckled face was further blemished by a spray of blood that covered the upper half of her body.

His mouth hung speechlessly and faltered before he could reach Tierney. Right where he would have struck there was already a gaping hole. The strength faded from his arm wielding the weapon that could make that same wound.

Crack.

His dagger shattered along with the vision he was being shown. Tierney’s figure returned to take back its place while Allen halted to a stop. Tierney already had her bow drawn ready and aimed directly.

“Dammit..what’s happening?” Allen snapped but Tierney ignored his odd behavior. She was going to let loose another slew of arrows and the young man closed his eyes shut reflexively. After a few seconds, he realized nothing had happened and unsealed his eyelids.

“How did you get behind me? I restrained you to your seat.” Tierney asked in a strained and anxious voice. Holding her razor-sharp bow to her throat was none other than Katelyn. Her sleep-deprived eyes were uncharacteristically fierce with determination as she reversed positions with Tierney as captor and captured.

“Just like you, I’ve always been underhanded since the beginning. I never needed to be taught how to be unnoticed or unfazed.” Katelyn stated with an eerily matter-of-fact tone. Before joining the Verre Chateau, she had been left to fend for herself through pickpocketing, shoplifting, and other means that would lead to a dead-end if she ever allowed herself to be caught. For those reasons and more, the young woman lacked even the capacity to be hindered by fear or nervousness when the moment called for her engrained skills. That was in part why she was chosen by the Mermaid’s Teardrop.

With Allen still in the sights of a bow as well and Tierney’s neck on the line, a bead of sweat appeared on the young man’s brow. “I finally understand what a hostage situation feels like firsthand. Lucky me.”