The clanking sounds from train’s wheels were heard as Nightingale was deep into his thoughts, with his head leaning against the window. His eyes stared blankly into the clouds.
He and his companions were back on track in their quest and were on their way to their next destination, Glastonbury. The home to the legendary burial of the King of Knights, Arthur, as so the locals had believed it to be.
He shrugged off his thoughts, pulling himself away from the window. He began looking around in his surroundings.
He found himself sitting inside a cabin with the boys fast asleep, snoozing as they hugged their bags tightly against their chests as pillows for comfort.
He slowly rose from his seat at the far corner of the cabin. Slowly and carefully stepping over the boys’ legs, he headed for the door. He exited through and closed it quietly behind him as he had no intention of disturbing their sleep.
Nightingale had intended for a stroll along the corridor, heading towards the far back of the train compartment for some fresh air, but had stopped midway to check the girls in their cabin.
He took a glance through the small windows on the door and saw that all the girls except Arielle were fast asleep. She was leaning against the window, with her eyes staring blankly through as she was deep in thought.
Nightingale gave three gentle taps on the cabin’s door, grabbing Arielle’s attention. Her head slowly turned towards him, her fingers brushing her hair away so that she could get a better view. He quietly pushed the door open, enough for his voice to go through.
“May I come in?” He asked her softly without disturbing the other’s sleep.
She gave him a quick nod in reply before looking away, back at the window.
Nightingale quietly entered through the cabin’s door and closed it behind him. He slowly moved towards the empty seat next to Arielle, who seemed to be shy. He realised that he never heard a single word from her. He sat down in the seat and took a glance at the two sleeping girls who sat on the opposite seat. Alicia had even brought along a small pillow with her. Shuen, on the other hand, was sleeping in a sitting position with her head leaning back against the wall, wearing an eye mask.
Although she slept in a straight and proper form, her soft snores gave it away. He looked back at Arielle and saw her still leaning against the window, her eyes staring blankly through it as if she was worried and was deep in her thoughts.
“Thinking of something? I’m all ears if you want to talk about it.” Nightingale asked her and before she was able to give a reply, Shuen let out a loud snore, leaving him with a baffled face.
“Well, who would've thought she'd be this type of person in her sleep.” He joked, his face still baffled by her sudden loud snore.
He heard a soft giggle coming from his side and saw Arielle giggling, her cheeks blushing red. A smile grew on his face as he had finally succeeded in grabbing her attention as she had seemed to be hiding behind her shyness.
He waited for her to finish giggling before giving her another question, but was stopped instantly by her reply.
“There is something that has been worrying me recently.” She replied with a soft voice, a calming voice that was able to send warmth into his skin.
“And what was it?” Nightingale asked her.
“I don’t feel like I belong here, travelling with everyone. You could easily tell that I’m inexperienced in mixing with large groups of people, as I always end up being unable to join in with their conversations." She stopped, her fingers digging into the seat.
"I promised that ever since the day he had saved me, giving me another chance in life. I want to change."
"Saved you? From what?" Nightingale asked with a confused and stunned look.
"Don't you know how Nick died?" She answered with a question.
"Of course I do, he died in a midst of a storm, by an electric cable that electrocuted him when he was saving a girl." He answered.
"And I was that girl—" She answered once again but with a strong and saddened voice.
Nightingale's eyes widened as he realised that he did not catch a glance at the girl's face who he had saved. It was only in a spur of the moment that forced him into saving her.
"—And these past two years, I haven't done nothing to improve. And I don't want to waste the life he had traded me for!"
Tears began dripping off her cheeks as Nightingale felt the burden of responsibility on his shoulders. Never he had dreamt of saving a person's life would come with consequences. But he understood that it is his responsibility to face it.
"But there's still a flame burning deep inside you. Feelings of you still wanting to change. I doubt he would ever resent in saving you. At most, if he's still here he'd say, "But you did manage to change. You've finally begun to open yourself, to express the feelings that you once hid." "
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"Isn't that the reason why you came along?" He asked.
"I wanted to start a new life; a life where I can express myself without worrying of rejection. But I just can't. . ."
"I'm scared that I'd end up being a burden," Arielle replied as she slowly wiped her tears with her wrists.
Nightingale rested his head back against the wall as he stared into the ceiling.
"You wouldn't be a burden. Not to me, and not to anyone." He assured her.
"Everyone who came along this journey has almost the same reason as you do; a chance to start a new. Well, maybe some might have come for the fun of it. And others came to run away from their regret."
"But what makes it special, is that all your reasons are connected in a sense; because of Nick."
“I once too wanted to start anew, to let go of my past and try out new and different things. That is how I became a founder of this expedition, and that is how our journey began.” He said in a gentle voice and gave her his smile.
“So don’t worry too much about it, we’re all here giving our best trying to lead a new life. So just try and open yourself to them. We’re all strangers in these parts of the world, so let's try our best and be a family of friends.” Nightingale finished his words and began rising slowly to leave the girl's cabin.
“I will,” She said at last as she was moved by his words.
Alicia slowly closed her eyes and went back to sleep. She had only been pretending asleep and been wide awake ever since Nightingale first entered their cabin.
Thoughts suddenly started springing into her mind as she began wanting to know Nightingale's true identity.
"Who actually is he? Why does it feel like he's someone I should know? What is this eerie feeling in my chest every time I see him?" She wondered.
It was in the late afternoon when they arrived at the fields of Glastonbury Abbey. Nightingale stood, watching his crew running excitedly ahead as they led the way towards a ruined chapel.
He took a step forward to join them but as he did, he felt his sleeve being tugged from behind. He looked over his shoulder and saw Arielle hiding behind him.
It would seem that she was still feeling anxious and shy to join the rest.
Nightingale pitied her as he let out a small sigh with a smile on his face.
“C’mon, let’s go join the others.” He said as they walked towards them as they were gathered around a memorial.
“So when did you two grew closer?” Pee Aun asked Nightingale with a mischievous smile as he saw Arielle walking close by him.
“When you were busy snoring your ass off in the train,” He replied.
“Go on ahead and join them.” He said as he gave her a small push towards the rest who had gone deeper into the ruined chapel.
“You should know her better than I do, she’s a shy one that is." He said as he watched her go.
"But she's trying her best to change, so do me a favour and help her out in that," Nightingale asked him as he gave a small pat on Pee Aun's shoulder.
"Will do," Pee Aun replied with a quick nod before leaving to join the rest.
Nightingale took a step towards the memorial that the others had gathered around. He saw a frame that had been buried on the ground with a sign placed in the middle. He could easily tell that it was the said grave of King Arthur as his eyes scanned through the words that were written on the sign as it said;
SITE OF KING ARTHUR'S TOMB.
IN THE YEAR 1191 THE BODIES OF
KING ARTHUR AND HIS QUEEN WERE
SAID TO HAVE BEEN FOUND ON THE
SOUTH SIDE OF THE LADY CHAPEL . . .
A stern look was drawn on his face as he carefully read the sign, before moving away to join the others. He shook his head in disappointment as he still reminisced of wanting to visit this tomb in his past life when he was younger. But his excitement in visiting here had died away ever since he knew that King Arthur’s real tomb was elsewhere.
As Nightingale took a step into the ruins to join the others, he felt a strange yet familiar vibration that sent a tremor through his body. He had been here before in his preparation for the expedition.
He had surveyed the sites, finding the path that would lead him towards Avalon.
He began walking straight past his crew and went deeper into the ruined chapel. His crew began following him in return.
He stopped without a sudden notice and stood, staring into a brick wall.
“Found something?” One of the boys asked him as he turned around to face them.
“A door,” Nightingale replied with a sneer of confidence.
“Pull out your smartphones and flashlights, it’s going to be pitch black down there.” He said as he switched on his torchlight before disappearing through the wall.
The others were shocked to see him disappear, as they hastily began pulling out their flashlights.
“I'm never going to get used to seeing that,” Darren stated to himself before following through. Soon, the others started taking turns going through it.
Past the illusionary wall, Nightingale found that the stairway continued deeper into the ruined chapel. As the set of steps ended, he flashed his torchlight around the darkness and found himself in a room that seemed to be an empty cellar filled with dust and cobwebs.
“Strange,” he thought as he placed the torchlight on the ground in an angle that brightened up most of the cellar after which he went ahead to investigate.
“I knew the last time I came here I felt traces of magic originating from this point,” he thought, before noticing markings that were covered in dust on the cobbled floor near the centre of the cellar.
He went closer and slowly knelt down on the dusty floor before wiping a speck of off it with his finger.
He heard the others’ footsteps draw closer behind him as they joined him in the empty cellar.
“There’s nothing here.” Pee Aun said disappointedly as he flashed the light from his smartphone all over the cellar. They took a step closer to join Nightingale before they were halted by his hand.
Nightingale gathered his breath before blowing away the dust that had covered the floor on which the markings were, revealing incantations that were written in Ancient Welsh drawn onto the cellar’s floor.
“Switch off your flashlights,” Nightingale ordered them as they quickly proceeded, turning off their torches and devices, all but his torchlight that he had placed down. He reached for the torchlight that was not far behind him without moving away from where he stood.
He brushed away the dust that had covered the connecting incantations away from the floor, revealing that the incantations were linked in the large shape of a circle.
“A magic circle,” he gasped in surprise as the others took a step back to view the circle of incantations.
“What’s a magic circle doing in here? What’s it for?” Shuen asked out of curiosity.
“This is a transfer circle,” Nightingale said at last.
"But how would this help us if we don't know where we want to go, it can't just simply send us straight to Avalon, can it?" asked Telvinder.
“Of course it wouldn't. Don't mix up a transfer circle with a teleportation circle. They're both different things. A transfer circle is connected to another, and would only be able to send us to its connected location. It’s more of a door that links between rooms than a spell that brings you anywhere you wish to go to.” He replied as he waved them over to come closer.
“Quickly, gather around me.” He said as he waited for them to gather near him before switching off his torchlight and leaving them standing within a pitch black cellar as he began chanting.
“Anadlwch a gadael fyw hud o fewn y cylch hwn.” Nightingale chanted in Welsh as the magic circle started glowing in a bright colour of blood red, as holographic runes started slowly appearing, circling around them. Its magic was similar to the magic that Nightingale had previously used, but now on a much larger scale.
“O corneli y Bydysawd i wyneb y Ddaear. Mynd â ni i'r bedd y Brenin mawr! Mynd â ni i'r man geni y Cleddyf Sanctaidd! Cymerwch ni i Avalon!” He ended his chant with a roar as their surroundings began to shake.
As if responding to his roar, the runes revolved around them with increasing intensity, quickly surrounding them with a red wall. The circle glowed even more resplendently, bathing them in its colours.
Their blood roared as sweat beaded on their forehead, nervous of their happenings.
The blood red circle began spinning, quickly dissolving into a spinning hole, leading to lands unknown. They could only gasp as the hole swallowed them in whole, fading away. With an air of finality, the runes disappeared away where the cellar was once again left in darkness.