When I wake, the small window in my room remains dark. We must not be out of the tunnel yet. I stumble my way to the bathroom, still groggy with sleep. I haven't slept that hard in years. I splash water on my face and grab my sword from beside my bed, exiting into the hallway. Walking into the dining car, I'm surprised to see no one. I thought one of them would be making breakfast. Maybe I slept longer than I meant to.

The kitchen is relatively sparse. A small gas-powered stove and icebox sit beside a countertop. There are a few skillets but not much else. I open the icebox to find it filled with food. There are several weird-shaped plants, some sort of yellow bread, various types of black-colored meat, and green eggs. I hesitantly reach for the eggs and inspect them. " Why are they green?" I mutter. Scratching my head, I grab one of the skillets and turn the stove on. I haven't used a gas stove in a while. Everything in Calypso is powered by P-cores. Kinda weird they would use one on a moving vehicle.

Using the fat in the fridge to coat the skillet, I crack the eggs open to find the yolk a dark green. Is this safe to eat? I poke it as it cooks. Everything seems fine. With a shrug, I finish the eggs and hunt for a while, eventually finding a fork. With a sigh, I plop down at one of the white cloth-covered tables and start eating—eggs aren't half bad. As I sit there and eat, I reflect on everything that's transpired. I'm happy to finally get away from Calypso, but I'm not sure what I've got myself into. It's clear those three don't trust me, and the feeling is mutual.

I just wish someone would tell me more about what I will be doing. All this mystery and hesitant action is pissing me off. We're not in some damn mystery novel. I sigh heavily and move to wash my dish. This train has to have some answers. Maybe the library? Surely, not all of the books are in that strange language. I finish in the kitchen and walk into the library. I'm tempted to start looking for information but decide to ask Markus how much longer this tunnel will last.

"About an hour. Maybe a little less." He says, looking at a small clock. The face has one through twenty-eight in it. Sometimes, those twenty-eight-hour days feel like centuries. I thank him and head back to the library. Unsurprisingly, Azu Mi is there. She was so quiet I didn't notice her my first time through. I ignore her as I start taking down books and paging through them. As I go from book to book, I feel the frustration rising. Why is everything in this weird text? I shove the book in my hand back onto the shelf and plop down angrily onto one of the chairs.

"There is not anything here in common tongue," Azu says. I look over to see her book in her lap and gazing at me.

"What is this?" I motion to everything.

"That is Ruinc." I wait for her to elaborate, but she doesn't. Typical. I grunt in response and look at the shelves.

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She must have noticed my irritation as she shifts in her chair, "It is not something a regular person even knows exists. Even in End City. Maybe you'll learn to read it someday?"

I scoff and wave a hand dismissively, "I doubt it. That's something my brother would have loved. He was a real bookworm. I don't have the ability to learn a new language." Azu stares at me before opening her book.

"Do you defecate?"

..."What?"

"Do you take a shit?" She says, lowering her book.

"Uh..." That came out of nowhere. What a weird question. "No, I don't. I haven't needed to do that since Mirin put that core into me. It just never happens. Now that I think about it, I never really get hungry, either. I feel the pangs, but it's more like a reflex than an actual need."

She twirls her hair as she mutters something under her breath. I can tell she's about to ask me more uncomfortable questions, so I quickly exit the car into the observatory. I can't get a read on her. She's so... strange. Seriously, who randomly asks if you use the bathroom? I sit, putting my sword on my lap. I tinker with it, hoping I can figure a way to unsheath it when someone plops down beside me. I was expecting Azu to have followed me, but it was Zack. I was wondering where he and Hearon were.

He nods at the sword, "Mind if I see it?" I scrunch my eyebrows. I don't trust these people at all, so why should I give him my sword? Then again, he could probably send me through the train with a hard breath. Against my better judgment, I hand it to him. I expected the sword to weigh him down, but it doesn't. Even he looks surprised. "Interesting. " He says as he rubs his chin. He puts his finger on one of the lids to the cores and flips it open—the light green color of my flame core glistens.

Without hesitation, he flips the other two open and breathes in sharply. He motions to the cores, "Could you tell me about these?"

"Uh, sure." I list off the three cores and the known abilities.

"So a blood core, a flame core, and an unknown core that increses weight. Quite the collection you have. Honestly, I'm surprised this weapon can hold three cores. Especially considering one of these is a minor calamity core." He gazes at the dark gray core in the middle as he says this.

" What's that?"

He looks around quickly, "Maybe I shouldn't have said that." He pushes the sword back into my arms, "You know what, pretend we never had this conversation. If Alexander gets wind of me telling you classified information, it'll be my ass." He hurriedly exits the car leaving me more confused than ever. Who the hell is this Alexander guy? If only his name is enough to spook everyone on this train. I should have asked Markus about him.

I mull over this until the tunnel starts to light up. I look around until I'm blinded by the sunlight. "Ow!" I cover my face as sunlight pricks my eyelids. After several seconds of grimacing, I slowly open them. In front of me is a massive green field. It stretches out of sight in both directions, and I can't even see the mountains. Hills gently roll across the ground, giving the area an almost picturesque look to the field. I lean against the glass and notice grass about waist-high. But it looks wrong. It doesn't move.

I open one of the windows and hear a low humming—a haunting and relentless sound.

"That is the song of blades." A deep voice says behind me. Without me realizing it, all three strangers had walked into the car and were looking out the glass. "The grass is as sharp and hard as a steel sword. The grass vibrates when the wind blows through it, giving us this haunting yet beautiful melody," Hearon states.

I don't know if beautiful is the right word. Creepy is better. "You will learn to get used to it." He nods to Zack, and he moves to my other side. I tense unintentionally. Hearon clasps his hands together, "I must apologize in advance, Silen." He says sadly. I tilt my head, confused. "We must put you to sleep for now. Alexander will explain everything in due time." My eyes widen. They're ambushing me. I move to draw my sword, but I feel a prick in my neck, and everything goes dark.