To Lose What You Found

Chapter 26

-Ace-

I really hope no one says anything. Not a single word.

"The city's gorgeous," Lux mumbles, leaning towards the window, the one in sitting next to. Both Ash and I agreed she should sit in the middle because, well, she's defenseless.

Our closeness is making me blush.

"Look at the way it glows," she mumbles more to herself than either of us. She scoots closer to me to where our legs are touching, but she doesn't notice how close she's getting. I wish she would.

Her eyes are full of wonder, lit up with excitement. Beautiful, truly gorgeous.

"Oh I see the train," she says without much enthusiasm, but her eyes widen and a smile pulls at her lips. I resist the urge to mess with her hair as she sets her chin on the door.

I can't pull my eyes off of her.

"Look!" She says, sitting up and turning to me. A smile spreads across her face.

"Yes, the train is an iconic place in our district," I say, patting her head. She smiles brightly at me and waits for the taxi driver to park. Once he does, she yanks the door handle up and jumps out. She pulls me out with her, making me say, "Well you're suddenly super excited?" in a questioning tone, as a way of asking, what's got you so excited.

She smiles at me and says, "I was excited the entire time, I just feel more at ease now. Only a little though, I'm going through an internal meltdown."

"Oh? It's not too bad is it?" I ask, chuckling. She smirks at me and shakes her head, a flush rising on her cheeks.

I lean closer and hit her forehead with mine, making her stumble back a bit. She fights to keep back a smile, especially when she opens her mouth to speak.

"Okay, let's go," Ash says before Lux can speak. He doesn't wait for us before walking off in the direction of the entrance.

"Well he's certainly in a rush," I say, giving Lux a side eye. She scoffs and tries to hide the difficulty she's having with keeping up.

"Do you want me to carry you?" I offer, not stopping. Her face goes scarlet as she shakes her head fiercely.

She speeds up to a run and makes it to the doors before I even have the chance to ask again.

Hmm... the power of wanting to get away.

I smile to myself and run to the door after her and once I swing the doors open, I'm hit by surprise.

I step inside and gaze around at everything. The walls are covered in art that's carved into the colorful stone, and the floor beneath our feet looks like glass. I know it's not because that'd be incredibly stupid, but it sure looks breakable by one wrong movement.

On the ceiling are crystals similar to the ones on that awful hotel, but these ones emit a small glow. It sort of reminds me of colorful fireflies.

I want to point this out to Lux, but then I remember she's never been to the Royal City.

"Look how pretty those are," Lux says, pushing my arm and sending me back to reality. I smile and nod to her. She nods awkwardly before mumbling, "Well, we have to give out tickets in there."

She points to a little room set off in the distance with a gate behind it. Behind that is a shiny train.

"Come on," she says with a little more confidence. She grabs my wrist and pulls me to follow her. I let her pull me to the little check-in –that Ash is already at– but I can't help but say, "Do you not think I could go on my own."

She smirks over her shoulder and says, "No, you're just a child."

"What are you doing?" Ash asks, annoyed before we make it to the check-in and before I can continue to mess with Lux.

He shakes his head in disappointment and says, "We need to go!" He turns back around and pauses for a moment, but decides not to do whatever he was thinking of.

Thank goodness, I don't want to be picked up by that telekinesis.

"Lets go! I don't want to piss him off anymore," Lux says, before running. I smile at her and run behind her.

"Tickets please," someone behind the glass says before we even make it there. Lux shoots me a look over her shoulder as she pulls her ticket from a pocket in her pants. She turns around and sticks her hand out, giving them the ticket.

I wait behind her and listen to clicks, taps, and tips before whoever's behind the glass hands Lux another ticket and some sort of wrist band.

When she's done putting the wristband on, she walks to Ash. I hand my ticket through the little slot in the glass, not taking my eyes off the two.

When they're finished I rush over to Lux and Ash. Lux smiles excitedly, but Ash does a 180 and pushes the gate open.

"I can't believe I actually get to ride it!" Lux whispers before skipping all the way to the entrance.

‹-------------------------------------------------------------›

"Look how fancy it is!" Lux whispers, tracing the patterns on the velvety red couch in her compartment. Ash got two roomettes, she got her own but insisted on me coming to see it.

She smiles up at me before saying, "If you don't think it's fancy, it's 'cause you had the luxurious life,"

"It's nice..." I say, giving her a weak smile. She rolls her eyes as she pulls her legs into the couch. She hugs them and turns her attention to the window.

Outside you can see nothing but towns, well except for the city poking high in the back. Its colors light up the sky, making me curious as to what they look like at night.

"Aren't you going to go check out the rest of the train? Like the dining compartment? " I ask, pulling her attention away from the view.

She shrugs and mumbles something I can't understand.

"Are you going out there?' She asks, hopefulness slipping into her tone. I shrug and say, "Maybe, I'm a little tired."

She chews on her lip and looks down at the ground.

"Hey, just because I don't want to go out there, doesn't mean you should miss your once-in-a-lifetime experience," I say, standing up, "plus, Ash is out there."

She sighs, but before she can argue, I say, "It's completely your choice, I'm going to go get some rest."

She narrows her eyes at me as I slip out the door, making me laugh to myself.

Maybe I should test her...