Elliot: A Lucid Dream

10: Firan Train Station

"What do you mean, 'you can't release that information'? Isn't there a newspaper article or something that covers it? C'mon, everyone likes to talk about them!" Camille yelled at the ticket lady. Her hands were balled into fists and I saw that she was basically in a fighting stance. 

I grabbed her arm, still looking downwards. I could feel my face heating up. This was too much, even for Camille. "Camille, you're making a scene...P-please, maybe we could, uh, go somewhere else! I'm sure there are lots of options! Infernale, like you said!" I murmured, trying not to gather even more attention. 

"I'm sorry, Miss. The military of Infernale has instructed us not to speak about the Maras at this given time. They are resolving issues with what one of their members reported. Do not panic, our military as well as the governments of the other countries have this under con-"

"I don't care about what your military says!" Camille snapped, almost launching herself forward at the lady. I had to pull her back more, putting almost all of my strength into keeping her still. She was at least half a foot shorter than me, but she was essentially rooted to the ground. I pulled at her once more, but she barely even budged. 

"Miss, please either choose a location or I'm afraid I will have to throw you out." The lady's voice strangely remained calm, despite Camille's actions. It was actually quite admirable. 

"You can go with me! I'll fuckin'-"

"Camille!" I shouted suddenly. I had to remind myself not to look up. 

She paused, looking back at me, as if she had just remembered that I was still there. Camille took a few breaths and looked up at the lady. "Two tickets to Kaiton, please," She said in her sweetest voice.

I couldn't see the lady's reaction, but Camille, after a period of time, turned to me, holding a ticket. "This one's yours. We're going to Fa-Shizu, capitol of Kaiton. Good choice, huh?"

"Why?" I asked, keeping my voice low. We'd already attracted too much attention, judging by the hushed whispers all around us. I had to bend down now, just to avoid all of the eyes on me. 

"I'll tell you on the train. Come on. These tickets are for the next train out. We've got ten minutes before the train leaves. Keep your head down. Let's go!" 

Camille grabbed my hand and started pulling me along, weaving her way through the crowd. I bumped into countless people, some who stared at me, others who shouted and demanded apologies. I didn't even have enough time to apologize. Camille ran up the escalator and all the way to the gate for the train to Fa-Shizu.

I gasped for breath. I hadn't run that much since PE class all the way back in high school. Actually, I hadn't run that much willingly in my entire life. Thanks to Camille, I'd just remembered why I hadn't. My poor lungs were on fire. 

The train was boarding already, prepared to leave. Camille handed our tickets to the conductor. I avoided his eyes, closing my own whenever he looked at me. We slipped on, then chose an empty train compartment all the way in the back of the train. 

"Now can you tell me?" 

"Yeah," She replied. She took a deep breath, then started. "The closest thing I've ever seen to magic absorption is the Kaitonese Magic Trading Program. Well, to be more accurate, the closest thing that has been proven to work is the Magic Trading Program."

"What's that?"

"Some Kaitonese kids can sign up for the program and actually switch the type of magic they have. Like my air manipulation. If I wanted, I actually could switch that for water manipulation or something. It doesn't affect the amount of power you have, just the type, though. It might not be exactly Magic Absorption, but I think that, if we looked into their methods, we could figure something out."