Before It Happens

Chapter VII

    Nueva was a town like none other. And by being like none other it was, of course, like every other dilapidated mountain town. It had a population somewhere just above the one-thousand mark, and had air so thin, most families who had children would move to the base of the mountain after childbirth. Nueva had never been a bustling town, the kind of place that formed from a couple families, each as lost as the one before. They had all settled down, and built a town. Evidently, "civilization" was a better term for what they were doing than "trying to live off of what they had packed onto the back or their horses". Nevertheless, the town had managed to flourish enough to wield several more generations of children. That is, enough to survive into the twenty-first century. Granted, most people in the town still didn't have a good wi-fi connection, and cell phone service wasn't even available from most carriers, but that didn't stop Nueva from continuing to live-- a sort of nucleus of civilization, built and sustained on the idea of camaraderie and family ties.

    Or at least, that was what the sign at the front of the train station said. Each town that the station had a train heading to, had a short description and advertising, hailing it as a hub of civilization and a historical landmark. Ash normally wouldn’t even had bother reading them, but Killian had coerced him to, talking about it was a special occasion and that they could learn a lot from. Honestly, Ash had just decided that it was best to follow Killian’s judgements (at least for the time being) and trust Seraph as much as he could bring himself to. Frankly, it was a bit difficult to do anything blindly, as he was a reporter and made a living off of finding out and telling other people the basic facts about situations. Yet there they stood, each one of them holding a train ticket as they stood on the paved platform that faced a single train track. One train to nine different routes. Who would have ever thought of such a thing?

    It wasn’t Ash’s place to ask, really. So he didn’t. If he had learned anything from the past two days in Marn, it was that (despite being a reporter) it was entirely too possible to ask too many questions.

    “So it’s two hours up.” Ash said, having decided to follow Seraph’s habit of saying questions as declarations. “We’ll spend some time there, and be back by eight.”

    Seraph nodded in wordless agreement.

    There was a loud bell, and she walked towards the train, presumably leading them there. Killian went first, and Ash trailed behind them. At the door, a man who looked far too wide to fit through the narrow opening stood and tore the tickets, handed back their stubs and tipping his comically large hat.

    "Here." Seraph said, leading them to an inconspicuous seat in the center of the train.

    Ash could only follow, taking a seat and glancing at Killian before leaning into the (uncomfortable, stiff, unforgiving) train cushion and letting out a tired sigh. "Why did no one mention Nueva?" He asked, deciding that he was getting tired of Killian constantly getting the first (and last) word.

    Seraph crossed her arms and legs at once, nodding all in a single, smooth, and decisive movement. Everything about her seemed to have that same air and nature to it; Seraph was a determined and decisive person. There was no wiggle room for indecision. "No one speaks of Nueva in Marn, because it is considered a..." She hesitated, searching for the right term. "A four letter word, yes? It is derogatory. To speak of Nueva in Marn is to insult oneself. Does that make sense to you?"

    Both of the men nodded.

    "But why is it so?" Killian asked, in a formal manner.

    He was taking notes, Ash realized. Even as they were being semi-abducted by some mysterious, white-haired girl, Killian was doing his job. He was gathering information.