Tearha: Deck of Clover

Chapter Fifteen: Legacy, Part One

"Are you Seks?" the little human girl asked.

The drakin smiled, fully conscious of the grin of his race seeming terrifying to some humans. The girl however, took no notice, or rather, did not seem to care.

"Yes," he replied. "I am he."

Barely his waist height, she stood on tip toes and held out a single stalk of viola. "Thank you for saving my uncle at Hirule's Holdings!"

He took to flower between his fingers, careful not to clip the stem with his claws. "You are very welcome, young lady."

The little girl bowed a final thanks and ran off to her parents who waited for her further down the platform. Seks twirled the flower in his had, looking at the petals move to the spin.

Trini Alquin practically tackled into his side with a hug. The girl's short red hair was the perfect foreground to welcome Fall. Her casual dressing of grey shirt, maroon pleated skirt, and basic shoes and puffy socks belied her tactile upbringing. And though he was a head taller, he felt she encompassed his whole world.

She gave him a sharp-chinned tomboyish smile before kissing him on the cheeks. "Is that girl trying to steal my boyfriend?"

"If she was, she'd have to try a lot harder." He returned her affection with a gentle nuzzling of her hair to which she giggled.

"Still, my boyfriend the hero."

The couple picked up their luggage and headed further down the station platform. Around them, commuters bustled to-and-fro as a steam engined locomotive pulled into the station with two long pull of its horn and the chugging of its pistons.

Longinus was the only train in Ciara at the time. A marvel of modern engineering and a testament to progress, the train ran the longest non-stop track in the world between Aleynonlia and Rubicum. Made of iron and copper melted down from weapons left from the war, with cabins of woods salvaged from the destruction, Loginus is a symbol of progress and peace over violence and conquerors.

While the eastern continent of Eltar had multiple trains, those ran on heat produced from biofuels and could only last for as long as there were solid fuels to burn. Longinus however ran on crystal energy. A train powered by magic required only mages of energy based elements to be stationed onboard to recharge the crystals. The success of the train had pushed forward a second track to be built, scheduled for the next year. However, until then, only one train leaves between the two country every other day.

Seks said, "Not a hero. I mean, Four-Chan was with me as well. Just lucky, or unlucky, to be there depending on how you view the thing." He rubbed the bump at the back of his head he had gotten from the fight.

They passed by their fellow schoolmates from other classes. Dolf was seeing his classmates off, the ban from participating in the tourney having taken full effect. However, he glanced at the passing Class C students and gave a curt nod of acknowledgement. The rest of Class A and B's students stared in a mixed of coldness and begrudging acceptance of their existence.

Shimona Zettai skipped up to the couple. "Wow. I've never seen them act so nice to us before. Are behemoths flying now?"

"Morning, Shimona," Trini greeted.

The two girls talked across Seks but the drakin did not mind. Trini continued holding on to his arms as they crossed the station towards the rest of their class already waiting at the end. Once they got close, Shimona split off from the two and ran forward excitedly to join their classmates.

"Is this your first time taking the trains too?" he asked.

"No," Trini solemnly replied. "My parents would take me with them on their trips to Rubicum when the train was first installed."