The Black Lotus | Vol.1, The Eldenarian Artifacts ✓

14.

Makaela was not a fan of the subway station.

It was nosy, smelly, and busy. Very busy. It felt like the entire neighborhood was down there. After the trio stepped off the escalator, they stopped at the bottom. Big mistake. They caught a few shoulders and elbows to the back, along with some dirty looks to match.

With her eyes narrowed, she glared at the people milling about.

Not only were ordinaires strange, but they were rude as well.

Shaking her head, she stepped off to the side to seek refuge from the crowd ambling toward the metal behemoths screeching through the brick-walled tunnel.

Colorful posters decorated the walls. Some of them even moved-almost like magic. Makaela marveled at the images as they passed by like a slideshow. Faces of children playing in a field met her eyes. She smiled. A map of the subway station, including the routes the trains took, hung off to the side.

"Maybe we should start here," she suggested.

Remy nodded. "Good thinking." Rubbing his chin, he studied the map, his tongue sticking out the side of his mouth like it always did when he was concentrating. "We need to be heading west. The farthest this thing can take us is into a place called...Cote-Vertu?"

Makaela had no idea where that was. Judging by the bewildered look on Sebastian's face, he didn't either.

"If it's east, we'll go there then," he said while scratching the top of his head. "We can figure something out once we're there."

"Maybe the train ride will give us some time to think," Makaela said.

"Agreed."

The two of them nodded. It wasn't a plan, but it was better than nothing. Getting to Hodvekt was their only objective. They would get there by any means necessary.

"Now, we just need to get on the..." He peered at the map again. "The orange line, I guess." He turned toward the rest of the subway station behind them. "Er, there's a whole lot of colors. Where's the orange one?"

"I dunno," Makaela replied. "Let's go find out."

She took off into the crowd, following the ordinaires as they made their way through the station. Sebastian and Remy rushed behind her, struggling to keep up as she weaved between people.

The subway station was a wide cavern made out of red brick and grey concrete. Long fluorescent lights stretched across the curved ceiling. Glowing signs hung from the ceiling. A chasm of metal tracks, pistons, and other machinery divided the space into two sides. She watched as a train rolled to a stop in the center of the tunnel. The metal doors slid open. People exited onto the far side, while people on the side nearest to her stepped on.

Her eyes lit up. That's where they needed to be.

Up ahead, a booth-guarded by turnstiles and two uniformed people who Makaela assumed were police officers on either side-cut off the station from the trains on the other side. She screwed her face at the sight.

As she got closer, she saw people dropping in coins into a slot next to the turnstiles. Others wielded small cards, using them to grant them access to the rest of the subway. Makaela's steps faltered.

She didn't have either of those.

"We have to pay to get in," she hissed at Sebastian, who had arrived at her side seconds before.

He cursed. "I don't have money."

"Yeah, I know."

Remy grinned. "What did I tell you guys earlier? We don't need money." His impish face made him look like a cunning little leprechaun.