The Unseen Road

Chapter Six

The next morning, the girls woke up perfectly aware of their surroundings, fully conscious of what was to await them that day. The sunlight filtered in from the east through the open windows of the tree-hut, greeting them in just as normal a way as it would the residents of the village of Glenia.

However, the girls knew that it was far from normal.

Kylie, having been the first to wake up, was sitting up on her straw cot with a simple ceramic cup of tea that had been delivered to her early that morning, with a breakfast of stew awaiting her on the center table, billowing steam, just as Beatrice had had the night before. Her face was blank and deep in thought. Anxiety, having gnawed at her throughout the night, had caused her to wake up even before the sun; but, since then, she had at least had enough time to calm down and try to think over her situation, their situation, with a level head- for that seemed to be her only choice.

The other girls, more or less, got up at the same time after that, when the sun had finally risen.

"... Are you ready?" Celeste asked her sister from the other side of the hut before she took her meal from the table with Mina, not even having to rub her eyes or wipe away the remnants of sleep which, in different conditions, would still have clung to her.

Kylie looked up, slightly startled by her sister's voice. "I don't think I can ever really be ready for something like this," she replied with a wan smile, directing her attention back down to her cup. "But we have to do this. To go home."

Mina looked on from the small table, unable to find anything of her own to say. Beatrice, however, pushed away her thin bedsheets with enthusiasm. Being the last to wake up, she wasn't exactly refreshed, but she was eagerly awaiting the events of the morning. "Nothing's going to happen if we only look at it like that! We just have to tackle it and enjoy this. But unfortunately, I agree with you; we sure can't stay here... Unless..."

"Unless what?" Kylie asked, rolling the cup in between her palms.

"Unless we become stronger and we're able to stay here for a while longer," Beatrice finished, eyes shining in a sort of crazed way, as if she had made the revelation herself as she said it.

"What are you talking about?" Kylie asked as she stopped her fidgeting, almost dropping her cup. Celeste looked at her neighbor with piqued interest.

"What's the point of going through all this trouble if we just take a one-way street home? Then we'll leave this world forever and it'll all be fucking stupid," Beatrice blurted in reply. "I mean... Mina, don't you want to find your cousin, too? We can't just take this so quickly and just... leave."

Mina jumped slightly at being addressed directly. It was too early in the morning for her to focus on making such an important choice. "Chase?" she replied in a miniscule voice, beginning to remember the reason she had come to the railroad in the first place. The idea could have been tempting to her, but she was being torn in two different directions...

Kylie looked over at Beatrice. "That's crazy. We can't live here, not even temporarily, if that's what you're saying. Beatrice..." she started off in a hardened voice, but then took it down a few degrees. "Beatrice... is there a reason you don't want to go home?"

Beatrice, antagonized by the question, gave no reply.

"All right," Celeste interjected at last, sensing an argument brewing. "This is all really confusing. But it's still early- I think we should just go and make our decisions."

Beatrice nodded. "Yeah, that's a good start."

Although Kylie knew that at the moment Beatrice didn't want to hear her voice, she said, "Elric is going to be here in half an hour. I think we should all get ready."