Immortal Poison (FFXV)

Chapter 2

The train had stopped in Cartanica. Due to some minor problems with the tracks, they were delayed a couple of hours. Some people stood out in the scorching heat, while others remained on the train. Amethyst hung up her phone as she stepped outside.
       "Everything okay?" Ruby asked, handing her a bottle of water.
        "Yeah, everything's good. Thanks." Amethyst opened the bottle and drank. "...Can I ask you something?"
         "Yeah. What's up?" Ruby answered, strolling around the station with her.
         "...I-It's about Cor." Amethyst hesitated.
         Having heard their conversation on the boat, Ruby knew exactly what she was going to ask. She curled her lips inward, trying not to laugh, and then took a sip of her water.
         "What about him?" Ruby asked.
         "Are you guys-...Is there something going on between you two?" Amethyst slowly rolled the bottle between her hands.
         Ruby raised an eyebrow. "Something like what? Dating?"
         "M-maybe... Yes. Jasper said that you're Cor's woman." Amethyst explained.
         "Really?" Ruby snickered, as she turned Amethyst around and headed back towards the train.
         They found Jasper, Artemis, and Cor sitting in the dining car, where they left them. Ruby pushed Jasper's food aside, leaned on the table, and lifted his chin.
       "Let me make one thing very clear. Ruby belongs to Ruby. I don't think I need to remind you of what will happen should you forget. Got it?"
        "Y-Yes ma'am." Jasper's voice trembled, unsure of what was going on.
        "Perfect." She lowered his head and slid his food back in front of him. Just a second later, she was turned around and face to face with Cor.
         "We need to keep a low profile until we get back home. What the hell are you doing?" Cor asked in an annoyed, low tone.
         Ruby mirrored the tone in his voice. "Correcting a problem. The heat has everyone aggravated, so I don't think anyone noticed, or gives a damn about what we're doing."
         "Take a walk." He commanded.
          Ruby scoffed, rolling her eyes, and walked away.

          Leaning against the rail, gazing out at the scenery, Ruby shuffled a deck of cards. She didn't care about what Jasper said, but she also didn't want him to start making assumptions and spreading lies. The last thing she wanted was to get back home and have all of their coworkers bombarding them with questions. That would definitely set Cor off. She held all of the cards in one hand, and rested the other on her throbbing forehead.
"Are you okay?" Artemis stood beside Ruby.
"Uh-huh. What's up?" Her tone was rather dismissive, but only because of her headache.
"Everyone's boarding the train." He informed her. "Are you sure you're all right?"
Ruby nodded and followed him back to the train. "Yeah. Just a headache. The heat's really getting to me."
         "I'll get you some ice once we get on board." He promised.
         "Thanks, Artie."

  
         Ruby awoke a few hours later. The train had stopped, and there were rain drops streaming down the windows. That particular train car was relatively empty. There were a few people scattered throughout, but her friends were nowhere to be found. She sighed, looking at her phone for the time. 9:30PM. It was too dark out to see where she was, but her phone's lack of a signal told her she was in the middle of nowhere.
        "Hello, sunshine." Greeted a very familiar male voice.
        Turning around, Ruby caught the gaze of a young man, leaning on the top of her seat. His charcoal hair fell over his face, but not enough to hide his sharp, emerald eyes.
        "Calix? Long time no see. What are you doing here?"
"Work has sent me to Tenebrae, but let's not talk about that." He insisted, swinging himself around to sit beside her. "Why is my favorite blonde sitting all alone on this train?"
"Work, and my face is up here." She flicked the space between his eyes, forcing him to raise his slightly tilted head.
"Apologies, love. Hold-ups look stunning on your beautiful legs." He complimented.
"Still don't remember giving you permission to stare." She crossed one leg over the other, and folded her arms. "Do you know why the train stopped? Since you're still on board, I assume we're not in Tenebrae."
"I've heard a few people saying that daemons have damaged the tracks. I don't know if they're still out there, but we could be here a while." He explained.
Assuming that her team left to handle the daemons, Ruby excused herself, and headed towards the exit at the front of the train.
      Ruby met Calix not too long after she met Cor. At eleven years old, she used to spend hours watching them train. She was beyond impressed when the thirteen-year-old Cor joined the Crownsguard. Calix, who was the same age as Cor, was not amused. He was jealous of Cor's incredible skills, and grew tired of always losing to him.
        Two years later, Calix joined the Crownsguard; feeling ready to surpass Cor, and also impress Ruby. On his first day, he learned that Cor was rapidly moving up the ladder, and surpassing him seemed impossible. It was an eventful year, that only pulled Ruby further away from Calix, and closer to Cor.
Needless to say, Calix's goals remained the same in the years that followed. Wanting to keep his distance, for now, he made his way towards the back of the train.

After striking down the last daemon, Cor put his katana away. Shivering, Jasper and Artemis joined him, passing by the vanishing daemon corpses.
"H-h-how are you not f-f-freezing?" Jasper's teeth chattered.
Cor gave them a disapproving glare. "You need more discipline. This is nothing."
       He stepped around them, shining his flashlight more towards the ground to get a better look at the tracks. The daemons did enough damage that would keep the train stranded there all night, and most of tomorrow.
       "D-do you think there are more daemons ahead?" Artemis wondered as he jogged in place.
        "Probably." Ruby answered, drawing their attention to her. "If the train's headlights can increase in brightness, I think we should be fine."
        "How are you feeling? Where's Amethyst?" Artemis glanced behind her.
        "I'm fine, and I was alone when I woke up." She shrugged.
        "Maybe she went to the d-d-dining car. Which isn't a b-b-bad idea; I'm starving." Jasper stuttered from the cold.
       With a brief wave of his hand, Cor dismissed them before facing the dark stretch ahead of him. Jasper and Artemis hurried back to the train, and Ruby stood beside Cor. Within a few moments, the headlights brightened, and their shadows appeared to have extended along the tracks.
        She pulled him aside, out of the light, and then glanced ahead before looking back at his intense expression. He wanted to keep going. If there were more daemons, it didn't make sense to ignore them while they potentially destroyed more of the tracks.
       With a gentle squeeze on his bulging bicep, she reminded him, "they'll keep coming back."
       That pinch of excitement in her voice was enough to keep his adrenaline going. Her words should have urged him to get back on the train. Instead, it reassured him that she'd give the daemons a brutal beating, right alongside him. However she meant it, she'd be with him.
       He gave their situation a thought for one more minute, realizing that they would spend the entire night hunting daemons on the tracks. The headlights only go so far. Cor turned his attention to her; gazing into the uncovered eye that mirrored the intensity of his own eyes. Ruby smiled and soon released her grip on his arm. They faced the darkness ahead, and Cor took the first step.

Before long, Cor and Ruby had gone as far as the headlights could shine. The tracks were fine, and there were no signs of daemons, which was a relief to both of them. 
       "Fine time to ask; but are you sure you're well enough to do this?" He wondered.
       "Yeah." She nodded. "Which reminds me. I saw Calix on the train."
        "Calix?" He replied in disbelief. "Why is he here?"
        When they were younger, Cor's relationship with Calix was one that he valued, much like with Ruby. He was almost like a brother to Cor, but his growing envy towards him forced Cor to cut him loose.
        She folded her arms against the cold. "He claims to have work in Tenebrae."
        Before anyone could get another word in, they stopped at the sound of an Arachne daemon's eerie cackling. Just a little further ahead, they could see its many legs pacing the tracks. With his katana in his hand, and a gun in each of her hands, Cor and Ruby nodded to one another before charging towards the daemon.
         The daemon leaped towards them, and as they dodged, Ruby opened fire against it. The Arachne rushed towards her, taking every bullet, and knocked her down. Staying on the ground, Ruby continued to shoot the daemon, as Cor sliced through its legs. Once it had fallen, Cor stabbed it through the head, pinning it to the bridge wall.
"Always going for the head." She grinned as she stood.
"I thought you would've used the mace." He said, pulling his katana out of the daemon.
"Next round." She turned and started to run. "Move those feet!"
Cor hurried after her, as the Arachne daemon vanished from the tracks.