Immortal Poison (FFXV)

Chapter 3

By 4AM, the headlights of the train were lost in the rain and fog. With his katana, Cor sliced through an Arachne daemon, and then raced over to the next one. Ruby swung her mace, crushing a Gargoyle against the wall of the bridge.
        The Arachne jumped back, dodging Cor's attack, and then swooped through the air as it projected electricity from its body. Cor flipped out of its path, only to fall in line with another gargoyle. He sliced through it's head as it was in the process of being shot multiple times by Ruby's guns.
        They faced the Arachne, and then charged towards it. The daemon jumped back again, repeating the same electrical move as before. Cor and Ruby jumped onto the bridge walls, with her swapping her guns for her mace. She leaped off first, striking the daemon to the ground. Cor followed as the daemon stood, and sliced it in half.
        Exhausted from hours of endless fighting, Cor leaned against the wall to catch his breath. Ruby had the same idea, but stood on the other side. They watched the daemons vanish, and then their eyes met. There was nothing to be said. It's time to call it a damn night.
She raised her hand, and with one finger, motioned for him to come closer. Accepting the invitation, he crossed over the tracks, quickly closing the distance between them. She stood on her toes, meeting him halfway as his lips locked on to hers. Ruby could feel herself melting away as they buried themselves deeper into it; craving more, and loving every second of never having enough. Their flashlights, pressing against their bodies, left them in complete darkness.
She held a tight grip on his jacket, feeling her back press hard against the top edge of the wall. He combed his fingers through her thick, rain-soaked hair; closing his hand right at the center, to give her head a gentle pull back. She snickered softly, biting her bottom lip. She does this on purpose.
It was always enough to pull him back in; as if it weren't fair that she got to taste her own soft, luscious lips. His kiss was heavily demanding; taking in every last bit of sweetness that stained her lips. Every second felt more heated than the last, and had his jacket been made of a cheap material, her nails would've torn right through it. Before long, they pulled apart again, leaving a small distance between their faces.
"We should probably head back." His tone was low and unconvincing.
       "Then move." She suggested, mirroring his tone.
"...You have to let go." He glanced at her hands, still tightly gripped on his jacket.
        "Maybe you should let go first." She insisted.
        "I don't think I want to." He pressed his forehead against hers.
         "Then I guess we're not leaving." She grinned. "Share some of that immortality and this'll last longer, Mr. Leonis."
          He groaned, bashfully hiding his face in her shoulder, while releasing her hair from his grasp. Ruby knew he didn't like being called Immortal, but she thought it suited him. She lifted his head, kissed him sweetly, and then smiled.

Repairs on the train tracks didn't start until the early afternoon. Most of the passengers spent their time in the dining car. The children ran up and down the aisle, climbing on the seats and crawling under them. Amethyst frowned as she heard the laughter in the next car.
"...Are you okay?" Artemis asked.
"Yeah. I just miss my little Iggy. Do you...think I should've stayed behind? Am I a bad mother for leaving him?" Her eyes became glossy.
"No. It's not like you picked up your stuff and abandoned him. You're working, and going right back home to him. You're not a bad mother, Amethyst." He assured her.
She wiped her eyes, preventing the tears from escaping, and smiled. "Thanks, Artie."
Jasper soon joined them, and handed each of them a bottle of water. He rested one beside Ruby, who was asleep, curled up in her blanket.
"No boss?" He asked, nodding towards where Cor had been sitting.
"He went towards the dining car not long after you did. You didn't see him?" Artemis looked back for a second, to see if Cor was coming.
"No." Jasper shrugged. "He probably passed right by me while I was getting the water."
"I saw Calix earlier. Maybe Cor went to talk to him." Amethyst opened her bottle and took a sip.
"Calix?" Jasper folded his arms. "That's weird. He wasn't assigned to this."
        "Maybe he just happens to be going in the same direction." She shrugged.
        "I don't know. Do you wanna go see how they're doing with the tracks?" Artemis asked, not wanting to talk about Calix.
        "Yeah. Don't see why not." Jasper agreed.

Calix sat in the back booth of the dining car, and rested down two bottles of beer. Cor glanced at the bottle before pushing it aside.
"A little early to be drinking; don't you think?"
"Let's not lie to ourselves. Those tracks won't be fixed until tonight. Which means we're stuck here for quite a while." Calix opened his bottle, and took a sip. "Where's Ruby?"
"Is that why you're here?" Cor asked.
Calix chuckled. "I've got work in Tenebrae."
"Alone? Your place is back at the Citadel."
"And yours isn't?" Calix took another sip.
"I never said it wasn't. I was given orders to follow up on a lead. If there was business to be handled in Tenebrae, it would've been assigned to the team already headed in that direction. This is your last chance to give me a reason why I shouldn't toss your ass over the bridge." Cor's stern voice shot through Calix like a cactuar's needles.
Calix kept eye contact with him, as he pressed the bottle against his lips and took another sip. Cor never used serious threats as a means of putting fear into people. He's not messing around. He'll really throw my ass over.
"All right...You caught me. I overheard a few conversations about this mission. Someone said you spent a lot of time tracking down Ruby for this, after you had already put together a team of Insomnia's best. Naturally, I wanted in." Calix explained.
"Well you're out. We're leaving you in Tenebrae, and you will get back on the train as it heads to Cartanica." Cor commanded.
"There's strength and safety in numbers, my friend." Calix pointed out before taking a gulp of his drink.
"We're good." Cor assured him.
"Not sure if you really mean that, or if you're just being territorial over someone who isn't yours."
      "Take it however you want. If you wanna continue to live with your head up your ass, I won't stop you. However, it's in your best interest not to cross me." He warned, stepping out of the booth.
       Calix scoffed. "Sounds territorial to me. Business aside; why can't you just admit it?"
"If it wasn't clear to you five years ago, why would my words make a difference now? We're done here." Cor dismissed him.
        Calix finished his beer, and then let out a heavy sigh as he left the dining car.

Ruby rested her head against the window, as she readjusted the blanket wrapped around her. She sunk into the seat, burying the lower half of her face into the blanket, but left an opening for her nose and mouth. Hoping to ease the excruciating pain in her chest, she took slow, deep breaths. Every exhale made the weight feel even heavier. Her mind was crowded; as if everyone's personal conversations were occurring inside her head.
"You okay?" Amethyst startled her with a gentle touch to the shoulder.
     "Yeah. Just a really shitty dream." She sniffled, aggressively rubbing her watery eyes.
       Ruby hated crying. It had nothing to do with strength or weakness. What she couldn't stand was the puffy, burning rims of her eyes, and the change from white to red within them. She hated the runny nose, the thickness of her voice, and the pressure she felt in her head; as if all that water was overflowing, and drowning her.
      Amethyst wrapped her arm around her, and gently rubbed her shoulder. "Do you want to talk about it?"
     Before she had a chance to answer, all of the guys had reached their seats. Artemis and Jasper came from the front of the train, while Calix and Cor approached from the dining car.
      "Ruby?! Are you all right?!" Calix asked, his voice full of worry.
       Overwhelmed, Ruby shook her head, with no desire to talk. She rushed away, pushing through Calix and Cor, and locked herself in the bathroom. She didn't want Cor seeing her that way, even though it wouldn't have been the first time.
      "...What the hell just happened?" Jasper wondered in complete confusion.
      "Is she all right?" Artemis was more concerned than confused.
       "She said it was a nightmare." Amethyst frowned.
       "Maybe she shouldn't be alone." Calix said.
       "She'll be fine. Sit down." Cor commanded.
        As the other three followed orders, Cor simply leaned against the side of an empty seat and folded his arms. Ruby usually didn't get so upset over dreams and nightmares. If anything, she loved them and felt they had meaning. She always wanted to decipher them like secret codes, no matter how dark and complicated they were. So why the hell is she crying?