Infinity Train: Bryce's Story

Chapter V: The Crystal Car

A/N: Hello, everyone. :) Sorry for the long wait. This chapter was the hardest I've worked on so far because of the songs added in as accompaniment. Plus, it seemed like a good opportunity to get the relationship between Tulip and Bryce blooming. Also, the credits for the songs go to their designated artists for this. I hope you enjoy it. :)

Ever since the incident involving the mysterious figure and the monster that attacked Corginia, Bryce was having trouble thinking clearly as much as he tried to. He couldn't tell how the figure knew about his past, but it's already made him scared to death, though he tried to hide it as best he could around his friends. If his secret ever got out, Bryce would end up being abandoned by Tulip, One-One, and Atticus. It's bad enough by itself, but as far as Penny is concerned, it would devastate her to the core. He didn't want to break the little girl's heart after all that work to keep his promise to her. But it was getting more and more difficult to avoid that outcome. He's lucky that no one seemed to be looking into his backpack for all that time they had, but it's only a matter of time until they do. And when that happens, Bryce would have no chance.

Of course, unfortunately, Bryce didn't have the necessary equipment to lock his backpack, assuming it was possible in the first place. The most he could do to keep that a secret was to explain that his backpack was actually the first one he's ever had in his life as a gift from his parents from then until now. It seemed to have worked for the moment, as no one seemed interested in the backpack anymore and focused on getting to the engine. Although, Atticus was mainly focused on finding the monster, but Bryce would think twice about seeking after it. Because he knew it'd lead him straight to her. As much as he wanted to know how the figure knew his secret, Bryce was afraid she'd expose him for who he is: a criminal who did the wrong thing to save his parents. Rather than go through that scenario, Bryce decided to proceed through the engine with the others as planned, hoping that him going along with it would help hide his conflict before it became too noticeable.

During this struggle, Bryce, Tulip, Penny, One-One, and Atticus were driving on mopeds (green for Tulip, One-One, and Atticus, and blue for Bryce and Penny) up the road in a beautiful Italian setting by now. With the sun setting on the mountains, it was almost as if they were in Italy itself. The sights were really amazing to say the least. Of course, it wasn't without its bizarre details. For instance, Nancy, the woman who noticed the group coming by the door, happened to be a walking rose as she went out of her house and spoke to the group.

"The door unlocked a few minutes ago."

Hearing this news, Tulip became overjoyed to hear about it as she gasped before walking towards Nancy and placing one kiss on each side of her "face" while she held her hands. Since the group got there, Nancy had been looking after them until the door could open. During that time, she was also making pasta for her restaurant. It was their input that helped her pasta improve, mainly because its unknown whether or not she had any taste buds. Regardless, Tulip wanted to leave Nancy on good terms as she spoke.

"We'll miss you, Nancy. We know your restaurant will be a big success. You've come a long way in your pasta-making."

With that, the group made their exit from the car as they said goodbye to Nancy before they closed the door. Once they did, Tulip took a look at her number, seeing that it hasn't changed at all as it remained in "101". Seeing this, Tulip began to wonder if Bryce had any development of his own. It's been a mystery to her as to why it didn't change in Corginia while hers did. Hopefully, there's been a change to that as Tulip spoke to him.

"Hey, Bryce. Did your number change yet?"

As an answer, Bryce showed Tulip his own number while taking a look at it himself. Regrettably, there'd been no change to his own, either as he spoke.