Chapter 57: Watch Tower (1)
I woke up from the noise I heard from the door of my room. I didn't move and continued lying on the bed. I covered my face with the blanket and closed my eyes again. But after a while, I heard the knocks again and then Luna's voice.
"Shia, you need to come out now. We're almost there."
I opened my eyes when she said that. Lowering my blanket, I gazed at the brightly-lit room where rays from the setting sun shone through the window. I lightly blinked because it didn't immediately sink in where I was.
I heard the knocks on my door again. "Shia, are you up?"
I sat on the bed and stared at the room, still out of it. I'm not on Titan Academy anymore. "I'm up, Luna", I answered while fixing my messy hair. "You go first."
Silence reigned at the other side of the door momentarily before Luna agreed. "Okay, Shia. Just hurry up." I heard her walking away. I sighed and looked outside the window.
We're still going fast. I felt the slight shaking of the floor from where I stood. It's already afternoon. That means we're almost there. I don't know how many minutes have passed before I walked outside. The hallway was silent. I walked towards the front where I can see the living room in that part of the train. When I was almost there, I immediately saw my comrades. They haven't noticed my arrival yet so I freely observed them.
Cain, Luna and Ethan were together on one side while discussing. Victoria was holding a cup of tea, seemingly indifferent towards her surroundings. Miss Aura was reading the schedule of the group. Sir Apollo and Gin were seriously talking in the corner.
I silently watched Gin.
I want to approach him. I want to touch him or hug him or even just stay by his side as long as possible. I feel as if it wasn't enough to only see him in front of me. I want to be together with him even if it's just until the end of this ride.
Gin looked back at my direction when he felt my arrival. His furrowed expression immediately cleared when he saw me. He smiled faintly.
I'm scared Gin. Can time just stop right now? I don't want this ride to end.
I forced a smile and did everything I could to avoid his gaze. I walked towards the window and took in the scenery. The passing terrain has already changed. If earlier there was only an endless plain, now we're passing by mountains and forests. It looks like we really are almost there.
I looked towards the front of the train and saw something strange which contrasted with the green scenery. Behind the mountain in front of us was a tall silver building and the conspicuous tower that glistened whenever the sun shined on it. My eyebrows scrunched up while looking at the tower that we were approaching.
"We're almost here."
I lightly paused when I heard Miss Aura. What's behind those mountains? I heard their soft conversation with Luna about the venue of the Linus Cup but the more we neared the place, the quieter my companions got.
Between the two mountains, a tunnel stood in front of us. Seems like it served as the entrance to wherever the train should be going. Several minutes passed and we finally reached the dark entrance, continuing until the surroundings were covered with darkness.
The air inside the tunnel changed. It's as if we're being pulled into that darkness. No one wanted to speak. Together with the loss of light, the atmosphere turned tense inside the train. Because we know that the next time this train passes this tunnel, we might no longer be a passenger on its return.
More minutes passed in silence before we saw a tiny light ahead. Soon, the light finally overtook the darkness and we were once again bathed in vibrant colors of the setting sun.
"Whoa."
Cain was the first one who boldly broke the silence. He stood up from his chair and walked towards the window to look at the scenery. Luna soon followed suit. I kept silent as I watched the scenes we passed by.
In front, was a strange building.
It was the epitome of the word 'artificial' when compared to the natural colors in the area. It was made of silver and glass. It was tall, like a watch tower. The natural road, where soil and plants should be, has disappeared and was replaced with metal train tracks situated on the elevated ground in the middle of… water? What the f***?
I turned around to look at the road once again. The two enormous mountains were still there along with the tunnel between it. From the direction we came from, that tunnel looked like to be the only way inside. Because by the bottom of the mountains laid the metal fields that separate earth and water.
How is this even possible?
I turned my head back to the front. All I saw was water, except for the narrow piece of land from where the train was rushing on and the circular artificial landmass in the middle where that building stood. It felt like we were in the middle of the sea -an artificial sea.
When the train got close to the building, I saw the structure of the place clearly. It was web-like. In the center was the silver building, it was surrounded by narrow pieces of land where trains of the participating towns, coming from different directions, all pass through.
Our ride continued as I kept on watching our way. I don't know if we really are atop the sea. I didn't see any waves, though. Everything seemed man-made. There were silhouettes of mountains and islands from afar. But one special thing stood out. Force fields are being used. I can see noticeable traces of it. The way the sceneries itself seems to move similarly to the way a curtain steadily sways beneath a lone gust of wind, and the random spots of swirling spaces, all creating a weird spectral light in mid-air. I knew it very well because it was one of the things that I avoided running into when I was still living in town—the places with force fields.
We entered what seems like a gate or an arch, a metal arch that stood on opposite sides of the rails. I noticed the green laser that scanned the whole vehicle right when we passed through it. The thin light went through the window in front of me. When the train bypassed the arch, we suddenly heard strange noises. A monotonous mechanical voice of a female resounded through the space.
"Welcome, Team Hesperia. Please proceed to Station 5."
We all glanced at each other. All of us were still. "I guess we're here." Luna stated with a hint of uneasiness in her usually calm voice. The familiar feeling of fear assailed my system. We can only get out of this place using the train of our respective towns. There's no other way out.
And we weren't even in the arena yet.
The train slowed down and the surroundings gradually widened up. We're almost at the front of the silver building. The island where it stood was circular. White, silver, and black colors were prevalent in the place. Everything looked clean and silent, as if there were no people in it. Nothing natural like plants or soil could be seen in the area. The building itself and its outside were covered with white and shiny floors.
Darkness reigned again. The train entered a tunnel. But now there were lights scattered on the corners—lights and security cameras.
"You are now entering Station 5."
The monotonous voice must have been referring to an underground station as we felt the train going downwards. When we exited the tunnel, different sounds greeted us -sounds of metal, the shaking of the ground, the rapid footsteps moving around, irritating noises of wheels on the floor, and people who were talking nonstop. My eyes soon adjusted to look at the place. It was full of synthetic lights from the gigantic lighting above. The flooring beside the rails was pure white as we can almost see the whole reflection of the train.
"The first level of the underground is a work room and a central station where every train stops before one can go to the premises of the building", Miss Aura said as she prepared to stand.
Ethan and Gin didn’t looked surprised. Now that I remember, they were families with the previous participants of the Linus Cup. They have probably already experienced and seen the things that we were only seeing for the first time.
Sir Apollo coughed to get our attention and stood up. "We're here."
And sure enough, the train we were riding on slowly stopped. In a smooth, screeching stop, our travel that took almost the whole day has finally come to an end. I turned to the direction of the door when it noisily opened as if a hot burning metal was being doused with water. The female voice on the intercom filled the inside of our train.
"Team Hesperia has arrived."
……………………………….
T/N:
This was so hard to translate!!!! T_T There were lots of things that sound okay in the Filipino language but awkward when translated into English. Still, I tried my best.
-camsecret