Soul Arts

Chapter Three

Misako and Kalia spend the best of the next fifteen minutes in awkward silence. Misako would look up at Kalia, sip her juice box, lower her head, and then repeat the cycle. Kalia would slouch in her seat, curl up into a ball allowing the seat to enclose her, look down at Misako, and then repeat that cycle. The all walls, floors, and furniture on the train appear to be made out of the same material – white stone. It's as if someone carved this whole train out of giant blocks of rough stone. It reminds Kalia of the Pyramids in Egypt, and Stonehenge. Kalia remembers that Stonehenge took an estimated one thousand five-hundred years to build, so she knows her hypothesis is a possibility.

"Hey Misako, what's going to happen to me?" Kalia whispers shyly.

"Some pretty bad stuff, dude." Shrugs Misako.

"What?" Kalia Shrieks, nearly springing up out of her seat.

"Nothing. Do you know where we are?"

"No. Why should I?" The tone of Kalia's voice is harsh. She is scared at this point, and hurt at what Misako just said, refusing to elaborate.

"Look out the window and see."

Kalia does not truly have the energy and will to move, or the desire to squish her face into that square again. Misako probably already knows what's outside the window and she wants Kalia to see for herself. Reluctantly, and with a sigh, she stands up and presses her body against the wall. She positions her face up close to the square hole and peers out. The benefit of looking out of such a small window, and a glassless one at that, is that the blinding light from inside the car doesn't reflect off of anything, or make seeing through the darkness outside difficult.

With eyes carefully weaving through the darkness, Kalia can faintly make out silhouettes of dead trees under a black, starless sky; a dense forest. She wonders how deep in the railroad goes, or if the railroad simply passes through the outskirts of it all.

The train begins to veer to the left, and the forest of dead trees abruptly ends. Far off into the distance, she makes out a small, glowing castle. The structure is in fact illuminated by artificial moonlight, but from Kalia's point of view, just appears to be glowing. A tall, slender figure is marching towards the castle. Kalia remembers that she is no longer among the living, and probably no longer even on the planet Earth, but she can't help but to question where, why, and how a forest exists here. Then she remembers that Misako mentioned something about "tournaments in the Rift," which was another thing she did not elaborate on. I guess nothing's impossible here, Kalia thinks to herself.

Just as the train is pulling away from the edge of the forest and the castle, the tall figure turns its head towards them. Kalia could swear the figure was looking right at her, even from so far away. Its eyes meet hers and for one moment that feels like an eternity, Kalia is overwhelmed with a sense of dread. She senses terrible events that will unfold on the world she just departed from. Blots of darkness so massive in numbers relieve the skies of all light. Men, women, and children are dropping dead from plague. Those who survive are united by the unholiest of priests under one world religion. Earth and seas transform into fire, cleansing the rock of all organic life. Some pretty bad stuff, dude, Misako's snarky voice repeats itself in Kalia's head. She wants to vomit.

Who was that man? Kalia's nerves are completely racked. When she looked into his eyes, she saw both a hero and a villain. She saw the beginning and the end of the world. She wonders what this all means. Death is supposed to free you from all suffering and anguish. I'm only nine years old! What did I do to end up in this?