The sole “passenger” in the drivers compartment is an unassuming woman with red wavy hair, wearing a business suit. Despite her seeing that I have my swords out, she seems to be very calm as she begins to cut the apple in slices. At first, I thought she was just affected by the Story Resonance, but that theory is disproven when she says, “Hm, you must be the twins I have heard so much about. I must say, I would not have guessed it by looks alone. It just shows you how wise the words, “Don’t judge a book by its cover,” really are. But that doesn't stop people from assuming.”

  I begin to approach the woman, ready to strike if she does anything funny. I put my weapons inches away from her face and say, “Who are you, and why are you here?”

  Her smile doesn't waver as she says, “I am here because I want to get somewhere.”

  I am about to threaten her to stop being a smart ass, when my bro says, “When you say “want to get somewhere,” so you mean physically or metaphorically?”

  Her smile intensifies, enjoying my brother’s response, “Both. Isn’t that why both of you are here too?”

  Bro scoffs, “Then let me ask you another question, why are you in the front of the train, and do you know why every worker here left?”

  She makes 1 slice and puts it on a place right next to her that I just noticed, “That’s 2 questions.”

  I say, “We’re basically holding you hostage, so we’ll get to ask all of the questions from here.”

  Her smile becomes more mischievous, but does not disprove my statement. In my experience, cocky people are either the easiest to deal with, or the hardest, and my gut is telling me it’s the latter. “I simply want revenge from a man whom I owe everything to. As for the workers, they all left.”

  My bro ask, “And why did they leave?”

  She simply says, “Because I told them to leave. I know it’s boring, but that’s the truth.”

  How the hell… Shit, does she have a charming ability? If it’s true, it must be powerful and precise for it to affect only the employees. But she must have a limit, or else she would have already charmed us. Still, this makes her even more dangerous. I ask just to make sure, “Why would they walk off of an operating train when you told them?”

  She nods as she places another slice on the place, “Because I’m technically their boss. Though I must admit that they were very easy to convince, with the whole Renaissance Effect happening.”

  Wait, their boss? Even my brother is surprised by this development, “What do you mean by their boss? Are you the main conductor?"

  Her smile deepens as she puts another slice on the plate, “No, as in I am the one who owns the train. A little kingdom of my own making. That is probably why I got the roll of the Prince… Though I have more connections with the title than something so surface level.”

  How the hell is she saying so much and so little at the same time? I have enough of this, “Let’s cut the bullshit. You will stop giving us that stupid smug look, and you will tell us what you're planning. We have you outnumbered t- two-to-one, We don’t know what Tale you have, but you don’t know what-”

  She interrupts me, “You have something that boosts double swords combat as well as fire manipulation, so a certain extinct. And your brother can rip his glove to summon different little critters, like a snake, wolf, and ladybug. You can also use them like a speaker.”

  …I don’t know what’s worse, the fact that she knows all of that, or the fact she feels safe enough to tell us all that. But I can’t let her know she got me under my skin, so I put on a false smile and say, “It’s still 2 Storyborn against 1. I don’t know about you, but I like those odds.”

  Her irritating smile does not change as she begins to reach for her purse, but I stab the wall beside her head. She puts her hands in the air and calmly replies, “I suppose that movement is suspicious. Can you please hand me my phone. The sooner, the better for you.”

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  I look at my brother, and he nods. So let go of the sword that is in the wall and search for her phone, not taking my eyes off of her. Once I grab it and pull it out, she tries to reach for it but I pull away. “What do you need it for?”

  She replies, “I just need to press on a button for the announcement. You can use my face to unlock it. It’s the button on the middle right.”

  I do not know what the announcement is, my bro seems to have figured out what she is talking about. “The next stop is coming right up isn’t it. And you stop the announcement so we wouldn’t know it was coming up.”

  She makes an amusing hum, “How did you figure it out?”

  My bro says, “The obvious portal that this train is heading towards.” Shit… wait a minute.

  I ask, “Are there seats behind us?” I would look, but I fear she would do something the second I turn around.

  Bro replies, “Yes there are. Exactly 2.”

  I nod as I pocket her phone and move backwards and take a seat on the furthest left seat, while my bro takes the other seat. When we sat down, her smile faded away. I couldn’t help but say, “Mad that we figured out your little plan.” I look out the front window, the portal is in the distance, but is getting bigger and bigger by the second.

  She does not say anything, she must have been so certain that we wouldn’t figure it out, that she didn’t have a backup plan in case we did find out. She must be panicking in her mind. But my sense of victory fades when my Bro whispers to me, “Something… doesn't feel right.”

  I am about to ask why, when I am ripped off of my seat and fly forward, hitting on the control panel. My brother yells out, “Limon!”

  I look at my bro and say that I am alright, when Prince pulls out a strange revolver and shoots at him in the shoulder. For a second, my heart stops, but I am relieved when I see it shoot out a dart. But that sense of relief fades as when the train fully stops, she stands and rushes towards my brother. I try to get up in order to stop whatever she is doing, but she is closer and quicker. She grabs him and puts a knife through his throat. What is odd is that throughout this interacter, my bro did not react. No, he did not even lift a finger.

  Pain floods my body, but I ignore that, as I get up and yell, “What are you- what did you do to my Tangerine!” My bro’s eyes look at me, confused and scared.

  Her smile appears on her face, more insidious than ever, “It’s just something that I found inside of one of the bathroom’s vents. The dufflebag had many interesting toys that-” She is interrupted as gun shots are heard on the train behind us. Her eyes twitched, but kept that smile, “It’s a dart that gives the target, in this case your Tangeren, temporary paralysis, as well as disrupts any abilities they can use. So his little pets wouldn't interrupt my little plan.” She began to walk back to her seat, move her bag, and place my brother on that seat. “Now, hand me my phone and seat down. And please use the one your brother used, the one you used doesn't have the enchantment that prevents the sudden acceleration or deceleration.”

  You… mother fucker. Rage fills within me. It was both because we fell into her trap, and because of that look on her face. A look of satisfaction, knowing we are in the palm of her hand, and we couldn’t do a damn thing. I reluctantly toss her phone at her, which she catches, and take a seat, while looking her in the eyes, not even disguising my hatred. She probably finds my look amusing, but I don’t know what else to do. As the train begins to speed up, I say, “What do you-”

  She places a finger in front of her lips and says, “Shush. You're the prisoner here, so I get to ask all of the questions.” As she says that, all I can do is dig my nails into the palm of my hand. She then continues, “Speaking of questions, how does Tangerine use his communication ability, and is he the only one who can use it?”

  …I went over my options on what to do. I have an inkling that she would contact Ladybug in order to get the case or something similar. I might not know the dude, but I would rather not kill someone… so I can lie and say that only he can call his summons. But… I am afraid, afraid that she would somehow call my bluff, or even just kill him if she sees he’s of no use of hers. I can’t take a risk. “You can take the gloves and do that same motion.”

  The woman asks another question, "Does it have to be on my mouth, or can I just use the same motions.”

  “It will work if you have the same motions and intent.”

  She nods, “And here I thought you wouldn’t be sensible.” She reaches to her bag and pulls out a metal collar with wires all around it, and places it on my brother's neck. “If my heartbeat stops for more than 5 seconds, the bombs in this color will go off. It’s probably something you would not want. Now, here’s what I want you to do. I will call him using a recording that I found while doing a little research on you guys, which will lure Ladybug over here. You will kill him, but make sure he doesn't know that’s your real objective. After that, you will protect me from everything until we exit the train. After that, I will release the collar and we will go our separate ways.”

  I immediately ask, “How will I know you will keep your word.”

  “You won't. Now go outside and get ready, I’ll call him.”

  I get both of my swords and stand on the front of the door. I hate being a pawn for someone else, but I love my Bro more. “I shouldn’t have taken this job.”