Narrator's POV Continued
Yaagnar had lost sight of Allan at the train station. It was too busy and heavily crowded, and he was pretty stubborn about his proximity to people around him.
'But he is somehow comforted in the midst of strangers rather than someone close enough to be a brother. What an irony?' Yaagnar could not help but think as he weaved through the crowd going towards his terminal, the only train that went to the Necroforce Academy.
'Even a thank you, Yaagnar, would have sufficed. I sacrificed myself in your stead, and a simple act of gratitude cannot be expressed. You just go on as if nothing of importance just occurred,' Yaagnar grumbled in his head, frowning unintentionally.
"What's up with the face?" a sweet, mellow voice asked from the crowd.
Startled, he stood in front of his train to see a tall lady. Most of the applicants were around 18; a few were older. So it was better to address them as adults-to-be.
"It's weird to see angry applicants; almost everyone here is happy," she stated. When Yaagnar looked around, he saw excited faces. They were happy with the thought of what could be, that which was still to come.
'Maybe it's because I am used to disappointments that I expect it every time,' Yaagnar thought.
"And what if I am?" Yaagnar asked her as he entered the train. 'I am angry for not being appreciated. It is not much to ask.'
"Then it has to be really important for you to be angry on such an important day," she replied.
"Don't you have someone else to bother, or did I look like the easiest pick?" Yaagnar asked with a frown as he took a seat next to the passageway. She sat on the seat next to him, close to the window.
"Well, it is because you looked angry, and angry people like to vent. I wanted to get distracted by your story," she said as she stared at the other applicants filling the train. Her eyes got watery, and she avoided blinking so that the tears would not fall.
Yaagnar did not give any response but sank into his seat and stared at the seat in front of him. 'I am not interested in this person's story.'
It was a long and awkward ride through Metropolis, and the train had started going through the thick forest. Unable to keep the silence, she broke it again.
"I am Febronia," she said suddenly as she turned towards him. "I am not usually like this. I am calm, reserved, and respectable. I like to keep personal boundaries and respect people's wishes, and I am not bashful in nature," she ranted.
"I see," Yaagnar replied in a sarcastic tone. "And what am I to do with this information?"
Febronia stared at him as she thought about what he said, and the tears she had been guarding poured out. "You are right! You are right!" she mumbled in tears between her sobs.
Surprising Yaagnar again, upon closer inspection, he noticed her clothes, which looked to be made of superior quality, her hair neatly held up as if she was going to some occasion, and her fingers, which she was using to cover her face, like a doll's.
'Why the hell did this girl come up to me?' Yaagnar asked himself, unable to come up with comforting words. When he was about to spew the most comforting thing he could think of,
"I found out the person betrothed to me is seeing someone else and started courting someone during the time I was sick and did not start my debut. He did not even ask to know how I was! He just went frolicking with the nobody. My parents are going to kill me!" she angrily and silently yelled, causing Yaagnar to burst out laughing.
"I am sorry, is this a role play or something?" Yaagnar could not help but ask. "You'll make a great actress."
She cried more and some more, but Yaagnar could not bring himself to help her in any way.
Soon the Sergeant came forward to give the instructions. By that time, the noise had died down, Febronia had stopped weeping, but her eyes were red as if reacting to an allergy.
After a while, he saw Allan stumble towards the door and stare at the Valley that was mentioned earlier. Yaagnar stood to go meet him; they could strategize how to navigate through the Valley. He had read about it—only the small amount of authorized material written about the Valley—but he could be of help.
But he saw Allan fall. He tried getting closer and held the edges of the entrance as the wind was strong due to the speed at which the train was traveling.
'He had said survive the Valley, not commit suicide,' Yaagnar yelled internally as he struggled to get his balance. 'How was he standing so easily?'
He wanted to jump too, but he saw the height. There was no way he would survive that fall. He was in the right state of mind and did not want to die yet—he still had enough things to accomplish!
As he was thinking of what to do, he saw Febronia on the other end, ready to jump. 'Does she want to die because her fiancé is cheating on her? The actual f...'
A loud sound resounded, causing a chill to go down his spine. There was no way Allan survived the fall.
With the corner of his eye, he saw Febronia jump from the train from such heights.
'They say survive the Valley, but the Valley they speak about is the forest at the end of the valley. Did they not know that?' Yaagnar could not ask himself as his hands trembled, at a loss for what to do.
Should he follow them to their deaths or live a life of his own? Startled, he stood back and looked at the remaining applicants that were sitting and watching the drama with eager eyes.
"What am I to do?"