Reaper on the Rails

Content Warnings

-racism

["My Child, the Twilight Elite have three rules:

Rule I: Do not draw unnecessary attention to oneself. Blend in, hide in plain sight, but whatever you do, don't act like you don't belong.

Rule II: Do not make your work personal. You will have to observe and execute many. So keep yourself at a distance.

Rule III: Do not bother living if you can't complete your mission. The Twilight Elite only allow the best of the best. So if you fail, you were not fit for the job.

Do you understand, my child?"].

The Drescher Flag hung high over the scarred plains. From near and far people could see either its flowing in the dry breeze or its shadow spread thin and far.

Lyn lit a cigarette and raised her lighter to it. However, the flag was far too tall for her to burn.

She took out a butterfly knife, a knight with two handles that's often spun around in tricks. Her's had green edges.

After heating it with her lighter, she gave it a spin and easily cut through the poll. As it fell to the ground, she tossed her cigarette on it, setting it ablaze.

After that detour she went on her way.

The grass and dirt were scarred with burns. Glass, and corrupted with black. There were remnants of bones and stains of blood. A solitary Glassflower grew out of the dirt.

She stopped to observe it.

It was sharp and jagged. A thin stem with tiny vines wrapping around it. It had 5 layers of pointed petals with the outer layer curved in the inner layer pointed upwards.

It cracked as it reached towards the sky. She sighed and walked along.

She eventually reached her destination. There was a town of steel boxes around a train station. It was a few buildings, a few Disaster Mechs, and a local militia. Carriages went to and fro from this little town, carrying supplies and people.

Lyn narrowed her eyes, grimaced, hunched over, and approached the place. A red camera watched her from a far distance.

"That's…," a voice like a spider weaving web exclaimed. "Thorn Red to Orpheus XI, 'the reaper' has been spotted,"

Chapter XVII

Reaper on the Rails

Lyn stood at the back of a mild crowd observing a map of Adlernest. There weren't too many cities on the map, mostly plains and small towns. These towns were places all over the place and the one they were at was one of the *many* close to Rem, but still far from its borders.

The lines each travelled to five cities at the central part of the continent. These Five cities were just bundled together, practically one large city. Grenznest at the western border with the Verdin Lands, Eisnest down near the mountains between Adlernest and Zvezdy, Seelennest at the centre, represented by the symbol of the Dreschers, and then there were Reisenest and Hafennest. Reisenest was to the east and had the most trains, while Hafennest was built around the largest portion of the Crater's Edge, just next to Daimyo's Tsuno and Cavalier's Robespierre.

Lyn's eyes darted left from where she was straight to Reisenest. From there, she darted to Hafennest, Robespierre, and the long way back to Rem.

The crowd in front of her looked ripped from 1930s America. men wore caps, fedoras, and vests. Women had big hats and poofy sleeves. Children wore white shirts and cargo shorts, unless they were girls, then they wore dresses.

Dreschers walked by, their heavy footsteps announcing their presence. 

Of course the people didn't look, the Dreschers are but a day to them. Only Lyn noticed, but she was careful not to glance or perk her ears up. Lyn may not have fit in with the crowd look wise, but thanks to her hair and scarf, she was able to cover her skin. And thanks to her proximity to the crowd, she blurred between the lines.

"So glad to be headed back to Adlernest proper!" a woman exclaimed.

"What? You didn't like Schlafnest?" a man laughed.

"Oh the place was wonderful, but I couldn't stand being so close to those filthy Daimyese and Medes!" she laughed.

"But Mummy, Night Sky and Golden Gear were awesome!" a child exclaimed.

"Oh and worse, their degenerate radio shows have corrupted our child. It'll take weeks to re-educate them I swear,"

"Don't worry your pretty little head hon, you'll get our boy *beaten* back into shape I tells ya," the man laughed.

Lyn listened with disgust, waiting for the group to head out. In the meantime, she reached into her pocket and made a badge with some red and white cloth. It was a Eurasian Goshawk with red and white stripes standing atop a red mountain with white snow, its red wings spread wide. 

She slipped it into the woman's pocket with sleight of hand and stepped away, lighting a cigarette. A bell RUNG from the yellow powered train!

"All aboard!" a voice called out.

The small group quickly moved over to the train. On cue, Lyn snuck around the group, keeping herself out of view and in the back.

"Did you see a Mede?" A crowd member asked.

"Here of all places," another laughed. "Must've been your imagination,"

The group approached the train.

"Stop," a Drescher called out, raising their claw. "We've had to deal with Krylo Batlers in the area recently. We'll have to check each of you,"

"Understood my Drescher," the woman from before curtsied. 

The Drescher patted her down and discovered the symbol Lyn snuck in, "Why do you have a Krylo emblem?"

"Officer, I don't know -,"

The Drescher placed its claws on him, forcibly restraining her, "WE HAVE A KRYLO BATLER! REPORT! WE HAVE A KRYLO BATLER!"

"Get your hands off me you mechanised bucket of bolts! I have no idea how that got there!"

"THAT'S WHAT THEY ALL SAY!"

As this altercation took place, Lyn slipped past the Dreschers and into the train. She hid in the bathroom for a few moments while the altercation subsided. She lit a cigarette.

["Give it 5 to 10 minutes, my child. Anymore and the bathroom could grab people's attention. Don't rush or flush though, that'll bring attention to the bathroom,"].

The Dreschers were very loud and proud, their footsteps thump thump thumped over and over. Silence. The altercation had finished.

Lyn took a deep breath. The woman had been killed.

She stared at herself in the mirror. The mirror was cracked, fragmenting her face.

Her hand was shaking.

["Rule III, my child. Rule III,"].

Lyn calmed herself and slipped out of the bathroom. The Dreschers were wandering the halls, checking peoples' tickets. Lyn slipped behind one of them, placing her hands together like she had cuffs on.

She quietly followed them through the hall, glancing at everyone in their cabins. She saw a woman quietly reading her book.

The halls were *very* Adlernest. The carpets were a fancy, dark green silk, albeit incredibly patchy. The industrial patterned walls had tattered light green wallpaper. The hall was lined with rusted silver and the Drescher Symbol was everywhere.

It almost felt like it was watching them all.

Once Lyn got to the end of the hall, she snuck behind another Drescher and followed them back through the hall. It checked the woman with the book for her ticket. She showed it her ticket and it readied to leave her be.

Lyn narrowed her eyes.

She took out her butterfly knife and in a swift motion, stopped the door from closing. She slowly pushed open the door without a sound.

A red visor watched her through the window.

The woman with the book didn't notice her. She laid down on her back, on the seat across from the reading woman. She bundled up her scarf and messed with her hair to cover pretty much all of her face, and crossed her arms and legs.

The train went off.

The reader was wearing silver spectacles and a big, red hat. She was dressed very similar to a butler in a red suit with a long skirt. Her slip shoes were brown, and both her socks and gloves were white, with light signs of staining. She was flipping through each page at around a minute each, almost on the dot.

"Have you failed to notice me, gov'ner, or is it rule I?" she asked, her voice like a spider weaving web.

"Just ignore the gal beneath the scarf and go on with whatever your doing mate," Lyn responded, shoeing her away. "Your in hiding, I'm in hiding. Let's call it a draw,"

"Cute, but Orpheus XI isn't interested in conversing with Twilight Elite," she chuckled.

"Well, what they don't know won't hurt them,"

"Net, we Batlers have to have *some* pride,"

There was a thumping in the distance.

"As 'bird droppings'?"

It started coming from the other end as well.

"You know that more than us, gov'ner,"

It got louder.

"I'm on my way out,"

It was almost outside the room.

"Tis' the end of your life then, gov'ner?"

"Bet," Lyn shrugged, vanishing into the Colour Realm.

Dreschers threw the door open. The woman pretended to be afraid, screaming and pointing.

"THERE. IT WAS RIGHT THERE!"

---

Within the Colour Realm, the train became one of those spinning Mobiles that one puts over an infant's crib. A ton of spinning boxes with strings that attached them to the box at the top. Yellow energy flowed all around the train, like a twister, no average person could get through it.

Lyn's dark skin became glowing white, her black hair became purple, and her eyes changed. Her left eye bore a purple red serpent swimming around its whites, and her right eye bore the red symbol of the Four Eyes.

She leapt outside of her car and attached herself to the bottom, holding on for dear life. The Dreschers switched in after her.

"It's not here," one of them commented.

"Spread out and find her. No Mede is going to live on *my* train," one of them commented.

That Drescher was slightly bigger than the others and bore horns.

The group quickly sped about the train. They searched around each car, over and over and over. 

A purple light hit a Drescher in the forehead. The energy sent a signal from its brain to its whole body.

It went limp and fell into the Reflect Realm. Lyn shot five more purple shots from her left, taking five more out from her shifting safe places.

She snapped her fingers, releasing a purple flash. Many Dreschers heard the snap.

A Drescher broke their way through the roof of Lyn's car. It couldn't find Lyn.

Lyn was right behind it. She placed her left middle and pointer fingers on the Drescher's forehead.

The same purple light went off and it went limp like the others, falling to the floor and vanishing. A Drescher charged in right after them.

Lyn was gone, though a jellyfish was now in the car. It switched over to the Reflect Realm. No one was there.

Lyn had timed her switch just right.

In the Colour Realm, the Dreschers appeared as Jellyfish, like any other human. Lyn shot it with purple and dove out the window.

She grabbed onto the string connecting the cars and SWUNG, giving out four shots at the same time. She confidently landed on another car, snapping her fingers to reload.

There was a very faint blur nearby. She ducked down, avoiding a strike from a camouflaged Drescher milliseconds before it attempted to strike.

Its claw went limp. Lyn had used her butterfly knife to damage the tiny gaps between its nails. 

She smirked and shrugged, her hair flowing in the breeze.

It attempted to strike again and again, quickly losing use of its arms. Lyn casually placed her fingers on its head.

"IT'S THE REAPER!?" the horned Drescher called out.

Lyn groaned and turned to them, "(I resent that nickname!),"

"Your dead kid!" it called out, charging her way.

"I'm *NINE-TEEN*!" she exclaimed, eyes widened, quick shooting the Drescher like a gunslinger.

It dodged the first shot. It dodged the second and third. It needed to jump across the cars as they spun.

Lyn closed one eye and sent out one shot. The Drescher dodged it, jumped in the air.

Fire. It fell unconscious and into the Reflect Realm.

Lyn sighed, "Was this the best plan that Batler moron could come up with?"

She noticed a subtle pop in the distance, ["Sniper fire?"].

A green bullet shots straight through the winds into the engine of the train. Her eyes went flat.

"frick,"

The head of the train exploded.

The entire thing was sent spinning and sprawling. The cars flew around crashing and rolling into and over each other. 

Lyn DASHED forwards, crashing through a window. She grabbed a jellyfish mid-air and leapt out of the train. She casually tossed them aside so that they might roll and break their fall proper.

Another bullet hit another car beneath Lyn's feet. She was thrown into the air.

There was a Jellyfish flying through the air as well.

She rolled off the car and slid onto another with a subtle THUMP. All while rescuing the fish.

She snapped her fingers until the tips of her left middle and pointer fingers became black.

She dashed forwards! Another green shot came, taking out a car and sending its remnants shooting at Lyn.

Lyn calculated the directions of each fragment, weaving through them. She grabbed the string attached to it and SWUNG fast and far.

The sniper frantically aimed, attempting to target her. She spun all around the air like a kite in a tornado. The sniper predicted where she was going.

They pulled the trigger.

"Blackjack," Lyn called out, pointing her blackened fingers at the same time. {line is a light reference to Dante's line "jackpot" in Devil May Cry}.

A tiny black nail shot off of her fingers. It shot right through the green bullet, causing an explosion. It sped through the yellow winds and into the sniper's rifle.

...…

The train had come to a stop. The various jellyfish had gathered outside. Lyn read their status in the Reflect Realm. They were beaten up, but they could be worse.

The Batler was nowhere to be seen.

["Kill them all, my child. No witnesses,"]

Lyn's eyes went cold. She took deep breaths.

["You know it's the best thing for the mission,"]

Lyn's hands began to shake again.

["Don't you want your freedom?"]

Lyn walked on, gaining some distance from the train before she switched to the Reflect Realm. She got off the path of the train and walked into the plains yet again. It was hot out that night. She sighed.

["You were always a failure, my child,"

"I know right, i should've taken the Cavalier path to Adlernest. Would've been a bit of a walk, but the train ride wouldn't of been such a load of tosh,"]

---

The woman in red was on a horse, watching Lyn from a distance. She had changed into a coat with a fuzzy hood and red goggles. She almost looked like she'd be travelling in the snow if it weren't for the light cloth and that it wasn't cold out.

"Thorn Red to Orpheus XI. We failed in our objective,"

"You didn't engage the 'reaper' directly did you?" a voice like a glider at the top of a mountain questioned.

"Net,"

"Keep on her and look for an opportunity. Also figure out what Twilight Holdings is interested in. The Rasputen demands this ,"

"Understood,"

She and 11 other Horsemen in the same clothing continued on their way.

To Be Continued...…