Angelica gasps as she felt the train shake from the boom of an explosion. The release of energy felt like the wind, threatening to push her off the roof. The woman quickly fell to her knees and held on, and she could hear men and women scream from below her while she was in pure darkness. Worry and anxiety came over Angelica as she struggled to get on her knees. For once she felt totally blind; she couldn't trust the platform she was on. She could feel the sharp howls of the wind scream into her ears.

"Hey, sweetheart, you seem alone," remarked a sly voice behind the woman. The man was attractive in a sly manner, having unruly, curly hair which was tied by a ribbon. He was tanned and had a goatee; his lips biting down on a cigarette stick. Like the rest of his fellow dispatched members, he donned a white shirt with a black coat over it. He also wore a black fedora hat which he habitually tipped teasingly.

Angelica turns her head around while glaring. She couldn't see who exactly was behind her, but she felt uncomfortable. She quickly drew out her whip, the only weapon she had left with her.

"Who are you?" the woman growled.

"No need for my name. You'll forget about it once you get an eternal beauty sleep," he replied, pulling out his pistol and points it at her.

"How did you know we were here then?" Angelica then asked.

The man chuckles evilly. "I heard that you're a woman hard to handle. But you honestly are not a woman hard to find I tell you that."

"I'm not asking about your opinion, bastard," snapped Angelica.

"Fine, fine. But honestly it wasn't that difficult. Basically the idea of you returning to Regalo was all but the same. We have scouts at every road train station. Even at the pier I was told," said the man.

"Well, you all seem certainly pretty much eager about it."

"We were to make sure that you don't get to Regalo. Good thing they didn't specify whether you should be dead or alive though!"

The woman gives no reply and just began to attack him, tumbling and making cartwheels while swirling her whip around her. Upon a safe distance, she began slashing her leather chord at the man, which he manages to avoid with ease. Cocking his gun, the man began shooting at Angelica and even commences on a hand-to-hand combat. Angelica proves to be a skilled opponent, noting her overwhelming gymnastic skills.

Luciano watches in frustration from a distance, wondering how he will get to the woman from where he was standing. In impulse he points his gun at the man with Angelica, but he is hesitant in pulling the trigger since both were moving in mad rapid movement. Any wrong move could either miraculously miss either Angelica or the man or kill either Angelica or the man in the process.

Beads of sweat rolled down the redhead's forehead as hesitance grew stronger and stronger in his mind. He could feel his finger shake in worry, but he just couldn't find the confidence in his skills-not at this point after arguing with Angelica.

The green-eyed warrior could not believe what he was seeing. He saw a weakling who snatched the woman away from the others, insisting that he be the one to stay by her side on the way to Regalo. He was furious to see the useless man standing on the roof with a contemplating look on his face while the woman, who is blind, fights a man who displayed incredible prowess.

Angry, Alfieri clenches his fists until his knuckles were white. He didn't care whether or not Angelica even held any feelings for any of the men; he knew that at least Enzo, Abelle, and Luciano bore feelings for the woman but Angelica had repelled them all with calm composure. But whether she decided to love anyone romantically or not, Alfieri had no idea; all he knew was that she was fighting hard for the people she cared for. He knew that she had put aside her emotions so many times just to make sure that everything ends well, that everyone gets to their destination safe and sound. And seeing Luciano so weak after acting tough pissed him more than anyone could possibly imagine.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Alfieri angrily yelled at him from below.

"What does it look like I'm doing?!" Luciano yelled back, refusing to back down from his stance.

"Idiot! You're going to hit Angelica!"

The redhead grits his teeth. "Then what the hell should I do?? I can't jump to where she's standing!" he yelled angrily. "Fuck, I'm one useless ass."

"I don't know about you, but Angelica doesn't need romance right now! She needs a hero! So what if she's one tough cookie?" Alfieri asks as he stares hard at the ground. "Knowing her for a year. . there's still a lot we don't know about her. The smiles she gives me everyday made me miserable; she was always sad even with her facade on. I wanna be there for her, even if she marries another man! Help me, or you better get ready to get your pretty face all mashed up!"

Saying that, the man quickly runs off and struggles to find a way to Angelica.

* * * * * * * *

"Damn it, what should we do??" Pietro asks his friend as he fought to find ideas. "We're all gonna die!"

The train tracks ahead of them were more than impossibly destroyed. Both men knew that and whoever else saw the horror knew that as well. The train traveled on the side of the mountain; stopping it was also impossible since the breaks were intentionally destroyed. Ideas of saving the train with everyone else in it were zero.

"Shut it, Pietro. You're being noisy," snapped Abelle while he held his side, his eyes staring at the tracks ahead of them.

"How care you be so calm in a situation like this??" cried the blue-eyed man.

Abelle frowns. "I'm thinking! Panicking won't help at all."

"We need something real quick; this train is running at full speed," said Pietro, wiping beads of sweat from his brow.

For a while the men remained silent trying to think of ideas that could work to fix their dilemma. But as time passed, their minds became more and more blank from ideas. It was killing them internally. Then as the train drew closer to the end of the line when they suddenly heard footsteps behind them that made them alert. Getting up on their feet, the two men quickly drew their weapons and pointed them toward the door.

They became surprised though when the person who walked into the room was Ekundayo.

"What are you doing here?" a surprised Pietro asks, putting down his machetes.

"Shouldn't you be with Celestina?" Abelle asks her quizzically, raising an eyebrow at her.

"I came to check on you guys after that explosion occurred; Celestina and the others are holding down the bastards from getting in here again," she calmly replied as she took a look around. Then walking towards the window, she could see the broken tracks ahead of them and it won't be long until everyone would fall to their deaths.

"Mind explaining what happened?" she asks, glancing back at the men.

"We don't have any legible explanation," Abelle replied as he pushed back his spectacles. "But my theory is that either one of the goons accidentally threw a dynamite up ahead or it could've been intentional, or the bomb was planted not too long ago."

Ekundayo frowns and ponders. "Any plans to counter this?"

"None, unfortunately."

"Then I propose that I use my ability to form a bridge to get us to the other side and bring everyone to safety," she confidently states.

The two men widened their eyes in surprise at the sound of her words. They knew she was completely knew to her abilities, plus they haven't even ever seen her use the powers of the Arcana. The hooded woman puts down her hood and reveals herself, revealing a beautiful black woman with long locks and fierce amber eyes. Markings on her face had appeared, surprising her two companions who swore they were never there. They watched her approach the window where the destroyed section of the tracks were evident. Drowning a little, Ekundayo quickly started climbing out of the car and onto the rooftop. Abelle and Pietro dashed after her, calling out her name for her to come back. But the woman took no heed.

"Someone has to do something," she sternly states.

"We don't even know if it'll work!" Abelle insisted angrily. "Suppose your stupendous plan won't work."

The black woman frowns at his words. "Have faith, Abelle."

With that she slowly raises her hands as her eyes and tattoos began to glow brightly. A beautifully designed circular disk that was formed in a standing manner in front of the woman appeared and it grew larger and larger until its circumference surrounded the entire train. Not long after that happened, a bridge formed where the train tracks once existed. Like a snake waiting for its prey, Ekundayo jumped from the train once it came close to the formed train tracks. The woman lands on the ledge and stretched out her arms once more, fully constructing fake train tracks. Her hair flailed wildly like a flag against the wind, her cape as well. She yelled loudly as her arms grew stiffer and heavier from the weight she was carrying. But before long, she felt blood oozing out of her nose and unto her lips.

Abelle and Pietro missed the pitiful scene, but they were more than relieved to know they were safe. They felt a great weight get lifted from their chests, and the men felt as light as the clouds. But that quickly disappeared when they were reminded that they still had enemies inside the train. Frowning deeply, Abelle grabs his gun and moves to join the rest of the team, but Pietro stops him back holding back his friend's arm.

"What now?" Abelle grumpily asks. "We've worried enough. Ekundayo is covering for all of us now."

"I'm going."

"What?"

"I'll be the one to go," said Pietro. Shocked, Abelle whirled his head around and instantly met his friend's insistent eyes. There have only been a few times the bespectacled man has seen Pietro this serious. One of the few was the escape in Colosseum when they were rescuing Angelica. But even then Abelle was barely convinced about his friend's crazy determination. Was Pietro trying to prove something? Or is this merely a sign of his growth of maturity as a man?

Abelle frowns and questioningly raises his eyebrow. "I don't know what's got into your head, but you're staying here and watch the train."

"But you're the better engineer than I am, Abelle. I am useless here."

"Oh, shut it. I don't know about you," said Abelle, poking his friend at the chest. "But I believe you've got more guts than I do. At the very least, you would know what you should do. You were the one who taught me how to work on mechanics and the technical stuff in technology. I simply got better than you at it. But that doesn't mean you don't know what you're doing."

Pietro just stare at his friend in shock, speechless for a moment. Before he knew it, a lightness of heart came upon his chest and a smile curled on his lips. "Been a while since you said something nice to me, Abelle."

Abelle glares at his friend before turning on his heels to leave. "I only say the necessity. So, you better not screw things up while I'm gone."

As quickly as he stopped at his tracks, quickly he was to leave. He didn't look back at his friend, but he did smile for pride of himself. Conceited fellow he was really, but he was glad to have made his friend smile for pride. But putting away the thought of Pietro's happy face from his mind, a frown quickly replaced the expression on his face. His pace also quickened while his fists whitened from his grip.

Don't screw up, Pietro. Don't screw.

* * * * * * * *

Sharp blades clashed against each other violently, creating sharp ear-piercing sounds. Forces from opposing sides smash with all their might to beat one another, but neither gave opportunities of defeat. The heat of rage and excitement emitted from both opponents as their glares and grins fought to win against the other. There was simply no end to their violence. From time to time their blades would contact their opponent's cheek and tear the fragile tissue, allowing blood to ooze out of the wound. Stinging pain would surge from it, but it didn't allow the wounded to back down. Instead, it would intensify their little skirmish. 

The woman felt beads of sweat roll down the side of her head and her brow. Her glare burned on her face as she slashed her dagger fiercely at him. The woman manager to give him a couple of cuts, but her  opponent thought nothing of it. He just wipes the oozing blood off but refused to wipe off the filthy grin off his face. He slashes at the woman in turn and even pulls out his gun with which she kicks out of his hand with one graceful move.

"You're a real pest you know that?" the man sneered.

Angelica grins scornfully. "Hmph. You're the pain here, truth be told."

"Woman, I've been wondering why the Arcana Famiglia clings onto you as an—or should I say the emissary of the Arcana when you were a mere newcomer at the famiglia."

The woman lifts an eyebrow questioningly as the man began to encircle around her.

"If you think no one knows your backstory, you're wrong. The story you've been telling your precious underlings is merely the half of the entire story in which you are inevitably are a part of," said the man. "Do they know that your family has been a long line of fortunetellers and magicians?

"And where did you get that kind of information?"

The man smiles. "Oh, would you really want to know where I got—where we got the info from? We got it from your stepmother."

"She's not my stepmother and she never will be," growled Angelica. "She was a damn witch who wanted revenge because my mother was chosen instead of her. She lusted after my father's wealth and wellbeing. But my father still couldn't see that even after I disappeared. I, however, knew what she wanted all along. She wants the power of the real Arcana doesn't she? Adelline wants to control the Arcana and take over the globe as we know it."

Chuckling, the man rubs his chin then gently pulls on his goatee. He continues to circle around her, while Angelica continues to be on her guard. "Well, I honestly don't have much knowledge of our dearest big boss, but I do know she has a big heart—maybe just not for you. But she did pull out the lot of us from the gutter. Imagine, you were once a hobo without a shot of a living. You probably won't get to live in the comforts of luxury where everything is at the very tips of your fingertips, and maybe not even get the dreams of a wife and kids. But all that changed when a woman just walks up to you and promises all of that to happen only with one condition—follow her every command. So, I honestly don't care if all hell breaks loose as long as I get her ladiness what she wants."

"Fool," replied Angelica. "You don't know a thing about her. Not a single thing."

"Enough talk, I'll get rid of you and everything else goes smooth sailing," sighed the man, pulling down his fedora hat and hurls a dagger at the woman's face, with which she easily dodges. Only to get kicked in the stomach by the man and receive a second strike across the face that causes her to feel nauseous. Fighting to regain her full thoughts, the woman stumbles backwards and tries to gain some distance from him. But the man grabs her hair and pulls her towards him. While hugging her with one arm, he punches her sides violently, making Angelica to yell out in pain.

Alfieri hears her cries and hurries to her aid, but he gets confronted by more of the hoodlums. Angrily he fights his way through, slashing his dagger around while grabbing a pistol from one of the men and shoots those close to him. He even gets himself disheveled as the men became desperate to take him down. Alfieri continues to fight valiantly until a dark green haired man with green eyes appears before him with an amused look on his face. It only agitated Alfieri even more when he could still hear the faint cries of Angelica's agony.

"And who the hell are you?" asked the man as he kicked a man closest to him, knocking his lights out.

"Me? No need to know my name, my man," chuckled the man. "But you sure cause a lot of damage around her, seeing how many of my men are down."

"Oh? Then you better get out of the way before you join their beauty sleep."

"Nah, can't do that, my good man. See here, I don't really feel like in the mood to tolerate annoying pests like you," he replies, pulling out a cigarette and lighting it.

Alfieri laughs mockingly. "Haha, nice one. Well, same here: I am really not in the mood right now because someone is gonna die tonight as much as I hate to say it."

The man laughs in turn. "I see that Giovanni is hurting your woman pretty badly."

"Yes, he is. And I'm gonna kill him."

"Sorry, man. But I'm sorry too; I can't let you interrupt his job," the man calmly tells him and pulls out a gun from his pocket and cocks it.

"I'm sorry, too," replied Alfieri, pointing the gun in his hand at the man before him. "But I guess that means I'll have to kill you too."

The two clash, fighting to shoot each other at a vital part, but being skilled made it difficult for either men. When both ran out of bullets, they just pulled out their daggers and lunged at each other. Blood splattered at each slash and bruises appeared after each blow. Both men were lost in concentration of killing the other. 

But before long, Alfieri saw the man get dragged away by an unknown entity along with every one of the hoodlums. He chased after him to see where he was going. His eyes widened when he hears footsteps above him running towards the end of the train. Quickly he gets out of the window beside him and hurries to the top. He felt his heart stop when he saw Angelica responsible for the men: she had glowing tentacles dragging the men into the last car.

She appeared tired and bloody, bruises on her face was evident and her hair disheveled. Her dress itself were now in rags and her shoes gone. She smiled when she saw the relieved Alfieri before her. The man rushes to get to her, but a similar tentacle restrained him. He fights against the strength of the tentacle and managed to drag himself to the edge with his eyes on the woman. A horrified look on his face appeared when he saw a glowing tentacle aim at the coupler that kept the cars together. Snapping off, the car in which Angelica was in was slowly left behind losing speed. Alfieri screams her name at this, but he lost himself when he saw the car explode to smithereens.

~~~

Number of words: 3457

Guys, I am so sorry for the late update. SUPER LATE UPDATE AT THAT. School sucks as fuck because it doesn't let me have free time anymore, but at the very least I got to update. And I'm sorry if it seems rushed; I was rushed, gomen. But I hope you liked it anyway. Please tell me what you think so I'll get more motivated, because honestly inconsistent updates destroys my motivation big time. So, comments are REALLY NEEDED.

This chapter is dedicated to hyochan because she really loves the book and I love it when she asked me to update the book quickly since she keeps reading the story over and over again >v<

This is Ekundayo everybody :3