Cluelessly Lost Chapter 1 - 3

Prologue

Through the dust, a silhouette arose. The man stood there silently and motionless. Around him lay the ruins of once a beautiful skyscraper, now only piles of stone remain covered in dirt. The man looked pale with bloodstains all over his face and clothes; it didn't appear to be his blood because he wasn't wounded. Tears started dripping from his chin towards the ground. A body lay before him, he stood there gazing upon it with a shocked face and regret in his brown eyes. His lips were shaking and turned blue. From the dark sky, rain started dripping, harder and harder, washing away the blood and tears from his face. The dirt on the body lying on the ground also washed away, revealing a pretty girl with dark blond hair. The face was of the girl was covered in dirt, some blood trickled from the wounds she had all over her body. The girl seemed full of bullet holes. The man standing over her turned around and the gun in his hand shone brightly in the moonlight.

"I'm sorry, Nine." The man said in a croaky voice.

He aimed his gun down and shot, sending himself flying upwards towards the air, landing on the roof of a tall building. He stood there, watching the city lights, he lost everything, no hope, no feelings and full of darkness.

Chapter 1 - The New Guy...

"Did he wake up yet?" An angelic voice said.

"No, not yet, but his wounds are healing at an amazing speed, almost inhuman." Another voice said, this time it was a lower voice; it probably belonged to a man.

A girl and a man were sitting together looking at a guy who was lying in bed.

"Oh, look! He woke up, he woke up!" The girl jumped up and down in excitement.

The brown haired guy lying in bed slowly opened his eyes, revealing his brown pupils, which were flashing red for a moment, however, both the girl and the man didn't notice.

"Where am I?" Asked the guy.

Without waiting for an answer he sat right up and started searching his jean's pockets and slowly went upwards to his T-shirt. His expression changed, his face turned red of anger.

"WHO TOOK MY JACKET?" He bellowed.

"Eek!" The girl fell down from her chair, shocked by his sudden outburst.

The man, however, looked calmly at his face.

"It's where it belongs, my dear guest, on a jacket holder in the hallway next to the door leading outside." The man smiled amused.

"Give it back now! Please..." The guy tried to not make it sound as an order, but failed.

"I do not think you need it, it's not that chilly in here. And I don't see you going outside anytime soon due to your injuries." The man was still smiling.

"Yes, you need to lay down and rest, moving about will only make your wounds worse!" The girl finally stood up and put her hands on her hips in a demanding way.

"I want my jacket, it holds something important that I need. Give it back now!" He shouted the last words.

"Your zanpaktou, this gun, perhaps?" The man pulled a green gun, engraved with the roman number 13, XIII.

"Hades!"

The guy jumped towards it, but the man quickly raised his hand out of reach, which caused the jumping fellow to grab air and fall down on the ground.

"A peculiar name for a zanpaktou. Hades... A devilish name indeed. Also the marking on it picks my interest. The number 13... Bad luck?"

The guy pushed himself up and faced the man holding his beloved gun.

"Hades... Return!"

The gun started glowing red and the man holding it screamed in pain. He let go of the gun and the gun kept hovering in mid-air, turning towards it owner and flying towards his right hand. The girl screamed and went to the man's aid, however, she stopped when he started laughing. The man looked at his black burned hand and smiled at the owner and his gun. A mighty blade appeared in front of the man and he grabbed it with his unharmed, left hand.

"Demon Trophy... Remove my useless limb and may it be replaced anew." The man sliced off his hand with the blade and it dissolved and a new one appeared in stead of it, fully unharmed.

The guy holding Hades shrugged and was pretty impressed.

"May I ask your name, my dear guest?" The man turned to the guy and continued as if nothing just now happened.

"Train, Train Heartnet. Also known as Black Cat, the bringer of bad luck."

The man smiled amused, however, the girl who now was standing next to the man stuck her tongue out at Train.

"Bad luck doesn't exist! Right, uncle?"

The man patted the girl and laughed.

"Don't stick your tongue out at others, it's not how a princess should behave. Oh, also don't ruin the introduction of our dear guest, Ashurii. It might hurt his feeling."

The girl pouted and gave Train a weird look before walking out of the room.

"Feelings? I have none." Train smiled at the man in front of him.

The man made a gesture for Train to sit down at the chair next to him, however, Train declined.

"I have more training to do."

The man shook his head and sighed.

"You can't train in your condition, that's suicide. Besides, why would one train so hard? For revenge, perhaps?"

Train put away his gun in his back pocket and looked at the man, noticing his long black hair and green eyes. He was not that old, yet his eyes bared the grief of one who has seen many things.

"I wish to be acknowledged, mister...?"

"Call me Ricardo, and acknowledged by who, if I may ask?" Ricardo looked at him with a curious face.

"By myself. I do not care for others, because I do not wish for them to care for me, nor do I care for their opinion. I lead my own path, alone." Train walked towards the door to take his leave, but only to be stopped by Ricardo.

"Alone, you say? Why would one desert love and joy to walk alone"

Train was angered by these words and gazed furiously at Ricardo's calm smiling face.

"Only a fool believes in utter nonsense such as love."

With this, Train marched out of the room and found himself in a large hallway.

"I forgot to mention... You are no longer in the world as you know it." Ricardo appeared behind him and Train stopped walking.

"What do you mean?" Train turned around and faced Ricardo who was still smiling.

"I mean that this is another world, the NetherWorld, or NW for short." Ricardo tilted his up diagonally and looked amused at Train's confused face.

"Hmph, save the jokes for someone who has time." Train shook his head and walked further through the hallway.

"Time? Why are you in such a rush?"

Train ignored his question and kept going onwards until he found a large door. Suddenly, Ricardo appeared in front of him out of thin air. Train stared at him with open mouth.

"H-how did you...?" 

Ricardo laughed at his shocked face.

"Dahahaha! Like I said before, this is the NW and everyone here has a reason to be here, God himself chose them, including you."

Train raised his hand to hush him up.

"You're trying to say I was chosen by God to come to this so called NetherWorld?"

Ricardo nodded and Train burst out in laughter.

"He chose me? Of all people, he chose me? I'm sorry but I do not believe in God nor any of this NetherWorld nonsense."

"God chose you for a reason like anyone else here in the NW, so you must have some good-"

Train hushed him up when he grinned and his eyes turned red.

"Good, inside me? That's funny, considering that only pure dark flows inside me."

Ricardo smiled and started to fade away in white particles.

"This is reiatsu and you have it too, probably in another color, anyways, you should go on through the door behind me and see for yourself what I was talking about. Please be careful, though, not everyone is as nice as me. See you soon, Train Heartnet."

The man smiled broadly and vanished completely, leaving Train alone standing in front of the door.

Train shrugged and pushed the door open. A white light blinded him for a moment.

"Ah, there is the new guy!"

A tall fearsome figure walked towards him.

"Welcome, welcome to the NetherWorld and our beloved castle, the home of the Vizard! You must be Train."

Train looked at his face in disbelief, he looked human, but reassembled a tiger somehow.

"Y-yeah, I'm Train Heartnet."

Another person appeared next to the tiger-faced man.

"Hi, hi! Nice to meet ya! I'm Sorelle, Queen of Spades." The pretty girl smiled broadly and nudged the man next to her.

"Oh, oh yeah! You can call me Zarion, nice to meet you."

Train ignored their introductions and walked past them, leaving them confused.

"H-hey! Wait up, stop ignoring me!" Sorelle shouted behind him.

Zarion appeared in front of him, the same way Ricardo did earlier, his tall, broad figure impressed Train and made him stop.

"Listen here, new guy, when someone is talking to you, it's rude to ignore them and walk away, or should I beat some manners into you?"

Train grinned and his eyes turned red, Zarion wasn't impressed and calmly looked back.

"Move away, I have training to do and listening to a bunch of crazy people who think that this is another world, is time wasting." Train walked past Zarion.

As soon as Train was next to Zarion, Zarion launched his elbow towards the back of his head, however, Train ducked and swept away his legs, this caused Zarion to fall down on the ground. Train coughed up blood and fell on his knees, it seemed some of his wounds reopened.

"Training in such a state, only a fool does that, even so... Your reaction was perfect."

Another man showed up in front of Train and put his hand in front of him, to help him stand up. Train ignored him and pushed himself up. Zarion jumped up on his feet and laughed.

"You've got guts, I like it!"

Train pulled Hades out of his back pocket and aimed it at Zarion.

"If you ever attack me again, I will kill you."

Sorelle blew in his ear and pushed away Hades with the tip of her finger.

"Don't be so serious, come on! Loosen up and laugh a- OW!" Sorelle withdrew her finger and put it in her mouth.

"Never touch Hades without my permission, otherwise you'll get burned badly. Don't worry about your finger though, it was just a warning and I told Hades to go easy on females."

Sorelle's eyes widened and her face turned furiously red.

"Easy Sorelle, he's new and he doesn't know anything yet." Said the man who offered him his hand earlier.

Sorelle seemed to be calmed down, however, she gave Train a nasty look and then moved at an amazing speed out of the room, not the same way Ricardo did earlier, this time he could see her move. The room was quite big and had a lot of furniture, such as four couches, three TV's and a lot of tables with poker cards on them. It seemed as it was the living room, but then he saw several training gear and home trainers.

"Anyways, I'm Jack, nice to meet you."

Train looked at him and put away Hades in his back pocket.

"I want answers." Jack smiled and widened his arms.

"And those answers will certainly be given."

"By me, the Ace of Clubs, of course!" Zarion grinned and walked next to Jack, facing Train. "But not here, let's go to the Clubs wing of the castle; this is only the small recreation room of the Hearts."

Train looked confused at Zarion.

"Don't worry you'll get it when I'll explain everything later. Come now, follow me." Zarion moved to another door and Train followed him, still not trusting Zarion and ready to counter any move he makes.

Chapter 2 - The Three Mights...

After a long walk past many rooms and through many hallways, they finally stopped in front of an enormous door.

"This is it, the Clubs' lobby!" Zarion seemed proud and was smiling broadly.

Train stared at the large door in front of him. The door had the painting of an Ace Club poker card and something was written under it:

"The Clubs' Mighty Lobby! NO TRESPASSERS! You too, Ricardo! Signed: Zarion, Ace of Clubs."

Train shook his head and then turned to Zarion.

"Trespassers? We are inside, unless you are warning burglars, which is usually not needed, this notice is meaningless."

Zarion laughed and put his hand on Train's shoulder.

"Everyone who is not a Club, is a trespasser past these doors and will be attacked by everyone there. Of course, we won't go all out on them, it's more for fun and entertainment, besides... We don't want to destroy the whole place, now do we?" Zarion moved and pushed the door, revealing a huge landscape, full of rocks and a few nearly dead trees.

The sky was blue and the sun shone brightly down on Train and Zarion. A few faces turned towards the door, one of them ran towards them and drew out his katana while running at high speed. The man who was running at them put his katana in front of him and aimed to stab Train, however, Train wasn't impressed and drew Hades. Zarion smiled and stepped back, enjoying to see what will happen next. Train shot a few times with Hades at the running man, aiming for his legs, the bullets went through his clothes and then deflected of his skin.

"What the.." Train didn't believe his eyes and shot a few more rounds, the same happened and the bullets were deflected.

"Won't work... He has trained his skin, bullets won't penetrate that easily." Zarion smiled and folded his arms, watching carefully how Train will overcome this obstacle.

"I see.. Hades, Black Claw!" Train swung his arm, as if he slashed with a blade four times and a white light appeared from Hades, moving towards the man, who was still running, the light broke in four more lights. The lights collapsed against the running man, slicing him and the ground around him.

The man stopped, as blood dripped from his cut wounds.

"Well done, stopping Kaisen like that. It's not easy to stop him in his Principle of Speed." Zarion said impressed, while Train put away Hades.

"Principle of Speed?" Zarion laughed at Train's confused face.

"One of my fighting styles, and Zarion, you shouldn't underestimate me, that attack wouldn't have stopped me." The man who was running appeared next to Train, fully unharmed.

"How did you fully heal so fast?" Train stared at his body where moments ago were wounds.

The man smiled with his eyes closed, this gave Train an uneasy feeling and his hand automatically went to Hades, but he didn't draw it.

"I am Kaisen, King of Clubs. And I'd like to congratulate you for destroying one of my puppets." Train looked confused, while Kaisen still smiled at him with his eyes closed.

"Don't worry, I'll explain later. So.. Kaisen, can you please turn this place back to normal, so I can get to my room."

Kaisen's face turned pale and his face became expressionless, staring at Zarion.

"Sure... I was done training anyways." Kaisen placed the palms of both his hands together and closed his eyes, a sudden wave went past Train and Zarion, blowing away Train's hair backwards. After the wave went past, the place turned into a large living room, with a lot of training gear and a lot of huge weights.

"So this is actually a gym?" Zarion looked confused when he said that.

"No, this is just our lobby, our training room isn't here in this castle. The castle wouldn't be able to stand after our training sessions."

Train sighed and shook his head, still in disbelief about the thinking process these guys have around here.

"So who are you?" Kaisen asked while smiling with his eyes closed.

"Train, Train Heartnet." Train was still feeling uneasy with that smile.

"Well anyway, we have to get going. See ya, Kaisen." Zarion gestured for Train to follow him.

"See you Train Heartnet. I hope we'll meet again soon." Kaisen was still smiling with his eyes closed and following Train's every movement.

"Who's that?" Zarion laughed when he sensed Train feeling uneasy with Kaisen staring at him.

"That, my friend, is one of the top fighters we have, he is a great asset to the Vizard, not to mention his great loyalty."

"Err... Right." Train shook his head.

"Ah, here it is. The Ace of Clubs' chamber."

Another large door faced Train again, however, this one was quite smaller than the other one. The text on the oak door said:

"Eat... Or be eaten. Ricardo shall be eaten.. Some day.. I hope.." The last two words were scribbled down fairly small, almost unreadable, but Train could read it just fine.

"Err... Do you enjoy scribbling things on doors and walls?" Zarion was shocked by Train's statement.

"H-how did you know?" Train sighed at his stupidity, while Zarion looked at him with wide eyes in shock.

"Because on every door you sign the scribbling with your name." Train rolled with his eyes.

"Oh.. Right.. Never mind that, let's just go inside, shall we?" Zarion pushed the door open, revealing a huge king-sized bed in the middle of the room, which seemed the right size for the large owner. A few poker cards were lying around on the green carpet and on the tables a lot of buildings could be seen.

"You like to build models or something?" Zarion laughed and shook his head at his rhetorical question.

"Those are models used for war meetings, those are models based on other organization's buildings." Train looked at him with a puzzled face.

"There are other organizations?" Zarion shrugged.

"Well... Yeah, of course there are, we are the strongest though and the oldest. You got them Shinigamis, who live in the Soul Society. That one," he pointed at a large model, it had a lot of towers and buildings who were surrounded by two walls, the inner and outer wall, "And you got them Arrancar's, Hollow's, Espada's and all the other non-human creatures, those live in Los Noches, they're not from this dimension though, they're from Hueco Mundo, they do get here quite often." He nodded to himself occasionally, as if he was talking and agreeing with himself.

"Where is their building?" Zarion woke up out of his own discussion and laughed.

"Oh yeah, theirs is there next to ours." He pointed towards a huge castle, with five towers, one in the middle and the other four surrounding that tower.

All the towers were labeled, the middle one said: "Player of the Cards", the other four said: "Spades", "Hearts", "Clubs", "Diamonds".

Next to the castle stood a less appealing and less impressive building, it was fully white and the shapes were oddly disfigured, the building seemed like a mansion and it was not really something you'd call a base.

"How about those other buildings." Some other buildings surrounding the three on the top, they were a lot smaller and some of them were half destroyed.

"Those are the smaller organizations, such as the Quincies. Oh, remember that the top three organizations are the Soul Society, led by King Adam and Queen Ming, Los Noches, Led by Lord N, and The Vizards, led by The Player of The Cards Ricardo. If you're gonna join an organization, you better join one of those 3, though you'd better not join Los Noches, or I might have to kill ya." Zarion looked pretty serious when he made that threat.

"Err... Right. So why can you all disappear and appear wherever you want, are you guys magicians or something?" Zarion scratched his head when he tried to figure out how he should answer.

"Hehe, that's a hard one. Basically.. We're all spirits and the power we use to fly around and use magic stuff is coz we use them spirit power that's in us, we call it Reiatsu. Oh, and not everyone can disappear and appear whenever they want, only like 3 or 4 of us can in whole NW, it's a pretty hard ability to get."

Train shook his head. "You're trying to say I'm dead, why didn't I go to Hell, then?"

Zarion scratched his head again and coughed a few times. "I... Don't know why. Look we're just here, okay?"

Train's face turned red of anger. "NO THAT'S NOT OKAY. I WANT TO KNOW WHY THE HELL I'M HERE, OKAY?" Train moved his hand towards Hades, but before he could grab the hilt Ricardo appeared behind him and grabbed his hand.

"No need for violence, right? Dahahahaha!" Ricardo let go of his hand and folded his arms.

"Oi Ricardo, why you giving me someone who asks to many questions, you know I can't handle those smart asses."

Ricardo smiled and laughed. "Don't worry, Z. I'll take care of his questions, you can go now."

Zarion shrugged. "Aight, keep safe. See you around, Train." Zarion disappeared and Train turned towards Ricardo.

"Am I dead? Why am I here? What is this place? And who the hell are you people?"

Ricardo laughed and smiled at Train. "Relax, Train, relax. You're not dead, nor are you alive. It's quite hard to explain, but you could see this as the stage before you die, another path you follow before you go to either Hell or Heaven."

Train frowned. "But how did I die? And what the hell is this place?"

Ricardo changed his expression and suddenly took a serious face. "Hmmm. That's odd. You should know how you died, your memories aren't taken from you." He muttered to himself.

"What? What did you say?"

Ricardo placed both his hands together and smiled again. "It's nothing, nothing to worry about for now. This place is my home, and yours if you wish to choose so, The Vizard Castle, home of the Vizards and the oldest organization to be. We are proud, we are strong and most of all lazy. Dahahahaha!"

Train shook his head, not showing the slightest desire that he wants to laugh.

"Anyways, you're here now and that's all that matters. The next thing for you to do is choose an organization to join. The Vizards, Shinigamis, the creatures of Los Noches or perhaps another organization of a lower rank. But to join an organization you need to join their academy first, where you will learn how to fight and use your reiatsu, which Zarion already explained in his own way. Dahahahaha!" Ricardo smiled and looked at him with a curious face waiting for his answer. "

So I either join one of the three mightiest organizations or join a lesser one and to do that I have to go to the organizations academy so they can teach me how to fight?"

Ricardo nodded. "Yes, that's basically it. So what will it be?"

Train grinned and his eyes turned red. "I choose option 3. I will stay alone and fight alone."

Ricardo raised his eyebrows. "Why would you do that?"

Train's eyes turned to their normal brown color. "Because I don't care for any of you and nor will I ever, besides, I hate schools, especially if they're going to learn me something I'm already capable."

Ricardo laughed and smiled. "So what are your goals? Most people join organizations to rise up in rank and get stronger, why do you wish to fight?"

Train shrugged. "I fight for myself. Like I told you before... I wish to be acknowledged by myself."

Ricardo nodded. "So.. How do you wish to do that?"

Train smiled. "Simple... I fight and fight and become the strongest of everyone, easy isn't it."

Ricardo laughed and smiled. "So you plan on fighting anyone, even if he is twice, no, a hundred times stronger than you?"

Train shook his head. "I would not only fight him, I would defeat him." Train's words echoed loudly through the room.

"Fine, if that is what you wish, however, if you ever change your mind. Feel free to barge in anytime and join us, we want someone who has a strong will like yours."

Train shook his head. "Don't count on it. So where is my jacket? I have some training to do."

Ricardo nodded and smiled. "Right this way..."

Ricardo led him past many hallways again, where a lot of people bowed for Ricardo and others raised their hands holding bottles, asking when the next big sake party is coming.

"Dahahahaha!" Train's thoughts could barely bear with this laugh, he loathed it as he kept thinking about everything that is going on and not understanding it. His thoughts flowed from "Where am I?" to "How do I get out?", however, he already realised the answer to this "There is no way out.".

Ricardo could only smile, even though he understood how Train felt, the only way he could help him is by leaving him alone for now. "Here you go." Ricardo held the jacket in front of Train, who seemed to have spaced out.

"W-what? Oh, thanks." He took the black jacket, engraved with XIII on the sleeve and looked at Ricardo. "Is there a wasteland around here, where I can train without being disturbed?"

Ricardo laughed and shook his head. "Dahahahaha! My friend, NW is nothing but wasteland." He pushed open the two broad doors that lead to the outside, it was almost inhuman how he did that with minimum effort. The doors revealed a blue sky and the sun shining brightly on the lake surrounding the castle. The white bridge that linked the castle with the wasteland on the other side blinded Train.

"We got wasteland right in our front yard and backyard!"

Train shook his head and asked himself again what the hell this place is. "Uhmm... Yeah, thanks. I'll be going now." Train reached for his pocket and pulled out Hades.

"See you around soon. Dahahahahaha!" Train aimed Hades on the ground beneath him and shot, sending himself flying towards the wastelands, and out of Ricardo's sight.

"Soon?" Train laughed a bit while he kept shooting Hades to keep himself airborne. "Soon, when I defeat you and your whole castle."

Chapter 3 - Party crasher...

"Black Claw!" Train shouted as he split another tree in four pieces. Sweat dripped from his chin towards the ground. Train turned towards another tree and aimed his gun at a tree behind him.

"Reveal yourself, NOW!" Train watched a girl coming from behind the tree impatiently, but then he noticed that she was the girl from before.

"Uhmm, hi?" Ashurii was red from being discovered.

"Go home, I have more training to do."

Ashurii pouted. "But you've been training for 6 hours!"

Train raised his eyebrows. "You were watching me for 6 hours?"

Ashurii turned even more red than before. "Well... I wanted to apologize for before..."

Train shook his head. "If that's all." Train turned his back on her and wanted to resume his training.

"Hey! You didn't even accept my apologies!" Train sighed. "I accept, now leave me alone."

Ashurii became red again, but of anger this time. "Why are you so mean?"

Train turned around and faced her. "That's none of your business."

Ashurii ran towards Train and aimed to punch him in the face, but Train sidestepped and dodged. "You shouldn't treat friends like that!" She shouted.

Train laughed. "Friends? I have no friends. I'm sorry if I made you think I saw you as a friend."

Ashurii was on the edge of tears, but Train shrugged and walked away from her. "Do you really feel that way?"

Train stopped and shook his head. "Ofcourse, friends only hold you back."

"They don't!" Ashurii screamed.

Train turned around, with a calm expression on his face. "Then let me ask you this... Would you rather complete your mission, and let your friends die, or rather save your friends and fail the mission. The mission being important that if it fails, the world gets destroyed and everyone living on it."

Ashurii bit her lip. "Why don't you answer this? Would you rather walk entirely alone, fulfilling every mission in solitude, never laugh and never have fun, or would you rather have a friend you can laugh with and never be alone anymore."

Train laughed. "You wouldn't understand, you still live in your own fairy world where everything is good and there is no evil." Tears dripped from Ashurii's chin when he said this.

"H-hey, don't cry... I hate it when people cry." Train stuttered.

Ashurii frowned. "W-why do you care?"

"I told you, I don't care about anyone. Crying is for weaklings who give up, that's why I hate people who cry." Train said with a stern voice.

More tears dripped from Ashurii's chin. "S-so you hate me?"

Train walked backwards, afraid to answer the question. "N-no, y-yes. Wait that's not the point! I only said that you shouldn't cry, it only shows weakness!"

Ashurii laughed and dried up her tears with the back of her sleeve. "Ha! I knew you weren't that bad!"

Train tripped and fell backwards on his back and Ashurii laughed at him again. "That's not funny, you know." Train said as he pushed himself back up.

"I know it's not funny... It's hilarious!" Ashurii stook her tongue at Train again.

"Your uncle told you not to do that." Train said with a matter-of-fact tone.

Ashurii could barely resist laughing. "I don't care about what he or you told me to do! Because I don't care about other people." She tried to imitate Train's voice.

"Ha ha, that's not funny either you know." Train said, trying his hardest not to laugh and causing him his utmost effort to put a bit of sarcasm through the sentence.

"So why do you train anyway, you trying to get in one of the top organizations?"

Train shook his head. "Nah, I'm not joining any organization."

Ashurii raised her eyebrows in a confused way. "So why do you train then?"

"You wouldn't understand anyway."

Ashurii pouted. "I'm young but I'm not stupid, you know."

Train shook his head. "It's not that, it's just that I don't even know myself. I want to be acknowledged, by myself, and training is the only thing that crosses my mind when I think of how."

Ashurii nodded. "So you want to become strongest?"

Train shook his head. "That's not my real goal, but you could put it as that."

Ashurii smiled. "See! I told you I'd understand."

Train raised his eyebrows and shook his head. "Mhm, sure you did."

"What's with the weird face? You doubt my intelligence?"

Train shook his head and curled his upperlip as he said: "I wouldn't dare."

Ashurii smiled and Train burst in laughter. "You liar! You made fun of me!"

Train changed his expression. "Your cheered up. Go home and let me train."

Ashurii looked confused at his sudden expression change. "Only if you come with me."

Train shook his head. "I have to train."

Ashurii pouted. "Come on! You've trained for 6 hours already, take a break, I'll give you something to drink."

Train hesitated. "Do you have milk?" Ashurii looked at him with a weird face. "Milk? Eh.. I think we do have milk."

Train's face cleared up and he seemed excited. "Alright! What are we waiting for? Come on, lead the way!"

Ashurii shook his head. "This guy is really weird, becoming happy for milk.", she thought as she walked next to Train heading for her house.

"So, where is your home?" Train asked out of curiosity.

Ashurii smiled. "You'll see, it isn't that far from here."

An hour passes and they finally see a mighty, white tower in the distance...

"There! There it is!" Ashurrii pointed towards the white tower.

Train scratched his head. "You live in a tower in the middle of nowhere?"

Ashurii laughed. "Of course not, silly! That's just one of the many towers of my home, Soul Society."

Train's eyes widened. "Your a shinigami?"

Ashurii shook her head. "Not yet, I'm still in the academy."

"I see..." Train said, before spacing out.

They walked towards the tower and soon another tower appeared next to it, a bit shorter than the first one. Finally they stopped in front of the white gates, left and right only white walls could be seen, the outer-wall.

"Gatekeeper-sama! I'm back, open up." A large man appeared above the man, he had a shady look and his face was badly scarred.

"Miss Ashurii-sama! Welcome back, your father has been looking for you. Who's that with you, your boyfriend? Oh, you've grown, haven't you?"

Train didn't believe his ears and barely resist laughing, the man was talking in a high-pitched voice, which made his face and built automatically less impressive.

"He is just a friend, Gatekeeper-sama." Ashurii was clearly blushing.

The man waved her explanations away. "Sure he is, sure he is!"

The man disappeared from view and the gates slowly raised, allowing Train and Ashurii to pass. Behind the gates, a large yard full of green trees and beautiful white flowers welcomed them.

"Come on! We're almost there." Ashurii grabbed his arm and pulled Train behind her as she went to the gate of the inner-wall.

This time there was no gatekeeper, the gates automatically opened when Ashurii and Train stood before them. As the gates opened, large white buildings were revealed, however, there was no sign of people.

"I expected to see lots of people, but the streets are pretty empty." Train sounded relieved.

"Oh, there's a party going on, that's why!" Train's eyes widened. "P-party?"

Ashurii nodded. "It's gonna be fun, come on!"

Train shook his head. "No, I hate parties."

Ashurii pulled his arm and dragged him behind her by force. "No whining, your going to the party, whether you like it or not."

They went past many high buildings and a few towers, until they stopped in front of a large palace. "Here we are! My house."

Train looked at the impressive building. "Ermm, are you sure this is it? This seems more like a place where a king would live."

This made Ashurii giggle. "Yeah, thats because my dad is in fact the king."

Train shook his head. "That isn't really funny."

Ashurii pouted. "It's true! I'm the Princess of Soul Society!"

Train shrugged and rolled with his eyes. "Whatever."

Ashurii slapped his face. "I can't believe you!"

Without waiting for Train to react, she rushed through the doors of the palace, she seemed infuriated. Train stood there rubbing his red cheek, but then followed Ashurii into the building. As soon as Train opened the doors, loud music welcomed Train and made his ears whistle.

"What the hell is this?!" Train shouted over the music. He looked around, but he only saw a empty hallway.

"It's a party, ofcourse!" Ricardo appeared behind Train. "Loosen up and get inside where the party is!"

Train turned around and looked at Ricardo's amused face. "What the hell are you doing here?"

Ricardo smiled. "Dahahahaha! I could ask you the same. As for me, I'm the organizer of the party, my sake parties are quite famous throughout the whole NW."

Train shook his head. "I'm here, because Ashurii dragged me here, by force."

Ricardo laughed. "She did? Dahahahaha!"

Train folded his arms and looked at Ricardo. "Does this have anything to do with you, perhaps?"

Ricardo looked innocently. "Me? Why in the world would I order you to be dragged here, while you were training so hard?"

Train sighed, he knew that this was all Ricardo's doing.

"Well as you are Princess Ashurii's escort, you should at least attend to the party with her, you wouldn't want to break a girl's heart, right?" Ricardo tilted his head up diagonally and curled his lips.

"Fine, just stop making that face, it's childish."

Ricardo laughed. "Though, very effective as you can see! Now let's get going, the party just started." Ricardo walked in front of Train to a door that was on the opposite side of the way that Train came in. When he opened the door, he received a load welcome, people applauding and whistling from every corner of the huge room, it seemed like it indeed was constructed to hold parties.

"Thank you, thank you!" Ricardo raised his arm, to greet the people, while Train leaned against the wall next to the door. "Oh, and this is Train Heartnet, he just arrived here in NW."

Train nodded at the applause, it wasn't as loud as Ricardo's. Train looked at the people, a few where sitting at a tall table, the King's seat was on the edge of it, but was unoccupied, others were standing next to a wall, drinking and laughing. The largest group, however, was on the dance floor, it seemed that they had the most fun. Train shrugged and tried to look around for Ashurii, however, she was nowhere to be found.

"Hey, new guy! Wanna dance?" A tall blonde girl, who looked pretty, stood before him, smiling. Train shook his head. "Aww, come on! A cute guy like you shouldn't be standing alone leaning against a wall."

Train looked at her green eyes. "I don't want to dance."

The girl looked back, fearlessly into his eyes whom just turned red. "Why don't you want to dance?"

Train was impressed that she wasn't afraid. "Because, I can't dance."

Her eyes widened and seemed excited that she could finally teach someone how to dance. "It's easy! Come on, I'll show you. Or... Are you here with someone?" The girl looked around to see who could be with Train.

"Actually I am, but she ran off somewhere."

The girl's eyebrows raised and didn't really believe him, thinking he just wants to get rid of her. "Who? What's her name?"

Train shrugged. "Ashurii..."

The girl's eyes widened. "Your here with the princess?!"

Train shrugged again. "I guess. But she dragged me here, I didn't know there was a party. I hate parties."

The girl started fidgeting with her hair and seemed quite discouraged. "Uhmmm so... Are you her boyfriend or something?"

Train shook his head. "No, I barely know her."

The girl's expression changed and her face cleared up, forming a smile. "Anyways, I'm Fairla, nice to meet you."

Train faked a smile. "I'm Train, Ricardo just introduced me."

"So, Train... Your a Vizard?"

Train shook his head. "No, I'm not in an organization."

Fairla scratched her head. "Hmmm. I know! Why don't you join us? The Soul Society! You can join the fifth squad, my squad! We're mainly medics, and we enjoy helping people!"

Train raised his eyebrows. "No thanks, I don't want to join an organization."

Fairla seemed sad hearing this. "I see.. Anyways, it's almost dinner time, the King and his family will be coming out of their chambers soon."

Train folded his arms and got lost in thought, not noticing, nor caring, that Fairla skipped away to another girl who looked somewhat like her, they were probably twins.

"The King... How does he look like? Is he strong? And is Ashurii really a princess? She seemed like a normal girl to me, pretty annoying. And that Ricardo is a really weird guy, following me wherever I go. He probably doesn't trust me." Train smiled at his last thought.

The music went off and most people went and grabbed a seat, however, they left the seats around the King empty, probably for his family. Ricardo wasn't to be seen anywhere, either. As Train walked towards the table and grabbed a seat in the shadows, where he wouldn't be noticed, the King and his family came into the room. Ashurii walked behind the King in an elegant dress, she looked beautifull and her long hair was danced on her back, as she walked to a seat. She seemed to be scanning the room for Train and smiled when she finally found him.

"Train, over here!" She gestured and pointed at a chair next to her.

All faces turned towards the shadow, where Train was seated. Train shook his head and remained seated in the dark.

"Train... Get your ass over here, I still owe you one!" Ashurii shouted again.

Train sighed and stood up. He walked towards the seat next to her, all the faces followed all of his movements, making Train feel uncomfortable. "What do you owe me?" Train asked while he sat next to her.

Ashurii smiled. "For not believing that I am a princess. But it's alright now, you can see for yourself that I am the princess."

Train shrugged and looked at the King who sat next to Ashurii and another beautiful women, probably the Queen. The King noticed Train looking at him and smiled. Train turned his head away and looked at the other family members. A tough-looking women, stared back at him.

Train nudged Ashurii. "Who is that?"

"Oh, that's my auntie. Auntie Heleen." When she heard her name, she waved. "The kid next to her, is my little brother Angelo."

The black haired kid next to Heleen, raised his middle-finger to Ashurii. "I am not a kid!"

Ashurii ignored him and moved on. "That is my mom, Ming. The Queen of Soul Society and my dad, who is sitting next to her, Adam, is the King of Soul Society." Both Ming and Adam smiled and waved at him.

Train was more focused on the Queen than the King, it seemed like he saw her before.

"My uncle and my dad's uncle are both on a mission at the moment, but when they're back I'll introduce you to them."

The King made a gesture for Train to come to him. However, Train shook his head. The King's eyebrows raised, it was the first time someone declined his requests.

"Train! My dad wants to talk to you! Go to him." Ashurii said in a stern tone.

Train shook his head again. "No, if he wants to talk to me so badly, why doesnt he come to me?" He said a bit too loud.

The whole table went silent, the crowd stared at Train and then at the King. The King laughed and stood up and walked towards Train. "Hello my dear guest, can I talk to you for a moment in private?"

Train stood up and turned around, facing the King. "Adam, was it? Why would you want to talk to me?"

The table looked at the two with their mouths open. Adam chuckled and put his hand on Train's shoulder. "Well, your new in NW and I wanted to welcome you personally, and perhaps offer you a place in our academy if you wish to join us."

Train pushed away his arm. "Thank you for welcoming me, and I do not need to go to school to learn me how to fight. If that's all, I think I'll be going."

Ashurii was trying to make Train hush, whispering "Your embarrasing daddy, sit down, please, Train." Train ignored Ashurii and gazed at Adam's blue eyes.

"Why are you so hostile? I haven't hurt your feelings, have I?" Adam asked curiously.

Train didn't know himself, he just didn't like him at all. "I don't like it when someone orders me to do something."

Adam chuckled again. "But, my dear guest, it wasn't an order, more a request. However, you declined without hesitation."

Train shrugged at his words and turned towards the door, only to be eye to eye with Ricardo. "Now, now, your not going anywhere Train! The party hasn't even started yet! In my many years of party organizing, no one has ever left early, and your not going to be the first!"

"You can't make me stay. I'll leave whenever I feel like it, I didn't even want to come in the first place."

The table started whispering amongst each other. Ricardo laughed and Adam chuckled. "Your right, we can't make you stay, however, there is someone else who can." Ricardo pointed at Ashurii. "You owe her, remember? Or does the proud Train, actually has no proud at all, that he can't even do a small favor for a girl?"

Train's face turned red, Ricardo got him. "Fine, I'll stay." He said while gritting his teeth.

Adam chuckled and Ricardo looked at the whispering crowd. "Sorry for holding you off of your meal for so long!" Ricardo snapped his fingers and the tall table was full of delicious food and a lot of sake bottles. "Enjoy your meal, everyone!"

Adam patted Ricardo's back. "Another lovely meal! Let's all enjoy it together!"

Train sat down and looked at the other people, even Ashurii seemed to be occupied by her food. Train, however, didn't touch any of it. Ricardo, who sat next to the King, looked at him with a curious face and gestured him to eat. Train declined by the shake of his head.

"Whats wrong? Don't like the food?" Ashurii whispered.

"No, I'm just not hungry." He replied. Ashurii shrugged and continued eating.

Finally when everyone stopped eating and leaned back, Ricardo stood up. "I hope you all enjoyed the meal." With another snap of his fingers, the leftovers and mess disappeared.

Ricardo sat down and the King stood up. "First, I'd like to thank you all for coming." The crowd applauded. "Second, I'd like to welcome Train to NW and I hope he enjoys it as much as I do!" No one clapped this time and the table went silent again.

Train shrugged and Adam continued. "We mustn't forget, however, that there might be a war coming. Las Noches has been quite busy with certain affairs and I am almost certain that they might make their move soon." The crowd kept silent.

"But fear not! Soul Society will not lose to them, our force is strong and with the help of The Vizards we will defeat them!" The crowd applauded again. "But remember, you should not fear the unknown you should fear the things that you trust, those hurt the most if they betray you."

The crowd looked confused at his words. Ricardo stood up and laughed. "He meant, that you should be careful of what you say to others and always be wary that there might be spies around. Other than, a lovely speech, Adam." Ricardo spread his arms. "And now, the main event of the party!"

He snapped three times with his fingers, the table disappeared and the chairs too, causing everyone to fall down, except the King and Ricardo, who were standing up. Lastly, sake bottles and glasses appeared on smaller tables, which were put in every corner of the room.

"Enjoy the party, everyone!"

Loud music sounded again and everyone either went to dance or went to drink a few glasses of sake.

"Come on Train, let's go dance!" Ashurii said, but Train shook his head and walked off to where he stood before the meal. But as he turned around, Ashurii pulled him by his arm and dragged him onto the dance floor.

"I can't dance, leave me alone!" Train was annoyed.

Ashurii nodded. "Yes you can dance, come on! Think of it as training!" Ashurii grabbed his hand and put her other hand on Train's back. Train pushed her away and tried to walk away, however, he was pushed back to her by Ricardo.

"Dahahahaha! Never leave a girl alone on the dance floor, someone else might try and steal her from you, you know!"

Ashurii laughed and grabbed Train like she did before.

"It can't be helped, they won't leave me alone." Train thought.

They started dancing and Train was unexpectedly good.

"Hey! Your not that bad! Where did you learn this?"

Train went silent and stopped dancing.

"Train? What's wrong?" Train started walking away, lost in thought. "Where did I learn to dance? How did I even get here?"

On his way to the door he punched the wall and his fist came out of the wall on the other side, he was clueless and felt helpless.. The whole crowd stopped dancing and watched him as he left and then stared at Ashurii, who was on edge of tears, confused of what just happened.

Chapter 4 - Stronger?

[COMING SOON]