Chapter 39 – Lavender Eyes

“Noah.”

Yuri’s quiet voice drew my attention. She was pointing towards a stairway leading down, shrouded in mist and shadow, the sound of rushing water echoing from below.

I stepped onto the first step, the sound growing louder, a deep, resonant roar that seemed to vibrate through the very foundations of the station.

The lower level was shrouded in darkness, a thick fog clinging to the air, the faint shimmer of water reflecting an unseen light, the atmosphere heavy, oppressive, as if the very air itself were… liquid. I felt a strange pull, a sense of… inevitability, as if… one step further… and we’d be… submerged.

I peered down into the darkness, wondering… is the train down there? Or something… else?

And then, I saw her.

A figure, standing at the bottom of the stairs, leaning against a pillar, their form barely visible in the dim light, their long hair swaying gently, water dripping from its ends, reflecting the faint light, their eyes… a startling shade of lavender… shining brightly in the darkness.

We froze, Yuri, Luna, and I, our gazes fixed on the figure, the air around us growing still, the sound of the rushing water fading into the background.

She wore a damp train station uniform, her shoulders and sleeves soaked, her hair plastered to her skin, her posture relaxed, almost… languid, as if she were… a part of the station itself, a fixture, a… ghost.

She glanced at us, her lavender eyes meeting ours, then looked away, her expression… indifferent, as if our presence… didn’t matter. She didn’t speak, didn’t move, just… observed us, then dismissed us, her gaze returning to… something… beyond our sight.

That casual dismissal, that silent indifference… it sent a shiver down my spine.

Is she… alive? Or just… a remnant? An echo… of someone who… waited here… before us?

“…Is she… human?” Yuri whispered, her voice barely audible, the question hanging in the heavy air.

I didn’t answer, my gaze fixed on the figure at the bottom of the stairs, a strange mixture of curiosity and… unease… building within me. Another… guardian? A gatekeeper? Or… something more sinister?

Luna gripped my arm, her small hand trembling, her golden eyes wide with fear. “Noah… we go down…?”

I looked at her, at the fear in her eyes, and then back at the figure, the lavender eyes still watching us, waiting. We couldn’t stay here. We had to… move forward.

“Yes,” I said, my voice firm, though my own heart was pounding. “We go down.”

The sound of rushing water grew louder as we descended the stairs, a faint mist clinging to the air, the smell of damp earth and something… metallic… filling my nostrils. The air was heavy, oppressive, but not… suffocating. A chill settled over me, a sense of… anticipation, of… something… waiting. The train. And… her.

We reached the bottom of the stairs, and the scene before us… it took my breath away.

This wasn’t just a train platform. This was… something else. The sound of rushing water, the shimmering reflections, the strange, heavy air… it all created a sense of… unreality, of… something… not quite right.

The floor was covered in a thin layer of water, its surface still, undisturbed, reflecting the faint light, as if… solid. But beneath the surface, a faint glow, a shimmer, as if… something… were hidden just beneath, a thin membrane separating this world from… another.

And then I looked up, and my heart… stopped.

A waterfall. But not a waterfall cascading downwards, but a waterfall… flowing upwards, the water defying gravity, rising towards the ceiling, then disappearing, as if… flowing into… nothingness. It was a mesmerizing, unsettling sight, as if… time itself were flowing… backwards.

Faint shapes, like fragments of light, drifted through the air, swirling, dancing, their forms indistinct, like… memories, lost, forgotten, yet… still here, lingering in the heavy air, their light flickering, fading, then flaring brightly, as if… trying to… remember.

I reached out, trying to grasp one of the shimmering fragments, but it dissolved at my touch, like smoke, like a dream, like a forgotten memory.

“…stars…” Luna whispered, her gaze fixed on the ceiling, where, amidst the upward-flowing waterfall, faint lights flickered, like stars in a dark sky.

They weren’t just water droplets; they were… something more. Echoes of those who’d waited here, their hopes, their dreams, their fears, their memories… lingering, fading, then… gone.

And we… we’re walking into their light.

The roar of the waterfall filled the station, a deep, resonant sound, not just noise, but… music, a strange, haunting melody, both familiar and… alien, a song I’d heard before, yet… never quite like this.

And beneath the waterfall… the train.

We reached the platform, the cold, damp air clinging to our skin, a faint mist rising from the water, the blue light of the Abyss shimmering, reflecting off the smooth, still surface.

And there it stood. A massive, black steam locomotive, its long carriages stretching down the platform, its presence… overwhelming, even without the sound of its whistle, its wheels silent, still, yet… waiting. Waiting for us.

And beside it, leaning against a pillar, the girl with the lavender eyes.

She stood there, her gaze fixed on us, her eyes bright, clear, in the dim light, her damp uniform clinging to her skin, her posture relaxed, a faint smile playing on her lips.

“Welcome,” she said, her voice soft, melodic, cutting through the roar of the waterfall, the hiss of steam. “To the submerged station.”

The air around us stilled, the dreamlike quality of the station intensifying, the upward-flowing waterfall slowing, the shimmering fragments of light hovering in mid-air, as if… frozen in time.

Yuri and Luna stared at her, speechless, their eyes wide with a mixture of awe and… something else. Apprehension?

She wasn’t just a passenger. I could feel it. She was… something more. A part of this place. A guardian. A… gatekeeper.

The tenth floor. The submerged station. And this girl… she’s… waiting for us.

She leaned against the pillar, her damp uniform clinging to her skin, her lavender eyes watching us, her fingers tracing a pattern on the cold, damp stone, her expression… curious, yet… indifferent.

I took a deep breath, my heart pounding, a strange mix of anticipation and… unease… settling over me. She’s not just a passenger. She’s… a part of this place. Or… is she… watching it? Guarding it?

“Who… who are you?” I asked, my voice barely a whisper.

She tilted her head, a faint smile touching her lips, then shrugged.

“Anemone,” she said, her voice soft, yet clear, cutting through the sound of the waterfall, the hiss of steam. “I am… just… waiting.” Her lavender eyes scanned us, one by one, her gaze light, yet… penetrating, as if… she knew us… as if… we’d met before. There was no overt hostility, but no warmth either. Just… a quiet curiosity.

“Where… are you going… older sister… older brothers…?”

Her words echoed faintly through the station, and as she spoke, the air around us stirred, a faint grinding sound coming from behind the train, the sound of metal on metal, the hiss of steam growing louder, the fog swirling, parting, revealing the long, black carriages of the train, its presence… overwhelming.

A plume of white steam erupted from beneath the train, as if… the machine itself were… breathing. The massive wheels creaked, turning slowly, deliberately, the metal groaning, the sound a low, rhythmic pulse that echoed through the station.

And then, the train’s doors… opened. Silently. Slowly. As if… inviting us… inside.