Seven Lost Lambs

Chapter 1: The mystery begins.

“What was that supposed to mean?” I said as the voice inside my head finished singing.

So many questions to be asked. Why was I here with seven other strangers? Who are those two looking at us by the door? Where am I? What was that song about? Whose voice was it? What are those things outside the window? Stars? Where is this train heading?! I asked myself those questions but remained composed on the outside. As I looked around, it seemed like the other six were just as confused as I am. And the only person who could answer those questions, is that “man”.

Yet he ignored my question. He simply looked at us with his eyes that are so dark, it seemed like anyone would fall into the abyss just by looking at them. If one would to look at him at first glance, he would just seem a normal guy, who was tall and had a nice face but there was something about him that was clearly, wrong. He wasn’t like us. Even without proof, I am certain that this man is definitely broken.

“Alright! Alright!” Somebody said, as they were entering the wagon. They entered the door behind the man. It was a girl. She had a short orange hair and wore the same set of clothes as the man. Red suit with a black vest underneath it. Though she seemed like a normal girl, I doubt she was normal at all. I am pretty sure there was something wrong about her as well. She took position beside the man

“First of foremost, we will be introducing ourselves.” She said filled with excitement and had a proud look on her face. Seems like I was right with her having something wrong. She looked at us and bowed her head.

“I am Aya, a crew of this train.” Aya huh? Her name was pretty common… Was she Japanese? I commented in my head. Then after she said her name, the man beside her did the same, bowing with grace. “I am %^@*!+. A crew.” Huh? I didn’t hear his name properly. Was it just my imagination or his name sounded like censorship during TV shows and whatnot?

“Uhmm, could you repeat your name please?” The girl on the opposite side of the seat against mine said. So it wasn’t just my imagination.

But the girl named Aya shook her head with a smile. “Nope!” She cheerfully skipped to the door to the next wagon, “After all, It’s time to get to know each other!” The man followed her silently. Before leaving, the girl looked back at us with a grin. “See ya around, we’ll be reaching our first station soon!” Then left.

A feeling of regret came over me as I realized that I still didn’t get any clue of what was happening. The only people who could’ve explained anything left, and even if they didn’t, I wouldn’t be so sure that they even would have said anything.

After the two “things” left, I took a look at my fellow passengers. I first took a look at the girl who spoke earlier, she had black hair and blue eyes, and was looking at me with a worried look. I wouldn’t blame her, after all this is confusing for all of us. Her skin was peach, and she was a wearing a ribbon around her right wrist.

I then took a look at the nearest person to the girl. Unlike us, he was sitting on the bench and was looking down, looking so depressed. It’s as if he might cry sooner or later, he had his hands intertwined and had his legs shaking restlessly. I once again looked at his face. Even though he was looking down his expression was quite clear. He really does look so sad. You would feel the sadness around him, and truthfully, one look at him would also make you feel depressed.

As I was about to shift my gaze to the other two in the same direction, we heard a voice.

“Uhmm,” It was like a voice of a young girl from the other end of the wagon. She was sitting alone there but she was smiling. She had pink hair and a joyful smile. If I were to describe her expression properly, she was the complete opposite of the man who looked so depressed. One look at her smile and anyone would feel warm.

“Wouldn’t it be the best to introduce ourselves?” She said as she slowly approached us, with a cheerful look. She placed her left hand to her chest and looked at us. With a loud and joyful voice, she began speaking once more. “I am Lyre. Spelled as L-Y-R-E.” (It is spoken as Li-re)

I sighed. Well she wasn’t wrong about that. If we wanted to know the secret of anything at all, about this train, then we should work together, probably. As the girl Lyre named herself, everyone else looked at each other hoping someone would follow her example and speak next.

“I am Mayfield.” Since everyone else was, I had to step up to support the girl. With that the rest of them looked at one another.

“I-I am Leia.” The girl who was sitting in front of me spoke in response to me, greeting those who looked at her with a wry smile, clearly uncomfortable with the current events as well as the fact that she was trapped in this train with 6 other people that she did not know.

It was natural. I more or less felt the same way. We were strangers, in a strange place, surrounded by strange things. Questions filled my head. The same questions earlier. About the comets, about the two “things”, and this train itself. Especially about that prophecy of that song. All of those questions lies beneath my calm demeanor. I was confused.

“Jason Todd.” The depressed looking man spoke up as well as he continued to look at his feet, unable to look at us. He really did look sad. And his name? Wasn’t that the name of one of the superheroes in one of the famous comics? I could be wrong though. His name simply sounded familiar. Man, even his voice sounded so sad because of its deepness.

I moved my eyes to the other two, waiting for them to introduce themselves as well.

A young kid, much younger than I am, who was wearing his High School uniform was the next one to speak, “My name is Paul.” He spoke with an accent. I heard similar accent to this before when we went to South East Asia for a vacation. Despite that, he spoke in an understandable way.

And finally, “Anastasia.” This one was almost the same age as Paul. She was wearing a warm jacket and some jogging pants as if she was just coming from a run early in the morning. She seemed to be the quiet type, even the way she spoke her name was weak that we had to ask her to say it again. Which she did.

Finishing introducing ourselves to one another, there was an awkward silence, none of us knowing what to say or do next. Lyre sat herself a bit closer now so that she could listen much easier compared on being at the edge of the wagon.

I was thinking of a way to break this silence but in all honesty, doing that isn’t part of my resume. It isn’t my role…

Hm? Then what was my role?

“Uhm… they said we were going to reach the first station... Does that mean we can leave?”

Ah, finally someone with the guts to ask something. It was Leia, who was sitting on the other side of the wagon in front of me. She was looking at me as if that question was directed at me. Don’t look at me… I’m as confused as you are. But it should be fair that I at least try and make sense of it.

“I don’t know, but just to make sure, all of us heard that weird song in our heads right?”

As I asked all of them and judged their reactions. They all nodded their heads and answered “Yes.” With that I began to explain my theory.

“It stated that there are Seven Lost Lambs, and there are seven of us. There are also seven destinations for the Seven Lost Lambs. If we are basing it purely on that song, most likely we will arrive in one of the said destinations.”

“That makes sense.” Paul commented, but I continued.

“But, that’s all just speculation. We don’t know anything. It’s best to take all information we take with a grain of salt. And by that, all information we take in.”

“What do you mean by that?” Paul asked. Good, he and I are talking. Having a conversation.

“By that mean, I mean ALL information. What you see, hear, touch, taste and smell might be fake. Even the words I am saying might just be non-existent and you are just being tricked by your brain of thinking that I and everything around exists.”

I answered in return. In truth, I believe wholeheartedly believe that I exist. And most likely these people around me are real, but there is no real assurance that was the case. It might just all be a dream.

“So, you’re saying don’t trust anyone or anything, even your own senses? That’s a bit…” Leia looked at me as if she was a bit bothered about what I just said. Even the others seemed disgruntled. But that wasn’t the point I was trying to make.

“No. I didn’t say that. If we want to work together and understand what’s going on, we need to trust each other. I’m just saying... this might just be a dream. Just don’t completely trust what your senses are telling you. That’s all.”

They fell silent once again as I finished my explanation. They didn’t ask any more questions as they quietly thought to themselves. Lyre was the next one to break this atmosphere.

“Mr. Mayfield… you’re surprisingly smart…”

What was that supposed to mean? Did I look stupid or something?

I didn’t know what to say, so I just smiled at her and shrugged.

“In any case, we can assume that our first station is the first destination stated in the song… which is…”

And all of us spoke at the same time, synchronized.

“The land of Rainbows and Unicorns.”

I laughed inside. What a silly name. As if it was possible than things like Unicorns to exist… then again…

“So… the next station… what are we supposed to do there?” Leila had her hand on her chin, in a deep thought. Of course, even I wasn’t sure myself to what we are supposed to do there. Are we going to look for something? Or just sightseeing? There was so many questions that can only be answered when we get there. I’m not even sure if they will be answered.

“Uh… excuse me… there is something happening… the stars…” Anastasia called

out as loudly as she could, but it felt like a tiny whisper in my ear. But as soon as she said that, all of us moved our sights to the nearest window and there we saw the comets moving faster, and as they did, it was almost as if the entire train was being enveloped by a white light.

“What’s happening!?” Paul was scared. If I was him, I would be too. The young boy took a step back from his seat, as he worriedly stared at the window.

I swallowed my breath as I took a step back myself and my backed bumped into someone behind me. Leia was also taking a step away from her own window.

Lyre was staring intensely. So was Anastasia, but both did not leave their seats.

Jason on the other hand simply looked away and sighed as he returned to his sad and depressed position.

The light did not vanish anytime soon and one of the wagon doors opened and there appeared the two “things” from earlier. Aya and whatever his name was.

They entered and walked towards a door inside our wagon… Was the door even there before?

“What are you doi-?” Before I could finish asking my question, the thing Aya placed a finger on her lips as if to shush me.

“We’re almost there~, just be quiet for a bit smart boy~”

I didn’t try and argue any further, and followed their instructions. I didn’t know what they were and what they could do… I was scared.

Suddenly the scenery changed. From a simple flash of light into a what it seems to be the world of that one cartoon show about ponies. The soil all around was pink and though there were trees, the leaves were different in nature… and there were rainbows… almost everywhere…

It was like a fantasy land. No… It was a fantasy land. Each and one of us were in awe due to the reveal of this new world. The she spoke. “We are arriving at our first destination. The Land of Rainbows and Unicorns.”

The train stopped and the door opened and the orange haired woman motioned us to move out. As if in shock, our bodies moved on our own, starting from Jason followed by Lyre, then by Anastasia, then Paul, then Leia and finally, me...

Then the door of the train closed and the entirety of the train was then swallowed by a fog before disappearing.

We now stood in a world we did not know. As we stared at this new world in shock, we all heard something above us, which inclined us to look up.

A majestic beast. One that had the appearance of a stallion but its purity and beauty differentiated it from it. In additional, it had a horn on its forehead, shining gold. It was looking at us, before flying in a different direction, as if asking us to follow them, leaving a trail of rainbow…

This was…

The Land of Rainbows and Unicorn…