Reever slowly got back to consciousness as the sound of the train rattling came from around him. He was weaving back and forth on the seat along with the train.
He slowly opened his eyes to see the sideways figure of Ning sitting on the seat in front of him. "What's… going on?" he asked. He found himself lying on his wife's lap with a splitting headache burning through his mind.
"Hey, you! You're finally awake," Ning said as he saw Reever open his eyes. "You were trying to drink the juice the old lady got us, walked right into her trap, same as us. Damn those assassins. We were doing fine until they came along."
He suddenly got up from his wife's lap and screamed, "Assassins?!"
The people sitting in the cart suddenly turned to look at him with a weird look. Reever cowered down a little and hid back into his seat.
"Assassins?" he whispered quietly.
"Yes, but it's fine. We've taken care of them already. We were poisoned by them, but fortunately for you, you had a doctor riding with you," Ning said.
"Let's not talk about that anymore, please. That is not an experience I want to keep remembering," Lisa said with a shaken face.
"Sorry," Ning said. "Anyway, you've been asleep for two hours or so. We should be reaching our destination in another hour."
"Oh, okay," Reever said dumbly. He was still confused a little and took the moment to gather his thoughts.
"So, I was poisoned?" he asked.
"Yes," Ning said.
"But why? A terrorist?" he asked. "Wait, no. You said assassins, so were these deliberate attacks?"
Ning didn't answer immediately and looked towards Lisa. He was waiting to see if she wanted to tell the truth or hide it.
"They were after me, and by proxy, you as well. Someone in my family doesn't want me to return," she said. "And it's likely my second brother."
"What?" Reever asked. "Your second brother hates you?"
Lisa fell into thought for a bit and said, "Hate is perhaps not the right word. It's more like my existence is a threat to him, so he wants to get rid of me."
"Still, your brother tried to have you killed. What a shitty brother. What threat could a sister have to him?" Reever cried out loud.
"He didn't have any before. But since he thinks I do, I will make sure there is some now," Lisa said with a determined face.
"How much money do you have?" she asked Reever. "We will need to buy some dye at the capital when we land."
"I have the dyes right here with me," Reever said as he brought out a paper bag.
"No," Lisa said. "Not black. I will need to dye my hair yellow."
"Yellow?" Reever asked. "You really don't have a complex about your hair then?"
"I'm sorry. It was just a lie I had to say to not make you question my motives at the time," she said.
"You don't have to wait until the capital. I can't help you get your natural hair right now," Ning said.
"Really? You can do that?" Lisa asked with surprise.
"Eh? How will you do that, brother Ning?" Reever asked with a confused face.
"Easily," Ning said and stood up to place his hands on Lisa's hair. "Any length choices?"
"No, I like it just the length it is," she said. Her hair went a little past her shoulders and that was the way she wanted it.
"Alright, here I go," Ning said and asked the system to return Lisa's natural hair.
In a flash of light, the dark colors went away from her hair and a bright blonde color remained that made her stand out a lot.
"Done," Ning said and sat back on his seat.
Reever's eyes went wide when he saw his golden-haired wife. "You look beautiful, honey. I can't beleive what I was missing out on," he said.
"Eh?" she quickly grabbed her hair and brought it in front of her. From root to tip, every single strand of her hair had grown blonde.
A few tears left her eyes. "Thank you. It's been years since I've seen my hair in this color. I won't have to live in fear of being found out any more," she said.
Reever suddenly turned to look at Ning and asked, "Brother Ning, you can Enchant as well?"
Ning chuckled a little and said, "Yes, I can."
"Hmm, what do you mean as well?" Lisa asked.
"Eh, didn't you know? Brother Ning is an Invoker. But he can somehow Enchant too," Reever said.
"No way, wouldn't that make him…" Lisa gasped in surprise.
"Yeah, I'm what's known as a Dual Awakener. I can both Invoke and Enchant," Ning said.
"That's right. You created those rocks too. I forgot," Lisa said.
"Eh? What rocks?" Reever asked.
"Never mind," Lisa quieted down, not wanting to let her husband learn about the massacre.
"Let's just sit tight. We will reach the station soon," Ning said.
The rest of the way went normally. Ning left the seat once to go to the toilet and returned quite soon.
They watched the grassland with massive farms pass by from their windows. Ning could feel the air get significantly colder as the time went on and by the time the next hour had passed, it was the temperature had come to the point which in most places would be considered normal.
'We must be getting further from the equator,' he thought. The train kept moving as it whistled and puffed steam through the countryside.
In just a few more minutes, the grasslands ended, and more modern houses could be seen on the horizon. The capital was getting closer.
Far in the distance, Lisa saw the silhouette of a city through the window.
"We're here," Lisa said with a face of anticipation. It had been almost 15 years since she left, and she was finally back once again.
"I'm home."
