Four Friends; A Forsaken World [REWRITE IN PROGRESS]

Chapter Three: Welcome to Cataracta, City of Fairies

The next morning, the girls left as soon as the sun rose. As they stepped on the train, they took their seats and discussed their plans. The girls have packed clothes and necessities, like maps, money and train passes. Especially their phones. Before they head off, Puro insisted on buying a few packs of snacks and a few bottles of fresh water.

Because it was so early, there was barely anyone on the train. The girls took their seats and started discussing as soon as the train left the station.

"So, we have a map." Puro said, showing her tablet to her friends. "We're supposed to head to the Queen's Palace to get the Prism of Earth."

"But this endeavor won't be easy. We have to please the Queen first." Faith noted, "And no-one knows how."

"I guess we'll know when we arrive." Lizzy said.

Irene just gazed out the train window behind her.

"Irene?" Puro asked.

"Oh, sorry." Irene said. "I was just spacing out."

"Ah..." Puro sank back into her seat. "We'll be on this train for around fifteen minutes more. Around...four hours and fifteen minutes have passed. So, we'll be arriving at Cataracta soon!"

Although the train was relatively quick, fifteen minutes felt like fifteen centuries. By the time the train nearly arrived at Cataracta Station...

Lizzy had dozed off,

Faith had resorted to playing Genshin Impact and grinding for Rosaria's ascension materials,

Puro was too caught up chatting to strangers on Discord,

And Irene was still staring out the window.

"Guys," Puro said, perking up as the train grinded to a halt, "The train has arrived!"

"Wait, WHAT?!" Lizzy gasped, jumping up with her backpack.

The girls walked out of the train and into the station. The train station had an earthly feel to it, with the buildings and all having a tint of earthly orange. After they'd passed the checks, they stepped out into the city.

The sky shone clearly upon the concrete jungle. Towers of concrete with small windows stood proud and tall. Billboards and signboards were stuck to some of the pillars advertising food and products. The fairies wore slippers and oversized shirts, and their wings were folded. Some fairies had their wings clipped and some didn't have wings at all. Overall, the city looked like Molendina, except the skyscrapers in the City of Humans were lined with glass windows from ground to roof and had a turquoise sheen. Even the sky they saw seemed to have the slightest tint of orange yellow.

"This looks like Molendina if it was a slum..." Lizzy gulped. "I thought it would be much more...um...what's the word?"

"Much cleaner and appealing to you humans." A deep voice said from behind the four girls.

"Who are you?" Puro asked, turning back.

A tall girl wearing an oversized shirt that showed her left shoulder stood tall behind Lizzy and the human travelers. The girl had red hair, tied in a low ponytail and wore shorts and blue flip-flops. Her shirt looked like it hadn't been washed in a while; the shirt looked like some-one rubbed sand and soil onto it. Same with the girl herself, there were dirt stains on her body, mostly on her knees, arms and face. The only clean part of her body were her crystalline wings. She had a dirt-stained messenger hat and a postman bag she wore as a sling bag.

"Why do you humans want to know?" the girl said.

"Well...um..." Puro started.

The tall girl scoffed. "Call me Jian. Jianding is my full name but yeah, I have a nickname."