...….
Following Azmodeus's thoughts, he took a glimpse at what he could discern from within the young girl's misty eyes. After which, he said, "I can do that, but you will need to assist me in understanding more about the Astral Leap. Does that sound good?"
The young girl outstretched her arm as she grabbed a rough hand from the handsome man's side. "We have ourselves a deal. Now follow me to the best part of this gloomy train stinking of old monsters."
After getting out those disdainful words, she dragged him behind her as they made their way throughout the Astral Leap Locomotive.
And it didn't take long after their walking began that Azmodeus noticed the fact that his speed had increased by quite a bit—not to the level that he was on Prometheus, but he could still move above the speed of sound, and that was good enough for him.
Another thing he realized was that the Astral Leap Locomotive didn't appear to have any limit to the size of its interior.
There were innumerable people scattered throughout the train; however, a lot of them almost appeared like they were slipping in and out of reality, as they were there one second and gone the next!
"Are you curious about what's happening to everyone you see walking around this endlessly stretching train?"
The inquisitive and perceptive voice of the misty-eyed girl resounded as she glanced behind her shoulders for a second. However, she quickly turned her head away and resumed her advance through the countless cabs, seemingly trying to reach a certain part of the train
Azmodeus gazed down at the small kid's back—a back that contained a shadow with more tragedies inside than he could ever hope to understand.
But regardless of what he glimpsed from something esoteric like a shadow, he responded, "I was wondering that, yes."
After hearing his response, the girl passed through a specific corridor before stuffing her face with some unknown desserts on a silver platter to her side. And with a mouthful, she said, "...Well, the reason that the people around us are constantly appearing and vanishing is because, just like the Train Station, the Astral Leap Locomotive is filled to the brim with-"
"Stacking dimensions and realities…" Azmodeus finished her sentence as he watched all the ghost-like people phase through his body, almost as if they didn't exist…
"So, you're not as obtuse as you look." The young girl started to speak with a snarky tone, filling her face with even more treats while standing inside a room that should serve as some form of buffet for the Astral Leap participants.
Azmodeus ignored her comment, as he understood the gist of the infinitely stretching realities and dimensions stacked on top of each other, assuming they'd be a common occurrence from now on.
After figuring out most of the things that puzzled him, there was still one more oddity that irked him, and that was…-
"You're probably going to ask me why everyone is dressed up like people with sticks shoved up their butts, aren't you? If so, then I will save your breath and tell you that everyone is like this because, after spending so much time inside the Astral Leap Locomotive, you start to acclimate to the general atmosphere.
And with such acclimation, you begin to have your clothes transform into whatever the designs of the Astral Leap judges want them to be."
The rather intelligent girl got out a plethora of words in quick succession before grabbing dozens of soft and squishy chocolate desserts, stuffing half of them into her mouth before putting the other half into her dress pockets.
"..." Azmodeus didn't really understand why such a thing would happen to those who entered the Astral Leap Locomotive, but he still decided to ask-
"Don't worry, this transformation of your clothes will not be permanent, and to be honest, I think you would look quite good in a classic suit." The girl once again interrupted his thoughts, as she always seemed to know what he would ask beforehand.
And at this point, it was beyond mere coincidences or a naturally perceptive nature, as he decided to get to the bottom of this unsualness and straight up asked:
"How are you able to do that?"
"You mean, how am I able to know what you're going to say before you say it?"
"Yes…"
"Well, it has to do with my family…"
The young girl stopped munching for a second as her eyes seemed to have a number of complex emotions pass through them.
But before she could enter a deep morass of depression, she lightly shook her head and continued snacking away at a buffet that literally had no end to it.
Azmodeus noticed the familiar gleam shine through her misty eyes as he muttered, "Family… That is a complicated topic…"
"Youzz haves any yourselfss??" The kid inquired with her cheeks stuffed to their utmost limits.
"...Family…I have many things, but family is not one of them."
Azmodeus's voice trailed off a little bit, as it had been hundreds of years since he last thought about the man and woman who abandoned him.
The girl felt a kindred spirit within the absurdly handsome man as she extended a hand and said, "Here."
"And what is this for…?" Azmodeus asked with a raised brow as he looked at the chocolate ball in the kid's clutches.
"...You eat it…" The kid responded while forcefully putting the treat in his firm grasp.
Following this action, she got back to her all-you-could-eat buffet, seemingly eating without a care in the world...
"..."
The Crimson Devil Lord blankly stared at the chocolate dessert in the shape of a heart as he put it up to his mouth and took a bite out of it.
There was nothing special about the dessert itself, as although there was a bit of Qi incorporated inside, it was just a tasty snack.
After taking a few chunks out of the dessert and ultimately finishing it in one bite, he decided to ask the question that he should've already known the answer to by this point in time:
"So, what's your name?"
The young girl stared at him with her cheeks still stuffed as she swallowed before responding, "My name is Pan Nu."
...….