After saying goodbye to Old John, they certainly could not take Mia along on the group operation later. So Shade and Priest Augustus first returned together to 6 Saint Derain Square. Only afterward did they have dinner before heading together to Tobesk train station in the northern part of the city.
The priest changed out of his usual clerical robes, while Shade was still dressed in his customary black coat.
As the sun set, the five people who had come carrying missions and secrets met at the entrance to Tobesk train station. After exchanging glances, they split into two groups and entered the station.
The light at the street corner rapidly dimmed, stretching the shadows of hurried passersby ever longer. Beneath the dusky sunset, the Gas Street Lamps flickered a few times before being lit one after another from far to near, drawing the crisscrossing lines within the Northern Pearl beneath the night sky.
Trains entered and departed one after another. Dusty travelers brushed past strangers; though they might never meet again in their lives, they still did not know to cherish the miracle of this present encounter. Police officers patrolling during this special period wandered through the station, stopping and moving, yet no one noticed the two ladies seated on the bench at the westernmost end of the platform, nor the three men waiting by the platform's edge.
The night was gradually deepening. Spring nights were not particularly cold; instead, they possessed a remarkable gentleness. Only the station was rather dusty, and its smell was unpleasant, but that merely made the scene feel more real.
Dim yellow Gas Lamps illuminated the five waiting figures. The slowly passing train cars stirred the hems of the three men's coats. At the edge at the end of the platform, they did not