Chapter 59 Talking Orchestra

Chapter 59 Talking Orchestra

They looked through every single possible space in the room but Rylan was nowhere to be found, it was like he'd vanished into thin air.

“Spread out, check every cabinet, every fucking closer, find him.” Maerik ordered with an agitated voice, they all nodded and began the search, the sounds of boots hitting wood reverberating throughout the entire house as they searched for him. Maerik to the bed and crouched down to give it a better look, the wood had splintered and snapped in half and cracks spread through its majority, there was no salvaging the remains, He looked back at the bed and trailed his fingers against the threading as he racked his brain as to what had happened.

“Sir!!” He heard Matthews' voice from the living room, hope flared as he immediately rose to his feet and ran to the living room. Matthew was standing near the left window beside the door, in the middle of putting on his coat but he'd stopped as his eyes remained fixed on the outside.

“What?” Maerik asked and when he didn't answer he followed his line of sight, through the window, outside the cabin and there Rylan stood, in nothing but shorts and bare skin in the spine chilling cold, his markings glowing and hair flowing with the wind. He picked up another jacket and ran outside, not even for a second thinking of how the hell he'd gotten out here in the first place.

“Rylan.” He called as he jumped down the steps. Rylan didn't move, he just kept staring into the distance in silence, his hands by his side and legs…hovering an inch above ground. “Rylan, you're gonna catch a cold.” He said, walking forward and offering him the jacket, Rylan turned his head ever so slightly and Maerik saw the look in his eyes and knew immediately that something was wrong.

“Rylan isn't here right now.” The voice was similar but with an orchestral element, the words spoken didn't match the movement of his mouth, like he was watching an active dub, Maerik took a soft cautious step back so as not to alarm Rylan.

“You don't have to be scared. It will do nothing for you, if I wanted to kill all of you, your caution wouldn't change that.” The words were so certain, he wasn't speaking smugly or even confidently, he said it like he'd just stated an undeniable fact and Maerik believed him, He recalled what Rylan had told him about the place where he'd received the Mothlight, about the being that gave it to him.

“You're the deity.”

“Yes Maerik, I am Daragura.” He turned his head forward and began to move forward then stopped. “This world is really beautiful isn't it.”

“Sure, if that's what you want to call it.” Maerik replied cautiously, carefully trying not to set off this being before him. He didn't know what it was, the Arkana present was no different from Rylan's but there was something else that just made him so certain that no matter what they did, they'd lose against this deity.

“You don't agree?”

“I don't.” Maerik said harshly and inwardly winced at the sharpness of his own tone.

“You can freely speak your mind, do not worry about my wrath, you cannot elicit it.”

“Ok then.” Maerik straightened and took a bold step forward, pressing his legs into the earth to hide the tremble gained from just being this close to this deity. “Do you know how many of Earth's people have died? I see no reason to call this nightmare you created beautiful.”

“Hm, There is always chaos before order, but we shouldn't ignore the brilliance found in order simply because of the disarray brought by chaos.”

“That's easy for you to say, you didn't watch your world burn.” Maerik said, losing a grip on his control with every word, Daragura turned to face him with an insulted look on his face.

“I saw my world get destroyed, I saw my people get turned into monsters, I saw the skies darken, the earth split and the bodies of water fill with blood. I watched my world erupt into flames and I couldn't do anything about it.”

“So you do the same to ours?”

“I've already had this conversation with Rylan, I'm not doing it again.” He turned back, his voice calmer as he continued. “This world just got wounded, I know it feels like it will never heal but trust me it will and when that happens it'll be hard for you not to agree.”

“So all we can do now is suck it up, feel the pain and just hope it gets better.”

“You don't need hope, it will get better.”

“You're so certain but I have seen no indication of that.”

“The finish line isn't always seen from the start of a race, all you need to have is patience and a little tolerance and you'll reach the end.” He said just as his hands twitched. “He's waking up.” He stared at his palms for a few seconds before turning back to Maerik. “If you have any questions, I suggest you ask them now.”

Maerik opened his mouth but stopped as he thought through the question, seconds passed in silence before he finally spoke. “Why him?”

“I could ask you the same exact question.”

“You promised an answer.”

“Ok then, Do you know what Rylan was doing before this?”

“Bagging groceries.” Maerik answered.

Daragura raised an eyebrow slightly, he couldn't recall the memory of Rylan telling Maerik about that, but somehow, he knew. “Exactly, if this world remained what it was, Rylan would've remained an insignificant number, forgotten by history as he turns to dust. He has talent this world had no interest in revealing, he possessed something buried beneath mundane mediocrity, a talent capable of guiding this world. So to answer your question,.I chose him because he has the potential to make my world beautiful again.”

Maerik shifted a little but didn't say anything else

“Let me ask a question of my own, what happens when your men discover what type of man you are?”

“What do you mean?” Maerik asked, his tone overflowing with unregulated hostility.

“I have access to all Rylan's Memories right now and even though he's trying to convince himself otherwise, Rylan already knows what kind of man you are.” The words were calm but sharp. Maerik took a step forward and shifted slightly to his right, Daragura tried to look past him but could no longer see the window where the other player had been watching from, he smiled.

“My men know what they signed up for.”

“Yes they do, or at least they think they do, I wonder how long until they—” the glow died and Rylan dropped to his knees weakly.

“Rylan!” Maerik called out as he helped him up.

“Did we do it?” Rylan asked weakly, his eyes half closed.

“Yes we did.” Maerik answered, supporting him as they walked back into the cabin.