Chapter 62 On this day

Chapter 62 On this day

Yennifer pondered over what she had just written, in her head it had made more sense but now that she'd written down the theory, there were too many holes in it for her to even feel remotely comfortable with it, She dropped her pen pushed away the papers and crashed down unto the table with a dramatic groan, Nothing was making sense, Rylan had made everything seem so clear but now that they were actually testing the theories they were running into more problems than they'd like to admit, maybe it was the week long break they took from working on it or the effect of saving them that he and Maerik refuse to talk about but Rylan's mind was clouded and if his mind was out, his presence meant nothing. Yennifer turned to face him and saw him staring at his own palms like they belonged to someone else, his lips pressed into a straight line and a distant look in his eyes.

“Rylan.” She called but he didn't respond.

“Rylan.” She called louder, still he didn't respond.

“Rylan!” She shouted and slammed her palm directly in front of him, he jerked up and turned to her with surprise, like she'd just appeared out of nowhere. He wiped his eyes and offered an apology as he turned back to his notes.

“I think you should go and rest.”

“I can't.”

“You can.” She argued softly as she placed a gentle palm on his forearm. “You can.”

He shook his head as if to say she didn't know what she was talking about as he gently tugged his arm away and turned back to his notes. “I can't, everyone is relying on me, I can't let them down.” He said quietly.

“You almost died Rylan, no one is gonna have a problem with you getting some rest.”

“I almost died.” He repeated but his tone was blank, she shifted slightly.

“Yes.”

“And whose fault was that?”

“What?”

“Whose fault was it that I almost died?” He asked.

“No—”

“Me, I made all of you risk your lives because I had a hunch, Dravy almost died because I had a hunch, I nerfed myself because I had a hunch. I don't need rest, I need to work this out and show everyone that everything we went through wasn't for nothing.”

Yennifer opened her mouth but no words came out, she couldn't think of a reply to the words that had just been said to her, she stared into his eyes and wanted to say something but couldn't think of words that would solve his current crisis, she couldn't relate because right now, Rylan was feeling the crushing weight of undeniable talent.

“Rylan.” Maerik's sudden voice drew their attention to the doorway. “Take a walk.”

“Maer—”

“Take a walk, you're not in the state of mind to do this, pushing harder isn't going to help, it's just going to make a bad situation worse. Take a walk, clear your head, tomorrow exists.” Maerik said then walked out. Rylan's shoulders dropped and he remained that way for a few seconds until he turned to her and said.

“Excuse me.”

The next day was off to a great start, the skies were bright, air was fresh and Rylan was in a better mood until Dravy walked past him and he'd been unable to sense him until he'd reached his front.

Day three Rylan spent the entire day outside training until he was out of stamina.

Day four he refused to leave his room.

Day five they tried again but the results didn't change.

Day six Rylan filled a 60 leaf notebook with every single thing they'd learnt about the core.

Day seven they tried again, a different approach in mind, overloading the core with external Arkana to force a reaction, there was one but not what they'd been expecting, the Arkana within the sphere had become violently reactive until it shattered the sphere from within.

Day eight Rylan spent on the ceiling, reading over every line of the book he'd written till he had a fresh grasp on the mechanics of the core.

Day nine, Rylan walked into the pantry and saw Yennifer already hard at work, a crazed look in her eyes and the faint odor of someone who needed a shower.

“Did you sleep last night?” Rylan asked as he took his regular seat at the far end of the table, she turned to him and a smile curved her lips.

“We're close to Rylan.”

He raised a brow and sat up straight. “How so.”

“The core that broke, it broke itself.”

“We already established that.” He said softly and leaned closer. “Do you need to lie down?”

She chuckled, he didn't make a joke. “I’m perfectly fine, We never asked why.”

“Why? Why what?”

“Why did it break?”

“Because it was being overloaded with Arkana.”

“Yes but the overload didn't break it, it broke itself.” Yennifer said with a smile eerily wider than her usual.

“True. But—”

“It self-destructed. It could no longer resist the force so it self-destructed, what happens when we don't push it all the way there.”

“If there's a last result then there should be a tamer option before that.”

“Which is most likely—”

“The answer we're looking for.”

Day ten, Yennifer stepped into the pantry and there was Rylan, this time he was the one in need of sleep and a shower as he wrote something down aggressively.

“Good morning.” She greeted, he looked up at her and nodded his response before turning back to what he was writing.

“You didn't sleep?”

“I work better deprived.” He replied, not taking his eye off what he was doing. She nodded as she entered deeper into the pantry, notes had been taped to the table, sketched orbs, timing graphs, calculations that she'd need a minute to analyze before she could understand.

“I doubt that.” She said quietly then took her seat. Rylan stopped, pushed back and let out a satisfied groan before he turned to her and with a smile said.

“I think we got it.”
They'd wasted no time, immediately he'd said those words they'd called Maerik into the pantry and brief him on what they needed him to do, although he was confused, Maerik didn't question them. He picked up one of the cores from the wooden chest they'd placed them all in, the calls started insistently but he was able to ignore it as he placed the sphere in the middle of his palm.

“Now, pour, don't rush, just pour.” Rylan instructed, Maerik nodded his understanding and began, making sure his breathing was regulated as he released small amounts of his own energy into the core. 10 minutes had passed and nothing had happened, Maerik didn't want to be the one to say it but it had to be said, it wasn't working.
Rylan let out a disappointed sigh as he walked to Maerik. “I guess this wasn't—” Energy surged in a powerful wave that flung Rylan into the wall and Maerik out of the pantry.

Maerik groaned as he pushed himself off the ground. “The fuc….” the words died on his lips as he stared at the sphere unharmed with a clear aura around it.

“It—”

“Worked.”