Rynth: Four Beats

| 6th of Teryusin — Year 362 of the Cycle of Synthesis, Grand Cycle ??? |

The revolving doors of Apaxian Dynamics circled loose behind Raoul. Idri and Calliope were playing tag around the panels, with the former flashing a cocky tongue at the latter, who was debating kicking down the door.

A chuckle left his lips, soon replaced by serious neutrality once Krocko tapped his shoulder to gain his attention. “What’d Jhestine talk to you about?”

He raised an eyebrow at the prodding question. There was nothing really to hide. “She asked me the same question you did when we first met. About the Cycles. And then the Grand Cycles. I suppose she was softening me up by making me recite common knowledge before she told me I could wield all the Cycles as a Driver.”

Slap. Krocko had smacked his shoulder with enough force to ache, but he quickly apologized and healed it back to normal with a spell. “Hah…! Sorry. I knew I wasn’t wrong when I first chanced upon you. Drivers are attracted to other Drivers. I’m guessing Jhestine had you hooked up and tested for Cycle-testing. What did you get?”

“Awakening. I suppose it’s quite fitting given how much I look around.”

“Heh. I had a feeling. We can chalk that up to intuition as well.”

Their conversation was interrupted as the rest of the Batan approached. In the end, Cali had managed to catch Idri somehow. All through it all, Avil was watching the entire debacle with a conflicted, but mostly humored look on his face.

“What are you two talking about?” Avil asked.

“Just your next steps,” Krocko replied, hurriedly switching the topic of conversation. He mouthed a silent “keep this secret” to Raoul before turning to the others. “Anyway, now that you four are considered an official Pioneering party, you guys need to decide on a first point. That being, where you guys want to set your sights on next once you begin your journey.”

“Does it matter?” questioned Raoul.

Krocko nudged them all along onto the street, wordlessly searching for the directions to the closest train station. “Very much, yeah. Think of it as the standard that you’ll determine how the rest of your journey goes about. Call me superstitious, but I’ve mapped out a reasonable amount of parties and seen a direct correlation between how their first point turns out and the general tone and chaos their journey will have. Ever heard about the Yhagaris Party? Four goblins, all mayhem-loving gremlins that landed on an undiscovered dungeon filled with enough artifacts to start an entire country. They sold it all and got rich, but lost the money in a few weeks. Then when they went on another journey, they chanced upon a dead true dragon and sold its parts for more money, before once again losing it all. You get the gist.”

“It is certainly ominous,” Cali nodded in agreement. “Perhaps it might be for the best to choose a worthwhile location.”

Avil mulled along. “Didn’t think you were the superstitious type, Cali.”

“Maybe Teslapius flips a coin each time a new pioneering party is formed.” Krocko raised a finger to suggest. “Heads, your party does good. Tails, you die on the very first day.”

Idri ‘aww’ed’ at his words. “Really? Can we get a coin with two heads for sides, then?”

“I don’t think that’s the point.” Raoul chuckled. “But really, we haven’t put much thought into our next destination. Maybe you could give us some pointers, Krocko?”

A light bulb flickered alit atop his head from the question. He hurriedly led them past a crosswalk despite the red light. “Well, you’ve come to the right person. You want my recommendation? Try Vonas. It’s a three day journey southward if you walk, but the views on the way there are eye-candy. Glistening rivers, flat open plains with wind always blowing on you, and even a statue of Il-Lancasta cut in half underneath a waterfall. It’s pretty sick.”

Vonas… Raoul combed his mind for details. It was the closest city to Cias Buril by distance, and was supposedly ruled by an immortal god-king. Built atop a massive plateau, its sheer altitude and somehow always clear horizon allowed it a direct visage into the Great Mostariian Sea just east of it. It had a title: the Immortal City of Vonas. Why? Presumably it came about due to its god-king, Feroastin Vonas III, who was the god of immortality. As of the current date, Feroastin had supposedly maintained leadership over the city for six Cycles.

“Cali and I’ve visited Vonas before,” Avil mentioned, slicking past a lamppost that was in his way. “It was a business trip, but we had enough time to enjoy the sights. I’d recommend it. The food’s good, too.”

Cali nodded along. “I can confirm this. Stonework and masonry is quite big among the locals, so every house always looks different in appearance despite using the same clay and stone. The white paint used in the construction often reflects the sunlight, so it shines much like Cias Buril does.”

“I agree!” Idri, too, chimed in. “I want to go meet His Majesty. Do you think he’ll let us talk to him if we ask for an audience?”

“Ol’ Fero’s gotten senile over the years, unfortunately. He still accepts visitors, but he ain’t as friendly as when he first started out as king. How do I know? Well, ask Jhestine. We made a mess out of the city when we left it. Could be why Fero’s grumpy now. Actually, maybe that’s a big part of why.”

“Alright. Vonas it is, then.”

Cars were still buzzing about despite the late hour. A few minutes of walking away, the train station could easily be spotted. They were closing in on their way out. Krocko released his grip on Raoul’s shoulder and patted everyone else in front of him.

“Good, good! You took my advice. Seems like we’re almost there. I’ll leave you all here. Good luck on your journey. Don’t touch anything that looks poisonous. Remember to assign watches at night lest you wanna get ambushed. Don’t get into situations you have no business being in. You’re pioneers, not philantropists. And most importantly, above all: enjoy your time. It ain’t every day people as young as you get to leave their homes. Be sensible.”

“Trying to be the responsible adult now, Krocko?” Raoul poked. “You weren’t this coddling when we first met.”

“Times are different, eh? You’re already heading out into unknown territory, so at least let your senior in pioneering offer you some tips and tricks. There ain’t no cheat code for life, so heed at least half of my advice if you want to keep living to tomorrow. Got it?”

To punctuate his words, Krocko stuck out an open palm.

“Heard,” replied Raoul, taking his hand to shake it. “We’ll keep ourselves safe.”

“Good. See you around, Raoul.”

“You too, Krocko.”

He waved them off, and all four of them returned the gesture as they walked off. In his heart, Raoul couldn’t help but feel a slight tang of disappointment. In some twisted sense, he had grown fond of Krocko and his antics. While he had once been the same person who had locked him in an overheating conduit chamber while forcing him to look into himself (and still was), he was also the same person who had introduced him to the very tool that allowed him to find the cracks in his cage and begin pecking at it. There was truly nothing stopping him and his friends from flying.

…Or so he thought. The hair on his chest was standing up. Idri, Avil, and Cali didn’t seem to notice the rapid onset of unpleasantness that was beginning to well up from the eyes. Police officers, all clad in their uniforms, were crowding the streets in a greater number than one would reasonably expect at eleven in the evening. A few spoke into their walkie-talkies, the buzz further feeding into Raoul’s sense of foreboding. They didn’t let their gazes drift away from the Batan.

It continued until they finally made it to the station platform. After passing through security with more than a few suspicious gazes but no direct stops or inspections, Raoul finally felt the quantity of gazes begin to lessen. There were fewer bystanders at the time of night, but every single one still helped dilute the persistent feeling of dread. When they finally reached the turnstile and Raoul reached into his pocket to retrieve his student card, Idri noticed the worry evident on his face and spoke up.

“Are you okay, Raoul? Did you see a ghost?”

She always was the one who saw through him. Finally retrieving the card, he turned it on its back and pressed it onto the scanner. “No… it just feels like something’s off. Did you guys not notice the police officers? There’s more than there would reasonably be this late at night.”

Avil shook his head. “I can’t say I have. Isn’t this the normal number out in the city?”

Cali followed in agreement. “I confess I have not noticed a discrepancy.”

A buzz sounded from the scanner, and a red ‘X’ showed. Invalid card.

A blur. Everything suddenly felt out of focus. His ears tensed, trying to weed out the strange zoom he just heard in the back of his mind. There, his eyes focused at the corner of his line of sight. A thick beam of blue. Undoubtedly Jati. And it was headed straight for Idri. His jaw dropped and he sprang into action, kicking into motion. He strained the back of his calves as he charged in her direction and shoved her out of the way of the beam.

His left arm was not spared from the radius. It was completely engulfed in the ray. Then came the heat. He gritted his teeth in an attempt to stifle a scream, but his voice left his lips nonetheless. “Ahh…!”

It was agonizing. In that two-second interlude, it was like a thousand suns had converged their flame on his poor arm. First came his shirt. The sleeve burnt off within the first millisecond. His skin was next. It melted into a puddle of blood and gore onto the floor. Finally, his innards completed the sequence. Like his skin, everything from vein to bone dissolved the instant the beam ate it up.

The sheer pain almost forced him into shock, but he somehow caught himself on the floor with one hand, much to the surprised shrieks of his friends. Idri’s gasp penetrated the silence. Avil followed, shouting for everyone to clear out. Calliope had already drawn her dagger, facing the direction that the beam had been fired from. Amidst all the pain, Raoul mustered a turn to see how bad the damage was.

His arm was gone, melted off into a cauterized stump.