A Spark Of Hope

Placing the platters down, I slid the one with the largest cut down to Tyvelia. I had years of estimating the distance and level of friction upon a table, and so sliding a plate down a table was second nature.

I didn't have to even think when doing it.

And that was the problem.

I had just passed a plate like a fast food waiter to an eldritch being of royal descent.

The low scrape of silver against solidified shadows echoed throughout the room as I inwardly began to question my own survival instincts.

As I gathered the green glow to calm myself, I then realized how stupid it was to worry about such a simple thing.

Tyvelia cocked her head to the side inquisitively at the act, and stopped it with a finger when it reached her.

Placing down the rest of the platters normally, I sat down upon a dark chair as Scola placed down utensils and small goblets of a yellowish gold liquid. She then curled up her lower half beneath the table to as much as she could. Her tail end still ended up as somewhat of a foot rest though. Her size isn't exactly easy on her.

Just like how this silence wasn't easy on me.

Tyvelia was simply seated quietly, blindly staring at the food in front of her. About a full minute passed before finally my shattered and tattered pride pulled itself together to save the cooling steak in front of her.

"Tyvelia, its going to get cold."

Exhaling sharply through her nose, her mouth formed a thin smile.

"I guess you're right."

She delicately picked up the knife and fork before cutting into the meat. The outer layer crunched under the blade of the knife as the tender juicy meat within split easily.

Lifting the fork up to her cherry red lips, she took a bite.

For a moment, I saw her smile fade a little, becoming something far more genuine as she began to cut another piece.

"It's quite good, Deus."

There was a slight pause before her soft voice called my name. It made my skin crawl. I don't think I did anything wrong, but something has most definitely changed.

Scola on the other hand took her words as the starting pistol and began her race to consume all that was before her. She moved as quickly as was possible while still retaining a modicum of dignity.

Noticing me watching her, she paused for a moment before her antennae curled back and she lowered her head. I snorted back a chuckle as she began to eat a little slower, her lowest pair of arms touching her armored cheeks as she chewed.

As always, it was enjoyable to see others enjoy my cooking.

…

The night ended without incident and with minimal conversation. Tyvelia, when we were done and Scola had taken up all the wares to be washed, had forced the table and the chairs that had come with it out of existence.

As she left, there was a slightly melancholic aura to her. I had really no grounds to ask what had bothered her, and she most certainly had no grounds to share. And with such an impasse, she left without so much as a goodbye.

This could be considered a small victory in and of itself given how well dinner went. As the Gline crystals (the light blue crystals that lit all the rooms in the caves) began to dim, I laid down in my bed with Scola beside me and the gloom hung around my neck.

Looking up at the stalactite spotted ceiling, I began to reminisce. Cooking had brought back a lot of memories that I had once held dear.

However this horrid world had twisted them into painful and depressing thoughts to be suppressed.

It was here, staring up at this unfamiliar ceiling, I felt a dense, bone breaking despair.

I could practically feel my ribs caving in as hot tears began to stream down my face. If I had been more careful, or perhaps a little luckier this would have never happened. Perhaps I could have been talking with Eliza and watching Maria play with the orphanage kids.

Perhaps I could still be cooking in that cramped kitchen with Jhonny as he laughed with the customers.

Thinking about it now, my entire life is gone. All the effort I had put in to carve out my own place on earth had been wasted.

Every breath, step and thought I had then meant nothing now.

I was dead in that world.

Those who knew me might grieve for me and move on.

Clenching my teeth, I wiped away the burning tears from my eyes.

All that, every effort I had made culminated in a wooden box and grey tombstone. With that thought, I could barely muster the effort to cry. No matter how many times I flared the green glow, these feelings never went away.

Then, it happened.

The green glow began to change, tiny yellow wisps of yellow light floating up like yellow embers.

And slowly but surely, the light turned a ghostly blue. Like a stream it flowed out from my palm and towards my shelf.

Raising a little bit of strength, I managed to pull myself out of bed. Scola, who had been quietly resting, now raised herself up. Her black, abyss like eyes taking in the blue glow she followed it from my hand to the shelf.

Both of us got up and went to exactly where the stream led.

It was an old piece of paper, yellowed and torn like an old scroll from ages long past. Taking it to the nightstand beside the bed, I carefully and slowly unfurled it with quivering hands. It was a map. Not a world map, but a regional one. Looking upon it, I began to have visions of raging seas, roaring storms, and deafening volcanic eruptions.

Empty deserts of sleet and snow whipped around me as the landscape slowly whirled into a dust devil of sand and stone. Empty forests and boisterous jungles appeared and disappeared, while grand mountains were followed by plains of flowing grass as far as the eye could see.

And as quickly as they had passed, they vanished. They were replaced by visions of a great dragon with four wings. The stars burned at its commands, worlds crumbled and nebulae were born with a flap of its wings.

The ebb and flow of the galaxy was controlled by the tip of each of its claws.

A single name flowed into my mind as pale, glowing blue eyes met my own.

"Iacon?"

The dragon's mouth split open, before blowing me away in a single breath.

"You are not worthy."

As I was whisked back to reality, I caught a final glimpse of something.

A dragon of light, its eyes like diamonds.

A city carved of white stone that pierced the heavens. And then…

Two black eyes like the abyss.

Scola stared down at me as I laid down on the cold stone floor. Her breath tickled my face as I felt something within my chest.

*Ba-Dump*

A beat, powerful and alive.

*Ba-Dump*

I got up, rubbing her head to alleviate any worries as I looked down at my chest.

*Ba-Dump*

The blue glow was no longer emanating from my hand, but the left side of my chest.

*Ba-Dump*

It flowed out and towards a singular place on the old map.

*Ba-Dump*

Far from the Iron wood forest, beyond the Fallen Plains and the Volcanic Escarpment. Across the Frozen Waste and the Sleet Vale Mountains. Beyond the sands of Vildun and the Ceatenian straight. Far, far off from the Septreni Cluster, there was a city.

*Ba-Dump*

A city known as Victaya, and that was where I would find Maria.