NOTE: As you can see this is a prequel to A Stranger's Compassion. This takes place right before the Stranger encounters Saavedro in Narayan. You don't necessarily need to have read The Stranger's Compassion before this, but I think it would be best if you did. Once again, this story focuses on Saavedro's thoughts and emotions during what is happening.
And it only seems appropriate to dedicate this to Sugary Snicket again. Since this is a continuation of sorts.
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Myst 3: Exile or Saavedro. All dialogue is from the game. Now, read on and enjoy!
Destroyed Hopes
The prequel to "A Stranger's Compassion"
Twenty years, four puzzling Ages, and a desolate Narayan. That was the sort of hell Sirrus and Achenar had condemned him to. But through luck, Saavedro had found an avenue he could use to repay his imprisoners. This time, the sins of the sons would return to haunt the father.
Atrus would come for his precious book; Saavedro had no doubt about that. Surely this book meant more to Atrus than anything else. How could he leave the future of his people in such uncertainty?
His people. Had anyone from Narayan survived the devastation caused by the greedy sons of Atrus? From what Saavedro could see of Narayan it appeared that he was all that was left. The only thing that kept him going was the idea that all his plans would soon come to fruition. As soon as Atrus finished solving his altered puzzles.
What was taking so long? Surely Atrus couldn't be having that much trouble. After all, Atrus had designed the puzzles; he should know how they worked. Or was panic clouding his mind?
Saavedro liked the image that thought brought to his mind. Atrus racing around his Ages in a panic, constantly worrying about his people. Helpless to do anything until he unlocked the linking book to Narayan. Very soon he would see what his carelessness had wrought. How little Atrus must have cared about the activities of his sons if they were allowed to send peaceful worlds into mass chaos. If it was true that Atrus had a new child as a picture in Atrus' study indicated than Saavedro pitied the child.
Footsteps from outside caused a smile to form on Saavedro's lips. He took a deep breath as he rose from his seat. In one hand he picked up the hammer he had constructed as a weapon. In the other hand he held Releeshan; the hostage. The ransom was the future of Narayan.
Saavedro approached the door slowly, a form of excitement rising up inside of him. What would Atrus do when Saavedro confronted him with the future of the D'Ni held before him? Would he plead? Would he have the assumption to invoke their old friendship?
But as soon as Saavedro set foot outside the door, his plans were dashed into a million pieces.
"What?" he said in confusion and shock. "You're not…where is he?"
The person standing before him was not Atrus. It was some stranger! A young woman at that. She stood there; silent and unmoving as everything Saavedro had worked for unraveled before him. But perhaps there was still hope. What if she hadn't come alone?
Saavedro began to approach the Stranger; she remained glued to her place. Was she afraid? She must have been.
"Look, I know he's here," Saavedro said with conviction. "I have his book. So where is he?"
Atrus had to be there somewhere. There was no way he would send someone else alone to retrieve his precious book. Too much was at stake to put the future of his people in the hands of this young girl! Or was this how Atrus operated? He got others to do his work for him. He had convinced Saavedro to teach Sirrus and Achenar. Now he apparently couldn't be bothered to rescue his own people.
When Saavedro looked into the eyes of the Stranger, he got the answer he had been secretly afraid of. There was fear and confusion in the Stranger's eyes, but they remained focused on him at all times. Not once did they wander over to the side to seek encouragement from a hidden person. There was no doubt in Saavedro's mind anymore. This girl was alone.
Saavedro sighed and his shoulders drooped. "He didn't come. I take Releeshan from him and he sends you instead."
Maybe Saavedro had been wrong. Maybe Releeshan didn't mean as much to Atrus as originally thought. No…it had to! The journals had been clear on how hard Atrus had worked on that book!
Saavedro stepped away from the Stranger. The truth was finally beginning to dawn on him. How long had he spent dreaming up false hopes? In the end, what had it gotten him?
"Idiot!" he exclaimed suddenly. Talking more to himself than the Stranger; he was reprimanding himself. "You thought you could force him into coming here and fixing things? Why? Why would he rewrite Narayan? Because of your messages? Because of your paintings?"
It was all Saavedro could do to keep from breaking out into a delirious laugh. In some perverse way, the situation was almost funny. All the work he had placed into those messages was for nothing. Those and the paintings would hold no meaning for the Stranger. Why should she feel anything at all? Even if she did, what could she possibly do about it?
She could do what Atrus did. Make an empty promise to return and then leave him waiting. Saavedro wasn't prepared to endure that kind of waiting again.
Saavedro looked around him in a moment of profound nostalgia. "Look at your world," he told himself quietly; as if he didn't command it, his eyes wouldn't look.
"Look what's left of it," he murmured as he surveyed the cold emptiness. He had been surrounded by it for twenty years and it was consuming him from the inside. He was certain that the emptiness was all that was left inside him now.
But soon that emptiness was filled with a boiling rage. He was angry with the Stranger for not being Atrus. He was angry with Atrus for not coming himself. And finally he was angry with himself for believing the lies he had told himself.
"When are you going to get it through your thick skull that you do not matter to him!" he exploded suddenly. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the Stranger jerk at the sudden outburst. He would deal with her soon enough.
How could he have been so blind? Atrus only had friends as long as it suited him. As long as Saavedro could teach Atrus' boys, he was valuable. Since he had served his purpose, he wasn't valuable to Atrus anymore.
Saavedro sighed despondently. "No one could be alive out there."
Then he turned, as if he had forgotten the Stranger was there. He approached her, and he could tell she longed to back away. However, fear seemed to freeze her in place so all she could do was watch him, as he got closer.
"We're stuck here, you know," he said, a hint of menace creeping into his voice. "The linking book back to J'Nanin is gone."
He paused a second for effect and watched as the horror of realization sunk in for the Stranger. It sent a thrill through Saavedro to hold such a power.
Saavedro continued, "Left behind when I linked out of Atrus' study."
Saavedro's mind flashed back to that moment. The Stranger, she had been there too. He had not paid her much attention because his focus was solely on Atrus. Saavedro forgot in his rush, that the Stranger had been closer to himself and the book.
"As for getting into Narayan? Look around you." He stepped back and spread his arms for dramatic emphasis.
"This chamber," he jumped to prove his point as if the Stranger didn't know what he meant, "is the only way in. And Atrus installed some kind of shield and I have never been able to get past it. Not once in all these years."
Twenty long years of trying to escape and he had gotten nowhere. He tried everything he could possibly think of, and none of it had worked. What could the Stranger try that he had not already thought of?
Saavedro waved the hammer absent-mindedly. "So you're just as stuck here as I am."
Saavedro watched as the Stranger's eyes grew wide at the end of that last statement. As if she refused to accept it. Well, she had better learn to get used to it. Then Saavedro looked down at Releeshan.
"At least until I open this book," he said. "And I show Atrus what it's like to watch your friends and relatives die."
He walked away from the Stranger and then had a second thought, so he went back.
"If you do find a way back," he warned, "I suggest that you think very carefully about using it. Because one thing I know about linking books: the doors they open don't close behind you."
Saavedro backed away while waving the hammer. It meant to serve as a warning to the Stranger. A warning both not to follow him and to be careful what she did.
Once he was back inside the bunker he locked the door and returned to his seat. Outside he could hear the faint sounds of the Stranger fiddling with things. It wouldn't work. Nothing ever worked.
Saavedro put his head in his hands and tried to take deep breaths. Anything to keep the anger and disappointment inside him from exploding. How? How had things gone so horribly wrong?
The Stranger. It was all because of her. If she had not been there when he stole the book than Atrus would have been forced to come himself.
Now what would he do? Saavedro was amending his plan as he went along now. He doubted this Stranger could do what Atrus did. She could fidget all she wanted out there, but he doubted she would accomplish anything. There was nothing she could do that Saavedro hadn't already…
Saavedro's thoughts were interrupted when the room took on a faint pink glow. It couldn't be. Had that girl really discovered something that Saavedro hadn't? What had she done?
Like a flash, Saavedro raced out of the bunker and down the stairs to the tapestry room. Out of the far window in the distance was the most beautiful sight Saavedro had seen in years. Out there, was a healthy lattice tree. Not only that, but it appeared to be inhabited!
"They're alive?!" he exclaimed with elation. "How did you…"
He looked behind the Stranger at the glowing panel. The panel he had previously been unable to activate. "The fourth symbol."
Saavedro took a moment to look at the Stranger. Perhaps he had been wrong about her. As he reached for the lever, Saavedro tried to keep his rising excitement under control. It was difficult. After all these years, he finally had hope!
With a solid grip, he turned the lever. But this did not render the results Saavedro had been expecting. Yes, the shield blocking the door vanished. However, the larger shield…was back up and blocking the sight of his hope.
Praying that what he saw wasn't true, he went back and pulled the lever again. Things only went back to the way they had been before.
"No!" he exclaimed in disbelief. It couldn't be. Atrus wasn't there, yet he still managed to stomp on his dreams and taunt him at every turn.
"He gives me hope only to destroy me with it."
Why did he bother to hope anymore? Any time he dared…somehow it was trampled on. Then, Saavedro had an idea. By himself he could never get past the rotating shield. The Stranger had proven useful so far. Why not continue to take advantage of an extra person being around?
"You see," Saavedro said after he had forced himself to calm down, "I still have something he wants."
Saavedro held up Releeshan just out of the Stranger's reach and pointed to it with the hammer. Just in case she had any notions of trying to take it from his grip. She wouldn't get very far anyway.
He pointed to the Stranger with the hammer next. That motion obviously made her uncomfortable. Good, she should feel that way. Saavedro didn't need her getting any ideas.
"Something he sent you to bring back for him. Releeshan."
The Stranger remained silent and that frustrated Saavedro. Why did she not speak? She didn't try to bargain or plead or anything! All she did was stare at Saavedro with that nervous, fearful expression. She was clearly afraid of the power Saavedro could wield and did not want to do or say anything that would provoke him.
As he thought, Saavedro switched the shields so that the door to the gondola was open. Once he did, he turned to the Stranger to deliver his demands.
"Drop the outer barrier," he instructed, "when I'm out by the gondola, switch the shields so the outer barrier is open. And in return, I'll give up Releeshan."
His ultimatum had been delivered. The Stranger had no choice but to do what he said. She couldn't disappoint Atrus and return empty handed. As Saavedro walked out to the gondola he wondered if he really had any intention of giving the book back. Once the shields were switched…why should he? It would be so simple just to hop in the gondola and leave with Releeshan. There would be nothing the Stranger could do about it.
Saavedro reached the gondola and turned to look back at the Stranger, who was still standing by the lever. What was she waiting for?
"Do it!"