Falias, Finias Chapter Ten
Suggested Theme:
Main Theme- Winston's Diary by Eurythmics
Kazdan Kalinkas wears the stars that his dad stole from an uptown mannequin. The stars wrap around his neck, chest, and legs like hero spandex; he's also wearing the accessories that his dad bought with his own money. He has silver bracelets on each wrist, a belt of shallow, silver coins, and a choker with a Celtic cross. He has painted a black bar across his eyes, causing the luminous brown to pop in the background. His orange-red hair tickle the tops of his shoulders like swishing curtains.
As he walks through the PortCourt, he can hear the players, mostly girls and a few guys, comment on his appearance.
"Who is that?"
"How do you know that's a girl?"
"He looks like one of those glam rockers!"
"I think she's weird."
He keeps his face passively blank, containing the shit-eating grin that he wanted to flash them all. But the brunette with the ponytail and maroon eyes is watching him, looking as pleased as a Cheshire.
I should talk to her, but I'm afraid that I'll ruin this mystique I have going. Or she'll turn out to be like that blonde from Kiru City. So he hides quickly in an adjoining room to the PortCourt. The room has several screens devoted to a match of Lord Van Bloot against Skithia; there are also several rows of red couches that belong in a 1920s lounge than in a room with alien spirals and shouting teenagers. He chooses to seat himself as far from any of the rambunctious players. Unfortunately, his booth's table is laden with orange peels and soda cups.
Did they just order "oranges" or was there a Creature-inspired name for it. But what would go with oranges? Intress Oranges? Or more likely Intress-ing Oranges? Oh, that's so horrible—
"If you're going to hide your face in shame, then I recommend you wait until I've cleaned the table." The familiar dry drawl causes him to turn. The light-blue patches and black visor are stained with the drippy redness of ketchup like someone threw ketchup at him.
"I thought you just helped newbies." The bot draws his head back, as much as his neck-crane allows, like he's huffing.
"It's not like newbies appear every second, so I perform…menial labor like the rest of my kind." The bot's spark of indignation sobers his thoughts. This bot has enough sentience to feel. To be angry with his lot in life. Was it a glitch in his programming? Or did the CodeMasters do that on purpose? But why? To be cruel?
"No need to pity me; I'm programmed to serve." Like pity would help him. Kazdan straightens up.
"I need help, not servitude."
"In what exactly? Acting as your wingman for the brunette that you've been in a staring contest with for weeks?" His eyes widen and his cheeks flush in embarrassment.
"Was it that obvious?" He asks in a small voice.
"To someone like me with more processing power than you'll ever have, yes. It also helps that I have plenty of experience with teenagers making googly-eyes with each other."
"So what should I do besides making googly-eyes?"
"That is up to you and her. You could approach her. She could approach you. Or you could be each other's Thunderbird. It doesn't really matter to me or the rest of Chaotic." The last line feels particularly cutting, but the bot doesn't sound intentionally cruel. I think he's just stating a fact because two teenagers ogling each other is nothing in the grand scheme of the universe. Kazdan sighs, not knowing what to do with his potential love-life.
"I'll figure it out later. I actually have a couple of questions that I'm hoping you can answer."
"I will to the best of my programming, and better than any other player here."
"Remember, how you gave me advice about not gazing too deeply in the water of Everrain. Well, I…..got strangled. I was wondering what would have happened if I died or I happened to kill Skreeth beyond the fact that I won't be able to come back to Chaotic." Actually, it would've been the ba–toddler to do that, but I probably would've been blame. Because who in Perim would convict a toddler?
"My educated guess is that Skreeth would've taken your body out of the water so you wouldn't contaminate it. He may have given you a burial versus cremation considering the Location. Or possibly have eaten your remains." The bot pauses dramatically. "And if you somehow killed Skreeth, well, I don't think you'll live very long afterwards."
Kazdan gulps loudly, dryly, imagining himself being hung, drawn, and quartered by the UnderWorlders as punishment for murdering one of their own.
"Ah…my next question is there a way to set the Scanners on a particular location in a Location like say on Chimera Street in UnderWorld City?" That would save me so much time and sweat, especially with the summer still raging in the UnderWorld. The bot's grill flashes pink.
"When you received your transport code, it also unlocked certain features in your Scanner. One of those features is when you're in a Location that you can toggle to a topographic map of the Location. You can even mark certain spots on the map for their importance to you, and the Scanner will retain it even after you port out of the Location. Players can also send you directions on the topographic maps if they choose to be considerate."
"I'm going to guess that only works in Perim." The bot nods. Yet, he pulls out his Scanner and tries to toggle to the topographic map, but it only gives him his music library, the camera, the light, his scans, and his currently empty contacts list. I wonder if it's because Chaotic is in a pocket dimension or the CodeMaster doesn't want any players to know that they're in some far away Location in Perim. I doubt that the bot will be even allowed to answer that.
"So are there any other features that were unlocked that you could tell me about?"
"There is a radar feature that can be used to detect nearby Creatures in a Location."
"Why didn't you mention those features during the tutorial session?"
"Because most players are more eager to explore Perim than listening to sound advice."
"But I didn't do that." He points out.
"No, no, you didn't." The bot says almost fondly. Silence hangs between them, while players squabble and cheer near them. Kazdan focuses on the blessed silence for a few moments more before breaking it.
"I should get going." The bot nods, and Kazdan leaves the table. Before he leaves the room, he glances back and sees the bot cleaning up the mess on the table. A player, built like a quarterback with yellow buzz cut, tosses a soda cup towards the bot. The cup's plastic lid comes off at the impact and spills the cola backwash onto the bot. There are no sparks accompanied by the sounds of a sizzling processor like what would happen to most machines; the bot just pauses in his clean-up for a moment. And Kazdan imagines that the bot will castigate the meathead, but the moment passes and the bot resumes his labor.
The topographic map gives him the physical layout of Kiru City; it gives him the shape of buildings, sizes of roads, and even an outline of the wall surrounding the OverWorld capital. He smiles down at his Scanner.
It doesn't give me the name of anything here, but it's still more detailed than I expected. I wonder how many players went so long without knowing this amazing feature! Kazdan has already marked his first location on the map, the exact spot where he was ported: the Sacred Temple. He thought about going in, but decides to make a mental note to check back here if Accato isn't at the bar.
Please let him be at the bar because I really don't want to find him with Lady Etheno again! He shivers with revulsion at that past revelation. He walks to the bar in under two hours and is grateful that the OverWorld isn't as heat-inclined as the UnderWorld. And that he's wearing a dark outfit to hide the sweat stains.
By the time he reaches the bar, he sees a white sign folded out like two cards making a house with red Creature pictograms. Kazdan knows that red on Earth usually means stop or danger. But he's not certain if red carries the same connotations here.
It could be that he's announcing some kind of theme night or is discounting the drinks. Most likely the former. He enters and sees that the bar itself, the tables, chairs, and even the stage are covered in white tarps. Or maybe he's going out of business.
"You can't even read, human." Kazdan turns around and sees the bartender decked out in a white, full-body jumper with the metal, short beak masks of the OverWorld guards and green-tinted goggles. He also has a gallon tank with a sprayer hose in his hand.
"Are there roaches in here?" He does not expect the bartender to dignify with an answer.
"There is vermin, excluding you." There's no heat behind those words, but it still forms a bubble of anger in Kazdan.
"You wouldn't happen to know where Accato is." He asks in a low voice. He sees a gloved finger itching on the trigger of the spray tank.
"He's at Graalorn Forest." Kazdan's cool face collapses into confusion. "You have no idea where that is."
"Not a clue."
"Do you know where Runic Grove is?"
"I have a scan of that!"
"When you reach the southern borders of that, go south for about three glents, and you should be there. He'll be there all day because of Lystone." Kazdan furrows his brows, confused why Lystone live near something as dismal-looking as the grove. However, the bartender mistook his confusion's source. "Lystone is an OverWorlder and she can fly. And make herself very small. She kind of looks like you humans, but less hideous. But she's just as annoying."
So the bartender doesn't like her, sounds like my kind of Creature. And maybe I can also snag a Creature scan with the Location. Just like in Everrain. Kazdan's smile becomes fleeting, and he subconsciously touches his own neck.
If Mrs. Kalinkas was part of the First or even the Second generation of Danish immigrants, then perhaps she would have passed down Norse mythology to her son. She is the Fourth generation and never had any particular interest in Viking paganism.
However, Mr. Kalinkas immigrated to America from Ireland, and he had a fanatical fervor for Celtic mythology. He also was the stay-at-home parent, so he weaned his son on stories of the Sídhe, the druids, and the arts.
His son flattens a white hand on the blue Mugic-runes of a tree, imagining the druids leaving a piece of their magic behind. He does not know why, but he figures they saw that their magic couldn't save them from Cerunnos, Sucellus, Bile, or perhaps vengeful Morrigan. They left no written word, so they turned to art for their legacy.
Her son ceases his imaginings, with a dig of his white cuticles, and turns his mind to finding Graalorn Forest. He comes away with blue fingertips.
He pauses to loosen the string of the drawstring bag; he rummages past the protein bars to get one of the two bottle waters. He twists off the cap and takes his first sip.
Good thing I went back to the court for this, but maybe I should've packed a rain poncho because the clouds are gray like storm clouds. And maybe some rain boots, but at least I'm not wearing the heels! His dad took a pair of black leather boots, carved seven-pointed stars into them, and poured red glitter in their wounds.
I still don't know what a glent is, but I'm going south from what I can tell on the map. So I'm in the right direction, unless he was lying to me. The latter part of the thought echoes across his mind for the next two hours and thirty minutes.
The rune-carved trees give way to old virgins that tower over him like ten Chaors stacked on top of each other. The pine-green leaves gleam like dirty emeralds from the darken clouds. The bark permutes from coffee blackness to midnight darkness. The reddish dirt slips into the red stars with every dirt clap.
It's so flat here like Creatures have come through for thousands of years, and some tried to stay given the remains of walls. Why would they leave? It's peaceful here and offers great coverage for those looking to hide here like highwaymen. Is there a Creature equivalent to that? Maybe raiders? Or maybe this place would be too obvious for them to hide here for long? He moves his thumb over the miniature version of the Chaotic logo. He will not let himself be strangled again.
Wait, I should scan this place, so I won't have to hike my way back! He scans the Location and gets its name: Graalorn Forest. The barkeep didn't lie; he probably didn't want to deal with an irate "human" waxing poetic about honor or some shit.
He opens his mouth, desiring to call out for Accato or this Lystone, but he closes it. His thumb resumes hovering above the logo. This is Perim where I have a good chance of dying if I don't think before I act. And shouting like a madman will probably end with me getting stabbed—
THUMP! THUMP!
He shoots forward and trips over his own boots at the sudden loudness. He looks around and sees the tress, the red sand-dirt seeping through the microscopic holes of his jumpsuit, and his Scanner.
THUMP! THUMP!
His brown eyes search wildly for the source of the noise, for a silhouette of a Creature, for a murder taking place.
THUMP! THUMP!
He sees no Creature nor a murder; he just see the black bark of the trees and the redness slipping between his fingers.
THUMP! THUMP!
"What the fuck is that!" He whispers to avoid screaming and alerting whatever was making the sound. He gets on his knees and grabs his Scanner from the ground, and lets panic come through in short breaths and heartbeats.
Da-dum! Da-dum!
THUMP! THUMP!
Da-dum. Da-dum.
THUMP! THUMP!
"It's like a heart, a massive heartbeat!" His voice cracks from a mix of excitement of solving this mystery and worry for what could have such a big heart. And why is he hearing it.
THUMP! THUMP!
He gets up and looks around again for the source, but sees nothing particular.
THUMP! THUMP!
He continues his walk, shaking like he's been left to die on Glacier Plains. The heartbeats never cease, no matter how he tries to go down different paths, it gets louder. Loud enough for him to clap his hands over his ears only twenty minutes later.
THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!
"Shut up." He pleads to the ghostly heart and ceases his walking.
THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!
THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!
He's on his knees again, screaming at the unknown terror of the heart. He screams and screams as the heart keeps beating and beating.
He screams.
THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!
THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!
THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!
THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!
"H…..l."
"Y….d?"
"Hu…n!"
SLAP!
He jolts up and holds his stinging left cheek with watery eyes.
"Cothica, you humans are so sensitive!" The haughtiness in the feminine voice has him glaring at his assaulter. He gapes. His assaulter is a fairy with blonde pigtails and bright blue eyes; she shimmer with magic coating her sun-colored robes. Vines with round blue stones cover her fair skin.
"I…I…" It's Lystone! And she looks like a very pissed-off fairy…
"Not even a thank you or hello? You humans are rude too!" Her cheeks flare like angry rose petals. He bites down on his tongue, stopping himself from saying something very stupid.
She could fit in the palm of my hands, but her slap felt like something a full-grown woman would deliver. Okay, I got to find a way to calm her down before she slaps me again. What should I do? She's like one of those popular girls at school, pretty and looking at me like I'm a worm, but they always melt when their jock boyfriends bring them flowers or coffee. I don't have either of those, but I do have something as equally insipid!
"I am here to declare my love for Lystone!" Her red lips hangs open like a gutted salmon. Appealing to her sense of romance appears to be the trick.
"Me!?" She screeches like a cricket, and he resists wincing. He nods with a sheepish smile thrown in for good measure.
"Yes, I heard Accato was visiting you, and I just had to tell you about my feelings before he charms you away!" Lie, lie, lie! And she's buying it! Her face is pink with confused embarrassment.
"Look, Accato is just a—"
"From the Desert I come to thee
On a stallion shod with fire;
And the winds are left behind
In the speed of my desire.
Under thy window I stand,
And the midnight hears my cry:
I love thee, I love but thee,
With a love that shall not die
Till the sun grows cold,
And the stars are old,
And the leaves of the Judgement Book unfold!"
English has never been his most passionate subject, but the poetry sections tend to be where he earns his highest grades in those classes. In order to scrape together a B for 7th grade Lit., he had to perform a piece of poetry in front of the class. He got extra points for singing it to the tune of "As the World Falls Down."
"Look from thy window and see
My passion and my pain;
I lie on the sands below,
And I faint in thy disdain.
Let the night-winds touch thy brow
With the heat of my burning sigh,
And melt thee to hear the vow
Of a love that shall not die
Till the sun grows cold,
And the stars are old,
And the leaves of the Judgement Book unfold!"
He is on his knees just like in that class, being as non-threatening as possible. But, unlike the class, he is dressed as a romantic instead of the sad, quiet boy at the back of the class that cursed Shakespeare under his breath. He would be considered charming to a few.
"My steps are nightly driven,
By the fever in my breast,
To hear from thy lattice breathed
The word that shall give me rest.
Open the door of thy heart,
And open thy chamber door,
And my kisses shall teach thy lips
The love that shall fade no more
Till the sun grows cold,
And the stars are old,
And the leaves of the Judgement Book unfold!"
He got finger-snaps and whistling from his class, but Lystone looks at him with ever-familiar pity. The kind of pity a girl about to tell a boy that she didn't like him that way and never will.
"That was so….beautiful. I didn't understand some of the words, but I admire your….passion. However, it would never work out between us. You know why." He nods, hoping it would shut her up. She winces, clearly underestimating his ability to comprehend rejection.
"For one, I'm an OverWorlder and…..you're just a human. It would be wrong." You would think she would start with the size difference. And how would it be wrong? Would it be a form of bestiality? Or maybe most Creatures think we humans are beneath them because we're not super-powered like they are? Or because we're not Creatures? I hate being looked down upon…
"…Yes, I am just a human." A human that just played you like H'earring played Kughar. He allows a meek smile to play on his lips, which Lystone nods with approval.
"And laboring under a misunderstanding. Accato and I are just….Tribesmates. I have absolutely no interest in him or his…..band that he's trying to get together."
"A band? For what?" Lystone shrugs her teeny-tiny shoulders.
"So he tried to enlist you?" There's a hot note of disbelief in his question, which has Lystone dangerously close to frowning, but he salvages it with knitting his brows in confusion.
"Yes, he wasn't here to court me. I think he wanted me as a back-up singer, but I'm not really into his kind of music." Or playing second-fiddle to your own ego. He nods politely.
"Is he still around? I think maybe I should channel my….feelings into something useful." She shakes her head with a sympathetic smile.
"He kept trying to convince me that joining a band would be fun and enlightening, and so on. So I made him fall in love with a leaf blowing through the air. Although, that should've worn off by now, so he's probably back in Kiru City at the Blue Juniper. It's pretty much the only place in the OverWorld that'll accept his music…" Now, I know the name of the bar, but it's closed for vermin extermination. Am I ever going to meet up with him again? Also, good to know that love spells exist here.
"Then, I should go…..but one more thing. Why is there a giant heart here?" Lystone frowns with hard blue eyes.
"Heart? I've been living here for six solons and I've never seen a giant heart. Maybe you just hallucinated from your heatstroke." This is winter compared to the Summer Death Throes. However, she may have a point about it being a hallucination. Perhaps, there was some kind of pollen blowing through at the time and caused me to have an auditory hallucination. It wouldn't be impossible considering this is Perim…
"Yeah, maybe….I better go now." He gets up and looks around for where he dropped his Scanner.
"I think you need your wings." He turns and sees Lystone fluttering close to him with the Scanner between her hooves. "And I never did get your name, unless you're all called human."
"It's Kazdan Kalinkas."
"You have two names like Toborn. Well, Kalinkas here's some advice that I was given after my disastrous confession of love. There are plenty of Creatures in Perim. Or in your case, humans." He decides to stroke her vanity one last time before porting out.
"But they just aren't like you."
Her maroon eyes are locked onto a match between Intress and Pyrithion, while her imperial red lips are wrapped around the plastic straw of her soda cup. He moves as quietly as he can towards her table, willing silence into his feet. He lays a finger on the back of the empty seat next to her.
"May I take a seat?" She does not take her eyes from the screen, but her lips leave the straw.
"Why not?" She responds coolly. He pulls the chair back and takes a seat. She continues to watch the screen, while he watches her.
She's paler than me; I'm almost tanned compared to her. Her red eyes have more purple to them than brown upon closer inspection, so she's partially descended from Alexander. He thinks about making that joke, but his lips wisely refuse to tell it.
"You're a really quiet walker, but I would have to be a blind newbie not to see you, rag doll." She gives him a sideway glance like she's sharing a private joke.
"We've been seeing each other a lot lately." He nearly responds with, but he feels it's not clever enough. You were able to sweet talk a fairy; you can talk to a girl!
"My father stole the stars and stitched them into me, how many rag dolls do you know made like me?" He counters, which prompts an open-mouth smirk from her.
"None. So where'd you get the face? From a replicant?"
"Just Tris's make-up; I wanted her hair, but the transplant failed as you can see." He combs through his straightened hair with his fingers.
"Maybe you can get that kiss from Rutger Hauer now." She teases lightly and takes another sip from her soda.
"Not my type."
"What is your type?" He reflects for a moment on the girls that he had crushes on. Most were blondes, but a few had black hair. Eye colors varied wildly. Personalities too. Yet, they were all girls that I could never get because they were out of my league. Yeah, I can't tell her that. What can I say then? Perhaps, something romantic.
"Dreams." He pauses, believing he'll somehow finish it, but silence ensues. She nearly snorts into her soda, but muffles it with her hand. Her golden bracelet jingles as she suppresses her bemusement.
"Dreams? Well, I wasn't expecting that…." Her eyes focus on him, ignoring Intress dunking Pyrithion's head into one of the rivers in the Riverlands. He drowns. "I thought you were going to say Goth."
"It's the best way I could describe my type: always on the purview of my mind, but ultimately beyond me." She briefly bites down on her lips, and he feels his heart slowly descending towards his stomach.
"Sounds like you need a nightmare to wake you up."
"Are you offering?" He says with a small, charming smile; she nearly returns his smile.
"That's for you to figure out, rag doll."
"My name is Kazdan Kalinkas."
"Rag doll is better, less alliteration."
"What shall I call you?"
"Krystella."
Author's Comments- Here are the links:
Here is the link to the song that inspired the atmosphere for this chapter. It's from 1984, the movie that was literally made in 1984, and I just watched it for the first time fairly recently. I know that it's based on the George Orwell novel of the same name, but I'm not certain of its accuracy because I was never forced to read it in high school. And maybe that's why I fell in love with this bleak movie of a classic piece of dystopia literature that was published in 1959. The performances, particularly John Hurt's and Richard Burton's, made this movie a beautiful horror wrapped in loneliness and government oppression: a href=" /-sdSiU8NdBo"Link/a
Here is the link to Kazdan's outfit in this chapter. I have this headcanon that Krystella is into Sioux & the Banshees, so of course she would be really digging Kazdan in this one: a href=" . "Link/a
Here is the link to the face paint for Kazdan in this chapter. I was going to go with the hair, but I have feeling that hair style takes longer than straightening it: a href=" . "Link/a
Here is an image of Graalorn Forest. I presume it's located in the OverWorld, even though on the card it says it's located in the past, so it could possibly be located in the Ancient Past of Mipedian territories. For the purposes of this story, it gets to be located in the OverWorld. I chose this Location to be Lystone's (temporary) home mostly out of a whim. I was originally going to use the grassier part of Broken Edge just to make an allusion to season two's, episode 17's "Putting the Muge in Mugic" episode. I wasn't really thrilled with it, so I went through my cards and came across Graalorn Forest. I fell in love with its art of a forest with sparks of fireflies or magic and a giant, floating, purple, anatomically-correct heart. The flavor text reads: The heart of the forest exhales, breathing life into those injured. I presume that after a thousand years; the forest would change, maybe not as encompassing as it once was: a href=" . "Link/a
The radar feature was I believed first shown in season one's, episode 39's "Eye of the Maelstrom" and the topographic feature is first shown in season two's, episode one's "A Rare Hazard."
For those wondering about the "private" booth room, I based it on the room I saw in season one's, episode 16's "Fallen Hero" where Klay and Krystella (and a bunch of nameless players) were watching Kaz's and Tom's "match" in the Beta Drome.
Also, the blonde meathead in the beginning is actually a cameo from Tank aka Argo999 who only made two speaking appearances in the show and those were in season one. Considering his appearances, he seems like the kind of guy to treat the robots like crap because they're just robots with no feelings. And I bet some players share his views too.
The poem that Kazdan sang was "Bedouin Song" by Bayard Taylor. I have this big book of poetry organized by theme that I bought for cheap at Barnes & Noble. I was originally going to have him sing a song to flatter her, but I decided against it. I thought it would be interesting to have him sing a poem since a lot of poems have musical qualities to them.
Finally, Krystella gets to appear fully. In the show, I know she and Klay are usually unequivocally evil, especially when they straight up attempted to murder Tom and Kaz, but I think before the partnership she was rather neutral. Yes, she admired Klay's deceptiveness, which pissed off Peyton, but that was just a game in Chaotic where nothing horrible can happen unless you're having a nightmare about it. In fact, after re-watching some episodes with her in it, I wished she had more screen time without Klay. And in season three's, episode two's "Worlds Apart," we finally found out more about her. Like how Jycella has always been the goody-goody, identical (I presume because Jycella probably bleached her hair to help people differentiate them, or maybe Krystella darkened hers to get out from under Jycella's shadow) twin, and how Krystella is (possibly) constantly compared to her twin (and put down in the process) by pretty much all the adults and her peers on Earth. She probably suffers from an acute inferiority complex because of all that. Kaz of the show (because he seems to be a prime target for bullies, and the adults in his life questioning his sanity) seems to suffer from that too. It would've been interesting if these two got to bond over that before she and Klay became…partners.
Does that mean Krystella is going to be a "good guy" in this story? Fuck no, just because Kazdan and Tom aren't best friends in this universe doesn't mean that will change Krystella's less than stellar home life and the fact that she has a sister. However, people tend to affect each other, so it will be interesting figuring out the effects. Especially with Klay not directly entering the picture anytime soon. So many possibilities for them.
Next chapter is back in the UnderWorlder with the toddler finally causing some walking mischief.