Falias, Finias Chapter Twenty
Kazdan Kalinkas finds the next few months to be pleasant. Isolor, or Iso as everyone calls him when Chaor's not in the castle, goes to Agitos's tutoring sessions without throwing a fit anymore. Though, he wishes that the toddler wouldn't use his newfound reading skills for mischief. He spent a few weeks cleaning the castle's toilets thanks to Iso misinforming him that draught he was sent to get was the sleeping one. It was actually the Creature-equivalent of an energy drink on crack. Aside from that, he paid off his debt to Lachima, but he visits her occasionally with Iso tagging along. Three to four of his nights are spent as Accato's messenger of love. Some of his nights are spent with Krystella, watching Chaotic matches and talking about Perim.
On Earth, the nervous beginnings of school gave way to comfortable mundanity. He has two AP classes, an honor course, and a technical course, but he still has to endure PE and English. PE is exhausting, but he gets his exercise in. His regular English course this year is British Literature, and two of his classmates are the biggest meatheads from the football team. He's kept his head down so far, and they haven't noticed him. Yet. Aside from the possible bullies, he has found that Chaotic exploded in popularity over the summer. Several lunch tables are reserved for game, be it in card form or through laptops. He even saw Tom playing a match against a pretty girl once.
He was happy for the most part, until he wasn't.
A few minutes after midnight, Kazdan returns to the Port Court. He shuffles under the bright lights to the nearest empty table. He buries his head into his bare arms to block out the light and regrets every decision he has made in his life.
I shouldn't have had that bottle of wine with Jeschi. One cup turned to two. And then three… Why were we drinking? His birthday? Or was it something to do with a holiday? Stargate to the Spiritlands? I should drink water, but coffee will wash out the sugar plums… In a minute, I just want to enjoy the peace and quiet—
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" Kazdan curses the screaming newbie that got to Chaotic for the first time.
"MajorTom, your first battle is in three minutes, I'm afraid there's no room in the schedule for hysterics." Kazdan lifts up his head and sees the bot chasing down his old childhood friend, Tom Majors. Or MajorTom as he's known on Chaotic. Tom cleverly hides behind a curved pillar, and the bot flies past it.
I really don't want to get involved in this, so I should just get my Scanner out and—
Tom peeks his head from the pillar and looks right in his direction. Their eyes lock onto each other for the first time in three years. Tom wears a baby blue nightshirt and yellow boxers with cherries on them, but he somehow makes them looking charming in a goofy way.
I would be laughing if my ears weren't ringing from his fucking screaming.
"Kaz?" Tom wonders aloud and sprints to his table, bare fleet slapping the cold floor.
"Wow, I didn't know you played the game, which turns out to be real…" Tom starts and then his perfect nose wrinkles. "Why do you smell like a wine cellar?"
"Because I was drinking! You can get booze in Perim, but not in the Port Court." Kazdan snaps and rubs at his temples.
"That's…..informational."
"If you don't get to the drome, you'll miss your match." Kazdan hopes that the reminder will bring a speedy end to this awkward reunion.
"Match? I just got here, and my Scanner says nothing about a challenge!" Tom exclaims a little too loudly, and Kazdan winces.
"The bot said you had three minutes before your first battle begins, so you better hurry." Kazdan waves him away, but Tom stands his barefooted ground.
"But I don't have my cards!"
"It's in your Scanner." Kazdan finally waves a bot down. This one is a bubblegum pink. "MajorTom here just got his transport code and needs a tutorial."
"Understood." It replies mechanically.
"Hey, why can't you help me?" Tom frowns.
"Because I need to port home and heal from this hangover. Call me if you get into trouble." He gets up and pulls out his Scanner. He looks up and sees Tom actually listened as he walks with the pink bot. For a moment, he feels a bit guilty for being short with him, but then he shakes it away and ports home for some much needed rest.
His Scanner goes off two hours before he has to get ready for work. He gets down from his top bunk and grabs his Scanner from his desk. He sees an icon of Tom's face and hits it to accept the call. He sees Tom sitting on a bench with a stressed out look on his face.
"What happened, Tom?" Kazdan, feeling a bit self-conscious, wipes some dried drool off the side of his mouth.
"Kaz, I won my first match, but I can't get home!"
"Calm down, press the Chaotic symbol on your Scanner, the tiny one right above your screen, and just wait for your Earth self to press the flashing button back home."
"Wait? That's what I've been doing for an hour!"
Tom must've been practicing selective hearing during the tutorial then. Not the first time he'd ignore something important.
"Is there any chance that you trashed your Scanner as stupid as that would be?" Kazdan rubs the bridge of his nose and briefly wonders if he should charge Tom for IT support.
"No, my dad gave me this lecture like a month ago about how expensive the Scanner was and if it malfunctioned, then he would call up customer service and get it fixed."
At least, he listened to his dad for once.
"Good, so you still have it. I'll swing by your place at a more reasonable hour and explain that you need to press the flashing button."
"Why can't you do that now?"
"Because I know you're dead to the world until nine during the weekend. Remember, you slept through that thunderstorm which set your neighbor's shed on fire and all the fire trucks were blaring sirens loud enough to wake up the entire town. Except you."
"I was nine and I was really tired from…camp."
"Ballet camp. Boys can do ballet, Tom."
"I thought you forgot about that."
"Grab yourself a bowl of Crackling Chaor Crunchies and just sit tight."
"Crackling Chaor Crunchies?" Tom scrunches up his face in a mix of disgust and curiosity.
"Yeah, the Port Court has a Creature-themed menu, but they have regular stuff like milk."
"Okay, I'll wait." Tom promises, but Kazdan has a feeling that Tom won't do that. He ends the call and then climbs up the ladder to resume his sleep.
Iso swirls the meaty lumps of his morning gruel. Lachima told him that fortunes can be foretold with a bowl, some liquid, and faith. Agitos said that fortunetelling is superstitious nonsense used by back alley con-artists. He wants to prove Agitos wrong, but he can't figure out what he's supposed to be looking for in the murky liquid with red lumps.
"Something wrong with the meat in your oatmeal?" His Caretaker asks as he washes Dairus's dishes. Iso is on the floor, right next to him.
"There's no oats in this." Iso frowns.
"You keep stirring it around like you've found something funny in it."
Maybe he'll see something different.
Iso stands up and holds up his bowl for Caretaker to see. He looks to the side and puts the pot he was washing down into the sink. He takes the bowl and peers at it for a moment before answering.
"It looks like Tom drowning."
Tom? That's the name of the person he was thinking about earlier, but he called him an idiot a lot. He sounds worried about him now, so maybe they're friends?
"Is he in trouble?"
"Probably." He sighs.
"Then, why don't you save him?"
"Because I need to take you to Agitos. Once you finish your breakfast." He passes the bowl back to him.
"Fine, but you have nothing better to do after that."
"I have dishes."
"They're just dishes. They're not going anywhere." He's seen Agitos use cold logic to make his point, though he's far more subdued with Chaor.
"You make a strong point, future advisor." His Caretaker says it warmly, and Iso grins proudly with his sharp teeth on display.
Kazdan returns to the Port Court after dropping off Iso. He first tries calling Tom, but after a minute, he gives up and decides to look around the entirety of Chaotic for his old friend. And then he gets a call. He sees Tom's face and hits it.
"Hey, Kaz, I made it back to Earth!" Tom gives him a panorama shot of his bedroom laden with sports awards and memorabilia.
He's taken up surfing? Is there one sport he won't try?
"I can see that."
"Kaz, I went to Lake Ken-I-Po with Sarah and helped save Mezzmarr from Nauthilax. Najarin showed up and saved us, then I tried to scan him and he froze me in place."
"Why did you go to Lake Ken-I-Po when I told you to stay in the Port Court?"
"Because a creep named Klay with a K said he knew a way to get me home quicker. It turns out he locked my Scanner on the Location and the transport center sent me there. I've learned that he's a creep and not to be trusted."
Klay? Where have I heard that name? Oh, he's Klayotic, the evil blond Bono that kicked my ass in my first match. Too bad, Tom isn't the type to get revenge.
"At least, you learned a lesson."
"You wanna have a match?"
"No, not really into the game itself anymore. I just wanna explore Perim."
"Well, I'll see you in Perim, then." The call ends with them sharing a smile.
Author's Comments- There are no links.
Yeah, this is a very truncated version of the first two episodes of the show, but it would be since I've removed the match and the shenanigans with Tom stupidly throwing his Scanner into the trash and it being taken to the dump. I kind of presume that the two episodes take place over Friday afternoon and night to Saturday late morning. Because in the second episode they run for the dump without any worry about being late to school, so I presume it's a Saturday.
Now, there will be episodes that will be omitted or greatly altered since this is an AU where Kazdan isn't in the same place as Kaz in the cartoon. So it's going to be fun figuring out which episodes I will use or discard, though the season one finale is going to be something else all things considered.