In the abandoned deli back on the ground, a broken refrigerator lying on the floor was rocked by a gust of wind, rolling onto its side. The door was forced open and Mark spilled out, gasping for air. His vision swam and he could barely move, but at least he had fresh air to breathe. He touched the side of the head, and his fingers came back bloody. Yeah, that was bad.
After a few minutes of breathing heavily on the floor, Mark shakily stood up and looked around. Horan and that Erlani guy were nowhere to be seen, and he was completely alone. Except for that guy.
Lounging on top of an overturned shelf was a dark-haired shirtless guy wearing a large amount of extravagant jewellery, casually eating a stick of rancid butter as if it was a bar of chocolate.
Mark stared wordlessly at the bizarre sight in front of him, who noticed the look after a few seconds. The person leaned forward and swallowed the bite of butter they had taken. “Oh, hey, you’re up. How was it in there?”
“I… um…” Mark limply raised a finger before dropping it again, attempting to find something to start the conversation with. There was none.
The person got up. “Yeah, I’d expect this. You’re not in the best shape, after all that.”
Mark finished his examination of the person. “You’re… Rachna. The guy Horan told me about.”
“That’s me.” Rachna got up, peeling out some more butter. “I have to say, you’re in quite the predicament after that. Horan is gone, the terrifying warrior Primus knows what you look like, and you’ve been left with nothing besides that car of yours. Boy, I’d hate to be in your shoes.”
“I… Why do you know all that? Isn’t that butter expired?”
Rachna checked the expiration date on the wrapper. “Oh, so it is.” He continued eating it like nothing had happened.
Mark waited for another few seconds. “…And the other question?”
“What about it? I’m a Primus, I know things.”
“Right… Well, I need to get going. I need a new job, the last few haven’t worked out so well.” Mark began walking outside.
Rachna tossed the remaining butter away. “And Horan?”
“He’s dead. He can’t last two seconds without me, and that Erlani guy was out for blood. I blew my chance. Now I need to start over. I wonder if I can find a language tutor out here.”
“We both know Horan is alive. He can talk his way out of anything, and you’ve seen that first-hand.”
Mark wheeled on Rachna. “Alright, what are you doing here? All you’ve done so far is make me spill my guts needlessly and try to give me false hope, and I’m fairly sure that that’s not the reason you came. So why are you really here?”
Rachna smirked. “I’m sure it’s not hard for someone like you to figure it out.”
Mark glared at Rachna. “Fine, I’ll play. You’re here… because of Erlani.”
Rachna gestured at Mark to continue.
“…Some big-shot Primus wants him gone, and you’re here to deal with him?”
Rachna nodded.
“Wait, I got it right?”
Rachna got up. “Yeah, good job. And what exactly do you plan to do with that information?”
Mark shrugged. “Wait for you to deal with Erlani so I can get Horan back. So, uh, go ahead. Take the guy down.”
Rachna tutted, prompting Mark to groan exasperatedly. “C’mon, that’s the whole reason you’re here! What is there to tut about? Just do your job!”
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“But why would I do that when you still need to save your friend?”
“You should do that because I still need to save my f… Horan. My Horan.”
Rachna stared at Mark, amused.
“Yeah, that sounds worse.” Mark shook his head. “But either way, this isn’t a hard concept to grasp. You’re an ancient Primus with who knows what kind of superpowers, and I’m some guy with a gun. You’re infinitely more qualified to deal with this than me, so go deal with it! If I do it, I’ll just get killed!”
“And if I do it, you’ll be… you forever.” Rachna walked over to Mark and put a hand on his shoulder. Mark brushed the hand off and took a small step back. “I’ve been keeping tabs on you and your road trip with Horan, and I know quite a bit about you at this point.”
“Uh…” Mark stepped back further. “That’s kind of a red flag, you know. Invading my privacy like that.”
“Well, it’s too late now. I’ve got you all figured out.” Rachna sat back down. “You’re a selfish, paranoid scumbag who only cares about getting from one day to the next. And you hate it.”
“Of course I hate it!” Mark stormed up to Rachna, who maintained a serene expression as he remained seated. “Nobody wants to be that kind of person! But in case you’ve been too busy putting me down to look around, the world isn’t in the best shape! If I’m not selfish and paranoid, I’m dead! If it weren’t for all that, I wouldn’t have made it a week with Horan. I don’t want to be all those things, but it’s because of the world I live in that I have to be.”
Rachna leaned back to get a better look at Mark, and smiled. “But you know there’s a way out of that.”
Mark scowled. “Yeah, I’m aware. I sell Horan to whoever wants him, and I’ll be safe enough to be someone I actually want to be. Simple. Of course, now I need a new plan…”
“It may be simple, but it’s not what you really want out of Horan.”
“Oh, what do you know?” Mark turned and walked out of the ruined deli, heading back to his car.
When he arrived a few minutes later, Rachna was lying on top of the hood like a sunbather. “I know quite a bit, remember? We established that.”
“Just leave me alone!” Mark shoved Rachna off his car and climbed inside. When he buckled himself in and turned, Rachna was sitting in the passenger seat.
“H-“ Rachna stopped when Mark started banging his own head against the steering wheel, making the horn blare out weakly. After a few seconds, Mark stopped and slumped over the wheel in silence. Rachna waited for a moment to continue. “Are you done?”
Mark got up. “I’m done. AND GET OUT OF MY CAR!”
“Sure, I’ll get out. I’ll follow you wherever you go, but I’ll get out of your hair for a few seconds if you want.”
Mark sighed. “If you’re not gonna go get Horan for me, at least stop bothering me and let me live the rest of my life in peace.”
“I’ll leave you alone if you let me finish. At least for a while.”
“Fine.” Mark unbuckled himself. “You can finish.”
“Good.” Rachna reclined in his seat. “Horan is the key to getting out of this rut you’ve been in, and you know that.”
“Is this why you’ve been following me? To guilt me more over leaving him behind?”
“Yeah, basically. But you’re still well aware that I’m right. You said it yourself, you hate where you are in life. But since Horan showed up, you’ve been getting yourself out of your life’s groove with a little pushing from him. If you let him go now, you’re just going to fall into your old pattern of stealing, looting and enslaving people across the wasteland for the rest of your life. But if you can get him back, you can become someone you really want to be. Someone who can get something out of life without taking it from someone else. Someone with a person to talk to. Someone happy. Plus, y’know, right thing to do, and all that.”
Mark leaned against the wheel, staring ahead at the direction Erlani had taken Horan. “Fine, sure, getting him back would help me self-actualize or whatever. But me being happy takes a backseat to me being alive, and taking on Erlani is a suicide mission. He shrugged off what took down Thel like it was nothing, and we barely escaped Thel with our lives. If I go after him with what I have right now, I’m dead.”
“Then I’ll cut you a deal.” Rachna brought his seat back up to look eye-to-eye with Mark. “All you have to do is touch Erlani. Just lay a hand on him or something, and I’ll come in and finish him off. That way, you get to actually prove your willingness to change without being guaranteed to die. Sound like a deal?” He extended his hand towards Mark.
Mark stared at Rachna’s hand for a while. “Alright. You win.” He shook Rachna’s hand. “I’ll play. I go save Horan, then you bail me out once I run into Erlani. And remember, you’re a Primus. You can’t lie or go back on this. The handshake is final.”
“That’s just for the rulers of Domains.”
Mark groaned, but did not retract his hand.
“Good work.” Rachna remained seated as Mark climbed out of the car. When Mark looked back inside as he closed the door, Rachna was nowhere to be seen.