Chapter 69

Gentle and Harmonizing

  I’ve been kidnapped. Well maybe that is just me being somewhat overly dramatic. I haven’t been officially kidnapped. There was no abduction, while I was grabbed by the arm rather forcefully, one could argue that I could have struggled to get away. Since then, it has been a twenty plus hour ride with Rayquel, well and her armed Endarian delegation to an unknown location in silence.

  Yep, super fun.

  I must leave it to the Endarians to have the most unique way of being held in isolation. Take someone without any real explanation, and say if they want to talk to Rayquel, here is your chance. So of course, like an idiot you take the chance, only to find out the somewhat personal question you have for Rayquel will be overhead by dozens of Endarians. While Endarians think nothing of this invasion of privacy, me being a human, I still have my social hang ups.

  Again, this goes down as one of those weird inter galactic conundrums. On the one hand I am technically a guest, I say technically as I am still debating that whole kidnapping thing. Now assuming I am a guest then it would be reasonable to make some accommodations towards me. However, do I need to explain the human customs? Or is this their way of showing me differential treatment. It does appear that I do have a bubble of space around me. While the guards, soldiers, and other Endarian officers are crowded tightly on the other side of the small room we are in. The fact that I have any space at all on a spacecraft is a wonder to behold. So, in a way I guess I should be thankful that I am not being surrounded by the Endarians.

  Still this whole being stared at by dozens of Endarian eyes is odd. Again though, this is their custom, to them staring at a stranger is not meant to be unnerving, it is just the way they are. To their culture it would be insulting not to stare, as that would mean you are not worth their attention as a guest. And apparently, I am meant to be a VIG, a very important guest, as they just keep staring at me.

  Not going to let it get to me, but still do they even blink? Oh, I just saw one blink. Oh, look another. My eyes begin tracking the different blinkers. It is a game to pass the boredom. So, this is technically the fourth time I was detained this loop. Though detained is kind of loaded, as I would have had to take this trip regardless of whether I wanted to speak to Rayquel.

  So how did I end up here? How did I find myself getting stared at by no less than seven Endarian officers, one of whom so happened to be Rayquel? Simple. I can sum this up in three words, my life sucks.

  Twitch.

  I feel my hand twitch from not doing anything. Finally, I break down and ask the question that I know everyone has been dying for. Well, everyone but Rayquel that is. Rayquel is giving me death glares, while all the other Endarians seem to be waiting with anticipation.

  “Do you mind if I play?” I say, gesturing towards my violin case that is by my side.

  “Yes,” six voices cry out in unison.

  “No.”

  Then just like that, no one is happy. The six stare at Rayquel, the one who didn’t wish to hear me play. She stares back and does a decent job of holding her own, for about five seconds. Then finally she sighs and nods.

  With that I pull out the violin.

  “Whoa!” Six voices cry out in unison. It is a gorgeous violin, one of my few souvenirs from my trip to the alternate universe. A violin made from the dead branches and bark of the world tree. Again, I thought making such an exquisite violin set was sacrilege, but the Endarians seemed to disagree. To them, this was the ultimate sign of respect they could bestow. So, I took the offered instrument and used it every day.

  The only problem is that this instrument is no longer dormant. Instead, it has slowly begun to glow with more and more life every time I play. Here in the confines of a cramped starship meeting room, it practically glows.

  Still, I decide not to linger too long on the color of the instrument. Nor the way it seems to react to my touch. Instead, I let my mind go blank for a second, as I close my eyes. Then I let inspiration come to me, as I start focusing on a melody.

  I start off with Endar Rising, at least the intro. But then I diverge slightly, no longer wishing to guide my life on love, nor the notion of love. Instead, I focus on using the song to convey my emotional state. With the song I intend to ask, was any of this real? Is it possible for someone to truly have unmanipulated emotions towards me?

  The last time I spoke to Rayquel, well this Rayquel I couldn’t help but feel an attraction. She was so strong and independent, a far cry from the clingy version of her that was being puppeted in the alternate universe. I wonder if there are still feelings there, or if true feelings can come from such a relationship. My method of proving this to myself, trying to see if there are any emotions between this Rayquel and myself.

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  Now I know this is not a true scientific experiment. I understand that the alternate universe’s Rayquel is completely different, that she is not bound by the same set of circumstances that this Rayquel is. That just because this one isn’t truly attracted to me, doesn’t mean the other one can’t be. But still, I must know. If this one can be wooed, then there is a chance that the other universe’s version also could be.

  These are my thoughts, as I begin to play my song solely for Rayquel.

  By now I know full and well the differences in nuances between Endarian and Human music. Endarian music is more emotionally driven. Human’s need crescendos, rising actions, then falling actions, all to be picked up by rising actions. Endarians crave emotional resonance to a song. The more closely you can relate your song to their exact mental state, the more they can relate to the music at that time.

  This is why I both love and hate playing for Endarians, I have to watch the crowd and see how they react. Right now, there are two distinct moods from the audience before me. To my right are the six Endarians who are wishing for a grand performance. To my left is the one outlier, the one who is automatically opposed to my music. I could play for the six, and thus further alienate the outlier. Or I could compose human elements to the song and play two songs at once.

  Deciding to go with my idea of two songs at once, I cast Physical Attribute Boost on myself, then I begin playing the two songs in opposition to each other. This is like the idea of one person playing both parts to dueling banjos, while being able to overlap the two harmoniously.

  In the end that is what I do.

  I am moving at speeds that would cause most bow strings to snap and grind due to friction. But this bow is made stronger, with magical elements woven into the cords to give them extra durability. The more I play, the more I feel the magical resonance of the instrument come to life. I know part of this the bleed off my magical spell I cast. Still, I can’t help but wonder if there is something more to the growing magical energies of the instrument. I really do try to put my heart and soul into my music. Thus, it should come as no surprise that my instrument might somehow be able to feed off that passion. This is the Endarian world tree after all, or at least a fragment thereof. Given the way the Endarians are, a very expressive people, I can’t help but feel that there is something more to this. I almost wonder if there is some grand design between the world tree, and the Endarians who were allegedly groomed by the power of the tree to be its guardian. That the tree purposefully groomed a species to be more emotional, so that the tree could somehow gain fulfillment and enlightenment by serving those who serve it. This thought is just breaking through my mind, as I am becoming one with the music.

  In the back of my mind, I know I am winning this battle of emotional wills. At first, I had both sets of emotions opposed to the song, but with each opposing action, I managed to pull both groups of emotions closer and closer together, until finally they were nearly overlapping. Then, once they were overlapping, that is where I began having my major epiphany. An overall thought of the grand scheme of the universe, of how the Endarians and their tree were both two parts of the same whole, that somehow everything made perfect sense.

  Chirp. Chirp.

  Just at that exact moment, my thoughts were interrupted by the intercom blaring to life.

  “Everyone please return to your seats as we are about to enter atmo in five minutes.” The Endarian pilot said, of course speaking in Endarain.

  “Ahh.” The six let out annoyed huffs as they realize that they couldn’t hear any more of the song.

  I looked to find that even Rayquel looked to be dissatisfied with the announcement. Good, I was getting to her. At the very least, this proved I could play well enough that she would want to listen. That was half the battle.

  Twitch. Twitch. Twitch.

  Now that we were back into regular space, my mind started to twitch. I knew this was because I of course was thinking about someone other than Goldie. I was beginning to really hate these forced impulses. But I was noticing a few things. Take for instance, the fact that I felt free and clear when in the hyperspace lanes. This meant that whatever signals were being directed at my brain were unable to keep up with our hyper speeds.

  I don’t know how it didn’t keep up with me, but I was glad for the few hours reprieve.

  Secondly, I noticed that there were a number of messages, all from Goldie.

    You okay?

    Call me.

    This is urgent, Jenna is in the hospital.

    Are you avoiding me?

    I have some news to tell you.

  I read the different messages, all from Goldie, each seeming to be more urgent than the last.

  Twitch. Tremble. Rumble.

  The more I read, the more the pulse on my left side of my brain began to intensify. I felt the world shaking as my mind and instincts fought. Normally I would trust my instincts, but not this time. This time my instincts seemed to be telling me to do the wrong thing. They were telling me that I needed to talk to Goldie, to apologize to her, to be concerned that I was making her worry. In a way, I knew I should. I also vowed that I would apologize. Regardless of what happened, I don’t think she planned on this happening. From my understanding, she was just as much of a victim in this as me.

  But still, I couldn’t help but try to resist these external impulses. I didn’t even know how such a thing was possible. My healing scans showed that nothing new was added to my body. That these impulses were deemed to be natural, which only spoke about the level of power and sophistication needed to pull off such an effect.

  I would talk to Goldie. I also thought I had a pretty good idea of what she wanted to talk about. I didn’t think she would make up an excuse to talk by claiming Jenna was in the hospital. I also felt I had a pretty good understanding on why Jenna was in the hospital to begin with, but I would need to sort that out when I got back.

  I would be back, of that there was no doubt. But for now, I was finally close to getting closure on one of my to do list items. Even here I felt I was close to an answer. Did Rayquel and I have chemistry? The answer so far was a resounding maybe.

  As for why I was drawn out here, to the middle of Endarian space, well that also was simple. I had a tree to plant. Why I was needed for such a task, I didn’t know. As far as I was aware horticulturalist was not one of my many skills.

  I was surprised however to see that I did gain the new skill:

Empathy: 71%

  See who said I didn't have a heart? I likely still don't, I just now know how to fake having one, just kidding. I had one, it just wasn't being used properly before this point.

  At first, I felt the skill was rather worthless, but if this last performance was any indication, my being able to read the mood of the room was very helpful.

  I also think this has helped me to realize more about myself. I've noticed that this skill seems to be directly proportional to the way I try to realize my own thoughts, and the way my thoughts about certain individuals are being forced.

  With so much going on, I wonder about the task before me about my being needed to plant the world tree seed. I remember having to do something similar with Rayquel and the other world tree seeds in the alternate universe. So this request was not too much, though still it would be helpful if Rayquel would not be so cold all the time. Though I had the feeling she was only putting on a false front, while her real emotions were buried deeper in her consciousness.

  Click.

  My automated harness clicked into place without my doing anything. Fortunately, I had already put away and secured my violin in its case. This meant that all I had to do now was sit back and wait for the ride to come to a stop. All I needed to do was keep my head down, keep a low profile, and then maybe I could talk to Rayquel in private.

  “This is your captain speaking. We have clear skies, and warm weather awaiting us on our descent. I would like to thank you all for riding with us. I would also like to thank the *cough* mysterious gentleman who gave us a rousing performance during our flight. We hope to see you all again, and as always, thank you for flying Endar Liners.”

  Yep, totally going to keep a low profile on this trip.