Chapter 483: Last Call
Laz didn’t stick around too long, choosing to instead take a walk. The fog had started to lift since it was something that Maia had used to hide her roots for the attack. No one knew she could do that, hence why the old patriarch had thought it was caused by the rift of the dimension opening due to Maia being injured or even passing away.
But even then, it ended up being for naught as they had escaped.
Laz somehow found that he wasn’t too concerned. In the end, these weren’t his people and this wasn’t his battle. Sure, part of him wanted to say that he had been dragged into it, but he didn’t like lying to himself and he knew that it would be a lie to say it that way.
’I jumped into this, head first. God... sure I slept with their queen and all, but did any of this really involve me?’ Laz thought to himself.
"I’m still no closer to my own goals..." Laz said out loud, but the only person to hear him was Jill who was following a short distance away. Laz had noticed this before, but it seemed like she was acting more and more like the attendants did for Sylvia, a silent shadow that was there, but also not there. They would protect their queen and handle any order given, but other than that, they were basically like a piece of furniture. Laz didn’t know if this was a good change or a bad change, seeing her pick up on these types of habits thanks to training with Genevieve.
As for what they trained in, Laz wasn’t sure. His role was to help her adjust to her powers, not make her a killing machine. But looking at her standing off to the side silent, Laz couldn’t help but wonder if this was the right path.
’In the end, it’s for her to decide,’ Laz thought, turning his attention to something else and letting his mind go blank.
...
After several days of searching and cleaning up, the crews within the wreckage discovered the broken bodies of both the female grandma from the council and one of the others who were missing. Added to that the traitor and there was one more unaccounted for. As for the traitors family, they had been rounded up and locked up as well, although none of them admitted to knowing anything about the deal their grand elder made, including the families patriarch. If he were to be believed, the grand elder acted on his own.
Since they didn’t have any evidence on the final missing council member, nothing happened to his family, but they were kept under close surveillance just to be sure.
The other human’s, including Troy and his gang of werewolves, were allowed out and about, but only with an escort. If there was one positive aspect to Laz’s actions, it was that the humans were considered guests of the elves and no longer prisoners.
As for Laz himself, he was rarely around. Still in his mood from before, he began to notice a problem with himself. He was rarely down as he normally felt he had a rather positive view on things. There was a rough patch he went through back when his parents took off and although he never did find out why, his grandpa had helped him through it. Ever since then, he hadn’t felt like this.
The fact that he was depressed didn’t escape him, he just didn’t know how to deal with any of it. It wasn’t like there was someone here he could talk to about it. No one among the humans was qualified, not that he would have trusted a normal person anyway. As for the elves... well... that didn’t even cross his mind as a choice.
’Besides which. Even once I get out of here, I have that prison thing to go check out. It’s not like I have time to visit with a shrink,,,’ Laz thought to himself at some point.
Just as he was about ready to head back to his room, a splash of light caught his attention and he noticed a sign that seemed to stand out.
"Last Call huh?" Laz thought wondering if it meant the same here as it did back home.
Walking inside, Laz noticed the soft lighting along with a large wooden bar area where a wizened old man was standing in front of a lot of different glass bottles.
"Something to drink young man?" the old man asked, actually using English, something that Laz didn’t notice at first.
"Sure thing. Something strong. Not sure what you take for money though..." Laz said, sitting down at a stool.
"Ha ha. Don’t worry about it. Considering your relationship with our fair queen, I’m sure she will handle any payments that need to be made. How about I make you something a bit special," the old elf said with a smile and got to work even before Laz reacted. Jill sat down next to him but still didn’t say anything. Laz looked at her and noticed she looked neither happy nor sad. Such a thing hurt him somewhat, seeing indifference in a face so young.
’Just another thing I am doing wrong huh?’ Laz said, thinking that maybe once they got back that he would see if Mrs. Smith was able to find someone among her contacts to care for this girl. She was over the worse of her issues and Laz didn’t want him to bring her down again.
When the old man was done, a bright green drink waited for him. Strangely, in the middle of the large glass was a sphere of some sort. It glowed with a white light that wasn’t bright, but made Laz’s thoughts calm down just by looking at it.
"This is a little something I learned to make long ago called tranquility. It’s just the thing for a troubled heart," the old man said, before pouring something for Jill as well.
"She’s not..."
"I know, young man. She’s still way to young for a drink like that. But even then, perhaps a bit of clarity is something she can benefit from as well?" The old man said with a smile and kept pouring.
Laz didn’t say anything else and instead tried what he was offered.
’Tranquility huh?’ Laz thought as he brought the cool glass to his lips and took a sip.
The smooth green liquid entered his mouth and Laz could only say that the taste was underwhelming. It was a bit sweet, but had a sour aftertaste. What’s more, it seemed like it got hotter as it went down his throat. Once it reached his stomach, the fire started brimming.
"Hey... this..."
"You should drink more. Tranquility isn’t something to be savored... it’s something to be experienced," the old man interrupted, with a serious look on his face.
Not having any other option as the fire seemed to be building, Laz finished off the rest of the drink, including the glowing white sphere which seemed to be just another liquid inside a liquid.
There was still little to say about the taste, but the effects were much greater this time. The only difference was once it hit his stomach, the fire seemed to explode all at once, like his insides were going to burst. But before they did, something else happened. A coolness then started, a biting coolness that seemed to suppress the fire before putting it out all together.
Just when Laz started to feel his body get cold to the point of freezing, the fire erupted again.
Back and forth the fire fought the cold while the cold tried to suppress the fire.
Laz had no idea what was happening.
"Conflict is within us all. We fight everyday we decide to get out of bed. We fight ourselves, even when the outside world is tranquil. In fact, even when we are sleeping, we battle ourselves in our dreams. There is barely a time when we are ever at peace. But that, my young friend, is what makes our lives worth living. It’s only once you have lived that you can truly know peace. And that peace only comes when we close our eyes for that final time. Some rush to the ending and forget to enjoy the ride. Some get so consumed by the ride, they forget about trying to get where they are going. Living is pain, but it doesn’t have to be only that. There are things to enjoy as well. Life is sweet and sour. Life is fiery pleasure and pain, but life is also cold loneliness mixed with the stillness. In the end though, life is you, burning in the dark." The old man then removed the glass as Laz’s body calmed down.
He didn’t feel better, nor did he feel worse. He suddenly felt tired, but it was a tiredness that needed rest, not a tiredness that was without a cure.
"Until my final breath?" Laz finally said out loud, making the old man’s serious face brighten up once again.
"Until only the darkness remains."
"Hey, old man. Does that thing work?" Laz said, pointing to a piano looking device that was a ways off in the back of the room.
"It does. But it’s not something that get’s used a lot. It was a relic from long before we came to this place," the old man said, following Laz’s gaze.
"I guess those piano lessons weren’t for naught," Laz said before getting up and walking over.
Jill didn’t follow him this time, just sipping on her drink with a puzzling look on her face.
Laz sat down on the bench and pushed one of the white, thin keys.
’It really is a piano,’ Laz thought to himself, wondering how this could exist here considering it wasn’t something that had even been invented five hundred years ago.
Laz played up and down the scale, nodding when he found the scale and scope to be the same that he was used to.
Laz’s actions got the attention of the other patrons of the bar as they looked up from their drinks and their conversations, their eyes all trained on Laz.
His back was to them as he started to play, his rich voice filling the bar.
"Hold hold on hold on to me
’Cause I’m a little unsteady a little unsteady
Hold hold on hold on to me
’Cause I’m a little unsteady a little unsteady
Momma come here approach appear
Daddy I’m alone ’cause this house don’t feel like home
If you love me don’t let go
If you love me don’t let go
Hold hold on hold on to me ’cause I’m a little unsteady a little unsteady
Hold hold on hold on to me ’cause I’m a little unsteady a little unsteady
Mother I know that you’re tired of being alone
Dad I know you’re trying to fight when you feel like flying
But If you love me don’t let go If you love me don’t let go
Hold hold on hold on to me ’cause I’m a little unsteady a little unsteady
Hold hold on hold on to me ’cause I’m a little unsteady a little unsteady."
(Unsteady-X Ambassadors, Lucifer version)
There was only silence in the room, eyes wet from the tune.
Sylvia, Ivana and Maia themselves could barely keep from getting up from their private table and running over to Laz.
For some reason, they could feel the sorrow in his heart even though they could only see his back.
But when he sighed as he finished, his demeanor seemed to change as the sorrow was replaced with something else...
Determination.
