Symphonic Odyssey
: Vol. Two: Beneath the Hawthorn Tree: Verse Eighty-Eight

Cypher opened his eyes back in the real world only moments after Serenade had vanished. In his palm where the orb had once been, was a small blue gem the size of a marble. He squeezed it tightly and wiped away the real tears that had fallen during his reunion with his birth mother.

A whirl of emotions ran through him. Now that the moment had passed he wasn’t quite sure how to feel about Serenade. He had a host of questions. Most of which revolved around why, if she could see into the future had she still gone ahead with leaving him with the Galvans. He couldn’t understand it. Still, not much about his goals had changed.

Now that he had a name to put to the ones who had taken Molly from him he would do everything in his power to put an end to them. However, he also wanted to heed Serenade’s warnings and avoid them until he was strong enough to actually do something.

He quickly put away all the items on his coffee table and headed out to replace Alvin. There was much work to be done and he needed to become as strong as he possibly could. The only way he could see of doing that would be to finish his training with Alvin and Glenda and return to his classes.

His solitary studies had been going well, but he was missing that first-hand instruction and if he was to become strong enough to help fight against this ‘Order of Eternal Night’, he would have to become a Rank Four Conductor as quickly as he could if he was to even have a chance at revenge. In his mind, the clock was ticking and he was running out of time.

Power wasn’t something that could come easily, one had to train for long periods of time to break through the ranks, and proper education and study were the foundation of such power. If he was lacking in those he might be able to grow stronger at a faster rate, but that power would have flaws and weaknesses that could be exploited.

There was also the matter of the Ark War. Alvin had not mentioned it, and obviously, Cypher’s knowledge of world history was severely lacking. The books at the Galvan mansion had been full of knowledge but none of it had mentioned such a large-scale war as the one Serenade had spoken of. Something was strange about the whole issue.

One would imagine that something that big would be common knowledge amongst Conductors at the very least. Cypher made a mental note to replace out everything Alvin knew about the subject. First, though, he would have to replace him. Cypher began his search at Alvin’s office. It was a neat and orderly room, but the man was nowhere to be found.

Moving on, he went to Glenda to see if she knew where he might be, but she had no answer for him. After stopping there, Cypher spent the next hour and a half searching the castle for Alvin but turned up nothing. Cypher found it odd that at this particular moment, he couldn’t replace his master. Alvin had always seemed to pop up right when he needed him, so much so that Cypher sometimes wondered if Alvin had once been a butler, like Velruud.

His search eventually led him to the last place he expected. The medical ward. Cypher knew that Alex was there, recovering bit by bit in the large white building. Cypher still needed to talk with him and apologize for hurting him so badly. Despite everything that had happened he still felt guilty, as he rightfully should. However, his primary concern right now was replaceing Alvin and this was the last place to look. What would Alvin be doing here though?

Cypher knew he had to search everywhere but going into the ward was not ideal for him right now. He had a lot on his plate and the prospect of running into Alex worried him. He wasn’t quite ready to face that situation just yet. Cypher sighed and turned to leave. Alvin would eventually pop up and until then he could simply train his centers of power.

However, after he had turned around, an apple smacked him in the back of his head with a loud, ‘THUNK.’ Cypher turned to see who had thrown it as he rubbed the back of his head and found Alex glaring at him from the second floor.

“Oi! You stupid dumb idiot! Get up here! We need to talk!” Alex shouted, and Cypher could only nod and head inside. He hesitated at the door to Alex’s room and took a deep breath, but before he could turn the doorknob, it was pulled open, and startled, he exhaled right into Alex’s face.

“Oh fuck Cyph’ you need a mint! Stop standing around like a dumbass and get in here we need to talk,” Alex said, pinching his nose playfully. As he stepped aside, Cypher walked in, a bit embarrassed. He sat down on the edge of one of the two beds and looked down at his knees.

Alex limped over to him after closing the door. The gait wasn’t too bad, and it looked like Alex almost had his full mobility back. “So, you wanna explain why you haven’t bothered to come to visit me this entire time? It’s been boring as hell in here man! It’s been nothing but white walls, sour pudding, and nurses always touching and examining me. It would be one thing if they were attractive, but every single one of them is old and if I’m being honest, not my type at all.”

Alex stood before him, his hands on his hips as he stared down at Cypher. He could only look up at Alex and twiddle his thumbs, his mind was blank at the sudden encounter. He hadn’t meant it to go down this way and being caught off guard like this was jarring for him.

“Not got anything to say eh? Or is it that you just don’t want to talk? Well, I have plenty to say to you lord of lightning bolts! I’ve had plenty of time to just sit around doing nothing but think,” Alex sounded angry but as Cypher looked at him again, he noticed that a faint smile tugged at his lips.

Alex let out an exasperated sigh and tapped his palm against Cypher’s forehead, “You idiot! I’m not mad at you if that’s what you’re worried about! There are worse things than almost dying,” Alex said as his smile finally broke across his face.

Cypher, on the other hand, looked confused and opened his mouth, at last, to speak, “Alex… I’m so sorry about what I did to you. I never expected that to happen and I understand if you don’t want anything to do with me anymore, you don’t have to pretend on my account. If there’s anything I can do to make it up to you please, tell me and I’ll try to make this right.”

Alex looked dumbfounded and smacked Cypher on the forehead with his palm again, “Geeze, you’re quite full of yourself, aren’t you? I’m not pretending about anything. I won’t lie and say that it wasn’t a shitty thing to do, and fuuuuck me did it hurt like hell, but clearly, it was an accident. Not to mention, I sensed you while I was trying to tell you that it wasn’t your fault. I could feel how torn up you were about the whole situation.

“I gotta say, you have some impressive mental waves for a kid, by the way, if you really wanna apologize you’re going to have to teach me how you did that,” Alex finished, patting Cypher on the shoulder.

“You mean you really aren’t mad? How can you still want to be my friend? How? I almost killed you, accident or not!” Cypher stood up and faced the older boy, his emotions had been running wild these past few weeks and right now he was nearing another breaking point.

Alex simply smiled and gripped his shoulders harder as he looked Cypher in the eyes, “You made a mistake. Shit happens! What matters is that you are sorry and that you tried to help me. Where we go from here is up to you though, because I am pissed that you didn’t bother to show up and help fight off this crushing boredom. If you really want to, you can apologize for that!”

Cypher suddenly smiled and began laughing as hard as he could. So many emotions had been building up inside him. He hadn’t had a chance to think straight or feel much of anything other than despair. But after seeing that Alex was being so understanding about the situation, he couldn’t help but laugh. Relief washed over him as his guilt over the maiming of his friend fell away. Despite the many other things going on in his life right now, Cypher found that he felt at peace.

“You’re so strange Alex but I’m glad you haven’t been holding onto a grudge all this time,” he said between breaths, and Alex joined him in his mirth. The two laughed for a few moments and then Alex plopped down on the bed behind Cypher and grabbed an orange from the bedside table.

“Seems to me you’re the strange one, worrying about whether or not I’d forgive you over an accident! Almost dying was rough for sure, but it was interesting, to say the least. Oh! Plus, my lessons have been super easy since the teachers didn’t wanna stress me out too much, this stuff is all easy enough already and so keeping up has been a cakewalk. But I’m more interested in what you’ve been doing. Tell me, what’s been going on with you man?”

Cypher’s smile slowly faded and he turned around on the edge of the bed to face Alex. It was as if nothing had changed between them and he was happy to know that he still had a friend. He needed this after everything that had been happening. Alvin and Glenda were great teachers, and in Alvin’s case, a good friend as well. But there was something different about talking with someone around his own age. It was easier and less formal. He felt as though he could open up.

With a deep breath, he began to explain all that had occurred since Alex had been injured.