Krystallos Chaos

Tea

The mayor's building was extravagant, It almost seemed like a court. There were ornate white pillars at the front of the building, holding up a needlessly extended roof. I also noticed rather large doors located in the center, leading into a lobby that was so beautiful and uniquely decorated you would never think it's in a government building. This wasn't like most of the government buildings back in my hometown. Those were covered with chipping, sun-beat layers of pale beige or gray brick and concrete, and the architecture itself seemed more like a prison than a place of work. Massive squares, scarcely having windows. That was the type of government building I was used to. Everything was there for the sake of "efficiency", although you could barely call what they do there "work", much less efficient work.

I walked into the lobby and was greeted warmly by a cheerful receptionist. "Good morning! Are you here with an appointment this morning, Angelia? You seem to be with someone, is he–" She looked me over once, and did a double take. She seemed shell-shocked by my mere presence in the room. "I'm sorry, Angelia, but is he who I think he is?" The receptionist asked, her smile even wider than before, and her eyes gleaming with a kind of manic excitement rarely seen outside of children on Christmas.

"Yes he is! We need to speak to the mayor as soon as possible, so please let him know we're here." Angelia asked. This was the first time I'd seen her not overly express herself. She seemed almost calm, no, resolute. She seemed like she was on an important mission. I imagined if I had seen Paul Revere on his midnight ride, or George Washington crossing the Delaware, they would have had the same sense of duty and importance etched onto their faces that Angelia now had on hers. 

"I'll let him know right away, please take a seat anywhere you like! He'll be with you shortly." The receptionist replied gleefully. I turned around, and then realized that this lobby was much more homely than I had originally deemed. There were comfortable couches and armchairs scattered around, and coffee tables sitting at odd intervals between them. There was a fireplace on the wall behind everything, with a counter on one side of it, and a small refrigerator on the other side. On top of the counter was a small coffee maker, with cups, creamer, and other things sitting next to it. Before I could even sit down properly, I was called into the mayor's office not by the receptionist, but by the mayor himself coming to the lobby to greet us.

"Hello! It's great to see you again Angelia, I heard you have something important to discuss with–" Once again, someone stopped mid sentence to gawk at me. What is going on here? Why don't we have a seat in my office and chat? I'm sure you have a lot of questions, but I assure you, Mr. Tyler, we're here to help." The mayor was a rather tall man, with a good frame. He seemed like the type of person to have wrestled in high school. He walked with a slight limp in his right leg. It wasn't enough to be noticeable to most people, but I'm trained to pay attention to the small details in people. He had a short haircut, only a bit longer than a buzzcut. He was dressed very formally, but he wasn't wearing a suit jacket. My guess was that his arms were too big to fit. We walked into the office, and I realized that the situation I'm in was a lot worse than I thought. There was a large desk with a nameplate on it that read "Adonis White" in the center of the room. Directly behind the desk was a large window, and on either side were large bookshelves that reached to the ceiling, all filled to the brim with books. Above the window was a longhorn skull fixed to the wall. On his desk was some paperwork, a pen, a book with an extravagant cover that I couldn't quite make out the name of, and a Newton's cradle. On the right side of his room was a filing cabinet and a coat hanger. Instead of the missing suit jacket I expected to sit there, the hooks were completely filled with medals from various tournaments and achievements. There was also a table with numerous trophies from every martial art I can name. 

The last thing I noticed was the wall to my left. There was a bulletin board and a small table under it. On the bulletin board were various pictures, connected with red string like some corny detective series. All of the string seemed to connect to one torn picture of. . . ME? That was a much older picture of me, they couldn't have possibly gotten this picture of me recently. I've never been to this town in my life, but for some reason everyone in this town knows me and treats me nicer than any stranger reasonably should. Whenever someone sees me they stop what they're doing and seem to go into a state of shock, like some otherworldly euphoria hits them out of nowhere. Why am I so important to these people?

"Ah, I'm sure you have a lot of questions, Mr. Tyler. Now, where should I start?" The mayor sat down in his chair, and motioned for us to do the same. "You're probably wondering why you're on the wall there. Some time ago, this town was going through a horrible drought. It hadn't rained for years, and the government wouldn't do anything to help us, even going as far as telling other towns not to help us. Apparently we're sitting on a lot of money and resources. The government thought it would be better to let the drought run us out of town, and because of the drought, crops couldn't grow well. Our people were starving and we didn't have enough to drink. I knew we couldn't survive winter at that rate. When we were at our most desperate, a stranger came into our town. He told us exactly where we had to dig to find water, and exactly what we had to say to get help from the government. We begged him to stay but he wouldn't. He told us he had to help other people, and that there was someone far greater than he that would come soon. He handed us the picture of you and told us your name. As he left, he pulled up the hood to his coat and told us one thing. 'Tell Tyler I'm waiting. He just has to follow the clues I left for him.' As he drove away, we felt the first rain in years come over this town. That's why everyone knows who you are. We even changed our town's name to Tyler in hopes it would bring you closer to us. Does that answer a few of your questions?" The mayor said happily.

"Honestly, I feel like I just have more, but it looks like you guys have less answers than I do. I get that you guys were waiting for me, but why did she kidnap me? And why did she wait that long to tell me?" I said. 

"As grateful as we are to you, not everyone feels the same way. Some people in the town are against this, and believe that this is heresy. They believe we should have solved the problem ourselves, and receiving help from the Stranger was akin to making a deal with the devil himself. They believe that should you appear in town, you need to be run off, or worse. Some radicals in the group think that we should– Anyways, that's why. She really did it for your protection." 

I was getting more uncomfortable by the second. I think I knew who the stranger they were talking about was, but when I knew him he couldn't do anything like they said he could. I'm pretty sure they were talking about Eddy. Did he somehow have powers before we did? And is that why he moved to the woods? Could he tell things would end up like this and prepare beforehand? Even if I wasn't thinking about Eddy and everything surrounding that mystery, why am I being revered like this? Do they want me to do something for them? And what is it about this other faction that wants me gone– or worse? 

"I have to find that stranger. I really appreciate your hospitality, but I have to go." I said hurriedly. I decided the best thing to do would be to remove myself from the situation as soon as possible. 

"What? You can't go yet, we've been waiting for you for years. At least stay for a week or two. The stranger said you'd be far greater than him, and he saved our whole town. What if you leave and something worse than the drought happens? You need to stay here for at least a little bit." The mayor said. His body language was conveying something I don't want to see from someone as muscular as him. It was telling me he was getting agitated. I could tell I wouldn't be able to just walk out the door. He wouldn't let that happen.

"I see. Alright, in that case I'll stay for a bit. Can I please get some coffee? I'm hoping we can chat some more so I can get to know you better." I said, desperately hoping my plan would work. 

"Sure! How much creamer do you take?" the mayor said, much happier than he was moments ago.

"I'll take just enough to make it not taste like coffee anymore, thanks!" I said, forcing a smile.

"Alrighty, I'll get it set up for you. Please make yourself comfortable." The mayor said. He walked over to the coffee maker in the small room next to this one. I knew this was my chance. I leapt up from my chair, and bolted for the door. I made sure to use my powers to seal it better, reinforcing the hinges with solid steel and breaking the knob so it wouldn't turn anymore. I started to run out of the building.

I made it to the lobby, and as I was running towards the door, I heard a loud crashing sound behind me. I turned around briefly and saw the mayor, with the door on the ground next to him. I ran even harder, but it didn't matter. He charged at me with the ferocity and energy of a raging bull. I made a mad dash for the door. I grabbed the handle, but it was too late. The last thing I saw was the mayor diving towards me, and all I could think of was the Foxy jumpscare. My head slammed against the door, and I got knocked out.