Krystallos Chaos

Tea -

The first thing I remembered was pain. A searing, stabbing pain running across my entire body, lighting every nerve and pain receptor in my body on fire, dousing it in flames. I slowly came to, the pain quickly letting me know that I wasn't dreaming. The back of my head was throbbing, and I was pretty sure I had cracked a rib or two. My guess as to why my head was hurting was it being slammed into the door when Adonis tackled me. The ribs were probably just from the sheer impact of a man his size slamming into me full force. I opened my eyes, and I was seated in some sort of auditorium. What looked like the entire town was sitting in front of me, and next to me was the mayor at a podium. He seemed to be giving a speech, presumably about me. I tried to stand up, and almost blacked out again from the pain in my head. I slumped back into my seat, and tried to take a deep breath, but before I could fully inhale the shooting pain in my ribs stopped me.

"I know it's been a long time, but the waiting is finally over! Tyler is here everyone, the Promised One has arrived! There's been great turmoil with the Krystals appearing, and the government cracking down on Krystal users everywhere, but I don't believe it's a coincidence that he showed up now. I think he's here to lead us through these times of trouble, and give us a brighter future!" Adonis White was speaking passionately, like a preacher on Sunday morning. I could tell just by hearing his voice and looking at his body language that he truly did believe fervently every word he had just spoken. I found it ironic that the very same man who is now singing my praises had knocked me out just a few hours earlier. 

There was something among what he said that had stood out to me quite a bit. What was this he was saying about Krystals and Krystal users? Why was the government cracking down on them? Maybe this is some new dangerous type of drug? I really wasn't sure, and I guess I would have to ask him about it. Either way that was at the bottom of my list of priorities at the moment. Right now, the most pressing thing was trying to assess the amount of danger I was in and getting proper mobility back. If the opportunity presents itself, I'll make a run for it and pray I find Jefferson somewhere. For now I can play along and see where things go I guess. 

While I was lost in my perpetual train of thought, Adonis was finishing his speech to the town. "We will usher in a new era for this town, a Golden Age once more! Tyler will bring prosperity to our humble city once and for all!"

He seemed quite proud of himself for that, and apparently the townsfolk believed what he said about as much as he did. The moment he finished his speech, they all stood and began to clap. Initially it was a cordial applause, but almost instantly it devolved into roars of cheering, screaming, loud whistling, and possibly even a gunshot (I really couldn't differentiate what I was hearing, that was how enthusiastic they were). 

He turned around to face me, expectedly waiting with an ear-to-ear grin plastered on his face. I could tell he was waiting for praise of some sort, possibly acknowledgement? "Very well said Mr. Adonis, it's clear you think very highly of me. I'm going to have to try very hard to live up to that." I replied, trying for a smile. He seemed pleased enough with my response, which was good for me because I didn't know if I could handle another tackle like the first one.

"Is there somewhere we can talk more privately later? I have a few things I'd like to ask you from your speech earlier. I also want to know where Jefferson is, if it's not too much trouble." I said, hoping the disdain I carried for him didn't carry through in my speech.

"There most certainly is, and we can definitely find your friend, but we should celebrate a little bit first! The townspeople have been waiting for years to see your face; you can't just leave them now!" He said exuberantly. Again I didn't detect a hint of malice or deception in his voice or body language. "Oh and, you don't need to call me Mr., just Adonis is fine."

"Alright then, Adonis. What do I have to do for this event? I can't really move well; I might be concussed and I think my ribs are broken." I said, concentrating intensely on keeping my breaths shallow enough to not shoot pain through my entire body. 

"So sorry about that, Mr. Tyler. I had to stop you though, you had just arrived, and you already wanted to leave. Don't worry, I've made accommodations for you, you shouldn't have to do much. In fact you're already seated where you need to be for the whole celebration!" Adonis said, seemingly very proud of himself for planning that out smoothly.

"I see, well that's good." I said, starting to get increasingly more and more tired of this town's obscene antics. I realized this was perfect for me to take this time to test my limits. If I could just focus on the makeup of my own body, then there's a chance that I can repair my broken ribs and gain my mobility back much sooner than expected. This could also help me to get the jump on Adonis or anyone else that tries to stop me from leaving if I see an opportunity. 

"Alright, are you ready to start then?" Adonis asked me. I debated whether no was really a valid option in this situation, and decided it wasn't.

"Let's get this celebration started, shall we?" I replied, feigning excitement. I just wanted to get this over with so I could get the answers I needed and escape. Before I could even get out my next thought, Adonis and a few other townsfolk had hoisted the chair I was seated in over their heads, with me still in it. They carried me out to the main town square, with two skyscrapers looming over it. They were all screaming and jumping around with joy. I wasn't focused on the crowd though.

I closed my eyes and tried to block out all other thoughts. I viewed my body on a molecular level, I could feel every cell, tissue, muscle fiber, and organ all working in harmony. I knew I had to focus my search a bit more. I narrowed it down to my chest, feeling my lungs expand and contract. These cavernous hole-riddle tissues that keep me alive called lungs are so interesting to me. They're all so fragile, all it takes is one poke in the wrong area and they're damaged beyond repair. I moved outward from my lungs, to the bones that keep them safe. I could feel all 24 of my ribs, sitting like a cage in my chest. I could tell that only 22 of them were in good condition, with the other two right around the center of my left lung completely broken. I focused on the broken parts and what their mirror-images looked like on the other side. I could feel every bit of marrow, every molecule, every atom that gave these ribs their composition. I began to use my ability to reform my bones to their former shape. In times like this I wondered how much more useful something like this could have been. I had to replace every out of position piece with flesh and start over from scratch. I started from the base of what's left of those 2 ribs still in place, working my way from the sternum towards my side. I could sense a singular bead of sweat beginning to race its way down my forehead, and then over my eye, and subsequently across the length of my nose. I couldn't lose focus. If I lost track of what I was doing for even a second, who knows what could happen. I might have to start the entire process over again, or I'd have two half ribs that could leave me open to all sorts of dangers. I zoned back into my ribs. They were almost connected to the sternum again, I just needed about ten more seconds. I could hear the sound of an engine about 100 meters away from me distinctly set apart from the mindless acclamation of the crowd surrounding me. Just as I finished connecting my newly formed ribs to the sternum, I heard a familiar voice. It was calling my name, but with a much different tonality than the townsfolk I had met so far were always using around me. The emotions conveyed by it seemed more like surprise than anything else. I broke my concentration and opened my eyes to see– JEFFERSON?