Poems of hope part 3

"Well?" Rufus yelled as he was waiting anxiously.

Väinämöinen looked down and apologised.

"This crystal. I have never seen anything like this. I have studied a lot and never come across something like this on any book or papyrus. It is made from a type of divinity that I simply cannot comprehend, and when I cannot comprehend it. I cannot control it," Väinämöinen described.

Rufus wasn't surprised but kept the same saddened look he had. He aloud a little hope as never before a sorcerer had tried their luck. But this hope was small.

"But if I do not have an answer, it doesn't mean there isn't one," Väinämöinen continued.

Everyone listened.

"The universe is full of knowledge. People of great wisdom, libraries of great knowledge, items and tools that do the impossible, and gods who either made these all or have access to them.

"There is the answer somewhere out there, as no one makes a lock without a key. And what my ritual found was that this crystal was a lock. It was intended to protect and heal the person inside and open eventually. You just have to find the key."

Rufus wasn't sure what to say.

"So what. That is an incredibly broad way of help," Rufus complained.

"What my master says is aaaalways broad, and he never gives specific advice. But what he is explaining is worth listening to," Suomi said.

"Sounds like the fortunetellers on the streets," Yosef whispered to Joan.

"You can use my advice however you like, and I ask for no payment," Väinämöinen continued to explain.

"So what? You traveled through the universe on a small gravity vessel just to see this?" Rufus continued.

"Yes. Every living being is unique in the same way every color is unique. They all are mixtures of different colors made from different proportions, but they all are made from the same basic three. This, though, is a color that I have never seen before."

"So you have nothing for me?" Rufus said.

"What are you, deaf?"

Suomi ran her mouth once again, to the surprise of everyone.

"He basically just said that you need to get out of this stuffy and dusty room and go out there and find a solution. Sulking here won't help your sister," she continued.

Completely out of character, Rufus yelled," Who the hell do you think you are. You have been here for maybe an hour at most, and you are already telling me that I am not doing my all for my sister. What do you know what I have done for her?!"

Never had the friends of Rufus seen him have such an emotional explosion. For years now, he had just been depressed in his castle all alone, and it looked like he was alive for the first time.

Liana was going to stop them, but Amala intervened and whispered to her, "let's wait."

"Clearly, you'r not, as my master's advice was this time pretty clear what you need to do!"

"He said there is a solution somewhere in the universe! What do you expect me to do?!"

"Don't ask what I am expecting you to do. Ask what your sister is asking you to do? Ask if she would go out there. Turn over every stone in the universe so she could save you?"

Rufus went silent. Just like how Harley had scolded him decades back, he once more was being thought selflessness by another. He realised that for years he had blamed others and himself instead of pushing himself and others past their limits. The solution had often come quickly, but when it didn't, he lost hope, not realising that he wasn't giving his all.

"I remember asking you to join me to scour the universe a long time ago. You never gave me a reply, so now I am once more asking you."

Queen Satifa, the ruler and law of the Saracens, entered the room. She hadn't aged at all and was still the same desert rose as before.

"What are you doing here?" Rufus asked the queen.

"It took me years to stop the wars on the green solo moon world, and I had to rebuild the locust witches. I stopped the clan wars, as the entire moon world was in the midst of utter chaos. Now I hope to find that demon, as I know and believe Bouzid is still somewhere. Most likely being tortured as her body was stolen by such a monster, but she is still alive. I never gave hope, but I had to give time and have patience," Satifa explained where she had been for years.

"Rufus. If you want a solution, you will not be going alone. I once promised you to give my life and sword for you with my gauntlet on my heart. That promise still stands," Edward said.

"And I can't have an idiot like you two to be set loose on the universe, and all of creation would be then at risk. That is why I am joining. To supervise you," Doreen said.

"Watching over my brother is my job," Joan said.

"I hate gravity ships, but I will go on them for you and only for you, Rufus," Amala said.

"Rufus gave me so much, and I promised myself I would be with him forever," Pema said.

"Rufus found me from the mountains and saved me. Without him, I would still be rampaging in the mountains," Gwon said.

"Rufus gave me my current life that is so full of joy that I never thought possible," Liana said.

"Fuck it..." Yosef said.

Rufus smiled. He was so grateful. Though he had cast them aside and ignored them for over thirty years, they were still willing to go so far for him. He trembled. He had been such a fool for losing hope when no one else had.

"Thank you. Thank you all," he cried.

~~

Rufus went to his room in the house he had bought and renovated years back. He opened the closet door and took out his blue jacket. The same one Haley had given him decades back. It still fit him perfectly.

He took out a sharp knife and shaved his beard. He cut his long hair and looked in the mirror. He also had yet to age and looked like a twenty-year-old young man.

"It is nice to see you looking so fresh again," a voice said from the shadows.

Rufus quickly turned around and saw a familiar, not a face, but a mask.

"Gadaric. You live?"

"Hard to believe for me. That day, when the emperor ordered his son to kill me. A lot of things rushed through my head. Maybe the one thing that lingered most in my head was...guilt," Gadaric explained.

"You know I have found a new appreciation for life and reason. So I am not anymore that excited about going to listen to your motivational, life quoting lessons," Rufus said and left him alone in the room, making him feel awkward.

Gadaric rushed out and called out," Rufus, wait! I want to come with you all!"

Rufus looked confused.

"What are you talking about?" Rufus asked.

"I want to come with you all. I wish to help you," he explained.

"Why would you?" Rufus pondered.

"You wish to hear an emotional reasoning.....?"

"...fine. But keep it short."

"For a long time I...."

"SHORT!"

"...I want to find my reason for my existence by giving it to you!"

Rufus was a bit stunned.

"That sounds a bit excessive?" Rufus said.

"Nope. What was excessive was for him to follow us around when we were fighting off the Haraldrar raids off the coast of the kingdom of Alberic," Edward said, who joined in on the conversation.

"Why did he do that?"

"He did it to redeem himself," Edward explained.

Rufus looked at Gadaric and removed his mask. He also hadn't aged much, but it was hard to tell as his face was disfigured, and he had no eyes.

"I caused so much sadness by taking orders from the wrong person. I thought following you could maybe fix it," Gadaric explained.

Rufus didn't like the answer.

"No."

Gadaric look shot down.

"Your reasoning is wrong. You feel you are not worth anything unless you live for someone else. You may think it is fine, but I just, not long ago, realized that you must also live for yourself," Rufus explained.

Gadaric was stunned.

"Live and love yourself, so you may live and love others, Gadaric," Rufus explained and gave him his hand.

Gadaric couldn't move as no one ever asked him to do anything for himself. Not his mother, not the emperor. If he could cry, he would.

"Can I come with you if I promise to look for that? A way to love me?" Gadaric asked.

"Of course."