Chaos Conspiring

Nanji and Wilder take a quiet moment to mourn for the past they lost and discuss the uncertain future they face.

Chaos Conspiring

By: Dr. Leah M.J. Rais

This story is dedicated to my Uncle Kevin, a truly great man. He taught me the value of dreams, and the joy that can come from pursuing them. He was deeply loved, and will be sorely missed. May his grand adventures continue even after this life, and may we meet again one day. 

Wilder and Nanji sat in the living room,the light of the fire illuminating the space. Both men were exhausted, but were unable to find rest. Alexandru had a trying day, which in turn meant that they had as well. He had even gone so far as to attack Nanji at one point, leaving a cut on his cheek and a dark bruise along his collar bone. Fortunately, at that point Wilder had stepped in and managed to pull him off of Nanji, only to be elbowed in the stomach. It had taken both of them quite a bit of time to get out of the room without any further harm coming to them, and even longer for Alexandru to stop pounding on the door demanding to be let out, before finally exhausting himself and falling asleep on the floor. Nanji had picked him up as Wilder pulled back the blankets and they had put him in bed before retreating downstairs and lighting the fire and collapsing on two of the cushions. 

“Do you think he’ll forgive us?” Wilder asked, breaking the silence they’d been sitting in for the last ten minutes. Nanji turned his head to look at him, the light of the fire dancing in his irises.

“Alex?” Nanji asked.

“Yeah.” Wilder replied. Nanji’s eyes flitted back and forth as he pondered Wilder’s question. 

“If… when he comes to his senses, I think there is a good chance he will forgive us. He may not appreciate what we’ve done for him, or even fully understand why we did it, but I do think he will forgive us.” 

“You’re probably right.” Wilder agreed. Another silence settled over the two men. But Nanji’s eyes never strayed from Wilder.

“You’re upset.” He said after a few minutes. 

“Scared would be more accurate.” Wilder said, looking across the low table to Nanji. His mouth was turned down in the slightest frown, and compassion shone from his dark eyes.

“Scared of what?” Nanji asked. Wilder shrugged.

“Many things. But at this particular moment, I’m worried about Joseph, and I’m worried what happens to Alexandru if we never get him back.” 

“I see.” Nanji said. He wished there was something he could say to comfort Wilder, but anything he said would only be a lie. The harsh reality was that they had no idea if Joseph was okay, and in fact odds were he was far from being okay, and without Joseph there was no telling if Alexandru would be able to recover.

“I can’t believe this has happened. I can’t believe Jeno’s really gone. We lost our King, our Kingdom, everything.” Wilder said, after a few minutes of quiet. 

“I can’t believe it either.” Nanji said. 

“And now they have Joseph, and Taj, and who knows who else.” Wilder said. “As awful as this makes me sound, I almost wish they were dead for their own sake.” 

“I understand.” Nanji said. “That would be far kinder a fate than what they are likely experiencing.” 

“Seems like things will only get worse from here on out. I wonder if that has to do with what’s happened to Joseph?” Wilder said. 

“It likely does.” Nanji said. “But you know, even if they don’t get better, we have to fight to preserve the good that is in the world, no matter how difficult that may be.”

“I know.” Wilder replied, nodding his head. “I just worry. The Shettel are powerful, and now they have even more magic at their disposal. Meanwhile, Lord Hayashi is doing his best to manage things, but he’s struggling, and our Commander has completely lost his mind. They grow stronger as we grow weaker.”

“We have to do the best we can with what we have.” Nanji replied. A comfortable silence fell over the two men, as uncertain thoughts swam through their minds. Every day that passed, the world fell deeper and deeper into madness it seemed, and their hope to defeat the Shettel and the NSU grew weaker.

“It hardly seems fair.” Wilder said after a few minutes.

“What does?” Nanji asked.

“That this has happened to Alex. He’s already endured far too much for someone as young as he is. .It hardly seems right that he should have to endure this too.” Wilder said. Nanji was tempted for a moment to remind him that life was not fair, but he didn’t. 

“I know.” He said. Another silence lapsed over the men.

“You know, I still remember the first time I met him.” Nanji began. “He wasn’t awake for it, poor kid was in a coma, but I’ll never forget how small and fragile he looked. He was all wrapped in bandages, and I could see the bones in his hands and arms. If it weren’t for his chest moving I would’ve thought him dead.” 

“He was awake when I met him.” Wilder said, “Although he was scared. Kept apologizing to me, even though he hadn’t done anything that needed apologizing for. He also refused to look me in the eye.” 

“Oh that lasted probably a year after Joseph rescued him.” Nanji said. “He used to follow Joseph around. Hated being away from him for any length of time. I was worried Joseph would find it annoying, but Joseph actually seemed to like it. He really seemed to enjoy being Alexandru’s older brother.” 

“That doesn’t surprise me. Whenever Alex was sent on a mission, Joseph was on edge till he came back. I think as much as Alex needed Joseph, Joseph needed him.” Another silence fell over the pair, this one contemplative as they both recalled their own fond memories of Joseph and Alexandru. 

“We have to get Joseph back, not only for our own sakes, but for Alex’s and the world at large. We just have to.” Wilder said.

“We will.” Nanji said. “We’re going to do everything we can.”. 

“I know, I just hope it’s enough.” Wilder replied.

Author's Note

This is the fifth story in my short series, Chaos, so please be sure to read those to have the full context! Thank you for taking the time to read this, and I hope you enjoy!