Theo's Speech

The crowd outside was roaring with a mix of excitement and unease. Theo wore the king’s robe and crown as he walked up the stairs, heading towards the balcony with the Rain Wizard staff in hand. Leo, Cleo, and king Edward followed closely behind. “Normally the Rain Wizard is supposed to wear the Rain Wizard’s Robe for this, but I’ll let you borrow mine for the speech.” Edward said. “Yeah, thanks.” Theo said dismissively. “Just remember to be confident and hold your head up high.” Leo said encouragingly. When they made it to the top, Theo stood behind the door, not walking out with a dead pan stare. Leo, Cleo, and the king hid behind with their hands grasped on the doors, poking out from behind. Cleo gives a thumbs up “You got this.” “I really don’t.” Theo sighed. Theo walked forward and stood in front of the crowd. The majority of the crowd went silent, but one threw a glass bottle at him, and he tilted his head before it hit him. “Pretty good throwing arm.” he muttered as his eyes looked down at the crowd. “RAIN WIZARD! We don’t want you here! Go back to your own world!” a man in the crowd yelled. “It doesn’t work like that…” Theo muttered. He looked at the railing of the balcony, with wires leading inside one of the castle walls. On top of the railing, was what appeared to be a speaker with a button on a small platform beneath it. Theo walked over to it and pressed the button and spoke into it. “Uhhh...hey guys.” his voice rang throughout the city. King Edward and Leo facepalmed with Cleo shrinking further away behind the door. “I’m the new Rain Wizard. My name is Theo Miller and…”

“THIS GUY SUCKS!” another man yelled, throwing another bottle at him, which Theo promptly dodged by turning his head again. “Where are you guys keep getting those? Anyway, listen up. I’m not here because I want to be. I’m here because I need to be.” The crowd shown hesitation at his words, unsure of what to make of them. King Edward and Leo peeked through their fingers in surprise and Cleo began to poke her head out again. “I...I was just a homeless man before coming to this world. I knew about worlds like this one through fictional games I’ve played. My life was interfered with, I jumped off a roof, and I’ve had bad luck as far as I can remember. But even though this world doesn’t follow the logic of what I’m familiar with, whether it’s fiction or reality, fate is hard to escape. I’ve been looking at this world through a fictional lens when I first got here. In the stories that I’m familiar with, the hero often needs to complete the quest before he can go home, or have a happily ever after. I figured if I just went with the flow of things, I would reach the end of the game. But this isn’t a game, and this world is one of misery and pain. Horrors and broken spirits. Smiles hiding sadness, and sadness becoming the norm. I’m not a hero. I don’t have delusions of grandeur where I think I can be one. But I’m also not the type to just sit down and wallow in despair.”

Theo dropped the robe from his body, wearing his trench coat and tossed the crown over his shoulder to King Edward who caught it looking dumbfounded. “I’m not going to be your king. And I’m not going to claim to be your hero. But I WILL try to stop the threat to the Eyeless and bring back this world to its normal weather cycle again. But only because I refuse to stay in a world that wallows in its misery. I won’t be here long. I need to collect the other relics and find the mystery behind the Eyeless. That’s all.” Theo said, clicking the button and walking back towards the door. Everyone was silent, unsure of how to feel about his speech, only small murmurs followed. “That wasn’t exactly the heroic speech I was expecting.” The king said, heading down the stairs with the others, fiddling the crown with his fingers. “I’m not going to lie to gain support. I would like to save this world, but I also don’t want to make a promise I might not be able to keep. My Luck is -1, and previous Rain Wizard’s have a habit of disappearing or passing away. It would be irresponsible to make a promise for an uncertain future.”

Leo nodded “I share the sentiment, but I do agree with the king that something a little more heroic-sounding probably would have helped your public image more.” Theo shrugged “Well, whatever. The way these stories go I’ll be the talk of the town soon enough.” Cleo glanced at Theo before looking forward “You’re sounding less like a hero the more I’m around you. You’ve only had a couple moments since you’ve been here.” Theo smirked to himself “True, but I’m just a homeless bum turned Rain Wizard, what do you expect?” he said, his shrugging becoming more exaggerated. As they walked down the steps into the throne room, king Edward put the crown back on his head and sat down with a sigh. “I just realized we left my robe up there. I’ll have someone fetch it later. Anyway, I don’t know if that speech was enough to help your public image or not, but I guess we’ll find out. Leo. Cleo. Guard Theo closely when you leave. Head north to the Orcs when you’re ready. You’re free to stay here until the crowd dies down.” They nodded and sat on the nearby benches.

After a couple hours passed, they left through the door, and only a handful of people were left. They walked past the crowd and head towards the inn. They walked upstairs, and Theo was forced into the number 9 room again. Laying in bed, the sun of the light went out, the street lamps turned on, and the bustle of the city quieted. Theo had a lot of thoughts on his mind. What if the Eyeless were young innocent souls? How many Rain Wizards are seen in a negative light? Will he meet the expectations given to him?” He took off his clothes except his white t-shirt and boxers, placed the heavy staff against the wall and laid in bed, closing his eyes. Just as he was about to drift off to sleep, a flash of the eyeless old man entered his mind and his eyes shot open, with a dagger gleaming in the moonlight headed towards his face as he rolled off the bed. A pillow fell with him and he looked up at a cloaked figure. There was patched colorful yellow and red sun symbol on their sleeve as the perpatrator ran after Theo, he threw the pillow at the enemy, and tackled their legs. They swung their knife at him, and he barely dodge with the knife slicing his cheek, causing blood to drop. “Are you with the Rain Cult?! I’m not your enemy! Stand down!” Theo yelled.

Stomping could be heard, and Leo and Cleo soon busted down the door with their swords. “Back off cultist!” Leo yelled as he and Cleo charged forward. The figure moved their legs around Theo’s neck and twisted their body to get out of his hold, soon jumping out the window, sliding down one of the street lights into the alley. Theo got up and wiped the blood off his cheek and peered through the window. He saw the figure along with three others in the same cloaks with sun symbols before they turned another corner and out of sight.