Chapter 19

Voyeurism To the Rescue

Thunk, thunk.

My violin rattles against the ground as I try to take in the words that were just thrown at me.

“So, you never said that you still like her.” Me asked.

I pause and stutter, my words getting caught in my voice. I want to protest that it was over between us, that I had given her my brother’s number so she should be out of my life forever. I am about to say all of this when all I manage to say is “eeek.” As the air forces its way across my lungs in a way that doesn’t sound anywhere near as masculine as I would like.

“Tell me, our song. Was it also your song with her?”

I want to deny that that even if it was the same name. The song would never be the same because I never cared for Jess these ways before. I am trying to think of a reply when she presses. “Well?”

“Yes, but that doesn’t matter.” I try to get out.

She pauses and looks at me. “Am I just a replacement Jess to you?” She asks.

“No!” I shout. Though even now I am having hundreds of previous conversations that I’ve had with Jess over the centuries all play out in my mind. In those previous lives I asked the same questions, had the same conversations. Though those conversations all went drastically different than they had with Mel. I want to say this to her, but I am caught off guard. I can see the future playing out as if it was express van coming, headlights flashing, trying desperately to get me to move out of the way, but I am powerless to move. I feel like a deer in the headlights as this metaphorical bus that is destiny is ready to charge over and past me.

Tears are in her eyes as she speaks. “I saw the way you looked at her, the way you spoke to her. Your emotions for her were easy to see.”

“I told you about her. About our past relationships. None of those matters, not to me.”

Crying.

She is physically crying.

“I think I want this to be over…” She begins.

“WAIT!” A voice cries out. It takes us both a second to look around our environment in confusion before a figure appears, seemingly from nowhere.

“Wait. I think you are making a terrible mistake.” An Endarian female begins to speak.

“What you have another girl with you the whole time?” Mel asks angrily. “What is she saying to you anyways? Is she just waiting for you to tell me it’s over?”

“No, it is not what it looks like. She said she thinks you are making a terrible mistake.” Only after Mel says something do I realize the second sentence she spoke was all in Endarian. Not really helping my case, if she was trying to help.

“I believe I may be able to help.” A male Endarian also seems to have appeared out of nowhere. This male speaks English fluently, which I am grateful for. “What my partner is trying to tell you, is that you are making a mistake.”

“A mistake! A mistake? Just what mistake is that?” Mel asks angrily. This is going to be bad; I can feel it. I look around, wondering where the two came from. Only when I sit to look very closely do I feel the faint sense of mana and minds at my periphery. They are there, but muted.

“Yes. I am led to believe that you think this man has had feelings for another. The problem being that he might act upon those feelings and somehow leave you?” He asks.

Mel looks cornered for a second, but then goes right on the attack. “What would you know about his feelings anyways?”

“Madame, we have come out here every night for the past week, hearing him declare his love for you with your song. As you call it. I just want you to know that the way he plays for you. The intensity and passion he performs with, cannot be faked. Those are real emotions. No doubt you have seen the glow of his soul. The deep purples, blues, and wisps of the elements? That is him showing you naked soul, where he lets you judge his honesty and integrity.” The male space elf says.

Suddenly I feel a little creeped out. These two have been watching me for how long?

Hearing the words even Mel seems shocked. Then she too picks up on this. “Wait, you let them watch us?”

“What? No!” I shout.

“What no, it is not like that at all. We have been hiding ourselves using advanced stealth technology.” He says, trying to be comforting. There is something that seems off about that comment, one that Mel instantly catches onto.

“We, just how many people are WE!” She is fuming at this point. “There are the two of you, but are there more?” She growls.

Vwoom. Vwoom. Vwoom.

With that one question I hear multiple power sources slowly dying off. Once they are done, we are left with nothing but dozens, no hundreds of Endiarians all gathered around. There seem to be three main groups all around us in a circle. There is a small section of people who are set up as a couple. The two that Mel and I are talking to clearly came from the open blanket on the grass. Their blanket is clearly in the section for couples. Then to the left and right are the sections where the singular males and singular females sit. Every few hundred feet there is some type of crystalline device that is connected to a generator of some kind. My mind instantly notes them as dampening fields. These are fields that can be used to mask your magical presence from an area.

My mind is trying to analyze the different functions that this model seemingly offers, as this one appears to be more advanced than the ones I remember from my visions. Maybe this universes war with the Prolaxians escalated the timeline and capabilities of these Endarians? Or maybe I just saw the older models and thus only dreamed of the older models, not being able to understand just how powerful these new variants were.

“You must excuse us.” A voice calls out from the crowd. I am getting whiplash looking for all the different voices and directions. As I turn to face the new voice, instant recognition floods me. That’s General Fellina? It takes a second, she isn’t wearing her uniform. Instead, she appears to be wearing a form fitting dress that gracefully slides over her curves. The material of the dress sparkles under the setting sun and draws attention to all the wrong areas. I try to look away, but was clearly caught by Mel who is, rightly so, looking even more angry and confused right now.

“What are you all doing here?” I finally manage to ask, my voice directed anywhere but at the General and her swaying hips and assets.

“We have come to witness and share the joy of our song. We all want to witness as it is once again given new life and shown to the universe.” The general says.

Mel looks at me confused, so I try to explain. “Remember the other day when I said I was given a task by the General to write down our song. Apparently, it is a big deal because the sacred song was lost in some battle when their home planet was destroyed. I wrote the song down, thus earning us the ability to go on weekend passes. But that all seems pointless now…” I trail off at the end.

“Pointless? How?” Mel asks.

“Well, you were about to break up with me, right?” I ask.

Hearing that, Mel looked first sad. Then she let resolve take her. Just as she was about to speak, the general held up a delicate hand. She is so beautiful and captivating that even Mel can’t continue with what she is about to say.

“Wait. Know that even if he used the same song with other partners. Know that the emotions and energy he shows you cannot be faked. That is the beautiful thing about Endar Rising. It is a declaration of your soul’s true intentions. That is why his playing of the song is so powerful and moving. The emotions he puts into his song are undeniable, surely you realize that?” General Fellina asks.

Hearing that Mel just opens and closes her mouth a few times, like a fish out of water. It is a look that I would normally laugh at and mock, but under the current circumstances I stay quiet. The general fortunately is fighting my battle for me. Which is good, because I’ve fully admitted, I don’t understand females.

“I…I don’t…” Mel stammers, but her halfhearted rebuttal is cut off almost instantly.

“Do me a favor then. Watch him, don’t just listen to him, but watch him as his soul opens to you during this performance.”

“Wait, who said I am going to perform anything with you all voyeurs watching?” I ask.

“Look, do you want to keep your relationship or not?” The male Endarian says, as he picks up my violin and bow and hands both to me gently.

I take the offered instrument out of reflex more than anything. Once I have the instrument, the male takes a few steps back until he is even with his girlfriend? Not quite certain how Endarian Pairings work. But they do seem to be close and sharing a blanket at least. Then I notice a bit of equipment that looks an awful lot like recording sticks. I then scan the crowd and see more of these recording sticks in place.

With me quieted by getting my instrument and scanning the crowd for recording sticks, I missed the point when the general continued talking with Mel. She is speaking to her in hushed whispers, or maybe I am just too shocked to properly hear their conversation. With the two engaged, and my not wanting to ruin whatever is going on between them I turn back to the male Endarian. “So, mate, are those recording sticks?” I ask pointing out the sticks that are planted in a circular formation around me.

“No.”

Phew, I would be mortified if those were recording sticks used to get a three-dimensional rendering of me while performing.

“Well not just recording sticks, they are also live streaming the concert back to our home planets.” The Endarian says.

“Wait, what?” I ask, then another question comes to mind. This is a lot of recording data on a secured military academy, “does the General know about this?”

“Know? Of course, she knows. She is the one who authorized this after all.”

Hearing that I am about to say something but am distracted when decidedly soft fingers grace my shoulder.

“I think she is ready for you.” The General says in Endarian. Her voice so husky that I feel a slight tingle go down my spine.

I turn to look at Mel, who looks oddly conflicted.

I don’t want to speak, not trusting myself not to ruin this moment. She doesn’t seem angry like she was previously. In fact, if anything, she seems to be calming down quite considerably. Then after a moment of silence she speaks.

“All right. You get one chance. Woo me, like you mean it.” Mel says, her playful tone coming back at the end causing me to smile and my chest to breathe a little easier.

“I’ve always waited for someone to tell me those exact words.” I state.

“WOOHOO!” A cheer rises from the crowd of invisible voyeur Endarians who are still watching.

I turn to them, “if you are going to watch, can you at least give us the illusion of privacy?” I ask.

Click, vrrm. Click, vrrm. Click, vrrm.

There is a slight sound as all the dampening fields come to life. Then soon all I can see is Mel, our view, and the moon that is now high overhead.

Finally with all other distractions away, I lock eyes with Mel. Then I pull up my violin to my chin and play. This time rather than closing my eyes, I keep them locked on her the whole time. She wanted to be wooed, well I will do just that.

That night I played for her like I had never played before, not in this lifetime nor in any previous lifetime. I played like my soul was being judged, for in a way it was. Seven times.

Seven times I played through the different choruses. Casting Cleanse and using Create Water to push water directly into my body. I played for hours. Sometime after the fifth climax, I paused. I was sweating so profusely by this point that my shirt was sticking to me, causing me to feel like it was wrestling against me during the last time through. Moving quickly, I gently dropped my violin to the ground, as I pulled my sweat soaked shirt off, letting it fall to the ground in a wet soggy splash. Only to pick up my violin once more and continue to play. The entire time I never took my eyes off hers. She was after all my inspiration for playing, so I made sure she knew that every breath and note I played that night were for her and her alone. Somewhere during the sixth time through I had to cast Cure Light Wound on my throat, but I persisted.

Then finally by the time I got through the seventh and last time through, I collapsed. Splat, I of course landed on my soaking wet shirt that was now being ground into the dirt but that didn’t matter.

Panting.

It took me a good thirty seconds of straight panting to finally come down from the exhaustion I felt at that moment. That was a marathon of playing.

I continue to lock eyes with Mel, who had taken to fanning herself at some point during the ordeal.

“Well?” I ask, in between panting breaths.

“What?” Mel asks, shock written clearly on her face.

“Did I successfully woo you?” I ask.

Hearing that Mel just chuckled, a beautiful sound. A tear even rolled down her eye. At some point I had moved her to tears, her eyes were red and puffy. She wiped the one remaining tear away and smiled brightly. “Yes. Yes, I consider myself wooed.”

“Yes!” I let out as I collapse in a heap on the ground. Dirt and dead grass particles are clinging to my sweat covered body, but in this one moment I feel amazing. This moment is of course quickly ruined by a chorus of “WOOOO!”

In a second, I realize my mistake. For a second, I thought we were still alone. I couldn’t say they didn’t warn us that they’d be there, but did they now feel the need to interact?

Mel too looks around at the empty fields where hundreds of hidden space voyeurs are watching. Realizing my job is done, and that despite how this night started, it ended quite well.

“Good. With that I am going to take a nice long cold shower.” I say gesturing to the sweat that is still covering my body.

Mel, who was still fanning herself nodded and answered, “me too.”

I pause, as I lock gazes with her. Then smile as she too realizes what she just confessed to. She blushes brightly but doesn’t say anything to refute her statement. That was part of why I liked her so much. “Can I call you tomorrow?”

“You better.” She says, but then glances around at the open field where cloaked elves are watching. “But can you do it from somewhere more, private?”

“WHHOAA!” The crowd of invisible onlookers says, adding needless extra tension to the statement.

As for me I just shake my head, before putting my sweat-soaked shirt over my shoulder. “All right, it is a date.” I say as I put away my instrument and wonder just how tonight got so weird.

“I’m.” I begin, not wanting to trip over anyone now that I realize there are hundreds of people around me. “I’m going to go back to my dorm, that way.” I say pointing off in the direction closest to my dorm. With that I pause for a few seconds. I can almost hear the scuffling of people moving in the dark. Then after a few seconds I begin walking away as if nothing odd happened at all.

Nope, just an everyday walk back to my dorm, after nothing eventful happened.