An odd time to be brought in a place like this. A festival going on where too much for the boy’s mind to wrap around. Leo wasn’t even sure why he came out here in the first place. There was no way to have some sort of solitude in a crowded place like this. Perhaps it was the fact that he didn’t want to feel as alone as he already felt, that being around others would help ease the sudden transfer. It was already night time, but it wasn’t so bad with candle lights lighting the way around him Around everyone that seem to be gathering around a lake, sending candles off and watching them float away. A unique tradition perhaps? Leo wouldn’t know, nor would he had the time to think, seeing someone pass by him that look all too familiar. Not someone he would want to see… yet this man was still a part of him, whether he liked it or not.
Approaching the taller man, Leo took hold of the other’s sleeve from walking any further. “It’s really you…” A bit of sadness cross his mind, recalling the last moments of the taller man, disappearing before his eyes to reclaim his body. Despite all the hardship he had given Leo, there was a part that kind of miss having him around. “How… do you know what kind of place this is, Oswald?”
IT WAS MEANINGLESS, HE KNEW, TO HAVE COME HERE DESPITE not having parted from anyone during his stay thus far in the city. There was no one he could light a candle for, and yet he made it to Cotes anyway, the name and purpose of the event weighing heavily in his mind. For awhile, he was unable to tear his eyes away from the dozens of candles floating in the water, or the sorrowful expressions that many wore while observing the same scenery.
He reminded ( convinced ) himself that he really did not have a reason to be here. Swiftly turning towards the exit and starting to walk, his focus was long since disrupted by the invisible strings pulling at dormant memories. Closure had already been received; that should be enough ( he was convinced, surely ). In his daze, he uncharacteristically left an opening for someone to pull him back, and this had him looking back in pure, unbridled shock.
❝ ...Leo? ❞ Gaze flickering downward, Oswald took a moment to process the hand grasping his sleeve. It was like a reaffirmation that he had a complete body again, and he was no longer part of a collective consciousness. Gently but firmly taking his arm back, he lifted his eyes to study Leo’s countenance––it seemed he wasn’t the only one who retained their memories. Conscious of this, he let out a small breath and replied, ❝ This isn’t the world we know. ❞
Perhaps he should be a little more descriptive? ❝ ...It feels like a carefully constructed box, with hundreds of fragments and shards from different origins placed inside––and, every so often, the box will be shaken up from the outside. ❞ How the pieces inside would end up was extremely variable. A small, wry smile passed over his face for a second as he realized that the ‘box’ bore a slight resemblance to what he had learned from the Juries before.
But he looked up eventually, back towards the lake and the glimmering lights, with his usual demeanor. ❝ ...Were you participating? ❞
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