Sea Of Soul
Summary: Oz Vessalius had sneak out from his room to this very place. The lake of a bunch of mixed, indescribable emotions. All floating in one sea of soul.
The lake that reflects his feelings. Oz Vessalius had sneak out from his room to this very place. The lake of memories. He walked all the way through without thinking. It was his legs moved him. For what reason even he didn't know. Just that one command from his brain cells. To be alone. A bunch of mixed, indescribable emotions.
The thing that had haunted him for a while, and now getting bigger along with the time passed. All of those unspoken words trying to escape his throats, all pain that struggling in his lung, were what bring him here.
The time had betrayed him. For some hours of time he spent in the Abyss, he had to pay ten years of life. Ten years that robbed everything, since he only have few things he cherished in his life.
The meeting with Eida that morning was the worst. He was really happy to meet his little sister again, but at the same time held a big, big fear. She, Eida, and Gilbert, two people he loved the most has grown leaving him. The little sister he always protected, and the butler he always plays with. They had overcome troubles in the past ten years because of him. His return was a burden.
The world now becomes a stranger. He was left in the sea of questions and puzzles which he understood exactly nothing, but they aren't. At one side he was immersed in happiness that they no longer involved, but at the other side he wanted very badly to blame someone that he was the one need to suffer. Eida's classmate earlier was right. He was just a jerk.
The world? No, maybe it's not them made him feel like this. It was the feelings of being rejected, maybe? No, it can't be. He has that feelings from years ago, he shook his head in despair. Or those feelings are exploded now? After all things happened? Nah, that one seems right.
The people around him? Before, he was pitied, and looked as no more than a useless noble boy of Vessalius family, and his father never acted like he owns any son. People saw him not from who he was, but from the title he carried from his birth, whether he likes it or not. Now, ten years after, was no different. They address him, they acted polite towards him, they greeted him, as the vessel of Jack Vessalius, not Oz Vessalius.
The expectation they demanded from him, a so-called 'Jack's reincarnation." Silly. Everything is just plain silly. His patience had run out long ago. Okay, this one is the reason he came to this place, now he realized. His brain and legs had remembered more than his worn out body. They resurfaced.
The lake, the place where he received affections in his earlier life. Those times where he could endure his state for one special woman. The woman he loved the most. The woman who could make him forget he was born in a complicated family.
The woman he treasured over all. His beloved mother. And this lake is the place where he used to go with her when Eida was a baby.
The woman was in her middle thirty; however her beauty shines over her age. Wise smile plastered on her flawless face and a pair of vivid eyes sneaking through her golden lock. At her lap, sat a little boy, as cute as you could imagine, playing with his shirt.
"Mom?" Started the little boy. Her mother brushed his hair." What's it, Oz?" Little Oz fell silent. He whispered something unheard, and when once again he found his courage, he looked into her mother's eyes, rather demanding." Why dad always being so cold around me?" Sadness filled his tone. He scratched the ground beneath with a short branch then threw it into the lake.
"Oz, your father is busy. Perhaps that's why. Okay?" Although she kept the smile, her face no longer hiding her grief." But he never greets me, never hugs me, nor asking whether I'm fine or not." He's now pouting. He left his sight from her mother, now concentrating on the moonlight reflected at the water's surface. Full moon stared back.
The boy, no older than five, and had such a sorrowful expression. His mother hug him tight, wept her own tears while kissing his cheek." I'm sorry. I'll be there for you, always…"
The memory that now awkwardly enveloped him in the mix of longing and misery shade. That one before Eida was born. He could still remember her look at the time, even until now.
A slightly older boy and his mother at the side of the same lake. A little difference was a baby sleeping in the lady's embrace. "Mom, I've know it. Maybe for a long time. He never looks at me, or even considers me as his own child. I just a blood extender for Vessalius family." Her mother's face now not just older, but more hurt and unhappiness occurred. She sang a sweet lullaby for her newborn daughter. "Your father hasn't realized the meaning of true family. Maybe someday, we can…"She never finishes her words. Oz knew as much as his mother that they continuously lying on their selves. "Forget it, mom. At least, at least Eida can be free. I'll make sure of it. I'll protect my sister with all my strength."
The memory, again, surprised him. It stroked him that before this evening, he forgot about his promise before his mother died. A small disappointed feelings toward himself rose. He had promised it. Under any circumstances, he promised to protect Eida. Sure, he had left her for ten years. But as Alice once said, Eida is still Eida, the same as Oz is still Oz. it's not a matter time separate them. He will always be Eida's brother, and the one protecting her.
The strange feelings shrouded him, has gone unknowingly. Instead, now he felt light and peaceful. Windy breeze caressed his body. Why he never realized that this lake is so beautiful? Surrounded by a lush green forest, and some mist floated between trees. After those self thought let out all his depression he held in all these years, Oz felt like he's being born anew.
"Oz?"
"Alice?"
"What are you doing here?"
"Nothing. Let's go back…"
A/N : Was written for Infantrum's Fanfiction Challenge held by PinkxPiano.