"Hey, Ea?"
"What?"
"Do you know about this legend?"
"What legend?"
"…you really don't know? It's a local legend from the shore—"
"Just explain it to me and stop treating me like a kid, will you?"
Landkarte chuckled amusedly. "Sorry, can't help myself since you're younger and 'cuter' than me."
A punch landed instantly on Landkarte's cheek. "If you don't explain it in the next three seconds, I'll leave you alone here."
"WHAA—okay, I'll explain it now!"
"Go on."
"Someone ever told me that if you write your wish on a parchment and put it in a bottle and let it drift into the sea, your wish will be granted."
"…just that?"
"Yep~."
"…I'm wasting my time here. It's just a fairytale or something like that, isn't it?"
Landkarte just smiled softly. "I don't know about that. But I'm sure that one day, you'll need this legend for yourself, Ea."
/If you know what'll happen in the future, my comrade, you'll believe it right now, don't you?/
Ea just huffed, then stood and walked away to the door while saying, "I'm going to eat lunch." Since his back was facing Landkarte, he didn't realize the appearance of the tears that fell from Landkarte's bright lime eyes silently. The golden blond teen chuckled, wiped his tears, and then followed Ea with a fake amused smile on his lip.
/I'm not telling you a lie this time, Ea. So, even just for once, believe me./
"I'm eating too~!"
Oo—O—oO
Dead Message
Oo—O—oO
Genre: Angst – Hurt/Comfort
Rate: K+
Warning: Sequel from 'White Lies', AU where 'Landkarte' is a post-mortem character. OCs at the epilogue. Based on Kagamine Rin's 'Regret Message'.
Disclaimer: 07-Ghost belongs to Yuki Amemiya & Yukino Ichihara, while Regret Message belongs to Mothy a.k.a Akuno-P.
Oo—O—oO
"If you place a parchment with your wish written on it into a small bottle,
and let it drift into the sea, then one day your wish will come to fruition."
Oo—O—oO
A piece of blank white paper, a mechanical pencil, and an eraser were placed on the table—right in front of him. He wanted to write lots of things there, but somehow, his mind became blank in instant when he grabbed the pencil.
Ea sighed heavily. /This is going to be longer than expected…/
.
"How's Ea doing, Profe?"
The blond woman smiled pitifully. "At least, he ate his breakfast this morning. Became a nocturnal after Landkarte's death wasn't a good thing for him, actually," she said while knitting something. Kreuz blinked, since he was just realized that his only female friend in this manor was knitting—a rare thing to be seen, since Profe usually chose to stay at garden than inside the manor. "What are you making now? Isn't that a doll clothes?"
"Yes, it is."
"And all of it is consisted of white cloth—"
"It is."
"—are you making a doll robe now?"
Profe giggled. "You guessed it right. A white robe for a certain doll; gift for someone who still resides in the dark side of his heart."
A name—a very familiar one, since the owner was the younger and mourning resident of this manor—appeared in Kreuz's mind.
"…are you trying to make a doll version of Landkarte, Profe?"
A tear fell slowly from Profe's eyes. But still, with a smile on her lip, she asked the blond man, "Why did you always guess it right, Vertrag?"
.
It has been a long time since I write a letter; and this is the first time in my life I ever write one to a deceased person. So, yeah, please just forgive me if someone—whoever it is, including a wandering spirit or something like that—feels offended because of this.
A certain loafer told me that if I wrote my wish on a paper (a parchment, actually, but that includes paper too, isn't it?), put it in a bottle, and let it drifts into the sea, my wish will be granted. But since he didn't mention how much wishes that will be granted, so don't blame me if I ask too much wish here. Blame him who left me behind without telling me about how much wishes I have to write. Don't sue me.
First, I want—
He blinked, and cursed himself mentally for being so forgetful lately. /What should I write here now, heh? Damn you, loafer—if only you didn't leave me behind, I think I won't be forgetful like this!/
.
"Why don't you try to cheer him up?"
"Why should I?"
Fest frowned. "It's you actually who cared about them so much, right? Bring him somewhere in the weekend or something like that—"
"It's useless now. That brat isn't a child anymore; he's a mourning teenager, and a mourning teenager is the most difficult to handle than child or adult," Zehel answered with frown on his face. He light up his cigarette and smoked without any care about Fest's disapproving expression. He knew that the light-haired man wouldn't forbid him to do so, anyway. "Besides, it seems like he had found his own way to entertain himself."
"Huh?"
"Can't you see him writing a letter in his bedroom from here, Fest?"
"Wait—you can see him? Why can't I…?"
"…have you go to check your eyes lately? I'm afraid that your sight would be the worst in the history…"
.
He read his own letter once again before folded it and put it inside a glass bottle. Now, he just need someone to take him into the beach and—
'Hello, my dear, kill me, gently. A burned body doesn't leave you—'*
-his phone rang.
He really had to change his ringtone later… "Moshimoshi**."
/"Moshimoshi—Karu-niichan***?"/
His amethyst eyes blinked once again. There's only one person who still called him with his real name, even inside of his biological family…
"Roseamanelle? Is that you?"
.
.
When he stepped out from the car, the fresh breeze of beach greeted him calmly and a sight of beautiful scenery of summer beach was caught by his eyes. It has been a long time since the last time he went to a beach, and that was… what… ten years ago, maybe? When that loafer was still alive and laughed innocently without letting him know any truth about his ill?
"I was surprised when you told me that you're going to beach with Vertrag's family, you know?" A little girl with short, wavy light purple hair giggled innocently. "Uncle Krowell told me that you're living with Uncle Vertrag's friend, so I decided to come here in my holiday. I miss you so much, Onii-chan, and home isn't the home I know since you left," she said childishly while grabbing Ea's hand. "Tiashe told me that you're becoming more solemn than before, and your poker face syndrome is in the worst peak. I didn't believe it at first, but after meet you yesterday, I'm starting to agree with him…"
A frown appeared on Ea's face. /Who, in the hell, taught her that that kind of syndrome exists in this world?/ he thought mentally, but said nothing and just sighed tiredly while Ouka—Roseamanelle Ouka Barsburg was her full name, for your information—laughing childishly and ran toward her other cousin.
After realizing something, Ea's amethyst eyes widened in surprise. /Wait a minute—if Tiashe is her cousin, that means he's my cousin too. And if Tiashe is my cousin, then Millea-san is my aunt and Krom-san is my Uncle along with Vertrag and…/
When a certain silver-haired man passed beside him while carrying a heavy box, Ea grabbed that man's shoulder with a rare horrified expression. Krowell, the one whom Ea's grabbing now, stopped to take a look at the only teenager in this group.
"What's wrong?"
"…shall I call you 'Uncle' too now, Krowell-san?"
The violet-eyed man blinked. The only respond that came out from his mouth was, "…huh?"
.
Thirty minutes full of debate later (Krowell didn't want to be called Uncle by a teenager like him, while Krom—who also realized the blood relationship between them—insisted that Krowell should treat Ea as one of his nephew and let Ea called him 'Uncle'. The reason? "Your expression when someone called you 'Uncle' was the cutest expression I ever see from you, Krowell, so please let him calls you his Uncle!" Nonsense, that's true. But since this was Krom we're talking about, so we could categorize it as a 'normal' one), Ea finally could find the dock with Relikt's help.
He opened his small black bag, then took out a small glass bottle with a fold of paper in it. After he let out a deep breath, he squatted and dropped the bottle into the sea. The wave took the bottle away from him, farther and farther into the wide blue sea and made it arrived to the place where nobody knew—even Ea himself. He smiled briefly before turned his back to the sea and returned to the place where his family (distantly biological and 'adopted' one) gathered, and was greeted by Ouka and Tiashe's wide smiles and hugs.
He's starting to love children more and more now.
#
Many years later and far away from Ea's place, a children who was walking along the shore found the bottle and picked it up. His face was covered by his long bangs—golden blond bangs, for more accurately.
After he succeeded in opening the bottle stopper, he pulled out the paper with his fingers (and he need a greater effort to do that…) and unfolded it carefully.
It has been a long time since I write a letter; and this is the first time in my life I ever write the one to a deceased person. So, yeah, please just forgive me if someone—whoever it is, including a wandering spirit or something like that—feels offended because of this.
A certain loafer told me that if I wrote my wish on a paper (a parchment, actually, but that includes paper too, isn't it?), put it in a bottle, and let it drifts into the sea, my wish will be granted. But since he didn't mention how much wishes that will be granted, so don't blame me if I ask too much wish here. Blame him who left me behind without telling me about how much wishes I have to write. Don't sue me.
First, I don't want anyone worried about me again. I'm as healthy as a newborn baby, even though I've been living as a nocturnal in this past 2 years. It's an interesting to do too, since I don't need to eat Profe's horrible handmade cook as my food—but I'll never tell this to her. It'll hurt her feeling.
Second, I want to be free in the future; I don't want anyone to keep me in the cage like before. I'll break free with my own effort, and fly as far as I can. Just like that guy who left me behind and left me alone with my jealousy toward his freedom. I envy him, really—even though I won't admit it in front of him, and he had passed away already.
And the last one…
The boy flipped the page, since the rows there weren't enough for the writer to write the message.
…I want to meet him again. Later or sooner. I miss him greatly.
Roseamanelle's words about 'home isn't the same one after you left' struck me right in my heart, really. I've told him the same things before, and if I'm not an expert at covering my own feeling, I'd cry in front of my five years old cousin.
But, if I can ask for the fourth wish, I'll ask for something that, well, really beyond my own logic.
His bright lime eyes widened.
If I can reborn, I want him to be my closest comrade and stay by my side again.
.
.
At another place and different town, a mourning was being held.
Inside the coffin, the one whose three wishes has been granted slept in peace. He didn't hear the mourning cry for him, nor felt the sadness which was covering the closest people with him. A longhaired woman in black dress put two dolls inside his coffin, right on his palm: the first one was the doll version of him wearing dark robe and white scarf, while the other was a doll version of his already deceased comrade in all white robe from head to toe.
"Rest in peace, my dear."
After a gentle kiss placed on his forehead, the coffin was closed.
Everything was dark inside, but what he saw when he opened his eyes was an autumn field full of brown and red leaves. It was an unfamiliar place, yet he felt like he had been here before.
A pair of hands covered his eyes from behind. After a familiar chuckle, a question from the owner of those warm hands ("Guess who?"), thirty seconds to realize whose chuckle it was, and a moment to do a useless attempt to restrain his tears, Ea finally turned around to hug the laughing guy in all white attire from head to toe.
While both of them were fighting playfully, the doll version of them—handmade by Profe—fell to the ground.
And the doll versions were holding each others' hands, by the way.
Oo—O—oO
The glass bottle, with a message detailing my wish, is being carried away.
It gradually and silently disappears beyond the horizon.
My little wish is being carried away, with my tears and some regret.
"If we could be reborn in our next life..."
Oo—O—oO
The End.
.
~Epilogue~
Oo—O—oO
"Come here, will you? The baby won't bite you—he hasn't get a tooth yet, for God's sake!"
But the golden blond teenager still insisted that the young and cute baby in his mother's hug would do bad things to him, and hid behind his father's back further.
"Oh my, it seems like your own brother won't hug you. Such a bad brother, isn't he? My poor, poor boy…" The man with dark brown hair chuckled amusedly, ignoring his son's glare and his wife's teasing look toward their oldest son. "There, there. Don't cry. If your bad Nii-chan won't hug you, I'll just give his portion of tonight dinner to you—"
"You won't do that, Mom!"
"—of course I'll. I'm the one who'll cook, remember?"
With puffed cheek and angry (but still cute) face, the bright lime-eyed boy walked hesitantly toward his mother's place and held out his arms to hug his younger, newborn baby brother. He still grumbling incoherently and softly until he saw the baby's face.
A round face with chubby cheeks and a pair of round amethyst eyes, framed by soft straight dark brown hair has captivated his heart instantly.
And the boy was speechless until his father's laughter filled the room after the tall man saw the burned face of his son.
"…Mother?"
"Yes?"
"Can I play with him when you cook dinner tonight?"
"Ah. I see. So our prideful golden haired son has left his throne to play with his 'creepy' brother."
The boy with long bangs (but short back) smiled cheerfully, ignoring his mother's mockery tone and his father's laughter. He hugged his baby brother carefully and kindly, forgot about the fact that he just felt scared about this innocent one a while ago.
"Then, what shall I call him?"
"It's 'Karu'."
"Huh?"
"His name is 'Karu', Randkalt****."
The third grader boy turned his attention to his brother again, then smiled widely (again) and held his brother's little hand with his bigger fingers. "Nice to meet you then, Karu! I'm Randkalt Reuen, and I'm your older brother start from today!"
The baby just held his brother's fingers tightly as a respond. But later, when Randkalt turned his attention to their Father, a faint and brief smile appeared on the baby's lip.
If that smile could be translated, then the translation would be, "Nice to meet you too, Onii-chan."
Oo—O—oO
(Really) The End Now.
A/N:
* The Gazette's 'Burial Applicant' lyric. I use it as Ea's ringtone since the situation was a mourning one. (=w=)a #slapped
** 'Hello', used in a conversation in telephone. (Japanese)
*** Big brother.
**** Since I don't know anything about Landkarte's real name apart from his family's name, so I decided to use another way to spell his name here. Please forgive me, Landkarte… o(T.T o)|||
Honestly, at first I have an intention to return to Kuroko no Basket fandom and hiatus at this fandom. But somehow, this idea just appeared in my mind and I can't resist the urge to write this and that's how this absurd fic was made (Just like what happened to 'Walking Together'). I should be asleep now (I finished wrote it at 10.38 PM, GMT +7) since I had to go tomorrow, but that damned insomnia won't go away. So, if there's someone who kindly gives me a review, I'll reply it as soon as possible. 8)
Thank you for reading, by the way!