No Relief for the Accused
White light, glowing bright in blinding brilliance, scattered in deadly branches across a horizon of darkness like a warning shot fired from heaven above. The peaceful silence blanketing the air was soon torn to shreds by a roar of power that deafened every listening ear, and what once was a calm night was now a thrashing mess of purposeless anger. In the low rumble that remained, a fury previously restrained was set loose, and it ravaged the city without mercy.
The obvious dangers the storm possessed demanded the common sense of indoor shelter, but one lone figure dared to challenge logic as he stood unwavering at the highest point he could find. The reason for his choice, whether out of insanity or apathy, was unclear, for he had been standing there many hours. Endless drops of rain beat against his body in an attempt to drive him from the position he had taken, but there he remained. Even as a chilling wind nipped his fingers to numbness, the figure ignored the deadly force of weather and shooed it away as if it were a common mutt begging for his attention. His blank eyes stared up into the swirling clouds, his thoughts mirroring the conflict displayed in the celestial tantrum.
"Why did this have to happen? How could I have let this happen? Why, in his one time of need, was I not there to protect him? I failed him. I should have gone back, I should have been there…But how was I to know?
"No. No excuses. This is your fault, you should have known better. You should have known!"
Clenching his jaw and narrowing his eyes, Leonardo trembled under the conviction he faced.
"You are the leader, YOU are the one who is responsible for this. What a fine leader you turned out to be…One that, because of your inability to listen, allowed him to be taken away. Gone. Vanished without a trace. Oh, the mess you have gotten yourself into this time. You're an idiot…AN IDIOT!"
A clap of thunder suddenly erupted from the sky, shaking every bone in the blue leader's body and striking fear into his once courageous heart. Shadows of memory began to prey upon his weakened state, and as they wrapped their icy fingers around him, the lashes of rain and crashes of lightning became less and less known until they faded into nonexistence altogether. The physical realm was gone, and all he knew was his own wrath consuming and snatching from him the peace he had held so near and dear. Amplifying his fresh sorrow was guilt, guilt born from events that should not have transpired. Doubt shrouded itself in the fears of his mind, and it whispered to him from unreachable places as it mocked the torment he supposedly brought on himself.
"Your incompetency is the one factor that prevented you from saving him, you know that deep down. It wouldn't have been that hard, had you not been so foolish…The wisdom of a fool's pride, how complete your demise. What were you thinking at the time, anyway? You knew something was up, yet you chose to ignore it…"
With a sharp growl, Leo tore his gaze from the rampaging downpour above to study to the weather-beaten rooftops below. In the rebound of rain, a heavenly glow was cast upon the damp buildings, veiling them in misty wonder. The constant pound of water bathed the concrete streets in cleaning precipitation, and left no alley untouched in its sweeping conquest. A deep longing ached inside of Leo to feel the same sensation, to see his heartache swept away along with the filth of the city's deepest and darkest corners.
"Why delude yourself with false comforts? You know nothing can ever erase the past, nothing can ever ease your mighty pain…"
"No, I can't ease my pain, but I can learn to live through it. I can learn from my mistakes. I've already failed once, and I'm not going to fail again."
"Promises, promises! You don't know the future, you don't know what it holds! You don't know if this will happen again, in some other time, in some other place. You're weak. Insignificant. Worthless. You're never going to trust yourself again, not after the trust you've broken…"
A shriek of wind blew past Leo, tugging the blue tails of his mask in its wild stampede about the drenched city. The constant strain of self-hatred and mistrust finally snapped his last tie of tolerance, and with body quivering and jaw grinding he gave in at last. Throwing his head back, the blue leader unleashed his frustration and despair in a blind scream that embodied the very anguish from which his soul was suffering.
Leo's royal blue eyes glinted with raw emotion as he yelled into the heavens, "I'm sorry!"
Salty tears streamed down his face, mingling with fresh rainwater to splash onto the ground. Leonardo's shoulders shook with heavy sobs as he sank to his knees, and he whispered in a hoarse voice, "I'm sorry…Father…"