It should have been all over. Leo Baskerville knew without question everything had ended. No matter whatever resulted because of his actions, whatever he gained for his sacrifice, those things which he was to never know, Leo could no longer do anything to change it. Reaching his goal, he had to also pay the price, forever remaining in the twisted abyss's grasp, alone for eternity. He accepted this, after all it wasn't actually terribly different then the so-called 'real world' he had left behind. As long as Elliot could be saved, Leo didn't care what happened to himself. Himself, or anyone else. All this Leo knew and accepted, and so he found the idea of ever being touched by any light again unthinkable.
Yet for the first seconds of consciousness, Leo forgot all that, only knowing the vague feel of dirt beneath him and an aching soreness in too many places to fully count. It wasn't until he heard a voice that he realized something was amiss – very, very amiss.
"Hey." Deja vu is painful. "Hey." "- you, what are you doing here?" Leo's heart raced even as his disconnected body struggled to sit up, but thundering memories dominated his mind, and he's entirely lost in them as they blindly illuminate it like brilliant lightning flashes that would sear his now-unguarded eyes. -Sitting, nose buried in a book – his hair still hung in his eyes then, didn't they? – back against a bookshelf – A now-laughable irritation at being intruded upon – Elliot. - Icy blue eyes, pale blond hair, that arrogant (amusing) manner – Utter disconcertion at his ridiculous insistence to keep coming back (Why? Why, why, why, why? Had he just left like all the others, then...). Those recollections were nothing less than sunshine, and yet something cold wrapped around Leo as they cascaded by. Scream. He so wanted to scream, scream and despair because they were nothing more than memory.
All that had ended, swallowed by the darkness, because that's all Leo has ever been, and yet he dared stand by Elliot. Selfish, horrible, disgusting, vile, – all his fault. Luring the chain and wounding Elliot, forcing him into a contract, haunted by nightmares, his brothers murdered... Because of him, and because of him, Elliot's dead and his body's pale and that face can't form his smile anymore and this sticky blood plasters him and it stinks and his chest is all still beneath Leo's face, and there's no heart beat, no heart beat no heart beat no pulse at all, all because of him, and it's sick and isn't he screaming? There's a distant voice ("What... Happened to you?"), but that doesn't matter, nothing matters, because Leo heard his voice and now all he could remember was that it was all his fault, and Elliot's dead. Dead and stiff and in a cold grave all alone and not breathing and not smiling and not yelling and not living and - looking at Leo with a decidedly concerned expression as he spoke. Leo blinked, his own, already racing, heartbeat doubling as he finally registers what's right in front of him.
Elliot's there, and no, Leo hasn't been screaming, how could he? Somehow, Elliot's here and there's no nauseating red blood, no sightless eyes or inert body, no, his eyes are bright and blue, just like they always were, and there's an easy rhythm of life in his breath and his heart's beating, Leo swore he could hear it, his heart's beating and beating and beating and Elliot's alive, alive and Leo can't even form words, only stare.
Alive (he's actually alive). Alive (Of course he was). Alive (Hadn't this been the plan all along?). Alive (Yes, that's true). Alive (And yet, then what was he doing here? Leo was supposed to stay in the abyss forever – he had no right to see this). Alive. Alive. Alive (Elliot's alive, and nothing else matters).
Elliot's there, right before him, Elliot and his insensitive rants and delicate piano-playing and unexpectedly voracious reading and his incorruptible, beating, heart, and given this chance Leo wanted to always stay by his side.
Faint lamplights lit the town the trio had arrived at, the streets empty except for the occasional watchman. The three journeyed in silence, Elliot trying not to notice the occasional euphoric glance Glen threw at him or manic giggle the older boy couldn't quite seem to always keep to himself that ruptured the night's tranquility, Leo acutely aware of each and every one of them. Elliot and Leo were late, late in leaving George's house and their tardiness had only been exacerbated by Glen, and Elliot wondered where he would begin explaining the boy to his family. They rounded a corner, and Glen's sporadic gigglings tapered off, the boy instead settling with quietly absorbing his new surroundings, eying them curiously.
"You live here?" Glen eventually asked.
"... Yeah," Elliot replied, gradually growing more and more aware of how tired he was.
"... Oh. I see..."
Elliot frowned, unable to make heads or tails of what Glen 'saw', but then Leo, still watching Glen with a close eye, caught Elliot's attention.
"Ah. Leo? Aren't you going?"
Silence pervaded for a moment, Leo's expression serious as he finally released Glen from his scrutiny to observe Elliot. He shook his head. "... No. ...I'd like to see how you're going to deal with your family, Elliot." Leo continued to scour Elliot, still unhappy with his friend's decision and determined that Elliot should be fully aware of the consequences of what he undertook.
Elliot cringed in annoyance. "I know, Leo. I've been thinking about it. Maybe-"
"Ah."
Elliot blinked and turned to the one that had spoken, Glen, and found some relief that, for once, the boy wasn't smiling.
"Maybe it'd be better if I didn't, Elliot..."
Leo glowered, annoyed at Glen calling Elliot's name when he hadn't been introduced. It wasn't odd that Glen knew it, Leo had called it plenty of times in Glen's vicinity, and truth be told it was more Elliot's fault for forgetting to introduce himself. But Leo hardly blamed Elliot's oversight in etiquette; Glen's too bizarre.
Elliot's expression sat somewhere between bored and unconvinced. "Really? You have somewhere else to go, Glen?"
For a moment Glen's silent, and Leo desperately wants to know what the unknown, suspicious boy seemed to consider in his silence. "No..." he finally answered, his voice almost a whisper.
"Alright. It's decided," Elliot declared, and strode up the few steps leading to the door. "Come on, Glen. Leo, are you coming as well?"
Leo sighed before slipping into a smile and stepping forward. "If you would be so kind as to pardon my intrusion, Elliot," he said in a light, joking manner, letting go for a moment of his distrust of Glen to fall into his old familiarity with Elliot, who rolled his eyes and muttered "idiot" before entering his house. Leo followed, and, after crossing the threshold, looked behind him. Glen still stood outside, hesitating, apparently, and Leo wasn't sure what to make of his expression other than Glen had seemingly fallen out of his gleeful state.
"Are you coming?" Leo asked, a dangerous edge in his tone as he spoke to the stranger for the first time. Glen looked at Leo, who, despite being the one asking questions, immediately averted his eyes. Even when avoiding eye contact, those accursed, shining eyes accosted Leo, his breathing growing short and he struggled to maintain composure. Half an instant later, Glen turned away and started to move past Leo. Fighting to master his quavering emotions, Leo gulped a breath and then snatched Glen's shoulder, who then froze, wincing slightly as Leo dug his fingers deeper where an injury of unknown origin lay.
"Listen," Leo hissed, and by some blessing Glen didn't turn to Leo but only stared ahead, "I don't know who you are or what you're after... But know that I'll be watching you. Don't you dare betray Elliot's kindness," Glen then shifted, ending his blessing as he peered over his shoulder at Leo, an utterly amused smirk adorning his face that caused Leo to flinch.
Once again, Leo found himself already cursing his luck at finding the boy. Whether it be his eyes, his resemblance to himself, or the chilling delight evident every time Glen saw Elliot, Glen's presence disturbed Leo at every turn. Leo inhaled, rallying himself together for one final remark. "I mean it. Hurt him, and I swear I'll make you regret it."
Glen muttered something in response that Leo couldn't quite make out, and Leo recoiled, releasing Glen from his grip.
"Leo? Glen?"
Leo's attention snapped up to Elliot, who had apparently returned from fetching his mother. Mrs. Nightray took her time in ambling down the hall, stifling a yawn as she went. She was hardly in a presentable state, and yet it was late and Leo and Elliot had been friends for years and the woman didn't care much for overbearing formality, especially when her husband wasn't around to enforce it.
"Elliot," Leo replied, "Good evening, Mrs. Nightray," he called to the woman now reaching the entryway. There was a sharp intake of breath, and Leo noticed Glen beside him, the older boy taking a few deep breaths and his eyes closed. Leo pursed his lips and walked over to Elliot, all the while keeping an eye on Glen and waiting to see how – and if – he would introduce himself.
"Mother, this is Glen," Elliot intervened, gesturing to the messy boy. Glen muttered a quiet greeting, and Leo noted that Glen didn't actually look directly at Mrs. Nightray but somewhere slightly above her instead.
"...Yes?" Mrs. Nightray prompted, waiting for a good reason that the foreign, unkempt boy should be standing in her house.
Elliot gulped, "Look, he's lost and doesn't remember anything. Can't he just stay for a while? I'll look after-"
"I'll work," Glen suddenly spoke up, "No matter what it is. I don't want to burden you, but there's not much else I can do. But I'll work."
"Elliot-" Mrs. Nightray began, her tone frustrated, but as she observed her youngest son she gave a sigh of defeat. "He can stay the night, at least. Then we'll talk with your father, whenever he gets back from Sablier. And the police."
Relief swept over Elliot at his mother's response. "Thank you, mother!" he beamed.
Glen's attention seemed to have fixed on a point on the floor, but he too murmured, "I'm extremely grateful for your generosity, Lady Nightray."
"Lady..?" Mrs. Nightray's expression turned amused. "Well, maybe you won't be so bad. I've never been called a 'lady' before, haha," and Leo spied a taken aback Glen, as if the response had been something unimaginable. Mrs. Nightray turned and declared her intent of returning to bed and leaving Glen in Elliot's care.
Leo sighed and turned to Elliot. "I'm sorry, but I better be going home now." He really was, too. It may be the town with his family instead of alone in middle of the woods, but Leo still wasn't fond of the idea of leaving Elliot and Glen together.
"Okay, see you later, Leo," Elliot replied.
"Elliot, just be careful, okay?" Leo whispered to his friend before he walked to the door. Elliot only rolled his eyes in response, while Glen watched the entire exchange as if he wasn't at all sure of what was going on.
The door clicked shut and Leo was gone. Sleepy, Elliot rubbed his head. He really wanted to go bed, but Glen needed to be attended to first. "Come with me. Ernest should have some old clothes that might fit you..." He plunged down the hallway, eager to be done with it all and go to bed.
"Elliot?" Glen's voice had unsure, cautious tone. "What is Sablier?"
Elliot turned, looking back at the boy incredulously. "I guess you really don't remember anything, then?" Glen continued to await a real answer in silence, and even Elliot noticed the boy's nervous gulp. It couldn't be easy, Elliot supposed, not knowing anything.
"Sablier is the capital."
"... Of course it is," Glen murmured at long last, a smile on his face and a smile devoid of the usual glee.
Elliot frowned. One day, he decided, I'll understand this guy. "Come on," he ordered, "You need to go get cleaned up."
An hour later Leo Baskerville, known only as Glen to his hosts, lay buried in a nest of clean sheets, wearing warm, fresh clothes and his wounds bandaged. Finally separated, Leo's near-ceaseless euphoria subsided, and his thoughts drifted to what he had learned. Regardless of how, or why, Leo had left the Abyss, and entered a world where Elliot still lived... The world Leo sacrificed everything to create. A world where Sablier was still the capital. A world where the Nightrays lost their prestige. A world where 'Leo' was not Elliot's servant, but neither a Baskerville.
A world unblemished by the Will of the Abyss.
A world where Elliot wouldn't die.
And how very different it was. The Nightrays, a failing dukedom a century earlier, had now faded into obscurity. Remotely it occurred to Leo that, not only the Nightrays, but none of the Four Great Dukedoms would exist, and neither would Pandora. How great! They had been nothing but trouble in the first place.
A giggle escaped Leo lips and a smile broke over his face, and he risked losing himself in his delight once more. Yet darker thoughts encroached on his mind, and he rolled over in the bed, laughter forgotten. He had lied to Elliot. There hadn't been much of a choice, but that didn't lessen Leo's dislike of it. Claiming his name to be 'Leo' when there's a boy who looked almost identical to him with the same name right there would raise far more questions then Leo could ever hope to provide an explanation for, and 'Glen' was his name, in a matter of speaking. Yet something else preyed far more heavily on Leo's mind. "What happened to you?"
Leo would far sooner die before he would tell Elliot 'what happened' – or rather, 'what he had done'. For one, Leo wouldn't even know where to begin explaining, and even if it he could, he would very likely be considered insane (again) and who would believe him? More than that, Leo couldn't bare the thought of tainting this world with knowledge of the sins of the old. Yet those were minor concerns in comparison to the abominable, detestable idea of letting Elliot know. What happened to the Nightrays, to Elliot himself, what Leo did after that... There was no way Leo would – no way Leo could – ever allow Elliot to know.
That stupid fool would want to find out, of course. Leo was only rescued from his panic back at the woods by the thought of Alice. There are a great many things Leo could say about the once unremarkable, if brash and wild, girl, but her amnesia was his saving grace in that instant, and Leo resolved to 'not remember'. That was just as well, hardly any of his memories he wanted to remember. He was perfectly content – entirely elated – to leave that messy past stained black by blood behind him and just remain by Elliot's side.
Leo sighed and rolled onto his back, embracing that decision. He allowed the joy to wash back over him, laying aside his troubles, because Elliot's alive, and for the first time Leo felt so as well. He waited to fall asleep, excited for what the next day might bring.
Leo shut his eyes and as minutes clicked past the darkness seemed to grow deeper, and an uncertainty started to well within him. It started as a mere slight nagging sensation that could easily be drowned out. Yet it continued to grow and flourish, and then Leo couldn't bear it any more. He jerked upright, panting. Alone in that dark room, it occurred to him that Elliot might have only been a dream. Leo's fingers dug into the covers. When he awoke, would he be in the Abyss? Just the thought of waking up in the cold desolation of the Abyss after being gifted with this beautiful, perfect world made him break into cold sweat.
Too easily, couldn't this all be nothing more than a dream, a wonderful, blessed dream? If that happened to be the case, Leo wanted to hang on to it to the last instant of existence and disappear in the moment it ended. He never wanted to leave, now that Elliot was back, and they could fight and laugh together. It may have been true that Leo had accepted never seeing Elliot again and remaining in the Abyss for eternity, but having the one thing he desired the most thrown into his arms was too much for Leo to resist, and he grabbed onto it desperately, and would do anything to keep it.
Gulping, Leo warded off every supplication for sleep his weary body implored him to accept. He couldn't fall asleep. Leaving this world seemed unbearable.
"Leo." A voice sounded from nowhere, and Leo's sleepiness fled at the sound, a sound that sent a jet of ice running down his spine and hardened his spirit. "The Abyss is-" the previous head of Baskerville started, but Leo forcibly squashed the consciousness down.
Regardless of what happened with the Abyss, Leo was not the head of Baskerville. Now, that burden fell to another, and all Leo wanted was to stay by Elliot.
Rubicon Thank you very much and I'm glad to hear that.
Plot Thief ... You know, I fear that this fic might not live up to your (or anyone else's) expectations. Well, nothing quite like pressure to motivate me. I think this chapter answered most of your speculations. I'm not quite sure what you mean by your last one, but I'll put it this way: the paradox will make a mess that someone will have to clean up. Cookies to whoever can guess who.
Author confessions: I think I had the idea for this story about a month before actually writing it. However, it wasn't until I was in middle of writing the first chapter that I gave any thought to Leo's (Um... normal/not-glen Leo) character. Writing this chapter made me realize some directions I should take with him, although I'm pretty split what to do with him in the end. Also, I really really was supposed to include a passage with Ada in this chapter, but I got so sick and tired of writing it... And Ada is impossible to write. Also, I feel like the bit with Mrs. Nightray is horrible, and I really had no idea how to handle that whole situation. Still, hopefully there'll plenty of other situations that I'll handle better and should be far more enjoyable.
On other notes, I really feel that this fic might not meet some people's expectations, which is too bad. Also, writing Elliot is like charging full speed at the top of a cliff, I barely have any idea what I'm doing or if I'm being true to his character but the words just. keep. going. Writing Leo (Glen) takes effort, but doesn't feel like work (at least for the first part. The last part it started to drag and get rather tough), and is generally very satisfying and enjoyable. Leo (not-Glen) has been an interesting experience, but I really should write a character when I actually know the character (Yoshi fails :'( ) But on the other hand, that was my exact problem with Ada. I know exactly what I want to do with her and how I want to portray her, but writing her is near impossible because I can never get the words to match my ideas quite perfectly enough. That's my failing in writing ability, I guess, and something that only practice can cure. So I suppose it's for the best that I'm writing this 'oneshot' (Well, it really was supposed to be...) before attempting two others whose ideas and stories I've been intermittently developing for over a year. On the brighter side, this fic does stand a good chance of being completed, mainly because I love the ending so much. For all who care, this fic should have 5-8 chapters more, unless I lose interest, decide a scene to be idiotic, or gain more inspiration.
Well, while I did say that I think this fic might not live up to expectations, I still from the bottom of my heart hope you have enjoyed it. Reviews, comments, critiques and anything else of the sort greatly appreciated.
