Rolan watched Phantom closely as they sat in the park. He was again lost in thought.
"Phantom? What you thinking?" Rolan asked him cautiously.
"About lots of things..." Phantom replied in a faraway voice.
"About what?"
"About life... death... war... love... peace... destruction... insanity and thinking..."
"Ur... interesting... Erm... what did you mean by... 'Thinking'?" Rolan asked, trying to start a conversation.
"Have you ever wondered how thoughts work? You hear them clearly in your mind, as loud as if you were talking, but you can't hear them... they're just THERE... they just EXIST... And if you spoke another language... do you think in that language?" Phantom laughed and smiled. "I'm sorry... Peta's thoughts are rubbing off on me... All this philosophy stuff..." He rubbed his eyes and looked down at Rolan. "You're such a sweetie, did you know that?"
Rolan blushed, his rosy cheeks becoming redder.
"Ur... thank you?" he answered, not sure if Phantom was complimenting him or not.
"I'm happy that you chose to stay with me... You could've left whenever you wanted, but you stayed..." Phantom sniffed, making Rolan jump and look up at him. He was crying.
"Ur... Phantom!?" Rolan gasped. He had never seen Phantom cry before, he just didn't get it. Phantom gave him a weak smile and wiped his nose on his bandaged arm.
"Why are you crying?" Rolan squeaked, moving closer to Phantom. "You NEVER cry!"
It was Phantom's turn to blush. "I know... I just... Just ignore it... It's just... I've been so..." he muttered.
Rolan wildly glanced around the park. The last thing he needed was Phantom being caught crying by his enemies... or worse... a fellow Chess Piece. "Phantom... could you... save it for when we are back home?" Rolan said, wiping the tears from Phantom's face. "We don't want people to see you... like this..."
"Are you shocked? Shocked to see the all-powerful Phantom show his emotions? Shocked to know I can cry? Shocked at how WEAK I am!?" Phantom rambled, standing up and grabbing Phantom's arm.
"What is this all about?" he demanded.
"Rolan... I'm weak... I hate this body..." he uttered, shaking his head hopelessly. "Rolan... I'm going to die... for good this time... I can feel it... It's useless..."
"What are you on about, Phantom? Why are you speaking like this? This is NOT you, Phantom... This is NOT AT ALL like you!" Rolan cried, clutching the man's shoulders and shaking him roughly, trying to snap him out of his delusional state of mind. "Stop it, Phantom! Please, for the love of God, PLEASE cut it out!" he screamed. He just didn't want his idol... his FATHER to be acting like this... No, Phantom was supposed to be cool, calm and collected... powerful and emotionless... So why was he sobbing uncontrollably in Rolan's arms now?
"Rol... Rolan... I'm... ill... Take me home," Phantom hiccoughed, cowering in Rolan's arms like a frightened child. This scared Rolan senseless. Has he lost his mind? he questioned himself as he staggered up the path with Phantom in his arms. It can't be true...
After putting Phantom to bed, Peta took Rolan aside and questioned him in his study.
Peta sat on a red leather armchair behind a large oak-wooden desk. Rolan sat before him, nervously perched on a rickety old stool.
He tried to avoid eye contact with the achromatic man before him. Instead, Rolan glanced around the claustrophobic room, studying the bookshelves that lined the pale-coloured walls. His red eyes caught sight of a peculiar thick tome. It sat open, on the shelf beside Rolan. Rolan noticed the letters printed on its yellowing pages didn't form words that Rolan could understand. He realised that the letters themselves weren't your average 'A's or 'Z's, but they looked like some sort of strange runes.
"Rolan... Do you know why I brought you here?" Peta questioned, making Rolan start as he had briefly forgotten about Peta being there. Rolan turned his head to face the pointy-hat wearing man.
Rolan felt like a student that was sent up to see the principal because he had done something wrong. He shifted uncomfortably in his seat and slowly shrugged his shoulders.
Peta placed his elbows on the desk and leant in, making Rolan lean backwards, lose his balance and then fall gracelessly off the stool. He blushed furiously as he picked himself the ground and brushed himself off. He glared at Peta and shivered. Peta was staring at him with his wide blank eyes and the bottom half of his face was filled with his toothy grin.
"Rolan... You are here because I want to ask you a question..." Peta said after a while of silence where he seemed to shake with silent laughter. "The question is this: Why did Phantom have a nervous breakdown?"
Rolan blinked in confusion. "A nervous... what?"
"A nervous breakdown... It's when... well... it's when... How to explain this to someone like you..." Peta stammered under his breath. "A nervous breakdown is when you get really stressed and you suppress until you... well... you sort of explode."
Rolan's eyes widened. "You... you EXPLODE?!" he gasped, covering his mouth, tears starting to form again. "Phantom exploded?!" he asked breathlessly.
Peta frowned. "No! You got me wrong! I meant that all the emotions that he suppressed, that is, kept to himself, just rushed forth and burst out of him... like a sort of volcanic eruption..." he explained himself.
"So... Phantom just let his emotions out and couldn't control himself?" Rolan guessed. Peta nodded. "Ooh... So that's why he just started being upset, then?"
"Why DID he get upset?" Peta asked again.
"Ur... Well... he said something about dying... Really, Peta, I have no idea WHY he started crying in the first place..." Rolan tried to explain, his eyes wide and shiny. Peta went quiet. Rolan watched the pallid greyish-skinned man closely, wondering about Phantom and his random, out-of-character outburst of sorrow.
"Will he be okay?" he asked Peta suddenly.
"I don't know... It's hard to determine... But Phantom is stronger than this, and you must understand... I'm sure Phantom will pull through..." Peta replied earnestly. "And if he does, you must promise on your life that you will NEVER utter a word of this to ANYONE... not even Phantom himself... Do I make myself clear?" he hissed threateningly. Rolan nodded his head at once, still focussing his wide puppy-dog eyes on Peta. "Good... Now, you may leave."
Rolan stood up, hastily obeying Peta, glad to be able to leave the maniacal man's presence. As he reached for the brass doorknob, Peta cleared his throat loudly, making Rolan freeze.
"And Rolan, dear... Phantom may not act... quite like himself for a few days... So please don't take anything he does to heart and report to me if he worries you about something... Okay?" Peta said sardonically.
"Er... All right..." Rolan agreed, turning the knob and opening the door, thinking; I wonder what he means by that?
Merry Christmas and I hope you all have a wonderful day! I'll be back after Christmas as I'm going on a 5-day holiday! XD - LOve Regi