Chapter Thirty Eight: -Leonardo-

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I remember a void of silent stillness where my heartbeats and breath were the only sounds I could hear.

I do not recall the details too clearly, but still I remember how spacious the surrounding blackness was.

Everything around me was black, pitch black, and all I could see was myself floating in nothingness.

One moment, I was on a cold and hard table where Baxter and Bishop towered over me, scalpels and syringes in hands and in the next, sharp blinding pain shot through every fiber and nerve of my very being.

When everything stilled like death in a gravestone, I found myself floating in nothingness once again.

In my mind hours passed, I opened my eyes and stood in the middle of my oblivion for a while, before I strode forwards towards a destination I had no knowledge of. I walked and walked, the emptiness that surrounded me stretched into the endless horizon, there just seemed to be no end to it all.

Until I spied something in the distance, like a speck or a wisp of white fog drifting aimlessly in the empty void, the oblivion of my mind.

I found her and she talked to me and said something, her eyes revealed under a curtain of graying forelocks, but I remember hearing no words while her pale pink lips moved, only the sensation of fear and discomfort welled inside of me, when he expression changed from indifference to alarm and concern, trying to warn me of something.

Then like magic I woke up back home in the sanctuary of my bedroom, my father lingered nearby with tears in his eyes. I didn't stay up for long because I was much too exhausted, I fell asleep once again. After I woke up I fluttered my eyes and glanced aside, I searched for father. He was meditating quietly with the scent of green tea in the air, soft and light, sweetened but noticeable enough for me to find.

I closed my eyes again and heaved a small sigh, grateful that I was really home, that this was not a dream.

I tried to accustom myself on breathing deep while flat on my chest, but the pressure was hard to work with. My lungs ached and I dearly wanted to flip over, but something about my back and joints ached badly, as if they were swollen after being dislocated, and then not so nicely popped back in place, not to mention that I felt like- like there were holes in me, more so physically than mentally.

I couldn't quite describe it, but it left patches of something cold on my achy frame.

I slipped into a meditative slumber soon after, before my father awoke from his meditation.

I felt father's presence deep within my mind, it soothed my worries and comforted me.

It felt so good to finally be back home.

I followed his trail and soon I saw myself standing on my two feet besides him in the astral plane.

Beyond the shifting light mist that surrounded us, it didn't take me long to adjust to the somewhat cool weather. Must be the anxiety and worry that's been hovering about and over my head during my slumber; I felt guilt, having them worry about me like this. Usually the astral plane is warm and comfortable, but the surrounding people do affect the climate within my mind, so it would explain why it's a little cold now.

"Leonardo," father smiled happily from where he sat on the fog-coated floor.

I noticed the lack of his cane I refined from asking about it. Last I recall seeing it was when I dropped it at the tunnel that led to the farmhouse, so I guess they either didn't find it, or forgot to pick it up.

"My son, I am so glad to see you are with us again." He began with that relived, loving smile stretched across his furry muzzle.

I smiled back within our astral presence and knelt besides him, I pulled him into a tight embrace, "It's good to be back, Sensei. I've missed you." I began and we held hands, his frail paws squeezed mine tightly, "I've been kinda out of it for a long time." I admitted sheepishly.

"Yes, you have been healing for very long, but now you are awake and the worst had passed." He assured kindly.

'The worst had passed?' I wondered to myself after I pulled back from the embrace, and then watched him as he shifted slightly on the foggy floor, his tail flicked but then stilled, unmoving. Quietly, I settled down before him with my knees buckled below me, with a respectful bow I questioned, "What- exactly do you mean, sensei? Just how long have I been out?" I wondered if I was injured too badly.

I mean, any more badly than usual seeing the lifestyle we live.

He gave a bit of a reluctant expression before he heaved a small sigh, "It matters not, my son. You are with us now, that is all that matters." He insisted and refused once again to tell me how long I'm been out.

I decided to let the subject drop, there were too many questions that raced through my mind, and I didn't know what to start with.

"My son, tell me, please." Sensei interrupted my thoughts, "The gypsy woman you spoke of, do you recall how many the Beasts of Earth were?" he questioned, never letting go of my hand, a look of deep concern shone in glints in his deep brown eyes.

I felt my brows knit in a confused frown, "Just one, I believe." I admitted, although my encounter with her was brief and blurry to say the least, "From what she told during my sleep, was that the Beast of Earth will hunt the Eleven, that's all I could gather from her riddles." I was partly confused why father was asking, "Why? Did something come up while I was away?" I inquired, now a feel of dread crept into my stomach.

Were my brothers alright? Nothing happened to them, right?

"No, nothing happened, my son. Everything and everyone is fine." He confessed and gave my hand another reassuring squeeze, "I merely wish to confirm what she had said, for Michelangelo understood from what she had told him, there were more than one Beast of Earth." He confessed and his brows knit in worry, "Your brother told me, he understood that the Eleven were the Beasts of Earth, that they were the same and not two separate beings."

I felt an uncomfortable knot start in the pit of my stomach at that piece of info, and something about it felt more like a forewarning, a sixth sense, than something alarming or life threatening. I closed my eyes and gently clasped my hand over father's, where it squeezed my hand just a bit tighter. I gathered my thoughts, I tried to recall the conversation I had with the gypsy during my slumber.

"I remember," I began quietly and tried to recite what she had told me, her words echoed faintly if not weakly in the back of my subconscious, but I remembered them nonetheless, "she said that I have survived the five deaths. Seraph had bestowed the power within me, but to be warned for the Eleven were born, and the Beast of Earth will soon have to hunt them down." I explained.

I do remember she mentioned something about Mike hunting them down, or that they would hunt him down, but I was groggy and drained and didn't really listen to her words, I couldn't quite grasp what she was saying.

I slowly opened my eyes, the mist that surrounded us faded a bit as the foggy floor remained thick and shifted with a cool touch. Our subconscious changed our surroundings as it adapted to our discomforts, that much was clear.

"Did she mention anything else? Anything about those Beasts or the Eleven, whatever they are?" father requested, unease and a hint of anger surfaced, though for the life of me, I couldn't understand what he was angry about.

I searched my mind, I tried to recall if she mentioned anything at all before she disappeared.

Defeated, I gave a negative shake, "No, I'm sorry, Sensei." I apologized and offered a weak smile, "I was asleep and everything was burry and swimming, really. I didn't even realize she was the gypsy till she came closer."

I paused, my hand a bit tighter around father's hand, "But I think what she said was true, in every soul there is darkness and light, and I was trapped within that darkness till she pulled me out and into the light." I admitted, crediting her for helping me out of my despair and negative emotions at the time, when I was lost in the void inside my mind.

"Do you know how she looked like?" he asked skeptically.

I searched my mind again and tried to remember her face, "I'm not sure, she wore some very baggy clothes, mostly a hooded cape that covered her from head to toe with baggy sleeves." I began, then something surfaced, "I do remember something on her face; on her forehead, there was something shiny." I knit my brows and tried to remember what it was, "Something- something like a tiara, I think. She had long graying hair, but the tiara was hidden underneath her forelocks." I explained, now I glanced at father.

Father hummed for a moment and closed his eyes, a troubled look on his face.

Somehow I wondered if this knowledge eased his troubles or made them worse.

Of course, I never got to dwell into them, because something stirred the calmness.

I found myself leaving the astral plane and back to reality. My body ached when something pressed against my shoulder, but the furry paw that caressed my head was enough to sooth some of the pains away.

"Leo?" a voice called, a mix between anticipation and disbelief, "Leo! You awake, bro?"

Again, I searched my mind to distinguish the voice. The lights were bright in spite of their dimness and my eyes hurt, and in spite of the thrumming against my brain, I recognized the mellow and gentle voice of my brainy brother.

"Donatello?" I inquired with a weak grin, just to make sure.

"Leo! Oh God- Leo! You're alright!" he cheered and then quickly raced out of my sight, his feet thumped aloud as he dashed towards the entrance of the room, "Guys! Mike! Raph! He's awake!" he announced with his voice echoing happily.

After that, he returned to my side with an exhilarated smile. Already he applied something to my achy sides and back, and with father's help rolled me to my side, after they fluffed the pillows and adjusted the cushions in a somewhat not comfortable angle.

I wanted to complain because my sides ached too badly and the lights were too bright, but then, the mere sound of Mike and Raph's excited foot-beats while they vibrated against the floor, as they dashed into the room were enough to bring a wry grin to my lips. I felt his joy pulsate through me just as loudly and bounce against the walls at the hear of their voices, their radiant spirits arced wide they enveloped me, and the volume of their cheers at my return echoed louder and louder till it's warmth tickled my senses.

I gave a weak flustered chuckle, somehow the tickling sensation was welcomed compared to the aches on my spine.

I fluttered my eyes open again and glanced at father's direction, only to realize they've lowers the lights a notch, they left the room lit with only one light. The room wasn't too dark, but it wasn't bathed in sheer pitch blackness either.

"Leo?" Mike began with his eyes wide and glassy with overwhelming joy, he sniffled and rubbed a droplet from the corner of his eye, before he flashed me that big goofy grin of his, "Welcome back bro, we missed you." He said with a half choked voice. "We were so worried," he blinked rapidly again, sniffled and then rubbed at his eyes in a desperate attempt to rub away the tears.

For some reason while I watched him cry, it brought a strange cool sensation in my chest, but at his relived smile the feeling warmed up.

"I'm- happy to be back." I croaked, voice dry and tired from lack of usage. 'Good God! How long have I been out?' I wondered to myself once again, but did not voice the question.

"Welcome back, blockhead!" Raph's voice reached my ears in a taunt.

I ignored the comment with a grin and wanted to greet him back with a similar remark, but at the sight of a hole-less black bandana, overlaid by another red one that encircled his head and face and completely canceled and covered his eyes, in spite of my horizontal and laid position, I felt an iceberg pummel into the pit of my stomach.

"Raph? What happened to your eyes?" I dare ask.

But then quick flashes from the events at the farmhouse, the dark tunnel and his blindness blinked like a light in the back of my mind.

A deep, suffocating an awkward silence stretched, it popped every single bubble of warm feelings in my soul.

What on earth happened while I was out?

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A/N: almost done…