A/N: Here it is....Enjoy.
Deserted Oberon Shop (Chapter 8) – Leon
Hugo Katrea. His father, the one who would come home everyday dressed in the same style of suit. Black pants, gray top and a white undershirt. Long, graying-black hair always combed neatly. And as of the past ten years, with a dark, black sword. Black-grey-white. Leon always associated those colors to his father. Before he'd gotten the sword, Hugo used to dress in blues, greens, yellows...alive colors. He would smile and laugh often as they ate their expensive suppers at the luxurious dinner table, with his mother and sister. When that sword had come around, everything had changed. His mother and sister left, as well as the colors and laughter. It wasn't right away, however. More over a few months.
First, his sister had left. His mother must have saw what was in store for this family, and his sister was given a Swordian, and sent to Neuestadt with Ilene Rembrandt - one of his father's colleagues.
Then, his mother left, in a violent attack in that same kitchen, at that same table where they had shared so much laughter and happiness. Leon remembered crouching under the desk by the mirror, shaking and crying silently as he watched that dark sword stab into her again and again...
And finally, his father. The vigorous colors leaving-- replaced by black, gray and white suits. Then his sharp black hair aging with streaks of gray and white. All his laughter and smiles gone too...only fake, business needed amusement remained. Even their names were gone. Emilio Katrea was now Leon Magnus, and he was not the son of the new Hugo Gilchrist. Not in his mind, and not in Hugo's.
And now, after years of living with Hugo, Leon stood in front of his father, and in front of the dark blade that tore both of their lives apart. He stared at the President, at the same lavender eyes they both shared, and was still hoping for a small recognition from the old father he used to know. He could see nothing but blank hatred, and Leon knew he could raise the Swordian he held, and finish him right now. But, for some reason he did not, even though he felt so much anger and hatred for what Hugo had done to his life. He just stood there, waiting for the President to speak. Waiting to be told what to do.
"I must thank you for bringing her to me, Leon." His cold voice, manipulative. In a sense, the young Swordsman did bring the amulet to Hugo, even if it wasn't his intention. He truthfully came here to kill Hugo, but now that he knew he could not, the amulet would have to be traded over.
Leon saw Chelsea turn to him and look at him hurtfully. He didn't really care, although he wanted to let her know later on that he didn't use her. Well, let her think that anyway. She frowned as he looked back at her blankly.
The boy could see Hugo looking at the amulet greedily. "Hand it over."
Chelsea glared at the President and stepped back. "No! It's not yours."
As Hugo took a step toward the girl, Garr stepped in front of him, blocking his way. "Look, I don't care if you're the President of the Oberon Corporation, or even if you're the King of Seinegald's aide. You are not going to get that amulet."
At this, Hugo laughed and a shiver of fear ran down Leon's spine. He knew that laugh, and it was a thousand times different than the friendly laugh he'd recalled as a child. This was from that dark sword, Bersellius. Leon wasn't sure if he wanted to kill Hugo or destroy that sword. Both, maybe. He watched Garr reach for his sword when Hugo made a step toward Chelsea. Leon stayed back, obeying his father's silent commands. He bit his lip as he saw Hugo pull Bersellius, from his sheath at his waist.
"I know you don't want me to use this, Garr..." Hugo sneered at the Prince as he unsheathed the full sword. Leon winced at the sight of it. So black, so evil. It was a curved, dead-black blade with red designs on it. The stink of evil and hatred emanated from the sword, and brought a horrible nostalgia that made Leon turn away. Every time he saw that evil weapon he remembered his mother. That sword had taken her away from him. He couldn't forget it.
Leon saw Hugo step toward Garr and Chelsea and he sighed inwardly. He closed his eyes, hating what he would have to do. He turned to Chelsea and looked at her innocent green eyes.
"Hand over the amulet, if you wish to live."
He wasn't siding with Hugo, just not rebelling against that sword. He saw the expression of anger and betrayal on the girl's face as she stepped backwards.
"Do you really think I'll give this up?" The fury was clear in her eyes, burning like the fire she had let out at their campsite.
Leon shook his head, almost sadly. "I warned you a long time ago about that amulet. Don't you see Hugo will just kill you if you don't?"
Hugo walked up to Leon and smiled, a horrible smile. "Yes, girl. Now, give it to me. You are in bad shape...your Garr is injured and all you have is a bow and arrow, while I hold the almighty Bersellius."
Chelsea looked back and forth at Leon and the President. "Yes, and I have the amulet! You won't get it!"
Leon watched her frown and then seem to concentrate. He knew what she was trying to do and turned to Hugo, "She'll use the amulet. We should kill her now."
Hugo shook his head. "That would be useless. We couldn't get it from her; she needs to take it off voluntarily. I have a better plan."
The President jerked the sword in his hand and Leon felt a flare of something go through the air. Garr suddenly cried out in pain and dropped to his knees. Hugo repeated this process and the boy felt a sharp pain in his head, and suddenly wondered if Hugo and struck him with the blade. He reached up to touch his forehead, but he was overtaken by an even more powerful shock of pain and was sent down to his knees as he screamed in agony. It felt as though the blade had gone straight through his head!
He managed to lift his hand through the unbelievable pain and touch his head, but felt no wound. The pain was unbearable, it was far worse than any injury he has received from any battle.
He could hear Hugo and Chelsea talking, but couldn't focus on what they were saying. He could tell it was angry words, and violent actions, but he just couldn't think with all this pain. His world swam, and he felt so dizzy. Leon wondered if he was screaming, but all he could hear was a loud buzzing. So loud, so sharp, it hurts...his vision started to turn from liquid to waves of color, and he could see black dots everywhere. His head felt as though it was going to explode, and then he felt something else jab into his stomach. He couldn't concentrate on anything, only barely breathing.
The black dots were beginning to expand, and they became so big he couldn't see any more color. Then, he felt the hard, cold floor of the dirty shop and all of a sudden was reminded of the cold, marble floor of the mansion. That same sword, striking him on the back of the head. Falling to the ground, dizzy but crying and scrambling to hide. Under a dresser. What was that sound? His mother? Screaming? Why was his father yelling so loudly? He remembered heard a loud scream, blood, and then saw a black ant crawling across the floor of the dining room. He'd watched the ant crawl out from the dresser, and over to where his mother lay. In a pool of...blood?
The memories flashed through his mind like a blink of an eye, and then he was back on the floor of the Oberon shop, seeing a black-gray-white nothing, and feeling the dirty floor underneath him. Slowly, he began to feel nothing too, the loud noise from before faded off to a dull buzzing, and then...silence.
* * *
The first thing he felt was being shoved roughly, and he opened his eyes, staring at a wooden ceiling. Wood. He thought, searching through his head, trying to concentrate on something. He felt so dizzy, and he was moving back and forth. They were still pushing him to get up.
You must wake up, young master...
Chaltier. He recognized that voice, anyway. "Yes Chal, I will get up. Just stop shaking me..." He felt as though he was going to vomit from them moving him so much. Left, right, left, right, back left, back right. Holy Atamoni, it was like the goddamn army again. He wished they would let him get up on his own...
"Alright, alright!" He collected some energy and sat up. He frowned immediately as he realized that no one else was in the room. Then it hit him, and he seen the portholes on the side of the room. He was on a boat. That explained the rocking movement.
Shaking...?
"Never mind..." Leon rose to his feet, looking around at the room he was in. It appeared to be a storage room, but there was nothing in it except two broken crates. He picked up Chaltier and sheathed him, noticing he was fully dressed in what he had been recently wearing.
Wearing...where? He frowned to recall his location before he'd woke up, and he remembered the promotion. Garr's interrogation. Oberon shop...
Oh. Then he remembered it all.
He looked down at his Swordian. "Hugo and Chelsea? Garr? Where are they, and what has happened?" He ordered information.
Perhaps you should exit this room?
Leon nodded, headed over to the standard navy door and stepped through. He was greeted by a maze of other doors, and after analyzing them all; he decided to go into the one in front of his. He entered that room and found Chelsea sitting at a desk, crying. He could hear her sobbing loudly and imagined she hadn't heard him come in.
He walked over to the desk and stared at the younger girl, stunned at her action. He hadn't witnessed a lot of crying and especially weeping like that.
"What's wrong with you?" He asked, still regaining his cold voice. He saw her look up at him in surprise, then relief.
He let her have a few minutes to stop crying while he waited impatiently with his arms folded. She calmed down to sniffling, and then stood and turned to him. "I'm sorry. I'm glad that you're awake..." She reached over to the desk and shut a book she had opened. It seemed to be scribbles, and was tear-stained. He wondered what it was, but knew not to pry.
Leon flicked the hair out of his eyes and looked back at the girl in front of him. "Well, what happened? I don't remember anything except feeling as though I was going to die. And why were you crying?"
Chelsea nodded, and walked over to the small porthole in her wall. Leon followed. "Well, after you and Garr blacked out, Hugo told me that if I did not give up the Amulet, he would kill you both." She looked down and Leon noticed that her Amulet was gone.
"You fool! You gave it up?"
She turned around to him with the angry eyes again. "I had no choice! There was no way I could let him kill you two, and he promised me he would not harm any of us so long as I gave him it."
"And where is Garr now? You shouldn't trust people like that! And especially Hugo...don't you realize he could have killed all three of us after he got the amulet? I don't see why he didn't." Leon felt like teaching the girl in front of him a good lesson with his sword for being so naive.
"Well, maybe you're right...I mean, he might have killed us if your sword didn't do that thing..."
Leon looked down at Chaltier. "What thing?"
"I don't know. It was some green-light spell, or something. I haven't seen it before, but that circle in the middle of your sword broke after it was done."
The boy pulled Chaltier out of his sheath, and he did notice the Aura Disc was gone. "Chal, what is she talking about?"
A spell I learned in the Aeth'er Wars. Don't worry about it, young master.
The Master Swordsman frowned, but continued on with his questioning. "And then what happened?"
"After that, Hugo left with the Amulet, and while I was trying to keep you two alive, a couple Generals came back and they helped me take you guys back to Darilsheid—where we're going now." She paused, and then sighed. "The Generals had already been there, and it turns out that Hugo told the King that Langer was the problem with all of this. The King believes that Langer is the evil one, so basically Hugo got away with this whole thing. He won't have anything from us."
Leon thought about this. He figured once he got back to Darilshied, everything would be the same. Hugo would be one step closer to his plan for this world, and everyone will continue worshipping him. He felt a sudden loss, since he realized he had not accomplished what he planned on doing. He couldn't kill his father. He could not even go against him.
"What about Garr? Won't he say anything about the interrogation…where they beat him up?" Leon frowned…this was strange.
Chelsea shook her head. "They bribed him in the hospital, they already told the King it was all Langer. Basically, he thinks Langer did the whole thing and the rest of the group was trying to stop that man." Leon growled at this. Hugo did know what he was doing.
He looked at Chelsea when she sniffled again. "Why were you crying?" He demanded.
She looked back at him and shrugged. "I was thinking about things..." He noticed her glance at the book on the table.
"What is in that book on the table?"
She sighed, and gazed out the porthole at the endless sea, and turned back to him. "Just art. I guess I like to draw. I got used of it because living in a wood all my life tends to bore me. Want to see some?"
Leon shrugged, and followed her over to the desk. She opened the book and he saw a picture of a room, floored with water running over green tiles. There was a big circle in the middle--it resembled the Eye of Atamoni and it was located besides an opening in the sacred room, overlooking a great forest.
This picture startled him, only a few knew about this holy room, and it's contents. "How did you know about this room?" He was shocked at how much it looked exactly like the Straylize Temple, where the Eye of Atamoni was kept.
"Oh, I don't know. It was carved on the inside of the Amulet." She flipped over the page and he saw an elaborate sketch of Garr, and then another. He had to admit these drawings were really good; it did look like the Prince. She'd even captured his silver hair, always messy and in his face. Then, she turned the page and he saw a picture of himself. This took him by surprise, but he was completely astonished at the remarking similarity to himself, and the amount work put into it. She'd drawn it so well it seemed he was staring into a mirror.
He looked closer at the picture, even noticing how she'd carefully shaded his eyes, and making them give off the cold exterior he always kept. He looked at Chelsea.
"Why did you draw a picture of...me?"
Leon was startled when she laughed. "I don't know. I just draw things that I see."
"Oh." It was weird that she had actually put this much thought into his picture. No other girl he knew had actually sat down and done something impressive like that…especially not that fool, Anatola. He suddenly thought about the picture hanging in the mansion back at his house. His mother...he often thought about the artist that had spent all that time drawing her face, and now someone had done that for him.
He noticed Chelsea looking at him intently, and it made him feel weird because he was actually letting her see how much the picture meant to him, or she meant to him, so he stepped back. "Well, those pictures are good. I think I should go on the deck now. I need to talk to the Captain."
She shrugged, and as he left the room he saw her grin and it sort of irritated him, kind of like she knew something about him that he did not. But he was thinking about the picture of the room, as well. That was strange...only a few people knew about the location of the Eye of Atamoni. King Sark Kelvin didn't even know about it. How could she? Inscribed on the Amulet...maybe.
He reached the deck by going through the passage he'd become used to from being on many ships in his lifetime. He'd gone with Hugo to many meetings and such, to other countries on boat. As he stepped on top, he saw they were approaching Phandaria. The chilly air and chunks of ice in the water gave that away.
Leon walked over to the side of the ship, staring out at the vast, always moving sea. It never stopped, rolling in and out—all over the world, again and again. Somehow he knew that he would never be able to destroy his father. He would always live in the regret that, at one point, he had the chance and failed. He felt the memories fall into his mind as flashbacks of his mother and sister hit him, and he felt so guilty. His mother had died, without being avenged.
He knew that when he returned to Phandaria, they would drop off Chelsea and then return to Darilsheid, where he would return to the mansion, Hugo, and Anatola. Everything would go back to normal and he would continue assisting his father in his plans. Now that he had the Amulet of Atamoni, Hugo would resume this plan he had.
Leon then raised his eyes to the clouds. They were gray, and the pure snow was falling from them. In Phandaria, the snow never stopped. And it was always white. White snow falling from the gray clouds onto his black hair.
Black-gray-white.
The End
A/N: Alright, the ending wasn't too good, but tell me what you think! There. Two full months of writing and now that I look back on it I don't know how I did it. Please review! Think it's too long? Too boring? Too cliched? I wanna know :)
Deserted Oberon Shop (Chapter 8) – Leon
Hugo Katrea. His father, the one who would come home everyday dressed in the same style of suit. Black pants, gray top and a white undershirt. Long, graying-black hair always combed neatly. And as of the past ten years, with a dark, black sword. Black-grey-white. Leon always associated those colors to his father. Before he'd gotten the sword, Hugo used to dress in blues, greens, yellows...alive colors. He would smile and laugh often as they ate their expensive suppers at the luxurious dinner table, with his mother and sister. When that sword had come around, everything had changed. His mother and sister left, as well as the colors and laughter. It wasn't right away, however. More over a few months.
First, his sister had left. His mother must have saw what was in store for this family, and his sister was given a Swordian, and sent to Neuestadt with Ilene Rembrandt - one of his father's colleagues.
Then, his mother left, in a violent attack in that same kitchen, at that same table where they had shared so much laughter and happiness. Leon remembered crouching under the desk by the mirror, shaking and crying silently as he watched that dark sword stab into her again and again...
And finally, his father. The vigorous colors leaving-- replaced by black, gray and white suits. Then his sharp black hair aging with streaks of gray and white. All his laughter and smiles gone too...only fake, business needed amusement remained. Even their names were gone. Emilio Katrea was now Leon Magnus, and he was not the son of the new Hugo Gilchrist. Not in his mind, and not in Hugo's.
And now, after years of living with Hugo, Leon stood in front of his father, and in front of the dark blade that tore both of their lives apart. He stared at the President, at the same lavender eyes they both shared, and was still hoping for a small recognition from the old father he used to know. He could see nothing but blank hatred, and Leon knew he could raise the Swordian he held, and finish him right now. But, for some reason he did not, even though he felt so much anger and hatred for what Hugo had done to his life. He just stood there, waiting for the President to speak. Waiting to be told what to do.
"I must thank you for bringing her to me, Leon." His cold voice, manipulative. In a sense, the young Swordsman did bring the amulet to Hugo, even if it wasn't his intention. He truthfully came here to kill Hugo, but now that he knew he could not, the amulet would have to be traded over.
Leon saw Chelsea turn to him and look at him hurtfully. He didn't really care, although he wanted to let her know later on that he didn't use her. Well, let her think that anyway. She frowned as he looked back at her blankly.
The boy could see Hugo looking at the amulet greedily. "Hand it over."
Chelsea glared at the President and stepped back. "No! It's not yours."
As Hugo took a step toward the girl, Garr stepped in front of him, blocking his way. "Look, I don't care if you're the President of the Oberon Corporation, or even if you're the King of Seinegald's aide. You are not going to get that amulet."
At this, Hugo laughed and a shiver of fear ran down Leon's spine. He knew that laugh, and it was a thousand times different than the friendly laugh he'd recalled as a child. This was from that dark sword, Bersellius. Leon wasn't sure if he wanted to kill Hugo or destroy that sword. Both, maybe. He watched Garr reach for his sword when Hugo made a step toward Chelsea. Leon stayed back, obeying his father's silent commands. He bit his lip as he saw Hugo pull Bersellius, from his sheath at his waist.
"I know you don't want me to use this, Garr..." Hugo sneered at the Prince as he unsheathed the full sword. Leon winced at the sight of it. So black, so evil. It was a curved, dead-black blade with red designs on it. The stink of evil and hatred emanated from the sword, and brought a horrible nostalgia that made Leon turn away. Every time he saw that evil weapon he remembered his mother. That sword had taken her away from him. He couldn't forget it.
Leon saw Hugo step toward Garr and Chelsea and he sighed inwardly. He closed his eyes, hating what he would have to do. He turned to Chelsea and looked at her innocent green eyes.
"Hand over the amulet, if you wish to live."
He wasn't siding with Hugo, just not rebelling against that sword. He saw the expression of anger and betrayal on the girl's face as she stepped backwards.
"Do you really think I'll give this up?" The fury was clear in her eyes, burning like the fire she had let out at their campsite.
Leon shook his head, almost sadly. "I warned you a long time ago about that amulet. Don't you see Hugo will just kill you if you don't?"
Hugo walked up to Leon and smiled, a horrible smile. "Yes, girl. Now, give it to me. You are in bad shape...your Garr is injured and all you have is a bow and arrow, while I hold the almighty Bersellius."
Chelsea looked back and forth at Leon and the President. "Yes, and I have the amulet! You won't get it!"
Leon watched her frown and then seem to concentrate. He knew what she was trying to do and turned to Hugo, "She'll use the amulet. We should kill her now."
Hugo shook his head. "That would be useless. We couldn't get it from her; she needs to take it off voluntarily. I have a better plan."
The President jerked the sword in his hand and Leon felt a flare of something go through the air. Garr suddenly cried out in pain and dropped to his knees. Hugo repeated this process and the boy felt a sharp pain in his head, and suddenly wondered if Hugo and struck him with the blade. He reached up to touch his forehead, but he was overtaken by an even more powerful shock of pain and was sent down to his knees as he screamed in agony. It felt as though the blade had gone straight through his head!
He managed to lift his hand through the unbelievable pain and touch his head, but felt no wound. The pain was unbearable, it was far worse than any injury he has received from any battle.
He could hear Hugo and Chelsea talking, but couldn't focus on what they were saying. He could tell it was angry words, and violent actions, but he just couldn't think with all this pain. His world swam, and he felt so dizzy. Leon wondered if he was screaming, but all he could hear was a loud buzzing. So loud, so sharp, it hurts...his vision started to turn from liquid to waves of color, and he could see black dots everywhere. His head felt as though it was going to explode, and then he felt something else jab into his stomach. He couldn't concentrate on anything, only barely breathing.
The black dots were beginning to expand, and they became so big he couldn't see any more color. Then, he felt the hard, cold floor of the dirty shop and all of a sudden was reminded of the cold, marble floor of the mansion. That same sword, striking him on the back of the head. Falling to the ground, dizzy but crying and scrambling to hide. Under a dresser. What was that sound? His mother? Screaming? Why was his father yelling so loudly? He remembered heard a loud scream, blood, and then saw a black ant crawling across the floor of the dining room. He'd watched the ant crawl out from the dresser, and over to where his mother lay. In a pool of...blood?
The memories flashed through his mind like a blink of an eye, and then he was back on the floor of the Oberon shop, seeing a black-gray-white nothing, and feeling the dirty floor underneath him. Slowly, he began to feel nothing too, the loud noise from before faded off to a dull buzzing, and then...silence.
The first thing he felt was being shoved roughly, and he opened his eyes, staring at a wooden ceiling. Wood. He thought, searching through his head, trying to concentrate on something. He felt so dizzy, and he was moving back and forth. They were still pushing him to get up.
You must wake up, young master...
Chaltier. He recognized that voice, anyway. "Yes Chal, I will get up. Just stop shaking me..." He felt as though he was going to vomit from them moving him so much. Left, right, left, right, back left, back right. Holy Atamoni, it was like the goddamn army again. He wished they would let him get up on his own...
"Alright, alright!" He collected some energy and sat up. He frowned immediately as he realized that no one else was in the room. Then it hit him, and he seen the portholes on the side of the room. He was on a boat. That explained the rocking movement.
Shaking...?
"Never mind..." Leon rose to his feet, looking around at the room he was in. It appeared to be a storage room, but there was nothing in it except two broken crates. He picked up Chaltier and sheathed him, noticing he was fully dressed in what he had been recently wearing.
Wearing...where? He frowned to recall his location before he'd woke up, and he remembered the promotion. Garr's interrogation. Oberon shop...
Oh. Then he remembered it all.
He looked down at his Swordian. "Hugo and Chelsea? Garr? Where are they, and what has happened?" He ordered information.
Perhaps you should exit this room?
Leon nodded, headed over to the standard navy door and stepped through. He was greeted by a maze of other doors, and after analyzing them all; he decided to go into the one in front of his. He entered that room and found Chelsea sitting at a desk, crying. He could hear her sobbing loudly and imagined she hadn't heard him come in.
He walked over to the desk and stared at the younger girl, stunned at her action. He hadn't witnessed a lot of crying and especially weeping like that.
"What's wrong with you?" He asked, still regaining his cold voice. He saw her look up at him in surprise, then relief.
He let her have a few minutes to stop crying while he waited impatiently with his arms folded. She calmed down to sniffling, and then stood and turned to him. "I'm sorry. I'm glad that you're awake..." She reached over to the desk and shut a book she had opened. It seemed to be scribbles, and was tear-stained. He wondered what it was, but knew not to pry.
Leon flicked the hair out of his eyes and looked back at the girl in front of him. "Well, what happened? I don't remember anything except feeling as though I was going to die. And why were you crying?"
Chelsea nodded, and walked over to the small porthole in her wall. Leon followed. "Well, after you and Garr blacked out, Hugo told me that if I did not give up the Amulet, he would kill you both." She looked down and Leon noticed that her Amulet was gone.
"You fool! You gave it up?"
She turned around to him with the angry eyes again. "I had no choice! There was no way I could let him kill you two, and he promised me he would not harm any of us so long as I gave him it."
"And where is Garr now? You shouldn't trust people like that! And especially Hugo...don't you realize he could have killed all three of us after he got the amulet? I don't see why he didn't." Leon felt like teaching the girl in front of him a good lesson with his sword for being so naive.
"Well, maybe you're right...I mean, he might have killed us if your sword didn't do that thing..."
Leon looked down at Chaltier. "What thing?"
"I don't know. It was some green-light spell, or something. I haven't seen it before, but that circle in the middle of your sword broke after it was done."
The boy pulled Chaltier out of his sheath, and he did notice the Aura Disc was gone. "Chal, what is she talking about?"
A spell I learned in the Aeth'er Wars. Don't worry about it, young master.
The Master Swordsman frowned, but continued on with his questioning. "And then what happened?"
"After that, Hugo left with the Amulet, and while I was trying to keep you two alive, a couple Generals came back and they helped me take you guys back to Darilsheid—where we're going now." She paused, and then sighed. "The Generals had already been there, and it turns out that Hugo told the King that Langer was the problem with all of this. The King believes that Langer is the evil one, so basically Hugo got away with this whole thing. He won't have anything from us."
Leon thought about this. He figured once he got back to Darilshied, everything would be the same. Hugo would be one step closer to his plan for this world, and everyone will continue worshipping him. He felt a sudden loss, since he realized he had not accomplished what he planned on doing. He couldn't kill his father. He could not even go against him.
"What about Garr? Won't he say anything about the interrogation…where they beat him up?" Leon frowned…this was strange.
Chelsea shook her head. "They bribed him in the hospital, they already told the King it was all Langer. Basically, he thinks Langer did the whole thing and the rest of the group was trying to stop that man." Leon growled at this. Hugo did know what he was doing.
He looked at Chelsea when she sniffled again. "Why were you crying?" He demanded.
She looked back at him and shrugged. "I was thinking about things..." He noticed her glance at the book on the table.
"What is in that book on the table?"
She sighed, and gazed out the porthole at the endless sea, and turned back to him. "Just art. I guess I like to draw. I got used of it because living in a wood all my life tends to bore me. Want to see some?"
Leon shrugged, and followed her over to the desk. She opened the book and he saw a picture of a room, floored with water running over green tiles. There was a big circle in the middle--it resembled the Eye of Atamoni and it was located besides an opening in the sacred room, overlooking a great forest.
This picture startled him, only a few knew about this holy room, and it's contents. "How did you know about this room?" He was shocked at how much it looked exactly like the Straylize Temple, where the Eye of Atamoni was kept.
"Oh, I don't know. It was carved on the inside of the Amulet." She flipped over the page and he saw an elaborate sketch of Garr, and then another. He had to admit these drawings were really good; it did look like the Prince. She'd even captured his silver hair, always messy and in his face. Then, she turned the page and he saw a picture of himself. This took him by surprise, but he was completely astonished at the remarking similarity to himself, and the amount work put into it. She'd drawn it so well it seemed he was staring into a mirror.
He looked closer at the picture, even noticing how she'd carefully shaded his eyes, and making them give off the cold exterior he always kept. He looked at Chelsea.
"Why did you draw a picture of...me?"
Leon was startled when she laughed. "I don't know. I just draw things that I see."
"Oh." It was weird that she had actually put this much thought into his picture. No other girl he knew had actually sat down and done something impressive like that…especially not that fool, Anatola. He suddenly thought about the picture hanging in the mansion back at his house. His mother...he often thought about the artist that had spent all that time drawing her face, and now someone had done that for him.
He noticed Chelsea looking at him intently, and it made him feel weird because he was actually letting her see how much the picture meant to him, or she meant to him, so he stepped back. "Well, those pictures are good. I think I should go on the deck now. I need to talk to the Captain."
She shrugged, and as he left the room he saw her grin and it sort of irritated him, kind of like she knew something about him that he did not. But he was thinking about the picture of the room, as well. That was strange...only a few people knew about the location of the Eye of Atamoni. King Sark Kelvin didn't even know about it. How could she? Inscribed on the Amulet...maybe.
He reached the deck by going through the passage he'd become used to from being on many ships in his lifetime. He'd gone with Hugo to many meetings and such, to other countries on boat. As he stepped on top, he saw they were approaching Phandaria. The chilly air and chunks of ice in the water gave that away.
Leon walked over to the side of the ship, staring out at the vast, always moving sea. It never stopped, rolling in and out—all over the world, again and again. Somehow he knew that he would never be able to destroy his father. He would always live in the regret that, at one point, he had the chance and failed. He felt the memories fall into his mind as flashbacks of his mother and sister hit him, and he felt so guilty. His mother had died, without being avenged.
He knew that when he returned to Phandaria, they would drop off Chelsea and then return to Darilsheid, where he would return to the mansion, Hugo, and Anatola. Everything would go back to normal and he would continue assisting his father in his plans. Now that he had the Amulet of Atamoni, Hugo would resume this plan he had.
Leon then raised his eyes to the clouds. They were gray, and the pure snow was falling from them. In Phandaria, the snow never stopped. And it was always white. White snow falling from the gray clouds onto his black hair.
Black-gray-white.
A/N: Alright, the ending wasn't too good, but tell me what you think! There. Two full months of writing and now that I look back on it I don't know how I did it. Please review! Think it's too long? Too boring? Too cliched? I wanna know :)