Gensosuikoden: Paths of Idleness

By: Chii Motosuwa

Disclaimer: Suikoden and its characters belong to their respected companies (Konami and such) and no money was made in the production of this Fanfiction.

"There is a man behind a glass wall… I fear to see his eyes…"

"Ted." The red-head turned to the brunette standing beside him.

"Are you afraid of what you'll see in them?"

"What are you most afraid of?"

"No... I know what I'll see in them. What I'm afraid of is that… I'll…"

"Uh… Are we playing twenty questions again?" Ted asked grumpily.

"I asked one." Lazlo defended with a slight frown, making the older man roll his eyes. "It's a simple question."

"It's not an important one."

"I'm still asking."

The silence that followed after may have lasted quite awhile, but time wasn't something Ted had bothered to count. Minutes didn't seem to matter after a few hundred years amongst the living. Though, he much preferred it when it was quiet. Stupid Lazlo… Just what was this child thinking now?

"Mm…" he finally responded as he buried his head in his arms. "How about you?"

"That's not fair." Lazlo muttered. "I asked first."

"You shouldn't ask questions you're not willing to answer then."

"….." The brunette looked at him dryly before rubbing the back of his head.

He actually began to think about the question causing Ted's brow to twitch. The red-head really had no interest to know his answer. Really.

"I'm afraid… that I'll hurt them all." Lazlo said quietly. "…of what will happen if my time finally runs out… who will be the next to receive this curse."

Ted froze suddenly, as if the very blood in his veins suddenly ran cold.

Those words... Whose words were Lazlo actually saying…? His or…

"Who would be next for fate to screw over…" Ted suddenly added.

Lazlo chuckled.

"I guess." The brunette looked over his shoulder and straight at Ted with a whimsical smile. "You too huh?"

"Yeah…" he muttered grimly. "...Me too."

"Well, well. I didn't think you'd be back so soon."

Luc glared at the red-head almost immediately. The young boy slid the cell door with a loud bang, causing the sound to echo throughout the dungeon.

"In a pleasant mood?" Ted grinned at him.

The boy's brows furrowed deeply for a moment but they changed as he looked to the side, averting his eyes away from the older man. That was not the reaction Ted had expected.

"What? No 'Shut up' or 'I hate you' today?" He let out an exaggerated sigh. "Aah... how disappointing."

Again, the boy scowled at him.

"Would you just grow up." Luc suddenly hissed.

"Ah, he speaks."

"Shut up!"

"And back to normal." Ted smiled at him again impishly.

Again, it began. He was surrounded by a sea of darkness, alone. He could not see anything beyond the reach of his hands, and his voice was silent to his ears. No matter how loudly he called out, and he knew he called out, he could hear no voice.

This darkness... This all consuming darkness... Why did it feel so familiar?

He would wander in this place in what felt like hours... seeing nothing... hearing nothing. Only the icy breath beyond him was all he could feel. Yes. He could feel it. Something in that direction was cold... but it was all that was there that led him to believe he was still alive.

So he would walk... and walk... and walk, endlessly. Alone.

Then, the sound returns. A distant echo of a voice...

No. Two?

... More...

Wait... was that... screaming?

It got louder as he moved foward. That's right. He had to keep moving forward. Beyond there... there was life. He knew it. He could feel it.

Just as his frozen finger tips reached further into the dark, his flesh suddenly seared horribly. Like his skin was burning right off him. He opened his mouth to cry out, but again...

No sound...

"What is this!" he shouted into the silence as he held his arms around him tightly."It hurts...! Help..."

"Why...?"

"Please..." he begged vulnerably, eyes closed shut as he tried to endure the pain.

"Don't..."

"Help me...!"

"Then open your eyes..."

Instantly, his body followed. It was like the voice had commanded his body and his body had no choice but to comply. But that was not the only problem now. Before him was no longer the darkness, or the silence. The earth beneath him was covered in a strange liquid, causing the soil to soften and turn into mud.

Blood... the smell of blood lingered in the air

"W-what...?" his eyes looked on horrified as he pulled a shaky hand closer to his face.

Just as he thought... Red. He gasped, pulling himself up from where he was curled on the damp earth. He was confused... he was scared...

What in the world was this?

"Open your eyes..."

His breath caught in his chest yet again as he realized that the blood was nothing compared to what really surrounded him.

Upon the sea of the soiled earth, was the wave of corpses. Men... women... children... All unknown to him, but all seem to stare at him with their souless eyes. And beyond that were flames. Endless flames like the blazing sun.

A burning village... these people then would be the residents...?

"What is this...?" he muttered over and over, dragging himself back from the dead that lingered before him. "What is this...?!"

"Open your eyes."

"No..." he replied shakily to the voice, raising his small hands to his face. "No... I don't... want to see..."

"Open them...!"

"I don't want to see...!!" he screamed outloud.

The world around him suddenly shattered like glass, falling around him in pieces. The firey image had vanished... the corpses disappeared... the sensations of burning around him... the smell of death... gone.

"Why...? Why do you close your eyes?"

He flinched, his senses returning to him as he heard footsteps coming closer. Reluctantly, he raised his head once the sound stopped, unsure if he wanted to see what was before him now. But again, there was only the darkness... but he was not alone. Not this time.

Before him was like a glass wall, and at the otherside was a man. Taller. Older.

"You..." he finally managed to speak though his voice still shook from his previous experience. "Is it you who did this? Is it you who speaks to me?"

The man on the otherside frowned at him... sadly.

"Why do you close your eyes...?" he repeated.

"...W-what...?"

"Each night... it would be the same." Luc muttered to Ted.

The two of them were now sitting beside each other, though there was still a very much notable distance between them. The boy had actually began to talk about something that had began a long time ago. Something he could not make much sense of. He explained that this problem stopped a few years ago already, after he had settled down. But when Ted had asked him that simple question of what he was afraid of, the problem returned instantly.

"The same nightmare... a massacre... flames... it's always the same."

Ted glanced at Luc from the side, watching him silently. It was odd to see him like that. He was not as snippy. The chin he usually held high and proud was lowered towards his knees, which he had folded to his chest while his arms were wrapped tightly around them. At that moment, the boy who acted like a man, was merely... just a boy.

"Then... it would all change... It would get dark and silent. And he would appear." The brunette's voice was weak as he spoke.

"He...?" Ted repeated quietly.

"There is a man behind a glass wall…" Luc nodded then drew a shaky breath. The memory alone stirred his feelings. "...I fear to see his eyes…"

"Are you afraid of what you'll see in them?"

"No... I know what I'll see in them. What I'm afraid of is that… I'll…"

Ted raised a brow as he watched the boy's arms squeeze tighter around his legs.

"...That you'll what?"

"That person... said..." Luc continued.

"It's just a little more..."

"That he and I..."

"We'll meet soon..."

"It will all make sense then..." The boy bit his lip, lowering his head further to his knees. "So I should be patient."

Luc then turned to face Ted finally, slamming a hand against the floor, looking at the older boy imploringly, hoping he would have an answer.

"I am afraid...!" he shouted to him. What if I do know him? I don't want to know him... I'm scared... "I don't want to look in his eyes...! I don't want to see how much pain he's in!"

"So until then..."

The out-burst surprised the red-head a little and at the same time; for someone so proud to admit his fear. And his fear... was a man? Was human? This boy was no older than eleven or twelve, an age where children would usually fear ghosts and monsters lurking in the dark. But he... this boy... feared a man. Ted felt a cold shiver run up his spine. ...And what did he mean by "I don't want to see how much pain he's in"?

"You..." Ted frowned as he reached forward, realizing that Luc was faltering.

"Keep your eyes open..."

The boy had began to tremble from where he sat. He really was scared...

"I will show you the truth."

"Hey!" The red-head called to him again, moving to his side and holding him firmly on either shoulder. "Get a hold of yourself!"

"About this dirty... hateful world..."

"...What if... that man is..." his voice was inaudible as he spoke the rest of his words. "...if he is..."

"...Luc."