Chapter 5:

Ode to Reprise

Divine Blessing [Dropped]

"Huh?..." he opened his weary eyes, but to his utter astonishment, a vast boundless green prairie spread out as far as eyes could see with the cloud towering in the back —a sight that was reminiscent of his home. The wind beckoned through his face and caressed his hair soothingly. The smell of the freshly earthy scent filled through the air. He tried to get up and patted his cloak from the lilies clinging to his clothes. He looked around at his surroundings, a bed of red lilies, red spider lilies.

"Oh it's beautiful," he picked off the lilies, fascinated by the look of it.

He wandered down to the prairie but slowly couldn't resist an urge to run. As he dashed through the prairie, his crimson cloak started to be carried by the gust, waltzing with the wind among the sea of grass. A pleasant feeling weighed upon him.

"Huft..." as he lost his breath from running and laid back in the grass looking up at the blue sky. "What a beautiful dream," he said. For a while, he was contemplating whether to wake or not. Nevertheless, he made up his mind. "Alright!" he clapped his hands from the dirt.

"I'm ready to wake up!" he exclaimed as he closed his eyes. But nothing happened.

"Eh?" he opened his eyes to check his surroundings. "I'm still here," dumbfounded by it, he tried it again.

"I said I'm ready to wake up," he grunted. Still, nothing happened. Annoyed by it, he tried to slap himself, hoping it would wake him up. But instead, he could feel the pain from it.

"Aw ouch..." he groaned. "It's useless," the wind whistled through his ears.

"Hmm..." mumbled him as he tried to think. Many wild ideas came up in his mind as he started to visualize things that could wake him up from the dream. "A thing? no.. a place? hmm maybe, a room! a toilet!" He thought. "Nope, not doing that!" But for a moment, he thought to himself, it wasn't bad at all. He could lie back all he wanted, no one watching over him or judging him. There was simply nothing to worry about.

"Well, take your time, me on the outside!" he put his hand behind his back and tried to relax. "Ahh... While me here, on the inside, enjoying the scenery." He closed his eyes.

"Isn't it beautiful?..." said the boy who approached him from behind and joined him lying down in the grass.

"Yeah, I agree..." Leonard exhaled. "A moment of tranquili-..."

"WAIT a minute!" he jolted from the grass, surprised by the boy's presence. He took a long look at him, intrigued by this appearance. The boy's appearance caused much mystery to Leonard. His clothes look nothing like an ordinary person would wear. It reminds him of winter clothes, an orange long sleeved wool delicately sewn together, as he touches it feels soft and warm, and surprised to him it is not heavy either. His black hair and dark brown eyes were quite uncommon in the Occidan Continent, and more native to the people of the Oriendan Continent to the east.

"Heya!" He awkwardly waved at him. "Hehe... I finally met you. Leonard." he grinned. "I'm Saito Kazuya, call me Kazuya." he grabbed his hand and shook with him. "Uh.. I'm Leonard." said him bashfully. For a reason Leonard couldn't describe, he felt that he recognized him before. An uncanny unfamiliar familiar feeling shriveled up inside of him.

"Eh... ain't that some weird name…" he replied.

"Hmm, it's true that it's very uncommon here."

"Now could you please get your hand off me? it's kind of uncomfortable."

"Ah sorry." said the boy as he scratched his head. But for a while, the boy glanced at the prairie, drowned by its sight. Leonard looked at him with curiosity but he noticed something was not right, he felt that the boy must have a reason to appear in his dream. After all, this was just a dream, he thought.

"Now... Have you ever had a dream?" asked him all of a sudden.

"Heh? A dream? certainly! I dream a couple of times about wandering below a starry night. Do you want to hear about it?" Surprised him as he enthusiastically replied to him.

"Not that kind of dream, Like... ah… uhh... how do I say this to a ten years old boy hmm..." he grumbled. "Ah... What is your dream in life?"

"Oh, that kind of dream." he turned his head, glancing at the sky. "Honestly, since I fell from the balcony. As I said before, I had a dream about the starry night. As stupid as it was, looking at the stars gave me a soothing feeling, it warmed my heart. It motivated me to venture into the world..." as he raised his hand —trying to reach the sky.

"Ever heard about the Night of Thousand Stars?" the boy shook his head. "Well... It's the night when plenty of shooting stars come down to Earth, captivating whoever sees them. It is said that the next cycle will be in five years and I want to see it myself."

Stunned by his answer, The boy was lost for words. He reminded him about the sight he saw years ago. He sighed and looked up to the sky "People don't change, do they? even if their life has already transcended into the next life," he thought and for a moment, the boy closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

Leonard continued and he placed his hand on his chest. "And Also, I want to show it to her too."

"Do you like her?" the boy said to Leonard firmly.

"Of course I like her!" answered him abruptly without thinking about it thoroughly. "EHHHHHHHHH????" his face turned red out of embarrassment. "No... no... I.. I mean I like her as a friend, yes... as a friend!"

"Ahahaha... " laughed the boy as he placed his hand on Leonard's shoulder. "Heh... You remind me of myself" he smirked. "Ahh... I'm glad my concern has been sorted out," said the boy as he rose from the ground. "Now, if you have any questions about me, feel free to ask."

"Now, Kazu...yu?"

"Kazuya. Ka-Zu-Ya!" he corrected him.

"Right... I've been thinking about this all this time. You are not from here right?"

"What do you mean by here?" as he slightly tilted his head, confused by his question. "I live here! I live here rent free inside your head."

"Ah... I forgot this is just a dream and you are just my imagination."

"Dream? This is not a dream either..." confused by his answer, Leonard looked at him with seriousness. "Then what is it? Why are you in my head?" he asked, intrigued by the boy's mysterious identity. The boy sighed. Momentarily, he contemplated himself. He knew that Leonard must have noticed why he appeared in this so-called dream.

"Okay" he got up from the ground. "Care for a walk a bit? I'll tell you along the way." Leonard agreed as they rose up and wandered into the prairie.

"Like I said before my name is Kazuya," the boy walked backward while telling Leonard about his identity. "Hmm... Maybe it's true that I'm just a manifestation of your past memory or maybe I'm just a guardian of this little prairie inside your head."

"Heh... a sort of guardian?" he thought to himself. "So do you know why I can't wake up from this dream?"

"Hmm... Let me think, you know Leonard? Did you realize what happened to your body right now?" as they walked through the dense grass field. "Do you even remember what you did before you came here?"

"The last time I remember, I was in the Temple, participating in the Rite of Ascension, and I was touching the Holy Catalyst with her," said Leonard as he tried to remember.

"Then?" the boy stopped walking.

He contemplated for a moment, a slight sense of uneasiness could be seen from his eyes. No matter how he tried, he couldn't remember. "I..I don't... remember" he uttered, his voice trembling as he averted his gaze to the ground. The boy grabbed his hand as they both looked in the eyes. "I'll help you remember..."

Just as they walked deeper into the prairie, the sun began to dip, the twilight slowly seeped in, engulfing the sky with its color. Eventually, they found themselves on the edge of the cliff. The boy sat on the edge of the cliff, overlooking the sea across from him. He motioned Leonard to sit down with him, joining him while watching the sun set.

"Now, Leonard... Do you trust me?"

"What... do you mean?" he said reluctantly. The boy placed his hand in his head. "May I?" as he nodded in reply. "Close your eyes," said the boy gently.

Leonard closed his eyes as the boy placed his hand on Leonard's head. A fragment of memory slowly starts to unveil itself to Leonard. A strong sense of reminiscence flowed back to him like someone's life flashing before his very own eyes. A strong sense of déjà vu filled up his thoughts. Every one of them, the moment of joys and sadness, mistakes and regrets, now burned forever inside him as his fragmented memories began to reweave themselves.

He opened his eyes and tears started to run down from his eyes. But soon he realized, the boy was no longer with him, as the fading light of the sun slowly turned into night. He left alone at the cliff and remained there for a while, gazing at the sea in front of him as the stars above him started to shine, with their ever aglow.

"..."

"Leonard, There are still many memories that I haven't shared with you."

"Some memories are better to keep hidden..."

"But I hope you can find it by yourself."

"You might not realize that the first time you fell from the balcony,"

"I was awakened..."

" And all those dreams are my memories that I shared with you."

"It was the way I communicated with you."

"You might not realize it but..."

"..."

"We are two of the same kind,"

"You are Kazuya as much as Leonard to me."