Nightmare

The boy and Kazuya arrived at the foot of the forest. Kazuya glanced upward, fascinated by the mere size of the trees—a mix of pine, spruce, and redwood towering in front of him. I have never seen trees this large before. To be fair, I have never been to a forest, maybe I remembered it from watching it on the Internet? Oh right, the survival videos. The boy took a deep breath and dashed through the frozen foliage. The forest was dark, and the snow was deep, hindering anyone who dared to traverse within. Its denseness alone was enough to keep the horses from getting in easily.

The forest whistled as its frozen branches swayed by the breeze, waltzing with the crunching footsteps of the boy dashing down a slope toward the valley. The boy carefully minded his foothold, as neither the boy nor Kazuya had no idea what might be hiding under the snow. One wrong step, their lives might be at stake.

Kazuya turned his head back. It was quite a steep slope. There’s no way the horsemen followed us this far. On foot, maybe, but I have my doubts.

The boy, on the other hand, seemed to have an indifferent opinion about it. His eyes remained narrowed and sharp. With his right hand brushing against the sword’s pommel, he remained vigilant to any move or sound around him, expecting their pursuers to ambush them at any time.

As they arrived at the base of the valley. The boy took his time to let out a long sigh; finally eased his shoulder as relief plastered all over his face. The boy dropped Kazuya on top of the rock beside him and patted his clothes from dirt and snow.

“Puekan etu lopinar, Leon?” asked the boy as he slumped into the snow. A content and peace shrouded him but his breath still jagged as ever.

Kazuya puffed his cheeks, “P-pueka wha?” He put his hand on his hips. He was irritated, for the longest time. Leon this Leon that. Where this ‘Leonard’ name came from, gah.

“I tell you one more time, I'm not Leon! Not Leonard! Kazuya, my name is Satou Kazuya!” He turned his face the other way, displeasing the name Leonard. Even though this was a dream, he kept insisting on refusing to acknowledge himself as Leonard.

The boy breathed another loud sigh while rubbing his chin, thinking of something.

This is my dream, I should’ve understood what you were trying to say. Language barrier is one helluva of a nightmare.

“Leon, niere eb fi!” Kazuya looked at him, pouting. You called me that name again.

The boy sighed, “Puekan. Etu. Lopinar. Leon?” The boy used his fingers and motioned between his index and middle finger, swaying them back and forth from the right to the left. For several minutes, the boys repeated it while Kazuya observed him, trying to decipher its meaning.

Cackles escaped from Kazuya's mouth. It was a bit amusing for him to witness a knight making a silly gesture. It wasn’t the image that Kazuya imagined a knight would be. The boy frowned upon hearing Kazuya's laughter. But, he too couldn't resist laughing along with Kazuya after realizing his action.

Okay, it was kind of funny when he did that. Kazuya sighed and jumped from the rock.

“So, I think you are asking me if I could walk?” with his little feet, Kazuya dashed through the snow with ease.

“See? I can walk just fine, I mean, my right leg is a bit hurt because—” A sudden bewilderment slivered up his body—

Wait… why is a child's voice coming out of my mouth?

My voice sounded high-pitched and shrill, like a whining kid. How I never noticed it before.

The boy rose from the snow, looking down at Kazuya, evoking what Kazuya had never realized before.

Eh? Why is he so tall? I thought he was just as tall as me. Kazuya looked at his own hand; it was tiny, the size of a preschooler hand, and smaller than his normal hand. He averted his eyes to his feet.

Am I this short? Or is he just freaking tall? A shocked face plastered all over after he realized, and a jagged breath escaped from his mouth.

Oh, God, what is happening? He sank further down, cowering himself.

By any means, I’m a third grader in junior high school. I'm pretty sure he is also the same age as me. Shouldn’t we be the same height or not similar? I'm still growing up b-but why now I’m in the body of a child? This is a dream, right?

The boy observed Kazuya talking to himself, and he couldn’t help but laugh at Kazuya’s antics. Kazuya’s tiny feet waddled around in the snow, and his little hands moved frantically.

“D-do you think this is funny?” shrieked Kazuya. The boy patted Kazuya's hat and gave him a warm smile. Kazuya's face turned red, not knowing why the boy did that.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I-I swear this guy, he treated me like a child." With a tint of anger in his voice, he clenched his fist further. "I'm. The. Same. Age. As. Youuu!" Each word followed by the blow of his fist into the boy’s leg of his frustration. The boy recoiled, a slight wince on his stoic face, as Kazuya glanced upward at him.

Why did I hit him? It's not his fault. As the realization hit him, Kazuya tucked down to his knees. “It’s not your fault,” he whispered. He looked down at his hands as a dreaded thought came to his head.

Don’t tell me.

A harsh slap echoed, cutting the stillness of the forest, “Wake up, wake up, Kazuya, Wake up!” As his hand swung furiously at his cheeks but the boy caught his hand, stopping him from doing so.

“Tell me, tell me this isn’t real...”

“Tell me, I’m not—”

“—dead yet…”

His eyes widened in disbelief. His face turned pale as cold sweat came out from his skin while his hand shook uncontrollably, struggling to make sense of it all as restlessness crept up within. It was too much for him.

His eyes brimmed with tears, clutching his hands to his chest. As he shut his eyes, trying to find solace within, but he found himself drowning further down. Images appeared in his head; memories of his friends, his sisters, and his mother— those whom he could never see again. It ached his heart when he thought of it. The long awaited graduation was only a few months ahead. Instead of him, a bouquet would be in his place. A life he could have had, but now seemed faded as a distant memory far within his head.

He couldn’t hold it anymore as the tears flowed from his weary eyes. For the first time, he cried to his heart's content. A high-pitched shrill echoed through the forest, filling the air with his lamentation.

“I-I… hic… want to go home, I-I didn’t…hic…ask for this,” he cried, accompanied by a little hiccup, hoping all this was just a dream. “Please wake up, please.”

A sudden warmth fell over his body, followed by a gentle pat caressing his back. Kazuya opened his eyes. To his surprise, he found himself hugged by the boy again, but this time he couldn’t and wouldn’t push him away. He felt disgusted and embarrassed, yet he felt being loved, a love that was strange. Unbeknown to him, Kazuya lifted his hand, embracing the boy heartily, and cried with all his might.

“Nik huires, Leon, nik huires,” reassured the boy while patting him on the back.

“Et vozal zier vurtermina pronel.” Kazuya was stunned and locked in place when heard him. Though he didn’t understand what he meant; somehow, he found solace in his words. The boy reached his hand to Kazuya's face and wiped off the tears from his eyes.

The boy placed both his hands on Kazuya's shoulders. Instead of meeting his eyes, Kazuya averted his gaze downward, wondering why the boy was so compassionate towards him. With no prior memories to guide him in his new reality, he had no idea about his relationship with the boy. No matter how many times he tried to dig into it, Kazuya couldn't find any memories of the old Leonard. But deep down, he knew the boy was something special to him. His compassion and fondness he showed for him were as genuine as could be—something that he couldn't ask for more.

“Cieruit ogos etu,” he grabbed Kazuya’s right hand and placed it in front of his eyes.

Something rustled in front of him; a rustling noise inside a bag. The boy grabbed Kazuya’s left hand and placed something on his palm—it was rather heavy and almost slipped out of his hand.

“Anura, opre ogos etu.” Kazuya opened his eyes, and to his surprise, a dagger lay in his hand.

“Voora etu.”

Kazuya held the dagger and unsheathed it, revealing its shiny and marvelous pattern —A masterpiece of craftsmanship. He held up the dagger with two hands, blocking the boy from Kazuya's sight with its blade. A sense of curiosity sought him for an answer, yet, anxiety and fear engulfed him. He shut his eyes and took a long breath.

Everyone, please forgive me…

A heavy gulp went through his throat. He slowly opened his eyes and saw a reflection of an unfamiliar face. A stranger, a face that certainly wasn’t his own.

“T-That’s… me?” A scruffy-looking boy; his face was a little chubby stood before him.

“Heh… not too shabby,” he smirked. The almond-shaped, with ocean-blue eyes, reminded him of the boy, wondering if they both were related. He took off his winter hat, revealing long messy red hair flowing down his shoulder.

“Ahh… I didn’t even notice I had long hair.”

From that moment, he realized he was, indeed, no longer Kazuya; nothing remained of his old appearance. This wasn’t a dream either, no matter how many times he tried to wake up, as his fate had already been anchored. This was his life now.

Somehow, he believed he died in his sleep on his way to the museum and was transferred into this world, into a random child's body. Even worse, a normal child. No magical ability or skill like any of those anime characters to entertain. No muse or court with any Gods. The moment he opened his eyes, he was here, instantly. It was a hard reality for him to swallow. Months, perhaps even years, for him before he could come to fully realize it. But now, he had ceased being Kazuya and started living as Leonard.

At least he had the boy with him. Someone who he could rely on as for now.

Leonard looked upward at him, and a shy smile accompanied him. “For me?” pointing to the dagger and towards himself.

“Sey, voora etu," he nodded.

“Voora fi…” murmured Leonard. “That means ‘for me’, right?” The boy placed the sheath on Leonard’s hip and tightened it. Leonard put the dagger back in its sheath. He stood up from the ground and wiped his tears with his hand.

“Thank you.”