The Garden I live

The Garden I live

Cocoa-brown coloured buildings in the midst of a forest, sitting within purplish and orange illumination wasn't really something to come by easily. And yet, here she was. Leigh, having been given a short tour of the house itself, was now following behind Walter as he led them out into the magnific scenery of colourful greens. In her left, her white sword which has feasted upon a good many drinks of blood, whilst her right hand was still in contact with Walter. She tried to forget her confusion of an alleged familiarity and tried to follow his much more confusing stream of words about nature. "So those books weren't for posing..", she thought. "And, should you find a singular spot where plants are thriving at the peak of their being and cannot be compared to the growth to the plants next to that particular spot, that might be your indicator-" "What?" "-that underneath is a burried body." ...

"The hell??" "You see, the dead body releases sulfur which is essential for the plants' amino acids and growth.." Silence. They were facing each other, until their eyes moved slowly but surely between two large trees, to a spot on which greens were growing faster than the others.

.

.

.

Silence.

A feint cry of a bird.

"Let's ignore that one, eh?", Walter whispered, eccentrically surprised by their sighting.

"You do live here, don't you?", Leigh whispered back.

"I rarely go outside, my dear. I do not know of anyone's coming here and them burrying bodies."

"Don't- make it sound normal, please.."

"Alas, I shall show you me garden." "Uh-", Walter's grip reassured her somehow, just to let herself go and follow him. She didn't know why, however did she also try not to think too much about it.

Her expectation to see a garden grew slimmer and slimmer as they went deeper into the woods with no luck of her finding an actual rectangle of seeds, more plants or flowers encased by a white fence.

The birdsong was nice to listen to, the smooth, soothing, playful voices of animalistic artistry began to make her appreciate the purple light even more. This was a Summer's forest. In this moment, right here, the senses began to mix and realize every information to the fullest as he spoke those words to her in calm voicing:"Look up", with a slight smile. And as she did, the rays of rainbow light filtered through the crowns of the trees above her, painting a bouquet of flowers of translucency.

A place split, bottom shadowy, upper lucid. A closer gaze revealed the morphing images of healthy wheat, hedges and flower heads; alike there was a caressing whisp of wind created by imagination.

"This is the garden", Walter spoke,"It's beautiful, no?"

"I had no idea a place like this would exist..in this world.."

"Your whole world was a military facility, was it not? I'm glad you broke free from that world.

You see, the true world is made up of you and your freedom"

Leigh looked at him, still no seeing what his eyes looked like. Was freedom that easy to achieve? He had let go of her hand and now her grip was tightening around the sword handle. All Leigh had ever known was the battlefield, so naturally, a scene such as the one she had just witnessed was the perfect contrast to show her what the peaceful life offered her. Her grip loosened. "Will you go? Tomorrow to the raid, I mean?", Walter came closer to her. Her white hair was glowing.

"So all this to make me lay down my sword?" Walter shook softly his head.

"A mere suggestion.. to avoid unnecessary inconveniences", he grabbed her hand again.

"Can you see the outcome of the future? Like Leo did back in Londinium?"

Walter gave a smile:"There's no absolute in anything.. I think. But, I do predict futures unbefitting for victory. Most likely not for the two of us, as Leo's Will is going to be captured by either the WM, or someone else of those raiding brutes." Leigh snorted with laughter.

She turned quickly and swung the blade's tip forward, pointing it at his Adam's apple. "Leo's not gonna get captured by anyone, my dear. He carries the King's Will. And he will lead us to freedom, to the true reality." His smile only grew when he forced fates of the two to switch positions, making him pointing the sword at Leigh, responding jauntily with:

"Oh, how I wish to see your King in action, my dearest. It'll be a feast for my eyes when I join your lot in tomorrow's battle!"

Her mouth was opened halfway, brows rose ever so slightly. Eyes staring at his confidant-brimming smile while the golden sunlight enchants this moment with dusty particles that made this reality seem a cursed dream.

How Leigh wished to have a normal life right now, no sword, no killing, just have someone to fall onto. Hopes and dreams, man forbid.

.

.

.

She remembered Leo and Ray, how those two would play around and trust each other to the fullest.

Affection. Was that what Love was like? Trust. Was that.. "Love?", she thought. The fainting strength in her legs was rising up in her spirit again, stepping forward, and grabbing the blade with the whole of her hand. Her eyes told Walter her determination as blood flowed out of her fist, staining one spot of the blade with a fierce red. "I don't need anyone, but my friends.

And will find my mother- That's my goal.

There's no stopping me... and I won't doubt myself any longer, so stop fucking with me."

Walter's smile wasn't one of confidence alone, but one of cleverness as well. The actions were satisfactory, according to his previous planning. Was fate absolute? Were they only players in God's little world? Who was the one pulling the strings to let plans fall into places they should?

"Huh? Where'd you get those?", she released her hand from the sword as it went for the cold bottle of beer Walter held out to her. He drank first before voicing answers, she did the same. "Aghh, you should by now, know, that Will is the kind of power you'd want to master if you want to make it in this life. 'Your fantasy could make your reality'", he bumped his bottleneck against hers and they both drank, standing surrounded by the lights and greens. "What's that mean, you freaky wizard?" "My mentor used to tell me that.. but I'm no longer studying under him." "Mmm, I see-", she drank again. "The phrase tells you that you could make anything you want your reality." "Ha, like.. say, I want my mother to be right here, in front of me. Could I do that?" "If your Will is strong enough to overpower those Wills that captivate your mother in that HQ, then, aye."

She watched him drink, her golden eyes fixated on him, one gulp, another, then she scoffed.

"Tsk, whatever.., you got my back tomorrow?"

"'Can count on me, Leigh."

"Oh, no 'dearest' this time? Poor me, I'm startin' to feel lonely!"

"I do apologize, my dearest. Shall we return home for the luncheon surely awaits?"

"The what?"

"Food for the noon" No response. Your lunch.", he said with a straight face.

"OH, so you can speak normally, wow."

"You might wanna enjoy this as your last meal before warfare. There's going to be a good thousand brutes hunting down Leo whilst clashing against the World Military."

Leigh was silent and smiled in response. "Then, let's feast tonight, like we gonna die",

this time bumping her bottleneck against his, looking skyward. Another glimpse at the wonderful painting of lux. Leigh took a good liking to this garden, she liked it so much, in fact, she wanted to come back after tomorrow's battle, maybe move in with Walter-

He grabbed her hand again and held tightly onto it until they made it back. Those mixed feelings started rising up again in Leigh's head. Thankfully, the meal provided a nice distraction as now the feeling, or rather the urge to eat had become stronger than the that of affection.

As the average onlooker would presume a fine manor such as Walter's would feature a larger, elegantly decorated room solely for dining whose looks would be resembled in the served dishes themselves, they'd be correct. The aroma of fine wine, fried fish, freshly baked bread, dates and herbs, meat and stew- They were all collectively swirling around in the air between the two who were sitting next to each other at the table that stretched across the entire room, complimented by those playing the instruments of old, classical times. The table cloth was matching with the tapestry and the meal lasted from noon to evening, having turned into supper. The chink when they moved their glasses toward each other's was reappearing many times, as the servants brought more food and more wine. In between she would train swordplay and spar with him, or listen to him going on rambling about things he had read about she could not care less for. There truly were short times in which she had forgotten about her being a militant, times in which she felt 'normal'. But returning to the thought of battle and her sword didn't make her sad, nor the like. Contrary, she enjoyed her life and that's all there was to it. If that really had been her last meal, as Walter suggested, she wouldn't regret it, no. Why would she? Her friends were safe and sound after all; as was she.

"We're gonna win this, no matter what. I'll bet next life upon it!"

"Well spoken, Godsent. I shall see this trough the end myself, standing by your side!"

There it was again, this uneasy feeling of unrest of the inner spirit. He lit a cigarette, standing afore the impressive base that would be attacked tomorrow night. T'was white, housed in a plain green field and had heroic hedge trimmings which would resemble some of the most honoured soldiers of the WM. There were ones which depicted Leigh's father and the current leader himself, Atrox. There were many who aspired to make a name for themselves in this "Group of dogs.",

Daniel whispered as smoke emitted from his mouth. He leaned onto the building, observing those nameless 'dogs'. All of the same rank were dressed in the same uniform, but despite the difference in skill and rank, they were all collectively led by the old man who wanted his revenge against the Devil.

A loaded weapon would shoot at a target in the distance, after another weapon had shot.

Those soldiers were training,

trying to improve their aim for they already had been assigned their spot to stand on during the awaiting great battle. A darker green shade was the colour they were wearing, representing the weakest, and at the same time, the biggest unit of the WM. The ones that stood out a little more were the ones given the ocean blue uniform. And to achieve that rank one would have to proof themselves on the battlefield. To achieve something seen as significant by the superiors was the skill that lurked behind that colour. And finally, when talking about the ones at the top,

they would be recognized by the enemy faster than the other members of the WM: The pure white uniform. Atrox wore it, the colour matching to his short, aged hair, while Daniel declined on wearing his own white uniform and preferred his regular black suit. He was another one of the few that stuck out of the whole. He had a strong Will which almost none of the blue and green uniforms could ever achieve, even collectively.

"And that's the main problem, Sir. Sacrificial lambs, all 'o em"

"If they die, they die for a good cause, Daniel. They knew that already, however. It's not like they didn't know that, joining the World Military. We're not some childish scouts, this is real life",

a sharp look from Atrox to which Daniel let his smoke drop and vanish under his shoe. A twist to the left, right.

"Sir Atrox, you placed the green rank on the lowest storey- They will fall in less then ten minutes, being defenseless like-"

"No they won't. I put them one storey higher than the blues. The blue rank is on the lowest."

Daniel raised a brow. "Some of the blues have little Will, put them together, and they will add up to a strong one that can protect them, or, even better, you'll see: Cancel out some of the Wills of the brutes." "While the greens will shoot those down who had their Will evenly matched from above.",

his wrinkled index finger tapped against his head.

"How wicked.. I like it.", Daniel wasn't able to hold back how much he liked this idea.

"In addition to that, Daniel: We have you, a white rank, and Bruce."

"The other white rank? Never seen that guy, only heard of 'im."

"You might get to see him tomorrow in action. As for me weaponry, I only possess this rapier given to me by my late grandfather- the original founder of this organization. I've no Will myself, but the Will enchanted into this blade. It shall cut through tomorrow's enemies and protect the WM's name"

"Indeed, it shall", Daniel tipped the brim of his cap, "What about the blue-ranked girl?"

"Ahh, hahah, Marlena? She joined the WM with 18, and is now 20- Same as me, hehe- During those two years she acquired Will and specialised in controlling water.", the soldier in blue uniform said like words were read off of a document. Daniel's brows rose in astonishment.

"Alright, Billy-Boy, will ya get outta here", Atrox clapped against the soldier's helmet,

"Come on, now."

"One of your boys?"

"Aye, Billy's got his eye on Marlena-"

"Yea, I noticed that. Kinda unsettling that he so knowledgable about the one he fancies.

Let me guess,

too shy to shoot his shot?"

"As the young always are", Atrox said.

"So that's makes three white-ranked, three blue, because both of yer sons are blues, right?

Aaand the rest of the greens will cover our backs while we're fighting them head-on, correct, Sir?"

"Present will most likely be a lot of our targets from the Hunting List. If all goes well, we shall defeat them, as well as capture Satanael and have dominant control over the world."

"Just like the church, huh..",

thought Daniel and pushed himself away from the building's wall to look at its size. Rectangular- no, we should stop pretending and see shapes as they were, finally:

Aligned in the shape of a cross, there was a town house complex, consisting of the cantons and arsenal for weapons, dining halls and training grounds. On their flat roofs, massive cannons.

All houses were two storeys tall, so the changing of the layout hadn't affected the plan in any way. The fighting would now have to take place outside, on the ground, under the open sky and moon's skylight but that didn't matter too much.

Underground, underneath the houses there was a complex for prisoners for any kind, featuring as well, traitors such as Atrox' father himself. Having deserted his squad in the middle of warfare, going on to fake his death and start life anew with a new family, leaving behind his old one, he had been found by Atrox years later, when he was still a young soldier and no official.

Imprisoned by his own son. That rapier was also what helped Atrox in his feat against his father.

One slash against the father's body was enough to force him to stay alive, and stay silent forever,

forcing him to think about his actions and treason.

He was held in that prison for over 20 years now, along with battle-crazed people who attacked the bars of their cells in hopes of breaking out, again and again with no success. A loud, noisy, dark and disgusting place to live in, yet, in the eyes of the son, a befitting punishment for staining the name of the WM and betraying his family, and himself.

"Daniel?"

...

"Sir?"

A light silence between them befell.

"Let's eat. Ring the bell for me, will you? Gather everyone, please."

"Yes, Sir.", he stopped after taking one step.

"Daniel, should I- not make it, through this battle-"

"Sir, we will make it through this. There's no other option.", he cut his leader off.

Both exchanged smiles and went on, Atrox inside, Daniel onward to the bell.

Tonight, there was a feastful meal for everyone, who planned to join the great battle.

And it even might have been their last meal of their life.

Some will go to steal Leo's Will, some will go bounty-hunting, while others, our trio,

will go to make history. Our travelers had two main objectives: First, get back Leigh's mother, and second, to destroy the final layer of the faked reality that's been keeping many people apart from each other, or chaining them down to one place they cannot leave, like it was done with King Jack Roseblood.

"Whoever's keeping us in this cage, will get thrown into mine, HAH!"

"Captain!"

"Cheers!"

"Drink, you lonesome folk, tomorrow we'll bathe in the blood of our enemies!"

"CHEERS!"

"DRINK UP, LIKE TOMORROW'S YOUR LAST!"

"Boss, do you think this 'Walter Renwick' may have planned a hoax?"

"Don't think so."

*clicking of a gun*

"Even if this was a hoax, I think the people we observed who will be joining the raid, can bring us a pretty penny, if we shoot 'em down, no?"

"So it's a win-win, right?"

"It is, indeed. We'll operate as always."

*clicking of leather suitcase*

"Now, let's eat, team. We gotta turn in for tonight early as well,

if we want to be the first ones on the battlefield."

"Don't worry about the setup, Boss. Already been done, we just need to place them, and we'll track every movement of anyone of our targets."

"That's my girl. Here", He tossed a coin to her.

"Let's rock this baby up."

Dawn had occured at last, as everyone was eating and awaiting the coming of the new day, which would also be the last day of reality. A break, throughout lands, heavens and earths, and thy everything and nothing at once. A true magnificent wonder performed by the one abandoned by God-

"She still hasn't returned", Leo bit into a cracker,"You think she ditched us?"

Ray sat next to him in bed, got closer and rested his head on Leo's stomach:"No, I don't think so. I don't know.. she's could've fallen in love or something..", he snatched away the cracker before Leo could eat it entirely.

"Hmm. I thought Leigh already fell in love with her sword and killing people.."

"Well, that too, but you gotta remember: She's a teen like us, so I guess she'd start feeling something for people as well. That, aaand, she might have gotten a little jelly of us."

"Jelly?"

"Jealous.", Ray booped Leo's nose.

"That's not good, but what make me sadder is that she's not talking to us about it.

We're friends, after all.."

"It's just a theory, though. She could also have ditched us, of course, but I hope she didn't."

"Let's be confidant that we'll see her tomorrow at the WM HQ."

"The raid tomorrow..", the blonde spoke losing his thought of train by staring into the sweet magenta of the Leo's eyes. Enchanting him.

"Are you okay with it? Or do you want to stay here?"

Ray returned from his spacing out:"If you would have asked me that some weeks ago, I would have probably stayed at that corrupt church. But now, here in the present, I will go. I trust you more than anyone in my life, you're the one I will try to protect with my whole life, I love you", Ray suddenly pulled Leo down to him, giving him a big kiss which ended in both of them laughing.

Leo lay atop Ray, snuck his face against Ray's neck and closed his eyes. "How about you? How're you feeling about tomorrow?", Ray whispered. "As long as you're there, with me, I'll be fine, Ray...

I have everything I need right now.. We have Charles and Shanna looking after us, a friend who fights beside us and ourselves, someone who loves us for who we are. Did we win at life yet?",

Leo giggled. "It's about to get even better, your Majesty", Ray leg-locked Leo and turned to the side so that he would be sitting on top of the brunette,"We'll win freedom."

"And we'll be singing songs until midnight."

"How about a train that rides on the ocean's surface?"

"While singing?"

"Yes, and we'll travel toward far lands, exploring the truths of the world!"

"We could do anything- no. We will do anything!"

A night was the door to another day. There had been several words written for that day, however, was it fate alone, that was not absolute and thus, lying in your own hands. The ones understanding the concept of changing and creating, are the ones that will succeed into other realities, for there is an unlimited amount of Life and Death for the individual.

The ones, those who submit to the Will of others, are giving up their individuality and thence, too,

their Will of their own. In this world, there were people working for businesses, people who were going to educational facilities, ones that were chasing after money, ones that were forced to chase after it- And, there were the ones, who were defiant, rebelling against the Will of the established World which would soon encounter great change, be it good, be it bad. Those two sides were never separable from each other, like two sides of the same coin that clashed in the middle of them.

The headquarters of the WM were located in the North, the orchestrated rebels by Walter were coming from all directions of the compass rose. An event such as this had never occurred before,

you'd think the world was ending, and in a sense, it truly was rebirthing-

"Leigh, my dearest, wake up"

She awoke finding herself leaned against Walter's shoulder. They were in some sort of royally-designed carriage she quickly noticed by the fancy architecture. The rumbling and the flashing window's display indicated a change of scenery.

"My sword?", she asked to which Walter simply pointed at herself. Her sword hugged betwixt her arms ever since her unconsciousness. He gave her a kind smile: "You're so unlike yourself,

when you're sleeping." "Oh, fuck-", a short yawn, ..off", she sat upright,"What, do you talk all formally during your sleep, too?"

"Heavens, no."

"Well, I figured- Wait, it's dark out.. is it already time?",

she looked out the window fixing her clearer gaze.

"Indeed. The day of change has come, yet there is no one that knows what time it is."

"What're you talking about?"

"Remember the thousand raging brutes I spoke of yesterday in that pub? Well, if everyone's merrily barging in with their Wills-"

"It can fuck with the time like that?", again looking outside for confirmation.

Truly, it was night, day, morn', noon, and eve'. Carriage's rambling and the horses' gallop sounded alike a beating drum, announcing the coming of war, the laughter of some brutes joining in with their song while travelling to the North in which the soldiers of the WM were patiently awaiting their coming. Cannons and firearms loaded and ready to be emptied, reloaded. Above them,

a sky which had been a single, bright blue, were it not for the collide of Summer and Winter.

It was not even a single half that had been a darker shade of blue but several spots were fading into the brighter summer-day. If looked closely upon, the trained eye would spot fragments of the moon within those navy-blue freckles of the sky.

"WHAT NOW" "We have to report this immediately." "We- We just got new intel, Sir Atrox-"

"Easy, soldier, what is it. What happened?"

"Se- Several trains have been hijacked and destroyed, along with their designated railways!"

"Trains?", Atrox took a glass of water and handed it to the reporting soldier.

"And not just the trains, Sir. We got reports coming in, telling us of traffic accidents,

blackouts in cities-"

"Those folks are tryna impress us, huh?", Daniel tipped his cap to reveal his eyes which were able to see now, during this mess of times.

"Something like this could have been done by your Architects, vice-president Daniel."

"I knew he was his right-hand man, but did you know about his role, Bruce", Marlena whispered to him. Bruce simply shook his head, disagreeing, his arms folded, two katanas strapped on his left hip. His dark skin looked mighty under the split moon- and sunlight, the sheaths reflecting a deadly shine, unlike in his eyes which were closed. His meditation strengthened his Will, spirit and might.

Marlena tried meditating on his recommendation but failed utterly every time. She had an impatient character which she represented in battle as well. Her blue twin tails were standing out more than anything in the ground court. They carried the resemblance of water, alike her own eyes.

"You're correct, Sir, that, might have been something coming from us, back then."

Atrox gave him a punch against his shoulder: "Welcome again, to the just side."

Daniel looked up, and what he saw were but kinds of creatures flying,

the darker spots were getting bigger and bigger, overtaking the lighter blue colour.

Visual information interrupted by the big bang going off behind him.

AESTAS

Ending of: The Garden I live