Leo jolted awake, drenched in sweat. His mind spun with panic. Was it a dream? Reality? Or is something caught between the two? Whatever it was, he knew it was far from normal.
"Hey! Are you alright?!" Leon's voice cut through the haze, worry evident from his tone. His eyes bore into Leo, filled with urgency. "I've been shaking you for ages! You wouldn't wake up!"
Leo's chest heaved as though he'd just run. "W-what happened? Am I back?!" His voice cracked, trembling as much as his hands.
"Hey, are you sure you're okay?" Leon asked. Leo's gaze darted around the room, wild and frantic. He threw off the blankets and staggered to the window.
As he threw the window open, the biting cold of the wind swept into the room and he saw the starry sky full of sparkling stars. "I-I'm back," he murmured, slumping down.
"I should call the maids," Leon said, already moving towards the door.
Leo caught his arm, his grip firm despite his trembling. "No, no, it's okay, I'm fine now," he said, wearily.
Leon reached for a glass of water and gave it to Leo. It was the first time he saw him frantic, which made him worry to no end. Despite the earlier fight, and all he said, he still cared for his only brother.
"Take it easy," he urged, his voice softer now. "Was it a nightmare?"
"I wish it was..." Leo murmured.
Leon frowned. "What do you mean by that?" he asked with concern.
Leo didn't answer right away, instead, he covered his face with both hands before raking his hands through his hair. "It was surreal, I can't explain what it is but..." he finally said, his voice barely a whisper. "Dead bodies everywhere... they chased me. It was..."
Leon studied his brother carefully, his brows furrowed. "I think you need some time off, Lord Capitano said that sometimes you dream of things that you read, maybe stop reading those horror stories and you'll stop having nightmares."
Leo looked at him distantly. "I don't even read those kinds of books," he murmured, his frustration barely contained.
Leon, noticing the tension still clinging to Leo, offered a small, awkward smile. "Well... I'm hungry. Want to go grab some snacks?" He moved toward the door, trying to lighten the mood.
Leon paused, his hand hovering over the door handle. "Well, if you're up for it... I know it's late, but... if we're not caught, it's not bad, right?" He tried to grin, though it faltered slightly, his concern still evident.
Leo's lips twitched, but he didn't return the smile. "Fine, but if we're caught, I'm blaming you," he muttered with a sigh.
The twins made their way to the kitchen, the lamp casting a soft glow as they searched for something to eat. In the oven, they found the baked cookies—leftover from earlier that afternoon.
"Guess this will do," Leo said.
They traveled back to their room and snuffed out the life of the lamp, leaving only the moonlight as their only source of light, and snacked on the few cookies they found in silence.
Leon's eyes drift away from Leo, his guilt gnawing away from their earlier fight. He knew what he said was uncalled for and irrational. As they ate, he finally found the courage to speak. "Um, Leo?"
"Hmm?"
He opened his mouth, words failed him for a moment before he finally blurted, "I'm sorry about earlier... I didn't think before I spoke."
Leo paused, sighing as he met his brother's gaze. "I'm sorry too," he said quietly, his tone heavy with sincerity.
"I always say things before thinking it over, sorry" Leon admitted.
Leo casted a knowing smile, "I know," his hands caressed his head. "My little brother just can't wait to blurt out things."
Leon's brows furrowed, slightly offended by his remark. "Hey! I'm not the little brother!"
Leo smiled. "Sure lil bro, whatever you say,"
"I'm not the little brother!"
Leo looked at him affectionately as he ran his hand on his head, caressing it softly. "Sure, sure,"
The two returned to bed after finishing the snacks. Leo let out a heavy sigh as he settled into the bed, anxiety still lingering as he feared being drawn back to that place. With a sense of frustration, he closed his eyes.
Not soon after, he heard a rustling noise by his side. He jolted up as panic surged within him, his fists ready to strike anything that came close.
What greeted him was Leon, restlessly rolling in his bed as he tried to find the best position possible. A tired laugh escaped his mouth as he berated himself. I'm going paranoid... haha...
Leon stuck his head out from the blanket as he looked at Leo with questioning eyes. "What are you doing? Why are you posing like that?"
"Nothing..." Leo flatly replied.
Time passed as Leo tried to go back to sleep, but he was too scared to wake up in that place. This isn't going to work.
He bolted up and stared at the sky outside the window and tried to occupy his mind with other things. Suddenly, Leon bolted up, his face showing frustratio. They looked at each other dumbfounded.
"Why are you still awake?" Leo asked.
"Why are YOU still awake?" Leon responded.
"..."
"..."
Leo sighed as he suggested. "Wanna talk? We won't fall asleep anyway,"
"Sure," Leon replied. "what do you wanna talk about?"
Leo pondered in silence. After a while, he asked curiously. "How was your training?"
Leon's brows furrowed. "You asked this before..."
Realization hit Leo, and he added innocently. "But I want the specifics,"
"What are specifics?" Leon asked, genuine curiosity laced in his voice.
"..." Leo heaved a sigh as he explained what it meant. "It's the details of your training, from the time you got there, to the time when you got back. I want to hear everything."
"Oh! Then let's see..." Leon pondered for a while, trying to remember. "So, let's start when I first got there, so when I..."
A dozen minutes passed as he recalled the details of his training. The time when he first got there, his first duel with Capitano and the people under him, how he lost horribly, and the effort he's made in his training.
"Wait, wait, wait," Leo interrupted. "how did you get hurt by a geo vision holder?"
"Well..." Leon trailed off as he avoided his gaze. "remember that I don't get affected by elements?"
"Yeah?" Leo curiously replied.
"Well, that's not the real case," Leon said as he scratched his cheeks.
"What do you mean?" Leo pressed.
Leon groaned in frustration. "So... it's like this," he explained. "there are some elements that I'm immune to, or so they say. And there are some situations where I'm immune to most, and sometimes I'm not."
Leo raised an eyebrow, confusion evident on his face. "You're making no sense,"
"It's hard to explain," Leon, with his limited vocabulary and little to no knowledge of elements, struggled.
"I'm immune to pyro, wind... uh," he tried to explain one more. Leo on the side frowned with impatience. "oh! Right! Lightning! And the rest depends on the situation."
How does that work? Maybe it's because they're solid material? But then he said depends on the situation.
"So you're saying, that you're immune to pyro, electro, and anemo right?"
Leon answered enthusiastically. "Yes! Yes! Those are what they're called, yeah."
"So then, how is the others situational?"
Leon groaned and said. "So like, when they create rocks right? And then they throw it at me, I will get hurt, but when they try to put me inside one, it won't."
Leo's eyes widened, and a sudden realization hit him. "Wait, I think I get it."
So, if I go by what he said, then anything, "elemental" or things that we can't touch? He is immune to it, but things that are already manifested will hurt him?
"So, if for example, you're imprisoned on a water bubble, you won't get affected right?"
"That sounds scary," Leon mused.
"Answer my question!" Leo urged.
"Geez! Okay, okay, I'll answer it. So if like that then... yeah I think I won't get affected."
Leo held his shoulders and looked at him intently. "What if they drown you in the lake, control the water so that you can't swim to the surface, would that kill you?"
Leon raised an eyebrow but answered anyway. "Of course, anyone would die from that."
"Then by what you say, what if someone with an Anemo vision takes all the air around you, would you still be able to breathe?"
Leon pondered for a while, his face slowly turned pale as he imagined. "Yeah... I think that would kill me..." he looked at Leo with fear in his eyes. "are you trying to kill me?"
"What?! No, I'm just asking, that's all."
Leon slowly backed off from Leo as he looked behind to where his sword was placed.
"Hey! I'm seriously not trying to kill you!" Leo pleaded. "Listen to me, I'm just doing research, yeah, research.
Leo watched as Leon continued to back away from him. Fuck, what I said made it worse.
"I'll give you part of the food tomorrow, believe me, I'm not trying to kill you!" he bargained.
Leon's eyes gleamed with excitement, as if the fearfull face from earlier never existed. "Deal! No going back!" He then rushed to his bed and covered himself in a blanket. "Goodnight!"
Leo remained dumbstruck. The instant switch in attitude was so abrupt that it left him speechless. He let out an exasperated sigh, shaking his head as he mumbled, "Did I just get scammed?"
Grumbling, he took his blanket and covered himself with it, his mind still occupied with how devious his brother was, and the new knowledge he's gotten. Minutes later, his eyes grew heavy, as he succumbed to the sweet embrace of slumber.
***
A/N: Made an auxiliary chapter, I recommend to read that.