Lacrimosa

Some say nothing ever happens at night. Naturally, they don't know anything about the night life. It's not as dangerous as one might seem, contrary to what other believe. The night is buzzing with all kinds of wonderful activities to be done to ease one's self after a long day of working. It's another story entirely being out at night being stranded in a forest with the eerie feeling that someone is watching you, its animosity driving one to insanity.

A cold breeze sweeps across the moonlit city of the Neutral Grounds, enough to chill one down to its spine. A little too cold, unlike any other night. It doesn't seem to be snowing any time soon. The warm atmosphere of the shopping district invites anyone and warm up in a cold night.

Red's been pondering about what had transpired for the past few jobs he was on. Firstly, he met a man whose face is strikingly similar to his albeit with a long auburn curly hair with purple eyes. He introduced himself as the rune knight and his assumed sibling. Secondly, he met another man who also looks like him but with shorter auburn brown hair and green eyes, accompanied by a small cheery elf with radiant orange hair and orange starry eyes.

They all called him Michael.

Michael... it does sound like a fitting name for him. He only addressed himself as red because an individual called him that. How he got his moniker is lost within the passage of time, and the name Red has been stuck with him since. If what is his brothers says his name is Michael, it must be his real name. Then again, there's also the issue of having no recollections of his past and his paranoia.

Michael has been pondering a bit too much for the past few days. He's recently enjoying his downtime after what transpired back in the tombs. To think Ozwald would be able to wield a powerful magic... one that could turn back time. Perhaps his magic is the key to unlocking the mysteries of his past.

Feeling tired, he prepares himself to bed when there was a knock on the door in the middle of the night. Strange. He isn't expecting any visitor, nor would he know of his siblings' visits. then again, they are too rich to come and sleep on his humble abode and just rent out a hotel. Perhaps there is an emergency that requires his services?

Shrugging off the thoughts, he leaves his bedroom to his front door and opened it. What greets him is a mailman carrying a parcel. Strange. He does not recall ordering something nor does he know anyone who would be sending him a package, most especially in the middle of the night. 

The mailman standing in front of him looks... the same as him. He also has an auburn brown hair, albeit a little messy, with sullen blue eyes. He looks a little chubbier than him and is wearing his uniform all messy. Looking at him differently, you'd think him to be one of those depressed types.

"Delivery for..." when the two met eye contact, the mailman's eyes widened at the sight of him. "M-Michael?" the man said, his eyes watering and his expression in shock at the sight of him, as if he was back from the grave. Michael just silently stared at him, not knowing what to do other than wait for what happens next. The man dropped the parcel and lunged himself towards him. He hugged him. Tightly. Stifled sobs turned to crying. Not knowing how to react, he gently stroked his head to calm him down.

Great. Another one of his siblings. Is there no end to them?

After seconds of processing what just happened, another wave of confusion hits him. A total stranger invaded his private space and hugged him. The man who claims to be his brother does not seem to be threatening, gods forbid what he'd do if he were. What should he do at this point? Should he reciprocate by locking him in an embrace or should he pull him away?

Nope. He's hugging too tight.

Instinctively, he hugs him back and brushing his hair. He does not know why, but he does know that, from the flashes of memories of him and Ozwald, one of them looks like him, no, it is him. The sullen child who would often cry on the tiniest of things and making mountains out of a molehill. Heavens forbid if one tries to lay a finger on the innocent child. His eyes looked serene and pure, as innocent as a baby.

Michael decided to break up this 'tearful reunion' because people might be staring. That, and the hug is getting tighter. "Excuse me... who are you?" And with that, the stranger loosened his tight embrace and let go. "Don't you recognize your own brother? It's me... Olaf."

By now, they've been by his doorstep for about a couple of minutes. Though they're inside, it's a bit drafty. "Sorry, I don't recognize you. How about you come in and warm up a bit?" Olaf exhumes a disappointed sigh, and smiles as he is invited in towards his sibling's abode. "Okay..."

It is surprising that, for one who lives alone, Michael is able to take care of himself pretty well. He has a couple of magical contraptions he uses to help clean the house while he's away. For now they're inactive. As for his cooking skills, he not only knows how to cook, but he also knows how to prepare meals which are balanced in nutrition. An ideal boyfriend, perhaps for those ladies who would want to have a house husband later on.

Olaf looked famished from coming over to his aparment. Or rather, he doesn't look like he's eaten anything. He doesn't know a single thing about him. What he does know is he needs something to eat, and on he goes to the kitchen with Olaf sitting by the counter.

A few minutes of silence later, Olaf decides to break it. "So... why don't you know me?" he asked, eager for an explanation from his brother who, to his knowledge, was dead, and probably the reason he looks so messed up. "I have the faintest clue of who I was. I'm not entirely sure why I lost my memories. However, when I met Francois, Ozwald, and Cinna... I started to remember."

"Oh." Olaf says, seemingly none too satisfied from the answer he received. He remembers the package. "Aren't you going to open the package?" he asks, probably a stupid question considering Michael is doing something else. "I can't until I finish cooking you a meal." Olaf perks up a bit seeing his brother concerned for him. "Will you be eating with me?"

"Sadly, I already ate."

While Olaf is busy eating through the meal he prepared, Michael picked up the package his brother delivered to him. On it contains his name. His real name - Michael Brooklyn Morgan. Curious, and perplexing. Only the letters 'SM' were written on it as the sender, or perhaps it's different? Nothing's too certain, but what is all too certain is the mystery package did not get delivered to him by a random individual. No, it knows his name, and perhaps knows even more about him than he ever knew. Whatever the package contains, Michael has a bad feeling about it.

Opening the package, the box contains what looks like leather bound journal and what looks like a voice recorder lacrima. This is all too disturbing, with blood smeared all over the two objects. It may have been sent to him on purpose, he thought. A sudden wave of paranoia kicks in. He needs to know who sent these. Immediately.

"So... what have you been doing lately?" Olaf speaks out to break the uncomfortable silence as Michael's all too focused on the two blood soaked items. Deep in thought, he never heard his sibling's words until he snapped out of his deep thoughts. "Work." He sighs, seemingly all too stressed, "And don't you have to go home at this hour? It's pretty dangerous to be going out late at night."

"Our house is... too far away... won't you come home with me? Go back home with me?" Olaf says, expecting his brother to say 'Yes, I will go home'. Which isn't going to happen. "I can't say I know for sure what will be waiting for me when we do. This is my home. I can't just leave it as is." He replies, and Olaf doesn't seem to take it too well. "Oh."

Back to the topic of the packages, he's been curious about one thing. Olaf, his brother, or presumably his brother, sent this package to him in the middle of the night. "By the way, who sent this package?" Olaf shrugs at the question, who doesn't seem to know who even sent it to him in the first place. "I never really checked who the package is for... some man gave this to me and told me to deliver it here."

"Does he have a name? Does he frequently send packages to other people?" Michael asks more, wanting to know more about this mysterious individual. "I... wouldn't know. I got fired today."

Incredible. This will make it alot harder to track down the sender. However, on the off chance that it was sent to him on purpose, maybe he should take a gander at the contents?

Poring over the contents of the bloodied journal and lacrima, it just raises even more questions. None of the contents answered the questions he was asking himself with when he received the mysterious package. Part of him need to leave to the Spooky Forest now, but it's wiser to go during the day. Then there's the issue of his sibling staying in this house.

"Do you have anywhere to sleep in? In the Neutral Grounds, I mean." He asks, and Olaf answers by shaking his head. He doesn't have a home in the Neutral Grounds. Looking at him now, he looks like his life is alot messier compared to him. How many times has he screwed up in his job that ended him fired? Why isn't he staying at their home?

"I wanted to be... independent. Just... 1 week goes by and everything is a mess." Olaf is about to burst into tears when Michael instinctively walked towards him and gave him a hug, as if a big brother was trying to comfort his younger sibling. He has a feeling that he's done this alot of times in the past. Recalling the memories he had with his brother, he did see himself comfort a sullen child with sky blue eyes. Yes, this must be it.

The boy looked tired. A little too weary for the night. "Why don't you get some sleep? You look tired." And with that, he led his tired sibling to his bedroom and left him to rest.

Meanwhile, at the common room, he's still poring over the notes and the recordings in the lacrima, getting every detail recorded through his database exactly as it is without missing any details. Going over the notes, his journey towards the spooky forest will prove to be perilous. However, leaving his questions unanswered doesn't sit too well with him. Tiring himself out, he finally turns to sleep on the couch and readied himself for tomorrow's journey.

[ Word Count - 1917 / 1500 ]

A new day dawns on the Neutral Grounds. Dark clouds cover the sky and threatens to rain on the land. Michael wakes up and prepares himself for his journey towards the spooky forest. He commanded his household electronics to take care of the house while he's away. Before he left, he also left a note on his bedroom's nightstand for Olaf. Having contacted Ozwald prior to his departure to fetch their sibling, he sets forth to the spooky forest to seek answers.

At the edge of the forest, a dark eerie mist permeates the forest grounds. No signs of life could be seen inside the forest, even so if one would delve deep into the forest. Then again, it's called the Spooky Forest for a reason. Just as Michael stepped forward into the mist, he felt a slight paranoia take over him. "No...! don't enter..." A voice in his mind cries out. It sounded as if multiple voices could be heard, each from different creatures. He shrugged it off as just his imagination and proceeded to delve into the mist.

Walking through the woods, nothing out of the ordinary seem to be happening right now. The mist is not that thick that he can't see through his surroundings. Keeping himself alert, he uses his HeXcry to locate any creatures within the area, just to be sure. Curious, no signs of life could be detected in his live feed, none other than himself. Hopefully, he won't have to last too long in these woods.

Suddenly, he hears footsteps. He turns towards the source of the sound, and looking at his HeXcry, there are no other creatures that are detected save for himself. He's trying to steel his resolve and shrug off any signs of paranoia he is having, and the regret of entering a suspicious forest with a suspicious mist. He pulls out his pistol, ready to fire against any hostile entities there may be.

He walkes deeper into the woods when out of the blue, a branch falls down on top of him. Thankfully, it missed him by just a few inches. He gets even more paranoid, but not enough to push him to the brink of insanity. Taking heavy breathes, he calms himself down and resumes his trek. At the back of his mind, he's thinking that... maybe looking for the answers was a mistake. There's no point backing out now, not when he's already deep inside the forest.

Seconds turn to minutes and minutes turn to hours, Michael keeps wandering around the forest to search for clues to the answers he seeks. The occasional footsteps could be heard, and just as before, there are no signs of other creatures within his area, not according to the live feed. Time flies by as the sun begins its descent and the moon rises. Part of him thinks it's best to fall back and try again another day, and part of him wishes to continue looking for any clues that will help.

A sudden chill down his spine could be felt and he has an unmistakable feeling of being watched. Just as quickly he is to face towards the the direction of where he thought a creature was, he fired a few shots from his pistols. This paranoia is unmistakable. Perhaps, the mist has something to do with his psyche. It's most likely this is no ordinary mist, as if he was spirited away to another realm.

Looking at his HeXcry once more, there are no detected creatures still. His magic must be playing with his mind. That was, until it displayed a faint dot just behind one of the trees. Another wave of paranoia hits him. Not only that, he sensed animosity against him. Hostility. He has an unmistakable feeling that this creature intends to kill him outright. He also sensed incredible magic power from it, and just being in its presence is enough for him to lose his composure.

He has to run.

Fortunately, he only needs to run back towards where he came from, and the creature isn't blocking him in anyway. Before dashing away, he fired off several shots from his pistols, some of which hit it. His fear has prevented him from landing in perfectly aimed shots.

A branch falls just in front him, threatening to kill him out right, and stopped him right in his tracks. He looks behind him. The creature is catching up to him, and with every waking second, the creature gets closer and closer to him. He fires off more shots from his pistols, none able to land any hit. He starts to sprint once more, and the creature finally had enough and lunged towards him, it claws threatening to rip his arm off. Fortunately, he managed to get away with just a scratch, but not so fortunate now that he tripped and fell on the cold hard ground.

The stalker was close to him. It would seem he has no choice but to vanquish the beast that's been trying to kill him. Mustering the courage for him to fight, he fires off an explosive round against it. As it hits the ground, missing, the smoke from the explosion was enough to keep the creature's eyes off him as he manages to fire several shots from his pistol, most of which managed to hit it.

The creature threatens to lunge forth once more and tear off his limb with its sharp claws, only for him to manage to dodge out of the way. It would seem the best course of action as of the moment is to keep his distance away from it.

Blow after blow, the beast was unrelenting and resilient. As the creature squeals in pain and cries out in rage, it lunges towards him one last time just to hit this one attack that will result in his demise. Though afraid, Michael still has far more experience in combat. Nearing him, he aims his pistol at the creature's head, and fires one shot. As it pierces through the head, the creature dissipates. It's gone, vanquished perhaps.

However, he has the lingering feeling the creature is not gone.

As the stalker disappears into nothingness, it dropped a few parchments of paper. Upon closer inspection, they looked like the ripped pages from the journal he read. He was wondering where the rest of the pages were, and it's right over here. This will perhaps answer his questions but for now, he must return home.

Night falls on the Neutral Grounds as he arrives him scarred and bruised from his recent encounter with a very hostile creature. There are no signs of his brother Olaf inside his home, but he did see a piece of paper. He opens it up to find a note from his brother. It only read 'Thank you. Please take care and get home soon. I can't believe you're still alive. I hope we will see each other soon.'

Too tired to examine the notes, he falls asleep on his bed to recuperate from his recent endeavor.

[ Word Count - 3098 / 1500 ]