ᑭᖇᗴᑕIOᑌՏ

Hᴏɴᴇsᴛ

   -Be honest with me.

   It was so familiar, maybe in a creepy way. He wasn't sure. He had heard it before, but forgot where, and from who. They said it with the exact same tone.

   Then, he remembered.

   The forest! They always lived near a forest, which was really different then these kind of forests, there are in this country.

   Those trees were tall, and skinny, and had no branches. It looked impossible to him to climb them, but he tried. He just never had that strength to pull himself up, that boys his age had. Well, he still wasn't a weakling, but it made him feel insecure a lot of times through his life.

   He got used to it by now, and accepted it. "It is what it is."

   But, to be fair, he was a lot faster then kids his age, and knew how to hide like a master. You could guess where this came handy.

   -Be honest with me -a feminine voice said, making him confused at first.

   Leif haven't heard this voice in years, probably more than a decade. How would she be here?

   The human watched as the quiet dark room transformed into the familiar glade in the forest. He sniffed into the air, expecting that fresh, sweet scent of the forest.

   Reality then proved him wrong, as he smelled nothing. Eh, reality is often disappointing.

   But now that he knew he had a 'hallucination' kind of like thing, he had no interest in being there.

   Oh, such a shame he never learned how to leave. Even tough he had many hallucinations in the past, somehow leaving just didn't seem like a good option.

   He was just happy to see Orsa again, every time it happened.

   Well, now he had someone else to focus on, and he was probably demanding an answer for his acts at that moment.

  Leif had to leave immediately.

   -Why do you think our father is good? -curiousity rang in her soft, sweet voice.

   Orsa wasn't paying attention to him, but rather to the kid, next to her. The younger Leif, who just got to be eight.

   -'Cause he is! -the little boy screamed- You sound like those liars sometimes, Orsa.

   The girl was patient with him, trying to talk normally to the boy, but he just didn't listen. Leif stubbornly kept saying the same thing, covering his ears with his hands, just to prevent hearing the 'lies' of his father. 

   -Leif -she said a bit louder, placing her hands on the other's, and pulling them away from his head, slowly.

   The little boy let his hands fall to his side, and stared deeply into her gray eyes.

   The fact that she got a stubborn kid to listen, made Leif surprised.

   -You really love your father, don't you? -she asked with a smile, which rather looked forced.

   The boy nodded.

   "Stupid kid" -Leif thought.

   The hallucination was probably getting toward it's end, Leif guessed.

   "How will I explain to Y/n what just happened?"

   -Leif, I think Hont is ready with the cookies -she clicked her tongue- You should check on him, to make sure he didn't destroy them already.

   The boy nodded again, and ran towards north, where their old house sat in its pride.

   How long has it been that he set his feet in that cesspool? More than fifteen years, that's for sure. It wasn't safe to stay there, after the incident. And for a twelve years old who had a bounty on his head just for existing, the house was taboo. Just like stepping into the house with shoes on.

   -I see you have grown a lot, Leif -Orsa said, and turned towards him, making him jump back in shock- You've became such a handsome man.

   It didn't happen before. His eyes widened from the shock wave across his body. His heart beat to quicken, almost feeling like a mini heart attack in his chest. 

   "No --I..what?"

   Orsa giggled, stunning the slightly taller male.

   -It's a compliment, brother. You haven't got a compliment? -she asked with all seriousness.

   "No- no- I mean.."

   She cut him off with another sentence, silencing him.

   -Let me guess -Orsa paused for a second- You still believe alcohol can help you, am I right?

   He said -or thought- nothing. This was all just too much. He was over almost all the events taken place that day, and accepted her death, but this one-sided conversation made him feel empty, and vulnerable, just like in the old times whenever he mentioned her name.

   Why can't people just escape their past, and move on? Why do you need to live with it?

   -Wait, I was wrong. You have a..-her mind was puzzled, whatever was left of it- Lover!

   Unsure of what to do, he just nodded slowly, checking his right and left side, before doing so.

   -I knew it. You seem.. -she looked up, thinking of the good word- Happier. Much, much happier.

   The hallucination needed to end. No hallucination was this long, ever. Usually they were a few second long, memory like things, but this was madness. She wasn't here anymore, Orsa is six feet under the ground.

   "Can I..leave?"

   His throat became dry as a desert just by letting out a thought like this.

   -You got into trouble, huh? -she said, just like she could read his mind, and look into his memories.

   It clicked in his mind. This was probably some hardcore hallucination, since Orsa was in charge of it. So, he could only leave when she let him to. Such a shame he had no time for that.

   A smile plastered on her face and transformed into a smirk.

   Then, everything slowly faded, and he found himself on the bed of that guest room again. Candle light hit his face, and had to close his eyes for a couple of seconds, since it almost blinded him.

   -Leif, what happened? -Y/n asked worriedly which made his heart melt in happiness.

   Y/n was standing in front of him now, holding a candle-holder in one of his hands, and touching Leif's face with the other.

   The warm of his elf's hand didn't leave, he could still feel it even after hours.

   -Nothing --nothing -he said with more confidence the second time.

   The elf didn't seem to believe it, but accepted it.

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Words: 1064
2022. feb. 27.