Chapter 836: Golden Balance
"Cap!"
The voices all called out in unison, drowning out even the volume they had been arguing at before. And yet, Leonel didn't seem to hear them. His gaze was expressionlessly locked onto the items on the table.
The Segmented Cube. The blue veined mask. The talisman. The necklace.
His eyes almost carelessly swept through them all, his expression giving nothing away. Still, it was as though he was standing in a parallel dimension, a space he shared with the items on the table. He couldn't see, hear or even smell anything else. The floor beneath his feet might as well have been nothing but an endless void he was freefalling through.
The room fell into silence when they noticed the direction of Leonel's gaze. They all suddenly felt that it was ridiculous that they had been debating this topic for so long, only for Leonel to see through it all due to a slight carelessness.
They could have never expected that Leonel would suddenly appear in this fashion. Even if they had wanted to hide the items, they never had a chance to.
"Cap?"
Joel stood from his position, approaching Leonel.
None of them had ever seen Leonel get emotional. Even when he felt rage, he would instead enter a state of coldness that made even them uncomfortable.
These group of brothers had been together for more than ten years, not including the time they had spent apart. They had grown together… From the time they were five years old, putting on their first football pads, to the time they were all 17 year old seniors.
As long as they had played together, they had, of course, lost their fair share of games. However, not a single one of them could ever remember losing when Leonel got like this. It was as though they were all forced into a hyper tense state, their minds and bodies on full alert like they were awaiting orders.
Joel stood before Leonel, but the latter seemed to look right through him. It was the most uncomfortable Joel had ever felt in his lifetime.
Leonel didn't divert his gaze, he didn't crane his neck or tilt his head to the side. In fact, Joel felt as though a hole was being torn through his throat.
"Is that everything?" Leonel spoke.
His voice didn't seem to carry much hurt. In fact, it was quite soothing. It was the kind of voice one could listen to when falling asleep.
Leonel's voice wasn't normally like so. It wasn't too deep nor was it too high. It had a mellow, carefreeness to it that drew those around him in. But at this moment, the soothing nature masked a sort of coercion that demanded an answer… it was the kind of question anyone hearing it was compelled to answer, the kind of question they couldn't lie in answer of even if they tried.
"Yes, that's everything." Joel responded.
"I see."
Leonel fell into silence and the room followed suit. The eyes of all his teammates focused on him, worry marring their brows. However, none of them spoke a single word. They knew that at this moment, nothing would get through to Leonel as he stepped into his own world. It was just like it had been in the beginning. He wouldn't even be able to hear them.
And they were exactly right.
Within Leonel's Dream World, a Dream Clone of himself stood. Before this Dream Clone sat a golden balance. On one side of the balance, there was a near perfect replica of Aina but it was possible to see right through it. On the other, there was a perfect replica of Leonel that could also be seen right through.
Leonel's Dream Clone waved a hand. Replicas of the blue veined mask, the talisman, the necklace and the Segmented Cube manifested, falling onto Aina's side.
The golden balance shifted, falling heavily to one side. A booming noise reverberated through the white walls of the Dream World, sending wave after wave of trembling sounds in every which direction. However, Leonel's Dream Clone hardly reacted, even as the heart of Aina's replica fell.
Grasping at hair, the Dream Clone began to form motes of light. After each one of these motes was formed, they would gently float to the side of Leonel's replica.
Leonel grasped at air, forming another mote of light. Within, an image of him first meeting Aina played. One could see her short cut hair and shy smile.
Leonel lightly tossed it forward before forming another. Within this one you could find his first ever confession to Aina. One would have thought that her first reaction would have been that flustered runaway everyone had become used to. But, Leonel's recollection was different.
That day, she beamed a smile so bright it was etched onto his heart forever. It was only after that that she seemed to panic and run away…
Leonel tossed the mote of light forward. The balance shifted slightly, but it wasn't nearly enough to balance things once more.
One after another, the motes of light continued to build. Every memory, every emotion, every first time, every experience.
However, even after the last memory landed, the balance hadn't been balanced.
Leonel stood expressionlessly. There were no memories left. He had placed down everything from the seven years he had known Aina. Yet, all of it wasn't enough to outweigh those four items.
At that moment, it was almost as though scissors hovered above Leonel's heart, ready to snip at something that had been with him for what felt like a lifetime. However, just as the shimmering blades glistened, prepared to snap close, a memory hovered into Leonel's view, dancing upon the side of his replica.
It was an image of Leonel kneeling on all fours over Aina's body. The bottom of her legs had been blown off, charred beyond recognition. His own face was covered in soot and grime, rage painting his expression.
Without a word, Leonel's hand grasped at air once again. This time, it wasn't a memory that formed but rather an item. Compared to the other items, it was shabby and even cracked in multiple places. And yet, it weighed heavily in Leonel's hand.
It was a bracelet, a mere C-grade Treasure.
Leonel tossed it forward.
When it landed, the balance trembled, finally shifting until both platforms were perfectly level.