"Arthur, why did'ya stop chasing me? And why are ya staring at that handsome blind man? Are ya in love?!"
Arthur ignored his sisters cheeky outburst behind him as his deep-oceanic eyes remained fixed at the receding figure, watching until his broad figure had disappeared entirely in the horizon.
'Does he know? And flame? What flame? ' His thoughts were a jumbled mess of what's and who's. Trying to figure out who exactly that man was.
Although he was forced to play tag earlier by his very hyperactive sister, he had always remained aware of his surroundings at all times. He had to, even if it is not needed at this current time. After all, it is due to it that he survived in the past, and it will remain to serve him well in the future, too.
A very, very near future.
Naturally, as a result of his caution, he already had noted the figure earlier in the distance, the cane, the body, the lightless grey eyes; a clear and cut blind man, he figured. Obviously, like his sister, he had noted the criminally handsome features of his impressive face and, unlike his sister, detected quite the good build underneath the outline of the man's expensive suit.
But that's it, that was all that man was and is, writing him off as a danger mentally.
At least, that's what he thought at the time.
Just as Arthur was about to catch his nimble, rat-like sister and end this childish game. He felt it, the gaze of someone, the instincts that he had built over the years telling him that he was being watched yet not at the same time.
It made Arthur feel weird, and for the very first time in his life, began doubting his instincts as he turned his head immediately to the source, slowing down significantly. Not minding that his sister took the opportunity to increase the distance between them.
There he saw the very same blind man that he wrote off mentally just 'watching' him with clear shock plastered on his face. His eyes were still lightless, Arthur was sure of it.
He knew that man was blind, but he still could feel those lifeless eyes directed on him, watching… yet, not, at the same time. A complex feeling of contrasting concepts that made him uncomfortable as Arthur remained under his watchful gaze.
He had never felt this before, not in his long life of existing. Hence, a burning question roared into place and seared into his mind.
Just how can he see him? And does he know?
He curiously observed the man's features changing, shifting from shock to awe before finally settling on a soft smile Arthur could only assume to be fulfillment or subtle happiness. He watched the man shot up, shouting about some ode and walking off with his stick, proof that he was in fact very much blind as the man briefly stumbled on a small rock he hadn't noticed before carrying off nonchalantly.
He hadn't even detected that Arthur was staring right back at him!
But, as if on cue, he was once again proven wrong. For just after several step, Arthur watched the blind man swivel around and stare directly towards his eyes. Whether it was intentional or not, he honestly couldn't tell.
The man brightly smiled - highlighting his handsome face to such an extent that Arthur believed many would be left wanting. His mouth moving while waving his hand politely.
Yeah… he could definitely see him.
Arthur could tell that the man wanted to say something, and with a mixture of curiosity and intrigue, he strained his ears and eyes to hear and see what the man tried to convey, but the wind and distance made it difficult to find the sentences, unfortunately picking out a few words. Before he could get closer and ask the man to repeat, he had already turned around and made his way down the path again, gliding along like he had won the jackpot.
'Thanks, Hero, Flame, and Resolve?' The few words that Arthur did manage to pick up only seek to push him further in confusion, giving him an utterly bewildering riddle he wasn't sure where to start.
Hence, within the present, Arthur's current befuddlement remained plastered in his face like hot glue. His mind a constant conflict of denial and askance of the same damn question he had asked himself from the beginning, 'Does he know?'
His own distracting thoughts making him entirely unaware of the red-headed danger creeping closer.
"Oi, are ya ignoring me again?!" Before Arthur could spiral further, a loud, familiar voice suddenly boomed right by his ear, promptly throwing him out of his thoughts like a wrench through glass.
"OUCH!" Arthur yelled painfully, holding his ringing ear as he took one step back, not frightened, as not many things could scare him, but was still somewhat angered as he turned towards the perpetrator. "Alice, what the hell?! Are you trying to pop my ear drums?!"
He grumbled as he glared at Alice's crimson iris that sparkle with mischievousness. Her fiery-red hair blowing against the wind like an eternal flame stead-fast against the elements. Twins of opposite color, staring at each other with contrasting moods.
He grumbled inwardly, often wandering how they were twins. They were barely alike! But alas, he found that fate always liked to play tricks, and going against it or with it is a whole different rabbit hole of philosophy and sophistry he didn't even want to think about.
Besides, he wasn't truly mad, he could never be towards his own sister…
…Doesn't mean he can't tell her off, though!
"Mom and Dad are waiting, idiot." Alice said, pointing at the the familiar figures waving at them in the distance, already stepping back slowly and grinning cheekily as if she sensed his thoughts. "Time to go home."
Before Arthur could open his mouth and admonish her for her antics, she had already turned around and childishly took off. Akin to a red cat whose tail was stepped on. He awkwardly stood there, his words hanging in his throat before he swallowed them back down, breathing a helpless sigh in their place whilst shaking his head.
Grumbling internally, Arthur stepped forward in measured and confident steps, following after her slowly; his aqua-blue hair blowing from the gentle wind that caressed him in what he falsely believed was in assurance, abating his worry to a certain extent. He couldn't help it as he stared at the jovial sight of his family, slowly reminiscing the past.
He had thought he had lost this, the right of ever seeing such a sight. Of holding and talking to his family dearly like this…
Hell, he could feel it even now, his heart racing in disbelief, his fingers constantly pinching his skin red discreetly underneath. Yet, only when he drew blood did he realize…
He had Transmigrated back, back in a distant past that he never thought he could be a part of again. It was something that should be celebrated, right?
Wrong.
Arthur grimaced, his hand clutching his heart, pausing his steps for a moment before he continued. He sighed, knowing that was a reminder of the pain he had felt in the past and perhaps be exposed to in this life again.
How could he forget it? The deaths of those who he was close with? The loss?
The tinge of grief ever-present like a parasite that constantly reminded him of his failures?
Arthur shook his head, instead choosing to survey the beauty around him, relaxing and cooling his thoughts down. Oh how he remembered this park, the way they had chased each other here in what he felt were a life time ago. He appreciated the verdant green plains before him, containing patches of vibrant flowers that gave off a pleasant scent, the sun, alive and bright, hanging gently on his skin refreshingly.
Was it always this pretty? Or maybe perhaps he never truly appreciated his surroundings like this before? Never actually seeing despite having eyes…
….And, inwardly, he wondered if that blind man saw it too. If at all.
Arthur glanced at his family in the distance, now much closer as he began making out his parents faces that he had long forgotten. Their familiarity now filling the blanks within his mind. His mother face was… gorgeous. Her being radiated with familiar and long cherished care.
He stared at her in a daze, watching her long ocean-blue hair blowing with the wind, her navy-blue eyes sparkling brilliantly with love as she stared back. He returned an equally bright smile, arrogantly remembering where he got his looks from.
Arthur's sharp eyes then shifted to his father next. He was much larger compared to their mother, sporting sharp, ruby-like eyes not unlike his sister, with a red slicked-back hairstyle that highlighted his stoicism and serious aura that he gave of. He too was staring back, though strangely Arthur could detect some concern within those eyes.
He huffed, content. Indeed, he had missed them.
So, so much.
Everything that went through his head seemed to have been long, but in fact only a few seconds went by. His sister not even reaching their parents despite running away desperately from him.
Oh, how his sister laughed naively without a care in the world, excitedly running about like a child in her youth.
… Although, she was, in fact, just a child.
Suddenly, a fond memory flashed by Arthur, causing him to chuckle. In anticipation, he gazed intently at his sister and…
Slip
Splat
As if on cue, Alice slipped on a patch of wet grass just before reaching their mothers arms, face-planting into the ground. Mud covering her face and pretty-rose ornate dress.
Just as he remembered it.
Her tears started to well up, the water from her eyes trailing a path down the mud on her face that made it even more comical. Their parents immediately began comforting her, using napkins to clean her up. However, that wasn't what bothered Alice's as her round teary eyes shot back at Arthur, praying futilely that he hadn't seen it…
But to her dismay, she saw him returning the gaze, sensing his amusement from his wide grin plastered on his face.
To say that she cried harder was an understatement.
Arthur shook his head helplessly, shrugging off the nasty look his parents gave him. Instead, his gaze went back to that path in thought, the very same one that strange blind man took.
Everything was the same but that man, perhaps he was there before, perhaps not. Memories were truly fickle, and there is no way he would remember everything. This chance encounter only pushed that belief home as he was more certain than before.
He summarized to never take anything for granted, that constants were only in place when anomalies didn't exist. The sole exceptions out of place within the world.
And he was under no illusion that he wasn't an exception!
Already, on the moment of Arthur's Transmigration, the metaphorical flap of the butterfly made a very interesting man's behavior change, interacting with him in an unforeseen stage he possibly couldn't understand.
And he intrinsically knew this will not be the last, that he is certain. Indeed, he will continue to make choices that will change the future, knowing that new obstacles will form, replacing previous ones he had once conquered long before…
'But, so what?' Arthur scoffed inwardly, his eyes shining brilliantly as determination rose within him. A change occurring within that went completely unnoticed by the person in question as he looked back to his family with purpose. 'When was I ever afraid of the future? When did I ever shrink back at a challenge?'
If Sylvester was still around to see the scene, he would've been left dumbfounded and perhaps faint in shock. For within the Soul of Arthur, his flame rippled for a moment then immediately began shining brighter than ever before, outshining any other soul he would've possibly seen.
It shined brighter and brighter, akin to a sun. Pulsing magnificently bright until a piece of the golden flame separated soundlessly, shrinking his soul noticeably as the light itself waned but still remained bright, holding steadfast. Without missing a beat, the separated segment began morphing, changing from the usual ever-present color of gold into…
An azure flame.
Arthur clutched his fists tightly, whites covering his knuckles. This encounter only made him more sure of his resolve. This time, this life…
It'll be different.
The blue flame within squirmed for a moment before extending around his Soul, enveloping around the golden flame of his Soul into a ring of azure flame. Revolving around it with an ever-increasing pace for seemingly no rhyme or reason.
Arthur closed his eyes, his breathe steady as he tuned out his surroundings. Not realizing he had entered into some form of a meditative enlightenment.
This time, he will never repeat the mistakes of the past.
To stay true to his goals, and finally set things right once again!
The azure ring morphed at each realization, forming strange, archaic runes that shift endlessly. Never staying the same in rapid flashes of complexity.
To protect the weak.
To remain steadfast against those who seek to harm his loved ones and the innocent.
To be the Bastion he once was!
The flames of his Soul smoldered intensely, roaring out with each thought, each Law shackled onto himself without hesitation as the runes flashed faster and faster, a blur of pulsing blue.
He could've done without, a new life without following the rules of his past…
However, since when had he been so weak? To disregard the sole reason of his existence like a coward when given the chance in this new life?
Nay.
Arthur may have suffered, may have been betrayed, stabbed in the back, beaten.
Burnt, bitten, tortured, and poisoned.
But he never strayed, never went against his nature. Never against his true calling! Not in the past and certainly not in this current future!
For he is Arthur! Bastion of Humanity! Guardian of the People!
For that is his Purpose!
For that is his Resolve!
His Eternal Oath!
The shine from both ring and soul pulsed at the reaffirmation of his Oath. Reborn in this world once again. The azure ring slowing into a more measured pace while the glow of his Soul returning to normal, though shining much more brightly than when Sylvester first saw it, as if the missing piece was finally in place.
The runes settled, no longer shifting rapidly but occasionally, as if low on energy. It revolved around the soul still, an azure ring of flaming runes that flowed warmly in tangent with the golden flame. Intersecting with one another like lost lovers.
Obviously, all gone unnoticed by the person who had been the catalyst of the change.
Arthur slowly opened his eyes, his family starting at him weirdly.
"What? We're ya sleeping or something?" Alice mocked, the mud still sticking to her dress like glue.
"Do you need a doctor, Arthur?" His mother chimed worriedly, whilst his father looked at him with concern, not saying a word.
"No, it's fine." Arthur smiled, assuring them nothing is wrong. Feeling more energized than ever before. "Just was thinking a bit, is all. Let's go?"
They eyed him suspiciously, looking directly at his deep-blue eyes that seemed more… bright, magnetizing even. Almost glowing. They wanted to ask him more questions until, suddenly…
BOOM
A huge boom echoed in the distance, causing all but one to flinch. They turned their gazes towards the source, seeing plumes of smoke rising way above the tree line in what seemed to be an explosion. Without a word, their father hoisted them up effortlessly like small baggage and ran the opposite direction, their mother following closely behind with a serious look.
Arthur didn't fight his father's strong grip, staying completely still like a tree log held by a lumberjack. He glanced at his frightened sister for a moment before calmly locking his gaze at the large cloud of smoke. Remembering this scene quite vividly, a freak accident he recalled.
Everything was as he remembered… except for one thing. One person he was more consciously aware of than his past was.
The blind man. That was the direction he had gone to…
Arthur furrowed his brows, he had indeed wondered why he probably didn't meet such an interesting man before in his past life. And perhaps now he had found the reason.
He could only sigh and let out a small prayer, whispering to himself amidst the loud rumbles and rushing wind.
"If you're alive, blind man, I hope to meet you again..."
"After the Great Synchronization."