space dust

Day Three:

Their trek through the forest to the house had brought them briefly through a limestone canyon. Leo recalled being awed not only by its splendor, but by the stillness along that trail. His interview with Vincent had paused, their voices reduced to hushed whispers while they passed through.

Now, Leo stands in the depths of that canyon. His shouting, screaming, and begging echo off those massive stone walls, building into a cacophony that leaves the canyon feeling eerie as stillness seeps in once again.

As they hike back, Leo decides he really hates the outdoors.

Day Four:

Leo wakes to an awful, raw burning in his throat.

Vincent is terrible at making tea.

Really. What kind of lazy, spoiled rat can't make tea?

Day Six:

"A mirror could work," Vincent suggests. "Black mirrors are used for Pandora's Carceres because it imitates the Abyss. I don't know if there's a way to create something like that, but any old mirror could work.... Maybe?"

imitates the Abyss, huh?

if it's a mirror anyway--

Leo stands suddenly and marches into the bathroom. As he slams one palm down on the counter, he uses the other to push back his bangs. The counter presses into his gut as he locks eyes with the person he hates the very most in that moment. Forcing himself to look past the dancing lights, deep into the shifting clouds of violet and indigo, he screams its name until he's spitting out blood.

Day Eight:

His throat hurts again.

He doesn't feel like eating.

Day Nine:

He hits Vincent a little harder than he means to. For just a second, he sees that same hateful, ice cold look in those red and gold eyes and thinks

do it. please.

But once the brief flash of malice passes, Vincent just smiles that fake, digusting smile.

Leo hits him again.

Day Ten:

Leo braces himself against the bathroom counter, blood dripping from his knuckles. He sobs as the shame of his latest impulsive mistake sets in.

The shards of his hopes crunch under his feet along with the shattered mirror.

Day Eleven:

He doesn't get out of bed.

Day Thirteen:

Christmas Day. A fact the two realize with heavy hearts. Though the holiday had never really meant much to either of them before, it still stings to realize.

Would Elliot get to have a nice evening with his family, at least?

Leo sits in the window sill, watching snow fall outside. They had decided not to try today. To take it easy. Leo's voice is still hoarse, anyway.

There's a quiet knock on the doorway behind him, and Leo slowly turns just enough to see Vincent holding a bottle of brown liquor.

"It's a holiday, we might as well have a toast," he offers. When Leo doesn't respond, he tries again. "A little whiskey can soothe the throat, you know."

After a moment, Leo sighs and rolls out of his seat in the window.

Leo looks suspiciously at the glass in his hand while Vincent gets a fire going. "I wouldn't poison you," Vincent chuckles, moving to join the other on the couch. Surprisingly, he chooses a spot a respectful distance from the other man.

And so, with a little help from the bottle, the two begin to talk about the things they could never tell anyone else in their lives.

Most of Leo's story is out there already. The lights, the whispers, his mother, and that orphanage. As he talks about that rainy day, when those kids had wandered into the crater and he had made the fateful decision to prolong Elliot's life against his own knowledge, Leo begins to cry.

It's an annoying sound, that makes Vincent finish off his drink.

He wants to excuse himself. He's never known what to do when someone else cries. It always makes him want to torture someone, to give them something to really cry about.

Instead, he pours another as he begins to talk as well. By the time he realizes, it's too late.

He'a already telling Leo about his life before, over one hundred years ago. How he and Gilbert had been abandoned by their parents and ostracized from society, stealing and humiliating themselves to survive. All because of Vincent's damn red eye. A Child of Misfortune, he had been dubbed.

It was all his fault that Gilbert had suffered.

It was all his fault that they had gone to live at the Baskerville estate.

So, it was all his fault that Gilbert had been chosen as the next Glen.

And it was all his fault that the Abyss opened up its great maw and swallowed the city of Sablier, too.

"unbelievable," Leo utters quietly. "you're just like me."

"your very existence hurt the person you love most."

Vincent wears an unusually vulnerable expression as he turns a puzzledd look toward his sworn master.

In that moment, Vincent isn't sure what he's feeling.

"is that why you want me to erase your existence?" Leo asks.

Vincent makes a strange sound, some kind of choked little laugh. "Of course," he looks down at his glass as he speaks. "That's why I've spent my entire adult life ensuring that no one will miss me, or grieve me. No one mourns the wicked, right?" He pauses to glance at Leo with a sad smile.

"If I'm despised enough, if I'm wretched and withdrawn enough, if I never have a life to live in the first place, then I can't possibly change my mind. I've made sure there's nothing else for me. Because none of it will matter when I'm gone, and my brother can live the happy life he always should have."

"that's stupid."

Leo's blunt response leaves him dumbfounded.

"i already gave you my word. if that's what you really want, then i'll do whatever i can to make the Will of the Abyss erase your existence. but i think it's stupid. and Elliot would, too."

"Elliot will hate me when he finds out who I am."

Leo goes quiet for a moment, watching the fire.

"you might be surprised. he's not like us. he's a really good person."

Their conversation winds down as the fire does too, and Leo finds himself dozing off against the taller man's shoulder.

Day Fourteen:

Leo's throat feels better. But they decide to give it another day's rest.

Day Sixteen:

Maybe they should talk about what happens if they're wrong.

Maybe they can't break through. Maybe no one will find them here. Maybe this is the rest of their lives: a quiet lakehouse in the middle of nowhere, well fed and inebriated in the quiet serenity of nature.

No lights.

No whispers.

Maybe that wouldn't be so bad.

No ghosts.

No expectations.

After all, there are contingency plans in place. That last resort. That enchanted earring, and that magic crystal. If they can really save him from the brink of death, then Elliot should be safe.

Right?

If their precious leader is trapped in another world, then it won't matter if the Baskervilles break those Sealing Stones or not. They'll have no purpose, no direction, no reason to drag the world into Abyss.

Right?

Day Eighteen:

Vincent watches from a window as Leo sits alone on the edge of the lake, knees hugged to his chest. A thin layer of ice coats the surface of the water, reflecting a black, starless, new moon sky. It feels hollow, like the darkness of the void threatening to swallow him whole.

Suddenly, Leo stands.

His heart pounds in his chest as he stares out at the black, still water before him.

Black mirrors are used to imitate the Abyss.

Leo takes several steps back.

All he's ever wanted was a simple life.

Somewhere peaceful and quiet.

Surrounded by nature, with lots of interesting places to sit and read.

but not like this.

Not here.

Not when Elliot is still in danger.

Leo clenches his fists and takes one more step back.

And then, he runs.

One foot in front of the other, he runs faster than he ever has before. Across the grass, down the little dock with no hesitation.

He summons all the strength, all the wind inside his tired lungs as he leaps. The name tears from his throat:

"JABBERWOCK-----!!!!"

He crashes easily through the thin ice, plunging deep, deep into the depths. As those dark waters fill his mouth, they taste like blood and feel like chains wrapping tight round his throat.

He doesn't know how to swim.

It doesn't matter.

He forces open his eyes, only to find the piercing white glow of the beast's own staring back at him.

More of those chains bind him, wrapping each wrist, tight enough he swears he feels them break skin.

He doesn't flinch.

His delicate hands clench into fists, grabbing hold of the chains that bind him. He feels the cold metal bite into his palms as he pulls them toward himself, even as his body desperately fights and struggles to stay alive.

He has to save Elliot.

He at least has to try.

His name is Leo, the current Glen Baskerville

and he will not die here.

Vincent had come running outside the moment he realized what was about to happen. Now, he kneels at the end of the little dock, calling Leo's name over and over in desperation. Does that little bookworm know how to swim? Because he doesn't.

His panic builds and builds as the waters calm and the bubbles cease.

No.

"No, you can't leave me here," Vincent gasps in awful desperation. "You promised. Please, please, please, ohhh Leo, come on, you have to erase me, please--"

Suddenly, those waters errupt.

The great, black dragon bursts from below the surface, sending a pillar of water crashing around Vincent on the dock. He watches in awe as it soars straight up, climbing higher and higher until it disappears against the darkness of the new moon sky.

Then, it dives at lightning speed. Vincent has no time to react as he's swept up by one of the dragon's massive claws and dragged into the cold, black Abyss.

Black water spills from the towering Gate, depositing the two on a cold, stone floor. Leo coughs and sputters helplessly, gasping as his lungs struggle to function. As he manages to push himself up to his knees, he can feel those ghosts surround him again. They stare down at him, their watchful eyes narrowed in hostile disapproval, their shadows threatening to drown him all over again.

"--eo! Leo!" The voice calling his name seems so far away. Leo jumps as a hand grabs his shoulder. Though the ghosts disappear from his sight, he can still feel their gaze beneath his skin.

"Are you okay, Leo?!"

Leo looks up at a soggy Vincent through his soaking bangs, his breath still labored. He doesn't answer. Instead, he looks past the other man, trying to take in his surroundings. A large, round chamber, with a towering high ceiling and walls lined with ornate pillars and arches, only darkness beyond. All obscured by those glistening, golden lights.

"wh-where are we...?" his voice comes out hoarse.

Leo brings one hand up to his chest. The burning ache had blended in with the pain in his lungs, but now he thinks

"The Baskerville Abyss Gate," Vincent says in breathless wonder. "Leo, you did it."

that must be the sting of the Incuse.

He allows Vincent to help him to his shaky legs, trembling as the cold air chills his wet body.

"The Baskervilles have a safe house near here. It's inside the crater, so Pandora's men won't find us," Vincent offers, wringing out his own soaking hair. "We can dry off and figure out what to do next. Can you walk?"

Silently, Leo nods. Vincent pauses a moment, a look of something like pity crosses his face, before he turns to lead the way. But as he does, Leo suddenly grabs him by the sleeve.

"Leo?"

Leo hesitates a moment, his face hidden by the long, unruly hair that clings to his face and clothes.

"do you have those scissors on you...?"

Vincent blinks in confusion. "Of course."

"...then. i want you to use them to cut my hair."

Vincent's eyes widen. He reaches out to brush those wet bangs aside, revealing a look of determination in Leo's starry eyes.

"i want to look Elliot in the eye when i tell him what i've done."

Now, Vincent's expression softens into an understanding smile. And, well. He can't refuse an order.