The world as he had envisioned it; Leo's world, all that he knew and had known, the mornings he woke up to, the afternoons he admired and getting to the evenings tired.
{This is all I knew for fifteen years, the streets I used to roam, it's unfortunate that my last memory has to be that of escape.
[(Ruuun!) His father and Kenneth's voice surfaced in his memory]
The east at this part of town was filled with storage houses and lumberjacks.
And to the west, behind the stalls at the main line Moore's uncle's place, and a little further back…}
Leo gripped the frame tightly, with a distasteful feeling at the back of his throat.
Then he wrapped his tongue and index around his nose, pressing against his closed eyelids.
"This is what the sprout and spawns took from me." Leo thought with a feeling he hardly knew how to process.
He took his head back into the wagon after looking at the direction of his house.
And as he did, the others in the wagon took their head out to see what remained of one of the most beautiful and largest towns of the empire.
"Woah, it's really the town at the edge." Clarence said with a voice full of enthusiasm.
"It really would have been nice to see this before the fall" Dan commented.
"..." Their mumurs continued.
Leo went back to the edge and sat with his head faced down resting on his knee.
As the voices became louder he started infusing his ear with aether to dull tbe noise.
Then his shut eyes opened a bit, his pupils shook slowly.
Caesar at the front noticed Leo's state, gradually reducing his voice and swiftly going back to sit beside Leo.
"You okay bud?" Caesar asked.
"..." Leo remained silent.
"The least you could do is reply you know." Caesar said to him, his voice reached Leo a little.
"..." Leo opened his eyes a little, with his head still faced down pressed against his knee.
"Want to hear a story?" Caesar asked.
"..." still no reply from Leo, he raised his head and looked at Caesar with depressed eyes.
"There was once a boy who longed for the top but could never make it there…" Caesar started talking in a calm tone.
Leo made an unpleasant face.
"If you tell me the story of how you still long for the throne one more time, I might run mad." Leo responded.
Caesar wheezed.
"But you should understand what I'm trying to tell you." Caesar nudged Leo with his elbow.
Leo averted his eyes.
"Not everyone has your level of confidence or daringness." Leo said to Caesar.
"But you can work towards it.
One step at a time." Caesar said with a comforting tone.
"No more trying to escape…
Face it head on, is what he's trying to tell me; or what I believe he is." Leo wondered.
–
Nearly immediately, he split the canopy cloth behind open by putting his head through.
Taking a look at the path they coursed through as well as the decimated town.
It was an unpleasant view of the place he had a connection with, but he took it all in.
"Haha…haha…ha
This is not so hard after all" Leo released shorts spurts of laughter.
"Is everything alright?" Ren asked Leo from his horse.
"Ah yes, totally fi-" Leo responded.
–
[Bluegh] Leo gagged.
He held his mouth and went back into the wagon.
"Well that was very impatient of you.
Step by ste-" Caesar's eyes twitched.
Without a care of his advice, Leo spread open the canopy and sat on the edge of the the wagon, holding his stomach.
He felt the need to avert his eyes but still went against it, forcing his eyes to stay centered.
Gripping tightly against the edge of the back.
–
Mjiormire wasn't hard to maneuver through, except for few blockages here and there, but relative to its size that was nothing.
The evening was setting in, they were at the edge of town and into the woods.
Leo still sat at the back, gently kicking against the air as wind started blowing.
Caesar joined him causing Leo to scoot over a bit.
"Feeling better now?" He asked.
Leo gently tilted his right arm sideways and fisted his palm.
Caesar looked at it all confused.
Leo wiggled the fist a little.
"Oh…" Caesar realised, then bumped his left fist against Leo's.
"Thanks" Leo said with gratitude, his voice sounded hoarse.
"What are friends for." Caesar asked rhetorically.
Leo looked at him, then away from him.
"Yeah I guess." Leo's voice faded at the end whilst he softly scratched his neck.
–
Leo scanned around by looking at the trees.
They crossed the edge of the trees and were now in the narrow path of the grasslands.
Leo pondered.
He just looked ahead and assimilated with the view, as they ventured further through the grasslands.
"It was at this point." Leo recollected the memories from six months ago.
They came one after the other sequentially, from running through the grass to the race between them three and then following Marcus to the statue.
Amongst his reminiscing one memory stood out; Marcus's words from that very day.
Words he had inadvertently ignored while he dragged Marcus down in the presence of the statue.
("How much of human history do you think is recorded.
How much knowledge do we really have about our world-...") Marcus's words reverberated through Leo's mind.
"Doesn't that sound like the lost history, I wonder what book he got the idea from.
Everything Fiona told me about the contents of the book yesterday were things Marcus had already told me about, though I had no idea of the books existence.
Thinking back now, he told me about the rain as well.
His father must have been infatuated with Slocthger Kennedy's works." Leo drowned in his thoughts.
Then he shifted his gaze to Caesar.
"Cee" He called out to Caesar who was enjoying the view.
"Do you know about the 'Lost history' line of books?"Leo asked him.
"Those?
Everyone knows of those infamous books." Caesar said.
"How can I get the issues before ten to thirteen?
Surely those ones wouldn't be out of reach." Leo asked.
"Those were sealed up separately from the others, they are still in the library but need high access to be viewed.
They usurped as many from the public as possible but you can't really be completely sure with these things." Caesar replied.
"Do we count as high access?" Leo inquired.
"I don't think we do...
But since we all count as Uncle's lieutenants you could just ask him and tag along."
Leo's face glowed in.
"Then what of the other three" He asked.
"I'm not supposed to divulge this, but unlike rumours imply, they are in the custody of my father.
Only he has access to them." Caesar shrugged.
"Why don't you just ask him?" Leo asked.
Caesar shook his head multiple times in dismissal.
"He wouldn't even let uncle or aunt Lana who are the closest to him in on any information.
Not even my eldest sister couldn't get anything from him talk more of me.
His mood shifts anytime he talks about it so it would be an annoying task as well." Caesar said in a disturbed tone.
"How long till he descends the throne, let's get you up there." Leo joked with a palm on Caesar's shoulder.
Caesar didn't take this as well as he thought he would.
He brushed off Leo's hand and frowned.
"Let's just end this conversation here." He said.